The Privilege of Exploitation of Hormuz Ochre Mines", a Problematic Issue in Ties between Iran and Britain during the Era of Moza"ar al-Din Shah Qajar

During the era of Moza"ar al-Din Shah Qajar in Iran, Moein-o Tojar Bushehri and Arsham and Takran Melkoum had a conict over the privilege of exploitation of ochre mines in Hormuz. When Britain supported Arsham and Takran Melkoum, two Armenian brothers from the south of Iran, this issue became problematic in the ties between Iran and Britain. Ochre is one of the basic and important ingredients used in the paint industry and is widely used in producing di"erent types of paints. In that era around seven thousands tons of ochre was annually exported from Iran to Great Britain, and also a little to India. e purpose of this research is to shed light on this subject, based on unpublished records and other written documents remaining from the Qajar era, and to explore the main reasons behind it. e ndings of this study indicate that the principal factor was the poor administrative structure of Iran, which was a"ected by elements such as widespread bribery, the weakness of the central government in protecting its non-Muslim citizens, and leasing a part of the country to others: an ill-judged policy which practically transferred the authority of the central government to others.