THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE :
OVERVIEW :
While still not evident in 1683,from around the turn of the last century the
ottomans had entered a period of stagnation which had begun to have its effects felt on the military arm as well.Technological,strategic and financial considerations had radically altered the composition of the ottoman armies from its old classical period.
The ottoman military organization rested on 2 parallel systems - The
Timariot System and the
Ghulam System.
Timariot System -
The purpose of the timariot system was to
provide the empire with provincial governors as well as a reserve military force which needed no salaried upkeep from the central treasury.A timar was a
plot of land normally the size of a village. A timar coule be acquired through battlefield valor followed by a successful petition. A timariot's peacetime responsibilities was to manage his village, keep track of the population, protect it from bandits, settle local disputes, and collect taxes. A
timariot's wartime responsibility was to serve in the army fully equipped along with a band of armed retainers(Cebeli light cavalry)by using the surplus tax proceeds from the timar.These timariot land holdings economically supported the provincial sipahi cavalrymen(Timarli Sipahi) which formed the heavy cavalry of the ottoman army -the primary battle winning arm during the classical era.
Ghulam System -
Parallel to this was the ghulam system.The
sultan's maintained their own household corps in istanbul called the
kapikulu - who were considered a force owned by the sultan and personally loyal to him.This
consisted of the artillery regiments of the ottoman empire,the jannissary corps and the kapikulu cavalry(sipahis and light cavalry).These formed the
elite standing army of the ottoman empire -
The jannisaries being the infantry component (originally selected from christian subjects later extended to turkish subjects ,selected boys are then taken to Istanbul where they are educated and Islamicized.After series of tests,rigorous monastic & martial discipline they become janissaries).Whereas the Kapikulu cavalry corps was largely composed of the turkish nobility.These household forces were
paid salaries by the ottoman state and formed a regular standing army.
Apart from this were
fortress guards who manned the border fortifications and the naval marines.The ottoman field army consisted of the timarli sipahis,jannisaries and kapikulu cavalry.These were joined in the classical period
Akincis (irregular light cavalry, scout divisions and advance troops - Unpaid they lived and operated as raiders on the frontiers of the Ottoman Empire, subsisting totally on plunder.) and
Azaps(Provincial militia -usually armed with melee weapons like halberds) ,volunteers and mercenaries(Levand & Sekban).
With the rise of gunpowder armies the irregular akincis lost much of their effectiveness ,in 1595 they were disbanded.The ottomans continued to employ nomadic turcmen as and when necessary as scouts for campaigns however.
(Ottoman artillery in action)
CAUSES OF STAGNATION & MILITARY TRANSFORMATION:
Before looking into the changing ottoman army we look at the factors that caused this transformation -
Political -
The seeds of political weakness were sown during the rule of Ahmed I(1603-1617).The sultan was the centre of the ottoman state -sultans oversaw governmental meetings, hired and fired officials, and personally led military campaigns But the
question of succession remained vague and often led to destructive internal wars.Seeking to solve this problem, Sultan Ahmed I instituted a new system for choosing sultans.
Instead of a sultan’s sons being governors within the empire until their father died, they would stay at the palace in Istanbul until their time came. In most cases, they actually were not even allowed to leave the palace. This essentially made them prisoners until they became sultans.the effects of his policy were disastrous. Instead of sultans coming to the throne with experience in governance and policy, they were usually ignorant of anything but the pleasures of palace life.The
result was a series of weak and incompetent rulers under the influence of the jannisaries and the harem.The slide was partly arrested by the rise of the grand viziers as the power behind the throne,but still this divided the centralized authority of the ottoman state.Only one sultan led his armies in person after Ahmed I's rule(Murad IV in 1638).
This
political instability also led to increasing decentralization of power to the provincial officials- a trend the first grand viziers slowed but couldn't eradicate.Also, since experience and talent were no longer seen as necessary by the Ottoman sultan himself, those hoping to advance in civil service were not promoted based on skill. Instead,
bribery and favoritism wreaked havoc on the Ottoman government.
Economic -
Three main factors caused the economic crisis of the ottomans -
The loss of trade,Inflation and population pressure.These would result in the collapse of the timariot system.The
primary sources of revenue for the ottoman state were land revenue,taxation on trade and Riches from conquest.
The portugese circumnavigation around Africa to India had opened a new spice route to Asia. Therefore, the
Turks lost their monopoly on the spice trade going to Europe.By the late 16th century,the Dutch and British completely closed the old international trade routes through the M-East. As a result, the prosperity of the Middle Eastern provinces declined.
The
cause of inflation was the influx of silver from the New World to Europe and the Middle East.The Ottoman economy was based on silver. Coins were minted in silver, taxes collected in silver, and silver to government officials paid in silver. The huge influx of silver coming from America
drastically devalued the Ottoman currency according to the economic laws of supply and demand.The devaluation of silver devastated the ottoman economy.In 1580, 1 gold coin could be bought for 60 silver ones.In 1640 it required 250!
A result of central unity,stability and prolonged peace during the 16th century led to a
population boom.The eastern mediterranean under ottoman rule from
1530-1580 saw a 60% average increase in population.Inflation and rising prices hurt the common people badly.There was little scope to release the pressure with new conquests.The
empire had reached its logistical limits and stabilized its frontiers by 1560s.So booty from war had also dried up.Loss of revenue from war and trade ,
made the central treasury heavily dependant on land revenue which was now under a triple visegrip of more people to support,corruption of decentralized provincial officials and rising prices to inflation.
Internal trade also suffered due to shortsighted policy.The ottoman sultans
allowed european merchants of friendly nations trade privilages under a series of treaties called capitulations ,starting with the french in 1535 by Suleiman I for example.Europe was in a state of transition to a capitalist proto industrial society,and flush with wealth from the new world.Functioning under strict price regulations, the
ottoman guilds were unable to provide quality goods at prices low enough to compete with the cheap European manufactured goods that entered the empire without restriction because of the Capitulations agreements. In consequence, traditional Ottoman industry fell into rapid decline -though this process was still at a modest stage in 1683 and would reach its climax in the next 2 centuries as more capitulation treaties were signed.
Technological -
While the technology of the
printing press was known to the ottomans since 1493,it would not be adopted until 1726.Meanwhile the european nations had spread their technological ideas amongst the populations via this medium.In the military field the europeans since the start of the 17th century were re-employing roman tactical systems and a lively debate went on about military doctrine and battle employment.The ottoman military thinkers had no such scope even if an enlightened captain did make an effort,his ideas didn't generally spread beyond his immediate unit.And any reform efforts generally died out with him.Long term structural changes needed exchange of ideas ,which the printing press enabled.The ottoman army operated largely on oral tradition and older military texts.
Another technological change brought on by warfare were
massed gunpowder based armies.This led to a
revival of infantry on the battlefield .Also to resist firepower,
newer and stronger designs of fortresses came into being.The warfare of the day devolved
from field battles to siege and counter sieges with rare occasional field encounters.The siege warfare led to
decline in importance of cavalry.
(The
Yatagan - Popular ottoman melee weapon,and effective )
EFFECTS OF STAGNATION ON THE OTTOMAN MILITARY -
Breakdown of the Timariot System -
The most important consequence of these technological and financial changes was the slow collapse of the timariot system.The
number of recipients increased but with the empire's boundaries having stopped expanding, land was becoming limited.The
government resorted to joint holdings which limited the finacial independence of the individual sipahis.Moreover,
sons of holders hereditarily recieved a part of their father's holdings.
The system began to crumble with concurrent massive inflation - with
rising prices and smaller and smaller individual holdings the Timarli sipahis could no longer financially support themselves out of their landgrants.They overtaxed the peasantry leading to unrest and engaged in corruption.Moreover the central government itself suffering from a financial crisis due to above factors and long wars with iran and austria in the late 16th century,
began to seize timariot holdings after the death of owners and convert them into profitable tax farms.
Turkish cavalry that had been the backbone of the army in the mobile wars of conquest were less useful to the
sultans who now needed professional garrisons to run the frontier forts.The sipahis were also increasingly vulnerable to massed firearms of european infantry on the battlefield and useless in sieges.The sipahis were also unwilling to take part in long campaigns away from home as they had to return to govern their provinces.
The
government expanded the numbers of gunpowder infantry at the expense of the sipahi cavalry - infantry being much cheaper than horsemen.As a consequence we see whereas in 1574 the empire had 40,000 timarli sipahis and another 50,000 Light cavalry retainers(Cebeli) and 15,000 akincis.In 1670s we see number of timarli sipahis dwindle to 20,000 and the cebelis to 30,000.Akincis had been disbanded.
Rise Of the Jannisaries -
''The Janissaries, as musket-bearing light infantry with long established regimental structures and built-in combat support arms, were an
ideal corps for the new battle environment. The government understandably
increased their personnel strength and tasked them with additional duties. More and more Janissaries were trained and sent to provinces for policing due to the increased unreliability and ineffectiveness of the Sipahis as well as to frontier regions because of the changing nature of wars from those of pitched battles to those of siege and countersiege operations. In 1685, there were 13,793 Janissaries This figure would rise to 40,000 by 1683.
Concurrent with the expansion of the janissary numbers came other changes.From the late 16th century the norm of not having children was removed and the
children of jannisaries were permitted to enter the corps.By 1620 it had become a
hereditary system.Moreover taking advantage of weak sultans and collapse of timariots the
jannisaries dominated political life in istanbul and also rewarded themselves with several large estates.
The training standards had also begun fall off.The
deviserme graduation system was stopped in 1648,which was a serious decline in discipline.The jannisaries were slowly transforming themselves into a line infantry force rather than a elite corps.
Meanwhile the kapikulu light cavalry suffered cutbacks ,to accomodate finacial pressures.The kapikulu sipahis however remained a disciplined heavy mounted elite.
Mass Recruitment of Mercenaries -
One development of the financial crunch of the ottoman government and need for mass gunpowder troops was large scale recruitment of mercenaries.Mercenaries had always been part of the ottoman system,but their numbers exploded during the 1590s war with the habsburgs.Mercenaries were
cheap to recruit,paid occasionally and could be laid off once the campaign was over.They could be recruited quickly and needed no training.They served as
excellent cannon fodder and were brave as gallant service could be rewarded with a permanent posting in the army.On the bad side they were not as disciplined as regulars,had second rate equipment and resorted to banditry roaming the countryside in between campaigns.
Provincial governors were encouraged by the central govt to hire ever larger number of mercenary warbands(largely from peasant backgrounds from syria,anatolia,balkans).By the early 17th century mercenaries called by various names -largely musket armed militia like
Levants or
Sekebans(not janissary sekebans) had replaced the earlier Azaps.
By 1683 perhaps half of the provincial military forces comprised of mercenaries.
Thus ottoman forces by first decade of the the 17th century(end of long war with austria 1593-1606) had
undergone a drastic transformation from its classical structure,from a cavalry-dominated force of largely provincial horse archers and heavy cavalry supported by small elite band of jannissaries and large numbers of irregulars to a more infantry oriented force - a standing army supported by lower numbers of provincial cavalry,but large numbers of provincial mercenaries.
The ottoman army kara mustafa led to the vienna campaign possibly numbered
100,000 combatants and 100,000 support unit personnel and camp followers.The ottoman military strength at vienna itself would not have exceeded 100,000-120,000 maximum.
OTTOMAN INFANTRY -
The ottoman army of 1683 was composed of several elements -
1.Standing army - Kapikulu corps(Janissaries,artillery and Kapikulu sipahis,cavalry)
2.Landed nobility - Provincial Timarli Sipahis,Cebeli light cavalry retainers,mercenary retainers.
3.Frontier troops - Mounted scouts(ike deli,beli etc),garrison troops and provincial militia/volunteers like azaps.
4.Mercenary troops - Largely musket armed mercenary bands raised for specific campaigns(Levends/sekeban)
5.Auxillaries from vassals - Balkan contingents,Crimean tatar cavalry.
JANISSARIES :
Formed as an
elite corps of infantry loyal to the sultan only originally from christian boys but later expanded to turkish families the early janissaries gained a
fearsome reputation for discipline ,ferocity and cohesion.The janissaries were deployed at the centre of the ottoman line behind the horse archers and irregular infantry,they acted as a stable pivot or base of firepower around which the ottoman cavalry manuevered -attempting to disorganize an enemy by forcing them into the matchlocks,artillery and archers of the janissaries and then striking the enemy from the flanks.Janissaries played important roles in all early ottoman victories.They were trained under a strict monastic system of discipline called the deviserme.
The janissary corps was among the
first standing military units in europe in the middle ages,being a salaried force.They
introduced standard uniform and music band(mehter).The janissaries were amongst the first units to employ firearms on a large scale,and made a serious impression on their european opponents.Their equipment generally included a
matchlock musket and scimitar or yatagan for close combat.Archers were increasingly rare.
Starting from the late 16th century the janissary corps saw a slow decline in efficiency,meddling in politics(reasons described earlier in thread),but a a large expansion in numbers due to the demand for gunpowder troops.The
corps was slowly transformed from an elite force of around 10,000 to a line infantry force.Janissaries remained powerful opponents -especially lethal in close combat.In
1683 there were around 40,000 janissaries and the bulk of this would have accompanied kara mustafa to vienna.
Janissaries were also the
only ottoman gunpowder troops with the discipline to carry out volley fire in the battlefield which allowed them to engage european infantry in firefights in relatively equal terms still.
OTHER INFANTRY TROOPS:
Bulk of the
rest of the infantry were composed of Provincial militia and volunteers like azaps(usually armed with halberds) or Musket armed mercenaries like Levends(usually from anatolia and levant region) and Sekebans.These forces were
vital for the ottomans to make up the numbers and as cannon fodder.They were cheap and disposable,and laid off after each campaign.While defensively and in siege warfare under able leadership these mercenary troops performed well,in field battles they usually performed below par.They
lacked discipline,uniform reliable equipment and were incapable of facing european line infantry in firefights employing salvo and volley fire techniques.They largely performed as individual marksmen which put them at a big disadvantage in firefights,as the slow loading and inaccurate musket required large numbers of bullets fired to put sufficient numbers on targets and to be followed by another rank firing volleys while first reloaded.This required drill and discipline which these warbands didn't possess.
In
melee combat however they were capable opponents.To the ottoman military these forces were a financial and strategic necessity.Over half the provincial forces in kara mustafa's army were composed of these troops.
OTTOMAN CAVALRY & ARTILLERY -
Cavalry was the battle -winning arm of the old ottoman armies -the mobility,firepower and shock effect of the horse archers and the heavy sipahis bringing numerous victories.However the changing nature of warfare with proliferation of gunpowder units and prominence of siege operations had struck the ottoman cavalry hard.The Irregular nomadic horse archers -the
akincis had been disbanded.The
sipahis diminished in importance still remained a powerful force.Turkish cavalry was
universally respected by all opponents.
SIPAHIS :
The sipahis remained the main heavy cavalry force of the ottoman empire divided into the provincial timarli sipahis and the kapikulu sipahis.They were
largely members of the turkish nobility or individuals having won their timar by valour on the battlefield.
Timarli Sipahis - Timarli Sipahis of the classical Ottoman period usually comprised the bulk of the army and did the majority of the fighting on the battlefield. While infantry troops at the army's center maintained a static battle line,
the cavalry flanks constituted its mobile striking arm. During battle, Timarli Sipahi tactics were used, opening the conflict with skirmishes and localized skirmishes with enemy cavalry. Regiments of Timarli Sipahis made charges against weaker or isolated units and retreated back to main body of troops whenever confronted with heavy cavalry. During one regiment's retreat, other regiments of sipahis may have charged the chasing enemy's flanks. Such tactics served to draw enemy cavalry away from infantry support, break their cohesion, and isolate and overwhelm them with numerical superiority. Anatolian Sipahis had the ability to harass and provoke opposing troops with arrow shots. More heavily equipped Balkan Sipahis carried javelins for protection against enemy horsemen during their tactical retreats. All cavalry flanks of the Ottoman army fought a fluid, mounted type of warfare around the center of the army, which served as a stable pivot.
The breakdown of the timariot system and proliferation of gunpowder units had several important effects on the sipahis.
1.Their
numbers reduced drastically ,by half from 1570s to 1670 (from 40,000 to 20,000) for timarli sipahis.
2.They were
far less effective on the battlefield,their charges often shot down by massed musket volleys.
3.Their
armor reduced due to gunpowder weapons and financial constraints.Many sipahis by the late 17th century ceased using armor.Armor for horses was rare.
General equipment for sipahis included
Helmet,lance,Kilij sabre,chain mail armor with round chest plate and a round shield.Bows had been discarded.Maces and axes were also used by some horsemen.The
Kilij sabre with a flared double edged tip at the end was a devastating weapon with tremendous cutting power and subsequently adopted by european armies.The
chain mail armor was more flexible than the plate mail armor of the polish and european cavalry but offered
less protection.
Kapikulu Sipahis - Kapikulu sipahis were the standing cavalry of the empire,paid for and maintained by the state.
Superbly equipped and disciplined they had remained free of the decline in the provincial sipahis and constituted the elite heavy cavalry of the ottomans.While their equipment was largely similar,they were employed as a
final reserve with the commander and were amongst the best heavy cavalry on the planet.They numbered around 15000.
(
Cebeli Mameluk light cavalry)
LIGHT CAVALRY -
The light cavalry would include cavalry retainers brought by the provincial governers and timarli sipahis -the
Cebelis.These would number over 30,000.They
lacked body armor and were armed with sabres.They were employed largely for scouting ,flank attacks .They operated in unison with the provincial sipahis.
These would be supported by
irregular cavalry such as mounted volunteers,scouts,mounted mercenaries.They often performed some of the roles of the erstwhile akincis.
Finally the
crimean tatar allies with their horse archers provided raiders and scouts for the ottoman army.While their battlefield value was limited they were superb for harassment and reconaissance.
THE OTTOMAN ARTILLERY -
At vienna this was composed of 135 light and medium field guns.While ottoman siege guns were still formidable ,by 1683 ottoman field guns were
falling behind european standards in terms of mobility and rate of fire.
OTTOMAN BATTLEFIELD AND SIEGE TACTICS -
Battlefield Tactics :
The classic ottoman battle formation was the
Tabur Cengi that acquired a fearsome reputation and was widely imitated.
Ottoman tactics were essentially defensive,allowing an enemy to exhaust itself on the strongest part of its battle formation and then launch a decisive counterattack.The formation was a significant modification(ottomans didn't use pikemen) of the Hussite(a christian religious sect considered blasphemous by the church) war wagon tactics of the early 15th century.Before the start of the battle
war wagons were chained together and cannons were placed within.
Several Janissary units armed with heavy arquebuses/muskets were also positioned with the cannoners, and the remaining Janissaries—several rows deep—remained within the formation.
The
position was kept hidden behind a screen of akincis light cavalry and azap irregular infantry.The
Timarli sipahis would be be positioned on the 2 wings and were the main mobile assets.The kapikulu sipahis were held back with the sultan/commander to the rear as a final reserve.(In absence of wagons ottomans improvised field fortifications like stake palisades ,for example at nicopolis in 1396).The
Ottoman wings, by outflanking or feigned retreat, would try to force the main body of the enemy army towards this fortress.The Azab screen would retreat immediately after showing brief resistance in orderto disorganize enemy attack. A
rtillery and heavy arquebuses/muskets would fire first and further wear down the enemy and disorganize its assault formations. Then the Janissaries, with light weapons, began firing in volleys by rotating the ranks.Finally,a counterattack would then start when the enemy lost cohesion and heart .The sipahis would attempt to surround the enemy and launch flank attacks while the janissaries charged forward in wedge formation.
The formation was
extremely succesful bringing the ottomans decisive victories like Mohacs,Kosovo,Caldiran,Bashkent against both balkan and safavid opponents.Babur,the first mughal emperor employed this formation in the 1st battle of panipat and at khanua,with the aid of his ottoman gunner Ustad Ali-Quli.However
by the 17th century whole european infantry units employing volley fire tactics and supported by regimental guns ,as well as the decline of the feigned retreat tactics of ottoman light cavalry
led to the obsolescence of this formation.
Above depicts a
common formation deployed by the ottoman army in the late 17th century.Cavalry screens guarding main body.Three lines of artillery interspersed with infantry,with provincial mercenaries and azaps forming first line and the janissaries to their rear.The Provincial sipahis and cebelis on the wings with the kapikulu sipahis to their rear.The command tents and the rearguard at the very back surrounded by wagons to deter enemy cavalry.
Siege Tactics -
The ottomans were considered masters of siege warfare well into the 18th century.Ottoman siege tactics composed of
3 aspects -
Trench attack,Artillery bombardment and Mine attacks.
The
trench attack began with the
digging of a approach trench directly towards the fortress,left and right to the approach trench would be dug parallel trenches which curved back towards the ottoman lines.These parallel trenches
provided cover for ottoman musketeers and assault parties to get close to the walls.Behind the parallel trenches
artillery would be placed.Pioneers in the assault parties carried ladders,sandbags to climb the walls or fill in ditches.
The
artillery bombardment was the other feature of ottoman siege tactics.However the guns were sited often behind the initial parallel trenches and not brought forward due to weight,or sited on nearby hilltops.The
effectiveness of the continous artillery bombardment was reduced by the strength of the new star shaped european fortresses which were difficult to penetrate,the huge size and weight of ottoman siege guns used wedges to elevate the guns resulting in
poor accuracy.Thus by late 17th century this aspect of ottoman siege tactics was a
weak point.
Mine warfare was the most potent of ottoman siege tactics.A"mine" was a
tunnel dug to destabilise and bring down castles and other fortifications. The technique could be used only when the fortification was not built on solid rock.A
tunnel would be excavated under the outer defences either to provide access into the fortification or more often to collapse the walls. These
tunnels were supported by temporary wooden props as the digging progressed, just as in any mine. Once the
excavation was complete, the mine chamber was filled with gunpowder When the charge lit it would explode the props leaving the structure above unsupported and liable to collapse.Once a section of the walls collapsed the ottoman assault parties would rush in.
Good intelligence,countermining and defence in depth with a string of bastions were the only real counters to mining.
All 3 types of siege warfare would be employed at vienna.
Ottoman assault parties in siege were described as disciplined,using scaled ladders under the cover fire of muskets and archers.The assault parties were often led by groups of 30-100 or so 'head risker'volunteers.The janissary attack parties often composed of units of 5 men -1 swordsmen,1 grenadier,1 archer and 2 musketeers.Taken overall
ottoman siege tactics were complex and advanced.
NEXT: IMPERIAL AND POLISH ARMIES
