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ERANSHAHR - Trading Places
~ THE PERSIAN EMPIRE ~ TRADING PLACES
 || BĀZĀR ||
A bazaar (Persian: بازار) is a permanent merchandising area, marketplace, or street of shops where goods and services are exchanged or sold. The word derives from the Persian word bāzār, the etymology of which goes back to the Pahlavi (Parthian language) word baha-char (بهاچار) meaning "the place of prices". The Bazaar was more than a simple market or a trade centre, it was the backbone of the city, containing a vast gathering of buildings. Also, it was one of the most important achievements of Persian civilization. The Bazaar of Babylon was known to be the longest roofed market in the known world. It had about 5 km (3miles) of shopping streets (raste), some with brick arches, some with poplar beams, over a hundred caravanserais and sarais, innumerable covered halls (timce) and connecting wings (dehliz). The Bazaar was also used as the main street in Babylon and a place for meeting people, seeing and being seen. Basically it acted as a real heart of the city. By counting the great number of madrasa (colleges that were not only intended for religious studies but also for the study of sciences such as philosophy, astronomy, mathematics and chemistry), shrines and hammams (public baths that were not only a place of cleaning, but also an important place for cultural interactions and social contacts, especially for women) in the Bazaar it can be easily understand to what extent the Bazaar acted as the center of Babylon. There were more than one hundred fifty shirines dedicated to the worshiping of Ahura Mazda, fifty madrasa and almost two hundred hammams, if not more. Also, there were some other small buildings in the bazaar such as water stores, warehouses and stables. All the retailers in the bazaar were grouped according to their wares in separate quarters of the market. This way, it would be very easy for people to find the best products with the best price in a place in a short time. The distribution of jobs in the bazaar was based on the following factors: attraction of products (for example artist's shops were located in the main square, before the palace, because of the high number of tourists who preferred to buy there), providing security (for example gold merchants were strategically situated close to the Fire Temple, in the central part of the city, to provide the best security for them; groceries were located in more far off areas), compatibility of businesses (the more compatible crafts were located in the same area, for example cereal shops and spice shop), incompatibility of crafts (the crafts with less compatibility were located in separate parts, for example blacksmiths and druggists).
Senf
The aims of establishing senf (a Persian term designating a number of people who are involved with the same kind of business or craft in a bazaar) were: craft examination of everybody who wanted to start a business or craft in bazaar i.e., control over, which merchants were allowed to sell at the bazaar; checking the quality of products before selling them, i.e., control over the quality of what is sold; creation of support of the benefits of all members as well as customers (It was a set of support in every senf for all the members and also a kind of support for unsatisfied buyers who had complaints about any of the shopkeepers); preservation of cleanliness in every part of the bazaar by provision of cleaning crews or making sure that the shopkeepers did it themselves. The gradation of members in every senf was usually based on their experience. The chief of each senf was called kadkhoda. There were also some other positions, called mohtaseb, who were responsible for keeping order in the bazaar. Mohtaseb roamed the bazaar to remind sellers to be honest and fair and also to investigate to clients' complaints about any cheating in trades or the quality of goods. Four important regulations, which should be controlled by the mohtaseb were cleanliness, noise, crowding of people, and movement of animals in the bazaar. The primary movement system of the bazaar forms a central linear circulation space, called raste, splendidly domed throughout its length, parallel to which on both sides run the small regular dependent spaces of shops. Between them, at frequent intervals, arched entrances lead to the larger spaces-caravanserais, colleges, bathhouses, shrines and stores, all tightly connected to the central spine yet each a separate, self-contained world. The intersection of two rastes was called chaharsuq(meaning "four bazaars" in Persian, because it was a centre from which four different markets extended). Several peripheral rastes connected to the main street. These peripheral rastes acted as small bazaars for similar products, such as raste for shoemakers. The width of the main raste, leading from the gates of the city to the main square in front of the palace was about seven meters and in peripheral raste something between four and five meters. The raste also connected neighborhood residential areas to the bazaar. Through these residential alleys the bazaar was connected to the whole of the city. The number of these routes (raste) depended on the development of trade at different areas. Being closer to the main street always increased the value of peripheral routes. Almost all parts of the raste in the Bazaar were roofed. In some areas close to the old square temporary non-wooden roofs were applied, but most of the Bazaar was roofed by vaulted brick roofs. The height of the roof differed in different parts of the Bazaar. In some places, like in front of madrasa or shrines and in the chaharsuq (intersection of two rastes) the roof was higher than other areas to highlight the importance of these spaces.
|| KĀRVĀNSARĀYI ||
Caravanserai, which was considered the most important space in the bazaar, was a hostel for caravans and individual travelers, with provisions for trade. The wholesale merchandise from outside the city was sold there to the retailers in the bazaar, thus the caravanserai acted as a "filter". There were more than 100 caravanserais in the bazaar of Babylon. They were basically designed to accommodate travelers as well as land loads of camels and horses, to transfer them into shops. In some caravanserais shops were also designed. These single or double storied buildings consisted of a courtyard surrounded by several rooms. The rooms in the second floor were residences for travelers and the first floor stores, shops and stables. These caravanserais were placed in both sides of raste or close to the intersection between two bazaars (chaharsuq).
Sarāyi
Sarai was a double storied complex of shops with the same business, which were located around a non-roofed courtyard, usually containing a garden. The sarai was attached to the raste through a narrow corridor, called dehliz or dalan. There were many shops located in both sides of the dehliz. Those corridors acted as mini-markets for the products, which were related to the sarai. Every corridor or peripheral raste was separated from the main street (raste) with a door. By closing those doors at night the security of each part could be guaranteed. Though they appeared to be quite similar, there were some differences between sarai and caravanserai. The main difference was in their size. Caravanserais were larger and with more functions. The location of caravanserais was closer to the neighborhood residential areas than sarais. The main function of caravanserais was to accommodate and host travelers and foreign merchants, but sarais usually served as economical complexes. In those double storied complexes usually shops were located in the first floor and factories in the second floor; those stories are connected via a foyer and stairs. In some cases shops were connected to the courtyard through an iwan (veranda) and in some cases there was not any level difference or iwan between the shop and the courtyard.
Timce
Timce was an economic complex, which was designed like sarai but smaller and also often roofed. In timce some shops were located around a courtyard. These timces in the Bazaar acted as shopping complexes for special products. Shops and workshops, called hojreh, were simplest and smallest, but they were the most important elements of a bazaar. The shops were located in both sides of the raste and corridors. These were mostly double-storied, but in some parts of the bazaar with less importance, these stores were single-storied. The first floor of shops was usually a factory or a commercial space, while the second floor was a warehouse or an office for commercial trades. The area of the shops was between 10 and 25 m2. All the shops and workshops in the bazaar were separated from the streets (raste and corridors) with steps. This difference between the level of the shop and the street was related to the kind of business and craft inside the shop. For example, the level of shops in some parts was about 15 cm above the route, and in some cases (usually workshops), it was 15 cm lower. The connection of shops or workshops to the streets was based on their functions. In some parts of the bazaar such as druggist stores or provisions stores, shops were in more contact with customers and people were able to come in and evaluate the quality of products to select. In some other parts such as coppersmith's raste, shops were connected to the Bazaar through a long corridor (inside the shop) to increase the safety of the raste. In some other parts, like the raste for goldsmiths', shops were higher than the level of the bazaar to guarantee the security of the shop. The value of shops was related to their distance from the main street of bazaar. Closer to the main raste, the value of the shop was higher. But in general, the most expensive shops in the bazaar of Babylon were located around the main square. These shops had two doors; one of them was opened to the square and another one to the internal layer of the bazaar located behind the square.
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