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Intro -- Introduction -- Traditional Modes of Transportation -- THE CHAPAR-KHANEH SYSTEM -- The Kajaveh and Takht-e Ravan -- The Use of Carts -- Modern Modes of Transportation wheeled vehicles -- Carriages -- AUTOMOBILES -- Obstacles to the Use of Cars -- Import Arrangements -- Traffic Rules and Administrative Regulations -- PERSIA -- AUTOMOTIVE PARTS, ACCESSORIES, AND SERVICE EQUIPMENT -- Bicycles -- Motorcycles -- Modern Ways of Lodging Travelers -- Hotels in Iran, 1870-1940 -- Tools of Change -- the Sewing Machine and the Typewriter Conquer Iran -- The Sewing Machine -- Typewriters -- A Short History of the Piano in Iran -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- index -- Fig. 1: Kurdish postillion -- Fig. 2: Belit (ticket) for the hire of a gari (lorry). -- Fig. 3: Chaparing -- Fig. 4: An official travel permit or tazkereh. -- Fig. 5: Chaparchi -- Fig. 6: Chapar-khaneh at Tisi-Hutch (exterior). -- Fig. 7: Chapar-khaneh at Haouz-e Sultan. -- Fig. 8: Chapar-khaneh at Kuhrud. -- Fig. 9: Chapar-khaneh at Tisi-Hutch (interior). -- Fig. 10: Chapar-khaneh at Kushku Baira. -- Fig. 11: 'Limited mail express' -- Fig. 12: Mail stage -- Fig. 13: Opposite and above: Post driver and carrying the mail in Khorasan. -- Fig. 14: Relais on the road to Qazvin. -- Fig. 15: Above and opposite: Travel permits or tazkerehs. -- Fig. 16: Chapar-khaneh at Robat Karim. -- Fig. 17: Persian post-carriage -- Fig. 18: Chapar-khaneh at Kudum. -- Fig. 19: Postwagon in a bad position. -- Fig. 20: Unidentified chapar-khaneh (Qom area). -- Fig. 21: Kajaveh -- Fig. 22: Takht-e ravan, a Persian ink-sketch. -- Fig. 23: Takht-e ravan -- Fig. 24: A two-wheeled cart, arabeh -- Fig. 25: A two-wheeled cart, arabeh -- Fig. 26: Repairing a wagon wheel. -- Fig. 27: A four-wheeled horse-drawn Russian vehicle, tarantas. -- Fig. 28: Horse-drawn street car.

AbstractUnder the early Qajars, Tabriz rose from being a provincial backwater in ruins to the foremost commercial entrepôt of Iran. Initially, its insignificant foreign trade was limited to Turkey (mostly raw Gilani silk), but, when the major commercial southern and western supply routes of Iran became unsafe and costly, trade moved to the northern route. Moreover, after Russia opened its territory to European goods in 1821, these also flowed via Tiflis to Tabriz. When ten years later Russia revoked this permission, the Tiflis trade moved to Tabriz via Trabzon, gradually replacing not only the Tiflis route but also the Istanbul-Erzerum route. This turned Trabzon into a quasi-"Iranian" port, as initially most of its imports were destined for or coming from Iran. Four-fifths of imports to Tabriz were European fabrics. Initially these had come from Russia, but, as of the 1820s, such were replaced by British, German, French, and Swiss fabrics. By mid-century, Manchester fabrics dominated the import trade of Tabriz. Thus, Great Britain took Russia's place as its primary trading partner, although by 1900 the tables had turned. During the majority of the nineteenth century, Caucasian Armenian merchants dominated Tabriz's foreign trade, with European merchants playing an important but limited role in the import of Manchester goods and the export of raw silk. After 1870, the importance of Tabriz as the commercial hub of N.W. Iran decreased, due to various reasons such as the outbreak of the Gilan silk disease, Russia stopping the transit of non-Russian goods, and the opening of the Suez Canal, but also because it became cheaper to import goods via Bushehr and Baghdad-Kermanshah. Nevertheless, even with a diminished role as a financial center and less foreign trade, Tabriz continued to be Iran's major commercial center until WW I.

Abstract
While the functioning of the postal system in Iran before 1500 and after 1800 has been studied, this article analyzes, based entirely on primary sources, the operation and characteristics of the Iranian postal system between 1500 and 1800 for the very first time. Such a study enables scholars to better understand the functioning of communication between both government officials and private individuals in Safavid, Afshari, and Zand Iran. During this time, there were two types of messengers: express-mounted couriers (chapar) for official business and foot messengers (shaters) for both official and private mail. The designation of qased was rarely used to denote mail foot messengers.

Until the twentieth century there was little change in the diet of Iranians. Bread was the major staple, accompanied by vegetables, fruits, yoghurt, and nuts. Meat and rice were a luxury food for most consumers. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries new food items were adopted by Persian consumers. After 1970, the modern Iranian diet—large amounts of white rice, meats, sugar-sweetened beverages and sweet/deserts, with few vegetables, herbs, nuts or fruits—has grown increasingly similar to the US diet, with the same health problems.

Before discussing the establishment and functioning of the first real leprosarium in Iran, a brief explanation is given of the pathology of leprosy, the various names are listed under which it was known in Persian, and the earliest archeological evidence of its occurrence is presented. Also, societal behavior in Imperial Iran towards lepers is highlighted, while reference is made to the earliest medical descriptions of leprosy in Persian. Little is known about the occurrence of leprosy in Iran over the centuries, as evidenced by the lack of knowledge about its prevalence among medical practitioners and institutions in Iran, even as late as the 1920s. Although segregated villages with lepers existed prior to 1926, it was only as of then that the Mehrab Khan village became the first true Iranian leprosarium, when regular institutional medical treatment was offered by American missionary physicians. The funding agencies, medical personnel and treatment, the living environment of lepers and their numbers in Mehrab Khan are discussed as well as how its population size and status changed over time, and how it was transformed into a structural component of public medical care. Finally and briefly, the establishment and functioning of two other Iranian leprosaria is discussed as well as the slow but sure disappearance of the disease in Iran.