The Effects of Natural Events on Southern-Iran trade in the Second Half of Naser al-Din Shah’s Government Based on the Data of Administrative Offices of the British-Indian Government (1873-1895)

Due to geographical, climatic, and natural conditions, the Persian Gulf trade has been lively in all historical periods. But the lack of complete and reliable statistics before Naser al-Din Shah Qajar’s period (1831-1896) makes it difficult to speculate about the position of the Persian Gulf ports in southern-Iran trade. The data of the British-Indian Government administrative offices registered during Naser al-Din Shah Qajar’s period provides an opportunity to study the details of the Persian Gulf trade ports. Surely such statistics can help us examine the factors affecting the trade of Southern-Iran. The factors mentioned in Persian sources are natural events. Considering that Persian sources have a brief discussion of natural events, we can only understand the magnitude and extent of the effects of natural events through the political reports and the reports of secret reporters in the south. The information of administrative offices makes it possible to explore the impact of natural events on the Southern-Iran trade. Accordingly, the present study tries to investigate the effects of natural factors on the trading of Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf on the basis of these statistic reports. It tries to provide a qualitative analysis of the effects of natural events on imports and exports of southern Iran. It shows that natural events, especially wheat prices, had a significant impact on the trade of southern Iran.