Includes bibliographical references and index.

From trade diasporas to circulation societies -- Old Julfa, the great deportations, and the founding of New Julfa -- The new Julfan trade network I: the world of the Indian Ocean -- The New Julfan trade network II: the Mediterranean, Western European, and Russian Networks -- "The salt in a merchant's letter": business correspondence and the courier system -- The circulation of men and credit: the commenda and the family firm -- Trust, social capital, and networks : informal and semi-formal institutions at work -- The center cannot hold : the decline and collapse of the Julfan trade network.