مناسبات تجاري سياسي حكومت زند با كمپاني هند شرقي انگليس

The Political and Trade Ties between the Zand Government and the British East India Company

The relation of the Zandiyeh Government with the East India Company is one of the most prominent features of the Zandiyeh Dynasty in Iran. As far as can be claimed, a thorough examination of the Iranian history and the formation of the Arab states on the Southern shores of the Persian Gulf would not be possible without considering the Zandiyeh links with the East India Company. Following the death of Nader Shah, and faced with Russia in the North, the Ottomans in the South and West, and the government of Shahrokh, the grandson of Nader Shah in the East, the Zandiyeh king Karim Khan looked favorably upon the achievements of the East India Company in India considering to establish extensive ties with it as the only way to recover the shattered Iranian economy. On the one hand, the policy enabled Karim Khan Zand to utilize the naval capacity of the Company to suppress the heads of certain tribes in a number of Persian Gulf islands, including Mir Mohana, as well as the Chiefs of Kish and Hormoz Islands; On the other hand, the newfound relationship proved instrumental in renewing trade in the Iranian ports to keep the balance of trade steady. The article will examine four fundamental faetors of the Zandiyeh era: The trade conditions in Iranian cities and the role of the East India Company; the relationship between the Company and the Zandiych Government; and, the rivalry between Western companies, with particular emphasis on the British in the trade process.