Preise, Löhne und Lebensstandard im safavidischen Iran

The Safavid era (1501-1722) is regarded to be one of the most thoroughly explored periods of Iranian history. In the past, however, research has concentrated on the political history and the macroeconomics of the Safavid state, while until now its social history has only been investigated on a rudimentary level. A deep and instructive insight in the daily life of ordinary people, both rural and urban, are offered by a number of accounts from the bequest of Wollebrandt Geleynssen de Jongh, who, as a servant of the Dutch East India Company, had been active in Isfahan and Bandar ʿAbbās in 1641-43 and 1645-47. The data on wages, prices and running expenses recorded in these accounts not only enable us to reconstruct the daily life and living standard of the ordinary people, but also to in a global perspective.