LAND TRADE IN THE MONGOL KINGDOMS OF: Central Asia and Iran

Author(s): G. D. Gulati
Source: Proceedings of the Indian History Congress , 1981, Vol. 42 (1981), pp. 563-569
Published by: Indian History Congress

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 LAND TRADE IN THE MONGOL KINGDOMS OF

Central Asia and Iran^

G . D, Gulati

Central Asia and Iran played a significant part in Asiatic trade and
commerce. Caravans from India, China and other countries engaged in
the trade and the markets of these kingdoms were widely known all over
the Mongol empire and outside.1 It has already been pointed out how
the Mongols undertook the task of building roads, bridges, caravansarais,
emporia. inspection-houses etc. to promote trade and also provided a
letter of protection to the traders for their movement in the Mongol
empire.2

Caravans :

In view of the danger from beasts and robbers merchants always

used to travel in caravans which provided safety to them.8 About the
composition of caravans Ibn Battuta states that they consisted of camels
for carrying water, provisions, focd and medicines. They contained
animated bazars which used to supply all kinds of food and fruit.4
Caravans of the Mongols which were mostly composed of camels used to
travel at night to avoid the heat of the day and also because the camels
do not take fodder in the dark.5 Ibn Battuta describes the business
activities of the caravans while on their journey. Caravans, when entered
a new place on their journey, converted themselves into military forma-
tions so as to protect themselves from any danger of harassment or
robbery.6 On the approach of a caravan the Mongols used to collect
from all sides, greet the travellers with friendly phrases, and then proceed
to question them vigoriously about whence they came, whether they were
bound, what meachandize they had with them, whether they had anyth-
ing to sell, where and at what price they had bought their camels, etc.7

The hire-system had developed even before the Mongols. In the

towns of central Asia and Iran people not only hired their houses, but
their outfits also. Ibn Battuta speaks about this system when he states
that they started from Sara for Khwarizm, they hired camels.8 Tents
could also be procured on a loan basis.9

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 564

Caravan Sarais:

Markets and caravansarais were important features of the cahital

cities. Internal security and the safe movement of travellers and merch-
ants were facilitated by the building of caravansarais. Business was
transacted in the caravansarais. These were situated on the outskirts of
the town or in the bazars itself. P was the duty of the rulers to build
ribcits (sarais) on the high roads. Chang Te, a Chinese traveller, who was
despatched by Mangu Khan in A D. 1259 to his brother Halaku Khan,
witnessed post-stations and inns in Turkistan. The doors and windows
or these were provided with glass.10 Rashiduddin rebuilt a suburb, (Rab-
i-Rashidi) in Tabriz in which there vsere 24 caravansarais, 1,500 shops
300,00 houses, gardens, mills, workshops, for weaving and paper-making
a dye-workshop, a mint etc, 11 Ibn Battuta witnessed a large number of
hospices throughout his journey. 13
The city emporia (bargah) lying on the international caravan routes
were used as stores and places of exports and transit-trade. 33 Some of
these cities, such as Tabriz, Maragheh, Hamadan Oazvin. Isfahan, Shiraz
Nishapur were widely known for their big emporia. Hurmuz flourished
entirely due to the transit of Indian, Chinese, Iranian. Arabic and west
European goods. These towns also developed as centres of craft-industry
and served the international market.
Bazars and Guilds :

Bazars were usually divided into a number of subs, belonging to

the different craft guilds, most of which had their own separate quar:ers.
However, the craftsmen did not live in the bazars. These were locked and
barred at night as were the premises of the craftsmen within them. Some
guilds, such as the brickmakers. and plasterers,' were usually to be found
on the outskirts of the city. Trade was carried on everyday except on
Fridays and holidays. 14 Ibn Battuta also noticed in the bazar of Tabriz
each trade having its own location in it, separate from every other. 15
References to guilds or corporations of merchants, craft or religion have
also been found. 16 The quarters of craftsmen and their corporations
were a part of the social life of medieval Iran. Most often, but not always
craftsmen of one and thes ame trade lived in the same quarter of the city
In every town there were quarters occupied by silk- weavers, cotton-
carders, shoemakers, saddle-makers, dyers, potters, etc. 17
The guilds had their own leaders. They were probably responsible
not only for the maintenance of professional standards, but also for

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 565

allocating among the members, and then collecting, the taxes and levies
that were assessed in lumpsum on the guilds. About the actual member-
ship of the guilds and their methods of work, the sources are very
meagre However, Ghazali mentions three types of associations which
were in vogue. The first was the association of the porters (hammalan)
and artisans ( pishavaran ). The pooling of their individual earnings was
a condition of their membership in the associa-ion. The latter two did
not especially concern the guilds but were rather trading associations.
The first consisted of persons who pooled their Capital and shared the
subsequent loss or gain; and the second was a partnership between two
parties, one of whom had standing, while the other put up the money
and traded in his partner's name, the profits being shared between them.18

Ibn Battuta says, ''The members of each craft (in Isfahan) appoint
one of their own member as headman over them whom they call killu ,
and so do the leading citizens from outside the ranks of the craftsmen".19
Writing about Shiraz he states, "Those engaged in each craft occupy
the bazar particular to that craft, no outsiders mixing with them."20

The Shahnas controlled the merchants and the artisans. 21 Muhtasibs

were appointed in the bazars whose main task was to oversee the markets
and to prevent dishonest dealing with the merchants and artisans as
well as to supervise the guilds and corporations. They were empowered
to inflict summary punishment on offenders. It has been stated else-
where that a muhtasib should be appointed in every city to oversee weights
and prices, to watch over commercial transactions, prevent fraud and
the adulteration of goods, and "to enjoin what is good and forbid what
is evil". If the Sultan and his officials did not support the muhtasib "the
poor would be in trouble and the people of the bazar would buy
and sell as they liked, middle-men ( tadila-khur ) would become dominant,
corruption would become open and the sharia without prestige."22
Custom-duties :

Regarding the costoms duties in Turkistan it has been mentioned

that these were collected chiefly at the crossing of the Amu Darya, on
the scale of two dirhams per camel and one dirham for material conveyed
by a mounted man (probably riding a horse or a donkey); bars of silver
had to be conveyed exclusively to Bukhara, and on this account customs
inspection was organised. One half to one dirham was levied on the
merchandize when it reached the final destination. Turkish slaves could

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 566

be conveyed only by a special license issued by the government. To

secure such a license one had to pay from 70 to 80 dirhams. The
same sum was levied for the transport of Turkish slave-girls, but no
special license was required for it. For the transport of married women
the levy amouted only 20 to 30 dirhams.23

Ibn Battuta says, "In Meshhad there is no tax, no form of market

or octroi dues, and no royal governor, but the government over them is
exercised solely by the Marshal of the Sharifs."24 During his journey to
Al-Alaya (in al-Rum), the Christians took no passage money (naul or
freight charges) from the party of Ibn Battuta,25
Business Transactions

Monetary dealings were handled largely through the sarrafs (brokers).

In an earlier reference it appears that there were 200 sarrafs in one of
the bazars of Isfahan in A.D. 1052.28 It further informs about the wea-
vers of Kazarun who used to receive from the divan an advance on their
woven cloth, the delivery of which "would be made by some trusted men,
the price being fixed by brokers.27 According to Rashiduddin money-lend-
ing was also in practice whieh started during the reign of Abaka Khan
fA.D. 1265-11). During his period the merchants became rich and
started money-lending and ihe custom of lending furniture, clothes, etc.
at interest began to prevail. A vast system of dishonest credit suddenly
sprang up. The result of all this was that finances of the state were dis-
rupted and misappropriation of money started. Things grew so bad that
durmg Gaikhatu's re!gn (A.D. 1291-65) neither assignments on the
revenue, salaries, nor expenses, were paid, which was the chief cause of
discontent in the army. Ghazan Khan by an edict in A. D. 1299 prohi-
bted the charging of interest, and under-took many reforms to compensate
the merchant class.2* Bukhara boasted of a great money-market, being,
in fact, the exchange of all the population of eastern and western Asia
during medieval times and there is a proverb current to this day, "as wide
awake as a broker of Bukhara"29

Position of Traders

Traders enjoyed a good position in Iran as well as in Central Asia.

Under the Saljuqs they were ranked among the 'notables' of the city.30
The moneyed aristocracy, i. e. the merchants enriched by the caravan
trade apparently occupied a special position. They used to have secre-
taries with them to deal with the trading activities in an alien country. The

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 567

secretaries were called bitakachi in Mongolia.31 Merchants were an im-

portant source of bringing import items as well as information to
the rulers of different countries. Chingiz Khan was glad to entertain
every passing carvan at his court. Their multifarious knowledge and
their selling had pleased him so much that in his Bilik or 'Book of
Sayings', he held up the merchants as a model to the Mongols.32

The rulers and the nobles invested their money in the companies of
the great wholesale merchants, usually called urtaq. From a contemporary
account it appears that sometimes important urtaqs had yarlaghs
(firmans) and paizas (tablet of authority). Some had ulaghs (post-horse)
and were exempted from casual levies.'3 Rulers had their own merchants
called Tujjar-i-Khas (trustworthy merchants).44 Rashiduddin, the vizir
of Ghazan Khan, invested a major part of his fortunes (25,000 dinars) in
a large wholesale undertaking. He writes, "the greater part of the money
I gave to trustworthy merchants, and they conduct their trade with this
money, and I have written down their names in my account book."85 He
brought tradesmen from different towns to the suburb rebuilt by him in
in Tabriz.37 Under Mahmud Yalavash's governorship (he was a wealthy
merchant and also held ministership under Chingiz Khan) Bukhara
prospered.37 Later we find him as the governor of Khitai.88 Juvaini
writes: "The Eastern countries from the beginning of the Fifth Clime
on the banks of the Oxu to the farthest limits of Khitai, which are the
first clime, he (Mangu Khan) settled previously upon the great Minister
( Sahib-i-Muazzam ) Mahmud Yalavach and his worthy heir Masud
Beg..."39 Habash Amid was another merchant who enjoyed Chaghatai's
full confidence as his vazir. Chaghatai was given two daughters in
marriage by Khwarizm Shah. One of them he gave to Habash Ahmed.40

NOTES AND REFERENCES

* In this short article some of the aspects of land trade vi i. monetary system, weig
and measurement have nnt been included.
1. About the markets of Central Asia and Iran see W. Barthold, Turkestan Dow
the Mongol Invasion (London, 1928), pp. 235-36; for detail of routes see H
Verma, Medieval Routes to India (Calutta, 1978), pp. 24.59.
2. G. D. Gulati, «'Attitude 'of the Mongols towards Trade during 13th and 1
Cïnturies- A study" published in the Proceedings of the Indian History Congr
(1980), pp. 786-93.

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 568

3. Ibn Battuta stayed in Ladhig for some time in view of danger of the roads, then
as a caravan had been organised his party travelled with them. See Ibn Battuta,
The Travels , Tr. H, A. R. Gibb, ii (Crmbridge, 1962), p. 428. From another place
called al-Sara he set out for Khwarizm with a caravan (ii, p. 517). Comparable
with the caravans of the pilgrims, see i (Cambridge, 1958), p. 517. He set out
from Cairo for upper Egypt (i, 59:, fiom Damascus to Mecca (i, 158), Mecca to
Kufa i, 249) with pilgr/ms caravans.
4. Ibid ,9 i, pp. 249-52. Compare with Champa traders of Tibet ¿who carried their
articles on sheeps to India. A Champa sometimes carried as many as 10,000 sheep
loads. See Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat, Tarikh-i-Rashidi , Tr. E. P. Ross
(Patna, 197 2), p. 405.
5. H. H. Howorth, History of Mongols, iv (London, 1927), p. 39.
6Š There was danger of despoiling by the Arab at Faid (Ibn Battuta i, p. 252). Ibn
Battuta had an engagement with the Afghans at Karmash (a mountaineous tract
to the southeast of Gardez, which is 35 miles east of Ghazna) in which he sepa-
rated from his party see iii (Cambridge, 1971), h. 591.
7Ū Howorth, iv, p. 39.
8. Ibn Battuta also hired camels before leaving Khwarizm for Bukhara (iii, p. 549).
9. From Bukhara, while going to meet Sultan Tarmashirin, Ibn Batutta re^hed there
late in the evening. He borrowed one tent from one of the merchants and spent
that night in that tent (Ibid., p, 555).
10. E. Bretschneider, Medieval Researches, i (London, 1887) pp. 130-1.
11. Rashiduddin Fazlullah, Mukat ibat-i-Rashidi, edited by Muhammad Shafih (Lahore,
1945), letter no. 51, pp. 317-8.
12. Ibn-Battuta pp. 31^, 401, 516.
13. Ibid., i, 252, 253; ii, p, 273.
14. Ibid., ii, p. 277.
15, Ibid., ii, p. 344.
16. Cambridge Histor ' of Iran , Vol 5, edited by J. A. Boyle (Cambridge, 1968), p, 509
17. Ibid., p. 511; Ghazan Khan ordered that each article should form a separate com-
pany or guild in every town; and that they were to receive no fixed salary but
should be bound to supply a certain number of articles at a fixed j-r/ce. He pla-
ced a governor over each of these guilds. This eystem produced a large number
of bows, arrows, goods etc. See Howorth, iii (London, 1888), p. 515.
18. Ibid., p 278.
19. Ibn Battuta, ii, pp 295 6.
20. Ibid., p 299, Comparable with the twelve guilds in K/nsay, see Marco Polo, The
Book of Ser Marco Poio in 2 Vols. Tr. Sir Henry Yule (London, 1929), ii, p. 186.
21. Ali Bahadur was appointed Shahna of Baghdad after its sack in A. D. 1258
(Howro'h, iii, p. 131).
22. Cambridge History of Iran , op. cit., pp. 278-9.
23. Baithold. pp. 2 39-40 Marco Polo speaks of custom-houses (comercque) on a
bridge within the city of Sindafu, (among the largest of Chinese cities) where the
toll and tax were levied. '-And I can te/1 you that the dues taken on this bridge Irnq
to the Lord (Kubalai Khan) a thousand pieces of fine gold every day and more.

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 569

City of Sinju on the bank of river K/an also brought a great revenue for Kubala i
who had employed the officers to collect the duties" (ii, pp. 37, 38 note).
24. Ibn Battuta, i, p. 258. Every district and major city had its own Naqib-al Ashraf,
the marshal (or keeper of the register) see p. 358 Note 50.
25 Ibid., ii, pp. 415-6 and note 16. Taxes such as those on merchandize, tolls and
customs were called mukus during Saljuq period in Iran. Tamgha was collected
on each transaction at the rate of 10% of the value of each deal until the time of
Ghazan Khan, and at a reduced rate of retained until the reign of Tahmasp-I.
See Cambridge History of Iran , pp. 249, 506 note 3.
26. Cambridge History of Iran , p. 277.
27. Ibid, , pģ 254.
28. Howorth, iii, pp. 500-04.
29. Arminius Vambery, History of Bukhara (London, 1 873), p. 25 (Introduction).
30. Cambridge History of Iran, p. 2" 7.
31. Rashiduddin Fazlullah, Jamiut-Tawarikh , Tr. J. A. Boyle (New York, 1971), p. 82
32. Michael Prawdin, The Mongol Empire : Its Rise and Legacy , Tr. Eden and Paul
(London, 1961), pp. 103-4.
33. Alauddin Ata Malik Juvani, Tarikh-t-Jahan-i-Gusha, Tr. J. A. Boyle in 2 Vols.
(Manchester, 1959), pp. 598, 605-6. This practice was abolished in Mongolia by
Mangu Kha, see Jamiut Tawarikh, op. cit., pp. 218-9.
34. Cambridge History of Ivan , p, 509.
35. Mukat ibat-i-Rashidi, no. 36, p. 237.
36. Ibid,, no. 51, p. 320
37, Juvaini, op. cit., 97. 107-8, 215-218.
38. Ibid., p. 480.
39. Ibid., p. 597.
40. Ibid., p. 468.

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