Picot noted in 1894 that caravans heading to Erzurum in the Ottoman Empire from Tabriz sometimes stopped in the village of Bazargan, which, at the time, numbered only ten houses.

The actual Iranian-Turkish frontier had then to be crossed by foot after a day's walk which was considered to be "frequently arduous" as the countryside was barren with very harsh climate in winter at the foothills of nearby Mount Ararat.

After 1974, due to increases in oil prices, Iran started to import large numbers of goods, a change which would heavily impact Bazargan.

[5] Due to these changes, which were very advantageous for Bazargan, numerous additional facilities have been constructed at the border city, including restaurants, inns and warehouses.

By 1986, its population had surpassed 1,500, but, as the Encyclopædia Iranica states, the "transit trade has especially benefited Maku, where the majority of the employees of the frontier post live".