What is the Ottoman Army Organization?

 

The Ottoman Army did not have a regular army during the Osman Bey period. Volunteer units formed the military power of the Ottomans. These Troops Gathered During Wartime and Disbanded When the War Ended. Orhan Bey established the first Regular Army in the Ottoman Empire.    Consists of 2 Divisions, Consisting of Land and Naval Forces.

       

Ottoman Land Forces

 

Land forces:

It is divided into three sections as State Soldiers, Kapikulu Soldiers, Auxiliary Forces;

 

A-State Soldiers:

It was composed of sections such as Timarlı Sipahis, Raiders and Torments.

 

A- Groomed Spahis:

Dirlik are mounted soldiers raised by land owners (has zeamet and timar). They formed the main strength of the Ottoman army.

 

1- The sipahis from timar would join the war in times of war, and they would be engaged in agriculture when there was no war.

2- All of the timar cavalrymen were horsemen and bowmen, and their characteristic was to ride the horse quickly and shoot arrows from the horse.

3- All sipahis from timar were the most crowded part of the army. All sipahis from timar were Turks.

 

 

Note: The Timar System was abolished in 1839 due to the Tanzimat Edict.

    

Features;

Characteristics of Groomed Spahis;

 

1. Timarlı sipahis consisted of Turks.

2. The timar sipahis consisted of the timar owners and the soldiers they were responsible for feeding.

3. Groomed spahis have horses.

4. The sipahis with timar have helmets on their heads and armor on them.

5. For every three thousand akça, the sipahi is obliged to bring a mounted and equipped soldier like himself.

    

Raiders;

 

They were located in the border provinces, raiding enemy countries to gather information about military targets and enemy forces.

 

The raiders' duties were not only to raid, but also to perform the task of intelligence, such as gathering information about the enemy's situation, routes, and strength. They had laws that tied these duties to the fundamentals. The raiders were inherited from father to son and were a military class unique to Turks. These can be compared to the commando units in the current military organization.

 

Note:

He would command ten raiders as "corporal", one hundred raiders "subaşı", and a thousand raiders "major". This chain of command was completed by the "Akıncı Bey", who was at the head of all forces.

 

 

torments;

 

They would lead the army during the campaign and build bridges. During the war, they are voluntary pedestrian units selected from among the strong and vigorous youth in Anatolia and paid for by the people. They fight in front of the Janissaries. It was first seen in Aydınoğulları Principality. They are divided into three classes as pedestrian, sea and castle torment.

 

Pedestrian torments:

XV. In the middle of the century, they made important services in wars until the rifle was included in the army. When pedestrian torment was needed, one private account per twenty or thirty houses were gathered as guarantors from among the well-built youths of Anatolia with the method of "call for torment". Their salaries were paid by the families who collected them, and during the war they did not pay taxes to the state. 

 

Pedestrian torments would meet the first enemy attack by taking their place in front of the army with their arrows in the wars. Tormentors wore red burqas on their heads. When the maritime gained importance in the Ottomans, XV. In the middle of the century, Azaps were accepted to serve on ships as "Tüfenk-endaz" on a salary and they achieved significant success during the rowing period of the Ottoman navy.

    

Castle Torments;

Castle tortures: They served as castle guards. In the castles, they were divided into divisions such as azaban-ı first, azaban-ı sani and salil. This organization had officers called agha, clerk, kethüda and division chief. Torments were also used in services such as bridging and sewerage when necessary.

 

 

Fortress Torment II. It lasted until the reforms made during the reign of Mahmud.

 

Torments of the Sea

When the maritime gained importance in the Ottomans, XV. In the middle of the century, Azaps were accepted to serve on ships as "Tüfenk-endaz" on a salary and they achieved significant success during the rowing period of the Ottoman navy.

    

Properties;

Characteristics of Torments - Those in the Class of Torment

 

1. Torment is forbidden to marry.

2. They are at the front of the army in the war.

3. The basic equipment of the soldiers of Azab consists of a bow, arrow, curved sword and a shield for defense.

4. They mostly don't wear armor.

   

B-Kapikulu Soldiers:

 

Kapikulu soldiers are the name given to the soldiers of the pedestrian, cavalry and technical classes who constitute the permanent army of the Ottoman state and are directly subordinate to the sultan. Kapikulu soldiers are one of the three main military units of the Ottoman army, together with the provincial soldiers and the navy.

 

Kapikulu soldiers were initially located in the center of the state. However, when the country expanded and castles were built along the borders for its protection, they had to reside there as well. When the Ottoman Empire made conquests in Rumelia and started to expand, there was a need for a permanent army and more soldiers. 

 

This was met with the creation of a new military class by raising the Christian children who were taken prisoner in the wars and who were suitable for military conditions with Turkish education for a short time. This organization formed the core of the Kapıkulu quarry. Kapikulu soldiers are divided into two groups.

 

 

-kapikulu cavalry -kapikulu infantry

    

Kapikulu Cavalry:

The part of Kapıkulu soldiers consisting of mounted units is called "Kapıkulu cavalry". In war they guarded the king's tent, the banners, and the treasury. Kapikulu cavalrymen were divided into sections as Sipahi, Silahtar, right ulufeciler, left ulufeciler, right weirdo and left weirdo.

 

Sipahi:

In the past, there was a class of cavalry soldiers in the Ottoman army who had to participate in expeditions in return for the tax they received under the name of timar. They performed raiding, looting, outpost services and provided the protection of foot soldiers against the enemy. These are light cavalry units and use bows and arrows to wear down the enemy units. With light armor, shields and swords, they were fast and very useful when used strategically.

 

Note: They Protected the Sultan and the Sultan's Tent During the War.

    

Armourer:

In the war, they would stand by the sultan and protect the sultan. Even if he was in one of the lower wards, they had the zülüflı agha whom they wanted to make a gunsmith transferred to the private room with an edict, and then appointed a gunsmith. Being a gunsmith was the greatest goal for an Enderunite. From the moment the sultan came to Enderun at the time of the morning prayer, he was always with the sultan, sometimes until the moment when he would return to the Harem after the night prayer. The means of communication between the sultan and the grand vizier, who actually ruled the state, was the gunsmith. For a grand vizier, not agreeing with the gun-toting agha would lead to his dismissal at the slightest excuse.

 

Note:

The gunsmiths used to stand next to the sultan and protect him.

    

Right Ulufeists and Left Ulufeists:

Right Ulufeciler was in the Cavalry section of the Hassa Army of the Ottoman State military. This division was also called the Green Flag. The right ulufeciler consisted of 120 divisions. In war they guarded the weights of the army and the treasury.

 

 

Left ulufeci guards the weights of the army and the treasury in battle. Left ulufeists would walk to the left of the sipah company, which marched on the right of the sultan during the expedition. On the battlefield and in the army's mansion, they stood to the left of the sultan's flag. Protecting the treasury was among their duties. A total of 7 people were appointed from the ulufe fighters, and 3 people from the left ulufe fighters were appointed as Subaşı. It was also of great importance to our army. That's why left-wing ulufeists are in the Ottoman navy.

     

Right Strangers:

Sağ Garipler is one of the six companies that were established at the end of the 15th century and constitute the Kapıkulu Cavalry in the   . Right Strangers were helping to surround the enemy by attacking from the right side in battles. They used a 230 cm long spear, 130 cm long curved sword and a large shield.

 

During the expedition, they would go to the right of the Right Ulufeciler. During the war, they were at the bottom of the sanjak to the right of the sultan. The Right Garips, who were in charge of guarding the tent and the treasures every night during the war, were also in charge of protecting the sultanate banners during the war. Strangers; It consisted of foreign soldiers from Anatolia, Egypt and Africa. Those who came out of the Galata, İbrahimpaşa and Edirne palaces and those who showed great heroism in the wars were taken to the Right and Left Garipler. The flags of the Right Strangers were yellow and white.

 

There were no barracks in the Ottoman capital. They lived in villages and towns around Istanbul, Edirne and Bursa.

 

In the sixteenth century, the size of the Gureba divisions varied between 1000 and 1500 soldiers. In the seventeenth century, the right garbs consisted of 410 soldiers. Strangers participated in wars in which the ruler himself participated. Their salaries varied according to seniority and qualification and were distributed in the presence of the Grand Vizier. After the abolition of the Janissary Corps, Garipler was retired in 1826 with some salary from the customs. Thus, the Strange Troops were eliminated.

    

Left Strangers:

The Left Strangers DID PROTECT THE RESIDENCE BANKS IN THE WAR. In the war, the Left Strangers were at the bottom of the left realm.

 

 

* They guarded the treasury with all the weights and materials of the army.

   

Kapikulu Infantry:

During the Osman Bey period, the country was small and the army consisted of tribal forces. In certain periods, a call for mobilization called Nefir-i am was made, and tribal forces with arms were summoned to the army. During the Orhan Gazi period, with the suggestion of the vizier Alaeddin Pasha and Çandarlı Kara Halil, two classes were formed, namely pedestrian and müsellem, consisting of one thousand Turkish youth. Their number was increased in the early periods of Murat I. 

 

Yaya and müsellems received two akçes per day during wartime, at other times they cultivated the farms given to them and did not pay taxes. Yaya and Müsellemler XV. They were in armed service until the middle of the century, but as the number of Kapikulu soldiers increased, they were used in the back services of the army, such as transport, mining operations, castle construction, shipyards. These troops were supported by timar sipahis, raiders, tormentors, voynuks, martolos and cerahors. It is examined in 5 groups as novice, janissary, Cebeci, artillery, cannon coaches quarry;

    

Beginner's Quarry:

Acemi Ocağı, also known as Acemioğlanlar Ocağı, was established in the Ottoman Empire to train students for enderun and the soldiers needed by the Kapıkulu army, especially the infantry division. In the Novice Hearth, which was funded by the devshirme system implemented by gathering non-Muslims of the peoples of the Ottoman state, and especially children and young people between the ages of 8-18 from the Balkans, mostly soldiers and sometimes bureaucrats were trained in the palace.

 

In the Ottoman Empire, whose borders expanded as a result of successive victories in Rumeli during the reign of Murat I, Janissaries were soldiers who were raised from Christian children by the devshirme method. In this system, which was established with the help of Murat I's vizier, Çandarlı Kara Halil Hayreddin Pasha, the state confiscated some children from its Christian subjects and sometimes from prisoners of war. 

 

These children, called Novice Boys, were first given to a kind of peasant family. He learned Turkish and Arabic there, and was brought up according to the customs and traditions of Islam. As soon as they were recruited, they were circumcised and called a Muslim.

 

 

Beginner's Quarry:

The Ottoman Empire needed more soldiers. Existing forces were not enough and a standing army had to be available. In this respect, with the efforts of kadiasker (kazasker) Kara Halil from Çandar and Mullah Rüstem from Karaman, in order to benefit from the captives, during the reign of Sultan Murad I, in accordance with the Pençik Law, the Novice Hearth was established in Gallipoli. Previously, those who were taken prisoner in the war were enlisted as janissaries after a short training and sent to war. 

 

During the reign of Sultan Murad I, the captives started to be registered in the Janissary corps after working as a novice boy for five to ten years on ships carrying cavalry soldiers between Lapseki, Çardak and Gallipoli, and after going through a long training.

 

In the recruit organization, the recruit boy was recruited in two ways. One was from one-fifth of the captives captured in the war, and the other was from Christian children living within the borders of the Ottoman Empire, which was called "devshirme". With the devshirme law, soldiers from Christian subjects would be recruited, and the non-Muslim Rumelian people would gradually become Muslims and the Ottoman army would become stronger with these soldiers. 

 

The center of the novice quarry, which was in Gallipoli at its establishment, was moved to Istanbul after the conquest. The head of the Gallipoli quarry was the Gallipoli Agha. The size of the Gallipoli Novice Quarry was previously four hundred; then five hundred. The number of Istanbul Novices was around three thousand before, but in the sixteenth century this number increased to four thousand.[3] As the number of Janissaries increased, so did the number of recruits. At the end of the sixteenth century, the number of novices, who increased to eight-nine thousand together with the Bostancilar, was 9406 at the beginning of the 17th century.

 

 

Janissary:

At its establishment, the Janissaries consisted entirely of Turks who came from the "Bektashi Hearth" tradition. In order for the Ottomans to grow and other "non-Muslims", that is, their "minorities", to have a say in the state administration, the method of devshirme was followed.

 

With the participation of the devshirme of this army, whose name was Çeri Ocağı, the word "New" was added and the name "Janissary" was born. Janissaries are a military class in the Ottoman Empire. Janissaries are the infantry part of the Kapikulu Hearths of the Sultan. 

 

The Janissaries consisted of orphaned children gathered from Christian communities such as Greek, Serbian and Albanian living in the borders of the Ottoman Empire. They are pedestrian soldiers around the sultan and they never get married in their lives. Every three months, they received a salary called ulufe, and when they went to war, they would get a campaign tip. It had become a tradition to receive a Culus Tipping from Mehmet II. This system, which was useful in the first centuries of the state, brought different problems with its deterioration later on. Janissary quarry II. It was abolished by Mahmud in 1826.

   

Cebeci:

It is the class that prepares the army's weapons and carries them to the battlefield. It was founded during the reign of Fatih Sultan Mehmed. Like the Janissaries, the Cebeciler, who were chosen from among the recruit boys, were divided into 96 rooms, 59 divisions and 37 middle divisions. Cebeciler consisted of classes that made weapons, repaired, prepared gunpowder and prepared war equipment.

 

 

NOTE:

Cebeci War is the name given to the army officers who make war tools and equipment, preserve them and send them to the positions and bastions in the war. Pocket means armor. Cebeci means gunsmith master according to today's expression. Cebe makers used to make war materials of their era such as arrows, bows, swords, shields, javelins, pockets, cevş, rifles, pistols, gunpowder, and lead.

 

Artillery Furnace:

A class that throws cannons, prepares artillery-related materials, and uses cannons in battles. The chief officer (officer) of the artillery quarry was called "Sertopi" or "Topçubaşı".

 

The first cannon in the Ottoman army was used in the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 during the reign of Sultan Murad I.

    

Ball Coaches:

The organization established in the Ottomans to carry large cannons from the pedestrian part of the Kapıkulu quarries to the front. It was probably founded in the late 15th century. While soldiers were recruited from the novice quarry at first, they started to be recruited from the sons of the quarry coaches and their slave brothers as of the 17th century. They used to go to the castles in turns as they resided in Istanbul. 

 

Where Kapikulu artillery was located, there were also artillery coaches. They had workshops in Tophane, barns in Ahırkapı, and barracks in Şehremini. on the stove; Officers with the titles of chief coach, chief sergeant, chief sergeant, chamber clerk, division chief, head of chamber, and caliph served. Under the supervision of Arabacıbaşı; There were sixty-three squadrons of gunners, ranging in number from one to fifty-two.

 

 

Naval forces:

Ottoman Navy or formerly Navy-yi Humayun, the naval forces of the Ottoman Empire. XIV. The Ottoman Empire conquered Karamürsel in 1323 and reached the sea, the first navy was formed under the command of Karamürsel Bey, and support was provided from the sea in the wars in Kocaeli. In 1327, the first Ottoman shipyard was established in Karamürsel and thus the institutionalization of naval power began. 

 

The hierarchical system was adopted in the Ottoman navy, and the first Derya Bey (Navy Commander) became Karamürsel Bey. Kocaeli was captured in 1337; thus paving the way for the transition to Rumelia, which would take place in 1353. After that, the center of the navy was Izmit, Gallipoli and finally Istanbul. In the conquest of Istanbul II. Mehmed took advantage of the navy.

 

Note: 

During the Kanuni period, the Ottoman Navy experienced its heyday and became the strongest navy in the Eastern Mediterranean. With the efforts of the most famous sailor of this period, Barbaros Hayrettin Pasha, the Mediterranean became the “Turkish Lake”.

 

Auxiliary Forces:

During a war, the soldiers of the affiliated governments (Crimea, Wallachia, Moldavia) would also help the Ottoman army. The most important of these was the Crimean forces.