Brief Description
This book considers the economic, social and political importance of the silk trade in Safavid Iran.
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This book considers the economic, social and political importance of the silk trade in Safavid Iran. It focuses on four aspects of this trade: the role of silk in Iranian commercial policy, the interaction between agents of the state and foreign merchants, the routes along which silk was transported and, critically, the economic and social difficulties that contributed to the collapse of the regime in the 1720s. This represents a major contribution to the current debates on the social and economic history of the premodern world.
Review Quotes
1. '... this book represents a contribution of whose parameters and paradigm any future study of Safavid Iran which purports to offer a comprehensive analysis of the period will have to take account.' Journal of Semitic Studies
2. 'Professor Matthee's study is a major contribution to the economic history of Safavid Iran.' Scandinavian Economic History Review
3. 'The book is well documented and insightful and manages to go beyond its seemingly narrow limits, to become an important contribution in the study of Safavid Iran.' Acta Orientalia
4. "This book is an important study and an exceptionally good read." Jrnl of Anthropological Research
5. .."an astonishing book...Aspelndid contribution to the period and to Middle Eastern economic history in general, this is a book upper-division and graduate students will want to keep within easy reach." Choice
6. ..."an important contribution to Safavid economic history, and it is a welcome addition to the scant literature that exists on Iran's early modern economy. It should be read by all scholars interested in the silk trade, as it gives an excellent account of the international importance of Iranian silk." American Historical Review
7. .,"an astonishing book...Aspelndid contribution to the period and to Middle Eastern economic history in general, this is a book upper-division and graduate students will want to keep within easy reach." Choice
8. .,."an important contribution to Safavid economic history, and it is a welcome addition to the scant literature that exists on Iran's early modern economy. It should be read by all scholars interested in the silk trade, as it gives an excellent account of the international importance of Iranian silk." American Historical Review
9. .".an astonishing book...Aspelndid contribution to the period and to Middle Eastern economic history in general, this is a book upper-division and graduate students will want to keep within easy reach." Choice
10. ."..an important contribution to Safavid economic history, and it is a welcome addition to the scant literature that exists on Iran's early modern economy. It should be read by all scholars interested in the silk trade, as it gives an excellent account of the international importance of Iranian silk." American Historical Review
11. ..".an important contribution to Safavid economic history, and it is a welcome addition to the scant literature that exists on Iran's early modern economy. It should be read by all scholars interested in the silk trade, as it gives an excellent account of the international importance of Iranian silk." American Historical Review
