Just what does an Ottoman look like?

A recent inquiry from one of our readers started me thinking about that. He sent me an email stating "I'm having considerable trouble getting a color for the right skin pigment for my Ottomanfigures. All my attempts at mixing paints so far have not been satisfactory. What do you suggest?"

My answer was: "The color you came up with was perfect. I don't know what color you mixed, but whatever it was, it was right."

In describing the Ottoman army he traveled with in l80l, Dr. William Wittman wrote "complexions of every hue, black copper color, olive, tawny, yellow and white, are to be found, as well as the different casts of features, and varieties of shape and proportion, which result from so motley a compound of so many different nations indiscriminately brought together. . .

"The Africans are black with the exception of those who come from the more northern parts of Africa, and who, notwithstanding they have on the head the curled woolly hair of Negroes, are of a tawny complexion. . . The Egyptians, as well as the inhabitants of Asia, Syria, Diarbeker, etc., are also dark or tawny.

"Among the whites may be comprehended, not only the Europeans, but the inhabitants of Natolia, Armenia, Georgia, and Tartary. The Georgians are justly celebrated for the finest complexion and most regular features anywhere to be found. Many of the Bedouin Arabs differ so much from their countrymen in their complexion, as to be nearly black."

We often tend to think of the Ottomans as Turks. While the modern Turks are the inheritors of Ottoman culture, they were never a majority in the old Ottoman Empire which extended for thousands of miles across three continents.

So just what would an Ottoman look like? A few things would be nearly universal. Facial hair was a must for the well-dressed Ottoman, with most men sporting beards and everyone having at least a large mustache. As the Ottoman army was made up almost exclusive!) of Muslims, most of the soldiers would also be "bald."

A shaved head was considered a sign of devotion, though many, especially the Albanians, maintained a long lock of hair of about ponytail size which grew out of the middle, or crown, of their head and which flowed either loosely down the back or was arranged in a pigtail.

Flesh Tones

As for flesh tones, as stated above, almost anything will do. When painting my own troops I use the following guidelines:

For Janissaries I tend to go with your basic "flesh" colored paint, just toned down with a little brown/buff. Remember that until the late 1500s they were all recruited from captured or enslaved Europeans.

Under the Devshirme, the ancient recruiting system for the Janissaries, young Christian boys were conscripted into the army and raised from childhood to become fanatic and loyal Ottoman soldiers. Even after that, the ranks of the Janissaries were filled mainly by the sons of the existing Janissaries.

For the Nizam-i Jedid, I use a darker, olive to light brown skin tone. While the Nizam-i Jedid were initially raised from European renegades, this initial force was very soon swamped in a sea of Anatolian peasants. Nonetheless, many of their officers continued to be Europeans.

Mamluks were all white guys from the Caucuses -- the original Caucasians. Even after centuries in Egypt they still replenished their numbers by annually importing fresh supplies of boys from the Caucuses.

The Fellahin of Egypt I paint brown. They were basically the common people of Egypt, no different than the people you see walking the streets of Cairo today.

As mentioned above, Arabs came in a great mix of skin tones running from buff to brown to black. Black slavery was common among the Arabs, but it was actually more a form of involuntary indentured servitude. It was common in the Arab world to free your slaves after a few years as a reward for good service. While many former slaves would return to Africa, many others stayed and became members of the tribe, in time mixing their genes with those of the Arabs.

This basically Arabic population would have also been the dominate group throughout most of the region bordering the Arabian desert such as Syria and Palestine in the east and Mesopotamia in the north.

The other strong racial influence in these areas, especially in Mesopotamia, was the Kurds who seem to have been more a linguistic and cultural entity then a race. The nomadic mountain Kurds were fairly light skinned descendants of the Aryan tribes which swept through the region thousands of years ago, while the city and lowland Kurds were much darker, reflecting the heavy intermingling of the more recently arrived Mongols and Turks.

In Europe, Bosnians, Rumanians, Bulgarians and Serbians were more or less white guys. While the core of the OKoman armies which originally conquered these regions in the 1300s and 1400s had been Turks, many of the natives had freely converted to Islam, thus become ing available for military service.

The Bosnians, for instance, were almost all drawn from the original population of the area which had quickly converted to Islam because it offered them protect from their hated Catholic enemies to the north. Even for the original Turkish elements, centuries of interbreeding with the native populations would have tended to lighten the flesh tones.

During the Napoleonic Era, most of the Ottoman artillery men were drawn primarily from Bosnia, so for my artillery units I once again use "flesh" colored paint, just toned down with a little buff.

In the same general area were the Albanians and Greeks who were about the same hue as modern Italians.

Cavalry

The Ottoman Imperial cavalry, especially the elite Silahdars and Sipahi Oglans, were drawn from the sons of the Ottoman upper classes. This meant that they were mainly the sons of members of the Ottoman Imperial Service. Until just before the Napoleonic Era all members of the Imperial Service were slaves, recruited from the most promising of the boys brought in by the Devshirme system. This meant that once again these people, taken as they were from the Christian (primarily Balkan) peoples, tended to be fairly light skinned.

Probably the greatest variety of skin tones was to be found in the various mercenary forces which served in all parts of the empire. These troops were drawn from all parts of the empire and often even from areas beyond the empire.

In Europe these mercenary units were often made up of Bosnians and Albanians. In North Africa, Palestine and Syria these units were often recruited from Maghribian tribesmen who were fairly dark skinned North Africans. However, with the constant warfare within the empire, it was not uncommon to find Syrian forces battling in Bosnia or Albanians fighting in Egypt.

Finally, now that you have all these suggestions, remember to ignore them completely. The Ottomans were among the Ieast racist people in tne world. If you were willing to profess faith in Islam and loyalty to the Sultan you could join the club.

Thus the vast Ottoman Empire was a wonderful place of opportunity, especially in the 1400s, 1500s and 1600s, when Europe was so tradition bound and class controlled. During those days and beyond many Europeans fled to the Ottoman Empire to seek their fortunes and many succeeded, often rising to high office. Scotsmen, Germans, Italians and Poles were common throughout the empire. As a result, even red or blonde hair and blue eyes could be found on some Ottomans.