Description
Book Synopsis The newly awakened interest in the lives of craftspeople in Turkey is highlighted in this collection, which uses archival documents to follow Ottoman artisans from the late 15th century to the beginning of the 20th. The authors examine historical changes in the lives of artisans, focusing on the craft organizations (or guilds) that underwent substantial changes over the centuries. The guilds transformed and eventually dissolved as they were increasingly co-opted by modernization and state-building projects, and by the movement of manufacturing to the countryside. In consequence by the 20th century, many artisans had to confront the forces of capitalism and world trade without significant protection, just as the Ottoman Empire was itself in the process of dissolution.
Trade Review “This book is an exciting and valuable contribution to the field of Ottoman history in general, and guild studies in particular. The editor’s sweeping introductory synthesis alone is an unparalleled round-up of the latest research…this introduction, and the following chapters, broach most if not all the “big questions” relating to the study of guilds and their history.” · Pascale Ghazaleh, The American University in Cairo
Table of Contents List of Illustrations
Preface
Time line
Map (from Artisans of Empire)
Introduction: Once again, Ottoman artisans
PART I: ARTISANS OVER THE COURSE OF TIME
Chapter 1. Tracing Esnāf in Late Fifteenth-Century Bursa Court Records
İklil Erefe Selçuk
Chapter 2. The Art of the Potter in Ottoman Hungary
Geza David and Ibolya Gerelyes
Chapter 3. Damascene Artisans around 1700
Colette Establet
Chapter 4. Mapping Istanbul’s Hammams of 1752 and their Employees
Nina Ergin
Chapter 5. Surviving in Difficult Times: The Cotton and Silk Trades in Bursa around 1800
Suraiya Faroqhi
Chapter 6. The Shoe Guilds of Istanbul in the Early Nineteenth Century: A Case Study
Nalan Turna
PART II: INTRA-GUILD PROBLEMS
Chapter 7. Blurred Boundaries between Soldiers and Civilians: Artisan Janissaries in Seventeenth-century Istanbul
Gülay Yılmaz
Chapter 8. Rich Artisans and Poor Merchants? A Critical Look at the Supposed Egalitarianism in Ottoman Guilds
Eunjeong Yi
Chapter 9. Gedik: What’s in a Name?
Onur Yıldırım – Seven Ağır
Chapter 10. Punishment, Repression and Violence in the Marketplace: Istanbul, 1730-1840
Engin Deniz Akarlı
PART III: ARTISANS CONFRONTING THE MODERNIZING STATE
Chapter 11. Some observations on Istanbul’s artisans during the reign of Selim III (1789-1808)
Betül Başaran and Cengiz Kırlı
Chapter 12. Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire: Protest, the State, and the End of the Guilds in Egypt
John Chalcraft
Glossary
Contributors
Bibliography
Index
