Akıncılar

The paper examines the akıncıs’ actions and hence the motivation for their raids as essential constituents within the process of Ottoman conquest of the Balkans in the late Middle Ages. Focusing on the raiders and their plundering activities, it asserts that the akıncıs played a crucial key role in the early Ottoman slave economy, as slave hunting was arguably the main economic driving force behind the Ottoman conquest. It hence argues that an analysis of the akıncıs allows for new insights into the nature of the early Ottoman Empire, but also advances the idea that their actions fall within a particular phase of the conquest period. To that end, the authors re-periodize the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans into the akıncı phase, which spanned eight to thirteen decades, depending on the region, and was characterized by continuous slave hunting and destruction of economic infrastructure, and the phase of administrative integration into the Ottoman Empire, which latter process was pursued by other actors, namely imperial elites from the center, and is usually characterized by at least partial repopulation of demographically weakened areas.

Sanki atlarıyla doğmuşlardı. Kuşlar menzile kanatlarıyla, onlar muratlarına atlarıyla varırlardı. Nimeti, dörtnala gittikleri topraklarda, hayrı atlarının alnında ararlardı. Ata binmeyi daha doğmadan binlerce yıl önce öğrenmişler, Pasifik’ten Atlantik’e binlerce yıl önce koşmuşlardı. Yumuşak ağızlı, küçük kulaklı, çakmak bakışlı, uzun, sığ yeleli, geniş göğüslü ve sağrıları kuvvetli Türkmen atlarıyla yoldaş, karındaş olmuşlardı. Onlar cihanı atlarıyla kuşatırken, cihan onları atlarıyla bilmiş, atları onlara cihanı gezdirmişti. Cihan, atların, sultanlarının nal sesleriyle yankılanırken, Sultanları onlara uçları vermiş, göç edilen her sınır, yeni bir menzili müjdelemişti. Menzile doğru dörtnala giderlerken, kirli sakallı dağları, dağların yanaklarına tutunan köyleri ve kadim dillerde ezgiler mırıldanan zamanı selamlamışlardı. Fedai, dalkılıç, serdengeçti ve deliler… Bazen birbirlerine karışacak kadar yakınlaşarak, bazen birbirlerini unutacak kadar uzaklaşarak ama hep sonsuz bir coşkuyla akın akın akarlardı..

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

Studiul de față reprezintă o încercare de sistematizare a cercetărilor pe marginea instituției militare a aḳıncı-ilor și de reperare a posibilelor căi de urmat. Instituția aḳıncı-ilor a fost o construcție complexă, ce se folosea de resursele militare ale mai multor structuri militare balcanice aparținând deopotrivă noilor veniți, dar și populațiilor locale, între acestea din urmă locul de seamă ocupându-l vlahii sud-dunăreni. Un loc special în acest studiu îl ocupă procesele ce au condus la disoluția aḳıncı-ilor la sfârșitul secolului al XVI-lea, când Mihai Viteazul, prin lovitura dată acestora la Giurgiu, a făcut practic vizibile problemele care frământau această instituție militară. Dezastrul aḳıncı-ilor din 1595 a accelerat procesul de dezagregare a structurilor aḳıncı-ilor, ceea ce nu a făcut decât să vină în întâmpinarea grijilor sultanilor otomani, griji generate de greutatea controlării violenței practicate de aceste grupuri militare de la periferia europeană a imperiului.

Cuvinte cheie: aḳıncı, instituție militară, ġāzā/ġāzī, voynūḳ, eflāḳ (vlahi).

This research examines the employment, organization, equipment,
and missions of Turkish special operation forces (SOF) under four
main periods in Turkish history: first, the Seljuk period and border
security forces called “margraves;” second, the Akıncılar, an extension
of the margraves, who appeared during the Ottoman period; third,
local irregular Arab and Bedouin troops serving in the Italo-Turkish
War (1911–1912); and fourth, the Kuva-yi Milliye who participated in
the Turkish War of Independence, engaging in guerilla warfare
against the Allied and Italian Forces. I conclude by describing the
similarities among these groups and the relevance of their history to
today’s SOF.
To cite this article: Cihan Aydiner & Hasan Bilgin (2020) The Strategic Utility of Turkish Special Operations Forces from the Seljuks to the Republic of Turkey, Special Operations Journal, 6:2, 161-172, DOI: 10.1080/23296151.2020.1820815