Caravan trade in Safavid Iran

The economy of caravan trade in Safavid Iran has never been subjected to analysis, yet we hardly can overestimate its importance as a wheel of commerce. It was a commonplace activity and –needless to say- there simply was no other means of conveying goods in inner Iran than on the backs of beasts of burden. The indifference towards caravan trade as an object of historical research may be due to the highly inconsistent documentation. It is at the points of interchange of overland and seaborne traffic, where European traders constantly had aspects of the display of competitive economic forces registered, that we can recover some information on this crucial trait of Iranian trade. After the 16th century, the powerful efficiency of the North-West European trading companies succeeded in reshaping to their advantage the network of Asian commerce with Europe. At the same time, Middle Eastern markets invariably relied on transcontinental caravans for their supply. In fact, one can argue that the thriving economic activity along the Indian Ocean sealanes had a complementary development in a flourishing overland trade within and across Iran during the first half of the 17th century. In addition, the establishment of East India trading company in eastern Iran played a major role in paving the way for delivering goods from Asia to Europe. However, later on due to political and military issues, the Straits of Hormoz turned to the gate of seaborne trade in Iran.