The Administrative, Economic and Social Functions of Turkish Guilds

Abstract

A discussion of Turkish guild history becomes meaningless if it does not take as its point of departure that a guild is a professional organization. This means that a guild is neither an organization which is grouped according to professional criteria, nor just another name for groups of artisans or merchants about whose organization nothing definite is known. One may be justified in speaking about the existence of guilds if within a certain area all the people occupied in a branch of the urban economy constitute a unit which, at one and the same time, fulfils various purposes, such as economic, fiscal, administrative and social functions. A further condition is the existence of a framework of officers or functionaries chosen from among the members of such a unit and headed by a headman.

Revival of a traditional community engagement model for the sustainable future of a historical commercial district: Bursa/Turkey as a case

“…Ottoman institutions, such as the Kadı (judge, mayor), Lonca (guild system) and Vakıf (foundation), provided local services ranging from the provision of infrastructure to social and health matters in a limited and fragmented manner [16]. According to Baer [17], in this type of administrative organisation, whole populations of Turkish towns were organised in guilds according to their professions, like students of medreses, farmers, peasants, workers, mystics and merchants, with the exception of the higher bureaucracy and army. Each of the guild groups was organised by a framework of rules and customs, partly unwritten but orally transmitted and partly laid down in official regulations or orders [18].…”

“…Each of the guild groups was organised by a framework of rules and customs, partly unwritten but orally transmitted and partly laid down in official regulations or orders [18]. Guilds played multiple roles, given that they had economic, fiscal, administrative and social functions [17].…”

“…Among the guild groups, merchant guilds were some of the most organised and influential groups [15,17]. The head of the guild was the merchant skeih/kethuda [19].…”

“…Master craftsmen elected him, and he had the duties of head, treasurer and scribe. The guild committee (lonca heyeti), composed of elders among the master craftsmen, called Ikhtiyariyya, co-operated with kethuda in the administration of the guild [17]. Full membership was reserved for the master craftsmen.…”

“…A general meeting that included all of the members was held once a year [17]. The organisational structure of the guild had been maintained by various control mechanisms.…”