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Iran and the Great Famine, 1870–72

2010; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 46; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00263201003616584

1743-7881

Ahmad Seyf,

Eurasian Exchange Networks

Abstract This article aims to offer a brief assessment of the Great Famine of 1870–72 in Iran. Using contemporary sources, it is argued that the Great Famine did not have a single cause. A combination of factors gave rise to the emergence of famine. There was insufficient rainfall, but that was nothing new in Iran. In addition, despite the significance of water provision little had been done to ensure a regular water supply. Further, there seems to have been a shift towards production of cash crop, namely opium, at the expense of food production.In view of this, there were two possible outcomes: first, land under food cultivation may have declined, or in relation to food crops there may have been a shift from irrigated to dry farming. Given the inadequacy of rainfall in most of Iran, dry farming could only increase the incidence of food shortages and in extreme cases, as was the case during the period under consideration here, famine. Had there been any national archives, the issue under consideration could have been examined in details but no such data exists. The article therefore relies on descriptions given by contemporary observers and foreign travellers. Notes 1. For further details see A. Seyf, The Lost Century, Iranian Economy and Society in the Nineteenth Century (Tehran: Nashr-e Nay, 2008), pp.61–100 and 163–80. 2. See A. Seyf, 'Free Trade, Competition and Industrial Decline: The Case of Iran in the Nineteenth Century', Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.40, No.3 (2004), pp.55–74. 3. C.E.Yate, Consular Report (hereafter CR) 'Khorasan', in Parliamentary Accounts and Papers (hereafter, PAP) 1894 lxxxvii. (These consular reports were not paginated.). 4. J.R. Preece, CR 'Isfahan and Yazd', in PAP 1896 lxxxviii. 5. H.D. Barnham, CR 'Isfahan and Yazd', in PAP 1908 xciv. 6. A. Aganoor, CR 'Isfahan and Yazd', in PAP 1907 xci. 7. C. Issawi (ed.), The Economic History of Iran, 1800–1914 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971), p.206. 8. Ibid., p.207. 9. H. Fasa'i, Fars Namehyi Naseri (English Translation, New York: Columbia University Press, 1972), p.135. 10. Quoted by H. Jones, Dispatch 9 April 1809, Foreign Office [Hereafter FO] 60–2. 11. J. Morier, 'Journey to Fars', 1811, in FO 60–7. 12. Ibid. 13. Ibid. 14. See H. Natiq, Az mast keh bar mast (Tehran: Agah Press, 1975), p.131. 15. J. Johnson, A Journey from India to England through Persia, Georgia, Russia, Poland and Prussia in 1817 (London: Longman, Hurst, 1818), p.135. 16. These were towers especially built to accommodate pigeons for the sole purpose of utilizing their dung to fertilize the soil. For a detailed description and illustration see G.N. Curzon, Persia and the Persian Question, 2 vols. (London: [Reprinted by FrankCass, 1966], 1892), Vol.2, pp.18–20. 17. Johnson, A Journey from India to England, p.99. 18. Ibid., pp.69–83, 89. 19. See, for example, I'timad-os-Saltaneh, Merat-ol-Baladan (Tehran, 1877), Vol.1, pp.272–333. H. Pottinger, Travels in Baluchistan and Sind (Farsi translation) (Tehran, 1969), pp.250–51; J.P. Ferrier, Caravan Journey and Wandering in Persia, Afganistan, Turkistan and Baloochistan in 1845 (London, 1856), p.72. 20. I'timad-os-Saltaneh, Tarikh-e Montazam-e Nareri (Tehran, 1883), Vol.3, p.130. 21. See J.B. Fraser, Travels and Adventures in the Persian Provinces on the Southern Bank of the Caspian Sea (London: Longman, Rees, 1826), p.137. 22. A. Seyf, 'Iran and the Great Plague 1830–1831', Studia Islamica, Vol.69 (1989), pp.151–65. 23. I'timad-os-Saltaneh, Merat-ol-Baladan, pp.556–9. 24. I'timad-os-Saltaneh, Tarikh-e Montazam, Vol.3, p.216. 25. Ibid., p.219. 26. J.R. MacCulloch, A Dictionary, Geographical, Statistical and Historical of Various Countries, 2 vols. (London, 1841). 27. I'timad-os-Saltaneh, p.219. 28. Ibid. 29. Amin-od-Dowleh [Farrokh Khan], Majmu-ey Asnad ve mokatebat-e Farrokh Khan-e Amin-od-Dowleh, 4 vols. Compiled and arranged by K. Isfahaniyan (Tehran: Tehran University Press, 1967–75), vol.4, pp.171–2. 30. Foreign Office, Dispatch 28 Nov. 1860, Tabriz, FO 60-253. 31. Ibid. 32. E.B. Eastwick, CR 'Persia', 1861, in PAP 1862 lviii. 33. Ibid. 34. Ibid. 35. E.B. Eastwick, Journal of a Diplomat's Three Years Residence in Persia, 2 vols. (London: Smith, Elderand Co., 1864), Vol.1, p.276. 36. Ibid., Vol.1, p.312. 37. Ibid., Vol.2, p.100. 38. Eastwick, CR 'Persia'. 39. Eastwick, Journal, Vol.2, p.72. 40. Ibid., Vol.2, p.73. 41. Ibid., Vol.1, p.313. 42. Ibid., Vol.1, p.314. 43. Eastwick, CR 'Persia'. 44. Ibid. 45. Ibid. 46. See Issawi, The Economic History of Iran, p.22. 47. See A. Seyf, Silk Production and Trade in Iran in the Nineteenth Century', Iranian Studies, Vol.16, No.1–2 (1983), pp.51–71. 48. E. Baring, CR 'Trade and Cultivation of Opium in Persia', in PAP 1882 lxix. 49. See A. Seyf, 'Commercialisation of Agriculture: Production and Trade of Opium in Persia, 1850–1906', International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol.16 (1984), pp.233–50. 50. E.C. Ross, CR 'Persian Gulf', 1874, in PAP 1880 lxxiii (emphasis added). 51. Curzon, Persia and the Persian Question, vol.2, p.490. 52. W.J. Dickson, Dispatch 5 July 1866, in FO 60-302. 53. Said Khan to C. Alison, Dispatch 11 April 1866, in FO 60-302. 54. E.C. Ross, CR 'Persian Gulf', 1878, in PAP 1880 lxxiii. 55. E.C. Ross, CR 'Persian Gulf', 1880, in PAP 1882 lxx. 56. F. Adamiyat, Andishe-ye Tarraghi ve Hekoomat-e Ghanoon (Tehran: Kharazmi, 1973), p.120. 57. J. Bassett, Persia, the Land of the Imams (London: Blackie, 1886), p.58. 58. Quoted in A. Taheri, Geographiya-ye Tarikhi-ye Khorasan (Tehran, 1969), p.84, 59. O. St. John, Eastern Persia, an Account of the Journeys of the Persian Boundary Commission, 1870–1872, 2 vols. (London: Macmillan, 1876), vol.1, p.98. 60. F.J. Goldsmid, 'Journey from Bandar Abbas to Mashhad by Sistan, with some Account of the Last Named Province', Journal of Royal Geographical Society, Vol.43 (1873), p.91. 61. Quoted by H. Natiq and F. Adamiyat, Afkar-e Ijtema'ii, Siyasi, va Eghtesadi dar Athar Montasher Nashodeh-ye Douran Qajar (Tehran: Agah, 1977), p.241. 62. See Curzon, Persia and the Persian Question, Vol.2, p.492. 63. I'timad-os-Saltaneh, Tarikh-e Montazam, Vol.3, pp.321–2. 64. C.J. Wills, In the Land of Lion and Sun or Modern Persia (London: Ward, Lock & Bowden Ltd., 1893), Ch.23. 65. Ibid., p.252. 66. Ibid., p.254. 67. G.C. Napier, Collection of Journals and Reports on Special Duty in Persia, 1874, Strictly Confidential (London, 1876), p.64. 68. Bassett, Persia, the Land of the Imams, pp.76–7. 69. Ibid., pp.89–90. 70. F.J. Goldsmid, 'Journey from Bandar Abbas to Mashhad', p.90. 71. Curzon, Persia and the Persian Question, Vol.1, p.268. 72. C.M. MacGregore, Narrative of a Journey through the Province of Khorasan (London, 1879), pp.15, 21. 73. Ibid., p.21. 74. E. Stack, Six Months in Persia, 2 vols. (London: Sampson Low, 1882), Vol.1, p.38. 75. W. Brittlebank, Persia during the Famine (London: Basil Montagu Pickering, 1873), p.133. 76. Stack Six Months in Persia, Vol.1, p.278. 77. Ibid., Vol.1, p.278. 78. Ibid., Vol.2, p.13. 79. A.K.S. Lambton, Landlord and Peasant in Persia (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969), p.153. 80. H.L.Rabino, CR 'Trade and General Condition of the City and Province of Kermanshah', 1902, in PAP 1903 lxxvi, p.38. 81. Ibid., p.37. 82. Bassett, Persia, the Land of the Imams, pp.133–4. 83. Taheri, Geographiya-ye Tarikhi-ye Khorasan, p.83. 84. Quoted in ibid., p.84. 85. Ibid., p.181. 86. Napier, Collection of Journals and Reports, p.25. 87. Brittlebank, Persia during the Famine, p.191. 88. Bassett, Persia, the Land of the Imams, p.68. 89. Ibid., p.74. 90. Napier, Collection of Journals and Reports, p.217. 91. Ibid., p.210. 92. Bassett, Persia, the Land of the Imams, pp.84–5. 93. Lambton, Landlord and Peasant in Persia, p.153. 94. Bassett, Persia, the Land of the Imams, p.127. 95. Ibid., p.123. 96. Quoted in Taheri, Geographiya-ye Tarikhi-ye Khorasan, p.84. 97. Napier, Collection of Journals and Reports, p.64. 98. Ibid., p.217. 99. Ibid., p.203. 100. Ibid, p.14. 101. Ibid. p.29. 102. Ibid. p.43. 103. Brittlebank, Persia during the Famine, p.169. 104. Napier, Collection of Journals and Reports, p.274. 105. Ibid., p.26. 106. Ibid., p.202. 107. N. Elias, CR 'Khorasan', 1895/96, in PAP 1897 xcii. 108. Ibid. 109. H.M. Jones, CR 'Tabriz', 1870, in PAP 1871 lxvi (emphasis added). 110. Rabino, 'Trade and General Condition of the City and Province of Kermanshah', pp.49–50. 111. Curzon, Persia and the Persian Question, Vol.2, p.270. 112. Ibid., Vol.2, p.270. 113. W.M. Floor, 'The Merchants [Tujjar] in Qajar Iran', Zeitschrift der deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, Vol.126 (1976), pp.101–35. 114. E.C. Ross, CR 'Persian Gulf', 1887/88, in PAP 1889 lxxx; C.A. Kemball, CR 'Persian Gulf', 1901, in PAP 1902 cix. 115. C.S. Maclean, CR 'Khorasan', in, PAP 1890 lxxvi; P.M. Sykes, CR 'Khorasan 1906', in PAP 1907 cxiv. 116. Ross, CR 'Persian Gulf', 1887/88; Kemball, CR 'Persian Gulf', 1901. 117. Rabino, 'Trade and General Condition of the City and Province of Kermanshah', p.46. 118. H.M. Jones, CR 'Tabriz' 1871, in PAP 1872 lviii. 119. H. Field, Contribution to the Anthropology of Iran (Chicago, IL: Field Museum of Natural History, 1939), p.638. 120. St. John, Eastern Persia, p.95. 121. Ibid., p.95. 122. Ibid., pp.94–5. 123. Napier, Collection of Journals and Reports, pp 204–5. 124. Ibid., p.210. 125. Ibid., p.209. 126. Ibid., p.309. 127. Ibid., pp.309–10, 313. 128. Rawlinson's estimate was quoted by Curzon, Persia and the Persian Question, Vol.2, p.492. For 1898's estimate, see E. Lorini, La Persia Economica Contemporanea e la sua Qustiones Monetaria (Rome 1900), Vol.1, p.379.