A timariot (or timar holder; timarlu in Turkish) was an irregular cavalryman that served the Ottoman sultan and in return was granted a fief called a timar. The timariots had to assemble with the army when at war, and had to take care of the land entrusted to him in times of peace. When at war, the timariot had to bring his own equipment and in addition a number of armed retainers (cebelu). Food was supplied during campaign. Irregular soldiers in Beauharnois, Quebec, 19th century Irregular military refers to any non-standard military. ... Cavalry is also a common misspelling of the Biblical hill Calvary. ... It has been suggested that Lifestyle of the Ottoman Empire be merged into this article or section. ... A sultan (Arabic: سلطان) is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. ... Under the system of feudalism, a fiefdom, fief, feud or fee, consisted of heritable lands or revenue-producing property granted by a liege lord in return for a vassal knights service (usually fealty, military service, and security). ...

In this way, the Ottomans could quickly muster a large army. When the war was over the warriors returned to their lands, and in that way the sultan did not have to support them when he didn't need them. In addition, the sultan's lands were taken care of. Local peasants were subjects to the timariot. Law and order was kept, taxes were collected and bandits were brought to justice.

The system of timars was organized during the reign of Orhan I (1326-1359). The Sultan granted officers fiefs with local peasants subjected to their rule in an arrangement similar to European feudal fiefs. They were an important part of the Ottoman army, especially for being so easily supportable, and kept that status until the early 17th century. The titles and lands of the timar holders remained in use much longer than that. Orhan I Orhan, (Arabic: أورخان غازي, also Orhan Gazi or Orkhan) (1284–1359) was the second bey (chief) of the newborn Ottoman Empire (at the time known as the Osmanli tribe) from 1326 to 1359. ... Events Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Osman I (1299-1326) to Orhan I (1326-1359) Aradia de Toscano, is initiated into a Dianic cult of Italian Witchcraft (Stregheria), and discovers through a vision that she is the human incarnation of the goddess Aradia. ... Events Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Orhan I (1326-1359) to Murad I (1359-1389) Berlin joins the Hanseatic League. ... Feudalism comes from the Late Latin word feudum, itself borrowed from a Germanic root *fehu, a commonly used term in the Middle Ages which means fief, or land held under certain obligations by feodati. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ...

When on campaign, the timariots were organized into regiments called alays that were commanded by alay beys (or beg). Larger units were the sanjak (or sançak) regiments or livas (standard, banner), commanded by sanjak beys. At the top were the province governors, the beylerbeys. A province in the 16th century could muster some thousand timariots, according to the size of the province. In 1525 the total number of timar holders were 37 818, according to the tax rolls. The number of armed retainers was estimated to 50 000. Of course, these great numbers were spread out all over the empire, and could not possibly serve in one campaign at a time. Bey is the Turkish word for chieftain, traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. ... Sanjak and Sandjak (other variants: sinjaq, sanjaq) are the most common English transliterations of the Turkish word Sancak, which literally means banner. In Arabic the sanjaks were also called liwas. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... Events January 21 - The Swiss Anabaptist Movement was born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptized each other in the home of Manzs mother on Neustadt-Gasse, Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union. ...

See also

• Timarli sipahi