Ahilik was the artisan organization of Ahi Evran, headquartered in Kırşehir. Ahilik, which managed to organize all over Anatolia, was a production and marketing institution. As in every city, there was an Ahi Baba deputy in Safranbolu.
Ahilik are an organization established among Turkmens in every province, town and district in Anatolia. They have no equal in the world in hosting, feeding, and drinking foreigners, in eliminating and destroying bandits, and in strictly eliminating the evil-doers who help the oppressors.
The Ahis would bring their earnings to their chief in the evening and spend part of the night in rituals and whirling dervishes. Ahis had special clothes. They wore a cardigan, a cone made of white wool, a turban the length of a meter, and mest-shaped shoes. On their belts, they carried a two-dimensional attack. Their main principles were unity in buying and selling, a certain level of quality, a strong morality, and participation in certain communities in terms of earnings.
Four Principles of Morality
There were four main principles of morality in Ahilik: To be soft when strong and victorious, to be kind to the enemy, to give to others even when one is in need. New entrants to the Ahi order would become both an ahi disciple and an apprentice. They were dressed in shalwar. They would be girded with a sash. The sash was called a ‘sash.’ There were ranks within the guild. These were the ranks earned through hard work. The apprentice would first rise to journeyman and then to master. One had to show success in rising from one to the other.
Safranbolu Guilds
According to the results of research conducted by Prof. Haydar Kaygan, it is understood that in the 18th century, leather was exported from Safranbolu to Europe via the ports of Inebolu and Amasra. It is seen that leather production was very important at that time. During the War of Independence, shoes and yemeni were produced for the army’s shoe needs by working 24 hours a day, and the Blacksmiths Guild produced weapons such as bayonets and knives.
During the Republican period, production continued, guild bazaars functioned, master, apprentice and journeyman exams were held. It is known that 1950 master ceremonies were held.
There were around thirty guild bazaars in Safranbolu. The guilds such as cobblers, shoemakers, yemenimakers (flat-heeled traditional shoes), blacksmiths, coppersmiths, tinsmiths, harness makers, etc., especially the Tabakhane Guild, where tabbah (cooking) was done, were managed by a ‘head of yiğit (valiant chief)’. The ‘Board of Masters’ used to conduct master-apprentice exams and promotion ceremonies. The ‘head of yiğit’ was elected every four years. During this period, he was authorized in all matters. He could impose penalties on shopkeepers who produced bad or defective products, and the display of the closed product. The guilds were an organization that played a major role in maintaining the social level after the collapse of the Seljuk Empire and in the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. This organization was called futuvvet and their leaders were called ‘Ahi’ meaning brother. The famous traveler Ibni Batuta, who traveled around Anatolia in the XIVth century, visited many towns such as Safranbolu and mentioned the lodges of these people whom he called ‘Ahiyen-ı Fityan’ (Brotherly Valiant).
Guild bazaars consist of a bazaar of shops and a guild coffee house. The most lively and colorful guild bazaar is the Köprülü Mehmet Paşa Arastası, where the Yemeni Makers Guild is located. Among the masters of the “arastas”, Ahmet Demirezen, Osman Pamukçu and Rıfat Conkoğlu were still alive until recent times.
Rıfat Conkoğlu told me One day, a juggler comes to the arasta, and just as he is performing his tricks, the craftsmen set up a stall at the two entrance doors of the arasta, and when the juggler finishes his work and is about to leave, he searches for the door, cannot find it, goes this way and that, and comes back. The craftsmen who were playing tricks on the juggler laughed and made fun of this situation.Three people worked in the shops. There were 46 shops. The shop was closed with horizontal doors, the lower cover was the counter and the upper cover was the porch.
Tabakhane Guild
In Safranbolu, as in all of Anatolia, leatherworking started with the Ahi organization founded by Ahi Evran during the Seljuk Principalities Period. Ahi Evran, who is considered the pioneer (pir) of the Ahi organization, was also a tanner (debbağ) and currier (sepici). For this reason, this profession was considered the main branch of the Ahi organization.
Ahilik and craft associations, which had an important place in the establishment of the Ottoman Empire, were also strengthened in the Ottoman period. In the 15th and 16th centuries, leatherworking, which was an advanced branch of industry in the Ottoman Empire, was an important field of production and trade in cities such as Istanbul, Edirne, Kayseri, Kastamonu, Safranbolu, Bursa, Konya, Tokat, Diyarbakır and Urfa. Leather dyeing, which developed along with leatherworking, was also at a very advanced level. ‘Turkish red’ attracted the attention of European merchants at that time, and sahtiyans were taken to Europe.
According to the 17th century French Traveler J. B. Tavernier, who visited Anatolia, Anatolia produced the most beautiful maroque. Until the 18th century, Ottoman leatherworking produced the world’s most superior products. There was a great demand for processed Turkish leather in European markets.
Towards the end of the 19th century, Anatolian leatherworking, which was far from the new techniques developed in Europe, declined. It was only after World War II that leatherworking in Turkey was able to adopt new techniques. The biggest guild in Safranbolu was the Tabakhane guild. It was established where the Gümüş Valley meets the Akçasu Stream. The water boiling under the Tabakhane Mosque is a calcareous water with a temperature of 25º-35º. Tabakhane (Tabahna) is also used for the tanning process of hides.
Text: Yavuz İnce, Photos: İsmail Şahinbaş
– Yavuz Ince, Master Engineer and Architect
WORLD HERITAGE MAGAZINE ISSUE 1 (APRIL 2023)