Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hung.

Volume 59 (4), 407 – 438 (2006)

DOI: 10.1556/AOrient.59.2006.4.2

A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MILITARY REVOLUTION DEBATE:

THE JANISSARIES USE OF VOLLEY FIRE DURING
THE LONG OTTOMAN–HABSBURG WAR OF 1593–1606
AND THE PROBLEM OF ORIGINS*
GÜNHAN BÖREKÇİ

Department of History, Ohio State University, 230 West, 17th Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43210, U.S.A.
e-mail: [email protected]

According to proponents of the “Military Revolution” theory, musketry volley fire was among the
military innovations that fundamentally altered early modern field warfare. The origins of European
volley fire date back to the 1590s, but no western army, with the possible exception of the Dutch in
1600, was able to use this tactic in action until the 1620s. Furthermore, it has been thus far assumed
that the Ottomans failed to adopt this new tactic and thus experienced setbacks in the face of their
European adversaries during this period.
By utilising hitherto overlooked Ottoman narrative and visual sources, this article first shows
that the Janissaries were indeed using volley fire in action in 1605, and possibly before. Secondly,
it raises questions about the origins of Ottoman volley fire, which are currently unclear. Overall, the
Janissaries’ use of this tactic during the Long War not only affects our understanding of Ottoman
warfare but also necessitates a reassessment of the patterns of invention and diffusion of military
innovations in the early modern period.
Key words: volley fire, Janissaries, Long War, Ottoman warfare, military revolution debate, in-
fantry tactics.

The “Military Revolution” theory remains a subject of intense and lively debate
among scholars. Proponents of this theory maintain that a series of innovations and
developments in European warfare beginning in the 15th century not only led to a set
of linked transformations in western political, economic and social systems, eventu-
ally resulting in the emergence of centralised states, but also gave European armies a

*
I would like to express my gratitude to Yiğit Akın, Caroline Finkel, Jane Hathaway and
Kahraman Şakul, for their help, suggestions and corrections to several earlier drafts; to Gábor
Ágoston, for his comments as well as for directing my attention to the relevant literature in Hungar-
ian (which I am not able to read); and to Geoffrey Parker, for my numerous discussions with him
initiated this study and provided indispensable input during the writing process. If there is any
shortcoming, it solely belongs to me.
0001-6446 / $ 20.00 © 2006 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest
408 G. BÖREKÇİ

decisive edge to facilitate and sustain western global dominance. There is no doubt
that such developments cumulatively produced a great change in the nature and scale
of warfare and that the role of war and the military in the formation of modern states
and societies is a very important issue. Overall, despite being criticised as technologi-
cally deterministic and chronologically problematic, this theory is valuable, for it con-
tinues to inspire and serve as an analytical tool for historians.1
Nonetheless, the military revolution framework advanced to explain the changes
in the trajectory and patterns of post-1500 world history suffers from interrelated
paradigmatic, methodological and empirical limitations. In Jeremy Black’s words
(2004b, p. 212), “the focus in the discussion of military revolutions is the west, the
definitions are western, and in so far as non-western counterparts feature it is in order
to record the success of their western counterparts. There is, indeed, a circular quality
in this analysis, which is a serious methodological limitation, and one shared by an
empirical failure to even note developments in other cultures”. In other words, such
an exclusive perspective, oriented to explain the European “success and impact” over
other systems fails in analysing the complexity and diversity in early modern military
history. Hence, as the flourishing literature of the New Military History emphasises,
a more comprehensive and balanced view of western and non-western warfare, which
gives due weight to independent developments in different military systems and thea-
tres of war, is required to overcome such problems in the current historiography. Ad-
mittedly, this is easier said than done unless many specific aspects of warfare outside
Western Europe are studied, particularly by utilising a larger pool of primary sources.
Most historians participating in the Military Revolution Debate have over-
looked, for instance, the relevance of the so-called Long War of 1593–1606 between
the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires in Hungary, despite the fact that for much of that
period it was the only “hot war” in progress in Europe except for the secessionist
struggle in the Netherlands. Scholars of early modern Hungary and the Ottoman Em-
pire have recently criticised this neglect in European historiography and contended
that, from the mid-16th century onwards, the Hungarian theatre of war was one of the
earliest, if not the first, battlegrounds where changes in the nature of field warfare
amounted to a “revolution” (Dávid – F odor 2000; Kelenik 2000; Imber 2005). The
military engagements of the Long War fundamentally differed from those of the mid-
16th century in several crucial respects. This “forgotten frontier” saw not only the
widespread application of the artillery fortress (also known as trace italienne), but also
the massive diffusion of firearms, a marked increase in army size, and experiments
with new infantry tactics – all developments hailed as hallmarks of the “European
Military Revolution”.
Since the Ottoman Empire was militarily the most sophisticated rival of the
European powers, its reaction to the “Military Revolution” has also become a matter
of scholarly debate in recent years. Until recently, this issue was framed solely in nega-
tive terms: simply put, the relative “decline” in Ottoman military power was blamed
on either socio-cultural factors (e.g., Islamic values and attitudes that created a reluc-

1
The themes and points of contention in this debate are reviewed in Black (1991), Eltis
(1995), Rogers (1995), Parker (1996) and Black (2004a).
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MILITARY REVOLUTION DEBATE 409

tance to adopt western military innovations) or technological factors (e.g., a failure to

update military weaponry and tactics).2 Thanks to the opening of the Ottoman ar-
chives in the 1980s to the international scholarly community and to the growing num-
ber of specialists exploiting these archives, an expanding literature on the history of
Ottoman warfare has unearthed data that refute the paradigms of “stagnation”, “de-
generation”, and “decline” once advanced to explain developments in the Ottoman
imperial system in the post-1580 period.3
Instead, the new literature forcefully argues that Ottoman warfare was in no
way inferior to European warfare until at least the end of the 17th century.4 Thus, for
instance, Gábor Ágoston’s studies prove that, during this period, the Ottomans both
kept their artillery technology updated and maintained self-sufficiency in supplying
raw materials and ammunition for their ordnance; accordingly, he points to the cru-
cial continuation of military acculturation and diffusion of expertise between the
Ottoman Empire and Europe (Ágoston 1996; 2001; 2005a). Similarly, Caroline Finkel
and Rhoads Murphey have demonstrated that a highly developed system of logistics
and resource management (both human and animal) made the Ottomans successful
and effective in power projection, in waging war and in adopting new technologies
and tactics (Finkel 1998; Murphey 1999). Indeed, in Murphey’s words (1999, p. 106),
the Ottoman armed forces “represented one of the most porous and receptive en-
vironments for the introduction of new ideas [about military matters]”. Scholars in
this field now uniformly emphasise that the relative waning of Ottoman military
power beginning in the 1680s arose mainly from deterioration in logistical capability
and military self-sufficiency during the long-lasting and multi-front wars that resulted
from new patterns of diplomacy developed among the European powers (Ágoston
1998; Murphey 1999, p. 9).
Despite all these groundbreaking and meticulous studies, this new historiogra-
phy is still far from providing a complete and comprehensive account of early modern
Ottoman warfare. For instance, current literature provides little data and discussion
pertaining to tactical innovations, adoptions and problems in Ottoman warfare during
the Long War, even though it was during this period that the Ottomans made crucial
tactical changes and overhauled their methods of field warfare in response to devel-
opments in European/Habsburg warfare.5 As several contemporary accounts testify,

2
For a discussion and critique of the paradigm of Ottoman “military decline”, see Ágoston
(1999; 2005a, pp. 1 – 13).
3
The infamous paradigm of Ottoman “decline” has produced an enormous literature during
the last decades. Inter alia, see Kafadar (1997 – 1998) and Hathaway (1996). New approaches to
17th-century Ottoman history can be seen in Faroqhi (1997).
4
Recent literature on early modern Ottoman warfare is reviewed in Aksan (2002). For a
more comprehensive and critical analysis, see Şakul (2003).
5
Apart from numerous works by Hungarian scholars, the Long War and the details of its
military engagements are understudied topics in Ottoman and European historiography. Szalontay
(2004) is the most recent contribution to this body of Hungarian scholarship, providing an analysis
of engagements based on both Hungarian and Ottoman primary sources. Finkel (1988) remains the
only published monograph discussing the Ottoman perspective while Tóth (2000) discusses in detail
almost all major military events during the War. See Tóth’s bibliography (pp. 458 – 479), which con-
tains almost 400 titles in Hungarian pertaining to the War. Von Randa (1964) and Niederkorn
(1993) both provide crucial details but deal mainly with imperial politics during the War.
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
410 G. BÖREKÇİ

the Ottomans experienced serious difficulties in the face of the Habsburgs’ positional
warfare and new techniques in handling firearms.
This article contributes to the debate on the “Military Revolution” in general,
and to the discussion of Ottoman ability to respond to crucial western infantry tactics
in particular, by focusing on a single development: the Ottoman use of musketry vol-
ley fire during the Long War. It has been generally accepted that the invention and
diffusion of musketry volley fire among early modern armies were highly significant
and had far-reaching consequences. The invention of this tactic came about in re-
sponse to a deficiency in muzzle-loading firearms, which were slow to reload. Under
ideal conditions, an experienced musketeer in the 16th century could fire one round
of shot only every two minutes; the reloading time between shots was long enough to
allow the advance of enemy forces. The only effective solution to this problem was
to arrange the musketeers in ranks and to “program” them to shoot in sequence so
that a constant barrage of fire could be maintained, keeping the enemy at bay (Parker
1996, pp. 18–20). Several European armies began to apply this solution from the late
16th century onwards, so that volley fire had become “the basis for European infan-
try tactics” in the 17th century, particularly during and after the Thirty Years’ War
(Townshed 1997, p. 24). In this context, some historians have argued that musketry
volley fire was among the military innovations that fundamentally altered early mod-
ern European field warfare. In Geoffrey Parker’s words (1996, pp. 19–20):
To begin with, it was now imperative for armies to spread out
during battle, both to maximise the effect of outgoing fire and to mini-
mise the target for incoming fire. The battlefields of medieval Europe
had often measured only 1 kilometre across, with up to 10,000 men
packed into very tight formations; but under volley fire this could be sui-
cidal, and so early modern battles gradually came to be fought by men
drawn up in ranks that were as long and thin as possible. This, in turn,
had important consequences. First, changing a pike square perhaps fifty
deep into a musketry line only ten deep inevitably exposed far more men
to the challenge of face-to-face combat calling for superior courage, pro-
ficiency and discipline in each individual soldier. Second, it placed great
emphasis on the ability of entire tactical units to perform the motions
necessary for volley-firing both swiftly and in unison.
Furthermore, since this new firing technique required a high level of drill, dis-
cipline, and training, its widespread adoption by European armies was also regarded
as one of the factors that “strongly influenced the move towards permanent, standing
forces manned by long-service troops” (Townshed 1997, p. 24). This in turn meant
an accompanying rise in the size and cost of these new armies. Finally, musketry vol-
ley fire was seen as part of the series of “linked changes in the forms of combat that
created a serious if not crippling disadvantage to those who failed to adopt it” (Parker
2003, p. 40; 2007).6

6
Geoffrey Parker is publishing a revised and extended version of his 2003 article on volley
fire. It is scheduled to appear in the Journal of Military History in the spring issue of 2007. I thank
him for kindly giving me a copy of his manuscript before publication.
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MILITARY REVOLUTION DEBATE 411

As to the diffusion of this tactic, Geoffrey Parker has provided an examination

of the origins and spread of volley fire in Japan and Western Europe. According to
Parker (2003, pp. 40–51; 2007), volley fire was invented twice in the 16th century.
First, Oda Nobunaga, a Japanese warlord fighting for control of the archipelago, de-
veloped the idea of uninterrupted infantry fire by shooting arquebuses in rotating
ranks, and successfully used it at the battle of Nagashino in 1575, where Nobunaga’s
3000 men in three ranks delivered volleys that proved devastating for the enemy.
Thirty years later, and seemingly unrelated to the Japanese case, the Dutch army be-
came the first in Europe to use and perfect this same technique. Parker shows that,
thanks to their close reading of works describing Roman military tactics, Counts Wil-
lem Lodewjik and Maurice of Nassau came up with the idea of volley fire in 1594,
and within six years at most had taught their infantry to practice it in action. In the first
two decades of the 17th century, printed works and Dutch-trained instructors taught
the armies of other Protestant states to follow suit. Yet, no western army used volley
fire in action until the 1620s, with the possible exception of the Dutch at the battle of
Nieuwpoort in 1600.
Ottoman sources, however, prove that the Janissaries were already using volley
fire by 1605, and possibly before. This article introduces, contextualises and analyses
a hitherto unnoticed account from a 17th-century Ottoman narrative, the chronicle of
Abdülkadir Efendi, which clearly describes the musketeer Janissaries practicing volley
fire during the second Ottoman campaign against the Hungarian fortress of Eszter-
gom (Estergon)7 in 1605.8 Secondly, it examines an already published but overlooked
Ottoman miniature from ca. 1605 which realistically documents the use of this firing
technique by the Janissaries in 1597. These two sources together leave no doubt that
the Ottomans were able to use volley fire in action by the turn of the 17th century, if
not earlier. The remainder of the discussion raises a number of questions about the
origin of Janissary volley fire, which currently remains unclear but, in the light of cer-
tain Ottoman sources, appears to date to the early 16th century.
The Ottoman sources in question and the Janissaries’ use of volley fire during
the Long War are highly significant for several reasons. First, considering that Euro-
pean armies used this tactic in action only after the 1620s, the chronicle of Abdülka-
dir Efendi apparently reports the first recorded battlefield use of volley fire anywhere
in central Europe. Similarly, as far as I am aware, the miniature of 1605 is the first

7
Since the major events referred to in this article took place in Hungary, I use the Hungar-
ian forms of the place-names (except for those for which there is a familiar English name) and give
modern Turkish versions in parentheses at first mention. For personal names and quotations in
Ottoman Turkish, I follow a simple system of transliteration. All translations and transliterations
are mine unless otherwise noted.
8
Despite the fact that this particular chronicle has been widely used by Ottomanists and the
sentences describing volley fire are found in two manuscript versions, historians seem not to have
realised the significance of this description. The only exception to this observation, as far as I am
aware, is Uzunçarşılı (1943, pp. 375 – 376). In one of the earliest and most comprehensive studies
of the Janissary corps, Uzunçarşılı briefly describes the Janissaries’ rank-by-rank firing technique
by referring to the same page in Abdülkadir Efendi’s account. However, Uzunçarşılı neither calls
this technique volley fire nor discusses its significance.
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
412 G. BÖREKÇİ

representation depicting volley fire in action anywhere in Europe. Secondly, the use
of volley fire by the Ottoman infantry calls for a reconsideration of the accepted pat-
tern for the origins and diffusion of military innovations in the early modern world.
Thirdly, this example underlines the importance of the frontier and of “hot war” in
providing an environment for inventing, learning, emulating and perfecting new mili-
tary techniques. Rival commanders were usually the first to observe and experience
the consequences of each other’s changing battlefield tactics, and they needed to
react fast. Hence, this study also raises questions about the assumed superiority of the
Habsburgs over the Ottomans during this period and points to the critical continua-
tion of mutual military acculturation between two rivals.9 Fourthly, as Imber (2005,
p. 8) aptly notes, Ottoman sources and a consideration of military engagements during
the Long War are both vital “in seeking an answer to the question of whether these
new European tactics amounted to a ‘revolution’ and, if so, when exactly the ‘revolu-
tion’ occurred”. Finally, given that many have seen the failure to adopt volley fire as
a weakness in the Ottoman army, this example necessarily affects our understanding
of early modern Ottoman military organisation and warfare.10

I. The Chronicle of Abdülkadir Efendi

and Ottoman Volley Fire in 1605

Several contemporary Ottoman narrative sources give detailed descriptions of the

battles between the Ottoman and the Habsburg armies during the Long War. One of
these is the chronicle of the secretary of the artillery corps, Abdülkadir Efendi, which
covers the period between 1592 and 1644.11 His account is remarkable and crucial in
many respects. Given Abdülkadir’s expertise in military affairs and his relatively long
career in the artillery division, the chronicle constitutes one of the most important nar-
ratives of early modern Ottoman warfare.12 It includes, inter alia, several references

19
For a detailed examination of the channels of military acculturation between the Ottoman
and the European armies, see Ágoston (2005a, pp. 15 – 60; 2005b, pp. 101 – 133). For a general as-
sessment of the impact of European warfare on Ottoman warfare in this period, see İnalcık (2004,
pp. 1065 – 1073).
10
For instance, Imber (2002, pp. 281 – 286), insightfully discusses problems within the Ot-
toman army in the context of the Long War and notes the lack of volley fire as a crucial flaw.
11
A critical edition of this work has recently been published (Yılmazer 2003).
12
Abdülkadir Efendi (d. ca. 1644) was a member of the Ottoman army and held different
positions in the artillery division of the Janissary corps. He joined almost all of the major Ottoman
campaigns during his career, including the ones during the Long War discussed in this article.
Unfortunately, information about his life is very limited. Given that his father was also employed in
the artillery corps and that he himself became a secretary in the same corps in 1595, the editor of
this work suggests that he might have been born in the 1570s in Istanbul. One passage in the work
hints that he and his father were born non-Muslims and recruited by the Ottoman palace. Further-
more, Abdülkadir occasionally mentions his relatives in the artillery units, leading to the conclusion
that the family was professionally involved in this particular branch of warfare. For further details
on Abdülkadir’s life and work, see the introduction by the editor (Yılmazer 2003, pp. XXIII –
LXXI). Köhbach (1981) also reproduces the autobiographical sections of Abdülkadir’s work.
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MILITARY REVOLUTION DEBATE 413

to actual battle scenes: the preparatory stages of Ottoman campaigns, what kind of
ordnance was carried into the field, how much ammunition and other provisions were
supplied, discussions within the war councils, novel aspects of field warfare, etc. Fur-
thermore, Ziya Yılmazer, who has recently edited and published this source, notes
that the work as a whole does not reveal any connection to any other previous or con-
temporary work, clearly establishing that the narrative came from Abdülkadir’s per-
sonal experiences and observations.
Although it is unclear when Abdülkadir started to write his work, Yılmazer
notes that all relevant information from the chronicle points to the year 1615, or per-
haps even earlier (Yılmazer 2003, p. XXXV). Moreover, Abdülkadir no doubt kept
notes to be used at some future time, because all other available contemporary
sources corroborate his account insofar as events and dates are concerned. Overall,
there are relatively few discrepancies – all of them minor – in his factual information,
and the editor’s footnotes and crosschecking confirm that Abdülkadir’s work is a
highly reliable source for this period of Ottoman history.
In Abdülkadir’s chronicle, the Ottoman use of volley fire takes place in 1605
at the second siege of Esztergom, when the Ottoman army practiced a field drill in
full battle formation on the orders of the grand vizier and commander-in-chief, Lala
Mehmed Pasha. On 2 February 1604, Ali Pasha, the first grand vizier serving the
newly enthroned thirteen-year-old Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1603–1617), was appointed
commander-in-chief and given orders to lead another campaign against the Habs-
burgs. While on his way to the front with a fully mobilised army, the pasha fell seri-
ously ill and died on 26 July 1604 in Belgrade. The inexperienced young ruler, not
knowing whom to appoint as a replacement, asked for advice and, according to Ab-
dülkadir, received a memorandum specifying, “In this present situation, nobody but
Vizier Mehmed Pasha has expert knowledge of the affairs of the frontier and will con-
sider the requirements of any matter” (Yılmazer 2003, p. 418). As the army was left
without a commander-in-chief at a critical moment, Ahmed I followed this advice
and appointed Lala Mehmed Pasha to the office. Mehmed Pasha was indeed very ex-
perienced in military affairs, being a vizier as well as a commander who was highly
trusted and respected by the soldiers.13 He is generally considered to have been the
most successful Ottoman commander during the Long War (Imber 2002, p. 285).14

13
Abdülkadir (Yılmazer 2003, p. 419) relates that upon receiving news about Mehmed Pa-
sha’s appointment as the new grand vizier, the soldiers expressed their excitement: “Our master
(efendimiz) is our patron who knows every affair. We are rejuvenated again (yine hayat bulduk).”
This comment may express the troops’ wish for an improvement in their fortunes after the terrible
defeat by the Habsburgs at Csepel Szigeth (Kovun Adası) in 1603.
14
For instance, Lala Mehmed Pasha assisted at the capture of Eger (Eğri) (1596); com-
manded the right wing of the army (the Rumeli troops) at the battle of Mezőkeresztes (Haçova)
(1596); served in the army of the grand vizier and commander-in-chief İbrahim Pasha against
Érsekújvár (Uyvar) (1599); served at Nagy-kanizsa (Kanije) (1600); was present at the thirty-four-
day siege and capture of Székesfehévár (İstolni Belgrad) (1602); and successfully fought against
the army of Archduke Matthias near Buda (1603). He also organised the defenses of Buda and the
bridges at Eszék (Ösek) (1603), but received a serious wound at the battle of Csepel Szigeth the
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
414 G. BÖREKÇİ

On reaching the front, the new commander-in-chief moved against Esztergom.

But after a month of bloody siege (mid-September to mid-October of 1604), his army
was unable to take the fortress due to the unusually cold weather and retreated to
Belgrade. However, it was not only the cold that forced the army to lift the siege. It is
equally apparent that the long-range artillery of the enemy, together with the trace
italienne with which the Habsburgs had encircled Esztergom, rendered the fortress-
town unassailable.15 Abdülkadir relates, for instance, that it was impossible for the
Ottoman soldiers either to remain in the trenches or to approach the walls under the
intensive and efficient firepower of the enemy artillery (Yılmazer 2003, pp. 420–421).
The following year, Mehmed Pasha was again given overall charge of a cam-
paign against the Habsburgs. The direction of the campaign was not determined be-
forehand, and in July 1605 a war council gathered near Adony (Cankurtaran) to decide
where to attack.16 According to Abdülkadir, Mehmed Pasha opened the discussion by
asking his officers which course of action they preferred: to attack Esztergom again
or to raid into Austrian territory. Some council members, mindful of the geo-strategic
importance of the fortress, favored an attack on Esztergom, but the Janissaries (Ab-
dülkadir speaks of them as a group) were uneasy with this suggestion and complained
about the difficulties of fighting in the trenches; they brought up Esztergom’s invul-
nerability (Yılmazer 2003, p. 436):
Esztergom is a strong fortress… with [walls] four or five layers
[thick]. Its ordnance is very great…. [Moreover] each of its four bastions
is a fortress…; the inner fortress is [also] strong and difficult [to as-
sault].17
In response to these “realistic” remarks, an elderly cavalryman who had been
in the army of Süleyman I (r. 1520–1566) stood up and passionately reminded the
gathering that the revered sultan was able to conquer Szigetvár (Zigetvar) in 1566 de-
spite all difficulties and with only 7000 Janissaries, whereas the current army included
20,000 Janissaries.18 It was their duty, he insisted, to realise Ahmed I’s desire for a

————
same year. For further details, see Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed. (hereafter EI2), s.v. “Mehmed
Pasha, Lala” by de Groot; Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi (hereafter TDVİA), s.v. “Lala
Mehmed Paşa”, by Ak; and İslam Ansiklopedisi, s.v. “Mehmed Paşa, Lala”, by Tekindağ.
15
See Horváth (2003) for a discussion of trace italienne fortresses in Hungary.
16
The exact location of this council is not certain. Abdülkadir says that the war council gath-
ered in Adony whereas two other chronicles mention that it was either in Eszék or Érd (Hamzabey
Palankası). See the note by the editor (Yılmazer 2003, p. 435). Here I follow Abdülkadir’s account
given that he was present in the army at this time.
17
The secretary and confidant of Lala Mehmed Pasha, İbrahim Peçevi (Derin – Çabuk 1980,
vol. II, p. 301) corroborates Abdülkadir’s remarks on the Janissaries’ reluctance: “In the previous
year, it had proved impossible even to approach the wall of the fortress of Esztergom. Everyone
was terrified of its strength and despaired of conquering it.” Quoted in Imber (2005, p. 18).
18
Although such figures in any chronicle should not be taken at face value, 20,000 Janissa-
ries does not seem to be an exaggeration. Recent studies give a total of roughly 40,000 Janissaries
in the Ottoman army in the 1600s. See Murphey (1999, p. 45, Table 3.5); and Ágoston (2005a, p. 26,
Table 2.1).
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MILITARY REVOLUTION DEBATE 415

resounding victory against the Austrian-Habsburg King – that is to say, they must re-
capture Esztergom.19 After this speech, with its emphasis on the strategic importance
of the town and the need for a substantial victory, the council decided in favor of an
attack and then adjourned (Yılmazer 2003, p. 436).20
After the deliberations in the council, Mehmed Pasha issued an order to all
units of the army on 23 July 1605. According to our chronicler, Lala Mehmed Pasha
commanded all soldiers to go to their regiments with all their weapons and take their
positions in order to properly practice how regiments in ranks (saf alayları) should
be deployed in a battle and how the order of march (yürüyüş kā‘idesi) should be exe-
cuted in an attack against the enemy.21 The order further specified the need to “make
the soldiers know the rules [of action] when the right and left wings under the com-
mand of the governor-generals and governors move all together against the infidels”
(Yılmazer 2003, p. 437). It also commanded a musketry drill: “And let the infantry
Janissaries (piyâde yeniçeri) drill so as to learn how to form ranks behind the cannons
in a field battle (alay cengi), and how to reload their muskets; afterwards let every
regiment in ranks practice the [actual order of] engagement and battle.” The final
words of the order reveal that Mehmed Pasha also wanted to use “psychological war-
fare” by making – literally – a show that would reveal Ottoman power to the enemy
and encourage them to surrender without a bloody engagement. The last sentence
reads “[In this way], both the cavalry and the infantry soldiers will be known and the
enemy spies will take the warning” (Yılmazer 2003, p. 437).22 Given its timing, it is
clear that Mehmed Pasha’s order aimed to fully prepare and coordinate his troops for
the recapture of Esztergom.
Following Mehmed Pasha’s order, every cavalry and infantry unit (drawn up
on the right and left wings) took its position in the field and prepared for the drill.
Following this, we find the first reference to Ottoman volley fire. (Note the change in

19
The chronicler Mustafa Safi, Ahmed I’s personal prayer leader and advisor, asserts that
Ahmed I wanted Esztergom recaptured. When Ahmed I and Lala Mehmed Pasha met in Istanbul in
February 1605, he maintains, they discussed the ongoing war in Hungary. According to Safi (Çuha-
dar 2003, p. 9), “It was made clear [to Mehmed Pasha] that the conquest of Esztergom was the most
important purpose of the sultan”. However, as mentioned above, there was no clear target of the
campaign until Mehmed Pasha gathered all the forces in Hungary.
20
The strategic importance of the town was proved by further surrenders produced by its fall:
Veszprém (Vesprim/Pesprim), Vár-Palota (Polata) and Érsekújvár. For a discussion of the strategic
importance of fortresses in Hungary during this period, see Ivanics (2002).
21
Judging from the tone of his chronicle, Abdülkadir actually read this order, which was
probably written and sent to each regiment in the army. We know that the Ottoman chroniclers of
this era gathered various official documents and inserted them in their narratives; they were mostly
bureaucrats in different posts and had access to such correspondence. According to Yılmazer, Ab-
dülkadir appears to have relied occasionally on such texts. See Yılmazer (2003, p. XLII).
22
There is currently no information about whether this drill was ever observed by the en-
emy spies (who must have been around) or how it was perceived by the Habsburgs, but Esztergom
did not surrender as a result of Mehmed Pasha’s display of power. It did so only after a thirty-five-
day siege and on terms (3 October 1605). The terms of surrender concerned the safe conduct of the
soldiers and townsfolk whose number is estimated around 5400. See note by the editor (Yılmazer
2003, p. 442).
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
416 G. BÖREKÇİ

the middle of the passage from past to present tense. Abdülkadir appears to have
actually observed the drill.)
And in the middle of the field, the Janissary regiments stood in
three ranks, each musketeer with matches ready [to fire], and they lined
up the big cannons chained in front of the Janissaries. Then, after the
first rank of the Janissaries fires their muskets, the second rank fires,
too. Afterwards, the rank that fired first bends double and begins to re-
load their muskets. And as the third rank fires, the second rank in front
[of them] bends and prepares their muskets. Then, the first rank again
stands up and fires their muskets (Yılmazer 2003, p. 437).23
Abdülkadir here unequivocally describes volley fire by the musketeer Janissa-
ries: they line up in three ranks behind the cannons and take turns firing and reload-
ing their arms. In order to prepare their muskets, they kneel following their turns.
They seem to have adopted this drill not only to allow the back ranks to shoot, but
also to take shelter while reloading their muskets under fire from the approaching
enemy. It is certain that the muskets were matchlocks, the most popular firearms at
this time, since Abdülkadir says “matches ready” (i.e., lit.).24 Similarly, since the ac-
count mentions that the first rank fired a second volley, it is evident that the rotation
continued.
Unfortunately, Abdülkadir’s description is too brief to allow speculation on
how many Janissaries stood in each rank, the total number of rotations by the three
ranks, who commanded them, etc. Yet, it reveals that the Janissaries used this tactic
without making a major change in their traditional battle formation.25 They had pre-
viously fought in ranks, and the Ottomans always placed the elite infantry corps in
the center of the army, standing in front of the sultan and/or the high-ranking vizier-
commanders and behind the chained cannons (known as the fortified Ottoman Wa-
genburg). Hence, the Ottoman army appears to have ingeniously incorporated a new
tactic into its Wagenburg to be carried out by the musketeer Janissary regiments
alongside the artillery and other infantry units. As discussed below, this is not surpris-
ing at all, given that the Janissaries were one of the most disciplined forces in the

23
“Ve meydân ortasında yeniçeri üç kat saf durup, tüfeng-endâz her biri fitilleri hâzır ve
şâhî darbuzanlar yeniçerinin önlerinde zencîrlenüp, dizdiler. Bâ‘dehû yeniçerinin evvelki safı tü-
fenglerin atduklarında, ikinci saf dahi atup, bâ‘dehû evvel atan saf iki kat olup, tüfenglerin doldur-
mağa mübâşeret üzere olurlar. Ve saff-ı sâlis atduklarında, ilerüde saff-ı sânî eğilür, tüfenglerin
hâzır ederler. Bâ‘dehû evvelki saf tekrâr kalkup, tüfenglerin atarlar.” The phrase iki kat olmak,
used by Abdülkadir to describe the actions of the soldiers in the first rank while reloading their mus-
kets, means “to bend double”. In this context, however, it should mean, “to kneel” given that he
then says, “they stood up”.
24
For the details of Janissary muskets, see Ágoston (2005a, pp. 88 – 93). Ágoston also notes
that it was during Murad III’s reign (r. 1574 – 1595) that all the Janissaries were equipped with
matchlock muskets.
25
See Parry (1975), Finkel – Ágoston (1997) and Tacan (1936) for the traditional battle for-
mation and tactics of the Ottoman army. I thank Nedret Emin İşli for providing me a copy of the lat-
ter work.
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MILITARY REVOLUTION DEBATE 417

early modern world and that they had been accustomed to fire rank by rank since at
least the early 1520s. However, given that the above example of volley fire takes
place during a drill, the questions of whether the Ottomans actually used the tactic in
action and how much of Abdülkadir’s account is supported and/or detailed by other
sources both remain to be answered.

II. Nakşi’s Miniature and Janissary Volley Fire in 1597

Fortunately, we have an Ottoman miniature which not only complements Abdülka-

dir’s description by providing details lacking in his narrative but also proves that the
Janissaries were using this tactic in actual military engagements. The image in ques-
tion is the last of eight miniatures illustrating the work of Ganizade Mehmed, who
wrote under the pen-name Nadiri.26 This unpublished manuscript is the only illustrated
collection of Nadiri’s poems, which has been dated to ca. 1605 by art historians.27
It includes eulogistic poems for Sultans Murad III (r. 1574–1595), Mehmed III
(r. 1595–1603) and Ahmed I as well as for some high-ranking viziers and members
of the royal court under these sultans, which extol these personalities for their patron-
age, virtues, and characters.28 In his introduction, Nadiri says that the work was com-
piled on the suggestion of Ali Agha, the master of the imperial stables, with whose
help the manuscript was presented to the royal court. Ali Agha was the brother-in-
law of Gazanfer Agha, the chief white eunuch of the palace and a prominent patron
of the arts. Nadiri was a protégé of Ali and Gazanfer Aghas, for whom he wrote his
most lavish poems. The miniatures in his manuscript were all painted by Nakşi, who is
well known for introducing a new style of realistic painting and perspective within
the context of the early 17th-century Ottoman art.29 As noted by scholars, this court
artist had an exceptional talent to “transform words into images” when illustrating
such manuscripts. As a painter, Nakşi was surely informed and/or had some intimate
knowledge of the events and personalities mentioned in Nadiri’s poems; his minia-
tures not only depict them very realistically, but also include several extra details that
are similarly provided by other sources. Overall, Nadiri’s poems do not reveal any
information about the event depicted in the miniature, nor do they provide any spe-
cific information about the Janissaries’ firing technique, except for one poem seemly

26
Divân-ı Nâdirî, Topkapı Palace Museum Library (TSMK), MS H. 889, fol. 26b. It should
be noted that this miniature has already been published in Tanındı (2003, p. 144). Yet Tanındı nei-
ther discusses the significance of this miniature in terms of volley fire nor, as shown below, identi-
fies the scene correctly. I came across this miniature during my research in the Topkapı Palace
Museum Library without prior knowledge of its publication. I thank Zeynep Çelik, the Curator of
Manuscripts at the TSMK, for informing me about this article and giving me a copy of it.
27
It is certain that the miniatures were finished after 1603 and before 1606. For details of
its dating, see Tanındı (2003, p. 145), and Fetvacı (2005, pp. 287 – 290).
28
A critical edition of Nadiri’s poems has been published by Külekçi (1985). For Nadiri’s
life, see Külekçi’s introduction, pp. 5 –15.
29
See Ünver (1949, pp. 23 – 39), and Tanındı (1996, pp. 55 – 57), for details of Nakşî’s life
and works.
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
418 G. BÖREKÇİ

associated with this miniature which acclaims the Ottoman musketeers for shooting
bullets like “gliding stars” against the enemy (Divân-ı Nâdirî, fol. 26a). Yet, Nakşi’s
miniature does untangle several crucial problems.
It should first be noted that this miniature depicts a scene that actually took
place but that was incorrectly identified by scholars (Tanındı 2003, p. 145). It has
heretofore been assumed to depict the battle of Nicopolis (Niğbolu) in 1598 between
the forces of the commander Hadım Hafız Ahmed Pasha, the governor of Bosnia
(here depicted on horseback among the Janissaries) and those of Mihai Viteazul (also
known as Michael the Brave), the rebellious Voyvoda of Wallachia in the 1590s. It is
known that both Gazanfer and Ali Aghas, paying all expenses from their own pock-
ets, had sent a force of 100 musketeers and 50 armor-clad infantry soldiers to aid
Ahmed Pasha in October 1598 (İpşirli 1999, p. 774). Nadiri’s poems praise these two
aghas for their generosity in this regard and it seems that this miniature, though
indirectly, emphasises this benevolent act.
However, a detail in the miniature actually allows a more precise and correct
dating of the event depicted. The figure wearing the tiger-skin among the European
soldiers can be identified in contemporary Ottoman chronicles as the commander of a
Transylvanian mercenary force sent by Mihai in 1597. According to Selaniki, a con-
temporary chronicler and bureaucrat who seemingly had access to the reports sent by
Ahmed Pasha following the engagement, the Transylvanian soldiers numbered 1000,
among which 300 were given the mission of laying an ambush in the mountain passes
near Nicopolis for the Ottoman forces marching to join the campaign. Selaniki gives
this mercenary commander’s name as Herseklü (literarily, “from Herzegovina”) and
mentions that Ahmed Pasha, who had previously been ordered to secure the passages
along the Danube around Vidin, captured him and a few of his forces alive after a co-
ordinated attack with the Ottoman cavalry forces. Selaniki writes, “[T]heir com-
mander, Herseklü, with his tiger-skin, was captured alive…and he was sent to Istan-
bul with 700 severed heads” (İpşirli 1999, p. 733). The prisoner, together with the
heads and reports and letters sent by Ahmed Pasha, arrived in Istanbul on 7 April 1598
(İpşirli 1999, p. 733). Abdülkadir Efendi, on the other hand, puts this engagement in
mid-November/early-December of 1597 in the mountain pass near Nicopolis (Yılma-
zer 2003, p. 205).30 These accounts thus show that the scene depicted in the miniature
took place in 1597, not in 1598.31 It should also be mentioned that, soon after this en-
gagement, Mihai arrived with his army and fought against Ahmed Pasha once again
in the vicinity of Nicopolis. During this battle, according to Abdülkadir, Ahmed Pa-
sha and his forces at first suffered some setbacks, but in the end they managed to
defeat the forces of Mihai, who fled the scene (Yılmazer 2003, p. 205). Nakşi seems
to have depicted Ahmed Pasha’s victories over both Herseklü and Mihai on a single

30
The date given according to the Hijri calendar in the original text is Rebî’ulâhır (1006),
which corresponds to 11 November to 9 December 1597 in the Gregorian calendar.
31
Nakşi, as a person close to the royal court, would have heard of Ahmed Pasha’s success
and may even have observed the prisoner’s entry into Istanbul.
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MILITARY REVOLUTION DEBATE 419

page; here, Mihai is probably the figure in the black cape and hat approaching from
behind the hill with his army.
Although contemporary narrative sources on this engagement are silent regard-
ing the firing technique of the Janissaries, Nakşi’s miniature shows that the Ottoman
infantry was deployed in three well-ordered, consecutive ranks, of which the first one
is firing and the second one is loading. We note that the first Janissary on the left is
pouring powder down the muzzle of his barrel, the one at the other end is inserting a
bullet and the one in the middle appears to have completed these tasks and is shoul-
dering his gun. The third rank in the meantime has arms shouldered, obviously await-
ing their turn. It is absolutely certain that the Janissaries were firing volleys in action
here. In one sense, Nakşi’s miniature is a visualisation of Abdülkadir’s narrative de-
picting the choreography of the rank soldiers in fire-and-reload action.32 Thus, it is
clear that, just as in Abdülkadir’s description, the first rank here would also have re-
loaded after charging, and the second and third ranks would have followed suit, cre-
ating the overall effect of uninterrupted fire. It appears that it was either Ahmed Pasha
or the Janissary commander, depicted right behind him, who directed the Janissaries’
action here.33 Furthermore, the artist portrays the European mercenaries and their
deployment in the field quite realistically. They appear to be deployed in only two
ranks, but in a much less disciplined manner than the Janissaries’ highly regular three
ranks. Yet they do not seem to execute any special tactic. (See Image 1 on p. 420.)
Nakşi depicts in elaborate detail the stages of loading, the three-rank rotation,
and the firing sequence of the Janissaries, as well as the location of this episode and
the actors involved in it. He is obviously well informed about this tactic and about the
engagement in question. He must certainly have seen the Janissaries firing in this
manner sometime before 1605; otherwise, he would not be able to replicate such a
complicated set of actions. Unfortunately, information on Nakşi’s life is so limited
that we cannot determine with certainty whether he was present with Ahmed Pasha
in 1597 or had observed Ottoman volley fire before or after that date.34 Most likely,
he was an eye-witness to earlier military engagements involving Janissary volley fire.

32
Given the conventions of Ottoman miniature painting and the limited space available to
him, the artist seems to have been able to depict only four or five Janissaries in each rank. This num-
ber would be much higher in real battle conditions.
33
It is known that the Ottomans used their military band (mehter), among other purposes, to
coordinate and communicate with the units in action. For instance, writing about a battle in 1521 in
Damascus, Matrakçı Nasûh, Süleymânnâme, TSMK, MS R. 1286, fol. 30b, mentions that the Janissa-
ries in the Wagenburg fired their weapons after the drums played: “yeniçerînün tüfeng-endâz ser-bâz-
ları safflar bağlayup ve top arabaların ki dîvâr-ı hisâr-ı revândı önlerine dutup ol sedd-i üstüvârla
cûy-bâr-ı hayl-i seyl-reftâr-ı adû-yı bâr-pûy u fesâd-cûyın önin bağladılar. Kûs-ı harb-ı ra‘d-vâr gö-
rilüp tîğ-i mîğ-i berk-girdâr şakıyup tüfeng-i saffşiken dolu gibi yağup…” (Transliteration is by Erkan
2005, p. 25.) Note that a band is also depicted here in the background, suggesting that it is similarly
signaling to the Janissaries to fire.
34
Nakşi became a famous painter in the late 16th century. Apart from extolling him as an
exceptionally talented artist, Ottoman biographical sources also note that he was from Istanbul and,
because of his impressive erudition on astronomy and astrology, he was later appointed as a time-
keeper (muvakkit) at the imperial mosque of Süleyman I. However, there are no certain dates pro-
vided on this appointment. For these partial biographical data, see Ünver (1949, pp. 23 – 26).
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
420 G. BÖREKÇİ

Image 1. Divân-ı Nâdirî, TSMK, MS. H. 889, fol. 26b

Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006

 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MILITARY REVOLUTION DEBATE 421

From Abdülkadir’s and Nakşi’s depictions, as well as from our knowledge of

contemporary volley fire, we can safely assert that the Janissaries were trained in vol-
ley fire before executing this maneuver during the Long War. First, Abdülkadir’s ac-
count does not mention that they had any problem in rotating or shooting or, for that
matter, that there was any confusion at all. Similarly, the Janissary ranks in Nakşi’s
miniature are shooting and loading in a very disciplined manner. Secondly, maintain-
ing volley fire was not an easy task for any soldier at this time and the only way to
make it work, especially under fire, was practice (Parker 1996, pp. 17–24; 2007).
Thus, it is clear that, just as it was necessary for European soldiers to drill under su-
pervision, so it was essential for the musketeer Janissaries to train with arms and tac-
tics long before being deployed for action. The key questions, then, are whether there
is any evidence of such prior training and when the Ottomans learned and used vol-
ley fire for the first time.

III. Drill and Tactics

As is well known, the strict discipline of the Janissaries was frequently mentioned by
contemporary eyewitnesses, and they had developed one of the most effective meth-
ods of training and drill in firearms and other weaponry, as well as in tactics, long
before the Long War.35 Lazarus von Schwendi, the author of Kriegs Diskurs and the
commander of the Habsburg army in Hungary between 1564 and 1568, for instance,
noted the extraordinary marksmanship, effective tactics and fatal firepower of the Jan-
issaries (Parry 1975, pp. 223–227; Ágoston 2005a, p. 25). Similarly, the imperial am-
bassador to Süleyman I between 1554 and 1562, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, was
often impressed by the organisation and discipline of the Ottoman army. In one of his
letters, he noted Ottoman soldiers’ skills in using firearms “which they acquired by
long practice in warfare and continual exercise” (Foster 1967, p. 146). The Janissa-
ries’ impressive firing capability and discipline also stemmed from the fact that they
“had grown accustomed to each other in the schools, were trained uniformly, and lived
together for long years” (Perjés 1989).36 This comradeship among the Ottoman sol-
diers would have enabled them to adopt new tactics swiftly. Another factor, as seen
above, was the Ottoman army’s habit of performing drills in full formation so as to
simulate battle conditions, synchronise the units’ actions and sharpen their firing tech-
niques before they engaged in combat. For instance, Baron Wenceslas Wratislaw, who

35
Our knowledge of Janissary tactics and training is still very limited. Murphey (1999) and
Ágoston (2005a) are the most recent contributions in this respect. Káldy-Nagy (1979) is among the
few earlier studies to include a discussion of Janissary tactics. The laws and regulations of the corps
and the duties, responsibilities and formation of the Janissaries have been so far found in only a few
codified forms. One example dating from ca. 1606 is published. See Akgündüz (1996, pp. 133 – 168,
235 –237 and 266) on recruitment and training. For a general discussion of the Janissaries, see Uzun-
çarşılı (1943) and EI2, s.v. “Yeñi Čeri”, by Murphey.
36
At the time of writing, I had not been able to consult a hard copy of this work. Thus, I use
an online edition at http://www.hungarian-history.hu/lib/warso/warso04.htm.
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
422 G. BÖREKÇİ

was with the Ottoman army marching against Eger under Mehmed III in 1596,
observed such a drill (Wratislaw 1862, p. 198):
When the Turkish Emperor moved from his place with his whole
army, and began to march towards Erlau, they formed, in a very beauti-
ful plain, opposing armies of camels, mules, and horses, amounting to
full 150,000 in number, and so extensive that it was impossible to see the
end of them; they drew up as though they were about to engage in battle,
fired cannons and all their heavy artillery at each other, surrounded the
body which represented the Christians, skirmished, turned it to flight,
took many thousand prisoners, and flattered their Emperor, giving him
good hopes of victory….37
The Janissaries surely formed an effective unit in the central array of the Otto-
man army, particularly during the 16th century, when the increasing use of firearms
in battle made musketeers a critical force, together with the artillery. Péter Pécsi Kis,
a mid-16th-century Hungarian author who had the chance to personally examine and
learn various aspects of contemporary Ottoman warfare, insightfully noted that the
Janissaries not only handled their “long barreled light arquebuses” in a masterly man-
ner; they also played such a critical military role that they often affected the outcomes
of engagements (Szalontay 2004, p. 142). For this reason, Pécsi Kis advised his fellow
Christians that the Janissaries “armed with arquebuses should somehow be overcome
since all ‘Turkish military hope’ rested upon them” (quoted in Szalontay 2004, p. 143).
He was quite right. For instance, it was the Janissaries’ firepower, rather than the Ot-
toman cannons, that decided the fate of many Hungarian soldiers at the battle of Mo-
hács in 1526 (Ágoston 2005a, p. 24).
During the Long War, however, the number of musket-bearing Ottoman sol-
diers in the regiments expanded. The Ottoman government attempted to counter-
balance the numerical superiority of the Habsburg army, first by increasing the num-
ber of musket-bearing Janissaries, and then by establishing formations of rifle-bearing
infantry, generally known as sekbans (Ágoston 2005a, pp. 26–28). These soldiers were
generally employed as garrison guards and their number by 1596 had risen to 20,000
(Finkel 1988, pp. 36–46).38 Recruiting musketeers was relatively straightforward: it
took only a few hours to learn how to use a simple musket. But mastering the art of
firing the gun effectively in battle formation required weeks of training. This was evi-
dently understood by the Ottomans; thus the Janissaries continued to drill regularly
as before, but apparently with new objectives and newly recruited comrades. For in-
stance, in Istanbul in January 1594, on the orders of Sultan Murad III, “the Agha of
the Janissaries went to [the drill-field at] Ok-meydanı, and the [Janissary] comrades
started to drill and fire their muskets, while those inexperienced comrades, according
to the law, came to the field for training” (İpşirli 1999, p. 355). After three months of

37
Also see Derin – Çabuk (1980, vol. II, p. 69), and Zeyrek (2001, p. 25), for examples of
Ottoman drills during the Ottoman – Safavid conflict of 1578 –1590.
38
For a discussion of the broader repercussions of these changes in Ottoman military organi-
sation, see İnalcık (1975; 1980).
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MILITARY REVOLUTION DEBATE 423

drilling and training, these elite soldiers were deployed to Hungary in April 1594 (İp-
şirli 1999, p. 365). Similarly, there were 3000 young, newly recruited Janissary mus-
keteers in the army of 1595, which marched to Hungary under the command of Grand
Vizier Ferhad Pasha. According to Abdülkadir, Ferhad Pasha kept a constant eye on
these units, inspecting the soldiers and their use of weapons at every stop (Yılmazer
2003, p. 59).
In this context, Abdülkadir notes another drill. When the Ottoman forces were
gathered near Adony in June 1594, this time under the command of the Grand Vizier
Koca Sinan Pasha, the army was ordered to “practice the moves in battle style (ceng
üslûbu)”, in which “the Janissaries formed three ranks” and fired behind the chained
cannons (Yılmazer 2003, pp. 33–34). Months before the battle of Mezőkeresztes in
1596, the Janissaries in Istanbul were regularly drilling in the fields twice a week
(Yılmazer 2003, p. 111). Similarly, in 1599, the Janissaries were practicing with mus-
kets “at all times” in the capital (Yılmazer 2003, p. 237). In 1604,
the officers were always given orders [to come] with their soldiers
opposite the drill-field at Et-Meydânı, and three times a week the Agha
of the Janissaries used to come, and [under supervision], the Janissaries
used to practice with muskets. They put up targets [and] the Janissary
comrades with their officers formed ranks and drilled to learn the science
(‘ilm) of the musket (Yılmazer 2003, p. 401).39
Abdülkadir also records repeated attempts by the Ottoman government to mo-
bilise as many musket-bearing soldiers as possible for deployment in the Hungarian
theatre and on other fronts.40 In 1595, for example, he quotes an order of the Grand Vi-
zier Ferhad Pasha demanding that all Janissaries assigned to the imperial campaign be
immediately deployed to Transylvania and Hungary (Yılmazer 2003, p. 59). In 1605,
he writes:
The Agha of the Janissaries, Hüseyn Ağa, upon the orders [of the
grand vizier], used to go to the [drill] field twice a week [and] the offi-
cers used to gather their soldiers, drilling them in the use of muskets.
And sergeants were also sent to Rumeli and Anatolia in order to drive
the Janissaries to [Istanbul] (Yılmazer 2003, p. 480).41

39
The Arabic term ‘ilm has multiple connotations in Ottoman parlance. It literally means sci-
ence, knowledge, learning, theoretical knowledge, dexterity or skill. In this example, it seems to refer
to both theoretical and practical knowledge of how to use a musket; thus I prefer to translate it as
“science”.
40
The Ottoman forces were more or less concurrently fighting on three fronts during these
decades, namely in the East against the Safavids, in Hungary against the Habsburgs and in Anatolia
against the Celali rebels.
41
See examples on 190, 549, 837, 1049 and 1092. In this context, Ágoston (2005a, pp. 24 –
25) notes that “[A]t least before the major campaigns, the Janissaries did practice with their muskets.
Istanbul also urged the provincial governors to continue the shooting practices and to examine thor-
oughly the shooting skills of all the Janissaries serving in their respective provinces.”
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
424 G. BÖREKÇİ

In sum, since the Long War dictated increased numbers of soldiers with fire-
arms, more Janissaries gathered in Istanbul and other cities to prepare for the new-
style combat. Taken together, these accounts show that when Ottoman soldiers trained
in Istanbul before deploying to the battlefields and drilled in full formation before
actual engagements, they received instruction in various tactics and practiced them
regularly. Although as yet we lack further information on the details of these drills,
numerous passages in late 16th- and early 17th-century Ottoman narratives depict the
Janissaries in field battles as fighting and firing in three consecutive ranks, usually
behind the chained cannons, just as Abdülkadir describes.42 It is clear that the Janis-
saries were “programmed” to fight and fire within three consecutive ranks and that
this was their long-established battle order and tactic in the field.43 Hence, certain
Janissary musketeer units must have been receiving advance training in the tactic of
volley fire during this period so that they were able to use it in action.

IV. The Problem of Origins: Battles, Innovations and Emulations

in the Hungarian Theatre of War

When war broke out in 1593, the Ottoman and Habsburg imperial armies had not en-
gaged on the field since the last Hungarian campaign of Süleyman I in 1566. In the
meantime, the Habsburgs had enhanced their defenses in Hungary by adopting the
trace italienne, employing the most recent weaponry and infantry tactics, and in-
creasing their army size. As noted earlier, such critical and comprehensive develop-
ments have led some scholars to argue that the Hungarian theatre of war was one of
the earliest battlegrounds where the so-called European Military Revolution took
place. On the other side, the Ottomans’ most recent engagements had been against the
Safavids, who were relatively weak in artillery. However, these campaigns, which se-
cured new territories in the Caucasus and Azerbaijan between 1578 and 1590, proved
that the Ottomans could maintain an army in the field for over a decade, supporting
the contention that their military prowess was as great as before.
Recent research confirms that although the Ottomans unexpectedly emerged
victorious at Mezőkeresztes, the single major field-battle of the Long War, this and
other military engagements between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans during the Long
War did indeed expose some weaknesses of the latter, particularly within the infantry
units (Ágoston 1998, p. 135).44 A statistical study by the Hungarian historian László

42
See, for instance, Yılmazer (2003, pp. 23, 33 – 34, 136, 143, 145, 162, 173, 201, 245, 282
and passim.); Zeyrek (2001, pp. 25 and 68); Kirişcioğlu (2001, pp. 18, 32, 35, 38, 49, 66, and pas-
sim.); and Çerci (2000, volume III, p. 407). All these examples are from ca. 1580– 1610. The only
notable exception to the three-rank formation is at the battle of Mohács in 1526, where the Janissaries
formed nine consecutive ranks. For a discussion of these details, see below.
43
For instance, narrating Özdemiroğlu Osman Pasha’s battle with the Safavid army in 1583,
Gelibolulu Mustafa Ali (Çerci 2000, volume III, pp. 407 – 408), mentions that the musketeer Janissa-
ries were lined up in three ranks behind the cannons and that they fired constantly at the enemy.
44
For the details of this battle, see Schmidt (1985) and Finkel (1988).
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MILITARY REVOLUTION DEBATE 425

Nagy reveals that sixty-three of the eighty-three engagements between the two rivals
ended in Ottoman defeats – though most of these were small-scale skirmishes that
did not uproot the Ottoman presence in Hungary (Nagy 1982–1984, p. 680, cited in
Szalontay 2004, p. 150, n. 39).
But the Ottomans were quick to notice these problems. After the Eger cam-
paign, for instance, Hasan Kafi Akhisari, a Bosnian scholar, submitted to Sultan Meh-
med III and his commanders a treatise on the political and military problems he had
recently observed. According to Akhisari, one reason why the enemy prevailed over
the Ottomans was that “they use[d] certain… new hand and field guns that our sol-
diery fail[ed] to apply” (quoted in Fodor 1986, p. 226).45 Having personally witnessed
the battle of Mezőkeresztes, Akhisari no doubt referred to the superior firepower of
the Habsburg infantry units. Similarly, in ca. 1603, Lala Mehmed Pasha, then one of
the commanders serving in the Hungarian theatre, noted in a memorandum to the
Grand Vizier Yemişçi Hasan Pasha, “Most of the soldiers of the accursed ones are on
foot and are musketeers. Most of the soldiers of Islam are horsemen, and not only are
infantrymen few, but experts in the use of the muskets are rare. For this reason, there
is great trouble in battles and sieges… so, the musketeer Janissaries, under their agha,
must join the [sultan’s] army promptly” (Orhonlu 1970, pp. 71–72).46
Between 1593 and 1606, the Ottoman army fought against numerically supe-
rior imperial regiments within which, compared to the numbers of pikemen, the pro-
portion of infantry soldiers carrying firearms increased, in some units amounting to
seventy-five percent. Moreover, the infantry units of the Habsburg army fighting in
Hungary, which were similar to those deployed in Flanders, were composed of dif-
ferent groups of soldiers (e.g., “Walloons”, “Frenchmen”, “Hungarians”, and “Ger-
mans”) (Kelenik 2000, pp. 130–137).47 As noted earlier, the first Ottoman reaction
to these developments was to follow suit by increasing the number of musket-bearing
soldiers in the Ottoman army. However, since the very first years of the War, the
enlarged groups of Habsburg musketeers on the battlefield and their entrenched posi-
tions amid increased artillery fire posed a more serious challenge.48 Cafer Iyani, an-
other Ottoman author who joined the Long War in its early stages, frequently men-
tions this new Habsburg threat. According to Iyani (Kirişcioğlu 2001, p. 24), at the
battle of Sziszek in June 1593 (in which the Ottomans were badly defeated),

45
The same observation is quoted from an older German translation by Parry (1975, p. 228).
46
Also quoted in English by İnalcık (1980, p. 288; 1975, p. 199).
47
Just before the battle of Mezőkeresztes, Peçevi notes the unprecedented size of the Habs-
burg army, which had “… a limitless number of troops, an enemy without bounds… advancing rank
on rank”. The official reports on the Habsburg troops also mention the same point: “…all the kings
and dukes of the infidels had, by agreement, collected such an army that this many troops had never
before assembled”. Both quoted in Imber (2005, p. 11).
48
The Ottoman army was still relatively successful in laying sieges and capturing trace ita-
lienne fortresses, as the examples of Győr (Yanık/Yanıkkale) in 1594, Eger in 1596, Kanizsa in 1600
and Esztergom in 1605 proved. See Szalontay (2004, pp. 152 – 170) for a discussion of the role of
weapons and tactics utilised by the two sides during the Long War.
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
426 G. BÖREKÇİ

[t]he treacherous infidels also formed ranks in five places. When

German fegveroş soldiers, each one with five or six muskets [ready]
nearby and in front, and dressed in full steel [armor], stood against and
engaged with the soldiers of Islam, they delivered thunder-sounding…
cannons. Between the two sides, there happened such a battle and kill-
ing… that it is beyond [any] stating and recording.49
Another contemporary Ottoman chronicler, Mehmed bin Mehmed, similarly
mentions that, at the engagements near Vác (Vaç) in 1597 and Kanizsa in 1599, the
simultaneous fire of the Habsburg cannons and musketeers from their entrenched po-
sitions caused severe casualties among the Ottoman soldiers who were either attack-
ing or pursuing the enemy (Sağırlı 2000, pp. 284 and 517, respectively). Later, in de-
scribing an engagement between the two sides in 1601 during which he witnessed in-
tensive fire, Abdülkadir writes, “The infantry of the infidels… fired grape shot (saçma)
and bullets as if they were rain” (Yılmazer 2003, p. 315).50
The testimony of contemporary European sources also reveals that the Habs-
burgs employed new army formations along with various combinations of up-to-date
tactics against their rivals. For instance, describing the imperial army in 1596 under
Giorgio Basta, an Italian soldier and military writer who commanded the army of
Rudolf II against the Ottomans in later years, as well, Richard Knolles writes (1603,
p. 1125):
The bodie of his maine battell consisted of one great squadron of
about three thousand Almaine footmen, flanked on each side with a
hundred & fiftie Rutters of SILESIA: before the squadron toward the
right hand he had set a loose wing of three hundred musketiers: in the
right wing towards the hill he placed a companie of launces, with two
squadrons of the countrey footmen: and in the left wing toward the riuer
one squadron of Transylvanian footmen, and two of launces, for that the
enemie was at that time very strong in horsemen: the Cossackes, archers,
and harquebusiers he placed in the reward: of his great artillerie he would
make no use, for that having not much, he would not stand upon the
defence thereof, but desired rather with all speed to come to the sword
with the enemie, unacquainted with such close fight, foot to foot; and
well the lesse fit, by reason of their light armour. And therfore he thought
it best first to set forward his squadron of Almaines to give the charge,
bending towards the right hand, amongst the thickest of the footmen
towards the artillerie at the foot of the hill, as there whereas was the
strength of the enemies infanterie.

49
The term “fegveroş” is Hungarian loan word from “fegyveres” which means an armed man
(Szalontay 2004, p. 159, n. 58).
50
Also see the examples in Yılmazer (2003, pp. 85, 157, 232, 284, 286); Derin – Çabuk
(1980, volume II, pp. 271 – 273); and Imber (2005, pp. 15 – 17).
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MILITARY REVOLUTION DEBATE 427

Some historians have argued that, within such formations, firing in salvoes was
a new tactic of the Habsburg infantry in Hungary during the Long War. According to
Vernon J. Parry, Basta was the mastermind behind a new set of military tactics.51
After observing the strength and effective tactics of the Ottoman forces (including the
cavalry units of the Crimean Tatars) during the Long War, Basta published his ideas
in 1606 in a book entitled Il maestro di campo generale. The gist of his plan, as seen
in the above quotation, rested on close coordination between the infantry and cavalry,
and among the pike, musket and lance corps, as well as on the endurance of the troops
and effective firepower by the infantry (also see Parry 1975, pp. 228–232). In order
to repulse Ottoman cavalry attacks, he believed that the musketeers, under the protec-
tion of the pikes, should fire their guns “in più salve” (“in many salvoes”) and at rela-
tively close range (Parry 1975, p. 230). According to Parry, “the tactical system that
Basta devised for warfare against the Turks and the Tatars constituted a notable and
– with allowance made for earlier ‘formulae’ – even an original advance over the
methods hitherto in vogue on the Hungarian front” (Parry 1975, p. 232). Basta’s ideas
were no doubt a novelty within the context of late 16th-century Habsburg field war-
fare in Hungary.52 It seems almost certain that he is referring in his work to infantry
volley fire. However, as far as I am aware, there is currently no clear evidence ass to
when the Habsburgs employed volley fire for the first time against the Ottomans be-
tween 1596 and 1605.53 Basta had previously fought in the Netherlands under Ales-
sandro Farnese, Duke of Parma, and during the Long War, the Habsburg troops in-
cluded many veterans of the Army of Flanders. Hence, given that Basta’s book was
published in 1606, a period when there was much discussion of alternative warfare
tactics in Europe, Habsburg commanders could easily have seen and/or heard of the
Nassau “evolutiones” and in the meantime gotten the idea from the Dutch.54
In any case, in order to respond to such new techniques of Habsburg field war-
fare, the Ottoman army, particularly under Lala Mehmed Pasha, adopted several tactics

51
On Basta’s career, see Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, s.v. “Basta” by De Caro.
52
In the 1580s, the Spanish Habsburgs were already developing ideas on how to increase the
rate and efficiency of infantry fire. For instance, Lieutenant Martín de Eguiluz, a veteran of the Army
of Flanders, in his Milicia, discurso y regla militar (1586), describes a new maneuver which closely
resembles volley fire. However, de Eguiluz’s formulation, which predates Nassaus’ similar ideas by
eight years, essentially refers to a tactic to be employed by the tercios in skirmishes (escaramuzó)
against cavalry attacks, as opposed to one to be adopted by the whole army in field warfare. See
Andújar del Castillo (2000, pp. 189 – 191). Hence, Basta could have taken, improved and used such
new ideas regarding infantry tactics within the milieu of the Habsburg – Ottoman conflict. For a dis-
cussion of de Eguiluz’s and other Spanish writers’ ideas, see Parker (2003, pp. 48 – 52), and De León
(2004, pp. 25 – 42).
53
For instance, Szalontay, in The Art of War, while discussing the battlefield tactics of the
Habsburgs during the Long War, does not mention any incident of Habsburg volley fire. Kelenik
(2000, pp. 130, 155 and 158), on the other hand, suggests that volley fire was among the tactics of the
Habsburg army in the 1590s, but he does not provide any reference or details as to when and how this
tactic was employed by the imperial troops. Overall, the question of whether the Habsburg infantry
during the Long War used volley fire still remains to be answered definitively.
54
For instance, Parker (2003, p. 45) gives an example of a Catholic scholar in the Dutch Re-
public in 1595 sending reports of the development of the countermarch to friends in Spanish service.
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
428 G. BÖREKÇİ

employed by the Habsburg army during the Long War. Mehmed Pasha was stationed
on the Ottoman–Habsburg frontier for a significant period, and the bloody sieges and
battles of the “hot war” should have enabled him to experience, understand and adopt
the new tactics. For instance, when the Habsburg forces besieged Esztergom in 1595,
they used a new bombardment technique, first firing their cannons at the same time
and aiming the balls at one particular spot in the fortress, then firing the cannons one
by one, still aimed at the same point. This method of bombardment proved highly ef-
fective, and Mehmed Pasha, at the time in charge of defending Esztergom, had to sur-
render the town to the imperial forces. Just one year later we see Mehmed Pasha using
the same technique during the Ottoman siege of Eger, when he commanded the Ot-
toman forces under Mehmed III, and this contributed to the capture of this fortress
(Derin – Çabuk 1980, vol. II, p. 193).55
Similarly, Ottoman commanders experienced the novelty and impact of the
petard, a new and very effective high-tech incendiary weapon used by the Habsburgs
during their surprise attack on the Ottoman garrison defending Győr in 1598. As noted
in other contemporary sources, the Habsburgs took great pains to keep this weapon
secret as it worked only in surprise attacks (Szalontay 2004, p. 155).56 Hence, when
they used the petard to blow up the gates of the fortress and thus recapture it, the
Ottomans were shocked and awed by the new weapon’s effect (Derin – Çabuk 1980,
pp. 211–213; Yılmazer 2003, p. 234). Yet they had the chance to examine and learn
the secrets of the petard when two pieces of this bomb later fell into their hands. Not
surprisingly, they emulated and used it. For instance, the governor of Buda, Dev Sü-
leyman Pasha, himself devised shrapnel bombs similar to the petard and exploded
them successfully against the Habsburg forces who were besieging Buda in 1602
(Sağırlı 2000, p. 540).57
These are indeed important examples, showing both the vigilance of the Otto-
man commanders and the dynamics of military acculturation between the two imperial
armies during the Long War.58 In sum, the positional warfare of the combined forces
of the Habsburgs with exigent “aggregate firepower”59 had been effective against the
Ottomans since the early 1590s. It seems, however, that the Ottoman commanders
reacted fairly quickly to the new Habsburg methods of field warfare and that they
remained active observers of changes in contemporary European warfare in general.
As long as these developments created new challenges for them, they searched for
remedies, including direct emulation of Habsburg methods.

55
Also mentioned in Imber (2005, p. 16) and Ágoston (2005a, p. 38).
56
For an extended discussion of the use of the petard during the Long War, see Szalon-
tay (2004, pp. 153 – 157).
57
It should be also noted that as the Ottoman soldiers learned the secrets of this device, they
became able to prevent any further petard attack from the enemy. Szalontay (2004, p. 156, n. 51) men-
tions that “[a] Venetian report from Prague by the Ambassador Piero Duodo also correctly emphasised
that, since the painful loss of Győr in 1598, the Ottomans were able to defend themselves from any
petard attack”.
58
For other Ottoman attempts to emulate Habsburg tactics, see Imber (2005).
59
I take this term from Jeremy Black.
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MILITARY REVOLUTION DEBATE 429

So were these Janissary drills and the volley fire outside Esztergom in 1605
merely Ottoman responses to a new challenge? And if not, how did the Ottomans
come up with the idea of volley fire? Was it an innovation in its own right? And if it
were emulation, when could the Ottomans have observed and learned this relatively
new technique in Europe? As suggested above, could it be Habsburg volley fire that
they mimicked? Is it even possible that they learned about the Dutch experiments?60
In the absence of detailed studies of Ottoman infantry firing techniques during
the Long War with respect to the new tactics used by the two imperial armies, as well
as studies of alternative patterns of diffusion of military innovations during this period,
it is hard to provide definitive answers to these questions. At first sight, there seem to
be three possible scenarios: (1) that the Habsburgs did in fact use volley fire sometime
before 1605, and the Ottomans directly mimicked their tactic; (2) that the Ottomans
invented and perfected volley fire themselves; and (3) finally, that some European
“renegades” revealed this new tactic to the Ottomans.61 Each of these alternatives is
surely worth pursuing, but to do so would require more thorough research which ex-
ceeds the scope of this paper. However, in the light of available sources, the second
scenario currently appears most plausible and, in order to facilitate more research and
debate on this important question, some tentative arguments in support of it are ad-
vanced here.

V. Seeking for Beginnings

The idea of increasing infantry firepower by rotating the ranks was already familiar
to the Ottomans by the early 16th century. One crucial example in this respect is the
decisive battle of Mohács in 1526.62 As Ágoston notes, “[M]ost European and Otto-
man sources on Mohács attributed the Ottomans’ success in the battle to the Janissa-

60
In 1601, the Grand Vizier Damad İbrahim Pasha sent a victory missive (feth-nâme) to Queen
Elizabeth I in which he refers to the battle of Nieuwpoort in 1600. This letter not only shows that the
Ottoman commanders were promptly informed about developments in contemporary theatres of war,
but also points to the possibility that the Ottomans knew about the Dutch experiments with volley
fire. The relevant sections of the letter read: “The famous [English] commander [i.e. Sir Francis Vere]
set about fighting and battling face to face in the province of Flanders with the accursed Archduke
Alberte who is the brother of the perverted king”; and “The brother of the perverted king was crushed
by irresistible might and routed, and the commander was made victorious and successful”. PRO
SP.102/61 fols. 87 – 88, lines 4 – 5. I am indebted to Claire Norton for this reference and translation. It
should be also noted that the commander of the army fighting against the Spanish Habsburgs at this
battle was not Sir Francis Vere but Prince Maurice of Nassau. Vere was commanding only the rear
guard of the army. For further details and translations of this letter, see Norton (2005) and Stein (1986).
61
It is well known that some “European” soldiers, among whom there were the veterans of
the Army of Flanders, served the Ottomans in Hungary during the last years of the Long War, e.g.,
Christians from Poland and Transylvania in 1602 –1603 or “Austrians” in the Esztergom campaign of
1605. It is thus possible that some of these soldiers could have had knowledge of volley fire and
taught the Ottomans. On these “renegades”, see Finkel (1992) and Sahin-Tóth (1994).
62
For a discussion of this battle and the relevant contemporary sources, see Perjés (1989),
Alföldi (1982) and Oman (1991, pp. 649 – 665).
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
430 G. BÖREKÇİ

ries’ firepower and not to the cannons, in sharp contrast to later historians who usually
claim that it was the Ottoman artillery that decided the fate of the Hungarians” (Ágos-
ton 2005a, p. 24). All available contemporary evidence and recent scholarly work sug-
gest that the firing technique used by the Janissaries during this battle was a form of
volley fire and that it proved to be decisive.63
According to the account of Süleyman I’s chancellor, Celalzade Mustafa, some
4000 Janissaries bearing firearms formed nine consecutive ranks behind the chained
cannons and “fired their weapons rank by rank” (Kappert 1981, fols. 146b–147a).64
Celalzade Mustafa’s brother Salih, who in 1530 finished writing his version of this
battle, mentions that the total number of Janissaries in ranks bearing firearms was
10,000 and that 2000 of these soldiers were commanded by the grand vizier İbrahim
Pasha in the right wing.65 As to the actual engagements, Celalzade Salih frequently
notes the uninterrupted fire by the Janissaries deployed in rank formation (tertîb-i
sufûf üzre).66 Similarly, an Ottoman diary (rûz-nâme) of the campaign mentions that
when the Hungarian forces attacked the central array of the Ottoman army, “the Jan-
issary corps altogether fired [against the enemy] three or four times with their guns,
and stopped and dispersed the infidels” (Feridun Bey 1857/58, vol. I, p. 562).67 Fur-
thermore, Kemalpaşazade, the chief jurisconsult of the time, who composed a history
of the Hungarian campaign of 1526, testifies to the same end that the Janissaries “dis-
tributed bullets like hailstorm [and killed the enemy]” (Severcan 1996, pp. 299–300).68
A Hungarian source presents a similar picture:
Our heroes stood their ground and fought bravely against the foe.
While the king’s formation advanced in great haste as hastily as possible
in full armor, the right wing began to retreat, and many fled; I believe the
guns of the enemy must have terrified them, as it was only at this time
that they began to flee. The rapid fire and the cannonballs whistling

63
For a recent discussion of this battle, see TDVİA, s.v. “Mohaç Muharebesi”, by Emecan.
Emecan, without using the term “volley fire”, describes the Janissaries’ firing technique in this battle
as follows: “The musketeer Janissaries dispersed the Hungarian cavalry by making sequential firing
in several rotating ranks.”
64
“Ve dört bin tüfenk-endâz yeniçeri… ceng-i sultânî ‘âdetince tokuz saf tertîb olunup….”
“…ve tüfenk-endâz saf saf tüfenkler atup….” Celâlzâde also notes that these nine consecutive ranks
were the traditional battle order of the Janissaries only when the sultan was present with the army.
Hence, compared to later formations of the Janissaries in the Ottoman Wagenburg, at this battle they
formed nine ranks instead of three. Nine consecutive ranks during this battle are also mentioned in
other 16th-century Ottoman chronicles. See, for instance, Akgün (1995, p. 218).
65
Celalzade Salih, Tarih-i Feth-i Budun, TSMK, MS R. 1280, fol. 44b: “Hazret-i padişâh[un]..
önünde on bin mikdarı harbe yarâr tüfenk-endâz… yeniçeri ta‘ifesi…” “Rumili ‘askeri bile sedd-i İs-
kender gibi… önünde bir nice tob ‘arabalarıyla iki bin tüfenkçi… yeniçeri….”
66
Ibid., fols. 45a – 51a passim.
67
“Kral-ı bed-fi‘âl sâ’ir asâkir-i hizlân ile hüdâvendigâr-ı sa‘âdet-yâr ve Anatolı ‘askeri üze-
rine yürüyüb, yeniçeri tâ’ifesi külliyen üç dört def‘a tüfenkleriyle havâle olup küffâr-ı hâksârı men‘ ve
def‘ idüb….”
68
“Tüfenk-endāz serbāzlar tob otınıñ dûd-ı buludını ki, sehāb-ı pür-‘azābidi, semāya aġdırub,
tüfek-i tārek-şikeni hevā-yı veġādan tolı gibi yaġdırub, düşmen-i bed-kirdārıñ vücûd-ı bî-şudı gülşeni-
niñ berk ü bārın soldurdılar.”
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MILITARY REVOLUTION DEBATE 431

above the heads of those of us next to the king aroused great fear in
everyone.69
It is clear that the Janissaries’ continuous and rapid hail of bullets was one of
major factors behind the outcome of the battle. Thus, Géza Perjés, one of the authori-
ties on the Battle of Mohács, is of the opinion that “The janissaries took the brunt of
the fight… decimating the ranks of the Hungarians with murderous volleys…. The
bulk of the Ottoman central army, including the janissaries, … had fired volleys at the
Hungarian soldiers…. This shooting, unlike the firing of the artillery, had not only
sound and fury, but impact as well: it caused havoc in the ranks of the Hungarians”
(Perjés 1989).70 Admittedly, the Janissary ranks successfully dispersed and/or de-
stroyed the Hungarian cavalry and infantry forces by rotating in ranks and hence sus-
taining a remarkable barrage of fire.
Yet none of these accounts gives any further detail regarding how exactly the
Janissary ranks managed to produce such constant and devastating firepower. This si-
lence stems from the fact that “all the eyewitnesses reporting on the battle could ob-
serve only parts of it, since it was fought along a front 5–6 km wide. Moreover, the
accounts dealing with specific episodes of the battle were written, with few exceptions,
not by professional soldiers (hence the whole battle was for them nothing but chaos
and confusion), or were deliberately distorted for one reason or another” (Perjés
1989).71 Compensating for this shortcoming in contemporary narratives, an Ottoman
miniature of this battle provides some intriguing details. This miniature is from 1558
and depicts the Janissaries’ firing technique in the Wagenburg: the first rank are re-
loading their guns in a kneeling position (suggesting that they have already fired),
while the second rank, standing on foot, continue to fire behind the chained cannons
against the approaching Hungarian forces.72 Although painted some thirty years after
the battle, the miniature is very realistic in its depiction of the Janissaries’ rotating
ranks, though the painter is able to show only two of them whereas, as mentioned
above, there were nine consecutive ranks in this battle. In addition, this depiction of
the Janissaries, though much more stylised in its artistic representation, strikingly re-
sembles that of Nakşi and Abdülkadir. Altogether these testimonies show that the Jan-
issaries were fighting in three or nine consecutive ranks, and that they were firing
and then reloading in a well-trained manner. (See Image 2 on p. 432.)
Moreover, the Janissaries continued to practice their well-established tactics
and sustain their effective firepower throughout the 16th century. For instance, the ac-
count of a Spanish captive who had fallen into the hands of the Ottomans in the early
1550snmentionsfthat the Safavids always avoided confronting the Ottoman army in a

69
Brodarics’s account, quoted in Perjés 1989: http://www.hungarian-history.hu/lib/warso/
warso26.htm.
70
Ibid.
71
Ibid.
72
This double-page miniature is found in Arifi Çelebi, Süleymânnâme, TSMK, MS H. 1517,
fols. 219b – 220a and published in Atıl (1986, pp. 136 – 137). Ágoston (2005a, p. 24, n. 35) also refers
to the same miniature, which is reproduced in Kiss (1987, p. after 199). In order to zoom in on the
Janissaries’ fire, only fol. 219b is reproduced here.
Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006
432 G. BÖREKÇİ

Image 2. Arifi Çelebi, Süleymânnâme, TSMK, MS. H. 1517, fol. 219b. From Atıl (1986, p. 137)

Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006

 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MILITARY REVOLUTION DEBATE 433

field battle because the firepower of the Ottoman infantry easily defeated the Safavid
cavalry charges. According to this account, the Janissaries’ bullets used to fly like “a
swarm of bees” so that if the very first bullets did not hit the enemy soldiers, the next
ones definitely would (Ortola 2000, p. 735).
In sum, it is obvious that the Ottomans were aware of the effectiveness of ro-
tating infantry fire as early as the 1520s, and that some Janissary infantrymen could
fire in a kneeling position or reload their guns, apparently to allow the soldiers at the
back to continue to deliver sequential fire. However, these points do not necessarily
support the conclusion that the Ottomans actually used volley fire at Mohács. They
may conceivably have used an effective “rapid fire” rather than volley fire per se. In
any case, the above examples raise more questions than they answer concerning the
genesis of Ottoman volley fire. Considering the fact that Janissaries bearing firearms
had fought in the same formation within the Ottoman Wagenburg since at least the
mid-15th century (e.g., at the field battles of Otlukbeli in 1473 and Çaldıran in 1514),
it still remains an open question as to whether the Janissaries ever rotated to fire in se-
quential ranks in any of these earlier engagements. Hence, the evidence on the ori-
gins of Ottoman volley fire is currently inconclusive, and more detailed accounts per-
taining to the actual rotation of the Janissary ranks before 1600 have yet to be found.

VI. Conclusion

While it has conventionally been assumed that the Ottomans did not employ volley
fire among their infantry tactics and were therefore at a disadvantage when they
fought the Habsburgs, thanks to Abdülkadir Efendi and Nakşi we now know that the
Ottoman army was using volley fire in action during the Long War – and well before
other armies were able to do so. However, due to the lack of detailed studies on in-
fantry tactics during the Long War, as well as on alternative avenues for the diffusion
of military innovations among early modern armies, it is very difficult to be more pre-
cise on the patterns by which the Ottoman volley developed. Thus, a number of ques-
tions remain unanswered and should be addressed by further studies utilising a larger
pool of archival, narrative and visual sources, ideally from as many relevant national
archives and libraries as possible.
Nonetheless, whatever the genesis of Ottoman volley fire, it is obvious that the
Ottomans were quick to adapt (or, better, to acclimatise themselves to) the changing
dynamics and new realities of warfare on their frontiers. Just as they had successfully
embraced new weaponry (e.g., artillery) and tactics (e.g., the Hungarian Wagenburg)
in earlier centuries, so they continued to look for alternative ways to keep their su-
premacy and military prowess in later periods. Therefore, the practice of volley fire
by the Ottoman army should be understood first and foremost within the context of
the Long War and the military landscape of Hungary, both of which created a crucial
testing and learning ground for the Habsburg and Ottoman armies alike. It is clear that
as the new-style war in Hungary dictated increasing numbers of musket-bearing sol-
diers, more newly-recruited soldiers were deployed to the theatres of war after receiv-

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434 G. BÖREKÇİ

ing training in new tactics and weaponry. However, it should be emphasised that,
since the 15th century, the Ottomans had a well-organised, well-trained, well-equipped
and disciplined standing army which could and did use new infantry tactics without
making major changes in their battle formations. Accordingly, the said “revolution-
ary” impact of volley fire over the development of standing armies and new battle for-
mations does not directly apply to the Ottoman case and the Janissaries use of volley
fire rather reveals an alternative mode of adoption: Assuming any earlier Janissaries’
firing technique was not volley fire, and given the new challenges of the Long War,
Lala Mehmed Pasha (or any other commander) might have devised and drilled a new
tactic or improved the former tactic of shooting in ranks in order to counterbalance
the numerically superior Habsburgs and their intensive infantry firepower. Since the
Janissaries had always fought in consecutive ranks in the Wagenburg, the adoption of
volley fire into their battle formation should have been relatively very smooth and
creating only an “evolutionary” rather than a “revolutionary” change in Ottoman mili-
tary organisation.
The above examples also indicate that more than one route existed for the dif-
fusion of military techniques in the early modern world and that a “hot war” consti-
tuted a critical opportunity for emulating, inventing and perfecting new tactics. Accord-
ingly, early modern Hungary constituted a stage where technological and tactical in-
novations, developments and interactions, personal observations and relations could
and did take place. This article therefore supports those scholars who have pointed to
the innovative character of the Hungarian theatre of war, yet with one crucial addi-
tion: any analysis of the “Military Revolution in Hungary” should consider Ottoman
tactics, reactions, innovations and emulations, not just the achievements of the Habs-
burgs.
Finally, scholars participating in the Military Revolution Debate have begun
to emphasise the significance of the lack of “non-European” sources in establishing a
proper global context and, accordingly, a more balanced understanding of devel-
opments in different military systems (Barker et al. 1997; Black 2004b). Adding non-
European sources to the debate is more easily said than done until more sources on
non-western warfare become available in print and preferably in translation so as to
enable scholars to overcome the various language barriers. The brief excerpt from
Abdülkadir’s chronicle and the reproduction of Nakşi’s illustration featured in this
article help to demonstrate that Ottoman sources can provide crucial information for
a fuller assessment not only of early modern Ottoman warfare – still a sidelined topic
within New Military History – but also of the so-called Military Revolution Abroad.
Above all, these examples also remind historians who stress the contrast between the
“European Military Revolution” and developments in non-European warfare never to
mistake “absence of evidence” for “evidence of absence”.

Acta Orient. Hung. 59, 2006

 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MILITARY REVOLUTION DEBATE 435

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