the disintegration of the empire 115
subject to egypt.234 the genoese tried to shatter the mamluks at the end
of that decade, with persian help, a campaign to restore the kingdom of
cilicia to its old political allegiances: but the attempt failed. also thwarted
was the attempt to restore the previous patterns of trade, bringing the silk
road and the iraqi spice route into the eastern mediterranean.235 this
drove the allies to seek an alternative sea outlet, beyond the reach of the
sultan at cairo.
the answer they settled upon was to upgrade the tabriz-trebizond
route to a higher level of trade, as a successful substitute for the tabriz-
ayas route.236 this was never a complete substitution,237 and it must be
emphasised that this was merely an epilogue to the joint ilkhanid-genoese
campaign against the mamluks, shifting trade from one christian gateway
to muslim anatolia to the other.238
it seems that when the ligurian merchants moved from cilician arme-
nia to the trebizond-tabriz route, they did this not just with the ilkhan
arghun’s approval but with his support; the best evidence is supplied by
a source which has long been known, but whose profound implications
in shedding light on long-distance trade have not yet been sufficiently
234 see chapter 3.2.
235 see also ciocîltan, “genoa”.
236 this is described in detail by pegolotti/evans, pp. 28–29; the florentine was an
agent for the Bardi banking and merchant house to leon v, the king of cilician armenia,
in 1335, and knew the route very well. on pp. 389–391, evans identifies some of the numer-
ous and, for the most part, obscure locations where goods were taxed or where guards
were paid. heyd, Histoire, ii, pp. 112–117, did the same a few decades earlier; regardless of
how successful such attempts may be, the ayas-tabriz route certainly took in the major
urban centres of Kayseri, sivas, erzinjan and erzurum as fixed points (pegolotti names the
last three). cf. also Bautier, “relations,” pp. 281–282.
237 heyd, Histoire, ii, pp. 84–85, remarks with unjustified surprise: “il est très curieux
que l’on ne possède aucun diplôme du xive siècle, donné par un roi d’arménie en faveur
des génois, ni, en général, aucun document qui puisse nous renseigner sur la durée des
relations commerciales de gênes avec la petite-arménie”; he cites evidence to prove the
presence of genoese merchants in cilicia from the 1290s until 1375, when the mamluks
annexed the kingdom. the proofs are thin and scattered, but they do show that the history
of the large genoese colony at ayas did indeed end in 1290. among other sources show-
ing that the trebizond route never entirely displaced the old ayas road, pegolotti/evans,
pp. 28–29, gives a very detailed description of the trade route through asia minor and cili-
cia. another trade manual, also from the first half of the fourteenth century, neatly sums
up the symmetry and the similarity in purpose of the two seaward routes from tabriz:
Quelli di Turissi veghono cholla merchatantia a Trebixonda e all’Aiazo d’Erminia (Bautier,
“relations,” p. 317; papacostea, “gênes,” p. 231, and above, chapter 3.4.1).
238 heyd, Histoire, ii, p. 92, sees these two gateway cities as sharing common com-
mercial and religious features, drawing attention to the great advantages for merchants
of doing business in christian bridgehead territories in an age still marked by crusader
mentality, when trading with muslims was much frowned upon.