In the Ottoman Context

In the later Ottoman period the term designated a corps of regular soldiers, both foot and horse, commanded by a captain (yūz-bāshī). Earlier it was also used to refer to units of the Ottoman military kapı-kulus (qāpī qūlū, the household servants of the sultan, here specifically the personal guard or military force directly answerable to the sultan), who were originally composed of captives taken in war but later recruited under the devshirme system of levies taken mainly from the C…