Hamidiye (cavalry)
Hamidiye | |
---|---|
Ottoman Army | |
Type | Cavalry |
Size | 16,500+ in 1892.[1] |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Zeki Pasha |
Military of the Ottoman Empire |
---|
The Hamidiye
A major role in the Armenian massacres of 1894-96 had been often ascribed to the Hamidiye regiments, particularly during the bloody suppression of the revolt of the Armenians of Sasun (1894).[12][13]
After Sultan Abdul Hamid II's reign, the cavalry was not dissolved but given a new name, the Tribal Light Cavalry Regiments.[14]
Historical background
Creation of Hamidiye cavalry
The Hamidiye regiments were established in 1891 following a decree published in November 1890.
The Ottoman Empire understood the threat this created and is in large part why they chose the Kurds to make-up the Hamidiye[citation needed]. The Kurdish population could potentially unite with the Russians, but with the formation of the Hamidiye they would protect the frontiers of the Ottoman Empire [citation needed]. Some argue that the creation of the Hamidiye "further antagonized the Armenian population" and it worsened the very conflict they were created to prevent.[31]
The Hamidiye shaped the "social, economic, and political transformations" in Kurdish societies.[32] The Hamidiye received several benefits for their participation. They were able to seize much of the lands they occupied, whether lawful or not.[33] The Hamidiye were protected during their annual migrations (periods when they took care of their livestock).[33] They were supplied with the most advanced weapons from the state, and were given armed escorts.[33] The Hamidiye stole money from the villages they plundered without fear of government sanction.[34] The plunder, murder, and theft that the Hamidiye carried out went unpunished, but if a non-Hamidiye group did similar actions they were punished.[27] Other groups who associated themselves with the Hamidiye received benefits as well, they rose in power with the money and land they acquired illegally.[28]
The Hamidiye were not held responsible for their actions. They were assured freedom of action in raids that involved non-Hamidiye parties.[26] The Hamidiye obtained wealth illegally with secret help from the Ottoman government. The corruption, chaos, and destruction caused by the Hamidiye is a direct cause of their lack of order and control. No guidelines in the Hamidiye cavalry led some of its members to not be a part of the indulgences that came with the corruption. Ottoman soldiers described the some Hamidiye as "miserable, hungry, and sometimes poorly clothed."[35] The Hamidiye's performance was due to their "lack of professionalism superimposed on an emotionally charged mission requiring highly disciplined troops."[36] The cavalry was not prepared for all they were intended to do because they were not trained properly and based their raids on anti-Armenian ideologies. These factors led to the slow disintegration of the Hamidiye.
Armenian and Assyrian genocide
The Hamidiye played a significant role in the
According to some estimates, about ten to twenty thousand Armenians were slaughtered by the Hamidiye units.[41] According to Janet Klein, Hamidiye units were involved in the large scale massacres and violence against Armenians in the period 1894-96 and 1915, and they were also "implicated in mass murder, deportation and looting" during the First World War.[42]
According to Richar G. Hovannisian, an Armenian-American, the Ottoman armed forces and Hamidiye units slaughtered Assyrians in the Tur Abdin region in 1915. It is estimated that ten thousand Assyrians were killed, and according to a document from the same years, "the skulls of small children were smashed with rocks, the bodies of girls and women who resisted rape were chopped into pieces live, men were mostly beheaded, and the clergy skinned or burnt alive".[43]
Uniforms
The uniform ranking system was based on the 1861 patterns of cuff chevrons.[44] Several ceremonies took place for the Hamidiye, where they wore elegant uniforms showing their ranks and accomplishments. The new uniforms were to take the place of the colorful uniforms previously worn by the Kurds.[45] Its purpose was to create an identity for the Hamidiye who were spread across the frontiers of the empire.[45] Other than this, the Ottoman army was greatly influenced by the Circassians. They wore cherkeska and they were armed with shashka Circassian swords and Caucasian dagger.[46] They sometimes consisted of grey tunics or waist-belts, grey trousers with a narrow red stripe, and kalpak with the imperial arms.[47] The uniforms slightly varied depending on the region the Hamidiye was located.
Units
The Hamidiye Regiments were stationed in the following towns and villages:[48]
|
References
- ISBN 0-06-055870-9.
- Burning Tigris, p. 44.
- ISBN 9781477311073.
- ISBN 9781477311073.
- ISBN 3-453-11768-9.
- ^ Van Bruinessen, Martin. Agha, Shaikh and State - The Social and Political Structures of Kurdistan. London: Zed Books, 1992, p. 185. Van Bruinessen mentions the "occasional" recruiting of a Turkish tribe (the Qarapapakh)
- Shaw, Stanford J.and Ezel Kural Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977, vol. 2, p. 246.
- ISBN 3-932965-10-8. U. a. mit Verweis auf Ş. Beysanoğlu, Ziya Gökalp´in İlk Yazı Hayatı - 1894-1909 [Ziya Gökalp's First Writing Life, 1894-1909], Istanbul 1956, pp. 164-168.
- ^ Vgl. deutschsprachige Wikipedia, Artikel "Yörük", Abschnitt "Herkunft und Einwanderung nach Kleinasien", Versions-ID 31139363
- ^ ISBN 9789004225183.
- ISBN 0-312-10168-6.
- ^ Verheij, Jelle (1998). Les Frères de terre et d'eau: sur le role des Kurdes dans les massacres arméniens de 1894-1896, in: Bruinessen, M. van & Blau, Joyce, eds., Islam des Kurdes special issue of Cahiers de l'Autre Islam
- ^ Jongerden, Joost; Verheij, Jelle, eds. (2012-08-03). "Social Relations in Ottoman Diyarbekir, 1870-1915": p. 94
- ^ *Klein, Janet. The Margins of Empire: Kurdish Militias in the Ottoman Tribal Zone. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2011.
- ^ a b Stephen Duguid, The Politics of Unity: Hamidian Policy of Eastern Anatolia, 139
- ^ Dr. Bayram Kodaman, The Hamidiye Light Cavalry Regiments (Abdulhamid II and Eastern Anatolian Tribes)
- ^ a b M.Sükrü Hanioglu, A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire, 129.
- ^ M.Sükrü Hanioglu, A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire, 130.
- ^ a b c Dr. Bayram Kodaman, The Hamidiye Light Cavalry Regiments (Abdulhamid II and Eastern Anatolian Tribes)
- ^ a b Summary of Janet Klein's Power in the Periphery: The Hamidiye Light Cavalry and the Struggle over Ottoman Kurdistan, 1890-1914.
- ISBN 9789004225183.
- ^ a b "Social Democrat Hunchakian Party". hunchak.org.au.
- ^ Joost Jongerden; Joost Jongerden, Jelle Verheij (ed.), Social Relations in Ottoman Diyarbekir, 1870-1975, p. 62
- ^ Jongerden, Joost; Verheij, Jelle, eds. (2012-08-03). "Social Relations in Ottoman Diyarbekir, 1870-1915": p. 61
- ^ ISBN 978-9042925984.
- ^ a b Klein, The Margins of the Empire, 69.
- ^ a b Klein, The Margins of the Empire, 70.
- ^ a b Klein, The Margins of the Empire, 75.
- ^ Manfred Berg, Simon Wendt, Globalizing Lynching History: Vigilantism and Extralegal Punishment from an International Perspective, 127.
- ^ ISBN 9789004225183.
- ^ Janet Klein, Joost Jongerden, Jelle Verheij, Social Relations in Ottoman Diyarbekir, 1870-1975, 152
- ^ Janet Klein, Joost Jongerden, Jelle Verheij, Social Relations in Ottoman Diyarbekir, 1870-1975, 154
- ^ a b c Klein, The Margins of the Empire, 68.
- ^ Janet Klein, Joost Jongerden, Jelle Verheij, Social Relations in Ottoman Diyarbekir, 1870-1975, 160
- ^ Klein, The Margins of the Empire, 87.
- ^ Edward J. Erickson, Defeat in Detail: The Ottoman Army in the Balkans, 1912-1913, 14
- ISBN 9789004225183.
- ^ Klein, The Margins of the Empire, 5.
- ^ Klein, The Margins of the Empire, 26.
- ^ Janet Klein, Joost Jongerden, Jelle Verheij, Social Relations in Ottoman Diyarbekir, 1870-1975, 153.
- ^ Ernest Edmondson Ramsaur, Jr. The Young Turks: Prelude to the Revolution of 1908, Beirut, Khayats, 1965, p.10.
- ^ Klein, Janet. The Margins of Empire: Kurdish Militias in the Ottoman Tribal Zone. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2011.
- ^ The Armenian Genocide: Cultural and Ethical Legacies, Richard G. Hovannisian, Transaction Publishers
- ^ "WW1 Turkish Flaherty". Archived from the original on 2014-01-08. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
- ^ a b Klein, The Margins of the Empire, 37.
- ^ G, F. Çerkez Kılıcı
- ^ Klein, The Margins of the Empire, 38.
- OCLC 38764140.
Bibliography
- Klein, Janet. The Margins of Empire: Kurdish Militias in the Ottoman Tribal Zone. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2011.
- Klein Janet, Joost Jongerden, Jelle Verheij, Social Relations in Ottoman Diyarbekir, 1870-1975. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leidin, Netherlands, 2012
- Edward J. Erickson, "Defeat in Detail: The Ottoman Army in the Balkans, 1912-1913". 2003