ASKERİ DÖNÜŞÜM ÇAĞINDA MERCİDABIK VE RİDANİYE SAVAŞLARI ÜZERİNE BİR TAHLİL
AN ANALYSIS ON BATTLES OF MARJ DABIQ AND RIDANIYA IN THE ERA OF MILITARY TRANSFORMATION

Summary/Abstract: The military reform and transformation which started in 16th century affected weapon and battle order of Ottomans and Mamelukes just like many other armies. The Ottoman Empire, which became a rising force in Anatolia, the Balkans and the Middle East, organized military expeditions on Iran and Egypt in order to eliminate the possibility of getting attacked from the east while conducting military expeditions to the west. The Ottoman Empire, which kept up with modern fire weapon technology on the battlefields in the military expeditions conducted, developed new technologies and production methods which would harmonize fire weapons with its army. However, in view of the Ottomans following these developments, it would be a big mistake to think that the Mameluke State, which faced the threat of Portugal and Rhodes was indifferent to firearms. Although the Ottoman Army used cannons and rifles for offensive purposes in the attacks towards the West, the Mamelukes, which was a regional state, used said weapons for defensive purposes and established their battle organization within this direction. Another issue which is not addressed much in existing works is that concept of intelligence was the primary factor which won the Ottomans the war. As a matter of fact, Selim I learned about the plans of Tuman Bay in Cairo thanks to the intelligence network. Apart from all these developments, when we look at the state organizations of two states rather than their millitaries, it can be seen that Ottomans had a more centralist structure compared to the Mamelukes.

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