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1'1
H~,
1998
o~
ConslJn~
Roo0l.8 lid
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research, cnhosm
Of
reVieW, as
~lmlled
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III i'I
mechan~I,
Dedication
~or An Dinette
Linn the young lad,es of Our Lady's Convent Schoo;, Loughborough
WJ"/e fates permIt us Jet',,, be merry,
Pass all we must the fatiil ferry:
And thIS our life too whir's away
With the rotation of the d.,y
'To Enjoy Ille Tlille.' by Rouert Herrick (1591 1674)
without the pilar permission of the copyright owner Enqulncs should IlP
Hlmset
It1
Publisher's Note
Readers may WIsh to study thiS title In conjunction with the
following Osprey publications:
MM 140 Ol/oman Turks 1300-1774
MAA 259
Mamluks
Fllte 58 Jamssanes
n,e
Artist's note
For a catalogue of aN t,rles publIshed by Osprey M,lIrary please wnre to:-
Readers may care to note that lhe original paintings from which the
colour pliltes In thIS book were prepared are available for private
sale. All reproduction copynght Whatsoever IS retained by the
Publisher. All enquiries stlould be addressed to'
Scorpio Gallery, PO Box 475, Halisham, Easl Sussex BN27 2SL
The publishers regret that they can enter into no correspondence
upon thIS l'Th:Jttcr.
INTRODUCTION
t the close of the IRth cenLul)' the Ottoman J::mpire still had huge
military potential. [I wa.~ a complex slructure of mil ita I)' pruvinces,
autouomous regions ane! vil"tually indepeudent 'regencies'. Each
prm'ince had a governor or /)a~a, "~th a laIX(~ st;~ff including numerous
military figures. This local adlllinistratioll was primarily coucerned with
the \luslilll population, while tlw (;hl-istian cUIUJnunilies governed
theuls('!\"cs - unless Iheir affairs impinged UpOIl those of the Ottoman
stale itself. SOllIe rq~ions lI"ere of greater Illilital)' significance than
others, and most of thcse were on the frontiers. They included the
Danube valley which had sC'rved as a m~or ehanllel for Ottomau raids
into cenlral Europe 'Iud now fOnlled a vulnerahk opening where lilt'
(;hl-istian Hahshurg Empire (later knowu a.~ Austria-I-lungaJ)') could
(Author's photograph)
The Olloman Empire had a larger population than its land conld
actually support which resulted in bloated cities, migration to unlic'rpopulated mountain regions, ,,~dcspread bandilI)' and piracy. It also
meant that Ottoman armies had a ready pool of miliL:.{I)' manpower.
Within O[1olllan Furope there were MusliJn majol-ities in Albania,
Bosnia, Hercegovina, Crele, parts of Bulgaria and most of the cities. The
Muslim population was, however, in J'elative decline becausc it suffered
disproportjonately high militar), casualties in :l state where, officially.
only Mnslims served in the ann)'. ChJ'istian expansion was also tuming
thcMuslirns into a thrr.atened, though socially dominant, (Iile.
Furthen110re, recent Ottoman milit:uy defeats had "'itnessed an
alal'ming new phenomenon; namely the wholesale slaughter of Muslim
populations in lost rerritories. Such 'ethnic cleansing' had not been seen
before, bur was to remain a feawre of most Christian Balkan 'national
liberation' movements dO"~1 to the plTsent da),.
The :'I1uslim population of the Ottoman Empire was largely of the
Sunni persuasion, although there were large Shia minorities in eastern
Anatolia, Syria and Iraq. Non-Muslims were members of one of the mil/f'ls
or brgely autonomous communities into which the entire O[1oman
population was divided; such as the Armenian Christians, Orthodox
Christians, Catholic Christians, and Jews. In rural regions these
non-Ivluslim populations were ruled by their 0\\'11 'notables' who
were
responsible
for
Jaw and 01"der :mct also for
relations \\~[h the MuslinJ
elite.
Greek Christians rnjo),ect a culturalI-' and evrn :1
politically p"i"i!egecl position compared to the
others. blll the Western
European visitor tellded to
be dismissive of these fellow
Christians, and g-ener'ally
advocated alliance with the
dominant Turks.
\'i,itillg \I'{'sl('1'Il ,,,Idiers and diplolllilb had <l cleal' appr ecialioll of
OtlO11lilil milirar'\' Sll ('ngths alld wl'akllrssr,_ Geller<11 KO(']lkr, the
princip<11 ach'i'er 10 th(' lradilional corp" lOld hi, slIpel ior, in I,ondon
lhal their kaden, ,howed no foresighl ill operalions aKainsl the nell1>
alld IITOIe: '\\'hat is expecll'o from "uch troops, or ralher mob LIlliS commil110CCP NOlhing bUI shame and oisgrace, <1nd yrl Ihe)1 h<1I'C fine men,
cxcellcl1l horses, good gell1S, plenty of ammunition, and provision, and
lorage, alld ill short ~real ahundance oLdlllw malerials required LO COIIslilule a fille imll)', bUI llw)' wanl onlel' and sYSlcm, which would noT he
diffintll 10 (',lahli5h if lheir prillcipal officers were nol so a wnishingl>
adl'<'rse 10 allYthing lellding IOwaI'd, it.'
In laet, the Turks and IIlany of lheir \111"liln subjecLs remailled
excellelll mililary m:llerial. \.on[iuenl, a~grcssi\'e and motivated h\'
religiOlls certailll\', their highly u<tditional attitude towards warfare \l'a
illustrated in a lillie-kllown poeln by Wasil' commc1l101-aung a defeal or
the French in HJO I:
\\11en thc mi5beli Ying Frenchillan suddenly s\l'ooped
Oil
Egypt'S land,
FUNG
lJ)
Tu -TuniS
Tr, - Tripoli
H -HiJaz
~
'
Empire in 1774
Lost 1775-1820
il!i Vassals
ETHIOPIA
\
of a collection of an album on
Ottoman costumes produced by
Fenercl Mehmed between 1815
and 1825, (Rahm; M, Koo;; Coli.,
Istanbul, Tur1<ey)
CHRONOLOGY
'1'1 eat\, oj
Late-16th-century Tur1<ish
flintlock muskets. The
Ii') I ~
\\
their prospects \\'('n' va,th,IH'ller thall ill th(' ..\lIIel ican pLult,lliuns, En'lI
less well kno\\'n is Ihe blet 1h;1l s')IIle \\'hite sl;I\'('s of Europeall 01 igill \\'('I'e
expuncd in the ui!i!0si' di,eClion, rrom Otlolliall lorth Arrica to
Muslim 't<ttes suuth or the Sa h:1I'a , I\lany Halkan soldiers sern'd ill
lbbsllllrg or Russian armies herore leturllillg tu Ottomall territu" \\ith
exp('rirl1C(' or 'nIodern' \\,;'1I1are,
rl he recruitment or Ottomall cavalr\' \\'as less clear, since the old
feudal Sipahis had largely been replaced b, salaried regulars and Deli
volullteers, The recruitlllellt of I\lanlluks I,'as yen dirrrn'lIl. 1>oth in
Egypt alld ill til(' frw other places \\'here ca\'alry orsl:II'e urigin slill pbved
a role. The hasic S\'Stelll of importing such slaves \\'as. h()\\ever, the sallie
as it had been in the latrr Mi<.ldl( Ages (see !'-IAA ~;jY: Thp ,\falllit/io 12501517). Most Mamluks were still of Geurgiall or Cit cassian origill, though
Malllluk rallks 1I0W inchldrd free-1>om \ZlIreis, ])usnians, Alhanians.
Anatolian Tllrks, a few con\'crted Armenians and .1('IVS, as \\'cll as sOllie
convened \\,estern European prisoner -{)f~war. In additioll to soldiers of
slave or captive origin, Malllluk lea<.lers hired IIlercenal'ies, illcluding
foreign sp('cialisls, an<.l 10\\'- talUS Sm-nt;lS or 'saddlns' \\'ho supposedl~
included Egyptian Cllristians IIla.sCjuerading as Muslims,
The lillie that is knO\\11 ahout recruitlllellt fur the techllical corps,
such as art iller\' and murt<tr men, illdicates that a large proportion came
from Bosnia and other ])alkan \1llslim populations, fro 11 I ex- 'ipahi GWahymen whu hadlosl their fiefs during various re!orms, alld frurn hired
foreigll IIlet cellaries, The Ottoman navy harltraditionally relied on noncomhatant Christian ailors, with gnnne"s and marines recnlited from
Turkish and other Mllslim coa.slal populations. Pl,ior to the ethnic
cleansing of the l!JLh century rhe Greek islallds and particularly Crelc
"ere, of cuurse, home to substantial Muslim comlliunities.
Eumpean mercenaries includerl extraordinary adventurers. Fll'iti h
officers aboard a ship off the Anatolian coast in 180 I were astonished
when a white bearded old 'Turk' climbed al.)()ard
and started speaking Gaelic to sUllie lTighlanrl
troops. He had fled to Ihe OUoman Empire
around 1760, ha\ing killed a man in a duel, then
joined the sultan's army where he rose to the rank
of artillery general. This was probahly Tngliz
Mustafa, born Campbell, who together with a
Frenchman named Allbert continued refonns
to the Siiralfi 'Rapid FiIT' Artillery Corps
est<thlished hy the FranCO-Hungarian Baron
Fran;ois de TOll in the T770s, On the other side
of the Mediterranean, the Bey of Tripuli's
chamberlain \1-<iS a Russian ITnegade, and the
commander of Tripoli's fleet was Peter Lyle who
had jumped ship fi'orn the British navy, The
designer o( Algiers' new harbour defences was the
ex-Swedish consul SchulLLe, and one of the De;:
of Algiers' best cannon-maker wa.s F,'an(ois
Dupont, late of the French king's artillery.
Muhammad Ali the new governor of Egypt
was the must emhusiastic milital)' moderniser in
the Ottoman Empire alld he also enlisted
,-
10
TRADITIONAL FORCES
Infantry
The weaknesse of the OUolllan army during these decade may have
been exaggerated. Certainly Ottoman forces \,-cre successful in ambush
and small-scalf" counterattacks, and \-\'eslern ad\risers advocated
defensive guerrilla call1paigns, making full u e of mountainous ten-ain
and avoiding open bartJe. As a result, severdl invading forces wele
di\rided, harassed and defeaterl in deGlil. Ottoman infantl)' and cavalry
scattered in the face of artillery bombardment but were able to
reas emble very quickly, even in broken terrain. During an artack lhe
infantry advanced in groups of 40 to 50, one rank or group advancing
and firing while the second reloaded, maintaining their steady advance'
and in the face of considerable losses. The final charge would then be
made Mthollt support or resen'es. Cavall) played a minimal role and fortifications increased in irnporGlnce, ranging from small wooden jJolnnkw
11
12
,.~
~
13
Top~u
Artillery
14
16
,en
Pa~a
Pa~a
with
1'l
18
The r,agllllrl Omgl or Mine-La\'ers was 1I10re like a curp" of" ellgill(,('J"s,
tradiuonally being associated with Ihe !\1orl;lr C0'1)s. In 1774 naron de
roll established a military engineering section specialising in pOl1loon
bridges, anrlthereaf"ter the Laglll/o ()cagl gOt its best recll.lits from Bosnia
and \lbania. Sultan Selilll continued expallsioll alld re f"Ori liS; the ellgine el;lIg school at 11askiiy beillg elliargerl ,,'ith a morlern clln;clIlum and
regular examinations for new and oldel' members of the c0'1)s,
provincial Forces
'J he
most
imp0rlallt
pro\illcial troop ,,'elT the
ka/Jlhn!kl or allllies raised by
prO\'incial gon~rnors. Thev
illcluded feudal troops such
as Sipahis, a well as merceIl,u;e;" militias and tribaJ
1('\ ie<, By the 18th celllury
,111 \ltLslim men in fmnlier
reons were al 0 liable for
consc!;ption as aUljJi~ the)'
were divided into fortress
ALap< and naval Azaps
according to the location of
til(' pro\inc.('.
R\ the timc of the
\'apoleonic
Wars
the
greatcr part of the Olluman El1lpile wa.s, however, IIl1der Ihe control of
nyal/5 offel'illg allegiance, 1I10re or l('s5, (0 the sllltan, Some were
members of long-established leading families, while other were 'new
men', In an allemptLO retain their loyalt), the suI tall orten gave them the
ran k of sera:.kar or cOllJl1lanUel uf armies, bill in many areas power \\'as
lOO fragment('cl for sllch inflaled litles, \"11ere local Janissarie and their
Yalllak auxiliarie~ eized comro!. their leaders were called dahis, but thev
!<l1 eh had a much authori~ as owms uid in other areas, ome places
\\'('r(' ntled b), local bandits whuse learl('rs w('rc known as dl'1'Phl)'s, OJ'lord
of the yalleys, ''''ilh their followel's, the)' formed a viral ource of u'oops
when the re t of t.he Olloman arnw was in disan<l)',
Bal\"an frontier al eas orten see III to have been lIIore stable than
inlel;or provinces. Ilere a special local defence force of numerous, \\'elltrained ami hi!{hly motiV:Heo sprhnt hubs included ca\dlry and infal1lry
ba~ed in small wooden palan/ill forts, K.tl0"~1 as haidwi forts when held by
Chi iSlian rebels, the)' consisted of ditches, earth ralllparts, wooden palisades and corner LOwers, often with a largcr wooden keep al the centre,
Sra\"es could he thnl51 into the ditch, while thorny bru hwood was grown
on the outer face of the rampart. Elsewhere Muslim and Christiall
families served as derlJenl,is guarding muuntain passes, bridges, ferries
and main roads.
Such Balkan armies varied accmrling 10 thc ;wailahiliry of troops and
the polilics of lhe local leader. The governor of Ru okastro in Bulgaria,
fOI example, had a motle)' guard 01 St'gvall (infantry), dl'ii (cavahy), Inlnl'
(uHltiers) and panduil.s. Osman Pa a Pawallog-Iu of Vidin !{athered discontented Janissaries and Yall1aks from a wioc area, along with
19
20
----
(Author's photograph)
21
1809-25)
pislols and a short cal bine or IJlundcl buss ill addition to more traditional wcaponl". The MaIIlluks illlIJorled 11I<'ir finest horses from central
Arabia and no one excepl a Mamllik W;lS permilled 10 ride a horse in
E~)'pt, thollgh lhe bedouill clearly did so ill areas Outside illarnluk
contra!. Mamluk hOI'se-harness was u okl-f~L,hioned as to 1)(' \irtually
medie\a!. heing charaCierised hy a heavy wood-framed saddle with a
cantle "'hich rose aboye the rider's hips, ,md a tall pommel. Stirrups
were of the :\onh African type \\~th sharp corners instead of spurs.
Rridles had a form of sliaine hit which could injure the animal if u ed
r1.Ithlessl~ uut gave far more imnlt'di:He control o\'er the animal.
~jilitary Irailling took lip \irtually all a 1\1anIlllk's time, alld almost
evel} morning \.airo's Mamluks went to a large open area ncar the
\.iladel to practi e Oil horseback wiLh carhincs, pistols, and sabres.
Horse-archen' was now a spon rathel' Ihan a military exercise, as was
throwillg the/arid or Cilil. This was a 1wayy but blnlll javelin which one
horsemen threw before neeillg while his opponent tJ'ied to amid the fir t
Jmid before pur uing with his own.
The Mamluks' sam(IS - 'saddlers' - served a messengers, assassins or
SlJeet hrawlers. In addition some powel-ful Mamllik Ikys enlisted foreign
technician and peciali ts such as artillel)'nH:'n and anllonrers. The
colourful MaIIlluks and their hOllSeholds WCIT not, howe"er, the only
lroops in Ouoman Egypt. Can-ison consisl(d of inexpelienc:ed
and low-paid recruits including nlf'n listed as .Janissaries,
Yatnaks, Azaps, Tiifmkcis, MIHafarriqa Mamluks of the
Ottoman gOH'nIOr himself and Maghdbi mercenades, plus some 'ipahi cavalry. or these Ihe
Janissaries and A:wIJ~ provided the OUoman wali
or goverllor with infal1lry, although they were
al
bitter rivals. The JaJlissalies had few
oJlicer of their owu and Mamluks were
increasingly taking control of what
remained of this once-prond unit. The
Sipahi cavillry \\'Cre in an cven worse stale,
though they theoretically still included
.Iarakisa or Circa.~sian Sipahis, Shawwhi)'a
Sipahi 'ser~eants', andjamali)'a 'volum ~r'
Sipahis. The Tiijenkri 'musketeers' and
MUlafal1"iqa .\1amluks of the Olloman wali
or ~overnor werc closely a.~sociated "ith
these Sipahis, but in reality all had lost out to
the Mamluks.
Meanwhile, Egypt's Ar.ib [J-ibes had gained
military and political influence as Olloman
conLro! declined. The Banu Habayiba, for example,
were rich and \~rlllally autononlOllS in parts of lhe
D(-Ita, while the Hanu Hawarra I~joyed a similar posIllon
in southenI Egypt. These AJ'ab LI iues werc nuL nomads, but
formed a rural aristocracy of landowners and farmers. Their stalus,
however . was volatile and b~ 1779 the Banll lIawarra had declined almost
to the level of Iwa.~ants, while the Ranu Haba)'iba increased their reputalion :IS effective cavalrv. Manv ,,-ere l'ccruiLed into regular cavah,'
I'egimenrs ;1I1d play(-d a l~lajor r~le in the galrisol1S of ~1ecca. 1edin;
REGUlAR CAVALRY
1, o.ll c.valryman, ..,ty ll1th c.ntury
Z: o.li B
"""oI'Y offlc..- lrom SyriIl
3.: T.U" c
~ II1th c_ury
-,
Tl-IE
NAW
1: Po.... Bal CO ..."" _
"""oj officer,
.any tlllll eMIl.....,.
2: ........
,"Unll. C.18OO
3: /(Dlyoncu ..... rine fIr lelh con luI)'
~; T......... 1loI1l;:IVUIW ot 'hi Anonal Gu""Ia,
n<l ""v"
2, H..'omb..... ,.,d.,.1
Bal""n Hal"I"" inlOg.......
",. 18th Cltntury
ANATOLIAN
PROVINCIAL~O CAUCASUS
,,""",_
2: Cl
RefS
_~~
;;F_":.:..-Z'-
.!lld LiH' R(~d Sea porL~, partiCidarh- Ihos(' of I, ~'PI'S nel\' goveruor.
\lllli<lmlll:le!,\li, in Ih(' ('arlv 191h Cel1tuI'\'.
The ,tory of Muhammad Ali's ne\\ Eg-''Ptian ;trIl1: leall)' belongs to
Iht' 191h cenlllrv, vet it I\'as looted in Iht' tnrbn!t'lll aftertnath oflhejoint
Onoman-Briti,h leconqnest in lilO!. Some ,J,OOO troops remained with
1I('Isre\' Pa.'la. the n('\,' Olloman governor 01 I::~pl. including a small
force 01 modernised ~izam-I Cedit inl~\llli: I\'hich SOOI1 recruited ae!e!itionill 111 n in 19:pl. HCtsJev Pa'a tried 10 redllCe the pay of those
.-\Ibanians '''10 had reconqufT(>d r.~pt and imtead raise a force of
t:gyptian :-\i 7;J Ill-I Cedi!. "'ithin momh ;-'Iuhammad Ali emerged a.~
"a\llui/wlIl or commander 01 Olloman forces in [g'pl. \luhalTllllae! Ali
ne~t faced a tin eat fronl an nnexpeClee! dir(,C1ion \,'hen the Ottoman
stdtan's pre\iolls allies, the RI-iti,h, ,uddenh' invaded Egypl. In 1807
(;('neral ;-"lackel17ie Fraser occupied Ak:-..amh ia and pi essed in lane!.
forcing the 19:-ptians into acti"e re,ist;\IlC<'. OlilSide Rashie! (Rosetta)
Britilin sulrel ed one of iLs mosl nne,pecled defeilts at the hands of
\!uhilmrnad :\Ii\ ll10tley ilnl1\', and this "irtua'" forced the Ottoman
,nltan to I'ecogni,e him a, Eg:pt's legitilnate gO\ertlOJ. IIluhammad Ali
thl'11 can olidated his po,ition U) massacring the \1alnluk leadel-ship in
101 I, having ah ead: banned Ihe importation of more military slave into
Egypt. I 01 all Ihe \1amluks of Egypt I\'ere, of course, exterminatt'd,
SOllle accepted \luhammad Ali's vinorv alld eulered his
sel\~ct', but Illan)' more refuscd to recognis(' e!efeat ;me!
lIligl-ilted into th(' Sudan, there to cause
problems for years to come.
During these chaotic years Egvpl I\'a" homc
to an 'L~tonishing val'iet} of soldiel's including
'cottish caplives taken at Rashid, German
France)
33
engineers
34
("'Olll
the
Tvrolean
hallation, 01
:--.:'apokon, ,trill\", French
sole!iers who cOIl\'ert<:d LO
Islam. Italiam renuitee! lUI
the
.American
Inarch
agaillSl Tripoli in Libya,
and GI ee\" artiller"nwn left
O\'er from passing" OllOnlan
armies. A, Muhammad
,\Ii's fame spread, Inam'
:\Jballian allli perhap'
Bosnian comrae!es from
his early days as a \'01
nitn or 'roae! g"nardian' in
\[acedonia came tojoin him. As \et, however, Muhannnae! Ali had not
taken the momentons step 01 consnipting the ordinary F"l/,,!lin
pe~ ;1Il fiT of 1-:g"'111.
In :\'orth Africa the ulwn had for years delegated authorities lO tlw
'regencies' of Tripoli (I.ibya), Tnnisia anu Algeria, but in each case the
Ofloman /in,ws, I!I'Ys. dp)'s and governors controlled lillie more than a
nalTO" coastal stlip, The annie. of each .regency' differed, In Tripoli the
senior oflicials incluued a guare!ian bn~1 01 chief of
lhe palace, a knhyn 01 /1n,w's lieulenanr, \\~th a
second ka!lYll a;, a...,ista11l, five ae!mini,trative ministers pins the aga of Turkish oldiers and General
of Arab cavalry. while Ihe j1a~n's eluest son was Iraditional'" commander of the army as a whole. The
pa~a hau an elite gilaI'd of hmll/Jll!> or black sla\'esoldiet armed with short ulunderbuss llIuskel>
whose loyalty to rhe pn,w \'erged on worship.
There was abo an oUler guare! ol'Turkish infantry
amI Mamluk ca\"illry. The TI ipolitanian army also
included some Janissal; infanu)' alld a nnmerolls
allxiliar;' ca\'alry, th" best of whom were the
Kulogiis. They were the ofhpring of .lanissan
Turkish fathers and local Lihyan mothers, and
"'ere 1110 rly mercbanLs and C1o.ftsmcn who felt
more akin lO the indigenous Arabs or Ikrbcrs
than the Turks.
Arab ane! Berber tribal auxilial;es may have
numbered up to 10,000 horsemen ane! no less
than 40,000 foot sole!iers, thollgh most were
paOli)" armed. In contra.sl. the Janissaries ane!
1\1lol,lis of the TI ipoJj garrison wei e disciplineu
anu skilled. fighring ill an orderly manner under
h"a\'Y American fire while t eligious leauers stooU
on lOp of the parapet I eading from Ihe KOI"iln and
hurling curses upon the enemy, The i1uured were
t..'lken to the /Ja!ja" OWIl apal tlllenrs where the\
"'erC' rene!ed by the j!n~a, his surp;eolls ane! sla\'C's,
theil wounds heing lIeated ,,;Ih hone\ "hiclt
proH>d H'I]" ef!eClive. Soldiers who showed rowardice in the face of the
<:ne,")' we.e ouliged lo dress a.~ women aud ordered to stay Ihat wa), until
the)' did somelhing worth) ofreiustatelllelll. The WOlst punishmel1l was,
howe\'er. reser\'ed for men cOIl\~cted of abusing yOllng prisoners of war.
The)' \lele eithel ueheaded or given a thousaJl(l strokes witb a hean
cane, which was enough to kill. Efforts to modernise Tripoli's forces had
50.He success and enabled Ynsnf Karamauli to open up the trans-Saharan
Irade route with an arlll)' of 30,000 infantry, 15,000 Aulagh cavalry and
30 field gullS, To the sOlllh, the collection of Saharan oases collecljvelv
known as the FeLLan lIad in faci oeen under nominal Ottoman conu'ol
several times.
The ra~a of Tunis also had a slllall but effeClive annv, including
.l:lni saries I en uited directly from AnalOlia, the Greek islands and the
Balkans. Sometime. .l:lnissaries on tlleir way to neighbouring Algeria
"ele per,uaded tojump ship andjoin the.Tunisians \\~lh offers of belle I
pay, conditions and good weapon!]' imponed l'IOU' France. ani)' a small
area around Algiers il.~elfwas under the direct nile of the dl')', while the
rest of uominal Olloman Icrritory consisted of three Be\,lik;,
_ evenheless, the d/')' of Algiers remained thl' most powerful Ulloman
epl esentati"e in NortliAfrica. He W:lS elected by resident Janissary regiments, h:lving ollici:llly taken over from the f)(l~a back in J 711_ [n turn
tlle dl')' was supported hy a hOZl/aci, or Irea.~lIrer, a mp/wllp-a{!;asi, or
supervisor of military c<unps, tlle al-hij'asi who
looked after dl')"s own estates, a bayl uill/oci, or
receiver of tribute, tI'lC vpkil halT, or minister of
marine, a chief aifa of tlte militia ano auxiliaI-ies,
as well as otlter officials. The three beys of Oran in
the west, Constantine in the ea.st and Titeri inlano
from AlgieI . iL~elf were \",lS als of the dl')' and had
their OIm comparaule milita!]' administrations.
Tlie i\.Igerian army consisted of Janissaries
recruited from Ottoman subjects as well a.
renegade Czechs, Italians and Corsicans. Despite
the fact that the supply of new recrui~ was d,,~ng
np in the late 1 th century, local inhabital1ls werc
sU-ictly excluded. As in Libra,. the Janissaries' main
rivals were their 0\\" KullJgltl 011' pring. Then
there wcrc Sipahi feudal caval!]' who remained an
effective force in this distant corner of the
Ottoman Empire, indigenous urban Ho/adi or
'Moors' who played a major role in the na,;', allo
~erber u-ibesmen, who provided large numbers of
auxilia!]' cavalry_ TIle Zoll(]t)(!S were al. 0 emel-ging
as a separate infanu)' force led by officers with
Bel-her names,
North African lactics were disti nctl:' 010fashioned, witiI Maghribi cavah)' approaching to
within 500 metres of the enemy, fOnlling tJw
broadest possiblc front, tlleu charging at full
speed and IIring a musket vollev before stopping
equally suddenly, wheeliug around and withdrawing, In neighbouring Morocco, cavalr\'
36
The firsl 'weslernised' infantry unil in ihe Ollolliall army consisted ofa
small nUluber uf caplives U,lined to pelfon11 Russian drills, who formed
Koca YllSuf Pa~a's gua,d while he was campaigning against the Russians
in 1791. Ouce peace re(lImed, Sultan Selim III saw Koca Yusurs guard
anrl ",a, so impressed thaI he decided to estahlish a I egirnenr along
,illlilar lines,
Thi, was the firSI rleparrure fwm the sullan's conservative policy of
reforming Olloman fUlces hy lelUrning the to an 'unco'Tllpted' state,
Ne,'eriheless, Selilll set ahout things in a trarlilionalmallner, consul ling
a !lIlJl;; I "11'~lWlei council of eSlablished experts, The result was the Niwlll~
I (;Mi/, the' 'e\l' Army', which was a slrange mixture of old alld new,
In wille ways it was the last gasp of a d)~ng milital)' trddition, and in
olhers it was the first Ollomall allelllpt to ("slahlish a co-ordinaterl
modern army,
The first' hundred Ni,wm-I Cedit infantry were recruited from
Istanbul's poor, wilh officers alld drill maSlers drawn from Russian or
German renegades, Thi. regimenr of 1794 was abo 'camounaged' in the
hope of making it acceptable to the traditiollalisls hy being atracherl to
the olrl {$O.llfl11 rl-l llass f.lite inf;'l1Iry ~lard, alld callerl lhe Bus/anCl
'I'r'Jmkji~i, ur 'BoslanCl muskeleers', Even so conservatives wpre antagonistic, \I'hile supportel maintained lhal in the izam-l Cedit discipline
w~ easier to enforce, anrl real unifonns marl deseniun difficult. Its rate
of shootinl{ was much greater than tradirional infant.r)', and its cohesion
lIIeant that defeat was less likely to become a roul.
Numbers now increased rapidly. and ,1('\\' barracks wel'e buill at
Le\'end (:ifLlik, weapons and other equipnlent being imponed from
western Europe. Mosr offic.ers from rhe ne\\' military rec.hnical schools
welllLO the Nizam-l Cedit where the firsr reKimelll had its O\\~1 unirs of
Gwalry and anillery. Cavalry ofJIcers and NCOs were largely drawn from
rhe sultan's existing horse guards, while Ni7.am-! f:edit artille.)' largely
came from the existing arlillel)' corps. One out of every five men c.ould
return to their family for up to six months in \\imer, but there wa" heavy
pnnishment for absence without lea\'e or for late return, and no leave
was perrnilled in summer. Pensions for those who retired ill or al{ed were
half that of a man's pay, but if the soldier rerired hec.ause of wounds or
was a specially deserving case, he got full pal',
The Nizall1-' Cedit disciplinary system and internal stnreture was
largely Iraditional, and promotion wa.s srdcrh' \Iithin the hierarchy,
special prornotion only being permitted in cases of proven abilit), on the
balliefieid. The offic.ers of tJle firsr regimeI1l consisted of a bil1l)(l~'I. or
colonel, the aga-l )'emin (m~or of the right) and aga-/ ye>aT (m~or of the
lel'L) each in charge ofa lain,,', or banalion. These were suhdi\'ided into
12 hiil-iik, or c.ompanies, each led by a b6liikhaJI or )'-iizJ){~'I, and into
platoons under an onba,J!. Each b6liik had one GUlnOn with eight tofJri
(anillel)'men), a lOp usla,;/ (c.annon master), five ambari (calnlOn
wagoners), six ktllltlk~u (orderlies) and I'adous minor officials. The corps
was also supponed by a separate !md-/ Cl,dit financial system largely
drawing revenues from customs dues. Nizam-, Cedit training was based
on French military manuals, with tlie infanll" ctrawn up in two or three
lines to prO\~cte rescl'ves and mutual supporl. Solctiers got
their first uniforms on enlislIlwnt, new ones tlien being
provided each year. Oflicers I,'ere, however, expeC!ect to
ray for their own uniforms,
The success of this first 0Ji7.am-\ (;edit regiment and
. the French invasion or Eg:'Pt encouraged Sultan Selim
?'c
to enlarge his New Anm'. Additional hattalions were
;;.
established outside (sta;lbul, while a rather dilrerenl
fonnation called the Second Regiment of Nizam-l
Cedit was also created. This lI'as a provincial militia or
mouI1led inranU)' to be based in AJlatolia, reclLlirect
hy loyal prolincial governors, trained in
the east by Nizam-I Cedit ollicers
and with a main base at LJskiidar,
facing Isranhul on the eastern
shore of the Bosphorus. Most
recruits
were
Turki 'h
peasa11ls and their task
\\as to Inaintain secllrity in
Anarolia. In an allelll[Jt to
placate the consen'ativcs,
olTicns sent fi'om Ist.anbul
were called Sll7/w!< Beys
as if they were local
fellctal cav:llr)'-
38
THE NAVY
~ubara
neferi 'flank
'i!.~,':-'~_-"'--
~ubara
The Ortoman n<lvy declilled in the J8th centuty, decay and corruplion
uegillning in the Fnsnnp-/ A",i/p or grrat Arsenal 01' Istanhnl. As a result,
the ships which went to war against Russia in the 1770s illcluded huge
vessels \,~th excessively rail sterns, irregular <lrnlamenl and olci-tashiolled
rigging, Leaky, stTucturally weak, and dilTicnlr to manoellvre, they were
manned hi inexpet;enced sailors and LlIlI rained
officers, The resliit was dis~ster,
Yet the ,'irtual ohlileration of t.he old n~\)'
made rerorm easiel. This II'<lS led by (;azi Hasan,
the new J\almd.a11 Pa}o or Grancl Acimiral, alld subseyuent.ly Gralld Vizier. He enlisted Western naval
advisers to improve maritime technology anci kept
a naval reserve in Isranbul throughout the year,
instead of disrnissing t.he sailor, in winler.
Nevertheless, improvements were more oh\ious in
the ships than their crell'S, An era of nlOre rundamcnL'l1 reform began under Sultan Selim and his
Grand Admiral Kfl j',k HI-l. e)in Pac a: the results
being more successful than those to the Army,
Naval administration was reorganised along lines
similar to those of Ihe 0Ji7alll-' Cedit. Conditions
improved dram~tically inside the ships and in
1806 a nalr,,1 medical sen;ce was created under
ltaJi~n guidance, The Tersalle-l Amirr was rehllih
\\~th French advice in the 1790s, anci warships
were constructed under the gnidallce of French
shipwrights. The largest II'<lS a ship-ol:rhe-line
--'
c<llled the Selimi)'p carrying I ~2 g"ns, Efforts were
40
al,o
1l1.1d,'
10
r<'\'I\"('
shippl d, ill olhl'r pal h oJ
Ih, 01l0m,1I1 Eilipirl'.
Thl' Kapl/dnll I'a!ja "'a,
respollsible for Ihc- Ilcel.
Ihe arsellal in Istalllml, and
11105e in other pons, "hill'
the fi~htillg flc-c-I was
headed by Ihc- f,:a/Jlidnl/c-I
l-fii/l/o)'u11.
or Imperial
Admiral. Beneath him wc-rcII';; (admirals), jJalwlla-1
!Iii ilia) 1/1/ (I iL('-,1(lm iub).
,iyalc-I
!I ii II/aw 11
(rc-aradmirals),
IWjJllc!al/l'
(l'aplains)
III
gradc-s
aCCOI dillg to Ihc-i I ship, alld
1':lIiom iIIiila:1I11 as. istal1l--'
IIl'lJrln'ing the yualilY of
sllch ofllLers prQl ed difficllit. Co"uption was riIC,
man)' officers had less
knowledge of Ila\'igatiull
than rheir Illell, and onw
"'Hships nc-\'('r ventured
onl of sighl of land. Cre",
LonsislNI of \-ljJlak and
1.1'1."'1/1 'ailors, liiin-liriler
(oarsmc-n) I()} gallc-ys, linhoI/ClIla,.. or 'galleon men'
who seem 10 ha\'c- sened a
gunnc-rs and mali ill'S, S<lil-maker, killed nafLsmen, 'C<I ual workc-rs'
laken aboard when needed, <lnd Illc-n who may hal'e hc-en speLialist
s,,~mmers such as Ihose in the Illedielal Byzantinc- na\'y. The hl'si sailor
were Greeks and Nortb Afl;GlnS, thou~h Selilll's refom)s meallt LIlat all
cOa tal peoples became liable for consuiplion il1Lo Ihe fleel.
A new COIl'S of Illarincs was eSI<lbli hed ill 1804, modelled on lhclizaltl-l Cedil. Itwa comrnandc-d hya liifmli(i IWjJlIdal1l and consisted of
1,000 men in twO nal-dl rc-giments, each nndc-r a liifenk(i IWjJlIdalli
mii/azillL Pay and promotion was the ame a;, in the Ninm-I Cedil, and
<In) nal-dl commander in charge oflhree or more ships had 10 be aLLomranied by a m<ll'inc- officer. The \'ital Danube riv<'r Ileet wa.s similarl\'
JIlouemised following thl' "-ar "ith KltSs;<I in 1 12. The fkets of Tripoli
(Libya), Tunis <lnd Algiers wel'e generall)' better handled than those of
the s"lr<ln himself. a"d 01 these the Aig-ed<ln "as the mo. t important. It
W<lS cOllllllanded by a chief mis or admiral, each ship ha\ing <I lIIi~
(Laptain) and In/J(ll Ol/ln1, a senior n<l\'al gLlnner \\'ho look cOlllmann in
b<lllle. Most of its w,Hships were buill locally, rhough SOIne were capillred
from Christi<ln I'i\'als. Thc- Algel'iall Deel had, howel'el, declined in
relation to Christia" European Ilcc-I.s, larg-c-Iv because it continued to rei\'
on small, fast <lnd malloell\Table but lightly armed xeOerJ. In 181 i
.\1uhammad Ali of Eg:l) I asl..ed Brirain lor permission to bu\' small
The Kapitan
Pa~a
or Grand
warships in Bombay, but was refused on the grounds that Britain did not
want a revival of Ouoman naval power in the Red Sea.
()/,spite all these nifficu!ries, the OUolllan 11m)' saw Illany anions
during the I apoleonic Wars ann WOII s "eral engagements. The
reformed fleet fought the Russians and Austrians to a c1r::",' by 179~. ann
in 1798 the Danube fleet enablen Crand Admir<il IIiLseyin P3!ja to defeat
Osman Pas\anoglu Pa~a of Vidin. But the Oltoman na,;.'s great/'st
succpss came in alliance with its traditiollal !{1IS. ian fo/'s ann its new
British allies in 1800-D1. A slOall s<]uanrOII co-oper-,Iled witlt the Brilish
off th/' Syrian coast, while the main ileetjoil1ed lhe Ru sians in expelling
Napoleon'> garrisons from the Ionian islands.
GLOSSARY
A~'an
'\7.a[1
~alTison re~illlcl1l
Be\'
Ik\'lcrbc)'
ruler or ~o\'ernor
(Hey of Beys) aJlo l\'lirllliran iJloicalin~ a ~o\'cillor
~enel'al rankiJlg benC'alh a \'ilil'1 01 gm'ernmclll
B61i"lk
scptao
je\\elled rlecorarion awardcrl Iw slIllan for bra\'C'r"
milirar; policemall
leader of a unit of Yalllak aJlxiliarie~
ca\'all)'
fronLier guardsman or low status
Balkan bandit
aSSi~laJlI5 LO garr;soJl
Liller)'
Ahdn;\llJ('
AJa) ban
AnnalOlp
~enior
lllinisicr
~:eIeJlk
:criC;tlrllCll
Dahi
Dcli
Dorobanrci
Ilayoul
Hisarlis
Left to right:
42
Janissary corps.
,II
Ilospodar
Kap,k1lln
Kapihalki
Kirdzhalll
Klepht
Maashh
Millet
Morluk
O.;-ak
Orta
Seguan
Siratkulu
S1Iba: I
Tilllar
ToprakiJ
Tilfeuk
Tug
Yamak
Yuri:d,
FURTHER READING
CM. AJexander, 8aghrlfld in l3ygOllf /Jo)'.\ (Loudoll 1928).
Ali Bey el Abbassi, Travels of Ali Bn' in MOJOfco, hilJOii, ()'pI'llS, 1:j;yjJI,
Ambia, S)'1ia allrl Tmill") bftween/hf Vfan ISO] and 1807 (London JR16,
repJinted Wf'stmead 1970).
R.c. i\m1erson, Naval Wars ill the Lrvant, 1559,1853 (Princeton and
Liverpool 19.'02).
E. Ast,'atsaturyall, Oruzh)'e Narodov }{mtlwsa (Moscow 199", in Russian.
G. Baldwin, Pulitiml Recolleftiolls fMalilif to FfJlpt (London 1802).
S. Dearden, A Nfst of COJ:\airs: Thf Fighting Kammanlis of Trif)oli (Londou
1976).
G.M. D'[rulllberry, \'oyages
iJ ConstantinojJle, en !tali,'
et (lux'iles de ['archipel /Jar
I'AUP'lllagllf ft la HOllgi/'
(Paris 1799).
S. Doras and S. Kocaman,
OOllflnlzlar
Albiimii
(Istanbul
1983),
in
Turkish.
G. Goodwiu, Th,' jallissaries
(London F)'1()).
M.G. Guemard, 'De i'ar,
mament et de l'cq1lipemenr des Mameluks',
Bult-,tin
de
Uns/il/lt
d/r.i!:Jptf VII (1926),1-19.
C. and B. jelavich, The
of
tllp
h;stabli.lhmfnt
44
THE PLATES
A REGULAR CAVALRY
A1: Deli cavalryman, early 19th century Ely the late 8th
century Deli volunteer cavalry were found in most provinces
and formed the Ottoman Emplfe's most numerous cavalry
force. They had no uniform but were generally identified by
tall black felt hats. They acquired weaponry wherever they
could and rode what Western observers often descnbed as
'English saddles' as distinct rom tl1e almost medieval
Mamluk saddles. Nor was their equipment as magnificent or
decorated as that of thelf Mamluk nvals. ThiS man has been
given a captured Russian carbine and English pistols.
A2: Deli BaSI cavalry officer from Syria ThiS a Icer has
adopted the costume of the province where 11e IS sta loned.
but he still wears the typical tall black hat. The padded fabric
top of this hat seems to have been an indication of rank and
enabled men to Identity their leaders more easily. The broad
waist sash to carry weapons had an anCien history in the
Middle East, and was very comfortable In hot climates. The
broad cummerbund beneath thiS sash also gave support
when riding long distances.
A3: Tatar courier, early 19th century Similanty between
the headgear of the courier corps and that of the DeliS
suggests they may have been associated. Though described
as Tatars they were recruited from many sources. The loose
'gaiters' around his ankles may reflect a steppe heritage. This
man has been given a decorated Yatagan short reversecurved sword and a Turkish pistol. He is also carrying a saz.
B MAMLUKS OF EGYPT
61: Mamluk officer in full armour, c.1795 Egyptian
Mamluks occasionally wore armour, though this may only
have been for parade purposes. Most armour was In Persian
rather than Ottoman style. This man wears Arab-[gyptlan
costume suited to his homeland, and is characterised by the
magnificence typical of the Mamluk eli e; the number of
weapons carried by many Mamluks was part 01 thelf
mystique.
E NAVY
E1: Pasa B~s Cavusu senior naval officer, early 19th
century The proud hentage of the Ottoman navy was
re lecK'd ,n the stllk,ng costumes adopted by a ,cers and
men. This ,ncl ded abundant gold and Silver embroidery on
most garmen S Including tlOusers OthervVlse there was no
unl orm as such. and rank seems to have been indicated by
46