Diffusion of military knowledge in the 17th century Ottoman Empire: The case of Esirî Hasan Ağa’s “advices to commanders and soldiers”

Abstract

This article offers a unique chance to delve into a period of significant transformation in the Ottoman Empire through the eyes of an important and experienced military official of the Ottoman Army. A late-seventeenth author, Esirî Hasan Ağa, and his unpublished work, Mi'yârü'd-Düvel ve Misbârü'l- Milel Standards of States and Probe of Nations offer a good case study in terms of the transmission of military knowledge along the Habsburg-Ottoman frontiers of the seventeenth-century, focusing on the bloody conflicts between the two Empires that took place between 1593-1606 (the Long War), 1658-60, and 1683-99. As a junior military officer in the armorer corps, Esirî Hasan Ağa participated in several campaigns and spent two years in Austrian as a prisoner of war from 1687 to 1689 (Esirî means ‘the Captive’ in Ottoman Turkish). During his years in captivity he was used as forced labour and he had a chance to observe the Austrian military and figure out means and measures to overcome the present problems that plagued his own empire and its military. As a lieutenant to the chief armorer, he pays particular attention to military issues and has a separate section of the art of warfare, named ‚Advises to the Commanders and soldiers‛. Unlike the treaties of the late seventeenth-century, Esirî Hasan Ağa’s section resembles a military manual rather than a piece of mirror for princes. The article has two major aims: First, to study Esirî Hasan Ağa’s general views on warfare (strategy, operational and battle tactics, logistics, ideology etc.) and compare and contrast them with other samples of the same literary genre from different cultures (Byzantium, Western Europe, Medieval Islamic polities) to show the transmission of military knowledge between ‚military cultures‛ both horizontally (geographically) and vertically (chronologically). Another main concern would be to highlight Esirî Hasan Ağa’s views on the decline of the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the eighteenth century, views and explanations that reflect those of an average military official of the Ottoman Empire of the period.