The Battle of Ankara or Battle of Angora, fought on 20 July 1402,[15] took place at the field of Çubuk (near Ankara) between the forces of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I and Timur, ruler of the Timurid Empire. The battle was a major victory for Timur, and it led to a period of crisis for the Ottoman Empire (the Ottoman Interregnum).
Timur was one of the most powerful Central Asian rulers since Genghis Khan. By long and relentless fighting, he sought to rebuild the Mongol Empire of his predecessors.[16][17]
Timur had conquered Georgia and Azerbaijan in 1390 and Syria in 1399 after defeating the Mamluks, expanding his empire to the borders of the Ottoman Empire. The two powers soon came into direct conflict. Bayezid demanded tribute from one of the Anatolian Beyliks who had pledged loyalty to Timur and threatened to invade.[13]
Timur interpreted this action as an insult to himself and in 1400 sacked the Ottoman city of Sebaste (modern Sivas).[13] In 1402, the Ottomans campaigned in Europe, trying to conquer Hungary. Timur found it as a proper moment to attack and destroy the Ottoman Empire.
Bayezid was stung into furious action and when Timur invaded Anatolia from the east, hurried back from Europe in order to confront fast moving Timur somewhere in the west of Turkey. Timur, whose whole army was mounted, took a u-turn moving fast through Anatolia, slaughtering Ottoman conscripts, taking away horses, destroying Ottoman cities and towns in his path.[18]
The conflict, overall, was the culmination of years of insulting letters exchanged between Timur and Bayezid.
During the battle the main water supply of both armies, Çubuk creek, was diverted to an off-stream reservoir near the town of Çubuk by Timur, which left the Ottoman army with no water. The final battle took place at Catal hill, dominating the Çubuk valley. The Ottoman army, both thirsty and tired, was defeated, though Bayezid managed to escape to the nearby mountains with a few hundred horsemen. However, Timur had the mountains surrounded and, heavily outnumbering Bayezid, soon captured him. He died in captivity three months later.[14]
Already heavily outnumbered, the Ottoman army was further weakened by the desertion of the Black Tatars and the Sipahis from the Anatolian beyliks, who left Bayezid's side and joined Timur's forces.
A case of Mongoloid Men recognizing their true bloodbrothers and joining them in the battle against the originally Turkic Mongoloid Pureblooded Royalty of the Ottoman Empire which had been bastardized by the female caucasoid Valide Sultans, making them forget their true origins which in the end led to whitewashed portraits of Osman the First and his sons and grandsons centuries later. This could be seen as a prelude to the later Jelali Revolts.
Black Tatars:
Their name (meaning "black") may ultimately derive from the Keraites, a Turco-Mongol polity in 11th-century Central Asia absorbed into the Mongol Empire and participating in the Mongol invasions of the 13th century, but may also be connected to those of various other Central Asian groups. [6]
Since "Black" (qara) is a Turkic designation for "north" it was a frequently used tribal identifier among the early Turkic peoples, and there are numerous Kipchak groups known by this adjective. The earliest mention of these are the "Black Tatars" (Chinese: 黑韃靼), a subdivision of the Rouran Khaganate in Tang sources.Meanwhile, at the western end of the steppe more "black Tatars" were the Tatar troops serving the First Bulgarian Empire[7]
Sipahi:
The term refers to all freeborn Ottoman Turkish mounted troops other than akıncı and tribal horsemen in the Ottoman army. The word was used almost synonymously with cavalry. The sipahis formed two distinct types of cavalry: feudal-like, provincial timarlı sipahi (timariots) which consisted most of the Ottoman army, and salaried, regular kapıkulu sipahi (sipahi of the Porte), which constituted the cavalry part of the Ottoman household troops.
The provincial governors, or beys, were rotated every few years, preventing land inheritance. The provinces, or sanjaks, were not all equal since Anatolia and the Balkans were mostly ruled by Turks, while other areas of the empire were more flexible, adhering, somewhat, to local traditions.
The entwinement of land, military, politics, economics and religion was a way of life. The timar system, where the sultan owned all land but individual plots of land, came with residential rights. The Ottoman people had rights to the land but the sipahi, a unique kind of military aristocracy and cavalry portion of the military, also lived on the land with the farmers (90% of the population) and collected tax revenues, usually in-kind, to subsidize the costs of training and equipping the small army, dedicated to serving the sultan. The sipahi did not inherit anything, preventing power centres from growing and threatening the supreme power structure. The locals on the timar used the land and all it produced.
The "Timarli Sipahi" or "timariot" (tımarlı) was the holder of a fief of land (تيمار tîmâr) granted directly by the Ottoman sultan or with his official permission by beylerbeys. He was entitled to all of the income from that land, in return for military service. The peasants on the land were subsequently attached thereto. Timarli Sipahis' status resembled that of the knights of medieval Europe. Unlike medieval knights, they were not legally owners of their fiefs. The right to govern and collect taxes in a timar fief was merely given to a Timarli Sipahi by the Ottoman State. And in return, tımarli sipahis were responsible for security of the people in their timar, enlisting and training cebelu soldiers for the army.
A timar was the smallest unit of land held by a Sipahi, providing a yearly revenue of no more than 20,000 akçe, which was between two and four times what a teacher earned. A ziamet (زعامت) was a larger unit of land, yielding up to 100,000 akçe, and was owned by Sipahis of officer rank. A has (خاص) was the largest unit of land, giving revenues of more than 100,000 akçe, and was only held by the highest-ranking members of the military. A tîmâr Sipahi was obliged to provide the army with up to five armed retainers (cebelu), a ziamet Sipahi with up to twenty, and a has Sipahi with far more than twenty. The cebelu (meaning "armed, armored") were expected to be mounted and fully equipped as the sipahi themselves; they were usually sons, brothers or nephews and their position was probably more similar to squires than men-at-arms.
The sipahi were traditionally recruited among Turkic landowners, and thus, the non-Turkic provinces such as Arabia and Maghreb did not have sipahi. Recruitment of non-Turkic sipahi was banned with a 1635 ferman (decree). In contrast to the Janissaries, Timarli Sipahis from that time onwards were Turks . A rivalry between Jannisaries, who controlled the central bureaucracy of the empire and had a lot of political influence, and sipahis, who controlled the provincial bureaucracy and had the power of the army, prevented them from cooperating against the House of Osman.
'In the 15th and 16th centuries most of the Timarli Sipahis in the Balkan area
were of kul ('slave' to the Sultan) origin. Among Muslim Turks in the Balkan area, those who
volunteered and gained honours in battle, and the followers of frontier
lords ('ucbeylerinin yandaslari') could get a timar ('fief'). Statistics
of Albania region of the year 1431 show that %16 of the sipahi were
former Christian nobles, 30% were Anatolian Turks, 50% were slaves of
the Sultan or other Beys(meaning mostly ethnic Turkmen who were direct subjects/slaves to the Sultan and ruled the Beyliks). Remaining 4% of the timars belonged to
Kadis, 'Piskopos' (Orthodox Bishops) and palace favourites. Later, the
ratio of sipahis with Turkish origin in the Balkans slowly declined.'
The equipment and tactics differed between the Anatolian and Balkan Timarli Sipahi. The Anatolian Sipahi were equipped and fought as classic horse archers, shooting while galloping, yet they weren't nomadic cavalry and their status was similar to medium cavalry class. Balkan Timarli Sipahis wore chainmail, rode barded horses and carried lances and javelins, and fought as medium cavalry.
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 the 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 standard equipment of Rumeli Sipahis of the classical Ottoman period consisted of a round shield, lance, sword, javelins and plated chainmail. Their horses were barded. Standard equipment of Anatolian Sipahis in the same era was a round shield, composite Turkish bow, arrows, kilij (Turkish sword) and leather or felt armor. Besides these, Sipahis of both provinces were equipped with bozdogan and şeşper maces, and aydogan, teber and sagir axes. Anatolian Sipahis sometimes also carried lances.
Kapikulu Sipahis (Sipahis of the Porte) were household cavalry troops of the Ottoman Palace. They were the cavalry equivalent of the Janissary household infantry force. There were six divisions of Kapikulu Sipahis: Sipahis, Silahtars, Right Ulufecis, Left Ulufecis, Right Garips and Left Garips. All of them were paid quarterly salaries, while the Sipahis and Silahtars were elite units.
Silahtars ("weapon masters") were chosen from the best warriors in the Ottoman Empire. Any Ottoman soldier who committed a significant deed on the battlefield could be promoted to the Silahtar division, although normally members of other mounted units, like Timarli Sipahis or one of the other less prestigious of the four divisions of Kapikulu Sipahis, were promoted this way. Infantry soldiers had to enlist as serdengecti (literally means giver of his head) and survive suicide missions to join Silahtar division. If a janissary ever became a silahtar, other members of the division with cavalry backgrounds despised him and former comrade janissaries considered him a traitor, but because the position and wealth of a silahtar was so attractive, janissaries and other soldiers still enlisted for suicide missions.
The commander of the Silahtar division was the Silahtar Agha. He was the official weaponsmaster of the palace and a close personal aide of the sultan, helping him to don his armor. He was also a liaison officer who supervised the communication between the sultan and the Grand Vizier.
The Sipahi division was the most prestigious of the six divisions. Traditionally, sons of Ottoman élite (sons of Vezirs, Pashas and Beys) served in this unit. The Sipahis and Silahtars were granted timar fiefs near Istanbul, alongside their salaries. Ulufeci means "salaried ones", and the members of two Ulufeci divisions weren't granted timar fiefs. Garip means "poor ones" (because their equipment was lighter compared to the other four divisions) and were paid salaries.
The six divisions of Sipahis represented the Kapikulu cavalry in the same way that the Janissaries represented the Kapikulu infantry. Kapikulu means servant of the Porte. Servants of the Porte (Kapikullari) were legally servants of the Ottoman throne. They weren't literally slaves, though their legal status was different from other Ottoman people. The Sultan had the power to directly command execution of his servants without any court verdict. Theoretically, the Sultan didn't have this kind of power over other people, even simple peasants. If a freeman was promoted to one of Kapikulu Sipahi divisions, he considered automatically switched to kul (servant) status.
Equipment of Silahtar, Sipahi and Ulufeci divisions was plated mail, chainmail, round shield, sword, composite bow, arrows, lance, bozdogan mace and axe. Their equipment was similar to Rumeli (Balkan) provincial Timarli Sipahis, though they wore brilliant fabrics, prominent hats and bore ornamented polearms. The two Garip divisions were more lightly equipped.
In the classical period Ottoman battle formation, Kapikulu Sipahis were positioned back of the army as rearguards. They acted as reserve cavalry and bodyguards of Ottoman sultan and vezirs. Their job included to join and reinforce Ottoman army's flanks which otherwise consisted entirely provincial timariot sipahis.
The Sipahis of the Porte (Kapikulu Sipahis) were originally founded during the reign of Murad I. Although the Sipahis of the Porte were originally recruited, like the Janissaries, using the devşirme system,[3] by the time of Sultan Mehmed II, they were chosen from the Muslim land-owners within the Empire (of Turkic origin). The Sipahi eventually became the largest of the six divisions of the Ottoman cavalry. Their duties included mounted body-guarding for the sultan and his family, as well as parade-riding with the sultan, having replaced the earlier Silahtar division for this duty.
"The Ottomans noticed the increased importance of firearms after Hacova and changed the compositon of their armies accordingly. In Suleyman's era, there were at least 16000 janissaries and 87000 sipahis, in 1609, 36000 janissaries and 40000 sipahis."
Which means that many Sipahi Turkic military men joined the artillery units of the Turkic Cebeci who were recognized as Janissaries and Infantrymen and came to outnumber those of European descent within the Janissary group.
Rivalry with the Janissary corps
Since Kapikulu Sipahis were a cavalry regiment it was well known within the Ottoman military circles that they considered themselves a superior stock of soldiers than Janissaries, who were sons of Christian peasants from the Balkans (Rumelia), and were officially slaves bounded by various laws of the devşirme.Whereas the Sipahis (both Tımarlı and Kapıkulu) were almost exclusively chosen amongst ethnic Turkic landowners, they made great strides of efforts to gain respect within the Ottoman Empire and their political reputation depended on the mistakes of the Janissary. Minor quarrels erupted between the two units and is made evident with a Turkmen adage, still used today within Turkey, "Atlı er başkaldırmaz", which, referring to the unruly Janissaries, translates into "Horsemen don't mutiny".
Towards the middle of the 16th century, the Janissaries had started to gain more importance in the army, though the Sipahis remained an important factor in the empire's bureaucracy, economy and politics, and a crucial aspect of disciplined leadership within the army. As late as the 17th century, the Sipahis were, together with their rivals the Janissaries, the de facto rulers in the early years of sultan Murad IV's reign. In 1826, after an evident Janissary revolt the Sipahis played an important part in the disbandment of the Janissary corps. The Sultan received critical assistance from the loyalist Sipahi cavalry in order to forcefully dismiss the infuriated Janissaries.
Two years later, however, they shared a similar fate when Sultan Mahmud II revoked their privileges and dismissed them in favor of a more modern military structure. Unlike the Janissaries before them they retired honorably, peacefully, and without bloodshed into new Ottoman cavalry divisions who followed modern military tradition doctrines. Older sipahis were allowed to retire and keep their tımar lands until they died, and younger sipahis joined the Asakir-i Mansure-i Muhammediye army as cavalry.
The Sipahis differered in quality and rank. The kapıkulu sipahis (altı bölük halkı - "Six Divisions of Cavalry") had 6 titles: Silahdar (Weaponbearers, selected from the greatest Turkic warriors of the Ottoman Empire), Sipahi oğlanları (Sipahi Armymen sons), left and right garips (poor men/strangers, referring to the quality of their arms and equipment), left and right ulufeci (salaried men/stipendiaries). The silahdars were the Sultan's personal bodyguards , the sipahi sons were in charge of protecting the nobility and the palace. They were elite soldiers and ranked above the Janissaries in terms of prestige.
Turkic infantry and artillery units classified as being part of the larger Janissary group existed in the Ottoman Empire. They were called Cebeci. When the Janissaries were dissolved following the Auspicious Incident where they experienced annihilation at the hands of the Sipahis( who by then had transformed from their origin as a medieval cavalry elite into the Ottoman equivalent of European cuirassiers and reiters and dragoons), so were the Cebeci.
Bonus Information:
Akinji or akindji (Turkish: akıncı, literally, "raider", plural: akıncılar, Turkish pronunciation: [akɯndʒɯ]) were irregular light cavalry, scout divisions (deli) and advance troops of the Ottoman Empire's military. When the pre-existing Turkic ghazis were incorporated into the Ottoman Empire's military they became known as "akıncı." They were one of the first divisions to face the opposing military and were known for their prowess in battle. Unpaid they lived and operated as raiders on the frontiers of the Ottoman Empire, subsisting totally on plunder. There is a distinction made between "akıncı" and "deli" cavalry.
In battle their main role was to act as advance troops on the front lines and demoralise the marching opposing army by using guerrilla tactics, and to put them in a state of confusion and shock.[1] They could be likened to a scythe in a wheat field. They would basically hit the enemy with arrows. When attacked in melee, they would retreat while still shooting backwards. They could easily outrun heavy cavalry because they were lightly armed and their horses were bred for speed as opposed to strength. Akinji forces carried swords, lances, shields and battle axes as well, so that in a field of combat, they could face the enemy first and fight melee. In some Ottoman campaigns, such as the Battle of Krbava field, Akinji forces were the only units utilized without any need for Ottoman heavy cavalry or infantry.
Because of their mobility akinji were also used for reconnaissance and as a vanguard force to terrorize the local population before the advance of the main Ottoman forces. Since they were irregular militia, they were not bound by peace treaties, so they could raid border villages and attack enemy garrisons, fortresses and border posts during peace time, constantly harassing the enemy and checking the weak spots on the rival country's defences. They would also attack trading routes to cut enemy's supply and transportation.
Akinji forces were led by certain families. Well-known akinji families were Malkoçoğlu, Turhanlı, Ömerli, Evrenosoğlu, and Mihalli. These akinji clans were mainly composed of Turkmen tribal warriors with a leading dynasty which descended from the warrior ghazis of the first Ottoman ruler Osman I.
Since akinjis were seen as irregular militia, they did not have regular salaries as kapikulu soldiers, or fiefs like timarli soldiers; their only income was the booty that they plundered.
Akinjis used to wear colourful and interesting clothes to shock and confuse their opponents. They used to wear eagle wings on their backs (this tradition was imitated by Polish light cavalry troops later), put on helmets with bull horns, wear coats made of leopard skin. Because of their unusual appearance and their almost suicidally courageous battle tactics, akinjis were nicknamed by the public as "deliler" (the crazies), and "serdengeçtiler" (headgivers: meaning a man who does not care if he lived or died).
Akinji system had an important role at the establishment of the empire and fast expansion of Ottoman territories in Europe. Though the akinji system worked excellently from the 14th to 16th centuries, it began to decline after the 16th century. Starting with 16th-17th century nomadic Tatar and Nogay cavalry from the Crimean Khanate also served as akinjis for the Ottoman Empire. After the Ottoman advance in Europe stopped, akinji warriors became unnecessary and without the economy of plunder this warrior class slowly faded away. After the modernization of the Ottoman army, the last few officially recognized akinji clans were abolished. Still, last remnants of akinji system existed till late 19th century in the Balkan provinces as the bashi-bozouk (irregular) warriors.
Akinji lifestyle with battles and plunder was a romantic fantasy for the public and so akinjis were a popular subject in Ottoman folk literature and music. "Serhad türküleri" or "border folk songs" is a subcategory of Ottoman folk music dealing mostly with akinji raids and battles or love affairs of akinji warriors, sometimes odes to fallen warriors. Alişimin Kaşları Kara" (My Aliş had Black Eyebrows), "Estergon Kalesi" (Castle of Esztergom) are some of the most popular examples.
- A Beautiful case of the Mongoloid Man being seen and admired as the most alpha, most masculine, most romantic, most adventurous, most noble Race of Men, desired by women, emulated by men, feared and respected by all, true men- at- arms and warriors who proudly lived by the sword and conquered the frontiers.
The Mongoloid Man is a warrior and a Conqueror. It's in his Blood. And He will conquer again. And he will make you and your people worship his Golden Skin as his Ancestors and Forefathers before Him have and he will make you submit whether you want it or not.
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