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CHAPTER - IV INDIA AND IRAN - COMMERCIAL RELATIONS
India and Iran's commercial relations can be retracted to
times
immemorial. commercial links preceded cultural and political
links. In fact,
trade relations lated the formation of cultural bonds. The
former goes back
to the third nnium B.C, the period of the Harappan civilization.
The early
commerce was ween India and Babylonia, which included Persia via
the
Persian Gulf. The rsian Gulf was the focus of perhaps the oldest
trade
route, running from the mouth Indus to the Euphrates305. In the
6th Century
B.C., the Achaemenian dynasty sated a vast empire, which
furthered Indo-
lranian trade.
Darius the Great (521-485 B.C.) appreciated the value of linking
Iran
with a by Sea as well as by land, and organized some notable
maritime
operations. commissioned a Greek mercenary Scylax to explore the
Indus
river306 and instructed him to reach Egypt via India along the
coastal way,
since the straight of Babl-ul-Mandab was never crossed307.
From the fourth century B.C., Indian trade became more
developed.
Over trade from India to Iran passed through the north-western
cities of the
Indian sub continent, mainly Taxila. Trade demands were no
doubt
intensified during the of the Mauryan Empire, with its adjutant
grandeur
and glory in India. The cost widely traversed highways of
commerce 305 Cambridge, 1926, P. 1; A.V. William Jackson, "The
Persian Dominance in Northern India down to the Time of ander's
Invasion", in E.J. Rapson, (E\ed). Cambridge History of India, Vol.
I, 1955, p. 294. 306 "Intercourse between India and the Western
World: From the Earliest Time to the Fall of McCrindle, "Ancient
India as described in Classical Literature", Westminster, 1901, p.
98. ariesVErlinden, "The Indian Ocean: The Ancient Period and the
Middle Ages, in Sathish Chandra, (ed.). 307 Idian Ocean:
Explorations in History, Commerce and Politics", New Delhi, 1987,
p. 31.
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174
westwards from Tax//a were to Kabul Kandahar, from where
routes
branched off in various directions. One of these connected
Qandahar with
Persepotis and Susa (modern Shush city in Khuzistan convince),
while
another, further south-west via the Persian Gulf and the Tigris
to
celeucia.308
During the first century A.D., regular maritime commerce
existed
between the persian Gulfand the mouth of the river Narmada on
the west
coast of India. This is confirmed by the Periplus of the
Erythrean Sea,
written in 5-60 A.D., which refers to large vessels which sailed
from
Barygaza (Baruch) on the Gulf of Cambay laden with number of
various
varieties309.
Elephants, "the tanks of the ancient world", were in demand
from
India. imports from Iran included wine, dates, pearls and
slaves. But the
real centuries of the Persian Gulf had to yet arrive. These were
the days
of the Red Sea. For the Greto-Roman writers of the ancient
period, the
Erythrean Sea was first of all the Red Sea and then the
north-west of the
Indian Ocean310.
During the Sassanid period (225-651 A.D.), trade in the
Erythrean
Sea was in the hands of the Iranians. The nodal paints of this
trade were
Al Ubullah or Obollah the Persian Gulf. Barygaza in south
Gujarat and Sri
Lanka, the 'Serendib' of the Arabs or 'Island of Rubies', where
merchants
from the East and West got together. The sea routes for
Indo-lranian trade
continued to be the traditional ones, i.e., from the west coast
of India to the 308 Rornila Thapar, "A History of India", Vol. I,
London, 1966, p. 107. 309 Chapters 35-36, English tr. and Notes by
W.H.Schoff, New York, 1912. 310 Verlinden, p. 31.
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175
Persian Gulf and from there overland through Mesopotamia to
the
Mediterranean coast. The other sea route was via the Red Sea and
then
Egypt, to the Mediterranean. Ports such as Thana and Sopara on
West
coast of India played an intrinsic role in this trade. It is
interesting to note
the period third to sixth centuries A.D., the nomenclature
'Indian' applied
to groups such as the Abyssinians by Greco-Roman writes such
as
Cosmos, lostrogius and Procopius311.
In Iran, the Parthians gave way to the Sassanid dynasty around
225
A.D. The assanid encouraged indigenous people and the first
empror
Artaxerxes-in •5-241 A.D. founded several sea and river ports.
Early in the
4th century the Arabs Bahrain and the adjoining coastal regions
crossed
the Persian Gulf to raid the persian Empire (C.310). A few years
later, the
Sassanid monarch Shapur II repaid visit, he not only retaliated
in a fitting
manner, but settled Persian colonists there. lalter in the 4th
century,
the'Latin historian Ammianus Marcellinus in describing the
assanid realm
stated that there was much navigation in the Persian Gulf.
Chinese
coronicles also confirm this Chinese pilgrim Fa Hien (405-411
A.D.)
referred to the crtsof Sri Lanks as the meeting points of
Chinese and
Iranian merchants, Cosmos :so refers to Persian vessels entering
the ports
of Sri Lanka, Iranians were the termediaries for the silk trade
between
China and the West, both by the Central persian route and the
sea route.
The very name of China as known to Cosmos was persian in from
Viz,
'Tsnistan'. According to Procopius, emperor Justinian asked
the
Abyssinians to buy silk from Indian merchants and sell it to the
Romans, in
the 6th century in order to thwart the mercantile activities of
the Persians in
311 GIB. Bury, "History of the Later Roman Empire", London,
1923; H.Hasan, "A History of Persian Navigation", .ondon, 1928.
While Cosmos was a well-known geographer, Philostrogius wrote
Church history and :!ocopius was the historian of the reign of
emperor Justinian.
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176
this commodity. the Abyssinians were unable to comply since
Persian
merchants present at the of Sri Lanka, where Indian ships put
in, used to
purchase the entire cargo.
In the 6th century, Persian merchants reached the Malabar Coast
of
India and conducted trade, especially in timber, with its
principal port,
Muziris. Iranian merchants also reached Kalyan (near modern
day
Mumbay) on the Konkan coast. Indian and Persian merchants met
each
other, along with other mercantile groups, Socofra. These
islands were
known in Sanskrit as "Dvipa Sukhatara", and had a equitation
for
cosmopolitan markets and as an entrecote of trade.
Although in the early 7th century there was a Persian
breakthrough in
maritime airs, they were driven back by the Arabs who occupied
almost the
entire coast of Persian Gulf. The Persian Gulf and the rEd Sea
were no
longer rival routes to me or Constantinople, but became
co-ordinate routes
to the nearer land of the liphate. As discussed in detail by
G.F.Hourani,
Iranian commercial voyages went China under the Sassanid8. The
Arabs
inherited this traffic, prospering despite eruptions. This sea
route, from the
Persian Gulf to Canton, was the longest in regular use by
mankind before
the European expansion in the 16th century, and it erits
attention as a
remarkable achievement. This was made possible by the
simultaneous
existence of large empires at both ends of the route. In China
the dynasty
(618-907 A.D.) ruled a united empire. Knowledge of earlier
Persian
voyages comes from Chinese sources, which refer to the ships of
the Po-
sse. These peopie have been identified as Zroastrians, speaking
Persian;
Arabic speaking slims of Iranian origin would be classified as
Ta~Shih or
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177
Arabs312, Zoroastrians were known to the Arabs as Majus or
Magians. The
first mention of Po-sse was the Chinese pilgrim Ching in 671
A.D. when he
embarked on a Po-sse ship at Canton and sailed south to
Sumatra.
The Arab expansion which put an end to Sassanid influence
was
not, as is largely believed, the work of the maritime tribes of
the Arab
peninsula, but of the central and northern desert tribes10. Iran
was
conquered by a land route and Islam remained a continental
religion as
long as the Umayyad had their capital in Syria or camascus
{661-749
A.D./70-158 A.H.),
The entire Islamic world from Spain to Al-Sindh was united under
the
ayyad Caliphs (661-749 A.D./70-158 A.M.), and for over a century
(750-
870 AD./159-279 A.H) under the Abbasids with the exception of
Spain and
North Africa. Hie accession of the Abbasid dynasty to the
Caliphate
brought a new impetus to the iea trade of the Persian Gulf, due
to the
transfer of the capital from Damascus to aghdad on the Tigris
River.
Attention was now naturally focused on the Indian 3eean, mainly
through
Shatt-ul~Arab313 and the Persian Gulf. According to the
Geographer AI-
Ya'qubi's Kitab-ul-Buldan, Baghdad was the meeting place for
people
Isfahan and Khurasan. Basra now replaced the port of Al-Ubullah,
and
emained the main port of the Persian Gulf for a period of ten
centuries.
S/raf in Iran and Muscat in Oman also acquired more importance
from the
time of the Abbasids.
312 G.f.Hourani, "Arab Seafaring in the Indian Ocean in Ancient
and Early Medieval Times", Princeton, 1951, p. 51. [H.Hasan, p. 89.
313
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178
The western terminals for the ships to China were Al Basra,
Al
Ubullah and Siraf. Old Al Basra on its canal was a big
commercial centre,
but large sea-going ships could not come up to it and had to
continue to
dock at Al Ubullah. A! Basra was a new foundation of the Arabs,
while Al
Ubullah was the old Apologus, which fisd been refounded by
emperor
Ardeshir and had survived into a later period. References to Al
Balazari,
Futuh-ul-Buldan as well as Al Tabari and Mas'udi confirm this
was a port
for ships from India and China at the time of the Muslim Mjuest.
Al Ubullah
was at the mouth of the canal on the Tigris, but entrance into
canal was
dangerous to the presence of whirlpools. It also had extensive
shipyards.
Three towers were constructed out at sea, to serve as
lighthouses as well
as watch towers and signal stations for pirates from the Persian
Gulf and
India. Arab geographer tbn-i-Rustah wrote that before Islam,
seagoing
ships from paused to sail up the Tigris river11. Al Tabari gives
the pre-
lslamic name of AI Ubillah as "Farj-ul-Hind" i.e., "the marches
of India" so
close were the relations by Between this port and India. Al
Tabari adds that
its Persian governor had to face conflict with piratical
elements from India
at sea314.
In contrast to the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean at this time
was a
region of see, with the exception of piratical activities. The
pirates of Cutch
and Kathiawad India were notorious315, and Sri Lanka was one of
their
lairs. With the coming of there was a tendency to make sea
raids,
including the India coast, at places Thana and Daibul. Caliph
Vmar,
however, restrained rash adventures at sea.316
314 315 'Tabari Annals, ed. M.J. de Geeje, Leyden, 1901. Philip
Hetti, "History of arabs", London, 1940, p. 67.
316.Kitab-al-laqQl-A'laq-un-Nafisah, p. 98 ibibiotheca Geographorum
Arabicorum, Vol. VII, Leyden, 1879.
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179
The difficulties of navigation in the headwaters of the Persian
Gulf
contributed the growth of the Iranian port of S/raf, south of
Shiraz. This port
was on a barren coastline and subsisted on supplies brought by
sea. Its
existence was entirely due to its maritime commerce, but this
was so
flourishing as to make S/raf the rival of Basara in commercial
prosperity317.
Extensive information about this port can be obtained from the
work of
.Buzurg-bin-Shahriyar, the Kitab 'Ajaib-ul-Hind or "The Wonders
of India".
The book conains tales of India, above all, tales of the sea. It
may be
considered as a berunner of the Sindbad stories in the aRabian
Nights14.
Only a single copy of the survives in Istambul318. Siraf was a
rich city, with
all houses of merchants and hip owners, extravagantly paneled in
teak
imported from India319 It was a building port, utilizing Indian
timber. Since
the author was a sea captain himself, has provided a list of
captains, most
of whom were Iranian. This is expected as j was an Iranian and
collected
most of his stories from the captains based at jf. Most of
Buzurg's stories
(written in 960 A.D./369 A.M.) date from the first half10th
century, although
a few are of as early a period as the 4th century.
Buzurg's contemporaries were Ibn-i-Khurdadbeh, Ibn-i-Hauqal
and
Sulayrnan. he latter wrote the "Akhbar-ut-Sin was Al Hind" which
has been
translated into French and edited by J.Sauvaget as "Relations de
Chine et
317 Philip Hetti, "History of arabs", London, 1940, p. 67 318
H.Fawzi, "Hadis al Sindbad al Qadim", Cairo, 1943; Al Suli,
"Kitab-u!-Awroq", ed. J. Heyworth-Dunne, London, 1934, mentions
Sindbad stories in circulation in the tenth century in circulation
in the tenth century A.D. 319 Richard Hall, "Empires of the
Monsoon", London, 1996, p. 3.
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180
de india320 Paris, 1948, Sulaiman was a merchant who issued a
collection
of reports from other merchants regarding the customs of the
Indians and
the Chinese, and the sea route from Siraf ii Canton. From Siraf,
'China
ships' (Markab-ul-Sin and Safin-us-siniyah) set out for was then
the longest
voyage known to mankind. Ships sailed southwards abngthe Indian
coast
to Sri Lanka, and then eastwards to Sumatra, through the Malacca
Straits,
then north into the China Sea. The round voyage took a year and
a . The
vessels usually travelled in convoy, to avoid the
numerouspirates off the it
coast of India.
The usual practice of ships, after sailing down the Persian
Gulf, was
to choose one of two sea routes to India. They could call at the
ports of
Suhar and Muscat on the coast of Oman and after taking on a
sufficient
supply of water, sail straight across the Indian Ocean for Kulam
Mali or
Quilon on the Malabar Coast. Malabar boasted of commercially
active
ports like Calicut and Quilon and from century onwards, saw
the
establishment of several outposts of Iranian as well as tab
merchants.
The Malabar route is the one described by the Akbhar, it would
naturally
be taken by ships on the long China voyage. Ships would also go
via ports
r'Sindh, such as Daibal. Iranian Ships on the China voyage would
pay a
toll charge fapprox 1000 dirhams at Kulam Mali, The return
voyage was
also via Kulam Mali. According to the Akhbar, the voyage from
Muscat to
KulamMali spanned a period of e month. At Siraf, the
Nawakhid
(shipmasters) would sell their cargoes and purchase new
commodities,
they would repair their hulls and prepare for the next yage,
owners,
320 On the site of Siraf now there is only an Iranian fishing
village. The city was shattered by an earthquake In :977 A.D./386
A.M. and fell into decline soon after. Pioneer excavations have
been made by David White house.
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181
captains and crew would tell tales, true and untrue, about the
wonders they
had seen.
The Abbasid Caliphs encouraged the fusion of Arab and
Iranian
groups into one unity, speaking Arabic. From the 9th century
onwards, in
Arab records of sea trade, mention of Iranians becomesmuch less.
This
change, no doubt, came about gradually. There had always been
Arabs
sailing from the Persian Gulf ports, but now their number was
greatly
increased. Yet the Iranians left many traces in the maritime of
the times,
Many words of Persian origin can be found in the nautical
cabulary of the
medieval Arabs, such as:
Balanji: Cabin
Bandar : Port
Daftrar : Sailing instructions
Dunji: Ship's boat
Didban: look-out boy Khann tar point of the compass
Nakbuda (pi. INawakhid): Shipmaster
Rahmani: book of nautical instructions
Sanduq a type of sailing boat
The Arab geographers are of great significance in
understanding
Indo-lranian commercial relations in the early medieval age. The
9th and 1-
th centuries were a period of Islamic geography and information
on
commercial navigation in the Indian cean has been obtained from
travelers
in the Persian Gulf. Apart from Buzurg and Sulayman, the other
authors of
the period, Ibn-i-Rustah,lYaqubi, Ibn-i-Khurdadbeh, -i-Huqal, Al
Maqdesi
as also the Iranian who wrote the Hodud-ul-'Alam or the
Frontiers of the
world, all drew their information from the same area. The
authors of 12th
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182
and 13th centuries, such as Al Edrist, Al mus'udi, Ibn-i-Sa'id.
Yaqut, and
Feda have borrowed the essential information from the earlier
authors, and
consequently provide scant information about their periods. To a
large
extent, this true of Ibn Battuta in the 14th century arid the
travelers by land
of the 15tn century, such as Ibn-i-Majed and Sulayman-al-Mahri.
Thus gaps
are inevitable in !e available information.
The conquest of Amir Timur, who defeated the Turks near Ankara
in
1402 kD,/811 A.M.321 included Iran and a large part of northern
India,
created a single political authority whose write ran from the
Black Sea to
the borders of China and the Gangetic plain in India; it
promoted conditions
in which overland trade to China fourished. Samarqand, the
Timurid capital
became an entrecote for the whole of Central Asia and Iran
looked to its
market where traders flocked from distant countries including
India.
The Spanish envoy Clavijo, who travelled across north Iran on
way
to smarqand at the beginning of the 15th century observed Indian
presence
in Sultaniyya residence of Prince Miranshah, the ruler of
western Iran,
situated in the north-west of the country322. They brought with
them all
kinds of spices. The spices were re-exported to the markets of
.Syria323.
Heart, in the north-east corner of Iran, which had served as
an
entrepot of coverland trade between the Golden Horde, Khwarzm
and
India. Since the fourteenth century was another center for
procuring Indian
commodities.
321 Kackson and Lockhart (eds.), "Cambridge History of Iran",
Vol. VI, (hereafter cited as C.H.I,
Vol.I), Cambridge, 1986, p. 375. 322 C.H.I,Vol. VI, p. 414. 323
LeanAubin, "Etudes Safavides I", Journal of the Social and Economic
of Orient (J.E.S.H.O),
January 1959,
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183
A division of his legacy followed the death of Timur, Iran
remained in
the cossession of a son of Timur, who made Heart his capital
and
Sultaniyya began decline. Even when Iran was divided between the
Qara
quyunlus and Aqquyunlus, its trade, internal, external and
transit, did not
suffer much324.
The political unification of such a vast landmass by Timur
had
accelerated the growth of flourishing overland 'trade with
Sultaniyya and
Heart in Iran and Samarqand in Central Asia served as nodal
points. The
Indians did avail of this opportunity though the data at our
disOposal do not
enable us either to quantify it or to identify the primary
Indian groups
engaged in this trade.
The growth of overland trade did not eclipse the maritime
trade
between the countries. Ormuz was an important link in its
continuity. The
reason were both geography and economic.
There were areas in India whose access to Iran was primarily by
the
Sea ;. This was true especially or Peninsular India.
The land-route from China to Iran was long and hazardous.
Under
the Wans, Chinese ships had visited the Persian Gulf. In order
to outflank
the Timurids and to ensure uninterrupted and unhindered access,
the new
Chinese Emperor fang Lo in the first decade of the fifteenth
century,
restarted sending ships to the Indian Ocean under the
stewardship of
324 Hahib and Ray Choudhary (eds.) "The Cambridge Economic
History of India", Vol. I, (C.E.H.I), New Delhi, ilS82, p. 138;
Satish Chandra (ed.J, "The Indian Ocean Explorations in History,
Commerce and Politics",
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184
Cheng Ho.325 The Chinese expeditions emphasized the unity of the
Indian
Ocean trade zone and its intimate links with the port towns of
south China.
The Chinese naval expeditions were abruptly withdrawn fl1434
A.D./843
A.H326, but the momentum imported to Indian Ocean trade did not
It
revitalized the maritime trade of the Persian Gulf of which
sea-borne trade i
India was a vital ingredient.
One reason why the Persian Gulf became preferred region for
re-
export of tastern goods to European in companion to the Red Sea
was the
economic crisis, engulfed Egypt from 1403-1404 A.D./812-13
A.H.
onwards. A small example ishow this. In 195 A.D./804 A.H. in
Alexandria,
there were 14000 looms whereas r1434 A.D./843 A.H. there were
only
800.
Also in the fifteenth century, Egypt was suffering from a
shortage of
silver; copper currency had become the predominant mode of
exchange.
The oriental merchants exporting spices and luxury goods
destined for
Europe tried to bypass the Red Sea and chose the alternative
Persian Gulf
route for their exports327.
In 1420 A.D./829 A.H. Shahab-ud-Din Ahmad I (1422-36
A.D./831-
845 A.H) :;came the ruler of Bijapur, Persian influence
increased at Bidar
court and Indians locked to his kingdom328. In the reign of
Sultan
Muhammad II (1463-82 A.D./872-891 IH.), Mahmud Gawan who had
came
325 New Delhi, 1987, Ch.V, "The Chinese established the first
contact with Ormuz during the fourth expedition' 326 Ibid. 117. 327
LBacharach, "Circassian Monetary Policy", J.E.S.H.O, Vol. XIV, Part
Zl, pp. 32-47. 328 Dr.Sod/q Naqvi, "The Iran-Deccan Relations",
Hyderabad, 1994, p. 9.
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185
from Gilan as a trader and had beenhonoured Qy the title of
"Mlik-ul-Tujjar"
was made the Prime Minister. He extended the Boundaries of the
kingdom
to Goa and this gave further fillip to Iranian traders to visit
Sidar329. The war
against the Vijayanagara Empire necessitated the regular import
of horses,
which expanded the trade with iran.
A factor which contributed to the intensification of
Indo-Persian sea
trade in the fifteenth century was the emergence of the
Vijayanagara
Empire in south India as a powerful rival to the Bahmanids, the
Muslim
Sultanate which had risen over the remnants of the Tughluq
rule.
Vijayanagara and the Bahmanids were locked in repeated wars
for
the assertion of their over-lordship over the region. They
needed horses
for perfecting war-machines. Burton Stein writes: "The
importation of war-
horses, known from the time of Marco Polo in the late thirteenth
century,
increased in volume during the vijayanagara period, and so did
imported
cannon and hand guns"330. The horses were principally imported
from
countries around the Persian Gulf and Iran was important
component331.
Iran, through the port of Ormuz, was a major supplier of coorses
to both
the warring factions.
Ships loaded with horses sailed to India. Many Iranians
merchants
accompanied their cargo. It is important to note that merchants
with a
single horse also arrive because its sale was sufficient to meet
the
expenses of their trip. lie famous instance is of the Russian
travelers Nikitin
329 Ibid.,pp. 12, 16, 17, 330 'Burton Stein, "Vijayanagara",
Cambridge University press, Cambridge, n.d., p. 74. 331 Burton
Stein, "Vijayanagara", Op. Cit.
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186
who arrived in India from with a single horse332. A little
earlier, 'Abd-ur-
Razzaq who had sailed from Ornuz to India, paints a similar
picture333.
There were several ports on the west coast of India where ships
from
Ormuzl loaded with horses arrived and unloaded their cargo.
On the Canara coast, ships from Honavar regularly sailed for
Ormuzl. 'Abd-u-Razzag bordered a ship here and reached Ormuz
after a
voyage of 65 days30, on the Malabar Coast, Cannur and Calicut
were two
such points.334 The former primarily owed its prosperity to
distributorship
of horses in the hinterland, especially the kingdom of
Vijayanagara. The
importance attached to the import of horses by he Vijayanagara
Empire
can be inferred from the fact that the importer was now to bring
in other
commodities as well, and was permitted to buy local goods
without paying
taxes335. Other imports from Ormuz were pearls, dates and
salt336.
Another factor helped Ormuz to emerge as the principal link
between
the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, In the second half
of the
fifteenth century,
Mamluk Sultans of Egypt, especially Khusguadam (1461-67
A.D./870-76 A.M.) Qait beg (1468-96 A.D./87T-905 A.H.), forbid
the supply
of pepper to Europeans several occasions337. The traders who had
used
332 RH. Major, "India in the Fifteenth Century", New York, n.d.,
See chapters/'Narratives of the Journey of 'M-Er-Razzaq" and "The
Travels of Athanasius Nikitin". 333 Major, "Narrative of the
Journey of 'Abd-Er-Razzaq", p. 49, 334 David Whitehouse and Andrew
Williamson, "Sassanian Martime Trade", Iran, p. 43. It is said that
Bahram V ;tfl-3S A.D.) married an Indian Princess and received as
dowry the port of Daibut in the Indus Delta, Together with the
adjacent parts of Sind and Makran." Ibid. 335 Genevieve Bouchon,
"Regent of the Sea", New Delh, GUP, 1998, p. 20, 336 Ibid., p.21
337 Sanjay Subrahmanyam, "The Career and Legend of Vasco da Gama",
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1997, p.99 Cambridge, 1997,
p. 99.
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187
the Red Sea route turned to the alernative Persian Gulf route
and this
increased the importance of Ormuz as the cipal link of Europe's
eastern
trade and several as a prime motive for the search an
alternative route to
India, independent from the whims and caprices of the ilsamic
rulers of
Egypt. Goods meant for the countries on eastern Mediterranean
coast
were transshipped at Ormuz in smaller boats and sent to Basra or
A!-
Ubulla338.
Calicut had emerged as an important entrepot of the Indian
Ocean
trade. The Iranians brought horses and other commodities and
carried
Indian and South-West Asian Spices and Chinese porcelain to
their
homeland. When Vasco de Gama, the Portuguese admiral who
opened
the Sea-route from Europe to India, arrived at Calicut in 1498
A.D./907
A.M.), he met a number of Iranian traders.
As the century advanced, the Indo-lranian trade developed.
Moe
and more ports on the western littoral, on the Konkan and Kanara
coasts
emerged, where coming from Ormuz and Persian Gulf disembarked
their
cargoes. These were on the Konkan coast) and Bhatkal and Honavar
(on
the Konkan Coast).
Bhatkal was annexed by their Vijayanagara Empire in 1480
A.D./889
A.M.)339. The Vijayanagara rulers converted it into their main
port for
receiving shipments of horses from the Persian Gulf. Cannur
suffered
because her prosperity had been cased on supplying horses to
the
Vijayanagara Empire.
338 Cambridge economic History of India, Vol. 1, p. 146. 339 The
Career and Legend of Vasco de Gama, p. 100.
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188
In the sea-borne trade from Iran to India, Ormuz occupied the
key
position, per prosperity was mainly accounted for by her ability
to distribute
Indian, South-East Asian and Chinese goods to the Iranian
mainland as
well as to Iraq, from where part of commodities was sent to .the
West
Asian countries like Syria located on the eastern Mediterranean
coast and
the Ottoman Empire. Of course, commodities sent Iran were also
taken to
the Ottoman Empire and to the Shores of Black Sea from where
they were
sent to Europe340.
As a result, traders from different countries flocked to
Ormuz.
Subrabmanyam notes, "Hormuz like Malaka and 'Aden, was organized
in
terms of quarters, where different communities resided. These
included the
Gujarat! Vaisyas, Iranian merchants, and also a substantial
community of
Jewish traders in the fifteenth century"341
Qrmuz's economic prosperity was based on customs dues
collected
at the rate 10% on goods brought to the island, A portion of it
was sent to
the Iranian ruler as a token of recognition of his
over-lordship. This was
also done to keep the Iranian Shah in good humour since the
island was
dependent for fuel, fodder, food and ateron the mainland.
In the fifteenth century, Iran was her self-divided and
disturbed.
After the of Ilkhan Abu Saidin 1336 A.D./745 A.H., Italian trade
with Iran
340 Serjeant, "Portuguese off the South Arabian Coast", Oxford,
1963, p. 11. Serjeant writes, 'It (Ormuz) was ' The center of
sea-borne traffic from India, and also the overland traffic from
Aleppo via Mesopotamia and The Persian Gulf". Ibid. 341 The Career
and Legend of Voso da Gama", pp. 102-103. :
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189
declined. As subrahmanyam notes: the Shahs of Hurmuz appear to
have
run a semi-tributary semi-trade based state"342.
The Iranian rulers failed to impose their rule over Ormuz. This
status
provided Qumuz with every opportunity to develop her
economy.
Being bereft of all the essentials of life, Ormuz had to import
every
item for the of daily life. The merchants were encouraged to
bring to the
island essential commodities and had to pay light duties on
imports. The
traders enjoyed big clout and the ruler had to respect the
advice of the
council of local merchants343.
The Indian traders were in a position to supply a variety of
goods.
They brought food stuffs especially rice344 and spices, which
were then
distributed to the mainland and Basra in Iraq, from where a part
of them
was transmitted to the ottoman Empire, the Eastern
Mediterranean
Seaboard and Europe. The Indians also sold cotton textiles,
which were in
great demand throughout the region.
Ships sailing from India to the Persian Gulf also carried logs
of
woods since bar was not available in the region, Beams of teak
wood
from the forests on the lifelabar coast were especially valued
for they
useful in the construction of houses and building of
boats345.
342 Ibid.,p. 103. 343 Serjeant, p. 11. 344 Bouchon, p. 20. The
Cannanur merchants shipped ordinary rice to Ormuz. 345 C.E.H.I.,
Vol. I, p. 147.
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190
The Indians brought back to their country horses, pearls and
gold
and silver, items were also brought by the Iranian and other
foreign
merchants.
The volume of trade was so large that no merchant was
consciously
excluded either by the Indians or the Iranians. In the port of
Calicut on the
Malabar Coast in ia, traders from 'Bahrain, Baghdad, Kazirun and
Shiraz
could be found'346. may also be mentioned that sometimes the
Maldive
islands served as points of 'change between Indians and
Iranians. For the
latter it was a convenient halting place way to South-East Asia.
For
Indians, Maldives Island were a major source the supply of
cowries and
tortoise shell. Hence, Indians regularly sailed to these sands,
the Indian
rulers on the Malabar Coast politically dominated it. On the
aldives, the
Indians and Iranians would exchange their goods. Sometimes,
Brians
bound for the Malabar Coast of India would prefer to travel via
the Maldive
lsands.
Some of the major foreign travelers who passed through Ormuz
on
way to Mia during fifteenth century testified to the strong
Indian presence
on the island.
Nocolo Conti, the Italian who sailed from Basra to Ormuz between
1420
and A.D./829 and 834 A.H.347 and who was in the Orient including
India for
almost decades before returning to Venice in 1444 A.D./853 A.H.,
arrived
at the Gujarat part of Cambay on board a Iranian ship from Ormuz
after a
346 "The Career and Legend of Voso da Gatno", p.103. 347 "India
in the Fifteenth Century, "The Travels of Noco/o Conti", p. 5.
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191
journey about one month348, In 1440 A.D./849 A.H., he found
Calicut "a
very noble emporium of the Persians"349.
'Abd-ur-Razzaq, an envoy sent in 1441 A.D./850 A.H. by
Shahrukh,
the limurfcf ruler of Iran to Vijayanagara, travelled via Ormuz.
Seeing its
commercial srosperity he rioted 'Ormuz, has not its equal on the
surface of
the globe'350. He wd among the merchant community, Indians
from
'Bengal', 'the countries of Malabar', the ports of Bijayanagar'
and
'Gudzarat'. Among Indians there were certainly Hindus as he
says,
'Persons of all religions, and even idolaters, are found in that
number in
this city, and no injustice is permitted towards any person
whatever'351.
The ship had several merchants who carried their goods
including
horses for n Calicut.352 N Vijayanagara he found several
'inhabitants of
established353l They had access to the king. 354
Nikitin travelled with merchants from Ormuz who carried horses
and
arrived at via Gujarat and Cambay in 1469 A.D./878 A.H.355 He
speaks of
a number of ssan/s at Bidar where they served in administration
as well as
in the army 356 'M-ur-Razzaq he speaks of the commercial
prosperity of
Ormuz. He noted muz is a vast emporium of all the world; you
found
there people and goods'.
348 C.H.l.,VolVl, p.376. 349 India in the Fifteenth Century,
"The Journey of 'Abd-Er-Razzaq", p. 5 350 India in the Fifteenth
Century, "The Journey of 'Abd-Er-Razzaq", p. 5 351 Ibid p 7 352
Ibid p.18 353 Ibid p.39 354 Ibid pp.39,41 355 India in the
Fifteenth Century, Travel of Nikitin”, p.8 356 Ibid .p. 14
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192
The Russian traveler mentions Dabul, another seaport which
was
ruled by Muslim and which imported horses for supplying to the
kingdom of
Gulbarga .357
Towards the end of the fifteenth century, Santo Stefano
proceeded
from Bombay with goods on behalf of a merchant of Damescuss
to
Ormuz358. He Bribed the Americans resid359ing on the island as
'... the
merchants that travel Brout of India into Iran or out of Iran
into India, for the
more part do all arrive in 'island'55.
Petro de Covilha, who preceded Vasco da Gama and was
the first Portuguese to reach India via the Red Sea route went
back from
India to Ormuz .360
The distinct impression is that the maritime trade of Iran with
India
"in particular, and the east in general, reached a high level of
activity in the
last decade the fifteenth century in both variety and
volume"361.
This observation is buttressed by descriptions left by
European
visitors to nwzin the first decade of the sixteenth century.
Vartema, the
Italian who came to tin 1506 A.D./915 A.M. called it "the noble
city of
Ormuz362.
357 Ibid p. 20 358 Ibidi Journey of Hieronimo Disanto Stefano”
p.9 359 360 Ibid. p.378 361 Ibid p.123 362 John winter Jones (tr),
The Itinerary of Ludivco Di Varthema of Bologna from 1502 to 1502
New Delhi
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193
In Iran, Vartema made friends with an Iranian merchant, who
remained with throughout his travels in India and beyond363. He
found in
Calicut merchants lOrmtvzand Iran364.
He found rice being shipped to iran from the port of Mangalore,
just
north of manore (Cannur). 365 The port sent fifty to sixty ships
annually
with cargoes of Cannanore received horses from Iran, which were
sent to
the kingdom of pyanagara366. According to him, 200 ships came to
India
every year63.
The Portuguese traveler Barbosa followed Vartema. The former
spent all his
the western coast of India and was therefore in a very good
position to
assess describe the relative importance-of different port in the
Indian
Ocean. He noted, in this is city (Ormuz) are many merchants of
substance
and many very great ships. It as right good harbor where many
sorts of
goods are handled which came hither from many lands, and from
here
they barter them with many parts of India". He then on to list
the goods
brought to Ormuz from India.
Spices, textiles and rice headed the list. Among spices he
mentions
pepper, doves, ginger, cardamoms, eagle-wood, sandalwood,
brasilwood,
myrobolands, winds, saffron, etc., other imported goods included
indigo,
wax, iron, sugar, rice a great store)', cocoanuts, 'a great
abundance of
precious stones', porcelain and denzoin. In this list, some
items such as
363 1397 p.11 364 Ibid p.61 365 Ibid p. 50 366 Ibid p.51
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194
cloves, precious stones and porcelain had seen imported into
India from
South-East Asia.
About textiles brought from India, Barbosa says, "They have
also
great plenty iCombaya, Chaul and Dabul clothes, and from Benga/a
they
bring many Simbafte, ihich are a sort of very thin cotton cloth,
greatly
prized among them and highly valued for turbans and shirts for
which they
use them".
Barbosa confirms his predecessors about commodities imported
into
India Iran. Horses constituted the most valuable item of Iranian
export.
Most of them rare meant for the Vijayanagara Empire. Ships,
which carried
horses, were also baded with 'abundance of dates, raisins, salt
and
sulphur, as well as coarse seed fearls in which Moors of
Narsingha take
great delight'367.
In short, the overwhelming evidence points to a steady and
flourishing maritime trade between India and Iran in the
fifteenth century,
which was mutually beneficial. Since the Indian goods brought to
Iran were
re-exported to the neighbouring Arabian countries, to states
located on the
eastern and northern coasts the Mediterranean Sea and the
Ottoman
Empire, traders of many other aiionalities such as Syrians,
Armedians,
Ottomans, Italians, etc., also participated
The coming of the Portuguese in 1498 A.D./907 A.H. in the
Indian
Ocean had profound effect on Indo-lranian maritime trade. They
failed to
stop ships playing between India and the Red Sea. As a result,
they could
not prevent supplies of spices going to Egypt and from thence to
Europe. 367 ''The Career and Legend of Vasco do Gama",p. 184.
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195
As a partial recompense to his failure, the Portuguese sought to
control
India's maritime trade with the Persian Gulf. 368
.
The Portuguese ships mounted attacks on Asian shipping
between
Red Sea, Persian Gulf and India369. Their superior firepower
enabled them
to pillage burn and sink these ships. An era of indiscriminate
warfare
began. The Portuguese established their hold over Ormuz.
Their
domination over Indo-lranian maritime trade began.
The Portutuese could keep a tab over the trade of luxury
goods
(from Iran, Far East and China), which entered Europe via the
eastern
Mediterranean coast, although, in this century Venetian
merchants began
to prefer the markets of Egypt 370
In 1515 A.D./924 A.H. Albuquerque captured Ormuz. He reduced
the local ruler Turan Shah to a state of vassalage67. He
established
diplomatic relationship with Shaft Isma'il in 1514 A.D./923 A.H.
and
ensured the Portuguese interests were protected and
well-served.
By this time Krishnadeva Raya, the ruler of Jayanagara,
conscious of the Portuguese might and their role in hindering or
helping
the supplies of horses from the Arabian Peninsula and the
Persian Gulf
entered into an alliance with the European371. This further
fortified the
Portuguese position the western coast of India and enhanced
their role in
Indo-lranian maritime trade. The sixteenth century saw the
emergence of
new patterns of trade in the area. "The Portuguese promised to
exclusively
368 Ibid., pp. 229-30. 369 Tracy (ed), "The Rise of Merchant
Empires", Cambridge, 1990, pp. 24, 26. TheCareer and Legend of
Vasco da Gomo", p. 287. 370 Sanjay Subramanyam (ed), “Sinners and
Saints, The succossors of Vaso da Gama” New Delhi, 1998. 371 Ibid
20-23
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196
supply Vijayanagara with horses for their part, Vijayanagara
would supply
Goa (the Portuguese headquarters in the East) via their ports of
Anko/a
and Honavar, with other goods such as saltpeter, iron and
textiles"372.
In the early 15th century, the Chinese admiral Chen Ho brought
fleets
toOrmuz and 'Aden'. According to Arab geographers, the port of
'Aden was
notable for its spice trade. Ibn Batuta noted the presence of
vessels from
the Indian ports of campbay, Thana, Quilon, Calicut, Manga/ore,
Honavar
and Goa and also the Settlement of Indian merchants at
'Aden'.
Iranian merchants were settled along the west coast of India,
as
evident from be accounts of 'abd-ur-Razzaq and the Russian
visitor
Afanas/ Nikitin. Many Iranians were employed in the Deccan.
Nikitin also
noted this Iranian presence by asserting that "the rulers and
the nobles in
the land of India are all Khurasanians". Within confirmed Ibn
Battuta's
report on the vast trade in horses between Iran and India
sea,
commenting particularly on this activity at the port of Daibul
in S/ndha. The
Venetian Wcolo di Conti supported the evidence of widespread
involvement in the maritime trade with India in the 15th
century. He referred
to Calicut as being a emporium of the Iranians.373
During the 15th and 16th centuries, the port of Cambay in
Gujarat
held a preeminent commercial position in India. According to Ibn
Bathuta, it
was the finest city Sultanate374. Many Iranian merchants were
settled at
Cambay and engaged in areas trade. Their mansion and mosques
were
constructed in the Iranian style. order to create favourable
conditions for
trade, the Delhi Sultan entrusted the ministration of Cambay to
leading 372 Ibid., p.26 373 Battua, Travels Tr H. Gibb Vol III,
Cambridge 1971, pp.730, 733 374 Ibid
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197
merchant. The first merchant to be entrusted ' in the government
of Camby
was Mallk-ur-Taujjar Parviz from Kaz/rin, Iran375. other
celebrated
merchant of Cambay at this time was
Shahab-ud-Din-i-zirun376.
Indo- Iran overland trade routes: Maritime trade between India
and Iran is better documented than
overland which is inadequately described and poorly understood
by
contemporary winters. There was also the interchangeably of sea
and
land routes73. The main and route was the long established silk
route,
linking West Asia and Uzbek 'an with China. It is significant
that the trade
routes remained almost the same constantly in use throughout the
entire
period under discussion. In spite of relentless three decades of
warfare
at the end of the 14th century, activity along these land routes
continued
unabated. Iran was described serial by many European travelers.
At the
beginning of the 15th century, on the prosperity of cities like
Tabriz and
Su/tan/yya377. According to the months of June, July and
August,
numerous merchants from India carrying a variety of spices came
to
Sultaniyya, whose importance was partly to the fact that it was
the
headquarter and the military camp of the ruler of stern Iran,
Prince
Miranshah. This instance indicates that the purchasing power
royal camp
was powerful economic factor. This factor applied to the Mongol,
Tmurid
and Turkmen periods and later in Safavid times.378
Heraf played an important role in the Timurid trading pattern.
In the
14th Century it became the main center of the north-east and
south-west
trade. Due to the gradual fragmentation of the Timurid legacy,
the
375 Ibid 48 376 Caj Tr. Le Strnage pp 156-7. 377 Bottuta,
Travels” Tr H. Gibbi Vol III. Cambridge, 1971, pp. 730-733, 378
Ibidi
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198
increasing isolationism of the chinese behind the Great Wall,
and the rising
power of the Uzbeks, the full flow of trade through western Iran
and
Central Asia from east to West began to lesson. But trade with
India
strongly persisted379. This was perhaps because of the
long-landing
tradition of overland Indo-lran trade. Ibn Battuta's well-known
and detailed
description of facets of this trade deserves mention. He has
recorded the
extensive land trade in horses, which were exported to India in
droves,
each approximating six thousand. An individual trader had one or
two
hundred horses, waten mainly to Muitan in Sindh. These were the
horses,s
taken valued for their length and length of peace"380. Ibn
Battuta also noted
that silk fabric such as yamkhab were manufactured at Nishabur
and
exported to India. Venetian emmissaries have left interesting
descriptions
of the state of trade in the 15th century, ice Ca/w/o's time,
Sultaniyya had
declined in importance, Tabriz having taken its ice as the
capital. It was an
outlet for silk manufactured from Yazcf and exported India.
Kashan was
also known for its silk manufacture. There was a large import
spice in the
Turkmen period. Isfahan and Shiraz at this time possessed large
and
assmopolitan assemblies of merchants.
Generally the route pattern did not have that much evolution
in
Safavid sriod. The most important transportation means were
camel,
horse, and mule and the first place, all caravans were dependant
upon
pastures, food, and most fplantly, water of different
regions.
There was no wheeled transportation means. Political
turbulences
made the routes insecure. Practically, trade was carried out
through sea
than land, but on the hole geographical situations influenced
the choice of
379 P. 48 380 Tr. Le Strnage pp 156-7
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199
routes. Moreover, seasonal changes and monsoon winds affected
sailing.
Basically, the ships heading from India ports to iran started
from November
to May and only insignificant local sailings here done from June
to
October. A journey from Surat to 'Abbas port in a European ship
carrying
300 tons of loads took around one month. Small Surat made ships
with 10
tons took around the same time and Arab made ships navigated
Indian
Ocean to the east of Africa or turned around Indian Ocean and
sailed up to
the eastern coasts of India.
As soon as items and materials arrived in 'Abbas port, they
were
sent to one section or towards the north through Jiroft, Bam,
Kerman,
Yazd, and Ardakan, and are they were dispatched to the eastern
border
route in parallel with Kavir Desert to fates, Birjand, Farah,
Qandahar, and
then to India, or toward the east through route to Sistan and
Hirmand
Valley up to Qandahar, but this route was dangerous and insecure
due to
the attacks of Baluchs. There were to routes in gandahar one of
which
stretched to central Asia through Ghazni and Kabul and ither one
was
stretched to the east up to Moltan and Lahore. The northern
route fetched
to Isfahan crossing the cities like Lar, Jahrom, Khafreh,
Shiraz, Zarghan,
been, Oujan, Aspas, Deh (village) Gherdu, Yazdkhast, and
Qomsheh.
Other routes connecting 'Abbas port to Shiraz through Darab,
Fasa, and
connection from biraz to Isfahan was through Sivand, Deh
Beidogh, and
Abadeh prior connection the main route in Yazdkhast. One route
was
stretched to the north, i.e., it started in ZLengeh port and
connected to the
main road in Lar through the roads of ard, Bastak, and Namirl.
In smaller
ports of Rig port and Rey Shahr port the rutes were separated
near
Boraz/an, and the route of Shiraz crossed through Dalaki,
Kazrun, and
Dashteh (plain) Arzhan. According to the climate changes these
rutes were
affected and excruciating heat of day time was tolerable at
night time, the
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200
degree of coldness was so high that made travelling impossible.
In April
28 A.D./1037 A.H. one of the English representatives called
Robert Laftus
writes: stayed in Deh (village) Gherdu for six days till the
road was opened
for the caravan beause crossing through heavy snow was
impossibility" but
his messenger dies on the way. If they took a wrong path there
were
many dangers lurking and the lands were delusive. In 1676
A.D./1085
A.H. John Fryer was troubled in his trip and it was time when
"in addition to
heat and sand in day time, wind carried plague and asshopper...
climbing
was very difficult and water was stagnant... water ... heavy my
and terrible"
and on the whole "one of limbo".381 Although places and lodges
ire
bearable in burgs, through experience Fryer found out that there
were
always aravanserais on the main routes. All through 17th century
safety of
the roads were aceptable and there were road-guards in charge
of
travellers' safety and protection ir materials. During this
period remarkable
buildins were made, and officials and merchants started to
construct
caravanserai, bridges, cisterns, baths, and markets, addition to
the routes
of India and central Asia which crossed through Farah and
Qandahar, there was another route from Farah to Heart and
from
there to Mashhad. The routes leading to Mashhad crossed through
Ba/kh,
Samarqand, Bukhara, and Khiva and Marv, There was another route
in
Mashahd on the old silk road crossing wishabour, Sabzevar,
Damghan,
Semnan, Tehran (which was not that much important compared
to
ancient Ray), and Saveh, Here the route was divided. One
stretched to
the south through Qom and Kashan, and from Kashan it was
stretched of
Isfahan, and from the south it was stretched to costal areas
through Shiraz
or from 5 southeastern point it was stretched to Kerman and Bam
through
Naeen, Wakan, and Yazd and from there it was either stretched to
the 381 Gyer, Vol II, pp 172-3, 185
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201
south or to the east through India. The other route was
stretched to the
west through Hamadan and there it divided into two directions.
The
northern route was stretched up to Aleppo Plough Sanandaj,
Muse/,
Mard/'n, and Arfa, and the western route was stretched up
Baghdad, and it
was divided there. One led to Muse/ from the north in parallel
to fa (Tigris)
and the other one was stretched up to desert and Aleppa in
parallel to
Euphrates. The main third route crossed Saveh and led toQazv/n
from
thenorthwest, from Qazvn it was led to Rasht, Caspian Sea, and
Ardab//
and from the north it led to Shamakhi and Darband or to Tabriz
through
Su/tan/yeh and M/yameh, Tabriz was,.one of the main industrial
centres
and it was connected to all regions, here, one route led to
Yerevan along
with a route stretched to northward to Tiblisi and Georgia and
Armenia,
and then to Turkey and reached its first important ', Arzerum.
From there
it was stretched up to Trabozan coasts and through tetolia to
Istanbul,
Borse, or Smyrna in Eje. Another route of Tab/'z crossed Khol,
D/arbakr,
and Arfa and from there it was connected to the main route
of
Some aspects of merchant activities in Indo-lran trade: Thus we
see that was an extensive and well organized system of
trading between India and Iran. A network of intrepid merchants
operated
on both sides, there was a close connection of traders residing
on both
sides of the Persian Gulf. Among the various merchant groups
were the
Rahdanya and the Afghan mlndhas, who due to their
specialized
knowledge and trade operations were able to play a predominant
role in
Indo-lran trade at some stages and in certain regions.
The establishment of the trade of the Rahdaniya can be traced
to
ancient mes. It was within the commercial framework of the
western part of
the Indian ocean, ie., the ancient Erythrean Sean, that this
Jewish trading
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202
system was established. As learnt from the Kitab-u!~Moluk va!
Mamalik of
Ibn-i-Khurdadbeh in the mid-9th century, these Jewish merchants
used to
leave from the central part of ranee, and were the only ones who
formed a
commercial contact between the Mediterranean and the Indian
Ocean382.
In fact, they used to undertake vast Journeys all the way to
China. Their
nomenclature was derived from the Persian Rah Dan i.e., 'those
familiar
with routes'. During the 11th and 12th centuries, Jewish trade
in the Indian
Ocean became largely restricted to the routes between India and
gypt, as
indicated by the Cairo Geniza documents.
Indo-lran trade had to pass through the three north-western
passes
of the Indian subcontinent, viz., the So/an; the Sanghar and the
Gumal.
These dangerous and seasonal383 routes were dominated by the
Afghans.
From early times, the Bo/an pass was used by merchants and
served as a
passageway that linked Sindh with the eastern Iran plateau384.
The
Sanghar Pass provided the shortest and most direct avan route
between
Multan and Qandahar. The latter place was most important
emporium of
the eastern Iranian plateau and the former of south Punjab. Arab
writers
referred to Indian caravans for Iran assembling at Multan.
Several Afghan
tribes, among whom the Luharnis were the most important,
were
collectively known as Powindahs. Babur in his Memoirs refers to
the
Luharnis as a significant group of merchants. They were active
in this
trade since the 10th century, and possessed a rituual monopoly
of transport
animals.. Thus protectionism was an intrinsic part of their
mercantile
practice. Their agreements were variants of commenda
contracts.
382 Vekubdemb o, 36 383 Like Sea routes 384 Jean Francois
Jarrige and Richard Meadow, “The Antecedents of Civilisation in the
Indus Valley” in Scientific American, 1980, pp.122-33
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203
The Afghan Powindahs were a classic example of mediatory trade
in
Central Asia andIndo-lran-trade385. According toKhazanov, they
were able
to do this since their caravan routes coincided with their
pastoral
migrations. As non-sedentary merchants, they were a link between
major
urban areas. Overland trade had continued to flow, from the
ancient period
onwards, through the two predominantly Afghan cities, Kabul
and
Qandahar. Merchants from Khurasan and other places in Iran
frequented
these two centres. A large segment of emigre traders from India
to were
Multanis. During the Sultanate period (1206-1526 A.D./615-935
A.H)
Multan was a major entrepot due to its strategic position and
also its
importance as a textile manufacturing centre of the Sindh and
Punjab area.
Multanis are first mentioned as important merchants by the
Sultanate historian wd-Dan Baranl, writing in the 14th
century386. Multani
merchants were both Hindu !KJ Muslim, andlater settled downin
large
numbers in Isfahan.
Summing up As stated earlier, regular overland trade between
India and Iran was
also a feature of the trade relation between the two countries.
The
conquest of Timur, by creatfng a single political authority over
a vast
landmass stretching between the bleack Sea and the Gangetic
plain of
India, further stimulated it.
Among major items sent from India were cotton textiles, indigo
dyes,
saffron, spices of different varieties, medicinal herbs, etc.
Indian imports
385 Dale p.62 386 See:Irfan Hobib's Discussion of Baranl's text
in 'non-agricultural production and Urban Economy',
-
204
consisted of rorses, asafetida, dried fruits, etc., besides all
these, India was
a major source of supply of slaves to Iran387.
Amir Timur had carried one-lac Hindu slaves. Indian slaves
purchased at low lees in the markets of Delhi were sold in
Gazni,
Khurasan and Bukhara388.
Indo~lranian trade, both by the overland and sea routes
survived
political and chnological changes. The latter only affected the
volume,
variety and frequency of Thus, merchants of different
religious
denominations, including Muslims, JewsHindus acted within a
framework
of mutual interests to further Indo-lran commercial relations.
It was within
the context of common gain that both the two commercially
significant
regions interacted and gave rise to a common culture, spanning
the
ancient age to medieval time.
387 Cambridge economic History of India, Vol. h, p. 85. Shadab
Bonu, "lndia;s Overland Slave-Trade in the Medieval Period",
Proceedings, Indian History Congress, 58th Session, 1997, p. 315.
388 Ibid p. 316.