The Eurasian silk trade of the Armenians brought silver bullion imports to Iran. This silver was essential to Iran’s early state-building. Special measures were taken to accommodate the silk merchants of Julfa.
Less than a decade after Isfahan was chosen as the capital of Safavid Iran, a wealthy new suburb was constructed south of the river for the deported merchants. In 1619 the Shah granted this land exclusively to the prominent Armenian merchants after they offered the highest bid for the shah’s recently monopolized silk and won his silk auction against the English East India Company which had bid too low.
Ina Baghdiantz McCabe
Taken from Mano Chile
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