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Esnafs

The main individual in a guild was ćehaja, and in addition to their regular work in the shop, they were primarily responsible for external operations of the organisation, its representation with the authorities, issuance of permits for opening of new shops, fines, etc. After ćehaja, the second important person in a guild was kalfabaša, who, among other things, supervised the work and operations within the guild. A spiritual leader of the guild was šejh, who also led the ceremony for the proclamation of kalfa. Internal affairs of the guild were the responsibility of jigit – paša, and orders of ćehaja were announced to the members of a guild by čauš. In addition, every guild had its bajraktar, a person who bore the flag at the head of procession during a ceremony.

The largest guilds included: blacksmiths, kazandžijas – coppersmiths, kujundžijas – goldsmiths, tabaks – leathersmiths, saračes – saddle makers, čizmedžijas – boot makers, ćurčijas – leather and fur clothes makers, ćebedžijas – blanket weavers, abadžijas – rural clothes makers, terzijas – urban clothes makers, halačes – wool combers, nedžares – carpenters, mudželites – bookbinders, etc.

Products and craftwork were sold in specific places. In shops and stores of one craft or guild, only goods of such artisans cold be bought. Crafters of one craft and their shops were grouped in one location, or in one or more streets, which developed into one čaršija, and all the čaršijas of all the guilds together formed Baščaršija, whose streets were named after these crafts.

From the arrival of Ottomans until 1878, there were 57 different crafts in Sarajevo. Since smaller and similar crafts used to make one guild, there were 31 guilds at the time. There is no information about guilds of comb makers (tarakčijas), kečedžijas or saddle cloth makers, bardakčijas or potters and some others.