As the third largest city in Iran, after Tehran and Mashhad, Isfahan is located in the center and heart of Iran. The geographical location has given Isfahan a special value and dignity; So that the connection between north and south or east and west of the country is possible through Isfahan. This is the geographical location that has given the city commercial importance. It is interesting to know that old Isfahan had a privileged place and status in the historical past in terms of geographical location.
The book “Isfahan Big Bazaar” written by Dr. Syros Shafaqi (1312-1401), was published by Isfahan Municipal Culture and Recreation Organization (on the order of Isfahan Center of Science and House of Nations) in 856 pages in 1385. It has become an exquisite, innovative, reference and lasting work about the history and knowledge of the Isfahan market and the knowledge of the city of Isfahan.
In the following, we will read together a part of this book including pages 98 to 101, which is about the development of the city of Isfahan.
The birth of the city of Isfahan
As the third largest city in Iran, after Tehran and Mashhad, Isfahan is located in the center and heart of Iran. The geographical location has given Isfahan a special value and dignity; So that the connection between north and south or east and west of the country is possible through Isfahan. This is the geographical location that has given the city commercial importance. It is interesting to know that old Isfahan had a privileged place and dignity in terms of geographical location in the historical past, because it had two important old cities, Aleppo and Damascus in the west and Samarkand and Bukhara in the east, all four cities were important commercial centers of the Islamic world.
The distance of Isfahan from the historical borders of the country has also caused this city to attract the attention of politicians and state managers throughout history. For this reason, this city was first chosen as the government center during the period of Al-Buye and the Kakouyeh dynasty, and as the capital of the country during the Seljuk and Safavid periods.
The sources of the pre-Safavi era do not provide us with comprehensive information about the city’s bazaar, but Isfahan in the Safavid era has relatively complete sources, and their study makes it clear to us that the bazaar has given a special identity to Isfahan in terms of urban structure. One of the important structures of this city in the Safavid era is its bazaar, which was responsible for the leadership of commerce, professions and handicrafts, as well as credit and financial affairs, managing the collection and distribution of village products. Isfahan bazaar has played such an important role in the establishment and construction of Isfahan city that until the industrialization of the city (about 1300 AD) it influenced the entire surface of the city and urban development was strongly influenced by it. We will study this issue in a separate section under the title “The role of the market in the structure and structure of the city of Isfahan”.
Isfahan is mentioned in historical sources after the Achaemenid period under the names of Espadaneh (Greek according to Ptolemy), Isfahan (Persian) and Isfahan (Arabic), and even in the coins of the Sassanid era, it is referred to as A.S.
The city of Isfahan was conquered by the Muslim Arabs at the end of the 20th lunar year and according to one saying in the 21st lunar year, but some authors such as Yaqoubi and Tabari write that in the 23rd lunar year.
Belazari considers the conquest of Isfahan during the time of Umar bin Khattab in the 23rd lunar year with a small battle on the condition of paying tribute and jizya.
In that era, Isfahan was no more than a village whose inhabitants were Jews, and it was known as Yehudiyeh. However, after the Arab attack on Isfahan, the old city of Isfahan was called “Ji” or “Gay”, which was located three kilometers southeast of Yehudiyeh or Isfahan.
Old Isfahan or “G” in the Sassanid era was one of the prestigious political and administrative centers of the country, whose civil part was called Sharistan or Shahristan, which still retains its old name.
A bridge named “Pol Shahristan”, which has a Sassanid foundation, is still standing in the same place. This bridge has played a very powerful role in connecting with other parts, especially the south of Iran (Persian and Persian Gulf coasts). The use of this bridge was exclusively for Jai and other residential centers could not use it, so they were not able to establish a connection with other places, and therefore other settlements in this area, including Yehudiyeh, remained as villages.
In the city of Ji, the market place of Al-Souq Square was located in front of the gate of Khor in the north of the city of Ji. Probably, this market was outside the city and there was such a pattern in most of the old cities that farmers sold their agricultural and livestock products there.
This square was the place of Nowruz celebration until the 3rd and 4th century AH, and at that time a temporary market was opened there.
There is a strong difference of opinion in the origin and formation of Judea, which often has a legendary aspect, but it is probably almost certain that the creation of Judea was established during the time of Yazdgerd I (399 to 421 AD).
French tourist, Madame Deulafova, considers the first inhabitants of Isfahan to be the exiled Jews of Nebuchodnezzar, who settled in Isfahan after a lot of wandering.
It should be said that throughout history, Iranians have always accepted and supported the nations, ethnic groups, and followers of various religions who were treated unkindly.
Madame Diolavova writes about the archeological findings of Isfahan: There are no ancient works that can effectively help in determining the age of the city.
The fact is that from the time of Diolafwa until today, no antiquities related to the pre-Islam era have been discovered and deeply researched by archaeologists in the region.
But surely, Isfahan was the territory and influence of “Vaspohran” during the Sassanid period and had a special importance. Vaspohran was referred to the members of the seven great Iranian families who were in charge of major royal jobs during the Sassanid period.
The city of Ji during the Sassanid period was built similar to all the cities of the Sassanid period and had four gates, one of which was known as the “Jaudan Gate” where a group of Jews lived, or a gate that was close to Judea and from this It is true that later the major part of the city became known as Judea.
Geographical evidence shows that there has always been a distance between Jai (the city) and Yehudiyeh (the old centers of Isfahan), and the development of these two cities had never reached the extent to fill this gap with settlements.
From the study of the old historical and geographical documents, it is concluded that Jay was very important during the Sasanian era, especially its defensive aspect, which was the center of gathering and training of the army.
In fact, the name “Espahan” was related to the army and militia, and later it was called “Isfahan” by the Arabs.
During the Arab attacks on Isfahan, Yehudiyeh and its surrounding villages had a peasant life that, due to ethnic and religious differences, did not have a close socio-economic relationship with their nearby villages.
In fact, the residents of these villages lived apart from each other and in fact, they lived in a closed system.
For this reason, at that time, “Judea” had not yet become a city, and we cannot consider “Judea” of that time with its small satellite settlements as a city.
But after the conquest of Islam, over time the relations between the settlements increased and thus the ground for the development and formation of the city in this region was provided.
But Jey, as a government center, always kept its distance from Judea and its peripheral settlements.
