The Birth of the Bazaar in the Iranian City: An Assessment of the Hypotheses on the Emergence of the First Bazaars in Iran

For thousands of years, the diverse needs of human beings have been met through the exchange of products with others. This has led to the construction of designated spaces and places called bazaars in various forms. The bazaar has long been one of the most important elements in shaping the structure of Iranian cities, but there is no consensus among experts on the origin of the bazaar. There are at least two different views about its origins. Seyed Mohsen Habibi attributes the emergence of the bazaar to the Achaemenid period. But some other scholars such as Jahanshah Pakzad consider the birth of the bazaar as dating back to the Seleucid period, considering Greek roots for it. This article is a foundational, qualitative and documentary study, trying to evaluate both views, based on the available historical documents and evidences, to identify a stronger hypothesis. Since the purpose of this study is to investigate the origin of the bazaar in Iran, the focus is only on pre-Islamic Iran. The findings refute the view about the Greek origin of the bazaar, and favours the view of the birth of the market during the Achaemenid period as the more probable. However, this is far from definitely true, because there is also some evidence indicating the origin of the market to be before the Achaemenid era, as the ancient settlements of Iran also had their version of the bazaar.