Any bazaars were enclosed and had high vaulted ceilings that covered narrow rows of stalls. Specific sections called timces housed similar types of goods for shoppers’ convenience. Spaces for manufacturing, storage, and merchants’ offices stood alongside shops. Caravansaries attached to the bazaar received trains of camels or mules loaded with goods. The caravansary also served as lodging for visiting traders and their animals. In the caravansary, newly arrived trade goods were sold wholesale in bulk to merchants. In the bazaar, they were sold retail to individual customers and clients. Although trade was heavy, the Ṣafavid had a chronic shortage of coins in circulation.
Silver coins, such as the one pictured were used by the government to pay administrative
costs, by merchants to pay for goods purchased in large trade deals, and by some people
to pay taxes. Soldiers and the urban lower class used copper coins. The value of these
coins changed from year to year, and they could only be traded for silver coins in large
sums. Rural people bartered for goods and services and rarely saw coins. The empire’s
elite hoarded its small number of gold coins.
Ṣafavid products such as brocades, carpets, and leather goods were
prized throughout the world. Even so, trade with Europe was not
easy. To the south, the Ṣafavid were blocked by Europe's sea
forces. To the west were their enemies, the Ottomans. To trade with
Europe, the Ṣafavid had to rely on land routes across the southern
part of Russia, avoiding Ottoman blockades. Though some
Europeans were open to trading with the Ṣafavid in this way, the
loss of trade weakened the Persian economy.

1.How might buyers have reacted to shopping for an item in a timce? How might merchants have felt about being organized this way?

2.Why do you think some Europeans went to the extra effort of traveling over land to trade with the Ṣafavid?