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Keywords
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commercial routes, Kish, Hormuz, Fars, Kerman, Iraq Ajam, Azerbaijan, trade, Persian Gulf.
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Abstract
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The Mongol invasions in Iran devastated large parts of the country, especially in the east and northeast. Destruction of trade routes and insecurity in the region have made caravans less likely to use this route and shifted business activities to ports and islands in the west of Persian Gulf, Kish Island and Hormuz Port, two major business centers with the outside world. The local rulers of hinterland regions in the Persian Gulf, such as Fars State and Kerman, obeyed the Mongols and secured commercial convoys from around the world, as China and India. Thus the first important trading hub of the era was formed in southern Iran. Unlike southern Iran, which had survived the Mongol invasions, all the areas of Azerbaijan except for Tabriz had been destroyed by the Mongols. Establishing the Ilkhanids in Iran and choosing Azerbaijan as the center of their government, the region was secured for business activities by the Ilkhanids. Azerbaijan became the second trade hub in Iran during the Ilkhanid era, and merchants from all over the world, especially from Venice and Genoa, traveled to Tabriz. The regions between these two trading hubs, the Iraqi region of Ajam, played a commercial mediating role between these two hubs. On one hand, the eastward route to major cities of the region such as Rey and Isfahan was almost always closed due to the constant fighting with the Uius Joghtai, and on the west, due to the constant conflict with the Mamalik, it was not possible for the commercial convoys to travel widely which caused losing their central role in business process. In addition, the geographical potentials of these regions were much lower than those of powerful Fars, Kerman, and Azerbaijan. Also the most important cities of these regions, i.e., Isfahan and Rey, besides being damaged by the Mongol invasions, were also involved in civil wars that did not allow them to recover and revive their trade. By the end of the Mogul period, the real role of Iraq Ajam in domestic trade wa
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