Iran’s Foreign Trade from the third to fifth Centuries AH

The present study aims to investigate the impact of the Samanid, Ghaznavid and Buyid governments on foreign trade in their respective territories based on an analytical method and archival-documentary data collection. The results show that the formation of the Samanid, Ghaznavid and Buyid states from the end of the third century AH led to a relative stabilization of the political situation, which in turn resulted in a growth of the urban economy, including markets, industry and especially trade. The large amount of Samanid silver coins found in Europe (due to the importation of slaves and other trade goods from Eastern Europe) indicates the outflow of a large amount of liquidity from Samanid territory, resulting in an unfavorable balance of trade. In the Ghaznavid period, on the other hand, liquidity increased due to the inflow of huge gold and silver reserves, which effectively facilitated trade and minting. In western Iran, the Buyids, unlike their two eastern neighbors, used the gold and silver reserves to support the textile industry, which allowed trade to flourish. Finally, a similar pattern can be observed in all three states: Measures such as minting coins of high fineness, maintaining the value of the coins, securing the roads by eradicating bandits, placing signposts in the deserts, building caravanserais and bridges over the rivers, Rabat and wells along the roads, which significantly increased and improved domestic and foreign trade.