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Hamidiye (cavalry)
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Hamidiye (cavalry)
The Hamidiye regiments (literally meaning "belonging to Hamid", full official name Hamidiye Hafif Süvari Alayları, Hamidiye Light Cavalry Regiments) were well-armed, irregular, mainly Sunni Kurdish but also Turkish, Circassian, Turkmen, Yörük, and Arab cavalry formations that operated in the southeastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire. Established in 1891 by Sultan Abdul Hamid II and named after him, the regiments were intended to be modeled after the Cossacks and were supposedly tasked with patrolling the Russo–Ottoman frontier. However, the Hamidiye regiments were frequently used by the Ottoman authorities to harass and assault Armenians living in the eastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire (Western Armenia in some sources).
A major role in the Hamidian massacres of 1894–1896 has been often ascribed to the Hamidiye regiments, particularly during the bloody suppression of the revolt of the Armenians of Sasun (1894).
After Sultan Abdul Hamid II's reign, the cavalry was not dissolved but given a new name: the Tribal Light Cavalry Regiments.
Although initially envisioned as a modernizing step in tribal-military integration, the Hamidiye regiments often became a source of tension. Their semi-autonomous status led to frequent clashes with rival tribes and conflicts with local populations. While the regiments were disbanded during the early years of the Young Turk period (post-1908), their legacy influenced later Kurdish tribal politics and paramilitary models.
The Hamidiye operated mostly in the provinces of Erzurum, Van, Bitlis, Diyarbakır, and Mosul.
Sultan Abdul Hamid II's reign has the reputation of being "the most despotic and centralized era in modern Ottoman History". Sultan Abdul Hamid II is also considered the last sultan to have full control over the territories of the Ottoman Empire. His reign struggled with the culmination of 75 years of change throughout the empire and an opposing reaction to that change. Abdul Hamid II was particularly concerned with the centralization of the empire. His efforts to centralize the Sublime Porte were not unheard of among other sultans. The Ottoman Empire's local provinces had more control over their areas than the central government. Sultan Abdul Hamid II's foreign relations came from a "policy of non-commitment." The sultan understood the fragility of the Ottoman military, and the Empire's weaknesses of its domestic control. Pan-Islamism became Sultan Abdülhamid's solution to the empire's loss of identity and power. His efforts to promote Pan-Islamism were for the most part unsuccessful because of the large non-Muslim population, and the European influence onto the empire. Abdul Hamid II's policies essentially isolated the Ottoman Empire, which further aided in its decline. Several of the elite who sought a new constitution and reform for the empire were forced to flee to Europe. After the Treaty of Berlin (1878), the Ottoman Empire began to contract and it lost certain territories. New groups of radical uprisings began to threaten the power of the Ottoman Empire.
The Hamidiye regiments were established in 1891 following a decree published in November 1890. There are several reasons advanced as to why the Hamidiye light cavalry was created. The establishment of the Hamidiye was in one part a response to the Russian threat, although some scholars believe that the central reason was to suppress Armenian socialist/nationalist revolutionaries. After the Russo-Ottoman war in 1877-1878 the six eastern provinces were left under the control of several non-state actors with spheres of interest of Kurdish tribes and Armenian revolutionaries. The Armenian revolutionaries posed a threat because they were seen as disruptive, and they could work with the Russians against the Ottoman Empire. The first Armenian revolutionary party was the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party. The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party was made up of Armenian university students whose aim was "to create an independent Armenian state." The Hamidiye Light Cavalry was created to "combat local and cross-border challenges to Ottoman authority." The biggest patron of the Hamidiye was Abdul Hamid II. They were named after him and under the direct order of him and his brother-in-law Zeki Pasha, the Circassian commander of the 4th Army based in Erzincan. Zeki Pasha was given the task of collecting sufficient taxes in order to recruit Kurds into the Hamidiye. If one was a member of the Hamidiye and a crime was committed against him, the government would take immediate action to punish the criminals. The plunder, murder, and theft that the Hamidiye carried out went unpunished, but if a non-Hamidiye group did similar actions they were punished. Other groups who associated themselves with the Hamidiye received benefits as well, they rose in power with the money and land they acquired illegally. Abdul Hamid II. wanted to create a relationship of commitment and loyalty with the Kurds that were chosen to make up the Hamidiye cavalry. The Hamidiye was divided into groups according to age: the ibtidaiye (ages 17–20), the nizamiye (age 20–32), and the redif (age 32–40). An Ottoman diplomat, close advisor to the sultan, and contributor to the creation of the Hamidiye Light Cavalry was Şakir Pasa, was put in charge of the Hamidiye following the massacres against Armenians in 1895–1896. The Kurdish Hamidiye commanders were given exceptional rights to negotiate with the Sultan. Notable commanders were Ibrahim Pasha, Hacı Musa Beg or Kör Hüseyin Pasha. Over time the Russians forged relationships with Armenian revolutionaries, and with Kurdish tribal leaders.
The Ottoman Empire understood the threat this created and is in large part why they chose the Kurds to make-up the Hamidiye.[citation needed] The Kurdish population could potentially unite with the Russians, but with the formation of the Hamidiye they would protect the frontiers of the Ottoman Empire.[citation needed] Some argue that the creation of the Hamidiye "further antagonized the Armenian population" and it worsened the very conflict they were created to prevent.
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Hamidiye (cavalry)
The Hamidiye regiments (literally meaning "belonging to Hamid", full official name Hamidiye Hafif Süvari Alayları, Hamidiye Light Cavalry Regiments) were well-armed, irregular, mainly Sunni Kurdish but also Turkish, Circassian, Turkmen, Yörük, and Arab cavalry formations that operated in the southeastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire. Established in 1891 by Sultan Abdul Hamid II and named after him, the regiments were intended to be modeled after the Cossacks and were supposedly tasked with patrolling the Russo–Ottoman frontier. However, the Hamidiye regiments were frequently used by the Ottoman authorities to harass and assault Armenians living in the eastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire (Western Armenia in some sources).
A major role in the Hamidian massacres of 1894–1896 has been often ascribed to the Hamidiye regiments, particularly during the bloody suppression of the revolt of the Armenians of Sasun (1894).
After Sultan Abdul Hamid II's reign, the cavalry was not dissolved but given a new name: the Tribal Light Cavalry Regiments.
Although initially envisioned as a modernizing step in tribal-military integration, the Hamidiye regiments often became a source of tension. Their semi-autonomous status led to frequent clashes with rival tribes and conflicts with local populations. While the regiments were disbanded during the early years of the Young Turk period (post-1908), their legacy influenced later Kurdish tribal politics and paramilitary models.
The Hamidiye operated mostly in the provinces of Erzurum, Van, Bitlis, Diyarbakır, and Mosul.
Sultan Abdul Hamid II's reign has the reputation of being "the most despotic and centralized era in modern Ottoman History". Sultan Abdul Hamid II is also considered the last sultan to have full control over the territories of the Ottoman Empire. His reign struggled with the culmination of 75 years of change throughout the empire and an opposing reaction to that change. Abdul Hamid II was particularly concerned with the centralization of the empire. His efforts to centralize the Sublime Porte were not unheard of among other sultans. The Ottoman Empire's local provinces had more control over their areas than the central government. Sultan Abdul Hamid II's foreign relations came from a "policy of non-commitment." The sultan understood the fragility of the Ottoman military, and the Empire's weaknesses of its domestic control. Pan-Islamism became Sultan Abdülhamid's solution to the empire's loss of identity and power. His efforts to promote Pan-Islamism were for the most part unsuccessful because of the large non-Muslim population, and the European influence onto the empire. Abdul Hamid II's policies essentially isolated the Ottoman Empire, which further aided in its decline. Several of the elite who sought a new constitution and reform for the empire were forced to flee to Europe. After the Treaty of Berlin (1878), the Ottoman Empire began to contract and it lost certain territories. New groups of radical uprisings began to threaten the power of the Ottoman Empire.
The Hamidiye regiments were established in 1891 following a decree published in November 1890. There are several reasons advanced as to why the Hamidiye light cavalry was created. The establishment of the Hamidiye was in one part a response to the Russian threat, although some scholars believe that the central reason was to suppress Armenian socialist/nationalist revolutionaries. After the Russo-Ottoman war in 1877-1878 the six eastern provinces were left under the control of several non-state actors with spheres of interest of Kurdish tribes and Armenian revolutionaries. The Armenian revolutionaries posed a threat because they were seen as disruptive, and they could work with the Russians against the Ottoman Empire. The first Armenian revolutionary party was the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party. The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party was made up of Armenian university students whose aim was "to create an independent Armenian state." The Hamidiye Light Cavalry was created to "combat local and cross-border challenges to Ottoman authority." The biggest patron of the Hamidiye was Abdul Hamid II. They were named after him and under the direct order of him and his brother-in-law Zeki Pasha, the Circassian commander of the 4th Army based in Erzincan. Zeki Pasha was given the task of collecting sufficient taxes in order to recruit Kurds into the Hamidiye. If one was a member of the Hamidiye and a crime was committed against him, the government would take immediate action to punish the criminals. The plunder, murder, and theft that the Hamidiye carried out went unpunished, but if a non-Hamidiye group did similar actions they were punished. Other groups who associated themselves with the Hamidiye received benefits as well, they rose in power with the money and land they acquired illegally. Abdul Hamid II. wanted to create a relationship of commitment and loyalty with the Kurds that were chosen to make up the Hamidiye cavalry. The Hamidiye was divided into groups according to age: the ibtidaiye (ages 17–20), the nizamiye (age 20–32), and the redif (age 32–40). An Ottoman diplomat, close advisor to the sultan, and contributor to the creation of the Hamidiye Light Cavalry was Şakir Pasa, was put in charge of the Hamidiye following the massacres against Armenians in 1895–1896. The Kurdish Hamidiye commanders were given exceptional rights to negotiate with the Sultan. Notable commanders were Ibrahim Pasha, Hacı Musa Beg or Kör Hüseyin Pasha. Over time the Russians forged relationships with Armenian revolutionaries, and with Kurdish tribal leaders.
The Ottoman Empire understood the threat this created and is in large part why they chose the Kurds to make-up the Hamidiye.[citation needed] The Kurdish population could potentially unite with the Russians, but with the formation of the Hamidiye they would protect the frontiers of the Ottoman Empire.[citation needed] Some argue that the creation of the Hamidiye "further antagonized the Armenian population" and it worsened the very conflict they were created to prevent.