Gilan in Russo-Iranian Foreign Relations during the First Half of the Safavid Empire (1501-1592 A.D)

The current article seeks to study the significance of Gilan in the relations of Iran and Russia from the establishment of the Safavid dynasty until the reign of Shah Abbas the Great. Situated on the coasts of the Caspian Sea Gilan is especially important in regard with trade and commerce. The article seeks to answer what role did Gilan play in Iran’s and Russian’s foreign relations in the first half of the Safavid rule? The findings of the research suggest that Gilan played a prominent role in terms of it being a communication and trade center for the two countries and the trade relations between Iran and Russia was based on state commerce. More importantly, Russian ambassadors acted in the capacity of tradesmen whose political objective was to unite with Iran against their common enemy, i.e., the Ottoman Empire; an objective that was never accomplished due to major policy inconsistencies between the two countries. On the other hand, local rulers in Gilan had cultivated their own trade ties with the Russians to a point of strength that went so far as to threaten the Safavid government and seek political alliance with the Russian in a bid to hold their grip on power. Under these circumstances, due to unawareness of Russian domestic situation and their regional ambitions, Iranian statesmen could not conduct an appropriate diplomacy with their neighbor to the north for the first half of the Safavid rule. More devastatingly, they even failed to understand Russians’ interests-oriented and avaricious attitude in Gilan borderland.