The Research in the Iran-China Maritime Trade Case Study: The Najirom Historical Port

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of Historical Archeology, Archaeological Research Institute, Cultural Heritage and Tourism Research Institute, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

From the first century BC, trade between the East and the West began through the Silk Road, and commercial goods, traditions, culture, and religious beliefs were exchanged between the civilizations of ancient China and the lands of the eastern Mediterranean. The Iranian Plateau, as a bridge, played an important role in this world trade between the Eastern and Western civilizations. During the insecurity of the Silk Road, along with the land routes, the water routes replaced the previous routes, that’s why the Persian Gulf has become the connection ring between the markets of ancient China and the more western lands. In the between, the historical ports of the Persian Gulf, especially unknown port of the Najirom, has played an important role. This historical port which is located in the sixty kilometers west of the Siraf historical port and ten kilometers from the Port City, in the maritime trade between the Iran and China from the Sassanid Period to the first centuries of Islamic Period, has played an important role. In the archeological exploration of Najirom historical port, the distribution of cultural materials including pieces of the Turquoise pottery, Torpedo pottery and Sgrafito pottery among the architectural remains in an area of three kilometers, parallel to the coast, in the spring of 2009, it’s announced the existence of a large population, industrial and commercial center.The identification of dozens of pieces of Chinese pottery, such as Celadon Pottery, Changsha Pottery and Blue and White Pottery and Chinese coins, also indicated the extensive trade relations between the Iranians and ancient China from the Sassanid Period to the middle centuries of the Islamic Period. In this research, meanwhile, introducing the cultural materials belonging to the ancient Chinese dynasties in the Najirom historical port, the position of this port in the Silk Road maritime and the Iran-China trade relations will be discussed.
Keywords: Persian Gulf, Najirom Historical Port, Historical Pottery, Historical Coins, Ancient China.
 
Introduction
In the archeological exploration of the historical ports of the Persian Gulf, while recognizing and studying the ancient ports of the Mahrouyan, the Siniz, the Genaveh, the Rig, the Shif, the Reyshahr, the Siraf, the Nay Band and the Haleh, the other important port which called “Bataneh” was identified. In the historical geographical sources of the first centuries of Islam Period was mentioned as “Najirom”,
By studying the written sources of the beginning of Islamic Period such as the book of Masālik al-Mamālik Istakhri (died in 346 AH), Ibn Balkhi’s Fārsnāma (500 AH), Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam min al-Mashriq ilá l-Maghrib (372 AH), the Face of earth- Ibn Balkhi (367 AH), the Calendar of the countries of Abu al Feda (eighth century AH) and Ahsan al-Taqasim fi Maarefa al-Aqalim al-Maqdisi (380 or 390 AH), the area of Najirom Port on the west coast of Dair Port was determined.
One of the most important goals of this research, is introduce this site as reallocation of this historical port and then study its trade relations with the civilizations of the ancient East, including ancient China. The study of cultural materials on the surface of this site, shows the commercial connection with the Chinese Dynasties from the Sassanid Period to the middle of Islamic Centuries. The great variety of Chinese pottery and coins, indicates the flourishing of trade with the Far East for more than 1300 years.
Due to the many ambiguities regarding the Iranian maritime trade, seafaring and shipping in the Persian Gulf, the study of cultural materials obtained from the Najirom historical port will greatly help to illuminate the dark corners of the Persian Gulf maritime trade with distant lands. In the archaeological exploration of Najirom historical port, the surface pottery of this site, including the Turquoise Glazed Pottery, Sgrafito Pottery and Torpedo Pottery randomly were collected, and then other cultural materials, such as pieces of plaster, coins, seals and metal objects were studied in the year of 2009. Also the cultural materials scattered throughout the surface of the site, such as Chinese coins, the Celadon Pottery, Blue and White Pottery and Changsha Pottery from various dynasties, indicating long-standing trade relations with the ancient China was carefully considered.
On this occasion, the cultural materials imported from ancient China, including the Celadon Pottery, Blue and White Pottery, Changsha pottery and the other pottery attributed to the China and the Chinese coins, analytically will be studied, and the position of Najirom historical port on the Silk Road waterway, will be explained. The research method in this article is field research and also library studies, in which the cultural materials obtained from the surface of the ancient site of Najirom historical port analytically will be studied.
 
The Cultural Materials Obtained from the Najirom Port, by the Ancient Chinese Origin
In the archeological exploration of Najirom historical port, a large number of Chinese Pottery and coins were found, which shows the trade exchanges between the Iran and China from the Sassanid Period to the middle centuries of Islamic Period.
 
A: Chinese Pottery from of Najirom Historical Port
Celadon Pottery: The first group of pottery was found in the Najirom historical port, is Chinese pottery, that has been traded from East Asia. Among the Chinese pottery, Celadon Pottery is more abundant.
Changsha Pottery: The second Chinese Pottery discovered from the Najirom historical port is the Changsha Pottery, which was belonged to the Tang Dynasty in the ninth century AD. This porcelain pottery unlike the celadon pottery has decoration and was found in several different shapes.
Blue and White Pottery: The third discovered Chinese pottery from the Najirom historical port is the Blue and White Porcelain.
Brown Glazed Pottery: In general, brown glazed pottery has two general shapes: the medium jars with the four horizontal handles and narrow mouths, and the small jars with open mouths and medium necks on the shoulders of the containers, which have high motifs on the pottery body.
 
B: Chinese Coins Discovered from the Najirom Historical Port
The eleven Chinese coins were discovered and studied, which including five intact coins and six broken coins. The two of intact coins were belonged to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). Among the six broken coins, one of them was belonged to the Jain Dynasty (1234-1115 AD). Another coin discovered from the Najirom historical port was belonged to the southern Song Dynasty (960-1279). There is also a Chinese coin from the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 AD). The last Chinese coin from the discovered coins from the Najirom historical port was belonged to the Ching Dynasty. The Great Qing Dynasty (Manchu) (1644 to 1912).
 
Conclusion
In the archaeological exploration of Najirom historical port, in addition to identifying the cultural materials belonging to the Sassanid Period and the first centuries of Islamic Period, from other lands including the East Africa, the Indian subcontinent and various dynasties of ancient China, countless archeological materials were identified. Meanwhile, the Chinese pottery and coins were more abundant. The Celadon Pottery, Changsha Pottery, Blue and White Pottery and brown glazed pottery were among the most important porcelain pottery discovered in the Najirom historical port.
The Chinese coins also belonged to the Tang (618-907 AD), Jin (1224-1115 AD), Southern Song (1279-960 AD) and Yuan (1368-1271 AD) Dynasties. There is also a coin belonging to the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China from 1633 to 1912.
Based on the pottery and Chinese coins discovered from the Najirom historical port, it can be concluded, that, this historical port had trade relations from the Sassanid Period to the eighth century AH, and finally until the last centuries. Of course, the peak of this maritime trade was from the Sassanid Period to the Ilkhanate Period, and after that, the trade center in the Persian Gulf has been moved to other places. The further study of the Persian Gulf maritime trade with the ports of ancient China, requires archeological excavation in the Najirom historical port.

Keywords

References

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