Le relazioni fra la persia e la Moscovia nel XVI e XVII secolo e il commercio della seta

The Russian incorporation of Astrachan' (1556) proved to be of momentous importance for commercila relations between the Slavic and the Islamic worlds, for it made the town emerge as the principal crossroads where merchants from Russia, Iran, Central Asia and India met and exchanged their wares. Of the many commodities the iranian silk played an important part in the relations between Muscovy and Iran. In the midlle of the sevventh century the Russian state, finally emerging from the turbolence of th early century, adopted a policy designed to increase commercila revenue and to isolate the Ottoman Empire. Iran served both goals.. Politically, Russia an Iran reamained suspicious of each other. Commercially, however, they drew closer. The 1667 and 1673 traties marked the biginning of a more regulated and active silk trade between the two countries.