Levend

Last updated April 17, 2019

Levend or levendi (Arabic lawend) was a name for irregular soldiers. The term originated with the Ottoman Navy, but eventually spread to encompass most irregular troops.

Arabic is usually classified as a Central Semitic language, and linguists widely agree that the language first emerged in the 1st to 4th centuries CE.. It is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. It is named after the Arabs, a term initially used to describe peoples living in the area bounded by Mesopotamia in the east and the Anti-Lebanon mountains in the west, in northwestern Arabia, and in the Sinai Peninsula. Arabic is classified as a macrolanguage comprising 30 modern varieties, including its standard form, Modern Standard Arabic, which is derived from Classical Arabic.

The Ottoman Navy, also known as the Ottoman Fleet, was established in the early 14th century after the Ottoman Empire first expanded to reach the sea in 1323 by capturing Karamürsel, the site of the first Ottoman naval shipyard and the nucleus of the future Navy. During its long existence, it was involved in many conflicts and signed a number of maritime treaties. At its height, the Navy extended to the Indian Ocean, sending an expedition to Indonesia in 1565.

The origin of the term is probably from Italian levantino or levanti, and was used by the Venetians for the various local troops they raised in the coasts of the Balkans, i.e. Christian Greeks, Albanians, and Dalmatians, to serve in the Venetian navy or as auxiliary troops. The Ottomans, who relied on the same manpower pool (eventually along with Muslim Anatolian Turks), borrowed the name.^[1] Gradually, as the Ottoman navy became more professional, the undisciplined levends started to be replaced by regular troops. The name however survived as a generic name for naval troops, particularly the riflemen (tüfekdji). Thus the Imperial Arsenal in Constantinople contained two barracks for levends.^[1]

Italian is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. Italian, together with Sardinian, is by most measures the closest language to Vulgar Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is an official language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino and Vatican City. It has an official minority status in western Istria. It formerly had official status in Albania, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro (Kotor) and Greece, and is generally understood in Corsica and Savoie. It also used to be an official language in the former Italian East Africa and Italian North Africa, where it plays a significant role in various sectors. Italian is also spoken by large expatriate communities in the Americas and Australia. In spite of not existing any Italian community in their respective national territories and of not being spoken at any level, Italian is included de jure, but not de facto, between the recognized minority languages of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Romania. Many speakers of Italian are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages.

The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic, traditionally known as La Serenissima was a sovereign state and maritime republic in northeastern Italy, which existed for over a millennium between the 7th century and the 18th century from 697 AD until 1797 AD. It was based in the lagoon communities of the historically prosperous city of Venice, and was a leading European economic and trading power during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

The Balkans, also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographic area in southeastern Europe with various definitions and meanings, including geopolitical and historical. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the whole of Bulgaria from the Serbian-Bulgarian border to the Black Sea coast. The Balkan Peninsula is bordered by the Adriatic Sea on the northwest, the Ionian Sea on the southwest, the Aegean Sea in the south and southeast, and the Black Sea on the east and northeast. The northern border of the peninsula is variously defined. The highest point of the Balkans is Mount Musala, 2,925 metres (9,596 ft), in the Rila mountain range.

Thus in the 17th and 18th centuries, levend came to refer to irregular mercenaries, mostly infantry but also cavalry, used alongside other terms. Like the mercenaries and condottieri of Western Europe, the levend formed true "free companies"; their employer was either the Ottoman central government, which was increasingly pressed for fresh troops to match the growing strength of its various neighbours, and to offset the decline of its once-formidable kapikulu soldiery, or various provincial magnates and governors. A notable aspect of Ottoman mercenaries is that they served away from their home region; thus Albanians served in the Middle East, and Anatolian Turks in Europe or North Africa.^[2]

Condottieri were Italian military leaders involved in classical formation battles, first as mercenary captains commanding free companies and later as generals of multi-national armies. In medieval Italian, condottiero meant "contractor" but the term later acquired the broader meaning of "military leader", also in reference to Italian Catholics serving as commanders for the Roman Catholic side during the Counter-Reformation.

The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula and are identified by a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia as well as in Croatia, Greece and Italy. They also constitute a diaspora with several communities established in the Americas, Europe and Oceania.

The Middle East is a transcontinental region centered on Western Asia, Turkey, and Egypt. Saudi Arabia is geographically the largest Middle Eastern nation while Bahrain is the smallest. The corresponding adjective is Middle Eastern and the derived noun is Middle Easterner. The term has come into wider usage as a replacement of the term Near East beginning in the early 20th century.

When without employment, however, the levends often turned to brigandage, and the term quickly came to denote any "vagabond and rascal". At the turn of the 18th century, the Ottoman authorities tried to counter the activities of roving levend bands by offering them employment in the new military corps of deli and gönüllü . Later, repeated expeditions were waged against them in Anatolia in 1737, 1747, 1752, 1759, and 1763.^[1] Even when they formed part of a governor's retinue, however, they had a reputation for criminal behaviour and licentiousness, as records from the Ottoman provinces and the tales of Western travellers show.^[3]

Deliler, meaning "daring, brave, fearless, audacious, intrepid, valiant, plural: deliler) was an Ottoman irregular light cavalry unit.

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References

1 2 3 Kramers 1986, pp. 23–24.
↑ Uyar & Erickson 2009, pp. 91–95.
↑ Semerdjian 2008, pp. 105–108.

Sources

Kramers, J. H. (1986). "Lewend". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch. The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume V: Khe–Mahi. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 23–24. ISBN 90-04-07819-3.
Semerdjian, Elyse (2008). "Off the Straight Path": Illicit Sex, Law, and Community in Ottoman Aleppo. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0815631731.
Uyar, Mesut; Erickson, Edward J. (2009). A Military History of the Ottomans: From Osman to Atatürk. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-275-98876-0.

Bernard Lewis, FBA was a British American historian specializing in oriental studies. He was also known as a public intellectual and political commentator. Lewis was the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. Lewis' expertise was in the history of Islam and the interaction between Islam and the West. He was also noted in academic circles for his works on the history of the Ottoman Empire.

Charles Pellat was a French Arabist. He was a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, and an editor of the Encyclopaedia of Islam.

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[FOOTNOTEKramers198623–24-1] 1 2 3 Kramers 1986, pp. 23–24.

[FOOTNOTEUyarErickson200991–95-2] Uyar & Erickson 2009, pp. 91–95.

[FOOTNOTESemerdjian2008105–108-3] Semerdjian 2008, pp. 105–108.