214 Between Private and Public
the khiyābān, or the streets located outside of the area associated with
the covered market. In practical terms this distinction, recognized by
khiyābānῑ as well as bazaaris, was that those located outside the bazaar
did not work in the same guilds or participate in the commercial and
social relations of the bazaar, and ostensibly lacked “membership in the
bazaar.” One consequence for those deprived of membership in the bazaar
was their inability to gain access to affordable credit, since interest rates
were based on “being known” [shenākhteh shodeh] and/or having high
status co-signers from the bazaar. They were often not involved in long-
term and complex commercial relations with bazaaris, and hence were
neither known to bazaaris, nor were they able to identify the guild elders
and high-status members who could act as references and entrées into the
bazaar’s world. This resulted in bazaaris’ characterization of khiyābānῑ as
“inexperienced,” which was ostensibly a function of their absence from
the bazaar’s space and networks, essential components of being visible
and active members of its publicness.^28
n conclusion, this physically distinct space embedded networks I
in a shared social context creating a “sense of place.” The distinct geog-
raphy and architecture of the bazaar’s buildings gave the bazaar a tangi-
ble quality that composed the identity of bazaaris. Therefore, it is these
embedded and expansive networks that created a robust sense of soli-
darity and made the Tehran bazaar in the prerevolutionary era a com-
munity, despite hierarchical difference. Finally, the rooted nature of the
market in a place helped establish the necessary foundation for commu-
nal allegiance with its confined nature fostering long-term and face-to-
face interactions among bazaaris. To put it more emphatically, if you do
not spend enough time in the bazaar, you cannot participate in the daily
encounters and intercourse and will not become a bazaari; and if you
do spend enough time in the bazaar to cultivate and participate in the
essential interpersonal relations, you very well may inhale the dust and
microbes that bazaaris imagined made them different and microbiologi-
cally identifiable.^29