Power struggles and trade in the Gulf 1620-1820

Abstract

Between the death of Nadir Shah, in 1747, and the establishment of the Qajar dynasty in 1795 there were 48 years of Zand rule in Persia, during which time Gulf trade declined and European factories closed down in several ports. Historians have offered varied and insubstantial reasons for this decline. In this thesis an attempt has been made, through the detailed use of primary sources, to offer a more logical and more reasoned interpretation of these developments in place of the older, ill-founded arguments. In our view, the prime cause of the decline in trade and the withdrawal of the trading settlement from Bandar Abbas was the 'commotions', or power struggles in the region. On one hand was the struggle for overall control of Persia whose consequence was the ruin of trade. On the other, the commotion in the area of Bandar Abbas, brought about by MuUa Ali Shah, the Banu Ma in Shaikh, Shaikh Rashid and the Charak Arabs, which was the main cause of the withdrawal from that port. The cessation of trading at Bandar Riq and Khark island was caused by disturbances fomented by Mir Muhanna. According to the English, the main cause of the withdrawal of their settlement from Bandar Rlq was the conflict between Mir Muhanna and Karim Khan about Bandar Riq. But it was Mir Muhanna's suspicion that the English were his enemies and that they were the allies of Karim Khan which caused their expulsion. The Dutch, for their part, were expelled from Khark island after they had joined forces with Bushire in attacking Mir Muhanna on the orders of Karim Khan. In Bushire the case was different. Although the English acted neutrally in the conflicts they could not evade the dangers. They had suffered losses at Mir Muhanna's hands but Karim Khan believed that the English were refusing to help him against the Mir. The anger of Karim Khan, his determination not to receive the English in audience, and the fear that his brother, Zald Khan, would detain the English Agent in Bushire all motivated the withdrawal of the English settlement from there. At last, when the Qajar dynasty took control of all the Persian provinces at the beginning of the 19th century, the value of English trade with Persia increased enormously.