Bazaar

Origin

The archeologists found traces of bazaars in various parts of Iran: close to Kermanshah (9 000 front J. - C.), with Tepe Sialk and Hasanlu (6 000 front JC), with Shahr-e Sokhteh (3 000 front JC.) and with Suse (starting from 4.000 front J. - C.). The urbanization having taken place in Iran as from the 4th millenium before our era, allowed the economic growth and the increase in the exchanges, even with the remote places.

The plans of Shahr-e Sokhteh (“the burned city”), prove that the city was divided into several zones and that one of those was reserved for the trade.

At the time Achéménide, the craftsmen were categorized and the bazaar was a part distinct from the city, like commented on it Xénophon.

At the time Parthian, the economy of Iran was based on agriculture and the trade. It is at that time that the first Caravansérail S on were built trade route, which connected the China to Rome. The bazaars were then placed in the center of the cities.

Structure and organization of the bazaar in Iran

The urban bazaar is historically the heart of the city Iran ienne. In practically all the cities, the bazaar is constituté by shady streets and walks, broadsides of small gravers gathered by service or product. A part contains the clothes shops and of fabric, another part gathers the merchants and manufacturers of carpet, and in another, those which work copper or other metals, copper, cotton or the wool. In the small towns, the bazaar can be right a small street, in the largest cities, like Teheran, Ispahan, Tabriz, Mashhad and Shiraz, the bazaar is a hank of streets which contains warehouses, resturants, baths, mosques, schools and gardens in addition to the hundreds and hundreds of stores.

Internal organization ( senf )

All the retailers of a bazaar are organized by market products, all gathered in a district of the bazaar, called senf in Persan.

The organization of the districts is made according to several factors:

the attractivity of the product: the most artistic products are placed close to the places more " touristiques" , those which attract the most world, close to the ends of the bazaar, for example.
the safety of the senf : the invaluable stone and gold merchants are generally placed close to the mosques, in the places more in the middle of the bazaar.
the compatibility of the trade: the most similar products are placed in nearby districts, the spices beside cereals for example.
the incompatibility of the products: contrary to the precedent, the least compatible families of the products are placed at two ends of the bazaar.

The goals of this organization in districts are them-also multiple. The internal organization of the bazaar allows:

to control the creation of new trade.
to check the quality of the products before buying.
to keep the clean bazaar, each senf having its " equip with nettoyage".

There exists even a hierarchy within the senf . Each district has a chief, generally elected, called the kadkhoda . There exists also a function called mohtaseb which is responsible for cleaning, the noise, the circulation of the men and the animals. Moreover, the mohtaseb traverses the bazaar to remind the salesmen to be honest and to get information about the possible complaints of the customers.

Main street ( Rasteh )

The first system of displacement in the bazaar is a central axis of circulation, called rasteh , generally covered over all its length, and bordered on its two sides of stores or workshops. With regular intervals, one finds entries arched giving on Caravansérail S, Madreseh, public baths, mosques or other stores.

The intersection of two rasteh is called chāhārsuq . There exist several of these rasteh in large a bāzār, only one in the bāzārs of the small towns. Their number and their position depend on the development of the trade, but their organization is often irregular, function of the historical development of the bāzār. The secondary rasteh are used as bāzār with a particular type of product, like the shoes or the craft industry of wood.

The peripheral rasteh are also used to connect the bāzār to the residential districts which surround it. Thanks to these connections, the bāzār is thus connected to all the city. The number of these rasteh and their site generally depends on the level on development on the trade in a precise district.

Seraglio and Caravanserai

Sérail comes from the Persan Sarai , which means " maison". The caravanserai and the seraglio differ by some aspects which will be explained further.

The Caravansérail is regarded as one of the greatest parts of the bāzār. It is a hotel for the individual caravans and travellers, with the possibility of storing goods for the trade. The wholesale goods coming from the outside of the city are sold here to the retail dealers of the bāzār, the caravanserai being a kind of zone " tampon". Certain caravanserais have even stores within their structure. They are generally placed not far from the principal rasteh of the bāzār, or close to a chāhārsuq (" croisement").

Some of the buildings have one or two stages, the ground floor being reserved with the stores or the cattle sheds and the second with the housing of the travellers.

The seraglio and the caravanserai differ especially by their size. The caravanserais are larger and have more functions; they are also located generally more close to the centres of population and are used to accommodate the foreign travellers and hosts. The seraglios serve more economic complex. The Seraglio is a complex on floor of stores selling the same types of products, located around a non covered court, often having a garden or a basin. The Seraglio is connected to the rasteh by a narrow corridor called dehliz or dalan , which is bordered of stores, often of the same type as those sold with the seraglio. The stores are with the ground floor and the workshops on the floor.

The seraglios and caravanserais are separated from the rasteh by corridors, closed by doors, which are used to make safe the buildings the night.

Covered markets ( Timcheh )

The Timcheh is an economic complex, which is conceived same manner as the seraglio, but of size generally smaller and often covered with a roof. The timcheh are bazaars for special products (carpet, antiquities…), which would have developed on the model of the seraglios and caravanserais since the time Safavide in all Iran.

They are several kinds:

a square or rectangular space on floor covered with a roof, which is generally used for the stores as antiquity.
a space on floor, cover or not, which resemble much the seraglio
a space of full foot, cover or not.

Stores and Workshops ( Hojre )

The stores and the workshops, called hojreh are simpler and smaller than the timcheh , but they are the most important element of a bāzār. They are located on each side of a rasteh and secondary corridors. In large the bāzārs, the stores often have a stage, whereas in the small ones they have only one ground floor. The ground floor is generally commercial space whereas the stage accommodates the stored goods or a workshop. Their surface generally lies between 10 and 25 m ².

There exists generally a relationship between the way in which the store is connected to the alley of the bāzār according to the type of market products. In the parts of the selling bazaar of food, the access of the customer is made easier, so that they can easily come to evaluate the goods. In other parts of the bāzār which need safety, like the salesmen of jewelry, the stores are a little more with the variation of the street.

The value of a store is defined by its proximity compared to the main street of the bāzār, more it is close to the principal rasteh , more it is expensive.

Place du bazaar in the contemporary Iranian company

The bazaar, an economic force, policy and social of importance in Iran at least since the time Qajar E was the main force of opposition to the political elite during most of the 20th century.

The Pahlavi considered the bazaar as a brake at the modern society that they wanted to create, and sought to set up policies aiming at eroding its importance. They were perfectly conscious that the alliance of the craftsmen and commercial bazaris with the clergy Chiite represented a serious threat for the royal government, as that occurred in 1890 then during constitutional Révolution of Iran in 1905 - 1907. According to certain researchers, it is the emergence of such an alliance in 1923 - 1924 which would have persuaded Reza Pahlavi not to establish a republic on the model of Atatürk but to found a new family dynasty, his.

Reza Pahlavi recognized the potential capacity of the bazaar, and it was apparently given to control it. While its programs of laicization had affected the contrary clergy of manner so that he hoped, the majority of its economic reforms made wrong to the bazaar. Consequently, the bazaar remained a hearth of the opposition to Pahlavi. During the year 1978, the bazaar ordered the strikes which paralyzed certain sectors of the Iranian economy and which provided a support for the political actions of the Shiite clergy. The alliance so much dreaded of the clergy and the bazaar was again playing an important role affecting the political change in Iran.

The Islamic Republic was even précautionneuse than Pahlavi with the bazaar. Several of the first economic programs set up by the governments of the Islamic Republic profited with the bazaar; nevertheless, the complexity of the management of an economy affected by the Guerre Iran-Iraq led the government to adopt policies to which the bazaar was opposed. Generally, the leaders of a government always gave the preference to degrees varied of regulation and interventionism of the state on the economic subjects such as the price of the basic commodities and foreign trade, whereas the contractors, the bazaris and some important members of the clergy opposed such regulations. These economic subjects were the reasons having brought the emergence of two factions within the political elite.

Some examples of bazaars

the " Large Bazar" of Istanbul or Kapali Carsi (gone covered) is perhaps one of the largest markets in the world. It was founded by the Sultan Mehmet II about 1461.
the large bazaar of Ispahan, founded by Shah 'Abbas, connects the city of the 17th century ( maydan ) to the Mosquée of Friday, built as of the 10th century. One even found there, on the first floor, a site for the orchestra of the Shah, the naqqar khana .

Appendices

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