نقش مراکز شهری در پویایی مناسبات اقتصادی عصر صفوی

One of the important functions of city as a social phenomenon is its economic mechanism related to the urban society. this function has played an important role in production, distribution and exchange organizations between urban and rural societies in the islamic period. the administrative organization has also been emphasized in dynamic economic and social life in the iranian cities during the medieval and late islamic centuries. this research is based on historical analysis approach supported by historical sources and social and economic studies for explanation of economic structure of iranian cities in the safavid era. the selected cities include: farah-abad of sari in the north, isfahan in the central region and port of bandar abbas in the south of iran. the results of this research show that the iranian cities in the safavid era have been classified into two kinds of cities: a) developed cities, b) newly-established cities were developed or established on the direction of the silk road for production, distribution and exportation during shah abbas reign (996-1038a.h) in three regions: northern, central and southern. based on such a production and exchange organization, cities were divided into three types: cities capable of production of raw materials, brokering cities and exporting cities. analysis of the economic mechanism of the iranian safavid cities reveals that the forms of exchange have been based on the shah’s monopoly, owner’s exploitation, and immense dependence of urban economy on the rural agricultural economy as well as brokering and retailing in the cities.