# What name was given to the lowest Ottoman army foot soldiers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 27, 2018, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-was-given-to-the-lowest-ottoman-army-foot-soldiers/813212 "2018-04-27T12:02:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2018, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-was-given-to-the-lowest-ottoman-army-foot-soldiers/813212/1 "2018-04-27T12:02:03Z")
Hi I’m looking for the name for the lowly Ottoman foot soldiers who would usually do a lot of the grunt work and tire out the enemy before the crack troops (the Janissaries) would wade into the battle. I look forward to your feedback ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2018, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-was-given-to-the-lowest-ottoman-army-foot-soldiers/813212/2 "2018-04-27T13:37:24Z")
> [@davidmich](#): > > Hi > > I’m looking for the name for the lowly Ottoman foot soldiers who would usually do a lot of the grunt work and tire out the enemy before the crack troops (the Janissaries) would wade into the battle. > > I look forward to your feedback Depends on when. A group that exactly meets your description was the Yaya: > **[Army of the classical Ottoman Empire | Yaya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Army_(15th-19th_centuries)#Yaya)** > > The history of Yaya goes to the early Ottoman military forces consisted of irregular nomadic cavalry and volunteer light infantry. These units were efficient against local Byzantine feudal lords but were unable to capture fortified castles by direct assault. Established by Sultan Orhan during Alaeddin Pasha's reorganization the military in the mid 1320s. > Yaya and Musellem over time lost their original martial qualities. > [@](#): > > Yaya[edit] > > The history Yaya goes to the early Ottoman military forces consisted of irregular nomadic cavalry and volunteer light infantry. These units were efficient against local Byzantine feudal lords but were unable to capture fortified castles by direct assault. Established by Sultan Orhan during Alaeddin Pasha’s reorganization the military in the mid 1320s. > > Yaya, and Musellem over time they lost their original martial qualities and were employed only at such tasks as transportation or founding cannonballs. The organisation was totally abolished in 1582. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2018, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-was-given-to-the-lowest-ottoman-army-foot-soldiers/813212/3 "2018-04-27T20:01:36Z")
During the Empire, I think the grunts would mostly be provincial draftees or mercenaries, like Serbs or Syrians or Albanians. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2018, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-was-given-to-the-lowest-ottoman-army-foot-soldiers/813212/4 "2018-04-27T22:19:00Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > During the Empire, I think the grunts would mostly be provincial draftees or mercenaries, like Serbs or Syrians or Albanians. Yes, in the post-classical period, pre-reform period( roughly 1600 to 1826 ) with the erosion of the old “feudal”( timariot )array, the army basically sat on three pillars: a greatly expanded regular army( kapikulu, which included the janissaries ), semi-professional internal( to the Ottoman state )mercenary bands mostly hired by regional warlords and large masses of provincial militia. Grunt irregulars, mostly but not solely infantry( whether mercenary or militia )were at various times and probably inconsistently referred to as _levend(i)_, _sekban_ or _bashi-bazouk(i)_. During the classical period, a somewhat better class of light infantry were the _Azaps_ - volunteer Muslim troops, mostly foot archers, who served for pay rather than being part of the feudal host. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2018, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-was-given-to-the-lowest-ottoman-army-foot-soldiers/813212/5 "2018-05-15T04:43:45Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Yes, in the post-classical period, pre-reform period( roughly 1600 to 1826 ) with the erosion of the old “feudal”( timariot )array, the army basically sat on three pillars: a greatly expanded regular army( kapikulu, which included the janissaries ), semi-professional internal( to the Ottoman state )mercenary bands mostly hired by regional warlords and large masses of provincial militia. > > Grunt irregulars, mostly but not solely infantry( whether mercenary or militia )were at various times and probably inconsistently referred to as _levend(i)_, _sekban_ or _bashi-bazouk(i)_. > > During the classical period, a somewhat better class of light infantry were the _Azaps_ - volunteer Muslim troops, mostly foot archers, who served for pay rather than being part of the feudal host. Thans Tamerlane. it was the ‘azaps’ I had read about in the context of the 1453 Ottoman assault on Constantinople. Thank you all.