For many centuries, the Turkish army remained one of the most powerful forces in Europe and the Middle East. For seven hundred years, a Turkish soldier conquered new territories and built fortifications along the borders of his state. The Turkish Armed Forces formed over 700 years ago, and during its existence the Ottoman army underwent significant changes. Therefore, the question “what is the name of a Turkish soldier” cannot be considered without a brief overview of the Turkish army as a whole.
Pre-state period
The great Ottoman Empire had an ancestor - the Seljuk Sultanate. This entity existed in the 13th century, had relative independence and a fairly strong army. The Turkish soldier of that time was a former ghoul slave who escaped from Byzantium, or a descendant of the captured Scythians and Sarmatians who inhabited the northern shores of the Black Sea.
Over the course of one century, the Seljuk Kaganate was several times under the control of the Mongols. Finally, under Mehmed 1, a single army was formed, which became the prototype of the Turkish armed forces.
The structure of the Turkish army
The Turkish army was fully organized by the first half of the 14th century. It was then that the word “Asker” appeared, which means warrior, fighter, Turkish soldier. The name was strengthened not only in internal circulation - so they began to call the soldiers of the Turkish army in other countries.
The army had several large groups of troops that performed various functions:
- Infantry (piad or yaya). Formed from among the peasants liable for military service. In peacetime, they were engaged in their immediate duties, during the war period they mobilized peasants, and they served in the troops, while receiving a salary.
- Cavalry (müssel) was recruited from impoverished noblemen, wealthy farmers, anyone who could get a horse could join its ranks.
- Cavalry (akyndzhi) - a light cavalry of the Turkic type, was selected for cavalry attacks or reconnaissance operations.
- Janissaries. They were recruited from slaves converted to Islam, brought up by the state. Later Janissaries played an important role in the internal life of the country.
In addition to functional division, the structure of the army was divided into several large groups according to the method of mobilization. There was a main army involved in all military operations, auxiliary divisions that performed a limited range of tasks; cavalry formed from mobilized subjects of the Turkish Sultan, and cavalry, consisting of those who paid tribute.
Capsules
The skeleton of the Ottoman army. The Turkish capicule soldier could serve in the infantry, cavalry or cavalry. Many fighters of the main composition were recruited from Christian children who converted to Islam. In addition to the traditional types of medieval troops — infantry, cavalry, and artillery — the jabedge — blacksmiths and gunsmiths who repaired and created military equipment — entered the capsule. Sakka, whose main task was to bring water to the front of the battle; sipahi or oolufels - troops performing administrative functions.
Seratkuls
An army containing provincial contributions and reporting to them. The troops of the seratkula gathered only during the immediate military operations.
A typical Turkish seratkul soldier could be:
- azeba - a militia from free peasants, usually well trained and able to use handguns;
- Seymens - a poorly trained and poorly armed peasant who was mobilized only out of emergency;
- Isarely - a representative of the engineer troops serving the artillery;
- dzhundzhuly - a representative of the border troops patrolling the borders;
- Affairs - a volunteer who was admitted to the army during active hostilities.
Topracles
A Turkish army soldier, a toprakla, is usually a horseman who has his own land, which he presented as a reward for military service. On the European continent, such a piece of land was called flax. In the event of a declaration of war, the topracles independently bought a horse, weapons, equipment and went camping with their own military servants.
As you can see, a wide variety of Turkish troops and units led to the possibility of different names for the soldiers of the Turkish army.