16 Iranian Empire and Caucasian Borderlandsful neighbors. At the low end of the economic spectrum were Nakh-
javan and Talesh. Cities were poorly maintained, and their reduced
populations lived surrounded by the ruins of unoccupied buildings.
In many rural areas, arable land lay fallow for want of peasants to
work it. There was a special irony in this unimpressive economic pic-
ture because Russia was attracted to the region largely on the basis
of its economic assets. Agriculture and animal husbandry were the
dominant economic activities of the eastern Caucasus. The most wide-
ly grown crops were cereals; in most areas, these were produced in
subsistence quantities, but Qarabagh and Qobbeh were the breadbas-
kets of the region. In contrast, Nakhjavan and Baku were especially
weak agriculturally. Baku at least produced modest quantities of the
valuable saffron and, more important, could compensate with non-
agricultural resources, but Nakhjavan had not recovered from devas-
tation caused by the Safavi-Ottdman border wars. The area northeast
of the Kura produced fruits and vegetable dyes, while Yerevan pro-
duced cotton and tobacco for export. Sheep and goats made up most
of the herds, but cattle, buffalo, and horses were also raised. Shirvan
derived considerable profits from locally grown silk, which the inhab-
itants made into carpets and fabrics. These manufactures were export-
ed to Russia and throughout western Asia, although the prevailing
opinion was that the silk itself was decidedly inferior to that pro-
duced in Gilan. Furthermore, during the 1760s political upheavals
and an outbreak of plague disrupted the silk industry for a time.
Several extractive industries along the Caspian coast were among
the most lucrative economic activities in the whole area. Baku and
Shirvan were bases of large scale fishing and seal hunting. Baku ob-
tained enough salt from lakes and mines to meet the needs of most
of the eastern Caucasus and several Iranian provinces. Above all, Baku
produced oil, naft. Naft was used not only for heating, lighting, and
cooking but also for lubricating machines, encouraging silkworms to
produce cocoons and waterproofing the flat-roofed buildings and as
medicine for human consumption. About one-third of the annual
production was used locally; the rest was exported to other parts of
the Caucasus and especially to Iran.
Baku's other great economic strength was its role as the foremost
commercial center of the eastern Caucasus. The khanate was the
source of valuable commodities as well as a market for the many ne-
cessities it could not produce for itself in sufficient amounts. In ad-
dition, the capital city was located beside the only good harbor on
the western Caspian coast. Only Baku could offer shelter from most
of the sea's winter storms and a deep enough port for boats to be