Armenian merchant networks and long-distance trade between early modern Poland-Lithuania, the Ottoman Empire, Persia, and Russia

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Alexandr Osipian
• Subject Area: Early Modern History
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 455966274

The globalizing of trade and the spread of merchant networks were important features of the early modern world. For a long time, the phenomenon was studied through prism of the trans-Atlantic trade and the East-India joint-stock companies. The current project approaches Eastern Europe and the Middle East not as a periphery of the West but as self-sufficient region without clearly defined roles of “dominant” and “subordinate. The great deal of the long-distance trade in the region was done by stateless diasporas – Armenian, Greek, and Jewish. Armenian trading diaspora was particularly successful since it operated in the whole region. The current project focuses on the formal and informal conditions of the caravan trade between early modern Poland-Lithuania, the Ottoman Empire, Persia, and Russia. The aim is to analyse Armenian merchant networks on the three-dimensional level – as operating long-distance trade (logistics and legal infrastructure), consolidating the “network of trust and credit” inside the diaspora, and establishing “protection network” with the holders of power (protection-in-exchange-for-services).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Hungary, USA
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Sebouh Aslanian; Professor Dr. Peter Cowe; Professor Dr. Iván Szántó