Ottoman Craftsmen and their Guilds

In the Ottoman Empire, the word “esnaf” (craftsman, tradesman) covered a wide category of people, referring to artists as well as artisans. In fact, anyone who produced or sold something, or provided a service, in short anyone who worked for a living, was included in the category.The master artisans who produced prayer beads were considered as esnaf, as were the watermen who roamed the streets bare-foot crying “abates love’s fire” as they freely distributed curative water. Members of the old fire squads entered the esnaf category as did porters.Peddlers formed another part of the esnaf mosaic. These poor people who carried their heavy load, walking the streets of istanbul often bare foot and dressed in rags, originated from the provinces.This book is not a historical research on the esnaf. It is a series of portraits gathered from the cinders of Ottoman social history.