KIRIM’DAN BAĞDAT’A: 1638 BAĞDAT SEFERİNDE YARDIMCI KIRIM KUVVETLERİNİN MENZİL VE İAŞE ORGANİZASYONU
From Crimea to Baghdad: Range and Subsistence Organization of the Crimean Auxiliary Forces in the 1638 Baghdad Campaign

Summary/Abstract: The Crimean forces began to take part actively in Ottoman campaigns as auxiliary forces especially at the turn of the 16th century. These forces were called for duty regularly in the campaigns against Europe and Safavids, particularly in Caucasia. The Crimean forces, that usual-ly served as vanguards and participated in vanguard operations, also contributed to the subsistence of the Ottoman army by capturing spoils. However, the function of the Crimean forces in Baghdad cam-paign was different from the function of the same forces in Middle and East Europe and Caucasia campaigns. Baghdad, geographically, was rather far form the homeland of the Crimean forces and it was not fa-miliar to them. Thus, they had to pass through Ottoman provinc-es/territories to reach the battlefield. In this context, this article first-ly deals with the situation of the Crimean forces, one of the most im-portant auxiliary forces of the Ottoman army in the 17th century, until the Baghdad campaign. Next, their function in the Baghdad campaign is briefly evaluated considering that it was the furthest among the campaigns they participated. On the other hand, the focus of this arti-cle is the subsistence and range organization of the Crimean forces which took an out of the ordinary route. Within this framework, it will be discussed what was needed apart from the known subsistence and range organizations-different from the campaigns that Crimean forces participated before-and what kind of a range and subsistence organi-zation the Ottoman Empire conducted. In addition, how the organiza-tion of the Crimean forces was financed and how this obligation was shared between the units of the state will be explained. Thus, the practical solutions that the Ottoman Empire devised during a cam-paign will be revealed.

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