Sipahi in the context of "Heavy cavalry"

Ziamet was a form of land tenure in the Ottoman Empire, consisting in grant of lands or revenues by the Ottoman Sultan to an individual in compensation for their services, especially military services. The ziamet system was introduced by Osman I, who granted land tenure to his troops. Later, this system was expanded by Murad I for his Sipahi.

Timariot (or tımar holder; tımarlı in Turkish) was the name given to a Sipahi cavalryman in the Ottoman army. In return for service, each timariot received a parcel of revenue called a timar, a fief, which were usually recently conquered plots of agricultural land in the countryside. Far less commonly, the sultan would grant a civil servant or member of the imperial family a timar. Also non-military timar holders were obliged to supply the imperial army with soldiers and provisions.

The timariots provided the backbone of the Ottoman cavalry force and the army as a whole. They were obligated to fight as cavalrymen in the Ottoman military when called upon. The timariots had to assemble with the army when at war, and had to take care of the land entrusted to him in times of peace. When at war, the timariot had to bring his own equipment and in addition a number of armed retainers (cebelu). The timariot was granted feudatory with the obligation to go mounted to war and to supply soldiers and sailors in numbers proportionate to the revenue of the appanage. The timariot owed personal service for his sword in time of war and for a certain sum of money owed a number of soldiers as a substitute (cebelu). The (cebelu) was bound to live on the timariot’s estate and look after the land. When summoned for campaign the timariot and his cebelu had to present themselves with a cuirass. When a timariot failed to obey the summon he was deprived of his timar for one or two years. Timariots were expected to bring cebelus or men-at-arms as well as their own equipment on campaign, the number of cebelu being determined by revenue. The number of the timariots in the sultan's army fluctuated between 50,000 and 90,000 men. Timariots were themselves organized by sanjak-beys who ruled over groups of timars. The sanjak-beys were subordinate to the beylerbeyi and then the sultan himself. This semi-feudal arrangement allowed for the Ottomans to organize large armies at once, thus making an imperial army from what was still essentially a medieval economy. This system of using agricultural revenue to pay troops was influenced by a similar Byzantine practice and other Near Eastern states prior to the Ottoman Empire.

Çavuş, also anglicized Chaush and Chiaus (from Turkish: çavuş / چاوش; Arabic: شاويش, romanized: shawish; from Old Turkic Çabuş or Çawuş, "person who gives order or yells") was an Ottoman title used for two separate soldier professions, both acting as messengers although differing in levels. It was a rank below agha and kethüda (from Persian, kad-khuda, "magistrate"), in units such as the Janissaries and Sipahi, and was also a term for members of the specialized unit of çavuşān (چاوشان, also çavuşiyye, çavuş(an)-i divan(i)) consisting of combined cavalry and infantry serving the Imperial Council (as in Ottoman Egypt). The leaders of the council's çavuş were titled çavuşbaşı / چاوش باشی (or başçavuş / باش چاوش). The çavuşbaşı was an assistant (or deputy) to the Grand Vizier, dealing with security matters, accompanying ambassadors visiting the Grand Vizier, and also carried out the first examination of petitions submitted to the council, and led council meetings when the Grand Vizier was not present. The title has its origin in Uyghur use, where it was the title of ambassadors, and then entered Seljuq use for Byzantine imperial messengers, and Persian and Arabic use for various court attendants.

The word gave rise to surnames, such as Çavuş (Turkish), Çavuşoğlu (Turkish), Čaušević (Serbo-Croatian), Čaušić (Serbo-Croatian), Baščaušević (Serbo-Croatian), Çaushaj (Albanian), Ceaușu (Romanian), Ceaușescu (Romanian), Τσαούσης (Tsaousis in Greek), and others. It is also the stem of place names, such as Çavuş (in Turkey), Çavuşlu (in Turkey), Çavuşlar (in Turkey), Çavuşköy (in Turkey), Çavuşbayırı (in Turkey), Čauševac (in Bosnia), Čauševići (one village in Bosnia and one village in Serbia), Čaušev Do (in Bosnia), Čauševina (in Bosnia), Čaušlije (in Bosnia), Čaušlija (in Macedonia), Chavusy (in Belarus), Çaushi (in Albania), and others. In the past in former Yugoslavia, the word čauš was also sometimes applied to the wedding-planner.

The Six Divisions of Cavalry (Turkish: Altı Bölük Halkı), also known as the Kapıkulu Süvarileri ("Household Slave Cavalry"), was a corps of elite cavalry soldiers in the army of the Ottoman Empire (Sipahi). There were not really six, but four, divisions in the corps. Two of the six were sub-divisions. The divisions were:

• Sipāhiyān (Ottoman Turkish: سپاهيان, roughly, "Armymen")
• Silah-dārān (From Persian, translated roughly as "weaponbearers")
• Ulufeciyān (Turkish: Ulufeciler; translated as "stipendiaries"), organised into two sub-divisions:
  • Ulufecis of the Left (tr) (Ottoman Turkish: علوفه جي يسار)
  • Ulufecis of the Right (tr) (Ottoman Turkish: علوفه جي يمين)
• Garibān (Turkish: Garipler; translated roughly as "strangers"), organised into two sub-divisions:
  • Garips of the Left
  • Garips of the Right (tr)

The elite cavalry was the mounted counterpart to the Janissaries and played an important part in the Ottoman army. The Six Divisions were probably founded during the reign of Sultan Mehmed II (r. 1451–1481), but the Sipahis had existed since 1326.