Sīrāf: Maritime Trade between Iran and China During Late Sasanid Period and Early Islamic Centuries

Since the evidence for direct maritime trade between the Sassanid Empire and China is exiguous, it has often been asserted that there was no direct sea commerce between these two countries. Scholars claim that there is nothing to prove direct Chinese sailings to Iran before Islam and say that direct sea commerce between them was occurred during early Islamic Period. Based on the historical, archaeological and numismatic evidence in Iran and China, this article tries to show that contacts between Persians and Chinese started from sixth century A.D because of the presence of Persians in southern ports of China. Later, Persian Gulf saw a regular Persian-Chinese trade because of the role of Sīrāf port in the expanding of Persian-Chinese relations at the ninth century A.D.