Under the early Qajars, Tabriz rose from being a provincial backwater in ruins to the foremost commercial entrepôt of Iran. Initially, its insignificant foreign trade was limited to Turkey (mostly raw Gilani silk), but, when the major commercial southern and western supply routes of Iran became unsafe and costly, trade moved to the northern route. Moreover, after Russia opened its territory to European goods in 1821, these also flowed via Tiflis to Tabriz. When ten years later Russia revoked this permission, the Tiflis trade moved to Tabriz via Trabzon, gradually replacing not only the Tiflis route but also the Istanbul-Erzerum route. This turned Trabzon into a quasi-“Iranian” port, as initially most of its imports were destined for or coming from Iran. Four-fifths of imports to Tabriz were European fabrics. Initially these had come from Russia, but, as of the 1820s, such were replaced by British, German, French, and Swiss fabrics. By mid-century, Manchester fabrics dominated the import trade of Tabriz. Thus, Great Britain took Russia's place as its primary trading partner, although by 1900 the tables had turned. During the majority of the nineteenth century, Caucasian Armenian merchants dominated Tabriz's foreign trade, with European merchants playing an important but limited role in the import of Manchester goods and the export of raw silk. After 1870, the importance of Tabriz as the commercial hub of N.W. Iran decreased, due to various reasons such as the outbreak of the Gilan silk disease, Russia stopping the transit of non-Russian goods, and the opening of the Suez Canal, but also because it became cheaper to import goods via Bushehr and Baghdad-Kermanshah. Nevertheless, even with a diminished role as a financial center and less foreign trade, Tabriz continued to be Iran's major commercial center until WW I.

While the functioning of the postal system in Iran before 1500 and after 1800 has been studied, this article analyzes, based entirely on primary sources, the operation and characteristics of the Iranian postal system between 1500 and 1800 for the very first time. Such a study enables scholars to better understand the functioning of communication between both government officials and private individuals in Safavid, Afshari, and Zand Iran. During this time, there were two types of messengers: express-mounted couriers (chapar) for official business and foot messengers (shaters) for both official and private mail. The designation of qased was rarely used to denote mail foot messengers.

Introduction

The reforms initiated by Reza Shah's urban modernization drive led to changes not only in cultural patterns of urban life in Iran and the economic structure of the country, but even in spatial organization. The full effect of these initiatives only started to be felt under Mohammad Reza Shah, who continued to pursue the policy of his predecessor. For our specific purpose—urban change under Reza Shah—we will focus on an analysis of the development of the Iranian city, specifically the following three aspects: spatial reorganization; economic changes; and consequences of urban change.

Our basic assumption is that the city, unlike any other phenomenon, became the symbol of political and socioeconomic transformation in Iran and that, to this day, it has preserved this character of Pahlavi modernization and change like no other institution or phenomenon.

Tobacco was ‘discovered’ by Christopher Columbus when he reached the Caribbean islands. The Carib Indians used tobacco, both for its medicinal and pleasurable properties and for ceremonial purposes. The result was tobacco's conquest of the world, which began with its introduction to Europe (France in 1556; Portugal, 1558; Spain, 1559, and England, 1565). The Portuguese soon also introduced it in India, probably around 1580. Tobacco is said to have been introduced to the Ottoman Empire (Istanbul) about 1601, but this probably happened much earlier. Its introduction into Iran, via India and/or Turkey, most likely occurred in the late 1590s. One source states that tobacco came to Iran in or around 1605. However, tobacco was certainly known before that time in both the Ottoman and Safavid Empires, since Anthony Sherley used tobacco when he arrived at the Orontes River (al-ᶜAsi) in Syria (part of the Ottoman Empire) on his first journey to Iran in 1598 and, as a tobacco addict, he certainly would have taken it with him to the latter country.

Until the twentieth century there was little change in the diet of Iranians. Bread was the major staple, accompanied by vegetables, fruits, yoghurt, and nuts. Meat and rice were a luxury food for most consumers. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries new food items were adopted by Persian consumers. After 1970, the modern Iranian diet—large amounts of white rice, meats, sugar-sweetened beverages and sweet/deserts, with few vegetables, herbs, nuts or fruits—has grown increasingly similar to the US diet, with the same health problems.

In February 1617, Jan Lucasz. van Hasselt arrived in Persia accompanying Pietro Della Valle (1586–1652), a Roman noble. Sometime between 1618 and 1621 Van Hasselt entered the service of Shah ʿAbbas I (r. 1588–1629), for whom he worked as a painter until the death of the shah. Later, during the reign of Shah Safi I (r. 1629–42) and until 1654 he tried to establish himself as a commercial agent for Persia. The present paper examines the career of this Dutch painter in Persia and the Netherlands. Meanwhile the artworks that may be attributed to him will be discussed.

Before discussing the establishment and functioning of the first real leprosarium in Iran, a brief explanation is given of the pathology of leprosy, the various names are listed under which it was known in Persian, and the earliest archeological evidence of its occurrence is presented. Also, societal behavior in Imperial Iran towards lepers is highlighted, while reference is made to the earliest medical descriptions of leprosy in Persian. Little is known about the occurrence of leprosy in Iran over the centuries, as evidenced by the lack of knowledge about its prevalence among medical practitioners and institutions in Iran, even as late as the 1920s. Although segregated villages with lepers existed prior to 1926, it was only as of then that the Mehrab Khan village became the first true Iranian leprosarium, when regular institutional medical treatment was offered by American missionary physicians. The funding agencies, medical personnel and treatment, the living environment of lepers and their numbers in Mehrab Khan are discussed as well as how its population size and status changed over time, and how it was transformed into a structural component of public medical care. Finally and briefly, the establishment and functioning of two other Iranian leprosaria is discussed as well as the slow but sure disappearance of the disease in Iran.

Turkic languages and dialects played a much more important role in Safavid Iran than is generally thought, while Azerbaijani Turkish in particular was widely spoken and written in Safavid Iran. It was not only the language of the court and the army, but it was also used in poetry, even by renowned poets who usually wrote in Persian. The Safavid shahs, many of whom wrote poetry in Turkish themselves, promoted its literary use. Also, Turkish was used in the court's official correspondence, for both internal and external affairs.