Sipahi

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The sipahi (Ottoman Turkish: سپاهی, , Turkish pronunciation: [sipaːhi]) were the professional Turkish heavy cavalry of the Ottoman Empire. Sipahi units included the land grant–holding (tımar) provincial tımarlı sipahi, which constituted most of the Ottoman army, and the salaried regular kapıkulu sipahi, part of the Ottoman household troops alongside Janissaries. The irregular light cavalry akıncı ("raiders") were not considered to be sipahi. The sipahi held a state-owned land tenure known as tımar in exchange for tax collection, security, and active military service.

Read on Wikipedia · Image Dal Mehmed Çelebi (Asafi), Public domain