Abstract

This article draws on archival sources in London, Venice, Isfahan, and elsewhere in examining the role of information and commercial correspondence in the long-distance trading community of Armenian merchants from New Julfa, Isfahan. The article focuses on commercial letters written by Julfan merchants working in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean regions. It argues that information sharing was important not only for the daily commercial affairs of merchants but also for maintaining the integrity of the Julfan trade network. The article examines the stylistic properties of Julfan mercantile correspondence as well as the logistical problems of circulating letters across vast spaces through a courier network that glued the trade settlements of the Julfan network to its nodal center at New Julfa, Isfahan.

pdf