Derbendcis or Derbentler were the most important and largest

Ottoman military 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 ...

auxiliary

constabulary Constabulary may have several definitions: *A civil, non-paramilitary (police) force consisting of police officers called constables. This is the usual definition in the United Kingdom, in which all county police forces once bore the title (and s ...

units usually responsible for guarding important roads, bridges, fords or mountain passes. Usually, the population of an entire village near some important pass would be assigned with derbendci status in exchange for tax exemptions.

Etymology

The name is derived from a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

word ''Dar-band'' meaning "pass", "gateway" or "closer of the door".

History

The Ottomans had common practice to exempt some of their tax-paying subjects (

rayah A raiyah or reaya (from , a plural of "countryman, animal, sheep pasturing, subjects, nationals, flock", also spelled ''raiya'', ''raja'', ''raiah'', ''re'aya''; , ; Modern Turkish ''râiya'' or ''reaya''; related to the Arabic word ''rā'ī ...

) from paying certain taxes in exchange for some services. In case of derbendcis this also included military services such as guarding mountain passes. Usually the entire villages were assigned with this duty and exempted from paying war time taxes (), customary taxes (), service as oarsmen in the Ottoman navy and

devşirme Devshirme (, usually translated as "child levy" or "blood tax", , .) was the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman practice of Conscription, forcibly recruiting soldiers and bureaucrats from among the children of their Balkan Christian subjects and raising th ...

of their boys into

janissaries A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted du ...

. In the region of northern

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

at least 175 villages had derbendci status and enjoyed these kind of tax exemptions. Sometimes the Ottoman state "created" villages around ''derbend'' territories while in some cases the existing villages applied to their

kadı A kadi (, ) was an official in the Ottoman Empire. In Arabic, the term () typically refers to judges who preside over matters in accordance with sharia Islamic law; under Ottoman rule, however, the kadi also became a crucial part of the imperi ...

to receive derbendci status in exchange for providing security, constructing or maintaining roads and bridges. Newly settled population of such villages was not exempt from paying avariz taxes. Their duty was to patrol the territory they were assigned to (''derbend''), similar to immobile

gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

. Since the end of the 18th century derbendcis were organized within Derbendat Ministry () that appointed derbend aghas () whose post lasted one year. Derbendci status was compulsory and hereditary. If some individual or group would escape from their duty, the Ottomans would forcefully return them. They were organized into simple structures of 30 men (''tabl'') whose members performed rotational duties. Initially they carried only light weapons and later also fire guns. Significant part of this units were Christians who were, because of their derbendci duty, allowed to ride horses and carry weapon, but only of conventional type. Because derbendcis were poorly motivated, they could not match trained and better armed soldiers, so the Ottomans had to hire mercenaries (Christians or

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

) to ensure loyalty of derbendcis, especially since the beginning of the

decline of the Ottoman Empire In the 18th century, the Ottoman Empire faced threats on numerous frontiers from multiple industrialised European powers as well as internal instabilities. Outsider influence, rise of nationalism and internal corruption demanded the Empire to lo ...

at the end of the 17th century.

References

Sources

* * {{cite book, last=Ursinus, first=Michael, title=Grievance Administration (Sikayet) in an Ottoman Province: The Kaymakam of Rumelia's 'Record Book of Complaints' of 1781-1783, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BI5PyOWbkyAC&pg=PA41, year=2012, publisher=Routledge, isbn=978-1-134-24328-0

Etymology

History

References

Sources

Further reading