Foreign trade of nuts and medicinal plants of Kerman in the Qajar period

Kerman was one of the special economic areas of Iran in the Qajar period. The economic importance of this region laid in its foreign trade. An important part of Iran's exports to India and Europe was producing in this region. A look at the situation of Kerman's foreign trade, during the Qajar period shows that the most important commercial goods of Kerman for export throughout the Qajar period were shawls, carpets and in the next stage, opium commercial goods. Carpet was the most important export commodity of Kerman and sometimes allotted itself more than 99% of Kerman's export commodities (Sehhat Manesh, 2019: 97-116). Also, in the balance of industry and agriculture in Kerman, industry and especially the shawl and carpet industry were in a higher rank. This was while the dried fruit trade was one of the most important trade items in Iran. The trade of dried fruits in relation to the total exports of Iran shows a figure between one -fourth to one -sixth in the years from 1906 until 1913(Kaveh, 1286: 7-8). Nuts were obtained from agricultural products. Therefore, industry and agricultural products in Kerman were in an unfavorable commercial situation compared to many other regions in the Qajar period. So here lies the main issue. Therefore, the forthcoming research focuses on the field of medicinal plants and nuts and seeks to answer the question: What is the position of medicinal plants and nuts in Kerman's foreign trade during the Qajar period?

The present research is a type of historical research in the field of economic history. Therefore, due to the nature of the research, the method used was historical. In the research method, a combination of statistical and descriptive-analytical methods was used. The use of statistics and figures was used to analyze and explain the trade, especially the dried fruit trade in Kerman. For this purpose, the data were extracted from the main sources of local history of Kerman and Iran, but the main reliance is on the annual documents of the British Consulate in Kerman.

Kerman during the Qajar period was considered an important region for the production and export of nuts. Among these products were products such as pistachio, almond, tragacanth and henna. Tragacanth was the most important herbal-medicinal commodity in Iran, whose trade was more prosperous in western Iran and Kermanshah. Most of the mentioned products were exported from Kerman to India and Europe. For this reason, the Indians and later the Persians of Iran or the Zoroastrians were the main intermediaries in trade between Kerman and India. Bandar Abbas and Minab were also the main ports for exporting nuts and medicinal plants from Iran to India and Europe. Since Kerman's goods were exported through Bandar Abbas, the presence of Indians on both sides of the Kerman-Bandar Abbas route indicated that the Indians were mediating in the trade between Kerman and India. On the one hand, the Indians were present in Kerman and had relatively good facilities, and on the other hand, a relatively large number of them were present in Bandar Abbas, Minab and Bandar Lengeh. There was another reason for the presence of Indians in Kerman and Iranian ports, and that was that Indians were citizens of the British government. For this reason, they were fully supported by the British consulates in these areas, and this support justified their long presence in the commercial areas of Iran.At the beginning of the twentieth century, equal to the years leading up to constitutionalism, 60 Indians settled in Bandar Abbas for trade. Goods that came to Bandar Abbas from other parts of Iran such as Kerman, Rafsanjan, Sirjan, Jiroft and Bam were exported to India through them. At the same time, 26 Indians were in the port of Lengeh for business and 14 in Minab (Lorimer, 1915: 10, 1097, 1227).Trade with other countries had a major impact on the development of economic and social life in Kerman and its dependent provinces. In terms of foreign trade, most of Kerman's trade was with Britain and Russia. Of course, trade with Britain was more with the British East India Company, in other words, with India. The Kerman region traded with Russia through Khorasan, and trade with India and Britain through Bandar Abbas. The largest volume of foreign trade in Kerman was through Bandar Abbas and with India and Britain. Most of the goods produced in Kerman province were also exported through Bandar Abbas. In terms of foreign trade in Kerman, Russia was in second place, after Britain (Mohandes, 2007: 140). The most important products that were imported to Bandar Abbas for export from Kerman were tragacanth, pistachio, almond kernel, pistachio kernel, almond, mahlooj i.e., cotton and carpet, alfalfa seed, madder, cumin, fluff, wool, walnut, and gooseberry. Through trade and export of these products, almost one million tomans of foreign currency entered Kerman. Target markets for these products were: Karachi, Mumbai, Egypt, London, Jeddah, Oman, Bahrain, Basra and Baghdad (lorimer, 1915: 11; Sadid-ol Saltaneh, 1989: 175, 191; Nazem ol-Islam Kermani, 2005: 233).In the seven-year period ending in 1324 AH / 1906 AD, the main exports from Bandar Abbas were as follows (100 thousand rupees per year); Fruits and vegetables (6), opium (3), wool (1.5), medicine and medical supplies (1.33), gum [probably tragacanth] (1.33) and carpets (1.25). With the exception of opium exported to China, almost all of these items were exported to India (Lorimer, 1915: 11).