A Documentary Investigation of the Status of Foreign Trade in Eastern Cities of Iran (1896-1903 AD/1313-1321 AH)

British consulate was founded in Mashhad in 1889 AD/1306 AH. The office that was the first foreign political agency in Mashhad, could become the primary executive part of England in a short time. The agency that seemingly operated under the General Governor of India but was not responsible to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country, presented annually its commercial and economical estimates in relatively comprehensive reports to higher authorities. Though the survived reports of the first seven years of the consulate are better compiled than the second seven years, but in the years that is the subject of this study (1896-1903 AD/1313-1321 AH) provide us with accurate field statistics about the economic status of the eastern cities of Iran (i.e., its main field of consulate’s activity). The main content of the annual reports are the types of the imported and exported goods, the name of the regional and international foreign partners (especially Russia, England, and Afghanistan), and the effective transmitting methods. According to the documents, seemingly in the seven years in the region the Russian government was economically superior to British government and the British representatives endeavored to make solutions for balancing the economic power and overcome the long standing rival. Therefore, they tried in their usual economic analysis to include many issues like sociological aspects of the region.