Naser al-Din Shah Qajar and the Tsarist Russia Goals and Policies in Developing Roads in Guilan Province: Analysis of Ghazvin-Anzali road Concession

To explore the Russians’ political and economic aims in constructing a road to link the northern territory of Guilan to the central parts of Iran. Method/Research Design: Analysis carried out based on archival resources. Findings and Russians demanded concession to construct roadways in order to achieve military and economic supremacy in the north of Iran. However، they faced opposition from Britain، as the project was considered to be against the interests of the British in Iran. Qajars themselves were worried about the increase of Russian influence in the north، and in the capital and central regions. Nevertheless، after Russia and Britain signed a treaty، as well as because of the enthusiasm of Iranians for development، Naser Al-Din Shah granted the concession for the construction of a Ghazvin-Anzali road to the Russian «Insurance and Transportation Company» in 1893. The road was built within a few years، and Russian gained the upper hand in the trade and politics of Iran in later years.