Format:
1 online resource (358 pages)
Edition:
1st ed.
ISBN:
9780520947573
Series Statement:
California World History Library v.17
Content:
Drawing on a rich trove of documents, including correspondence not seen for 300 years, this study explores the emergence and growth of a remarkable global trade network operated by Armenian silk merchants from a small outpost in the Persian Empire. Based in New Julfa, Isfahan, in what is now Iran, these merchants operated a network of commercial settlements that stretched from London and Amsterdam to Manila and Acapulco. The New Julfan Armenians were the only Eurasian community that was able to operate simultaneously and successfully in all the major empires of the early modern world--both land-based Asian empires and the emerging sea-borne empires--astonishingly without the benefits of an imperial network and state that accompanied and facilitated European mercantile expansion during the same period. This book brings to light for the first time the trans-imperial cosmopolitan world of the New Julfans. Among other topics, it explores the effects of long distance trade on the organization of community life, the ethos of trust and cooperation that existed among merchants, and the importance of information networks and communication in the operation of early modern mercantile communities.
Content:
Cover -- Half title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Preface -- Note on Transliteration -- 1. From Trade Diasporas to Circulation Societies -- 2. Old Julfa, the Great Deportations, and the Founding of New Julfa -- 3. The Julfan Trade Network I -- 4. The Julfan Trade Network II -- 5. "The salt in a merchant's letter" -- 6. The Circulation of Men and Credit -- 7. Trust, Social Capital, and Networks -- 8. The Center Cannot Hold -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.
Note:
Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources
Additional Edition:
ISBN 9780520266872
Additional Edition:
Erscheint auch als Druck-Ausgabe ISBN 9780520266872
Language:
English
