A Caspian State: Hedayat-Allah Khan and the Russian Presence in Gilan, 1759-1786

• In Event: Three Studies of Russian Foreign Policy in the Early Modern Era

Abstract

This paper explores political and economic conditions along the Caspian coast of Iran in the mid-to-late eighteenth century. It examines the role of silk trading in connecting Gilan to the circum-Caspian world. Using Persian-language narrative sources and Russian consular materials, the paper will argue that regional autonomy emerged in the southern and western Caspian as a result of the commercial and diplomatic relationships between local Iranian elites and the Russian consulate at Anzali. These relationships were mediated by merchant networks, operating between Rasht and Astrakhan.

Author

• Kevin Gledhill, Sacred Heart U