Commercial Activities of Makran along the Spice Route

The passage of long roads through different regions leads to many economic, cultural, and religious changes and developments there. The southern coasts of Iran have always enjoyed great significance due to several important geographical features. In the distant past, the vast networks of the Silk Route and the Spice Route played greatly significant roles in the east and west of the world of that time. The long Spice Route, which began in India, after passing through the south of Iran, joined with the Silk Route in Mesopotamia. Baluchestan or the same Makran was considered to be a vast civilizational region on the way of the Spice Route. The present paper aims to review the economic status of Makran during the early Islamic centuries through resorting to ancient and more recent historical and geographical documents and resources. The main question here is: "What was the place and status of Makran on the Spice Highway?" The location of cities alongside international roads has always been considered a clear indication of the presence of a developed civilization, which is a feature that distinguished Makran from many other regions and areas.