Istanbul Unkapani merchants in the 18th century

Provisioning of Istanbul has been studied from various perspectives. However, the commercial side of the provisioning remains understudied. This thesis deals with the most important merchant group, Unkapanı merchants, and argues that they are a sort of merchant guild. The thesis is divided in three chapters. Merchant guilds in European Economic History have always sought for privileges from their rulers to strengthen their positions in the market, sometimes amounting to monopoly privileges. Following this pattern, first chapter searches Unkapanı merchants' privilege in the grain markets by focusing on their trade routes, taxes and price determination. Second chapter deals with their internal organization and hierarchies. It argues that reisler kethüdası and gemiciler yiğitbaşısı acted as the head and its assistant respectively of Unkapanı merchants. Membership to the guild shows some flexibility just like the Ottoman craft guilds. The last and the third chapter looks at the instruments, the freight business and the collective investments of Unkapanı merchants as a privileged merchant guild. The profitability of this trade and their business partnerships are analyzed through the documents of kapan tezkiresi (trade permits). Therefore, the thesis aims to contribute to pre-Tanzimat Ottoman domestic trade and Ottoman mercantile organizations.