A janissary was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms; adopted during the reign of Murad II. The corps was established either under Sultans Orhan or Murad I, and dismantled by Mahmud II in 1826.
A bashi-bazouk was an irregular soldier of the Ottoman army, raised in times of war. The army chiefly enlisted Albanians and Circassians as bashi-bazouks, but recruits came from all ethnic groups of the Ottoman Empire, including slaves from Europe or Africa. Bashi-bazouks had a reputation for being undisciplined and brutal, notorious for looting and preying on civilians as a result of a lack of regulation and of the expectation that they would support themselves off the land.
The administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire were administrative divisions of the state organisation of the Ottoman Empire. Outside this system were various types of vassal and tributary states.
The Eyalet of Anatolia was one of the two core provinces in the early years of the Ottoman Empire. It was established in 1393. Its capital was first Ankara in central Anatolia, but then moved to Kütahya in western Anatolia. Its reported area in the 19th century was 65,804 square miles (170,430 km2).
The military of the Ottoman Empire was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire.
Eyalets, also known as beylerbeyliks or pashaliks, were the primary administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire.
The Second Battle of Kosovo was a land battle between a Hungarian-led Crusader army and the Ottoman Empire at Kosovo field that took place from 17–20 October 1448. It was the culmination of a Hungarian offensive to avenge the defeat at Varna four years earlier. In the three-day battle the Ottoman army under the command of Sultan Murad II defeated the Crusader army of regent John Hunyadi.
Köprülü Mehmed Pasha was Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire and founding patriarch of the Köprülü political dynasty, a family of viziers, warriors, and statesmen who dominated the administration of the Ottoman Empire during the last half of the 17th century, an era known as the Köprülü era. He helped rebuild the power of the empire by rooting out corruption and reorganizing the Ottoman army. As he introduced these changes, Köprülü also expanded the borders of the empire, defeating the Cossacks, the Hungarians, and most impressively, the Venetians. Köprülü's effectiveness was matched by his reputation.
Akinji or akindji were irregular light cavalry, scout divisions (deli) and advance troops of the Ottoman Empire's military. When the pre-existing Turkish ghazis were incorporated into the Ottoman Empire's military they became known as "akıncı." Unpaid, they lived and operated as raiders on the frontiers of the Ottoman Empire, subsisting on plunder. In German sources these troops were called Renner und Brenner. There is a distinction made between "akıncı" and "deli" cavalry.
Beylerbey was a high rank in the western Islamic world in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, from the Anatolian Seljuks and the Ilkhanids to Safavid Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Initially designating a commander-in-chief, it eventually came to be held by senior provincial governors. In Ottoman usage, where the rank survived the longest, it designated the governors-general of some of the largest and most important provinces, although in later centuries it became devalued into a mere honorific title. The title is originally Turkic and its equivalents in Arabic were amir al-umara, and in Persian, mir-i miran.
Hadım Suleiman Pasha, also known as Suleiman Pasha al-Khadim, was an Ottoman statesman and general, who served as the governor (beylerbey) of the Rumelia Eyalet and the Anatolia Eyalet. He was later a governor of the Sanjak of Amasya (1482–90) and the Sanjak of Smederevo (1490–?). He served during the reign of Mehmed II. His epithet hadım means "eunuch" in Arabic, also used in old Osmanli language. He also led a huge
Koca Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha was an Ottoman admiral, reformer and statesman, who was Kapudan Pasha of the Ottoman Navy. He reached the position of Grand Vizier rather late in his career, between 2 July 1839 and 8 June 1840 during the reign of Abdulmejid I. However, during the 1820s, he occupied key administrative roles in the fight against regional warlords, the reformation of the army, and the reformation of Turkish attire. He was one of the main statesmen who predicted a war with the Russian Empire, which would eventually be the case with the outbreak of the Crimean War.
Hurshid Ahmed Pasha was an Ottoman-Georgian general, and Grand Vizier during the early 19th century.
Lala Mustafa Pasha, also known by the additional epithet Kara, was an Ottoman Bosnian general and Grand Vizier from the Sanjak of Bosnia.
The Sanjak of Herzegovina was an Ottoman administrative unit established in 1470. The seat was in Foča until 1572 when it was moved to Taşlıca (Pljevlja). The sanjak was initially part of the Eyalet of Rumelia but was administrated into the Eyalet of Bosnia following its establishment in 1580.
Sanjak of Bosnia was one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire established in 1463 when the lands conquered from the Bosnian Kingdom were transformed into a sanjak and Isa-Beg Isaković was appointed its first sanjakbey. In the period between 1463 and 1580 it was part of the Rumelia Eyalet. After the Bosnia Eyalet was established in 1580 the Bosnian Sanjak became its central province. Between 1864 and the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia in 1878 it was part of the Bosnia Vilayet that succeeded the Eyalet of Bosnia following administrative reforms in 1864 known as the "Vilayet Law". Although Bosnia Vilayet was officially still part of the Ottoman Empire until 1908 the Bosnian Sanjak de facto ceased to exist in 1878; when it was occupied by Austria-Hungary.
The Eyalet of Rumeli, or Eyalet ofRumelia, known as the Beylerbeylik of Rumeli until 1591, was a first-level province of the Ottoman Empire encompassing most of the Balkans ("Rumelia"). For most of its history, it was the largest and most important province of the Empire, containing key cities such as Edirne, Yanina (Ioannina), Sofia, Filibe (Plovdiv), Manastır/Monastir (Bitola), Üsküp (Skopje), and the major seaport of Selânik/Salonica (Thessaloniki). It was also among the oldest Ottoman eyalets, lasting more than 500 years with several territorial restructurings over the long course of its existence.
The Sanjak of Albania was a second-level administrative unit of the Ottoman Empire between 1415 and 1444. Its mandate included territories of modern central and southern Albania between Krujë to the Kalamas River in northwestern Greece.
Deli Husrev Pasha was an Ottoman and Bosnian statesman from the Sanjak of Bosnia. His epithet "deli" means "crazy" in Ottoman Turkish, which was ascribed to him because of his quick temper.
An Uç Bey or Uch Bey was the title given to semi-autonomous warrior chieftains during the Sultanate of Rum and the Rise of the Ottoman Empire. As leaders of akinji warrior bands, they played a leading role during the conquests of the Byzantine Empire and the other Christian states of the Balkans.
Ottoman Empire 
