"The Empire's Last Gasp":
The Siege of Vienna

Ottoman Turks:
Feudal Army, Levy, Allies

by Steve Phenow from the Messenger

The Feudal Army

The Timorats and the Cebeli

The second part of a Turkish army was the feudal troops. This was a misnomer. The timar (fief) originally was not hereditary -though this was in the process of changing to that during the period. The timar was not owned by the warrior, but held in trust and he had support himself as well as the inhabitants of the fief unlike the European fiefs who could and did dominate the peasants. Failure meant loss of the fief to someone who could support them. A Timorat was more like a settler responsible for his household, who owed a service obligation to the Sultan. Mobilization was based on the fief's size, like European and Japanese fiefs. A large fief (zeamet) could supply a large number of soldiers.

The Timorats were also called spahis, and it was they who supplied the bulk of the Turkish heavy horse. They were divided into two sections: The European spahis whose timors were in Balkans, where they were the better troops, with Bulgarians and Rumelians being especially noted. Asian spahis whose timorts were in Anatolia, Egypt and Persia, were considered to be inferior.

The position of honor on the right of the battleline would be occupied by the spahis from the continent where they were fighting. If in Europe they would by the Europeans, in the middle east or Persia, they would be Asian

The Cebeli were formed from the retainers of the Timorats. They were inferior in both arms and courage. They would be brigaded with their regions' associates.

With a greater number of timors being combined together andturned over to the Kapukalu as "hass" estates of the Sultan's favorites, the Timorats went into a decline. This was their final grasp at glory. The following decade saw the decline of the system, in that it allowed timorats to purchase second rate cebeli to serve in their stead during a mobilization.

Organization

Their organization was based again on a 20 man system. Ad-hoc (alay) regiments could be formed by combining these units together.

Uniforms

Spahis had no set uniform. They wore split mail, vambraces, assorted helmets. A brightly colored dolman usually covered their armor. The quality of the arms and armor reflected on the size of his timor. Weapons consisted of the lance, bow, sabre and though some rich Timorots started to carry pistols, the overall number was low. The bow was also in decline, Cacavelas claims that among the Cebeli, one in six had a bow, but it was doubtful that they could use them.

The saphis at the start of campaign composed the following numbers: 35,000 in which 12,000 were Europeans, the remainder were Asian. These were further broken up into: 5,000 Timorats, with 7,000 cebeli, and from Asia, 7,000 Timorats with 16,000 cebeli. The campaign was hard on the spahis. There wasn't enough forage for the horse, and many died. Those dismounted spahis were used in the trenches and for storming redoubts with the Jannissaries.

At least 10,000 spahis charged at the Dornbach, the exact number and breakdown by type is unknown. The casualties of the spahis during the campaign, again exact numbers are unknown, but after the campaign was over, many timors had to be combined or issued to new settlers. It is good to remember that all western battle innovations were developed to combat the spahis, whose charge the western leaders feared more than that of the Jannissaries.

The Levy

The levy, called also yerikulu (other troops) was no longer a true levy. Instead a greater number of troops were paid by the Porte, added to as those who were serving just for plunder. While this perhaps increased their loyalty, they still fell far short of having any discipline, or training. Because of their investment, Turkish leaders were reluctant to use them as the "cannon fodder" which was their original function.

Also included in the levy was the Seymen, or dragoons; Beslis, balkan horse archers; Azabs, which were no longer the general name for levy troops, but referred to special units, and the Gonullu, (volunteers) usually Balkan Christians, who fought for loot at the expense of their neighbors. It from these Christians that the local Beys and Pashas, drew their bodyguards, understanding correctly that non Turks with little stake in the Empire were more trustworthy than Turks involved with petty intrigues. One unit of the Grand Vizer's Macedonian Arnuts for example, refused to leave the field at Vienna until the Grand Vizer's safety was assured.

The Dellis, (Guides) were nicknamed "madheads." These were tough, fierce, fanatical, light border horse, who were Moslems, or converts to the faith. Their belief that to fall in battle assured access to paradise, made them ideal suicide troops to spearhead the attacks of the army. Organization. The levy was organized in a decimal system, 10 being the smallest sub-unit. Perhaps 1,000 men units were the normal unit size. Dress. There was no set uniform for the Serhadd Kulu, many colors and turban styles would be prevalent. The Arnuts, wore their traditional mountain dress as did the Croats, wearing skull caps. Dress would consist of a white tunic, trimmed in many different colors, pants and low boots would complete the costume. The Dellis, wore a cross between Polish cavalry uniform, and Turkish cavalry dress.

The levy numbered over 92,000 at the start of the campaign by Cacavelas' estimate. No one is sure of amount of loss to this large number of troops, but it was considerable.

Allies

The Sultan had several nations which paid him tribute, and so were considered allies. They were to send contingents to join the Sultan's Army in a campaign.

At Vienna these numbers were:

    The Tarters, 14,000
    Vlachs, 6,000
    Cossacks 6,000
    Hungarians 6,000

The Hungarians were in revolt against the Austrians and aided the Turks in a bid for independence. Of the 6,000 the most effective force was 2,000 hussar horse. These were not organized in to formations, but were used as marauders, which roamed about the battlefield in small groups, shooting with their pistols, Imperial and polish cavalry officers. Eyewitnesses claim their accuracy was phenomenal.

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