The Economic and Commercial Situation of Mirjavah in the Second Pahlavi Era

Iran’s eastern borders have historically been one of the country’s most important economic routes, and developments in the region and within the country have had a direct impact on the prosperity and decline of the routes. Mirjavah is one of the cities in Sistan and Baluchestan province in eastern Iran. It is located near the border with Pakistan. The inhabitants of Mirjavah are Baloch. Mirjavah became important in contemporary history first due to Russian-British rivalries and it then became important because of the railway that connected the city to Quetta. It was considered one of the most important customs in the east of the country. The main reason for the development of this city was foreign trade and the existence of railways. The border town fell into economic prosperity after Pakistan seceded from India. As a result, people’s lifestyles changed. Researchers were sent there by the central government in the 1970s to identify Mirjaveh's economic situation. This research was based on some of these reports. The question of the research is: what was the economic situation of Mirjavah in the Pahlavi era? The results showed that smuggling has flourished due to the lack of prosperity in agriculture and formal trade, and the actions have been ineffective.   

The present study aimed at investigating the economic and commercial situation of Mirjavahduring the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah and consisted of three parts: agriculture and animal husbandry in Mirjaveh, trade and customs, and smuggling in Mirjavah. In the first part, geographical location and climate show did not allow extensive agriculture and animal husbandry. Considering the second part, people’s lives and problems have reportedly been investigated after Pakistan seceded from India. Regarding the third part (smuggling of goods) studies have shown that trafficking has flourished for various reasons.

About the sources used and research methods, two very important sources were written about this city. A View of Mirjavah is a manuscript written by Assadollah Alavi and Faramarz Asadzadeh in 1975. This manuscript is in the library of the Zahedan Program and Budget Organization Also, Mirjaveh Economic Report by Mahmoud Zand Moghadam is in the library of the Tehran Program and Budget Organization which was prepared in 1976. Both works have examined the city from an economic, social, and especially commercial point of view. Sources include tables and pictures and additional descriptions. This research has been written based on these reports, documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and interviews with several people from Mirjavah.

This article was written in all three cases about Mirjaveh's economic issues (agriculture, animal husbandry, and trade). Mirjaveh air is warm and its natural environment is dry and the rain in Mirjaveh is in the form of showers. Floods occur due to low and high ground. Documents showed that there was no possibility of extensive agriculture and animal husbandry in this city. Also, this article has covered problems such as the size of the area, lack of border control, and lack of sufficient and trained forces at the borders. It was one of the problems that fueled the issue of trafficking.    Lack of coordination between Pakistani and Iranian staff was another problem that affected the city's economy and lack of traffic control at the borders has been another economic and social problem of this city. The present study also discussed the type of commercial goods smuggled. In the early years of the second Pahlavi regime, most of the gold was smuggled across the border which the government at the time had made great efforts to control. Wheat was another commodity that was always smuggled into this city. Gradually, this trend has changed and with the strengthening of the central government, the goods became more diverse and simpler. It has changed from gold and coins to wooden beds, tea, spices, and old foreign clothes. Also, smuggled vehicles had changed from camels to cars. But the city faced economic hardship during this period of border poverty and most of the people's livelihood was through smuggling  Thus, the research findings showed due to the lack of prosperity in agricultural occupations and official trade and the proximity of this border city to Zahedan, trafficking from Mirjaveh route has flourished. The Pahlavi government in the 1960s and 1970s paid special attention to the eastern borders and sought to establish better trade relations between Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Therefore, the government had several plans for Sistan and Baluchistan province. The plans were ineffective in the case of the city of Mirjavah and the city continued to suffer from smuggling and economic poverty in the 1970s.