An Analysis of the Educational Mechanisms within the Guilds of the Safavid Era

Document Type : .

Authors

1 PhD in History of Islamic Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Theology and Islamic Studies, Golestan University

10.30465/ehs.2026.54090.2087
Abstract
Throughout history, guilds have played multifaceted roles that extend beyond professional training to include pedagogical functions. In the Safavid era, given the absence of public educational institutions, apprentices - who often entered trades at a young age - developed a profound pedagogical dependency on their masters through prolonged interaction. Adopting a historical method and a descriptive-analytical approach, this study examines the role of education within Safavid-era guilds through the content analysis of contemporary written sources, including travelogues, tadhkiras, and historical and literary texts. The objective of this research is to elucidate the mechanisms of technical knowledge transfer, the transmission of cultural values, and the underlying pedagogical paradigms within the guild hierarchy.The findings indicate that guilds served as a primary medium of socialization in Safavid society.Intertwined with the prevailing religious ethos, they performed two key functions: firstly, as an educational and economic system, where the master-apprentice mechanism ensured both the transfer of technical expertise(human capital) and the preservation of economic order and intra-guild hierarchy; and secondly, as a formative and intermediary institution that aligned the beliefs and attitudes of artisans with political-religious structures through the transmission of moral teachings in master-apprentice relations and participation in the religious rituals of the marketplace.

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Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 18 August 2026

  • Receive Date 01 February 2026
  • Revise Date 09 August 2026
  • Accept Date 18 August 2026