Albanian Rat tail Miquelet pistols

TVV · 15th April 2011, 01:22 AM

Marcus,
You refer to the Ottoman Empire as though its military was organized in a way, similar to that of the armies of the centralized Western European Monarchies. However, until the 1820s, the Ottoman Sultan relied on feudal lords and their levies, supplemented by various mercenaries, such as the Albanian irregulars subject of this thread. There was no regular army, except the Janissary corps to a degree, but even there there was not any standardization of arms and ammunition. In a system like this, there really was not any need for the Sultan to contract local manufacturers for the needs of his army, but rather paid cash to his soldiers and let them decide what equipment to procure for themselves. Obviously not a great solution, as evidenced by the series of military defeats in wars with European powers such as Russia and Austria.
Regards,
Teodor

15th April 2011, 01:22 AM	#10
TVV Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Bay Area Posts: 1,664	Marcus, You refer to the Ottoman Empire as though its military was organized in a way, similar to that of the armies of the centralized Western European Monarchies. However, until the 1820s, the Ottoman Sultan relied on feudal lords and their levies, supplemented by various mercenaries, such as the Albanian irregulars subject of this thread. There was no regular army, except the Janissary corps to a degree, but even there there was not any standardization of arms and ammunition. In a system like this, there really was not any need for the Sultan to contract local manufacturers for the needs of his army, but rather paid cash to his soldiers and let them decide what equipment to procure for themselves. Obviously not a great solution, as evidenced by the series of military defeats in wars with European powers such as Russia and Austria. Regards, Teodor