The Domination and the Geopolitics of the Environment: Environmental and Geographical Impacts of British Colonial Trade in the Persian Gulf (Case Study: Slave and Pearl Trade during 19-20th Centuries)

Noroozi, Jamshid; Hanifeh, Masoumeh

doi:10.30465/ehs.2026.54357.2091

The Domination and the Geopolitics of the Environment: Environmental and Geographical Impacts of British Colonial Trade in the Persian Gulf (Case Study: Slave and Pearl Trade during 19-20th Centuries)

Document Type : .

Authors

Jamshid Noroozi ¹

Masoumeh Hanifeh ²

¹ Associate Professor, Department of History, Faculty of Literature, Alzahra University, Tehran- Iran

² Department of History, Faculty of Literature, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

10.30465/ehs.2026.54357.2091

Abstract

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the British East India Company, followed by the British government, profoundly reshaped the exploitation of natural resources in the Persian Gulf, deeply entwined with the region’s commercial, military, and geographical structures. Its distinctive climate, flora and fauna, and productive maritime and agricultural systems made the Gulf a key focus of British and East India economic policy. This study investigates the expansion of trade in slaves, pearls, industrial goods, and foodstuffs, examining how these trades interacted with the local environment and highlighting their destructive effects on ecosystems and indigenous structures. The core argument is that British profit-driven priorities dominated trade, leading to extensive overexploitation of local resources, with environmental concerns addressed only when they aligned with economic and geopolitical interests. Focusing particularly on the slave and pearl trades, the research draws upon surviving records of the East India Company and British India. The findings show that Britain’s colonial presence accelerated depletion, undermined ecological resilience, and disrupted the subsistence systems of local communities. Overall, the study demonstrates that under the logic of economic domination, environmental preservation was considered primarily when it served the objectives of the colonial power.

Keywords

Britain

East India Company

Environment

Persian Gulf

Slave Trade

Subjects