A boom in the production and export of cotton made Iran the richest region of the Islamic caliphate in the ninth and tenth centuries. Yet in the eleventh century; Iran's impressive agricultural economy entered a steep decline; bringing the country's primacy to an end.Richard W. Bulliet advances several provocative theses to explain these hitherto unrecognized historical events. According to Bulliet; the boom in cotton production directly paralleled the spread of Islam; and Iran's agricultural decline stemmed from a significant cooling of the climate that lasted for over a century. The latter phenomenon also prompted Turkish nomadic tribes to enter Iran for the first time; establishing a political dominance that would last for centuries.Substantiating his argument with innovative quantitative research and recent scientific discoveries; Bulliet first establishes the relationship between Iran's cotton industry and Islam and then outlines the evidence for what he terms the "Big Chill." Turning to the story of the Turks; he focuses on the lucrative but temperature-sensitive industry of cross-breeding one-humped and two-humped camels. He concludes that this unusual concatenation of events had a profound and long-lasting impact not just on the history of Iran but on the development of world affairs in general.
#3211122 in Books 2007-05-15Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.02 x 1.44 x 5.98l; 2.15 #File Name: 0231136641448 pages
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