Trends in the Development of Prices in Late Qajar Iran, 1870–1906

Abstract

Monetary developments in Iran during the nineteenth century have remained, by and large, unexplored. The reason for this is all too familiar to economic historians: lack of sufficient data on prices. The Iranian central government during Qajar rule did not initiate a systematic collection of quantitative data on prices in the major urban centers and unofficial Iranian sources make only occasional reference to this issue. A recent check, however, of British and French consular reports dealing with commerce and trade during the last 30 years of the nineteenth century has shown that they contain data on prices to the extent that a description of major monetary trends is possible for the period which preceded the constitutional revolution, i.e., 1870-1906.British and French consuls reported to their respective foreign offices on current prices of basic commodities that prevailed at their places of service and residence.