Document Type : .

Authors

• Mohammad Reza Askarani ¹
• Mohammad piri ²

¹ Associate Professor of History Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

² Associate Professor, of History, University of Sistan and Baluchestan University, Zahedan, Iran.

Abstract

Extensive Iran-India trade relations declined on the eve of the constitution but these small relationships were also reflected in Iranian society and were effective in creating new ideas in politics and culture. The main issue of the research is the how new capitalism was born in Iran and the role of merchants in creating a social movement. The purpose of this article is recognizing the status of trade with India and its impact on Iranian society for about twenty years before the start of World War I. This has a qualitative and "descriptive-analytical" approach and has been done with the "documentary" method and based on "library" sources. It is assumed that the developments in Iranian society were influenced by the arrival and departure of merchants to India and Research findings also show: Increased trade activity between the two countries paved the way for social modernization but after the constitution and with the outbreak of civil war and social unrest, trade with India declined and However, these relations helped Iranians become familiar with some of the methods of agricultural and industrial production but with the arrival of the occupying countries in World War I, it faced a deadly challenge

Keywords

• Commerce
• Constitution
• Social Modernization
• India
• Colonialism

Extended Abstract:

 The effect of trade relations with India on the discourse of modernization and constitutionalism of Iranians (1317 Ah /1900 AD to 1332 Ah /1914 AD)

 Introduction: After the official separation of Afghanistan with the signing of the Paris Agreement, the competition between Russia and England in Iran changed from a political and military shape to an economic competition. A lot of British goods flowed from the gate of the eastern borders to different parts of Iran. Iranian merchants who traded with Europe through Ottoman and Russia expanded their long-standing trade relations with the East through India and, regained their historical role in establish trade between East and West to some extent. While in the west, they were familiar with the methods created by the industrial revolution regarding the production and exchange of goods, they created many commercial and cultural exchanges in the eastern borders with India. British colonial presence in India narrowed the field of competition, however, the Iranians had the advantage that they were culturally more similar to the Indians and these historical ties prevented their business relationship from breaking. The contact with the Zoroastrians of India, who had a privileged position in the society, was also beneficial, and some modernizing and reformist ideas also entered Iran in this way.

Now, the main question is, what effect did trade relations with India have on the modernization discourse of the Qajar period?

Is assumed that the increase in trade exchanges with India changed the attitude of Iranians, and the movement of merchants to India was influential in the development of the constitutional period.

The relations between Iran and India have attracted the attention of many researchers, however, most of the written works are not related to the Qajar period, or have investigated political issues. Among the few works published in the field of economic relations, the article of Ali Akbar Yazdani (2008) is essential in introducing documents. However, it only deals with the tea trade and does not show the different dimension of the trade relations between Iran and India. Work of Charles Cesei (1369) has valuable statistics about the trade between Iran and India during the Qajar period. Willem Flor (1365) has also given short information about the social status of Iranian and Indian merchants in his book. John Foran (1371) studied the reasons for the underdevelopment of Iran's economy during the Qajar period. The role of the British East India Company in Iran has also been studied by Gholamreza Varharam (1364). Moreover Haider Amiri (1393), Abbas Sarafaraz (1385), and Habibullah Saeedinia (1390) have also dealt with the commercial exchanges between Iran and India during the Qajar period through the Persian Gulf and the issue of opium export and arms smuggling in this Seaway, However, most of the published works have either dealt with the political relations between Iran and India or have focused on the extensive political and economic relations between Iran and India during the Safavid period. Since there is no independent work that shows the contribution of merchants and trade exchanges with India in the modernization process in Iran. The importance of trade with India during the Qajar period and the views of merchants and Iranians who traveled to India have been evaluated.

Methodology: The purpose of this article is to recognize the position of trade with India and its impact on Iranian society for about two decades before the start of the First World War, which has been done with a "qualitative" and "descriptive-explanatory" approach and with a "documentary" method.

The authors reviewed the trade relations with India in the Qajar period based on "library" sources and by referring to the archives and using the "documents" method; they evaluated the validity of the data, and then they do a "qualitative" analysis.

Discussion and conclusion: Indian and European goods that flowed to Iran from the beginning of the Qajar period until the beginning of the First World War, made Iranians familiar with new ways of trading. Trade with India also encouraged Iranians to produce products such as tea, opium, and cotton, which changed the pattern of cultivation and damaged the subsistence economy of the country. On the other hand, in addition to human and goods smuggling, European commercial companies sometimes ignored the rights of Iranian business people. Indian and English merchants were supported by capitulation, and the pressure of the consulates towards the customs employees. The increase of the British military presence under the pretext of fighting arms smuggling caused that country to dominate the trade of the southern and eastern regions of Iran.

Observing these inequalities and foreign interference was one of the reasons for the dissatisfaction of busines people and intellectuals and their tendency towards constitutionalism. The idea of social modernization and legalism entered the country through trade with India.

After the constitution, fruitless efforts were made to establish a bank. However, due to civil wars, road insecurity, and the weakening of the central government's sovereignty, trade with India decreased. After that, the British government focused on maintaining the oil flow from the Persian Gulf. Furthermore, for several decades, the vital artery of Iran's trade with India was exclusively available to England.

Keywords: commerce, constitutionalism, social modernization, India, colonialism