Guild Dynamics in Seventeenth-Century Istanbul: Fluidity and Leverage (Ottoman Empire and Its Heritage)

GUILD DYNAMICS IN SEVENTEENTHCENTURY ISTANBUL: Fluidity and Leverage

EUNJEONG YI

BRILL

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GUILD DYNAMICS IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ISTANBUL

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THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND ITS HERITAGE Politics, Society and Economy edited by

Suraiya Faroqhi and Halil Inalcik Advisory Board Fikret Adanir • Idris Bostan • Amnon Cohen • Cornell Fleischer Barbara Flemming • Alexander de Groot • Klaus Kreiser Hans Georg Majer • Irène Mélikoff • Ahmet Yas¸ ar Ocak Abdeljelil Temimi • Gilles Veinstein • Elizabeth Zachariadou

VOLUME 27

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GUILD DYNAMICS IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ISTANBUL Fluidity and Leverage BY

EUNJEONG YI

BRILL LEIDEN • BOSTON 2004

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This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Yi, Eunjeong. Guild dynamics in seventeenth-century Istanbul : fluidity and leverage / by Eunjeong Yi p. cm. — (Ottoman Empire and its heritage, ISSN 1380-6076 ; v. 27) Thesis (doctoral)—Harvard, 2000. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 90-04-12944-8 1. Guilds—Turkey—Istanbul—History—17th century. 2. Merchants—Turkey—Istanbul—Societies, etc.—History—17th century. 3. Artisans—Turkey–Istanbul—History—17th century. 4. Turkey—History—Ottoman Empire, 1288-1918. I. Title. II. Series. HD6473.T94I859 2003 338.6’32’094961809032—dc21 2003056087

ISSN 1380-6076 ISBN 90 04 12944 8 © Copyright 2004 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Brill provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, Rosewood Drive 222, Suite 910 Danvers MA 01923, USA Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands

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TO MY PARENTS

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CONTENTS

Preface ........................................................................................ List of Abbreviations .................................................................. A Note on Transliteration ........................................................ A Note on Translation ..............................................................

ix xiii xv xvii

Introduction ................................................................................

1

Chapter One: The Setting: Seventeenth-Century Istanbul ....

19

Chapter Two: The Organization and Operation of Guilds .. 41 a. The Guild as a Collective Body: Membership, Leadership and Guild Activities ............................................ 41 i. Fluid Boundaries of Membership .................................... 44 ii. Egalitarianism, Wealth and Social Mobility .................. 57 iii. Ethno-Religious Composition of the Guilds .................. 65 iv. Guild Leadership—Titles, Appointments and Expectations ...................................................................... 70 v. Day-to-Day Guild Activities ............................................ 81 vi. Decision-Making in the Guilds ........................................ 87 b. Individual Members and the Guild .................................... 90 i. Purchase of Raw Materials ............................................ 91 ii. Business Partnerships ({irket) .............................................. 95 iii. Violation of Guild Rules ................................................ 102 c. Inter-guild Relationships ........................................................ 105 d. Conclusion .............................................................................. 110 Chapter Three: Guilds, “Traditionalism,” and Change ........ a. How “Conservative” Were the Guilds?—Rhetoric and Reality .................................................................................... b. New Developments in the Guild System ............................ i. New Guilds ...................................................................... ii. New Members .................................................................. iii. New Institutional Devices ................................................ The Appearance of Gedik ................................................ ..............................1 Ket¢üdà -ship .......................................... Guild Waqfs and and Ket¢üdà-ship ......................1 c. Conclusion ..............................................................................

113 113 125 125 132 148 148 160 163

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Chapter Four: The Government-Guild Relationship—The Negotiating Power of the Guildsmen vis-à-vis the State ........ a. Government Stance toward Istanbul Guilds and Guildsmen .............................................................................. b. Government Involvement in the Guild System .................. i. Infrastructure and Provisioning ...................................... ii. Market Supervision and Price Fixing ............................ iii. Collection of Regular and Irregular Taxes .................. c. Petitions and Appeals by Guilds and Guildsmen .............. d. Uprising as an Extended Form of Negotiation: The Case of the 1651 Rebellion .................................................. e. Conclusion ..............................................................................

167 176 177 179 188 196

Conclusion ..................................................................................

237

Appendices .................................................................................. Appendix A: Lists of Trades in Law Codes (Kanunnàmeler) and Price Registers (Nar¢ Defterleri ) ...................................... Appendix B: Lists of Trades Based on Descriptions of the Guild Procession in 1582 ...................................................... Appendix C: Trades that Had Shops in the 1670s .............. Appendix D: List of Trades Found in Court Records .......... Appendix E: The 62 Guilds (Óirfet) Not Subject to I˙tisàb Taxes in 1092/1681–82 ........................................................ Appendix F: Database: Guilds Found in Group Appeals ......

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167

213 233

245 255 261 265 269 271

Bibliography ................................................................................

291

Index ..........................................................................................

303

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PREFACE

This work is based on my doctoral dissertation, “The Istanbul Guilds in the Seventeenth Century: Leverage in Changing Times” (Harvard, 2000). Some 10 years have passed since I first saw a set of colorful miniatures depicting the procession of Istanbul guilds in an Ottoman history survey class. I was interested in guilds immediately, but as I went on to read the secondary literature on Ottoman guilds I found that works painting “big pictures” of the guilds generally portrayed them in a rather bleak tone. They tended to judge that Ottoman guilds in general, and the Istanbul guilds in particular, were tradition-bound and/or closely controlled by the government. The gap between the vivid miniatures and the monotonous “big pictures” posed me a daunting question: were the guilds of Istanbul such ineffective, inert, weak entities? This book is the modest result of my pursuit of that question. Since it is a general (overambitious?) study that tries to accommodate all guilds mentioned in court records, divan documents, chronicles and so forth of the early to mid-seventeenth century, the arguments may come across as being too broad. However, I find comfort in the thought that at least I discovered some patterns of behavior applying to many guilds that in fact shared a common mode and arena of action; I also believe that my findings seriously modify conventional wisdom on the guilds. I must thank many people without whose help this book would not have been possible. First and foremost, I would like to thank Professor Cemal Kafadar, who was my insightful advisor during my period of graduate study at Harvard. I greatly enjoyed being his student and cannot express enough gratitude for all he has taught me. I also thank Professors Roger Owen and Edward Keenan, who as members of my dissertation committee made valuable comments on my rough drafts. After I graduated, I further benefited from comments made by prominent scholars such as Suraiya Faroqhi, Halil (nalcık, Engin Akarlı, Donald Quataert, }evket Pamuk and Molly Greene. I feel the deepest gratitude towards all of them. Additionally, I greatly benefited from discussions held during both the Labor

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History Workshop held at New York University (March, 2001) and a double panel from the 2001 MESA conference entitled “ ‘Guilds’ in the Ottoman Empire.” While I learned so much from my mentors mentioned above, any mistakes that remain in this book are mine alone. I spent an enjoyable and productive time in the archives of Istanbul thanks to the kind assistance of the archival staff. I thank the present and former personnel of the Müftülük archives, especially Abdülaziz Bayındır, Ömer Özkan and (smail Kurt, all of whom helped me read difficult documents and gave me useful information. I will never forget the hospitable atmosphere of the small reading room on the second floor. I would also like to thank members of the staff of the Ba{bakanlık archives, who were also very kind, and Professor Halil Sahillio