THE END OF AKINCI CORPS IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Abstract

It has been known that the Akincis were in the Ottoman Empire an extention of thecorps which provided the border security of the Turkish states. They were named inthe Seljuki period as "margraves". Even the Ottomans were one of these margraves.Adopting a more centralist policy, the Ottoman Empire didn't leave the border security to margraves as it was the case in Seljuks, but they assigned this job to some akıncı families. Evrenesogullari in Albania and Dalmatia, Mihal-ogullari in Bosnia, Semendire and Serbia, Malkoc-ogullari in Silistre and Turhan-ogullari in Mora were the most famous ones among these families. The missions of the Akincis was to ensure the frontier security, to undertake reconnaissance mission in the regions which would be conquered, to gather intelligence, to raid the enemy territories and to act advanced guards, which was called as the fifth column activities at that time. It is assumed that Evranos Bey established the Akini corps.They were the light cavalry forces and had a certain organizational structure.Those with manor were registered in the account book with their descriptions. Their number exceeded fifty thousand during the period of Suleyman the Magnificient.The number of Akincis continued to increase until the 16th Century. In 1595, during the attacks carried out against Walachia Voivodina Mihail, who rebelled, the Akincis which stayed behind the Ottoman army, which was retreating over the wooden bridge, were nearly destroyed due to the inconsiderate act of Grand VizierSinan Pasha. After that incident the Akincis could not recover and their mission was undertaken by the Akkerman, Dobruca and Bucak Tatars and Crimea Khanate's forces. With the exception of the short research of I. Hakki Uzuncarsili, which is based on secondary sources, no serious study has been produced on the guild of Akincis by benefiting from the manorial books, muhimme books and local registry books. In this study the "Yergogu bridge incident" which brought the end of the Akincis will be examined by referring to the secondary works of that time such as Mustafa Ali's Kunhul Ahbar and Ibrahim Pecevi's Tarih-i Pecevi. Registers of the Akincis in muhimme books of 1595 will also be taken into consideration. The findings will also be reflected in the conclusion.