Latest / The Safavid Empire: Persia's Return to Greatness — Fexingo History
The Silk of Safavid Iran: Shah Abbas and the Armenian Merchants of New Julfa
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the economic backbone of the Safavid Empire under Shah Abbas I: the Armenian merchant community of New Julfa. They trace how Shah Abbas forcibly relocated tens of thousands of Armenians from the Caucasus to his new capital, Isfahan, and turned their commercial acumen into an imperial asset. Through the lens of trade in raw silk—the Safavid state's most lucrative export—they follow the journey of a bale of silk from the Caspian shores to the caravanserais of Isfahan, then overland to Aleppo and the Levant, and across the seas to Venice and beyond. They…
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