International Trade and the Armenian Merchants in the Seventeenth Century, Vahan Baibourtian (hardcover)

This book examines the thriving trade relations of the Armenian merchants with numerous countries from the late medieval ages, focusing on the early modern period.

Armenia’s involvement in international trade from antiquity has been primarily determined by its unique geographical location as a transit trade junction for export of Eastern goods.

The seventeenth century was the golden age of the Armenian commercial capital. In this period, in fact, Armenian merchants did not have serious competition on transit caravan routes. Meanwhile, Armenian merchants were also involved in international maritime trade in the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, and the Mediterranean Sea.

The author explores the role of the Armenian merchant class in shaping the ideology of the Armenian liberation movement. He comes to the conclusion that thoughts of Armenian liberation were first born in the circle of Armenian merchants, and this class encouraged diplomatic contacts and negotiations with European countries to attain freedom from foreign rule.

The book also analyzes thoroughly Iranian-European political and economic relations in the seventeenth century, including many noteworthy facts on the fierce commercial competition between European countries in the Middle East.