Contact between the West and Persia goes back many centuries and has, apart from a brief break towards the beginning of the early 18th century, been fairly constant since the early 16th century.
The occasion for this contact was mainly trade, in particular the silk trade.
The impact of the West, as distinct from contact with the West, did not make itself felt noticeably until the late 18th and early 19th century, and in the first instance it was felt in the form of military pressure. …
