Bosnia Nizamiye Regiments during the Period of Sultan Abdülaziz (1861-1876)

Abstract

Ottoman State made radical reforms in the 19th century when important developments occurred in the military field as well. Depending upon these developments, some changes were resulted in the structure of the Ottoman Army. It is seen that particularly the system of recruitment was re-organized during the second half of the mentioned century. However, it is a fact that several difficulties were experienced in this field mainly in Bosnia. This article deals with, in the light of archival sources and newspapers of the period, the decisive solution seekings in this issue by the Sultan Abdülaziz after his succession to the throne; the establishment period of the Nizamiye Regiments which were consisted of local people in Bosnia; and especially Ahmed Cevdet Pasha's works in this region. In this study, it was benefitted primarily from the fonds of the Bosnian Inspectorship among the Provincial Documents in the Ottoman Archives concerning the establishment stages of the Nizamiye Regiments which were founded by the order of Sultan Abdülaziz. Besides, the documents belonging to the Decrees, Important Affairs and Cevdet fonds were widely used. Periodicals of the time such as Ceride-i Askeriye and Takvim-i Vakayi which contained detailed information on the Nizamiye Regiments during the era of Sultan Abdülaziz were studied as well.