Ottoman army

Hi carle, welcome.

How the Ottomans were able to defeat so many countries so easy? Is it llight calvary?

Not only because of light cavalry; discipline, strong and stable system of forces, other elite units like most known janissaries were all the reasons for victories.

And how did the croats stopped them(with great losses tough)?

When was Croat victory?? i didn't remember the war you are talking about

Originally posted by Maljkovic Combination of numerous and a disciplined army, good leadership and weak opponents. In the Balkans for example coutries would fall to the Ottomans after one single battle.

Which ones?

Originally posted by Maljkovic Jagatai, I'm not surprised you heard nothing of that war. Most history book desribe it under Ottoman-Hungarian and later Habsburg-Ottoman war, Croats being depicted as Hungarian/Habsburg forces. In fact, the war lasted from 1463-1607. It is the bloodiest period in Croatian history, and it took centuries for the country to recover but in the end it was well worth it!

The thing i don't know is which dates Croats stopped Ottomans and which battles Ottomans had lost to Croats.

There are lots of battles in that area, and mostly resulted with Ottoman victory.

Originally posted by Jagatai Khan Originally posted by Maljkovic Jagatai, I'm not surprised you heard nothing of that war. Most history book desribe it under Ottoman-Hungarian and later Habsburg-Ottoman war, Croats being depicted as Hungarian/Habsburg forces. In fact, the war lasted from 1463-1607. It is the bloodiest period in Croatian history, and it took centuries for the country to recover but in the end it was well worth it!    The thing i don't know is which dates Croats stopped Ottomans and which battles Ottomans had lost to Croats.There are lots of battles in that area, and mostly resulted with Ottoman victory.

You never heard of the battle at Sisak in 1593? Retaking of northern Bosnia in 1463? Zrinski Brod 1483? Vrpila 1491? Unsucessful sieges of Jajce in 1501, 1502, 1518 and 1521? I could just go on forever. Sure, there were Ottoman victories, but never one decisive enough to conquer all of Croatia.
    

Originally posted by xristar Also the janisaries were much superior to their contemporary arquebusiers of the west, in training, discipline and equipment.

One of the main advantages of the Ottoman armies was their willingness to adopt contempary european military styles. At the battle of Cahandirgan (If that's how you spell it) the Ottomans triumphed over the Safavids because of their adoption of heavy cannon. Also they were more unified as a state and after Selim conquered Mecca, they could have more of a right and control over Muslims, giving them more influence. If you look at the comparisions of Ottoman and other Eastern soldiers, the Ottoman soldiers tend to be far more european.

3 magic formula:

Originally posted by Adalwolf Originally posted by xristar (I'm having the Spahis in mind). I am trying to learn more about the Ottomans, so I am wondering: What is Spahis? Are they a type of Ottoman cavalry? infantry? Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated!

I'll add to Kapikulu's post in that the Sipahi were either directly obligated to the Sultan as Porte Sipahi or provincial lands as the Timarli, or Timariote Sipahi.

The Timarli Sipahi were feudal knights, sort of speak. Who in return for the revenue from a plot of land were obligated to take up arms for the Sultan. The number of assistants a Timarli brought with him to a campaign depended on the size of the timar. The higher the income a Sipahi had made from a plot of land the more able he was to increase the amount of provisions, men and weapons to the field. He was also required to provide armour for his horse. If a Sipahi was rich enough he could, in effect, bring a squadron of men with him.

In the Ottoman empire the state owned the lands, but individuals were granted use of it in return for services rendered. The Sultan tended to give timars to soldiers who distinguished themselves in battle.

The Porte Sipahi were known as Alti Boluk Halki (the Men of the Six Regiments). In the first rank were the sipahi or sipahioglan. They were the young men raised through the devsirme system. The next were the Silahdar. They, along with the Sipahioglans were the Sultan's bodyguards in battle. Other branches of Porte Sipahi were the Ulufecis and gureba. They were made up of foreigers in Ottoman service. As opposed to living off the land and earning capital on their own, as did the Timarli Sipahi, the mounted Porte Sipahi earned pay through a fixed salary. During the reign of Suleiman there were about 15,000 of them.
    
    

Edited by Seko - 09-Sep-2006 at 20:05

Originally posted by Earl Aster One of the main advantages of the Ottoman armies was their willingness to adopt contempary european military styles. At the battle of Cahandirgan (If that's how you spell it) the Ottomans triumphed over the Safavids because of their adoption of heavy cannon. Also they were more unified as a state and after Selim conquered Mecca, they could have more of a right and control over Muslims, giving them more influence. If you look at the comparisions of Ottoman and other Eastern soldiers, the Ottoman soldiers tend to be far more european.