Zvezda 8054 Turkish Cavalry 16-17th Century

In the course of the 16th and 17th centuries, the Turkish Ottoman army took part in numerous armed conflicts, such as the war with the Commonwealth (1672-1676) or the war with Austria, and later the Holy League (1683-1699). Of course, this army has changed over the centuries, and its cavalry has changed with the changes in the army. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Turkish cavalry was divided into several formations. One of the most valuable was the sipahi formation, some of which were part of the standing army (tur. Kapu kulu), and some of them were recruited on the basis of - a great simplification - of mass mobilization (tur. Toprakh). Sipahi are often regarded as the Janissary equivalent of Turkish cavalry. They were undoubtedly very well trained (especially the kapu kulu) and often had high morale. As armor they used chain mail and lamellar armor, round shields (often richly decorated), sabers, maces, composite bows and "lances". With time, pistols also began to be used. Another very good formation was the silahdars unit, which was a kind of "horse guard" of the Sultan. Besides, in the Turkish cavalry one could meet, among others, the following units: be li (light irregular cavalry) and gonullu (voluntary heavy cavalry).