Djebedji (from Turkish ''Cebeci'', ) was a military subunit of

Ottoman Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

artillery corps Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

Foundation

Foundation date of the unit () () is not known, but it appears that the Djebedji unit was founded in the 15th century. It was one of the privileged units of the Ottoman army.Nicolae Iorga:''Geschiste des Osmanischen Reiches'' II (translated by Nilüfer Epçeli) Yeditepe yayınevi, İstanbul, p.296, 376 They were considered as a part of the

Kapıkulu ''Kapıkulu'' (, ''Kapıkulu Ocağı'', "Slaves of the Sublime Porte") was the collective name for the household division of the Ottoman Sultans. They included the Janissary infantry corps as well as the Six Divisions of Cavalry. Unlike provincia ...

corps and based on

devshirme Devshirme (, usually translated as "child levy" or "blood tax", , .) was the Ottoman practice of forcibly recruiting soldiers and bureaucrats from among the children of their Balkan Christian subjects and raising them in the religion of Islam ...

system. Their commander was called ''Cebecibaşı''. The unit was small and selected, numbering no more than 625 men in 1574.Stanford Shaw :History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Tu rkey Vol I Cambridge p.139

Duties

The Djebedji unit was in charge of maintenance and keeping the weaponry. They were also responsible in transporting weapons to where they were needed. During peace times, they kept the weaponry in arsenals named ''cephane''. The Djebedji unit participated in all campaigns commanded by the

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

or the

grand vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...

. In other campaigns only a part of the unit participated.History page
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Abolishment

In most Istanbul revolts during the stagnation and decline periods of the Ottoman Empire, the Djebedji units acted together with the Janissary, and in 1826, when the Janissary was abolished by Sultan

Mahmud II Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...

following the

Auspicious Incident The Auspicious Incident or Auspicious EventGoodwin, pp. 296–299. ( in Constantinople; , "Event of Malignity" in the Balkans) was the forced disbandment of the centuries-old Janissary Corps by Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II on 15 June 1826.Kinross, ...

, Djebedji units were also abolished.

References

{{Reflist Military units and formations disestablished in 1826 Warfare of the early modern period Military units and formations of the Ottoman Empire Turkish words and phrases 15th-century establishments in the Ottoman Empire Kapıkulu troops