Durham E-Theses Artisans and guild life in the later Safavid period Keyvani, Mehdi How to cite: Keyvani, Mehdi (1980) Artisans and guild life in the later Safavid period, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/7492/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk Stylized bird and tree from a Safavid brocade. Artisans and Guild Life in the later Safavid period by Mehdi Keyvani Ph.D. Thesis submitted to the School of Oriental Studies, Durham University. April, 1980. borders from Safavid brocades. 14. MM'1984 ABSTRACT In the social and economic history^ of Iran, as of other Moslem countries, bazaars and g^uilds of craftsmen and trades• men working in them have always played an important part. Aftor a discussion of the historical background, this thesis examines the functions of the guilds in the later Safavid period (c. 1597-1722 A.D.), when Iran was a large and generally stable empire administered on bureaucratic rather than feudal lines. Guild practices and traditions from the period endured into the 19th and 20th centuries. Evidence is adduced to show that the guilds had a dual role as spontaneous associations for defence of their members' interests and as agencies used by the Safavid government for collection of taxes, control of prices, and procurement of goods and labour. Among the subjects which are examined are the functions of responsible officials and headmen, the taxes and tho tax collection methods, the apprenticeship system, price supervision, judicial and penal matters, and guild restrictions. Attention is also given to the Safavid government's intervention in economic life through royal industrial establishments and royal monopolies. Although merchants were not organized in guilds, they influenced the life of the bazaars, and so too did the East India Companies which established "factories" in Iran during the period. Attention is therefore given to the activities of Muslim Iranian, Armenian, Jewish, and Hindu merchants and financiers, and of the English and Dutch East India Companies. The stagnation of the Iranian economy in the later part of the period, the lack of technical innovation, and the non• appearance of large-scale forms of industrial and economical organization are considered in the light of the available evidence. The conclusion which is reached is that the Safavid regime's restrictive and monopolistic policy was one of the main causes of this decline. The guilds played an important part in religious and social as well as commercial and industrial life. Religious and ethical traditions and social and ceremonial functions of the guilds are therefore discussed in this thesis. Material for the thesis has been gathered from a compre• hensive survey of Iranian and foreign sources; but for many topics, adequate evidence to support firm conclusions has not been obtainable. The thesis is therefore offered as^ a tentative contribution to understanding of a hitherto unstudied phase of Iranian history. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Preface iii Acknowledgements iv Transliteration vii Indication of Soiirces viii Abreviations ix Chronology X Dynastic Tables xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Survey and assessment of the sources of data on the guilds in Safavid Iran ( 3 1.2. The historical background of the Iranian guilds 22 CHAPTER 2: DESCRIPTION AND NIMBER OF THE GUILDS 2.1. Description and classification of the guilds 2.2. Number of the guiJds 53 CHAPTER 3: STRUCTTOE OF THE GTQ'LDS 3.1 . The governmental administration of the guilds a) The guilds as administrative intermediaries 71 b) Kalantar 75 c) Naqib V 77. d) Muhtasib ' 80 e) Darugha 82 f) Malik ut-Tujjar 83 3.2. The internal organisation of the guilds 94 a) Bashi b) Kadkhuda 101 c) Apprenticeship and mastership 104 CHAPTER k: METHODS OF GOVERNMENT CONTROL 4.1. The guilds and taxation 120 k.2. Price control 137 4.3, Restrictions and Kionopolies l47 k.h. Judicial and penal institutions of the 159 guilds Page CHAPTER 5: SOCIAL MOBILIZATION 5.1. Social functions of the guilds 167 5.2. Political activities of the guilds 178 CHAPTER 6: SPECIAL GUILDS 6.1. The royal guilds (asnaf-i shahi) 195 6.2. The non-Muslim artisans 209 CHAPTER 7: CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS FUNCTIONS 7.1. Public ceremonies Z2k 7.2. Cultural and religious aspects 235 7.3. The guilds and the darvish orders 2kk CHAPTER 8: . RELATIONS BETWEEN THE MERCHANTS A^JD THE GTHLDS; IMPEDIMENTS TO ECONOMIC GROWTH IN SAFAVID IRAN 256 CONCLUSION 299 APPENDIX ,1 : Celebration of 'Id-1 Qurban APPENDIX 2: Selected shahr-ashub verses from the 316 Divan-i Ri&van of Mlrza Tahir Vahid BIBLIOGRAPHY 3k2 Ill PREFACE The importance of thp Safavid period in Iran's historical evolution is acknowledged by modern scholars. Although the stability and the unity, more or less within the traditional frontiers, which the Iranian people enjoyed under the Safavid regime came to an abrupt end with its fall, nevertheless many cultural and social institutions of the period endured into the 19th and 20th centuries, and some have survived through the modernizing processes of the Pahlavi period right up to the present day. The beliefs and ideals, and also the customs and folklore, of Twelver Shi'ism have remained an integral part of the national heritage ever since Shi'ism was officially established by the.Safavid Shahs and popularly accepted by most Iranians in the course of the l6th and 17th centuries. Study of Safavid Iran has been focussed on international relations and wars and on religion, art, and literature. Economic and social matters have hitherto received less attention. The research which has been done into such matters has generally been based on European records and travel diaries and primarily concerned with the history of European economic expansion overseas. Neither the foreign nor the indigonous sources throw adequate light on the internal economic and social history of Iran in the period. The scarcity of data may well be the main reason for the relative neglect of this field. The importance of the field nevertheless becomes apparent when relevant considerations are taken into account. As already mentioned, social insti• tutions of the Safavid period endured for another two centuries iv or more. During the period, the Iranians first entered into regular relations with the Europeans and acquired some aware• ness of the European economic and military strength which was to overshadow them in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In spite of the advantages of political unity and relatively long lasting stability, the Iranians under Safavid ru^-e were unable to develop new techniques 'of production and forms of organization at a time when the Europeans were laying the foundations of their future industrial revolution. Research into aspects of this important field can be pursued through investigation of all possible sources and assessment of all retrievable data. The present thesis is the outcome of an effort to find and interpret all available information on one of the chief social institutions of Iran in the Safavid period, namely the guilds of thn craftsmen and tradesmen of the bazaars. Since these people were engaged not only in the production and sale of goods but also in religious and cultural activities, the thesis goes beyond the socio-economic fiold to touch on such matt(^rs. As far as the author knows this is the first detailed study of the subject which has been undertaken and put into writing. While well aware of the incompleteness of the data and consequent questionability of the conclusions, the author hopes that the thesis will contribute something of value to future multi• dimensional study of the social and economic history of Safavid Iran. A C IvNO W LEDGEMENT This work could not have been undertaken without the encouragement of the University of Isfahan and the Iranian Ministry of Science and Kighrr Education, for whose grant of leave of absence and financial support for four 3'^ears the author will always be grateful. The author is also grateful to his supervisor, Mr. F. R. C. Bagley, for encouragement to enter the University of Durham and for valuable help in regard to research problems and the arrangement and English composi• tion of the mciterial. Others to whom thanks are due are Dr. J. D. Gurney-of the Persian Department of Oxford University, for valuable suggestions and comments; Dr. W. M. Floor of The Hague, a scholar of Iranian history and author of articles on the Iranian guilds, who kindly made useful comments and provided some coi)ies of documents; to Mrs. Barbara Nestor of Mansfield, England, who served as a Librarian in Tehran and com• piled bibliography of European sources on Safavid history which she kindly made available; to Professor J. D. Harris, Director of the Scliool of Oriental Studies of the University of Durham, for many kinds of practical help; to Mrs. J.Butterworth^ Librarian in charge of the Persian, Arabic^ and Turkish collec• tions of the Oriental Section of Durham University Library, for valuable help in bibliographical and library matters and in the English composition; to Mrs.