The role of the Russian state in the formation and development of international trade with the countries of the Muslim East along the medieval North-South transit corridor
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Introduction. The article is devoted to the urgent and important scientific problem of the formation and development of international trade between the states of Eastern and Western Europe with the largest trade and economic centers of the Near and Middle East in the medieval era and the role of the Russian state in this process. Materials and methods. Based on a wide range of Arabic, English, Russian and local written sources and archaeological data, using the principles of historicism, objectivity and consistency, generally accepted historical methods and an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the problem, the author examines the ways of formation of international trade along the Volga-Caspian trade route in the medieval period. Analysis. In the course of the study, the main trade routes and the most important trade and economic centers on them, such as Itil, Derbent and Ardabil were analyzed, and in the XV – XVI centuries – Hadji Tarkhan, Astrakhan, Kolmogory, Derbent and Shamakhi. The article examines in detail the Eastern and European goods that were in high demand in the markets of the cities of the Arab Caliphate, Persia, and Shirvan, where the furs of the “Russian North”, which were highly valued in the East, are highlighted. The article pays special attention to the leading role of the Russian state in the development of transit trade along the Volga-Caspian trade route and its importance for the formation of the well-known international transit North-South corridor. Results. Important conclusions are drawn about the special significance of the Volga-Caspian trade route in the history of trade, economic, socio-cultural development of such famous Eastern European states of the 9th - early 13th centuries as Volga Bulgaria, Ancient Rus, Khazaria, and since the second half of the 16th century – the Russian state. The complete collapse of the Golden Horde in 1502 and the conquest of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates by Ivan the Terrible allowed Moscow to firmly establish itself on the Volga and gain control over the Volga-Caspian trade. The conducted research shows that Astrakhan, built in 1558 by order of Ivan the Terrible at the mouth of the Volga, soon turned into not only the main Russian stronghold in the Northern Caspian region, but also became a major trading center where merchants from Persia, Shamakhi, Bukhara, Khiva and other cities of the East brought their goods. Despite the fact that in the first years after its construction, according to British sales agents, there were still not many Russian goods in the Astrakhan markets, the situation soon changed and Astrakhan became, as reported by Bukhara and Khiva merchants, the main harbor on the Caspian Sea, bringing thousands of gold coins daily to the royal treasury. The sultan’s attempt to take control of the Volga-Caspian trade was unsuccessful. Russian government continued to control the most important North-South transit corridor, and Russian merchants, according to written sources, conducted extensive trade in many major cities of Safavid Persia.
Author: A. A. Kudryavtsev
Institution: North-Caucasus Federal University
Language: English
Topic: Eurasian Exchange Networks
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7207769698