A quantitative study on commercial affaires between Iran and India in the late Safavid period, with an emphasis on the role of their active factors (from Shah Abbas I to the end of Safavid dynasty 1587-1722 AD)

India was one of the most significant commercial copartners of Iran, especially during the late Safavid Period. In spite of that, the reasons for the growth of trade exchanges, the amount of export and import, and the quantity of the commercial interactions between the two countries in this period are not studied comprehensively. In the period, lots of merchants, factors, and various minorities who had a hand in ports, cities and business centers of the two countries were settled and then formed a huge cycle of exchange. Based on what is mentioned, several fundamental questions are raised: how was the formation of the ethnic structure involved in the commercial cycle of the two countries and what role did it play in this process? Of whom did the ethnic structure involved in the commercial cycle of the two countries consist? What role did they play in this process? And what kinds of goods of what amount and volume did they exchange? In order to figure out such issues, first of all, the composition of these ethnic groups and the quantity of their involvement are investigated and then the type of goods exchanged, the volume of the two countries` exports and imports, and barriers existed in their commercial process have been studied. The studies reveal that a great mass of various types of goods were exchanged, especially by the merchants who were of different religious minorities. Besides, business interactions with India had a growing process until the time Iran`s strict policies dominated the exports and imports. But, during the last years of Safavid kingdom, because of several reasons mentioned in the next pars, the process gradually deteriorated.