The role of silk merchants and Silk cocoon breeders of Guilan in the social and political developments of the Constitutional Revolution

Rah, Nadia; Foroozesh, Sina; P, Masomali

doi:10.30465/ehs.2025.51681.2039

The role of silk merchants and Silk cocoon breeders of Guilan in the social and political developments of the Constitutional Revolution

Document Type : .

Authors

nadia rah ¹

sina foroozesh ²

masomali p ³

¹ PhD candidate in History,Scinece and Research Barnch, Islamic Azad Universiy

² Associate Professor Department of History and Archaeology, Scinece and Research Barnch, Islamic Azad Universiy

³ Assistant Professor Department of History and Archaeology, Scinece and Research Barnch, Islamic Azad Universiy

10.30465/ehs.2025.51681.2039

Abstract

Guilan silk played an important role in the economic market of northern Iran during the Qajar era. As a result, a large part of the people of Guilan, including the producers and merchants of this product, were associated with the silk economy. However, the government's economic policies, both domestically and internationally, did not provide for the interests of the silk industry. Therefore, the opposition to the economic policies of the central government by the silk producers and merchants, along with the beginning of the constitutional era, became an excuse for these groups to participate in the political and social events of the constitutional era. The present article seeks to ask what was the role of the silk merchants and silk manufacturers of Guilan in the social and political developments of the Constitutional Revolution? The research findings show that the interests of silk producers and merchants, combined with increasing pressure from the government and local governments, led to an alliance between them and the peasants and constitutional mujahideen to participate in the constitutional movement. The present research is conducted using a historical method and an analytical approach, using library and documentary data.

Keywords

Silk

Guilan

silk merchants

Silk manufacturers

constitutionalism

Subjects