GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Persia, wrote Thévenot, the French traveller in the 17th century, was like a caravansarai: merchants travelled in from many directions. This was particularly true of the period from the Timurids to the end of the Safavids. Routes criss-crossed the Iranian plateau linking east and west, the steppes of Central Asia and the plains of India with the ports of the Mediterranean and north and south, down the rivers of Russia to the shores of the Persian Gulf carrying trade from the East Indies, India and China to Europe. Along the roads were strung the main towns, their sites determined as much by geographical and economic factors as political. It is notable that the major trading routes, whilst fluctuating in importance, remained almost constantly in use throughout this period, though from the Mongol ascendancy to the collapse of the Safavids the state of Persia and those of its neighbours in Asia were remarkably transformed.

After the disintegration of Mongol rule, Tīmūr aspired to similar far-reaching power but after a period of violent success his empire split. By the mid-10th/16th century three states had arisen which divided the control of much of the present geographical areas of North Africa, the Middle East, Asia Minor, Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan and India between them for nearly three centuries. These were Ottoman Turkey, Safavid Persia and Mughal India. Across the sea first the Portuguese and then the English and Dutch companies added a new maritime dimension to the ancient trading patterns.