Army of the classical Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman army was the military structure established by Mehmed II (r. 1451–1481) during his reorganization of the Ottoman state and its military. It resulted from a major reorganization of the standing army dating from the time of Sultan Orhan (r. 1323/4–1362), which had centred on janissaries who were paid by salary rather than rewarded with booty or fiefs. The army built by Orhan had operated during the period of the rise of the Ottoman Empire (1299 to 1453).

The organization introduced by Mehmed II was twofold, central (Ottoman Turkish: Kapıkulu, the household division) ^[1] and peripheral (Ottoman Turkish: Eyalet, province-level). Sultan Mahmud II forced this army to disband on 15 June 1826 in what is known as Auspicious Incident, which followed a century-long^{[citation needed]} reform effort.

^ Shaw, Stanford Jay (2002) [1976]. "The Apogee of Ottoman Power, 1451-1566". History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. Cambridge core. Vol. 1: Empire of the Gazis: the rise and decline of the Ottoman Empire, 1280–1808 (reprint ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 58. ISBN 0521212804. Retrieved 10 November 2024. Efforts were made to enlarge and strengthen the kapıkulu army, in particular the Janissary infantry and the Topçu Artillery corps. They were given the most modern fire weapons of the time, muskets and cannon, making them the most potent of the sultan's military forces. To assure Janissary loyalty Mehmet installed his own slaves as commanders and created new divisions of slaves not involved in the previous political conflicts, expanding the devşirme system of recruiting young Christians to provide the needed men.

[1] Shaw, Stanford Jay (2002) [1976]. "The Apogee of Ottoman Power, 1451-1566". History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. Cambridge core. Vol. 1: Empire of the Gazis: the rise and decline of the Ottoman Empire, 1280–1808 (reprint ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 58. ISBN 0521212804. Retrieved 10 November 2024. Efforts were made to enlarge and strengthen the kapıkulu army, in particular the Janissary infantry and the Topçu Artillery corps. They were given the most modern fire weapons of the time, muskets and cannon, making them the most potent of the sultan's military forces. To assure Janissary loyalty Mehmet installed his own slaves as commanders and created new divisions of slaves not involved in the previous political conflicts, expanding the devşirme system of recruiting young Christians to provide the needed men.

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