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Akhiya or Akhi brotherhoods (from the Arabic اخي, “my brother”) were the Sufi guilds of young men dedicated to the betterment of the community focused around Anatolia, in the lands that would become the Ottoman Empire. Present beginning around the time of the Seljuk breaking of the Sultanate of Rum in the thirteenth century, these organizations would provide an organizational force in what were largely loosely hinterlands.[1] Akhiya (or Young Brotherhood) were a crucial part of the urban development and infrastructure of early Ottoman history. The brotherhoods were formed out of the medieval Islamic futuwwa organizations.[2] The purpose of each brotherhood was to provide an infrastructure for production and trade in the town in which it was set up and provide a social framework for the men of town.