Yaya (military)

Yaya
Active	1325—1582 [1]
Country	Ottoman Empire
Branch	Army
Type	Infantry
Engagements	Battle of Marica [2] Battle of Kosovo [3] Battle of Nicopolis [2] Capture of Kalamata (1659) [4]

Yaya or Piyade ^[5] , lasted approximately from 1325 to 1582, ^[a] were institutions ^[1] of infantry of military units of the Ottoman Empire, and some other medieval Anatolian beyliks. Many of them were Christian origin. ^[6]

Name

Yaya means "pedestrian" in Ottoman Turkish. It is of Turkic origin word. ^[7] An alternative name, piyade, is derived from a Persian word with the same meaning. ^[8] This latter name was also used in the series of dynasties that ruled the neighboring Persian state. ^[9]

Background

The early Ottoman military forces consisted of irregular nomadic cavalry and volunteer light infantry. ^[9] These units were efficient against local Byzantine feudal lords but were unable to capture fortified castles by direct assault. ^[9] This was the reason for Alaeddin Pasha including the establishment of this unit in his proposal for reorganization the military of the Ottoman Empire made in the mid 1320s. ^{[10] [11]} His brother, sultan Orhan, accepted his proposal and established yaya. ^[12]

Yaya were precursors of the Janissary corps of the Ottoman military, which would become one of the most influential and increasingly political forces in the Ottoman state until the 19th century. ^[13] Janissary Corps would be made of converted Christians from Balkans up to 1500(most of them Albanians, Bosnians and Eastern Romans). However, by 1550s when the Devshirme was abolished " de facto", the Janissary Corps would be dominated by Muslim born Ottomans, majority of them being Muslim Albanians.

Organization

The commander of the Yaya unit was referred to as Yayabashi. ^[14] Members of this units were both Christian and Muslim citizens of the Ottoman Empire who were sometimes granted land estates in the Balkans in exchange for military service. ^[15] They were most irregular infantry Ottoman units because they usually served as armed laborers whose military skills were limited. ^[2] Still, before Janissary units were established and expanded in 1380s and afterwards, yaya peasant infantry had important military function. ^[16] By giving regular salary to yaya Ottomans acquired a standing army. ^[17]

Engagements

Among notable engagements of yaya military units are battles of Marica (1371) and Nicopolis (1396) where Ottoman infantry units, including yaya, were used to bait enemy heavy cavalry into an ambush between two flanks of more maneuverable light Ottoman cavalry. ^[2]

Notes

1. The studies, according to singular source document, stated that the studies attempted to examined the corps in two successive stages. The first stage were done examined by undergoing through studies of its military importance of the yaya corps. The 2nd one seems informingly unknown. ^[1]

References

1. "The Yaya and Müsellem corps in the Ottoman Empire (Early centuries)". 2001. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
2. Kelly DeVries; Robert Douglas Smith (1 January 2007). Medieval Weapons: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. ABC-CLIO. p. 206. ISBN   978-1-85109-526-1.
3. Mesut Uyar; Edward J. Erickson (2009). A Military History of the Ottomans: From Osman to Atatürk. ABC-CLIO. p. 26. ISBN   978-0-275-98876-0. The Yaya corps with light armor and problematic combat value was no match against heavily armored Balkan infantry in
4. Finlay, George (1877). A History of Greece from its Conquest by the Romans to the Present Time, B.C. 146 to A.D. 1864, Vol. V: Greece under Othoman and Venetian Domination A.D. 1453–1821. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 212.
5. Abdul-Rahim Abu-Husayn (2004). The View from Istanbul: Ottoman Lebanon and the Druze Emirate. I.B.Tauris. p. 204. ISBN   978-1-86064-856-4.
6. Armies of the Ottoman Turks 1300–1774. Osprey Publishing. 1983. p. 35. ISBN   978-0-85045-511-3. Ottoman-Balkan Yaya, early 15th century: Many Ottoman infantrymen were of Christian origin and this seems to have been reflected in their equipment.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
7. "Yaya".
8. M. Th. Houtsma (1993). E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936. BRILL. p. 572. ISBN   978-90-04-09790-2.
9. Mesut Uyar; Edward J. Erickson (2009). A Military History of the Ottomans: From Osman to Atatürk. ABC-CLIO. p. 16. ISBN   978-0-275-98876-0.
10. John McGilchrist (1856). A history of the Turks. p.  21. Ala-ed-deen first embodied a corps called Yaya, or Piade. They were all infantry, and were raised and recruited from the body of the Ottoman population.
11. Aziz Suryal Atiya; Eustache Deschamps; Philippe de Mézières (1934). The crusade of Nicopolis. Methuen & co., ltd. p. 73. ISBN   9780404154103.
12. David Nicolle (1995). The Janissaries. Osprey Publishing. p. 5. ISBN   978-1-85532-413-8.
13. Konstantin Mihailović (1975). Memoirs of a Janissary. Published under the auspices of the Joint Committee on Eastern Europe, American Council of Learned Societies, by the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Michigan. p. 204.
14. Simēon (Dpir Lehatsʻi); George A. Bournoutian (2007). The travel accounts of Simēon of Poland. Mazda Publishers. p. 344. ISBN   978-1-56859-161-2. yayabashi (T. yayaba§i): commanders of foot soldiers.
15. Cathal J. Nolan (1 January 2008). Wars of the Age of Louis Xiv, 1650–1715. ABC-CLIO. p. 539. ISBN   978-0-313-35920-0.
16. Jeroen Duindam; Tülay Artan; Metin Kunt (11 August 2011). Royal Courts in Dynastic States and Empires: A Global Perspective. BRILL. p. 306. ISBN   978-90-04-20622-9.
17. H. J. Kissling; Bertold Spuler; N. Barbour; J. S. Trimingham; H. Braun; H. Hartel (1 August 1997). The Last Great Muslim Empires. BRILL. p. 6. ISBN   978-90-04-02104-4. Since the infantrymen (yaya or piyade) received regular pay, the Ottoman state may be said to have acquired a standing army at this early date.