In the Classicial Order: Being Sipahi in the Ottoman Countryside

Abstract

An important part of the provincial soldiers, who were among the elite units of the classical period Ottoman army, was composed of timar sipahis. In addition to their military obligations, they performed the duties of a different life with their responsibilities as a local law enforcement officer in the countryside, including the continuity of agricultural production, the collection of taxes and the training of soldiers. Compared to the evaluations regarding the military roles of the cavalrymen of timar on the battlefields, a limited number of studies have focused on how they lived in peacetime in the countryside. This study, which focuses on the late 16th and mid-17th centuries, includes evaluations about the life in and around the timarlı sipahi as a state officer and also a village resident in the provinces. It is among the objectives of the study to contribute to future studies on the rural life of the timarli sipahi and his entourage as an actor of social life in the Ottoman countryside.