Under Shah Mohammad Khodabanda, a two‑shahi (100‑dinar) silver coin became common in circulation; it was widely known as the mohammadi and formed part of the late 16th‑century Safavid monetary environment inherited by Shah ʿAbbas I.
Shah ʿAbbas I’s accession marked the start of a period in which the court sought stronger central control over revenue and currency, responding to military pressures and the limits of earlier provincial and elite control of resources.
After securing the northeast against the Uzbeks in 1598–1599, ʿAbbas relocated the capital to Isfahan (1598), improving centralized administration and access to Persian Gulf trade outlets—changes that supported tighter management of state revenues and commerce.
By about 1600, Safavid fiscal administration formalized stronger oversight of crown (ḵāṣṣa) revenues, including the office of mostawfi‑e ḵāṣṣa, reflecting a broader drive to systematize and centralize income streams for the court and state.
In the 17th century, ʿAbbas I centralized parts of the economy by developing state control/monopoly practices over silk, including oversight of production in the Caspian provinces—key to increasing predictable cash revenue and leverage over foreign merchants.
During the Ottoman‑Safavid conflict, a large forced relocation—including the Armenian community of Julfa—occurred in late 1604, reshaping commercial demography and setting conditions for later Safavid efforts to channel long‑distance trade (especially silk) through favored merchant groups.
In early summer 1605, Julfa Armenians were brought to Isfahan and began building New Julfa on crown land, creating a state‑favored merchant enclave that became pivotal to Safavid export trade and related fiscal flows.
Between 1615 and 1620, ʿAbbas I undertook major monetary initiatives: revising the accounting system toward greater uniformity and raising coin weights in general circulation (without fully standardizing one national weight).
From 1026/1617, ʿAbbas I established a state monopoly over silk exports, compelling merchants either to buy silk through the shah’s system or face high export duties—turning trade regulation into a major fiscal instrument.
In 1619, ʿAbbas I granted the lands of New Julfa to its Armenian settlers, reinforcing their privileged position and stabilizing a community central to Safavid international commerce and the state’s management of export revenues.
During ʿAbbas I’s monetary innovations (notably 1615–1620), the name ʿabbāsī came to designate principal Safavid gold and silver coins, tied to revised accounting values and high‑purity coinage that circulated by weight.
The Safavid‑English expedition captured Hormuz (Feb–Apr 1622), ending Portuguese control of the key fortress and improving Safavid capacity to route and tax maritime commerce via Persian Gulf outlets—important for state revenues tied to trade.
After Hormuz, ʿAbbas I permitted the English East India Company to establish a commercial agency at Bandar Abbas (1623), part of a wider Safavid strategy to manage foreign access to silk and customs revenue at Gulf ports.
The silk export monopoly associated with ʿAbbas I’s fiscal‑trade strategy is described as being abolished after his death (1629), though later Safavid rulers continued to use royal merchants and privileges to influence trade flows.
Coinage, Taxation, and Fiscal Reform in the Safavid State (late 16th–early 17th century)
