WARFARE OF MODERN TIMES. 61 



received its earliest Jaws and form of government from Aladdin, the estab- 

 lishment of a standing army was one of the objects to which this lawgiver 

 directed his chief attention ; and this army arose, therefore, not less than 

 100 years before Charles VII., whom we have hitherto regarded as the 

 founder of standing armies. The organization at that time was like the 

 Roman, with Decurions, Centurions, and chiefs of a thousand, and besides 

 these, Jaga or Piade, footmen, the Jeni Tscheri (new troops, Janizaries) 

 were created, who were to consist entirelv of Christian children who had 

 been forcibly converted to Islamism. These formed afterwards the flower 

 of the army. The Piades were disbanded, and received land in fee, with 

 the obligation to keep the military roads in order in time of war ; they were 

 therefore pioneers, and their name, with their office, has passed into Euro- 

 pean warfare. The irregular troops were called Asab (light), and the 

 cavalry of the same Akindschi (runners on horses), and formed predatory, 

 skirmishing, and foraging parties. The Jeni Tscheri (Janizaries ; pi. 23, 

 jig. 1, shows an officer ; and jig. 2, a private) formed four bodies, after the 

 manner of the banner guard which the Caliph Omar established for the 

 protection of the holy standard (jig. 3), and which consisted of 2400 men. 

 Soliman the Great increased this by 4000 men, namely, 1000 Spahis 

 (horsemen), 1000 Silidhare, mounted militia {jig. 6), 1000 Ulufedschi, mer- 

 cenaries, Chatis {jig. 5), and 1000 Ghureba, strangers {jig. 3), Arabs from 

 the region about Acre, who were disposed, in four bodies, to the right and 

 left of the holy standard, and formed the body-guard and escort of the 

 Sultan. Besides the paid Spahis, there was formed afterwards an unpaid 

 (feoffee) cavalry, the Mosseliman (freed). The troops were under com- 

 manders called Baschi, Pasha {jig. 4), who were Szubaschi when they 

 commanded 100, Bimbaschi when they commanded 1000, and when more 

 than 1000, were Sandshack-begs (Princes of the Standard). In the cam- 

 paign of Szigeth, Soliman had 48,316 men, whose pay amounted to 52,818 

 ducats. The marines were similarly organized. An admiral had the chief 

 command, under whom were one or more vice-admirals {jig. 7) ; then 

 followed the ship captains {jig. 8), the marine officers (jig. 9), and the 

 marines {fig. 10). The troops were carefully trained in war and in peace; 

 gymnastic exercises particularly were very much practised, all of them 

 designed to give the soldiers that remarkable agility and dexterity for which 

 in earlier times these troops were ever distinguished. Among these warlike 

 games, which even in camp were still practised, we may mention, for the 

 footmen, the Tomak, game of Itsch Oglau {pi. 24, jig. 4), in which the 

 object was to strike an antagonist with a ball fastened to the end of a long 

 cord, while he sought to avoid the blow, to seize the hostile ball, and strike 

 his opponent with his own For the cavalry there was the Djerid, game of 

 the Djindis {pi. 24, fig. 5), in which each sought to hit his antagonist, while 

 at full speed, with a wooden staffer blunt javelin, and each strove to avoid 

 the blow for himself by dexterous movements of the body or of the horse, 

 and with his own djerid to hit his opponent. The djerid, when once 

 thrown, had to be picked up again from the ground without alighting from 

 the horse, and at full speed. 



537 



