Sipahi Sipahi ( Persian : " سپاهی Sepâhi " ; , ) , also transliterated as Spahi , Sepahi , and Spakh ; traditionally rendered as Spahia or Spahiu in Albanian and Romania n , in Greek and Spahija ( Cyrillic спахија , спахия ) in Bosnian , Croatian , Serbian , Macedonian and Bulgarian , was the name of several Ottoman cavalry corps . It was the title given to several cavalry units serving in the French and Italian colonial armies during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries . Name . The name is Persian and derives from the Persian ( " sepāh " , meaning " army " , but originally meant " cavalry " derived from " " , " horse " , with the compound name standing for a " horseman " ) as does the English term " sepoy " . Description . Sipahi refers to all freeborn Muslim mounted troops other than akıncı s and tribal horsemen in Ottoman army . The word was used almost synonymously with cavalry . The sipahis formed two distinct types of cavalry : feudal - like , provincial ' ( timariots ) which consisted most of the Ottoman army , and salaried , regular ' ( sipahi of the Porte ) , which consisted cavalry part of the Ottoman household troops . According to some historians , the explanation of the " sipahi " system , at the height of the Ottoman Empire , Sülleyman ’ s reign , the flexibility of the federal dictatorship , where the Sultan was supreme , the prefecture system was genius and merit based . The provincial governors , or beys , were rotated every few years , preventing land inheritance . ( The landed aristocracy still exists in England and other countries to this day . ) The provinces , or sanjaks were not all equal since Anatolia , Balkins , and Greece were mostly Turkish and other areas of the empire were more flexible , adhering , somewhat , to local traditions . The intertwinement of land , military , politics , economics and religion was a way of life . The timar system , where the sultan owned all land but individual plots of land , came with residential rights . The Ottoman people had rights to the land but the " sipahi " , a unique kind of military aristocracy and cavalry portion of the military , also lived on the land with the farmers ( 90 % of the population ) and collected tax revenues , usually in - kind , to subsidize the costs of training and equipping the small army , dedicated to serving the sultan . The " sipahi " did not inherit anything , preventing power centres from growing and threatening the supreme power structure . The locals on the timar used the land and all it produced . Timarli Sipahis . Timarli Sipahi ( timariot ) was the holder of a fief of land ( ) granted directly by the Ottoman sultan or with his official permission by beylerbey s . He was entitled to all of the income from that land , in return for military service . The peasants on the land were subsequently attached thereto . Timarli Sipahis ' status resembled that of the knight s of medieval Europe . Unlike medieval knights , they weren ' t legally owners of their fiefs . The right to govern and collect taxes in a timar fief was merely given to a Timarli Sipahi by Ottoman State . And in return , tımarli sipahis were responsible for security of the people in their timar , enlisting and training " jebelu " soldiers for the army . A ' was the smallest unit of land held by a Sipahi , providing a yearly revenue of no more than 20 , 000 , which was between two and four times what a teacher earned . A was a larger unit of land , yielding up to 100 , 000 akçe , and was owned by Sipahis of officer rank . A was the largest unit of land , giving revenues of more than 100 , 000 akçe , and was only held by the highest - ranking members of the military . A " tîmâr " Sipahi was obliged to provide the army with up to five retainers ( ' ) , a " ziamet " Sipahi with up to twenty , and a " has " Sipahi with far more than twenty . ' means armed or armored , and those retainers ( ' ) expected to be mounted and fully equipped as Sipahi themselves . They were usually sons , brothers or nephews of the Sipahi and their position was probably more similar to squires than men at arms . Sipahis originally were recruited among landowners of both Turkish or non - Turkish / Christian origin . There are references to the obligations of the Christian landowners of Epirus to serve in the Ottoman Sipahi cavalry in surviving excerpts of the so - called Couvaras " ( Gr : ) " of the Philanthropinon Monastery at Ioannina , a collection of manuscripts lost in the fire of 1820 that destroyed that city . The recruitment of Christian Sipahi ended around 1635 by a firman . In contrast to Jannisaries , Timarli Sipahis from that time onwards were Turks ( Muslims ) . A rivalry between Jannisaries , who controlled the central bureaucracy of the empire and had a lot of political influence , and sipahis , who controlled the provincial bureaucracy and had the power of the army , prevented them from cooperating against the House of Osman . In wartime , Timarli sipahis and their jebelus ( retainers ) were gathered under their " ( regiment ) bey s . Subsequently alay beys were gathered with their troops under sanjak ( province ) beys , and sanjak - bey s gathered under beylerbey s . If a battle was fought to be in Europe , Rumeli ( Balkan ) Sipahis took the honorary right flank of Ottoman Army under Rumeli beylerbey , while Anatolian beylerbey with his Sipahis took the left flank . If battle was in Asia , positions were switched . This way , classical period Ottoman army ' s both flanks wholly consisted of timariot cavalry , while janissary infantry and artillery divisions consisted army ' s center . Timarli Sipahis of Anatolia and Timarli Sipahis of Rumelia ( the Ottoman Balkan provinces ) had employed different equipments and tactics . Timarli Sipahis of Anatolia equipped and fought as classic horse archer style . They could shoot arrows back and forth while galloping . Yet they weren ' t nomadic cavalry and their status was similar to medium cavalry class . Balkan Timarli Sipahis donned chainmail , rode barded horses and carried lances . Though they also carried javelins as missile weapons to fend off chasing enemy cavalry , and fought as medium cavalry . Timarli Sipahis of classical Ottoman period usually comprised the majority of the army and did the majority of the fighting on the battlefield . While infantry troops of the army ' s center maintained a static battle line , the cavalry flanks constituted its mobile hitting arm . During the battle , Timarli Sipahi tactics were used , opening the conflict with skirmishes and localized contacts with enemy cavalry . Regiments of Timarli Sipahis made charges against weaker or isolated units and whenever confronted with heavy cavalry , retreated back to main body of troops . During one regiment ' s retreat , other regiments of sipahis may have charged the chasing enemy ' s flanks . This way , they were trying to draw enemy cavalry away from infantry support , distort their cohesion , isolate and overwhelm them with numerical superiority . Anatolian Sipahis had the ability to harass and provoke opposing troops with arrow shots . More heavily equipped Balkan Sipahis were carried javelins for protection against closing enemy horsemen during their tactical retreats . This way , all cavalry flanks of Ottoman army fought a fluid , mounted warfare around center of the army which remained as a stable pivot . Classical Ottoman period standard equipment of Rumeli Sipahis was round shield , lance , sword , javelins and plated chainmail . Their horses were barded . Standard equipment of Anatolian Sipahis at same era was round shield , composite Turkish bow , arrows , kilij ( Turkish sword ) and leather or felt armor . Beside of those , Sipahis of both provinces equipped with ' and ' maces , and ' , ' and " axes . Anatolian Sipahis sometimes also carried lances . Kapikulu Sipahis . Kapikulu Sipahis ( Sipahis of the Porte ) were household cavalry troops of the Ottoman Palace . They were the cavalry equivalent of Janissary household infantry force . There were six divisions of Kapikulu Sipahis : The Sipahis , Silahtars , Right Ulufecis , Left Ulufecis , Right Garips and Left Garips . All of them were paid quarterly salaries . The Sipahis and Silahtars were élite units within the six divisions . ' ( which means weaponmasters ) were chosen from the best warriors in the Ottoman Empire . Any Ottoman soldier who committed a significant deed on the battlefield may have been promoted to the Silahtar division . Although usually members of other mounted units , like Timarli Sipahis or other less prestigious four divisions of Kapikulu Sipahis , were promoted this way . Infantry soldiers had to enlist as ' ( literally means giver of his head ) and survive suicide missions to join Silahtar division . If a janissary ever became a silahtar , other members of the division with cavalry backgrounds despised him and former comrade janissaries considered him a traitor , but because the position and wealth of a silahtar was so attractive , janissaries and other soldiers still enlisted for suicide missions . The commander of the Silahtar division was the Silahtar Agha . He was the official weaponsmaster of the palace and a close personal aide of the sultan , helping him to don his armor . He was also a liaison officer who supervised the communication between the sultan and the Grand Vizier . The Sipahi division was the most prestigious of the six divisions . Traditionally , sons of Ottoman élite ( sons of Vezirs , Pashas and Beys ) served in this unit . The Sipahis and Silahtars were granted timar fiefs near Istanbul , alongside their salaries . Ulufeci means " salaried ones " , and the members of two Ulufeci divisions weren ' t granted timar fiefs . Garip means " poor ones " ( because their equipment was lighter compared to the other four divisions ) and were paid salaries . The six divisions of Sipahis represented the Kapikulu cavalry in the same way that the Janissaries represented the Kapikulu infantry . Kapikulu means servant of the Porte . Servants of the Porte ( Kapikullari ) were legally servants of the Ottoman throne . They weren ' t literally slaves , though their legal status was different than other Ottoman people . The Sultan had the power to directly command execution of his servants without any court verdict . Theoretically , the Sultan didn ' t have this kind of power over other people , even simple peasants . If a freeman was promoted to one of Kapikulu Sipahi divisions , he considered automatically switched to " " ( servant ) status . Equipment of Silahtar , Sipahi and Ulufeci divisions was plated mail , chainmail , round shield , sword , composite bow , arrows , lance , bozdogan mace and axe . Their equipment was similar to Rumeli ( Balkan ) provincial Timarli Sipahis , though they wore brilliant fabrics , prominent hats and bore ornamented polearms . The two Garip divisions were more lightly equipped . In the classical period Ottoman battle formation , Kapikulu Sipahis were positioned back of the army as rearguards . They acted as reserve cavalry and bodyguards of Ottoman sultan and vezir s . Their job included to join and reinforce Ottoman army ' s flanks which otherwise consisted entirely provincial timariot sipahis . The Sipahis of the Porte ( Kapikulu Sipahis ) were originally founded during the reign of Murad I . Although the Sipahis of the Porte were originally recruited , like the Janissaries , using the devşirme system , by the time of Sultan Mehmed II , their ranks were only chosen from among the ethnic Turks who owned land within imperial borders . The Sipahi eventually became the largest of the six divisions of the Ottoman cavalry . The duties of the Sipahis included riding with the sultan on parades and as a mounted bodyguard . Earlier times Silahtar division was accompanied sultan on parades , though The Sipahi division took their place because sons of Ottoman " aristocracy " exclusively joined this regiment . Rivalry with the Janissary Corps . Since Kapikulu Sipahis were a cavalry regiment it was well known within the Ottoman military circles that they considered themselves a superior stock of soldiers than Janissaries , who were sons of Christian peasants from the Balkans ( Rumelia ) , and were basically slaves bounded by various laws of the devşirme . Whereas the Sipahis ( both Tımarlı and Kapıkulu ) were almost exclusively chosen amongst ethnic Turkic landowners , they made great strides of efforts to gain respect within the Ottoman Empire and their political reputation depended on the mistakes of the Janissary . That minor quarrels erupted between the two units is made evident with a Turkmen adage , still used today within Turkey , " " " " , which , referring to the unruly Janissaries , translates into " " Horsemen don ' t mutiny " " . Towards the middle of the 16th century , the Janissaries had started to gain more importance in the army , though the Sipahis remained an important factor in the empire ' s bureaucracy , economy and politics , and a crucial aspect of disciplined leadership within the army . As late as the 17th century , the Sipahis were , together with their rivals the Janissaries , the " de facto " rulers in the early years of sultan Murad IV ' s reign . In 1826 , after an evident Janissary revolt the Sipahis played an important part in the disbandment of the Janissary corps . The Sultan received critical assistance from the loyalist Sipahi cavalry in order to forcefully dismiss the infuriated Janissaries . Two years later , however , they shared a similar fate when Sultan Mahmud II revoked their privileges and dismissed them in favor of a more modern military structure . Unlike the Janissaries before them they retired honorably , peacefully , and without bloodshed into new Ottoman cavalry divisions who followed modern military tradition doctrines . Older sipahis were allowed to retire and keep their tımar lands until they died , and younger sipahis joined the Asakir - i Mansure - i Muhammediye army as cavalry .