گروسین، هادی. بازار و پیشه های همدان. همدان: انتشارات اسکاف همدان، ۱۳۷۵، ۲۲۸ص
Garrusin, Hadi. Bazar va Pishah-ha-yi Hamadan. Hamadan: Intisharat-i Iskaf Hamadan, 1998, 228pp.
ABSTRACT
The Bazaar and Trades of Hamadan
بازار و پیشه های همدان
The author’s main aim in writing part one of the book is to record existing information about the Bazaar of old Hamadan. In this section 38 raste (the main streets of the Bazaar which are covered and have shops on each side), nineteen mini-bazaars, and 120 caravanserais are identified and listed. The author then describes the main trades, popular products, and the common businesses of religious minorities in Hamadan before moving onto factories. The author shows the development of the labels and logos of Hamadan’s match factories. He then quickly covers the leather and tanning trades which were common in Hamadan before addressing carpet weaving. The author tends towards dating the carpet weaving trade in Hamadan to an earlier time than is recognised by other Orientalists and historians.
The second part of the book, “the Culture of Hamadan’s Crafts and Artisans,” is a small encyclopedia with contents that are not necessarily limited to Hamadan.
The last section of the book is devoted to collecting poems about the various trades. However poems about carpet weaving could not have only been written by carpet weavers themselves. It appears that by focusing on those poems written by carpet weavers, the author intended to put more emphasis on Hamadan’s carpet weaving culture.
In covering the material that he has compiled, Hadi Garrusin rarely cites exact dates or the names of local informants. This undermines the book’s value as a work of documentation.
Given that the writer has also authored “The Hamadani Dictionary,” it is safe to say that he has a greater interest in linguistics and literature than in history. Yet this does not diminish the appeal of the book for an audience interested in popular culture and history.
Iradj Esmailpour Ghouchani
Translated by Niki Akhavan
Ghouchani, Iradj Esmailpour Ghouchani. '"English abstract of 'The Bazaar and Trades of Hamadan'". Translated by Niki Akhavan. In Cities as Built and Lived Environments: Scholarship from Muslim Contexts, 1875 to 2011, by Aptin Khanbaghi, 24. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2014.
Muslim Civilisations Abstracts - The Aga Khan University