Bazaar

In general a souk is synonymous with a bazaar or marketplace, and the term souk is used in Arabic-speaking countries, with the Hebrew cognate shuk used in Israel.

The origin of the word bazaar comes from Persian bāzār,[6][7] from Middle Persian wāzār,[8] from Old Persian vāčar,[9] from Proto-Indo-Iranian *wahā-čarana.[10] The term, bazaar, spread from Persia into Arabia and ultimately throughout the Middle East.[11]

The term bazaar is a common word in the Indian subcontinent: Hindi: बाज़ार, romanized: bāzār; Punjabi: ਬਜ਼ਾਰ।, romanized: bazāra; Bengali: বাজার, romanized: bājār; Nepali: बजार, romanized: bajār; Urdu: بازار, romanized: bazār.

In North America, the United Kingdom and some other European countries, the term charity bazaar can be used as a synonym for a "rummage sale", to describe charity fundraising events held by churches or other community organisations in which either donated used goods (such as books, clothes and household items) or new and handcrafted (or home-baked) goods are sold for low prices, as at a church or other organisation's Christmas bazaar, for example.

Although Turkey offers many famous markets known as "bazaars" in English, the Turkish word "pazar" refers to an outdoor market held at regular intervals, not a permanent structure containing shops. English place names usually translate "çarşı" (shopping district in a downtown or downtown itself) as "bazaar" when they refer to an area with covered streets or passages. For example, the Turkish name for the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is "Kapalıçarşı" (gated shopping area), while the Spice Bazaar is the "Mısır Çarşısı" (Egyptian shopping area).

In Czech, the word "bazar" means second-hand shop. "Autobazar" is a shop which purchases and sells pre-owned cars.

In Indonesian, the word pasar means "market". The capital of Bali province, in Indonesia, is Denpasar, which means "north market".

Souk in Amman, Jordan

The Deira Souks in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The Arabic word is a loan from Aramaic "šūqā" ("street, market"), itself a loanword from the Akkadian "sūqu" ("street").[12][13] The spelling souk entered European languages likely through French during the French occupation of the Arab countries Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia in the 19th and 20th centuries. Thus, the word "souk" mostly refers to Arabic and North African traditional markets.[5] Other spellings of this word involving the letter "Q" (sooq, souq, and so'oq) were likely developed using English and thus refer to Western Asian or Arab traditional markets, as there were several British colonies there during the 19th and 20th centuries.

In Modern Standard Arabic the term al-sooq refers to markets in both the physical sense and the abstract economic sense (e.g., an Arabic-speaker would speak of the sooq in the old city as well as the sooq for oil, and would call the concept of the free market السوق الحرّ as-sūq al-ḥurr).

In northern Morocco, the Spanish corruption socco is often used as in the Grand Socco and Petit Socco of Tangiers.

In the Indian subcontinent the 'chowk' is often used to name a place with four-way crossroad, and comes from Sanskrit चतवार, meaning four. In Western Asia (the Middle East), this term is generally used to designate the market, but may also be used in Western cities, particularly those with a Muslim community.

Shuk Mahane Yehuda, a popular shuk in Jerusalem, often simply called the Shuk (Hebrew: השוק, romanized: ha-Šūq)

In Israel, the term shuk or shuq (Hebrew: שׁוּק, romanized: šūq) shares a common Aramaic origin of the Arabic souk, and holds a prominent role in everyday life. Markets such as Mahane Yehuda in Jerusalem are often covered rows of stalls much like those seen elsewhere in the region, selling produce, spices, halvah, and even clothing.

In Malta, the terms suq and sometimes monti are used for a marketplace.

In the United States, especially in Southern California and Nevada, an indoor swap meet is a type of bazaar, i.e. a permanent, indoor shopping center open during normal retail hours, with fixed "booths" or counters for the vendors.[14][15][16]

Scholar Mohammad Gharipour has pointed out that in spite of the centrality of souks and bazaars in Middle Eastern history, relatively little is known due to the lack of archaeological evidence.[17] Historical records document the concept of a bazaar existing in Iran as early as 3000 BCE, where some large cities contained districts dedicated to trade and commerce.[18][19] Archeological data also suggests the existence of market districts in ancient Mesopotamia.[19] Markets centers must have existed in Egypt to conduct international trade, but no archeological evidence for them has been found.[19] In Achaemenid Persia (550–330 BCE), documents indicate that crafts were sold in markets close to Persepolis.[19] A network of bazaars had sprung up alongside ancient caravan trade routes. Bazaars located along these trade routes, formed networks, linking major cities with each other and in which goods, culture, people and information could be exchanged.[20] Sources from around the same era also indicate that ancient Greeks regulated trade in areas at the center of their cities around stoa buildings. The ideas of Greek city planning were spread to the Middle East during the Seleucid period, following the conquests of Alexander the Great.[19]

The Greek historian, Herodotus, noted that in Egypt, roles were reversed compared with other cultures and Egyptian women frequented the market and carried on trade, while the men remain at home weaving cloth.[21] He also described The Babylonian Marriage Market.[22]

Sassanid rule in Iran was an important period for the development of urbanization and commerce.[23] In Sassanid Iran the bazaar was usually the heart of a town or city, where it spread outwards and affected the development of other neighbourhoods. The bazaar usually contained, or was adjoined by, an open-air plaza that served as a forum of socio-economic activity.[23]

Historically, souks were also held outside cities at locations where incoming caravans stopped and merchants displayed their goods for sale. Souks were established at caravanserai, places where a caravan or caravans arrived and remained for rest and refreshments. Since this might be infrequent, souks often extended beyond buying and selling goods to include major festivals involving various cultural and social activities. Any souk may serve a social function as being a place for people to meet in, in addition to its commercial function.[24]

In pre-Islamic Arabia, two types of bazaar existed: permanent urban markets and temporary seasonal markets. The temporary seasonal markets were held at specific times of the year and became associated with particular types of produce. Suq Hijr in Bahrain was noted for its dates while Suq 'Adan was known for its spices and perfumes. In spite of the centrality of the Middle East in the history of bazaars, relatively little is known due to the lack of archaeological evidence. However, documentary sources point to permanent marketplaces in cities from as early as 550 BCE.[17]

Khan al-Mirjan in Baghdad (14th century), one of the oldest preserved urban commercial structures in the Islamic world

According to traditional Muslim narratives, Muhammad established a market place (sūq) in Medina shortly after arriving there during the Hijrah in 622 CE. He designated an open, unbuilt space as the market area and forbade both the construction of permanent structures and the levying of taxes in this area.[25] Eight years later, he is said to have appointed a market inspector ('āmil 'alā l-sūq), a position that likely evolved into the later muḥtasib in Islamic cities, an official in charge of overseeing public morality and regulating weights and measures.[25]

Despite the importance of the bazaar to economic life and the prominence of marketplace terminology in the Quran, not much is known about the early history of bazaars and it remains a topic of ongoing research.[25] Most of the surviving urban commercial structures in the Islamic world date from the 16th century or later, though some preserved urban caravanserais (commonly known as a funduq, khān, or wakāla) date from earlier periods.[26] The oldest of these is the Khan al-Mirjan in Baghdad, built in 1359 as part of a larger architectural complex.[27]

Al-Hamidiyah Souq in Damascus

Muhammad's prohibition against constructing permanent buildings and levying taxes in the market began to be disregarded as early as the Umayyad period (7th to 8th centuries). The Umayyad caliphs Mu'awiya I and Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik both built structures in the market of Medina and levied taxes there, while purpose-built markets were built in early Islamic cities further abroad such as Basra in Iraq, Fustat in Egypt, and Kairouan in Tunisia. This process seems to have accelerated during the reign of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (r. 724–743) in particular.[25] Markets that sold the most important or expensive goods were usually located near the city's central Friday mosque.[25] In some cities, such as Cairo and Aleppo, the main bazaar was initially focused along one important street and then progressively grew and branched off into the surrounding streets.[26]

During the Islamic period in Iran, bazaars developed along the same lines as those of the Sassanid period.[23] Up to the 11th century, the bazaar developed more commonly in the suburbs outside the city walls that enclosed the shahristān, the formal city. This was especially true in Central Asia, though there were exceptions in some regions where the bazaar was grouped with the citadel and the city's Friday mosque inside the city walls.[28] After the 11th century, the growing importance of the suburbs and the commercial districts resulted in most of them being enclosed within newly expanded city walls. From the 10th century onward, the bazaar became the financial center of a city and was heavily patronized and developed by ruling elites. The grouping of a bazaar, citadel, and Friday mosque also became more common.[28]

The Old Bazaar of Pristina, Kosovo

In the Mamluk Sultanate (13th to 16th centuries) and in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries), the construction of commercial buildings in and around the bazaar was often sponsored by sultans, ruling elites, or by members of the Ottoman royal family. The revenues generated by these buildings were typically earmarked to support the upkeep of religious complexes sponsored by these same patrons, through the legal framework of a waqf (legal endowment).[29][30][31]

Mule moving goods around in the car-free Medina quarter, Fes, Morocco

In the Middle East, the bazaar is considered to be "the beating heart of the city and a symbol of Islamic architecture and culture of high significance."[32] Today, bazaars are popular sites for tourists and some of these ancient bazaars have been listed as world heritage sites or national monuments on the basis of their historical, cultural or architectural value.

The Medina of Fez, Morocco, which includes numerous long market streets (e.g. Tala'a Kebira) and bazaar areas (e.g. Kissariat al-Kifah), was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981.[33] Al-Madina Souk in Aleppo is the largest covered historic market in the world, with an approximate length of 13 kilometers.[34] It is part of the Ancient Aleppo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986 in Syria.[35] The Bazaar complex in Tabriz, Iran, was listed by UNESCO in 2010.[36] The Bazaar of Qaisiyariye in Lar, Iran, is on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2007.[37] Kemeraltı Bazaar in İzmir was placed on tentative list in 2020.[38]

Many of these works were lavishly illustrated with engravings of every day scenes of Oriental lifestyles, including scenes of market places and market trade.[45] Artists focused on the exotic beauty of the land – the markets, caravans and snake charmers. Islamic architecture also became favorite subject matter. Some of these works were propaganda designed to justify European imperialism in the East, however many artists relied heavily on their everyday experiences for inspiration in their artworks.[46] For example, Charles D'Oyly, who was born in India, published the Antiquities of Dacca featuring a series of 15 engraved plates of Dacca [now Dhaka, Bangladesh] featuring scenes of markets, commerce, buildings and streetscapes.[47] European society generally frowned on nude painting – but harems, concubines and slave markets, presented as quasi-documentary works, satisfied European desires for pornographic art. The Oriental female wearing a veil was a particularly tempting subject because she was hidden from view, adding to her mysterious allure.[48]

Notable artists in the Orientalist genre include: Jean-Léon Gérôme Delacroix (1824–1904), Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (1803–1860), Frederic Leighton (1830-1896), Eugène Alexis Girardet 1853-1907 and William Holman Hunt (1827–1910) who all found inspiration in Oriental street scenes, trading and commerce. French painter Jean-Étienne Liotard visited Istanbul in the 17th century and painted pastels of Turkish domestic scenes. British painter John Frederick Lewis who lived for several years in a traditional mansion in Cairo, painted highly detailed works showing realistic genre scenes of Middle Eastern life. Edwin Lord Weeks was a notable American example of a 19th-century artist and author in the Orientalism genre. His parents were wealthy tea and spice merchants who were able to fund his travels and interest in painting. In 1895 Weeks wrote and illustrated a book of travels titled From the Black Sea through Persia and India. Other notable painters in the Orientalist genre who included scenes of street life and market-based trade in their work are Jean-Léon Gérôme Delacroix (1824–1904), Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (1803–1860), Frederic Leighton (1830–1896), Eugène Alexis Girardet 1853–1907 and William Holman Hunt (1827–1910), who all found inspiration in Oriental street scenes, trading and commerce.[49]

A proliferation of both Oriental fiction and travel writing occurred during the early modern period.[50]

Many English visitors to the Orient wrote narratives around their travels. British Romantic literature in the Orientalism tradition has its origins in the early eighteenth century, with the first translations of The Arabian Nights (translated into English from the French in 1705–08). The popularity of this work inspired authors to develop a new genre, the Oriental tale. Samuel Johnson's History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia, (1759) is mid-century example of the genre.[51] Byron's Oriental Tales, is another example of the Romantic Orientalism genre.[52]

Although these works were purportedly non-fiction, they were notoriously unreliable. Many of these accounts provided detailed descriptions of market places, trading and commerce.[53] Examples of travel writing include: Les Mysteres de L'Egypte Devoiles by Olympe Audouard published in 1865[54] and Jacques Majorelle's Road Trip Diary of a Painter in the Atlas and the Anti-Atlas published in 1922[55]