During Qajar era (1794-1925) the largest volume of trade carried out between Iran and India through the South-Eastern/Eastern outlets consisting of Sistan, Birjand, Kerman and Baluchistan. Moreover, a number of Indian with personal interests settled in the mentioned regions since the mid-Nineteenth Century were prominently seeking to establish favorable trade relations with India. Their main job was to export and import from India to eastern Iran provinces and vice versa. In above lights, the present study set out to address the presence of Indians in the above mentioned areas and the economic, social and cultural impacts of such inhabitants. Present study will specifically explore the criteria of the livelihood of the Indians in the South-Eastern/Eastern regions of Iran and the effects of their presence in these regions. The hypothesis presented in this research is that Indians settled in South-Eastern/Eastern Iran to conduct business transactions based on the British dependence and support provided to them. In addition to expanding trade relations between Iran and India, their presence had additional and far-reaching cultural and social consequences.
Materials and methods: The information on the Indians were collected from historical data and archival sources. The data is mainly literary in nature, comprising of travelogues, reports of the British consular representatives and also the other historical sources expanding on history of Iran. With the help of such data and through the descriptive-analytical method, the presence of Indians and its effects in South-Eastern/Eastern Iran will be discussed.
Findings and Results: The study of the presence of Indians in South-Eastern/Eastern Iran have shown that their presence created a leap in trade relations between these regions and India. The leap was due to the support of British consuls and political representatives for the Indians. The Indians had access to the markets of South-Eastern/Eastern Iran through two routes, one by from India and Baluchistan in Pakistan and Sistan in Iran and vice versa. The second route was a seaway through Bandar-‘Abbās entrepot. Bandar-‘Abbās regarded as the most important outlet between South-Eastern/Eastern Iran and India which employed to import and export of merchandises. In the south-eastern/eastern regions of Iran i.e. Sistan, Bandar-‘Abbās and Kerman, Indians experienced co-existing tolerance and had more facilitates like their respective Bazaar, Caravansary and temple. A number of Indian Muslims with their families had dwelled in Iran and such presence of them undoubtedly had cultural and social consequences.
