Exploring Merchants’ Investment on Aqueducts and their Challenges in Mashhad in Qajar and Pahlavi Periods

Mashhad gained the interest of Merchants of other cities in Qajar period due to its geographical and economic status. Some of the merchants greatly impacted the investment in this city. Some of the merchants tended to holding lands and aqueducts despite their business as a merchant. Moreover, some of them invested in urban aqueducts. This research sought to explore the causes and challenges of Merchants in investing in the aqueducts of Mashhad, and also to see who invested, when and in what aqueducts they invested. The results showed that due to the economic value of water in Mashhad, merchants invested in urban aqueducts from the late Qajar period. Haj Abd al-Rahim Saraf, Mashhadi Abdollah Tajerbashi, Ali Darrodi, Haji Agha Nabavian, and Haji Mahmoud Herati were the most prominent investors who invested in such urban aqueducts as Golkhatmi, Ab-Mirza, Goharshad Mosque, Salsabil, Ab-Manba’, and Darwish Beig. Such issues as drought in Mashhad after 1946, the replacement of deep wells and the need for using clean water decreased the business of holding aqueducts and reduced investment in this field. So, most of the owners sold their shares to Astan Quds Razavi. Taking a descriptive-analytical method, this study relied on the documents of Astan Quds Razavi and Khorasan periodicals.