Selim I
Selim I (b. October 10, 1460/1465/1466/1470, Amasya, Ottoman Empire [now in Turkey] - d. September 22, 1520, Çorlu). Ottoman sultan, known as Yavuz -- “the Grim” (r.1512-1520). With the of the Janissaries, he rebelled against his father Bayezid II, whom he dethroned, and exterminated his brothers and nephews. He then began a systematic persecution of the Shi‘is in the Ottoman Empire which made war with the Safavid Shah Isma‘il inevitable. In 1514, he crushed the Persian army in the plain of Chaldiran between Lake Urmiya and Tabriz. The next year he conquered eastern Anatolia and Kurdistan. In Istanbul he constructed a new fleet and arsenal under the direction of Piri Re’is and reorganized the corps of the Janissaries. His annexation of the lands of the Dhu’l-Qadr caused the Mameluke Sultan of Egypt Qansawh al-Ghawri to march against him in order to support Shah Isma‘il and to retake Mar‘ash. The armies met on Marj Dabiq, north of Aleppo. In a short battle, the Egyptians were routed, and Qansawh fell. Selim then took Damascus. The new Mameluke Sultan in Egypt Tuman Bay refused to recognize Ottoman suzerainty. In 1517, the Egyptians were defeated again at Raydaniyya near Cairo and many inhabitants massacred. Tuman Bay was executed, which meant the end of Mameluke rule.
Barakat, the Sharif of Mecca, submitted to Selim, who took the title of “Servant of the Two Holy Places,” i.e., Mecca and Medina, a title henceforth borne by all the Ottoman sultans. The last ‘Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil III, who had been staying at the court of the Mamelukes in Cairo, was sent to Istanbul where he remained in prison until Selim’s death, after which he is said to have returned to Cairo. The tradition, according to which al-Mutawakkil renounced the caliphate in favor of Selim, is spurious, but became an article of general belief in Turkey. Selim’s nickname “Yavuz” expresses horror for the numerous executions ordered by him, but also admiration for his achievements. The sultan, who was fond of the society of poets, is celebrated himself as a poet. His diwan is entirely in Persian.
A chronology of Selim reads as follows:
Selim was born in Amasya in 1470.
In 1511, a conflict over the succession to the sultanate broke out between Selim and his brother Ahmad. Selim sought assistance from the khan of Crimea. The situation soon became heated, and sultan Bayazid II had to intervene.
In 1512, Sultan Bayazid stepped down from the throne, and left it in Selim’s hands to stop a continued escalation of the internal strife.
On August 23, 1514, at the battle of Chaldiran, Selim struck a heavy blow on the Safavid sultan Isma’il I, and effectively secured the eastern borders. Selim then incorporated Kurdish and Turkmen principalities in Anatolia. These advances provoked the Mamelukes, who considered some of these areas as belonging to their interest zone. The result was a war between the two empires.
On August 24, 1516, at battles north of Aleppo, the Ottomans defeated the attacking Mameluke troops.
On January 22, 1517, the final blow to the Mameluke Empire came with a battle near Cairo. Egypt, Syria and Hijaz fell into Ottoman hands.
On September 22, 1520, Selim died in Corlu.
Selim came to the throne in the wake of civil strife in which he, his brother, and their father, Bayezid II, had been involved. Selim eliminated all potential claimants to the sultanate, leaving only his ablest son, Süleyman, as his heir. He then turned eastward, where Ismāʿīl I, founder of the Ṣafavid dynasty in Iran, posed a political and ideological threat by espousing Shīʿism (the second largest branch of Islām) as opposed to the Sunnī Islām of the Ottomans. In addition, the Kizilbash (Turkmen followers of Ismāʿīl) were in open revolt in Anatolia. Selim subdued the Kizilbash and then launched a major campaign against Ismāʿīl, who was severely defeated at the Battle of Chāldirān, on the eastern side of the Euphrates River (August 23, 1514). Selim then turned toward the Anatolian Kurdish and Turkmen principalities, which he incorporated into the Ottoman Empire.
Selim’s subjugation of the Dulkadir (Dhū al-Qadr) principality of Elbistan (now in Turkey) brought the Ottomans into conflict with the Mamelūke rulers of Syria and Egypt, who regarded Dulkadir as their protégé. Selim defeated the Mamelūke armies at the battles of Marj Dābiq (north of Aleppo; August 24, 1516) and Raydānīyah (near Cairo; January 22, 1517), thus bringing Syria, Egypt, and Palestine under Ottoman rule. In Cairo, the sharif of Mecca presented Selim with the keys to that holy city, a symbolic gesture acknowledging Selim as the leader of the Islāmic world.
Selim I, also known as "the Excellent," "the Brave", was also the first Ottoman Sultan to assume the title of Caliph of Islam. Selim carried the empire to the leadership of the Sunni branch of Islam by his conquest of the Middle East. He represents a sudden change in the expansion policy of the empire, which was working mostly against the West and the Beyliks before his reign. On the eve of his death in 1520, the Ottoman empire spanned almost 1 billion acres (trebling during Selim's reign).
Yavuz see Selim I
Yavuz the Grim see Selim I
Yavuz Sultan Selim see Selim I
Selim I (b. October 10, 1460/1465/1466/1470, Amasya, Ottoman Empire [now in Turkey] - d. September 22, 1520, Çorlu). Ottoman sultan, known as Yavuz -- “the Grim” (r.1512-1520). With the of the Janissaries, he rebelled against his father Bayezid II, whom he dethroned, and exterminated his brothers and nephews. He then began a systematic persecution of the Shi‘is in the Ottoman Empire which made war with the Safavid Shah Isma‘il inevitable. In 1514, he crushed the Persian army in the plain of Chaldiran between Lake Urmiya and Tabriz. The next year he conquered eastern Anatolia and Kurdistan. In Istanbul he constructed a new fleet and arsenal under the direction of Piri Re’is and reorganized the corps of the Janissaries. His annexation of the lands of the Dhu’l-Qadr caused the Mameluke Sultan of Egypt Qansawh al-Ghawri to march against him in order to support Shah Isma‘il and to retake Mar‘ash. The armies met on Marj Dabiq, north of Aleppo. In a short battle, the Egyptians were routed, and Qansawh fell. Selim then took Damascus. The new Mameluke Sultan in Egypt Tuman Bay refused to recognize Ottoman suzerainty. In 1517, the Egyptians were defeated again at Raydaniyya near Cairo and many inhabitants massacred. Tuman Bay was executed, which meant the end of Mameluke rule.
Barakat, the Sharif of Mecca, submitted to Selim, who took the title of “Servant of the Two Holy Places,” i.e., Mecca and Medina, a title henceforth borne by all the Ottoman sultans. The last ‘Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil III, who had been staying at the court of the Mamelukes in Cairo, was sent to Istanbul where he remained in prison until Selim’s death, after which he is said to have returned to Cairo. The tradition, according to which al-Mutawakkil renounced the caliphate in favor of Selim, is spurious, but became an article of general belief in Turkey. Selim’s nickname “Yavuz” expresses horror for the numerous executions ordered by him, but also admiration for his achievements. The sultan, who was fond of the society of poets, is celebrated himself as a poet. His diwan is entirely in Persian.
A chronology of Selim reads as follows:
Selim was born in Amasya in 1470.
In 1511, a conflict over the succession to the sultanate broke out between Selim and his brother Ahmad. Selim sought assistance from the khan of Crimea. The situation soon became heated, and sultan Bayazid II had to intervene.
In 1512, Sultan Bayazid stepped down from the throne, and left it in Selim’s hands to stop a continued escalation of the internal strife.
On August 23, 1514, at the battle of Chaldiran, Selim struck a heavy blow on the Safavid sultan Isma’il I, and effectively secured the eastern borders. Selim then incorporated Kurdish and Turkmen principalities in Anatolia. These advances provoked the Mamelukes, who considered some of these areas as belonging to their interest zone. The result was a war between the two empires.
On August 24, 1516, at battles north of Aleppo, the Ottomans defeated the attacking Mameluke troops.
On January 22, 1517, the final blow to the Mameluke Empire came with a battle near Cairo. Egypt, Syria and Hijaz fell into Ottoman hands.
On September 22, 1520, Selim died in Corlu.
Selim came to the throne in the wake of civil strife in which he, his brother, and their father, Bayezid II, had been involved. Selim eliminated all potential claimants to the sultanate, leaving only his ablest son, Süleyman, as his heir. He then turned eastward, where Ismāʿīl I, founder of the Ṣafavid dynasty in Iran, posed a political and ideological threat by espousing Shīʿism (the second largest branch of Islām) as opposed to the Sunnī Islām of the Ottomans. In addition, the Kizilbash (Turkmen followers of Ismāʿīl) were in open revolt in Anatolia. Selim subdued the Kizilbash and then launched a major campaign against Ismāʿīl, who was severely defeated at the Battle of Chāldirān, on the eastern side of the Euphrates River (August 23, 1514). Selim then turned toward the Anatolian Kurdish and Turkmen principalities, which he incorporated into the Ottoman Empire.
Selim’s subjugation of the Dulkadir (Dhū al-Qadr) principality of Elbistan (now in Turkey) brought the Ottomans into conflict with the Mamelūke rulers of Syria and Egypt, who regarded Dulkadir as their protégé. Selim defeated the Mamelūke armies at the battles of Marj Dābiq (north of Aleppo; August 24, 1516) and Raydānīyah (near Cairo; January 22, 1517), thus bringing Syria, Egypt, and Palestine under Ottoman rule. In Cairo, the sharif of Mecca presented Selim with the keys to that holy city, a symbolic gesture acknowledging Selim as the leader of the Islāmic world.
Selim I, also known as "the Excellent," "the Brave", was also the first Ottoman Sultan to assume the title of Caliph of Islam. Selim carried the empire to the leadership of the Sunni branch of Islam by his conquest of the Middle East. He represents a sudden change in the expansion policy of the empire, which was working mostly against the West and the Beyliks before his reign. On the eve of his death in 1520, the Ottoman empire spanned almost 1 billion acres (trebling during Selim's reign).
Yavuz see Selim I
Yavuz the Grim see Selim I
Yavuz Sultan Selim see Selim I
Selim II
Selim II (Sari -- “The Blond”) (Selim II Sarkhosh) (b. May 28, 1524 - d. December 1574, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Turkey]) Ottoman sultan (r. 1566-1574). He was nicknamed “the Drunkard”. He was the first Ottoman sultan to spend his life in the seraglio, and dissipated habits spread under his reign. In 1571, Yemen was reconquered and Cyprus taken. His most famous building is the Selimiyye mosque in Edirne, built by Sinan from 1567 to 1574. Selim II was a poet in his own right, and surrounded himself with poets such as Mahmud ‘Abd al-Baqi and Mehmed Fadli.
Selim was born in May 1524 the son of sultan Suleyman I.
In 1566, following the death of his father, Selim became sultan.
In 1568, a peace treaty was signed with Austria, giving the Ottoman Empire strengthened rule over Moldavia and Walachia.
In 1570, a revolt in Yemen was suppressed.
In 1571, the Ottoman Empire conquered Cyprus, but this resulted in a Christian alliance of the pope, Italian states and Spain, which marched against the Empire.
On October 7, 1571, the Christian alliance defeated the Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Lepanto. While the immediate results of this loss were small, this battle was a milestone, representing a turn in the power balance between the Christian states and the Ottoman Empire. Gradually, Europe would from now on represent the strongest force on the battle ground.
In 1572, Tunisia was lost to Spanish troops.
In 1573, a new ottoman fleet forced Venice to recognize Ottoman hegemony in the Mediterranean Sea.
In 1574, Tunisia was re-captured by the Ottomans. In December of 1574, Selim II died in Istanbul.
Selim was a ruler who managed to bring peace to the empire after the many wars during his father’s regime. He had a peace treaty with Austria signed, giving him stronger control over European territories. He had friendly relations with the Safavid ruler of Persia, who had been enemies of earlier sultans.
Nevertheless, he is considered to be a rather weak sultan, as he gave his grand vizier more influence and preferred to indulge in carnal pleasures. He was reportedly susceptible to the manipulations of the women of his harem. He was also unable to control the Janissaries who were growing into a state inside the state, and were no longer the sultan’s loyal soldiers, which had been the intention of the Janissaries from the start.
The reign of Selim II saw peace in Europe and Asia and the rise of the Ottomans to dominance in the Mediterranean but marked the beginning of the decline in the power of the sultans. He was unable to impose his authority over the Janissaries and was overruled by the women of his harem.
Selim, the son of Süleyman I the Magnificent, came to the throne in the wake of palace intrigues and bitter civil strife with his brothers. He was more inclined to a life of pleasure than to the difficult task of governing, and he entrusted the affairs of state to his able grand vizier (chief minister) and son-in-law, Mehmed Sokollu.
As a result of the signing of a peace treaty with Austria in 1568, the Ottomans strengthened their rule in Moldavia and Walachia. In the East, amicable relations existed between Selim II and Ṭahmāsp I, Ṣafavid ruler of Iran, and a revolt in Yemen was successfully suppressed (1569–70). In the Mediterranean the Ottoman capture of Cyprus from the Venetians (1570–71) led to the formation of an anti-Ottoman alliance of the pope, the Italian states, and Spain. The alliance, although successful in destroying the Ottoman navy at the Battle of Lepanto (October 7, 1571), was unable to confront a new navy formed the following year. Consequently, Venice recognized Ottoman hegemony in the Mediterranean (1573), and the Ottomans recaptured Tunisia (August 1574) from the Spanish, who had taken it in 1572.
Selim II Sarkhosh, also known as "Selim the Sot" or "Selim the Drunkard", was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1566 until his death. He was a son of Suleiman the Magnificent and his fourth and favorite wife Hürrem Sultan, originally named Roxelana.
Sari see Selim II
Sari the Blond see Selim II
The Drunkard see Selim II
Selim II Sarkhosh see Selim II
Selim the Sot see Selim II
Selim II (Sari -- “The Blond”) (Selim II Sarkhosh) (b. May 28, 1524 - d. December 1574, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Turkey]) Ottoman sultan (r. 1566-1574). He was nicknamed “the Drunkard”. He was the first Ottoman sultan to spend his life in the seraglio, and dissipated habits spread under his reign. In 1571, Yemen was reconquered and Cyprus taken. His most famous building is the Selimiyye mosque in Edirne, built by Sinan from 1567 to 1574. Selim II was a poet in his own right, and surrounded himself with poets such as Mahmud ‘Abd al-Baqi and Mehmed Fadli.
Selim was born in May 1524 the son of sultan Suleyman I.
In 1566, following the death of his father, Selim became sultan.
In 1568, a peace treaty was signed with Austria, giving the Ottoman Empire strengthened rule over Moldavia and Walachia.
In 1570, a revolt in Yemen was suppressed.
In 1571, the Ottoman Empire conquered Cyprus, but this resulted in a Christian alliance of the pope, Italian states and Spain, which marched against the Empire.
On October 7, 1571, the Christian alliance defeated the Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Lepanto. While the immediate results of this loss were small, this battle was a milestone, representing a turn in the power balance between the Christian states and the Ottoman Empire. Gradually, Europe would from now on represent the strongest force on the battle ground.
In 1572, Tunisia was lost to Spanish troops.
In 1573, a new ottoman fleet forced Venice to recognize Ottoman hegemony in the Mediterranean Sea.
In 1574, Tunisia was re-captured by the Ottomans. In December of 1574, Selim II died in Istanbul.
Selim was a ruler who managed to bring peace to the empire after the many wars during his father’s regime. He had a peace treaty with Austria signed, giving him stronger control over European territories. He had friendly relations with the Safavid ruler of Persia, who had been enemies of earlier sultans.
Nevertheless, he is considered to be a rather weak sultan, as he gave his grand vizier more influence and preferred to indulge in carnal pleasures. He was reportedly susceptible to the manipulations of the women of his harem. He was also unable to control the Janissaries who were growing into a state inside the state, and were no longer the sultan’s loyal soldiers, which had been the intention of the Janissaries from the start.
The reign of Selim II saw peace in Europe and Asia and the rise of the Ottomans to dominance in the Mediterranean but marked the beginning of the decline in the power of the sultans. He was unable to impose his authority over the Janissaries and was overruled by the women of his harem.
Selim, the son of Süleyman I the Magnificent, came to the throne in the wake of palace intrigues and bitter civil strife with his brothers. He was more inclined to a life of pleasure than to the difficult task of governing, and he entrusted the affairs of state to his able grand vizier (chief minister) and son-in-law, Mehmed Sokollu.
As a result of the signing of a peace treaty with Austria in 1568, the Ottomans strengthened their rule in Moldavia and Walachia. In the East, amicable relations existed between Selim II and Ṭahmāsp I, Ṣafavid ruler of Iran, and a revolt in Yemen was successfully suppressed (1569–70). In the Mediterranean the Ottoman capture of Cyprus from the Venetians (1570–71) led to the formation of an anti-Ottoman alliance of the pope, the Italian states, and Spain. The alliance, although successful in destroying the Ottoman navy at the Battle of Lepanto (October 7, 1571), was unable to confront a new navy formed the following year. Consequently, Venice recognized Ottoman hegemony in the Mediterranean (1573), and the Ottomans recaptured Tunisia (August 1574) from the Spanish, who had taken it in 1572.
Selim II Sarkhosh, also known as "Selim the Sot" or "Selim the Drunkard", was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1566 until his death. He was a son of Suleiman the Magnificent and his fourth and favorite wife Hürrem Sultan, originally named Roxelana.
Sari see Selim II
Sari the Blond see Selim II
The Drunkard see Selim II
Selim II Sarkhosh see Selim II
Selim the Sot see Selim II
Selim III
Selim III (b. December 24, 1761, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Turkey] - d. July 29, 1808, Constantinople. Ottoman sultan (r. 1789-1807). Selim III was noted for his reforms. The war against Austria was continued but the Ottomans were beaten in Moldavia in 1789. In 1791, the peace of Zistowa was concluded. The disastrous war with Russia was ended by the Treaty of Jassy in which the Crimea was definitively lost to the Ottomans. Immediately after the war, the sultan took up the question of the reforms which he considered inevitable to restore the strength of the Empire. The finances were reorganized as well as the army, artillery in particular. Bonaparte is said to have had in 1794 the intention to put himself at the head of the Turkish artillery. There was much less opposition to the reforms in Asia than in the European part of the Empire. The French expedition against Egypt led to a declaration of war against France in 1798. In 1800, the Ottomans were defeated near Heliopolis by General Kleber but a combined fleet of Turkey and Russia expelled the French from the Ionian Isles. Peace with France was signed in 1802. Troubles then arose in Serbia in 1803, which in 1805 had its own constitution and took control of the citadel of Belgrade. In the same year, 1803 Mecca fell to the Wahhabis and Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha came to the front in Egypt. Opposition in the capital against the reforms led to the deposition of the sultan in 1807. Selim III wrote poems under the pen name Ilhami and is said to have had musical talents.
Selim III was Ottoman sultan from 1789 to 1807. He undertook a program of Westernization and his reign felt the intellectual and political ferment created by the French Revolution.
A poet and an accomplished composer of Ottoman classical music, Selim enjoyed greater freedom prior to his accession than the Ottoman princes before him. Influenced by his father, Mustafa III (r. 1757–74), Selim had acquired a zeal for reform.
When Selim succeeded his uncle Abdülhamid I (April 7, 1789), he attempted to end the social, economic, and administrative chaos facing the empire. He set up a committee of reformers (1792–93) and promulgated a series of new regulations collectively known as the nizam-ı cedid (“new order”). These included reforms of provincial governorships, taxation, and land tenure. More significant were his military reforms. In addition to new military and naval schools, he founded new corps of infantry trained and equipped along European lines and financed by revenues from forfeited and escheated fiefs and by taxes on liquor, tobacco, and coffee. Finally, to provide for direct contact with the West, Ottoman embassies were opened in the major European capitals.
Selim, who came to the throne during a war (1787–92) with Austria and Russia, was compelled to conclude the treaties of Sistova (Svishtov; 1791) with Austria and of Jassy (1792) with Russia. In 1798 Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt drove Selim into alliance with Great Britain and Russia. After the French evacuated Egypt (1801), Selim, dazzled by Napoleon’s successes in Europe, not only recognized him as emperor (1804) but also, under the influence of General Sébastiani, Napoleon’s ambassador in Constantinople, declared war (1806) on Russia and Great Britain.
Selim’s reorganizations and the increasing influence of France evoked a strong reaction from the conservative coalition of the Janissaries, the ulama (men of religious learning), and others adversely affected by the reforms. Selim, on the other hand, lacked the determination to enforce the measures. In 1805, when he ordered the reorganization of troops in the Balkan provinces, the Janissaries mutinied in Edirne (in Thracian Turkey) and were joined by the ayan (local notables), who hitherto had supported the sultan. Selim halted the reorganization and dismissed his reformist advisers. Finally, in 1807, a mutiny of the yamaks (auxiliary levies) compelled Selim to abolish the nizam-ı cedid reforms and culminated in his imprisonment. In the ensuing months of confusion, the reformists rallied around Bayrakdar Mustafa, pasha of Rusçuk (now Ruse, Bulgaria), who marched to Constantinople to restore Selim. Bayrakdar took the city, but in the meantime Selim had been strangled on orders from his successor, Mustafa IV.
Selim III (b. December 24, 1761, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Turkey] - d. July 29, 1808, Constantinople. Ottoman sultan (r. 1789-1807). Selim III was noted for his reforms. The war against Austria was continued but the Ottomans were beaten in Moldavia in 1789. In 1791, the peace of Zistowa was concluded. The disastrous war with Russia was ended by the Treaty of Jassy in which the Crimea was definitively lost to the Ottomans. Immediately after the war, the sultan took up the question of the reforms which he considered inevitable to restore the strength of the Empire. The finances were reorganized as well as the army, artillery in particular. Bonaparte is said to have had in 1794 the intention to put himself at the head of the Turkish artillery. There was much less opposition to the reforms in Asia than in the European part of the Empire. The French expedition against Egypt led to a declaration of war against France in 1798. In 1800, the Ottomans were defeated near Heliopolis by General Kleber but a combined fleet of Turkey and Russia expelled the French from the Ionian Isles. Peace with France was signed in 1802. Troubles then arose in Serbia in 1803, which in 1805 had its own constitution and took control of the citadel of Belgrade. In the same year, 1803 Mecca fell to the Wahhabis and Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha came to the front in Egypt. Opposition in the capital against the reforms led to the deposition of the sultan in 1807. Selim III wrote poems under the pen name Ilhami and is said to have had musical talents.
Selim III was Ottoman sultan from 1789 to 1807. He undertook a program of Westernization and his reign felt the intellectual and political ferment created by the French Revolution.
A poet and an accomplished composer of Ottoman classical music, Selim enjoyed greater freedom prior to his accession than the Ottoman princes before him. Influenced by his father, Mustafa III (r. 1757–74), Selim had acquired a zeal for reform.
When Selim succeeded his uncle Abdülhamid I (April 7, 1789), he attempted to end the social, economic, and administrative chaos facing the empire. He set up a committee of reformers (1792–93) and promulgated a series of new regulations collectively known as the nizam-ı cedid (“new order”). These included reforms of provincial governorships, taxation, and land tenure. More significant were his military reforms. In addition to new military and naval schools, he founded new corps of infantry trained and equipped along European lines and financed by revenues from forfeited and escheated fiefs and by taxes on liquor, tobacco, and coffee. Finally, to provide for direct contact with the West, Ottoman embassies were opened in the major European capitals.
Selim, who came to the throne during a war (1787–92) with Austria and Russia, was compelled to conclude the treaties of Sistova (Svishtov; 1791) with Austria and of Jassy (1792) with Russia. In 1798 Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt drove Selim into alliance with Great Britain and Russia. After the French evacuated Egypt (1801), Selim, dazzled by Napoleon’s successes in Europe, not only recognized him as emperor (1804) but also, under the influence of General Sébastiani, Napoleon’s ambassador in Constantinople, declared war (1806) on Russia and Great Britain.
Selim’s reorganizations and the increasing influence of France evoked a strong reaction from the conservative coalition of the Janissaries, the ulama (men of religious learning), and others adversely affected by the reforms. Selim, on the other hand, lacked the determination to enforce the measures. In 1805, when he ordered the reorganization of troops in the Balkan provinces, the Janissaries mutinied in Edirne (in Thracian Turkey) and were joined by the ayan (local notables), who hitherto had supported the sultan. Selim halted the reorganization and dismissed his reformist advisers. Finally, in 1807, a mutiny of the yamaks (auxiliary levies) compelled Selim to abolish the nizam-ı cedid reforms and culminated in his imprisonment. In the ensuing months of confusion, the reformists rallied around Bayrakdar Mustafa, pasha of Rusçuk (now Ruse, Bulgaria), who marched to Constantinople to restore Selim. Bayrakdar took the city, but in the meantime Selim had been strangled on orders from his successor, Mustafa IV.
Seljuks
Seljuks. See Saljuq.
Seljuks. See Saljuq.
Semaoen
Semaoen (Semaun) (1898-1971). Indonesian political activist. He was born in Gunang Gangsir, Pasuruan, East Java. In 1914, he became a member of the Sarekat Islam, the first large Indonesian nationalist party, and in 1915 of the Indische Sociaal-Democratische Vereeniging (ISDV). In the Sarekat Islam, Semaoen was the leader of the Marxist-oriented faction. After clashing with the Islamic-oriented members, he and his supporters were forced to leave the party in the early 1920s. Apart from his political work in the Sarekat Islam, ISDV, and its successor the Partai Komunis Indonesia (Indonesian Communist Party), Semaoen played a very prominent role in the labor movement. In 1923, he was arrested, interned on the island of Timor, and, when given the choice, exiled from the Dutch East Indies. He went to Russia (where he attended the fifth congress of the Comintern in 1924) and to Holland. He returned to Indonesia in 1956.
Semaun was the first chairman of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI). Semaun was born in Pasuruan, East Java. In 1915 at the age of sixteen, he was elected as one of the first Indonesian members of the Union of Train and Tramway Personnel (VSTP), soon quitting his job as a railway worker to become a trade union activist full-time. Also in 1915 he was elected vice-chairman of the Surabaya office of the Indies Social Democratic Association (ISDP), which was to become the PKI. By 1918 he was a member of the central leadership of Sarekat Islam (SI), then the dominant nationalist political organization in the Dutch East Indies.
In May 1921, when the Communist Party of Indonesia was founded after the deportation of the Dutch founders of the ISDP, Semaun became its first chairman. The PKI initially was a part of Sarekat Islam, but political differences over the role of class struggle and of Islam in nationalism between Semaun's PKI and the rest of SI led to an organizational split by October. At the end of that year he left Indonesia for Moscow, and Tan Malaka replaced him as chairman. Upon his return in May 1922, he regained the chairmanship and tried, with limited success, to restore PKI influence over the sprawling SI organization.
In 1923 VSTP, the railway union, organized a general strike. It was soon crushed by the Dutch government, and Semaun was exiled from the Indies. He returned to the Soviet Union, where he was to remain for more than thirty years. He remained involved as a nationalist activist on a limited basis, speaking a few times to Perhimpunan Indonesia, a Netherlands-based organization of Indonesian students. He also studied at the Communist University of the Toilers of the East for a time.
Upon his return to Indonesia after its independence, Semaun moved to Jakarta, where from 1959 to 1961 he served as a government administrator. He also taught economics at Universitas Padjadjaran in Bandung.
Semaun see Semaoen
Semaoen (Semaun) (1898-1971). Indonesian political activist. He was born in Gunang Gangsir, Pasuruan, East Java. In 1914, he became a member of the Sarekat Islam, the first large Indonesian nationalist party, and in 1915 of the Indische Sociaal-Democratische Vereeniging (ISDV). In the Sarekat Islam, Semaoen was the leader of the Marxist-oriented faction. After clashing with the Islamic-oriented members, he and his supporters were forced to leave the party in the early 1920s. Apart from his political work in the Sarekat Islam, ISDV, and its successor the Partai Komunis Indonesia (Indonesian Communist Party), Semaoen played a very prominent role in the labor movement. In 1923, he was arrested, interned on the island of Timor, and, when given the choice, exiled from the Dutch East Indies. He went to Russia (where he attended the fifth congress of the Comintern in 1924) and to Holland. He returned to Indonesia in 1956.
Semaun was the first chairman of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI). Semaun was born in Pasuruan, East Java. In 1915 at the age of sixteen, he was elected as one of the first Indonesian members of the Union of Train and Tramway Personnel (VSTP), soon quitting his job as a railway worker to become a trade union activist full-time. Also in 1915 he was elected vice-chairman of the Surabaya office of the Indies Social Democratic Association (ISDP), which was to become the PKI. By 1918 he was a member of the central leadership of Sarekat Islam (SI), then the dominant nationalist political organization in the Dutch East Indies.
In May 1921, when the Communist Party of Indonesia was founded after the deportation of the Dutch founders of the ISDP, Semaun became its first chairman. The PKI initially was a part of Sarekat Islam, but political differences over the role of class struggle and of Islam in nationalism between Semaun's PKI and the rest of SI led to an organizational split by October. At the end of that year he left Indonesia for Moscow, and Tan Malaka replaced him as chairman. Upon his return in May 1922, he regained the chairmanship and tried, with limited success, to restore PKI influence over the sprawling SI organization.
In 1923 VSTP, the railway union, organized a general strike. It was soon crushed by the Dutch government, and Semaun was exiled from the Indies. He returned to the Soviet Union, where he was to remain for more than thirty years. He remained involved as a nationalist activist on a limited basis, speaking a few times to Perhimpunan Indonesia, a Netherlands-based organization of Indonesian students. He also studied at the Communist University of the Toilers of the East for a time.
Upon his return to Indonesia after its independence, Semaun moved to Jakarta, where from 1959 to 1961 he served as a government administrator. He also taught economics at Universitas Padjadjaran in Bandung.
Semaun see Semaoen
Senegalese slaves
Senegalese slaves. Senegal is the name of both the river and free republic in Africa. The mouth of the Senegal River was explored by the Portuguese around 1451. In the first quarter of the sixteenth century, traders frequently ventured to the upper part of the river, populated by black ethnic groups, to barter for gold, ivory, and slaves. After 1700, Portuguese and other European began establishing trading posts on the banks of the river and its effluents to buy slaves for the New World market. The term “Senegalese slaves” refers to black slaves brought from the Senegal River region to the West Indies and elsewhere. In the eighteenth century, some planters considered them to be the brightest of all African slaves, well fitted for the trades and and domestic service. They became good drivers, were dependable, and could be easily disciplined, but were not thought capable of performing arduous tasks.
Senegalese slaves. Senegal is the name of both the river and free republic in Africa. The mouth of the Senegal River was explored by the Portuguese around 1451. In the first quarter of the sixteenth century, traders frequently ventured to the upper part of the river, populated by black ethnic groups, to barter for gold, ivory, and slaves. After 1700, Portuguese and other European began establishing trading posts on the banks of the river and its effluents to buy slaves for the New World market. The term “Senegalese slaves” refers to black slaves brought from the Senegal River region to the West Indies and elsewhere. In the eighteenth century, some planters considered them to be the brightest of all African slaves, well fitted for the trades and and domestic service. They became good drivers, were dependable, and could be easily disciplined, but were not thought capable of performing arduous tasks.
Senufo
Senufo. The Senufo of West Africa live in Ivory Coast, Mali and Upper Volta. The geographical area in which they live is called the Middle Volta, a region to the east of the Bagoe River, to the south of the Bani River, to the west of the Black Volta, and occupying the northern-center portion of Ivory Coast around Korhogo and Odienne. Located in the less fertile regions of the Sudanic zone and between the major traditional routes of trade, the Senufo are agrarian with little history as traders or warriors.
Despite the fact that they have not been geographically isolated as have other small ethnic groups in the same general region, the Senufo resisted Islamization until contemporary times. Only about one-quarter are Muslim.
Dyula traders were the first to introduce them to Islam and its cultural adjuncts. With the decline of the Songhay Empire in the early seventeenth century small groups of Islamic traders from that polity migrated and settled among the stateless peoples in the northern part of Ivory Coast. These Dyula were Islamized during the first period of Islamic expansion below the Sahara. Arab historians indicate that the religion had penetrated peoples on the banks of the upper Senegal and in the Sahel region by the beginning of the eleventh century. During this period, Islam was a class religion limited to chiefs and traders with a group of professional clerics. Islam was one of the dynamic forces in the empires of Mali and Songhay.
The migrating traders and warriors settled among the eclectic groups in the Sudanic region and attached to these people the term “Bambara” and/or “Senufo.” Bambara was the name the Dyula applied to all non-Muslims in the Niger Bend and Senufo to the cluster of people living around present day Odienne and Korhogo. Because of the Dyula’s political and economic importance in the Middle Volta Basin during the period of French expansion, French explorers and military leaders accepted the Mande terms “Senufo” and “Bambara” and applied them to the people living in the region. The term “Senufo” was specifically applied to the majority of the people living in the city of Kong and to those in the kingdom of Kenedougou during the latter half of the nineteenth century.
Islam first penetrated the northern Senufo with the settlement of the Dyula Traores in Finkolo and the establishment of the kingdom of Kenedougou in the nineteenth century. However, the Traores, who were of Mande origin, had been “Senufo-ized” linguistically and culturally by the time Sikasso was established as their administrative capital. Sikasso, originally a Senufo village, became the capital of the kingdom of Kenedougou, the second largest empire in the western Sudan by 1890. Tieba Traore, as king of Sikasso for approximately three decades, limiting the spread of Islam to his court, and during his reign of Tieba’s successor, Babemba.
The southern Senufo were among the first groups in the Middle Volta to be influenced by Islam.
These Senufo, founders of Kong, permitted Dyula traders to settle in the city and by the eighteenth century were consequently overthrown by them. With the advent of the Dyula rulers, Kong became a thriving commercial city and center of Islamic learning. Thus, this branch of the Senufo was greatly influenced by the Manding and Dyula and the Qadiriyya Muslim order of northern Ghana. During the nineteenth century, because of the political and economic importance of the Dyula, many of the Senufo chiefs became affilitated with Islam. In many instances Senufo families changed their patronymic and took on Dyula surnames, for example, Fofana, Kulibali, Traores. Despite the conversion of chiefs and leading families to Islam, the masses of Senufo remained traditionalists in their religious practices. Today, fewer than twenty percent of the southern Senufo could be classified as Muslims.
Senufo society successfully resisted large scale conversion to Islam until after World War II. Several major factors account for the small percentage of Senufo Muslims. Senufo society has developed cultural institutions and practices which resist change. Senufo are primarily cultivators, with much of their mythology associated with the earth. Rituals honor nature spirits. Strong ancestor involvement in life discourages acceptance of a religion which removes the dead from participating with the living.
Senufo. The Senufo of West Africa live in Ivory Coast, Mali and Upper Volta. The geographical area in which they live is called the Middle Volta, a region to the east of the Bagoe River, to the south of the Bani River, to the west of the Black Volta, and occupying the northern-center portion of Ivory Coast around Korhogo and Odienne. Located in the less fertile regions of the Sudanic zone and between the major traditional routes of trade, the Senufo are agrarian with little history as traders or warriors.
Despite the fact that they have not been geographically isolated as have other small ethnic groups in the same general region, the Senufo resisted Islamization until contemporary times. Only about one-quarter are Muslim.
Dyula traders were the first to introduce them to Islam and its cultural adjuncts. With the decline of the Songhay Empire in the early seventeenth century small groups of Islamic traders from that polity migrated and settled among the stateless peoples in the northern part of Ivory Coast. These Dyula were Islamized during the first period of Islamic expansion below the Sahara. Arab historians indicate that the religion had penetrated peoples on the banks of the upper Senegal and in the Sahel region by the beginning of the eleventh century. During this period, Islam was a class religion limited to chiefs and traders with a group of professional clerics. Islam was one of the dynamic forces in the empires of Mali and Songhay.
The migrating traders and warriors settled among the eclectic groups in the Sudanic region and attached to these people the term “Bambara” and/or “Senufo.” Bambara was the name the Dyula applied to all non-Muslims in the Niger Bend and Senufo to the cluster of people living around present day Odienne and Korhogo. Because of the Dyula’s political and economic importance in the Middle Volta Basin during the period of French expansion, French explorers and military leaders accepted the Mande terms “Senufo” and “Bambara” and applied them to the people living in the region. The term “Senufo” was specifically applied to the majority of the people living in the city of Kong and to those in the kingdom of Kenedougou during the latter half of the nineteenth century.
Islam first penetrated the northern Senufo with the settlement of the Dyula Traores in Finkolo and the establishment of the kingdom of Kenedougou in the nineteenth century. However, the Traores, who were of Mande origin, had been “Senufo-ized” linguistically and culturally by the time Sikasso was established as their administrative capital. Sikasso, originally a Senufo village, became the capital of the kingdom of Kenedougou, the second largest empire in the western Sudan by 1890. Tieba Traore, as king of Sikasso for approximately three decades, limiting the spread of Islam to his court, and during his reign of Tieba’s successor, Babemba.
The southern Senufo were among the first groups in the Middle Volta to be influenced by Islam.
These Senufo, founders of Kong, permitted Dyula traders to settle in the city and by the eighteenth century were consequently overthrown by them. With the advent of the Dyula rulers, Kong became a thriving commercial city and center of Islamic learning. Thus, this branch of the Senufo was greatly influenced by the Manding and Dyula and the Qadiriyya Muslim order of northern Ghana. During the nineteenth century, because of the political and economic importance of the Dyula, many of the Senufo chiefs became affilitated with Islam. In many instances Senufo families changed their patronymic and took on Dyula surnames, for example, Fofana, Kulibali, Traores. Despite the conversion of chiefs and leading families to Islam, the masses of Senufo remained traditionalists in their religious practices. Today, fewer than twenty percent of the southern Senufo could be classified as Muslims.
Senufo society successfully resisted large scale conversion to Islam until after World War II. Several major factors account for the small percentage of Senufo Muslims. Senufo society has developed cultural institutions and practices which resist change. Senufo are primarily cultivators, with much of their mythology associated with the earth. Rituals honor nature spirits. Strong ancestor involvement in life discourages acceptance of a religion which removes the dead from participating with the living.
Sephardim
Sephardim (Sefardim -- from Hebrew Sefarad (“Spain”)). Sephardim have an orientation in Judaism, developing in the Iberian peninsula and North Africa, contrary to Judaism developing in the central, northern and eastern part of Europe called Ashkenazi. The Sephardim was attributed to the Jews who were forced to leave Spain and Portugal in 1492. Many of these settled in North Africa, other parts of Europe and the Ottoman Empire.
The language of the Sephardi was Ladino, a language no longer in any vernacular use. Sephardim and Ashkenazi came to develop different prayer liturgies, Torah services, Hebrew pronunciation and ways of life. The rituals of the Sephardi were of the Babylonian traditions. Ashkenazi and Sephardi tunes for both prayers and Torah reading are different. A Sephardi Torah is contained in a wooden cylinder which makes it stand up while being read, while an Ashkenazi Torah lies flat.
In order to decide upon Jewish law, there are different authorities. Sephardim follow Rabbi Joseph Caro’s Shulhan Arukh. There are differences in many aspects of Jewish law, from which laws women are exempt from to what food one is allowed to eat on Pesach.
However, today, many of the distinctions between Ashkenazim and Sephardim have disappeared. In Israel as well as other countries like the United States, Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews live side by side, even if they generally have separate institutions.
Today there are about three million Sephardi Jews in the world, of which about one million live in Israel. Being far smaller in number than the Ashkenazi, Sephardim have been the least influential in Israeli politics. However, over the last decades much of this has changed. Through their party Shas, which won 17 of 120 seats in the Knesset in 1999, they have become more visible. Indeed, in July 2000, the Iranian born Sephardi Jew Moshe Katsav was elected president.
A brief history of the Sephardi Jews reads as follows:
According to legends, around the tenth century B.C.T., the first Jews settled in Spain. This has, however, never been proven historically.
In 305 of the Christian calendar, the Council of Toledo passed an edict saying that Jews could not bless the crops of non-Jews, and Jews could not eat with non-Jews.
In 612, Spanish rulers ordered the forced baptism of all Jews.
In 711, the Muslims took control of most of Spain, and the Jews became part of building the most advanced civilization of its time. During this time, the Jews paid a special discriminatory tax compared to Muslim inhabitants, the jizya, but had full religious freedom. The Jews lived in their separate quarters, called al-jarnas.
Coinciding with the Muslim control of Spain, the eighth through eleventh centuries of the Christian calendar became the golden age of Judaism, with many cultural achievements. Through the positive co-existence of the religions during this period, Judaism became influenced by Islam. Thus, following Muslim practices, the washing of hands and feet before entering the synagogue was introduced and clothes, language and music were similarly borrowed from Islam.
In 1055, the Almoravids seized control of Spain and, subsequently, imposed restrictions on Jewish life and activities.
In 1098, the Christian reconquest of Spain began and, at that time, the Jews in the Christian parts of Spain came to enjoy more freedom than the ones living in the Muslim parts.
In 1147, more restrictions were imposed by the Almohads, such as the obligation of all Jews to wear a yellow turban.
Around the middle of the thirteenth century, Christian rulers of Spain began imposing restrictions on the Jews, and there were attempts were made to force the conversion of Jews to Christianity.
In 1492, following the Catholic reconquest of Spain, a process of driving the Jews out of the Iberian peninsula began. About 100,000 Jews of the area would be expelled within the next five years. They moved into France, the Netherlands, England, Italy, the Balkans, the Ottoman Empire, and North Africa. Many Jews were also forced to convert to Christianity, especially in Portugal.
During the seventeenth century, many Sephardi Jews settled in the Americas.
In the 1940s, the Sephardi Jews were among the Jewish groups that suffered the most during the Holocaust.
In the 1950s, many Sephardi Jews fled or moved from Muslim countries to the new state of Israel. In Israel, many of the Sephardi Jews experienced a form of second class citizenship at the hands of the dominant Ashkenazi Jews.
The Sephardim were the Jews who lived in Spain and Portugal from the Middle Ages until their persecution and mass expulsion from those countries in the last decades of the 15th century and their descendants. The Sephardim initially fled to North Africa and other parts of the Ottoman Empire, and many of these eventually settled in such countries as France, Holland, England, Italy, and the Balkans. Salonika (Thessaloníki) in Macedonia and the city of Amsterdam became major sites of Sephardic settlement. The transplanted Sephardim largely retained their native Judeo-Spanish language (Ladino), literature, and customs. They became noted for their cultural and intellectual achievements within the Mediterranean and northern European Jewish communities. The Sephardim differ notably from the Ashkenazim (German-rite Jews) in preserving Babylonian rather than Palestinian Jewish ritual traditions. Of the Sephardic Jews in the world today (far fewer than the Ashkenazim), many now reside in the state of Israel. The chief rabbinate of Israel has both a Sephardic and an Ashkenazi chief rabbi.
Though the term Oriental Jews is perhaps more properly applied to Jews of North Africa and the Middle East who had no ties with either Spain or Germany and who speak Arabic, Persian, or a variant of ancient Aramaic, the designation Sephardim frequently signifies all North African Jews and others who, under the influence of the “Spanish Jews,” have adopted the Sephardic rite.
It is thought that substantial Jewish immigration probably occurred during the Roman period of Hispania. The province came under Roman control with the fall of Carthage after the Second Punic War (218-202 B.C.T.). Exactly how soon after this time Jews made their way onto the scene in this context is a matter of speculation. It is within the realm of possibility that they went there under the Romans as free men to take advantage of its rich resources.
Although the spread of Jews into Europe is most commonly associated with the Diaspora which ensued from the Roman conquest of Judea, emigration from Judea into the greater Roman Mediterranean area antedated the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans under Titus. Any Jews already in Hispania at this time would have been joined by those who had been enslaved by the Romans under Vespasian and Titus, and dispersed to the extreme west during the period of the Jewish Wars, and especially after the defeat of Judea in 70 C.C. One account placed the number carried off to Hispania at 80,000. Subsequent immigrations came into the area along both the northern African and southern European sides of the Mediterranean.
Among the earliest records which may refer specifically to Jews in the Iberian peninsula during the Roman period is Paul's Epistle to the Romans. Paul's intention to go to Hispania to preach the gospel (Romans 15:24, 28) may have been due to the presence of Jewish communities there, as well as the fact that Herod Antipas's banishment by Caligula in 39 C.C. may have been to Hispania.
From a slightly later period, Midrash Rabbah, Leviticus 29:2 makes reference to the return of the Diaspora from Hispania by 165 C.C..
Perhaps the most direct and substantial of early references are the several decrees of the Council of Elvira, convened in the early fourth century, which address proper Christian behavior with regard to the Jews of Hispania.
As citizens of the Roman Empire, the Jews of Hispania engaged in a variety of occupations, including agriculture. Until the adoption of Christianity, Jews had close relations with non-Jewish populations, and played an active role in the social and economic life of the province. The edicts of the Synod of Elvira, provide evidence of Jews who were integrated enough into the greater community to cause alarm among some. Of the Council's 80 canonic decisions, all which pertain to Jews served to maintain a separation between the two communities. It seems that by this time the presence of Jews was of greater concern to Christian authorities than the presence of pagans. Canon 16, which prohibited marriage of Christians with Jews, was worded more strongly than canon 15, which prohibited marriage with pagans. Canon 78 threatens Christians who commit adultery with Jews with ostracism. Canon 48 forbade the blessing of Christian crops by Jews, and Canon 50 forbade the sharing of meals by Christians and Jews.
Yet in comparison to Jewish life in Byzantium and Italy, life for the early Jews in Hispania and the rest of western Europe was relatively tolerable. This is due in large measure to the difficulty which the Church had in establishing itself in its western frontier. In the west, Germanic tribes such as the Suevi, the Vandals, and especially the Visigoths had more or less disrupted the political and ecclesiastical systems of the Roman empire, and for several centuries western Jews enjoyed a degree of peace which their brethren to the east did not.
Barbarian invasions brought most of the Iberian Peninsula under Visigothic rule by the early fifth century. Other than in their contempt for Orthodox Christians, who reminded them of the Romans and also because they were Arians, the Visigoths were largely uninterested in the religious creeds within their kingdom. It was not until 506, when Alaric II (484-507) published his Brevarium Alaricianum (Breviary of Alaric) (wherein he adopted the laws of the ousted Romans), that a Visigothic king concerned himself with the Jews.
The situation of the Jews changed after the conversion of the Visigothic royal family under Recared from Arianism to Roman Catholicism in 587. In their desire to consolidate the realm under the new religion, the Visigoths adopted an aggressive policy towards Jews. As the king and the church acted in a single interest, the Jews' situation deteriorated. Under successive Visigothic kings and under ecclesiastical authority, many orders of expulsion, forced conversion, isolation, enslavement, execution, and other punitive measures were made. By 612 - 621, the situation for Jews became intolerable and many left Spain for nearby northern Africa. In 711, thousands of Jews from North Africa accompanied the Muslims who invaded Spain, subsuming Catholic Spain and turning much of it into an Arab state, Al-Andalus.
The Jews of Hispania had been utterly embittered and alienated by Catholic rule by the time of the Muslim invasion. To them, the Moors were perceived as, and indeed were, a liberating force. Wherever they went, the Muslims were greeted by Jews eager to aid them in administering the country. In many conquered towns the garrison was left in the hands of the Jews before the Muslims proceeded further north. Thus were initiated the two centuries of Muslim rule in the Iberian peninsula which became known as the "Golden Age" of Sephardi Jewry.
With the victory of Tariq ibn Ziyad in 711, the lives of the Sephardim changed dramatically. In spite of the covenant of protection given to the dhimmis (non-Muslim members of monotheistic faiths), the coming of the Moors was by-and-large welcomed by the Jews of Iberia.
Both Muslim and Christian sources claim that Jews provided valuable aid to the Muslim invaders. Once captured, the defense of Cordoba was left in the hands of Jews, and Granada, Malaga, Seville, and Toledo were left to a mixed army of Jews and Moors. Although in some towns Jews may have been helpful to Muslim success, they were of limited impact overall. However, it was frequently claimed by Christians in later centuries that the fall of Iberia was due in large part to Jewish perfidy.
In spite of the restrictions placed upon the Jews as dhimmis, life under Muslim rule was one of great opportunity and Jews flourished as they did not under the Christian Visigoths. Many Jews came to Iberia, seen as a land of tolerance and opportunity, from the Christian and Muslim worlds. Following initial Arab victories, and especially with the establishment of Umayyad rule by Abd al-Rahman I in 755, the native Jewish community was joined by Jews from the rest of Europe, as well as from Arab lands, from Morocco to Babylon. Jewish communities were enriched culturally, intellectually, and religiously by the commingling of these diverse Jewish traditions.
Arabic culture, of course, also made a lasting impact on Sephardic cultural development. General re-evaluation of scripture was prompted by Muslim anti-Jewish polemics and the spread of rationalism, as well as the anti-Rabbanite polemics of Karaite sectarianism (which was inspired by various Muslim schismatic movements). The cultural and intellectual achievements of the Arabs, and much of the scientific and philosophical speculation of Ancient Greek culture, which had been best preserved by Arab scholars, was made available to the educated Jew. The meticulous regard which the Arabs had for grammar and style also had the effect of stimulating an interest in philological matters in general among Jews. Arabic came to be the main language of Sephardic science, philosophy, and everyday business, as had been the case with Babylonian geonim. This thorough adoption of the Arabic language also greatly facilitated the assimilation of Jews into Moorish culture, and Jewish activity in a variety of professions, including medicine, commerce, finance, and agriculture increased.
By the ninth century, some members of the Sephardic community felt confident enough to take part in proselytizing amongst Christians. Most famous were the heated correspondences sent between Bodo Eleazar, a former Christian deacon who had converted to Judaism in 838, and the Bishop of Córdoba Paulus Albarus, who had converted from Judaism to Christianity. Each man, using such epithets as "wretched compiler", tried to convince the other to return to his former faith, to no avail.
The Golden Age is most closely identified with the reign of Abd al-Rahman III (882-942), the first independent Caliph of Cordoba, and in particular with the career of his Jewish councilor, Hasdai ibn Shaprut (882-942). Within this context of cultural patronage, studies in Hebrew, literature, and linguistics flourished.
Hasdai benefitted world Jewry not only indirectly by creating a favorable environment for scholarly pursuits within Iberia, but also by using his influence to intervene on behalf of foreign Jews. In his letter to Byzantine Princess Helena, he requested protection for the Jews under Byzantine rule, attesting to the fair treatment of the Christians of al-Andalus, and perhaps indicating that such was contingent on the treatment of Jews abroad.
One notable contribution to Christian intellectualism is Ibn Gabirol's neo-Platonic Fons Vitae ("The Source of Life;" "Mekor Hayyim"). Thought by many to have been written by a Christian, this work was admired by Christians and studied in monasteries throughout the Middle Ages, though the work of Solomon Munk in the 19th century proved that the author of Fons Vitae was the Jewish Ibn Gabirol.
In addition to contributions of original work, the Sephardim were active as translators. Texts were translated between Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin. In translating the great works of Arabic, Hebrew, and Greek into Latin, Iberian Jews were instrumental in bringing the fields of science and philosophy, which formed much of the basis of Renaissance learning, into the rest of Europe.
In the early 11th century, centralized authority based at Cordoba broke down following the Berber invasion and the ousting of the Umayyads. In its stead arose the independent taifa principalities under the rule of local Arab, Berber, or Slavonic leaders. Rather than having a stifling effect, the disintegration of the caliphate expanded the opportunities to Jewish and other professionals. The services of Jewish scientists, doctors, traders, poets, and scholars were generally valued by Christian and Muslim rulers of regional centers, especially as order was restored in recently conquered towns. Rabbi Samuel ha-Nagid (ibn Naghrela) was the Vizier of Granada. He was succeeded by his son Joseph ibn Naghrela who was slain by an incited mob along with most of the Jewish community. The remnant fled to Lucena.
The decline of the Golden Age began before the completion of the Christian Reconquista, with the penetration and influence of the Almoravids, and then the Almohads, from North Africa. These fundamentalist sects abhorred the liberality of the Islamic culture of al-Andalus, including the position of authority which some dhimmis held over Muslims. When the Almohads gave the Jews a choice of either death or conversion to Islam, many Jews emigrated. Some, such as the family of Maimonides, fled south and east to the more tolerant Muslim lands, while others went northward to settle in the growing Christian kingdoms.
Meanwhile the Reconquista continued in the north throughout the 12th century. As various Arab lands fell to the Christians, conditions for some Jews in the emerging Christian kingdoms became increasingly favorable. As had happened during the reconstruction of towns following the breakdown of authority under the Umayyads, the services of Jews were employed by the victorious Christian leaders. Sephardic knowledge of the language and culture of the enemy, their skills as diplomats and professionals, as well as their desire for relief from intolerable conditions — the very same reasons that they had proved useful to the Arabs in the early stages of the Muslim invasion — made their services very valuable.
However, the Jews from the Muslim south were not entirely secure in their northward migrations. Old prejudices were compounded by newer ones. Suspicions of complicity with the Muslims were alive and well as Jews immigrated, speaking Arabic. However, many of the newly arrived Jews of the north prospered during the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries. The majority of Latin documentation regarding Jews during this period refers to their landed property, fields, and vineyards.
In many ways life had come full circle for the Sephardim of al-Andalus. As conditions became more oppressive during the 12th and 13th centuries, Jews again looked to an outside culture for relief. Christian leaders of reconquered cities granted them extensive autonomy, and Jewish scholarship recovered somewhat and developed as communities grew in size and importance. However, the Reconquista Jews never reached the same heights as had those of the Golden Age.
Some of the more prominent Sephardic Jews are:
Maimonides (Ibn Maymun)
Isaac Abrabanel
Baruch Spinoza
David Nieto
Daniel Mendoza
David Ricardo
Moses Montefiore
Benjamin Disraeli
Sabato Morais
Emma Lazarus
Benjamin Cardozo
David de Sola Pool
Basil Henriques
Pierre Mendès-France
Sam Costa
Jacques Derrida
Sílvio Santos
Hank Azaria
Sefardim see Sephardim
Sephardim (Sefardim -- from Hebrew Sefarad (“Spain”)). Sephardim have an orientation in Judaism, developing in the Iberian peninsula and North Africa, contrary to Judaism developing in the central, northern and eastern part of Europe called Ashkenazi. The Sephardim was attributed to the Jews who were forced to leave Spain and Portugal in 1492. Many of these settled in North Africa, other parts of Europe and the Ottoman Empire.
The language of the Sephardi was Ladino, a language no longer in any vernacular use. Sephardim and Ashkenazi came to develop different prayer liturgies, Torah services, Hebrew pronunciation and ways of life. The rituals of the Sephardi were of the Babylonian traditions. Ashkenazi and Sephardi tunes for both prayers and Torah reading are different. A Sephardi Torah is contained in a wooden cylinder which makes it stand up while being read, while an Ashkenazi Torah lies flat.
In order to decide upon Jewish law, there are different authorities. Sephardim follow Rabbi Joseph Caro’s Shulhan Arukh. There are differences in many aspects of Jewish law, from which laws women are exempt from to what food one is allowed to eat on Pesach.
However, today, many of the distinctions between Ashkenazim and Sephardim have disappeared. In Israel as well as other countries like the United States, Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews live side by side, even if they generally have separate institutions.
Today there are about three million Sephardi Jews in the world, of which about one million live in Israel. Being far smaller in number than the Ashkenazi, Sephardim have been the least influential in Israeli politics. However, over the last decades much of this has changed. Through their party Shas, which won 17 of 120 seats in the Knesset in 1999, they have become more visible. Indeed, in July 2000, the Iranian born Sephardi Jew Moshe Katsav was elected president.
A brief history of the Sephardi Jews reads as follows:
According to legends, around the tenth century B.C.T., the first Jews settled in Spain. This has, however, never been proven historically.
In 305 of the Christian calendar, the Council of Toledo passed an edict saying that Jews could not bless the crops of non-Jews, and Jews could not eat with non-Jews.
In 612, Spanish rulers ordered the forced baptism of all Jews.
In 711, the Muslims took control of most of Spain, and the Jews became part of building the most advanced civilization of its time. During this time, the Jews paid a special discriminatory tax compared to Muslim inhabitants, the jizya, but had full religious freedom. The Jews lived in their separate quarters, called al-jarnas.
Coinciding with the Muslim control of Spain, the eighth through eleventh centuries of the Christian calendar became the golden age of Judaism, with many cultural achievements. Through the positive co-existence of the religions during this period, Judaism became influenced by Islam. Thus, following Muslim practices, the washing of hands and feet before entering the synagogue was introduced and clothes, language and music were similarly borrowed from Islam.
In 1055, the Almoravids seized control of Spain and, subsequently, imposed restrictions on Jewish life and activities.
In 1098, the Christian reconquest of Spain began and, at that time, the Jews in the Christian parts of Spain came to enjoy more freedom than the ones living in the Muslim parts.
In 1147, more restrictions were imposed by the Almohads, such as the obligation of all Jews to wear a yellow turban.
Around the middle of the thirteenth century, Christian rulers of Spain began imposing restrictions on the Jews, and there were attempts were made to force the conversion of Jews to Christianity.
In 1492, following the Catholic reconquest of Spain, a process of driving the Jews out of the Iberian peninsula began. About 100,000 Jews of the area would be expelled within the next five years. They moved into France, the Netherlands, England, Italy, the Balkans, the Ottoman Empire, and North Africa. Many Jews were also forced to convert to Christianity, especially in Portugal.
During the seventeenth century, many Sephardi Jews settled in the Americas.
In the 1940s, the Sephardi Jews were among the Jewish groups that suffered the most during the Holocaust.
In the 1950s, many Sephardi Jews fled or moved from Muslim countries to the new state of Israel. In Israel, many of the Sephardi Jews experienced a form of second class citizenship at the hands of the dominant Ashkenazi Jews.
The Sephardim were the Jews who lived in Spain and Portugal from the Middle Ages until their persecution and mass expulsion from those countries in the last decades of the 15th century and their descendants. The Sephardim initially fled to North Africa and other parts of the Ottoman Empire, and many of these eventually settled in such countries as France, Holland, England, Italy, and the Balkans. Salonika (Thessaloníki) in Macedonia and the city of Amsterdam became major sites of Sephardic settlement. The transplanted Sephardim largely retained their native Judeo-Spanish language (Ladino), literature, and customs. They became noted for their cultural and intellectual achievements within the Mediterranean and northern European Jewish communities. The Sephardim differ notably from the Ashkenazim (German-rite Jews) in preserving Babylonian rather than Palestinian Jewish ritual traditions. Of the Sephardic Jews in the world today (far fewer than the Ashkenazim), many now reside in the state of Israel. The chief rabbinate of Israel has both a Sephardic and an Ashkenazi chief rabbi.
Though the term Oriental Jews is perhaps more properly applied to Jews of North Africa and the Middle East who had no ties with either Spain or Germany and who speak Arabic, Persian, or a variant of ancient Aramaic, the designation Sephardim frequently signifies all North African Jews and others who, under the influence of the “Spanish Jews,” have adopted the Sephardic rite.
It is thought that substantial Jewish immigration probably occurred during the Roman period of Hispania. The province came under Roman control with the fall of Carthage after the Second Punic War (218-202 B.C.T.). Exactly how soon after this time Jews made their way onto the scene in this context is a matter of speculation. It is within the realm of possibility that they went there under the Romans as free men to take advantage of its rich resources.
Although the spread of Jews into Europe is most commonly associated with the Diaspora which ensued from the Roman conquest of Judea, emigration from Judea into the greater Roman Mediterranean area antedated the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans under Titus. Any Jews already in Hispania at this time would have been joined by those who had been enslaved by the Romans under Vespasian and Titus, and dispersed to the extreme west during the period of the Jewish Wars, and especially after the defeat of Judea in 70 C.C. One account placed the number carried off to Hispania at 80,000. Subsequent immigrations came into the area along both the northern African and southern European sides of the Mediterranean.
Among the earliest records which may refer specifically to Jews in the Iberian peninsula during the Roman period is Paul's Epistle to the Romans. Paul's intention to go to Hispania to preach the gospel (Romans 15:24, 28) may have been due to the presence of Jewish communities there, as well as the fact that Herod Antipas's banishment by Caligula in 39 C.C. may have been to Hispania.
From a slightly later period, Midrash Rabbah, Leviticus 29:2 makes reference to the return of the Diaspora from Hispania by 165 C.C..
Perhaps the most direct and substantial of early references are the several decrees of the Council of Elvira, convened in the early fourth century, which address proper Christian behavior with regard to the Jews of Hispania.
As citizens of the Roman Empire, the Jews of Hispania engaged in a variety of occupations, including agriculture. Until the adoption of Christianity, Jews had close relations with non-Jewish populations, and played an active role in the social and economic life of the province. The edicts of the Synod of Elvira, provide evidence of Jews who were integrated enough into the greater community to cause alarm among some. Of the Council's 80 canonic decisions, all which pertain to Jews served to maintain a separation between the two communities. It seems that by this time the presence of Jews was of greater concern to Christian authorities than the presence of pagans. Canon 16, which prohibited marriage of Christians with Jews, was worded more strongly than canon 15, which prohibited marriage with pagans. Canon 78 threatens Christians who commit adultery with Jews with ostracism. Canon 48 forbade the blessing of Christian crops by Jews, and Canon 50 forbade the sharing of meals by Christians and Jews.
Yet in comparison to Jewish life in Byzantium and Italy, life for the early Jews in Hispania and the rest of western Europe was relatively tolerable. This is due in large measure to the difficulty which the Church had in establishing itself in its western frontier. In the west, Germanic tribes such as the Suevi, the Vandals, and especially the Visigoths had more or less disrupted the political and ecclesiastical systems of the Roman empire, and for several centuries western Jews enjoyed a degree of peace which their brethren to the east did not.
Barbarian invasions brought most of the Iberian Peninsula under Visigothic rule by the early fifth century. Other than in their contempt for Orthodox Christians, who reminded them of the Romans and also because they were Arians, the Visigoths were largely uninterested in the religious creeds within their kingdom. It was not until 506, when Alaric II (484-507) published his Brevarium Alaricianum (Breviary of Alaric) (wherein he adopted the laws of the ousted Romans), that a Visigothic king concerned himself with the Jews.
The situation of the Jews changed after the conversion of the Visigothic royal family under Recared from Arianism to Roman Catholicism in 587. In their desire to consolidate the realm under the new religion, the Visigoths adopted an aggressive policy towards Jews. As the king and the church acted in a single interest, the Jews' situation deteriorated. Under successive Visigothic kings and under ecclesiastical authority, many orders of expulsion, forced conversion, isolation, enslavement, execution, and other punitive measures were made. By 612 - 621, the situation for Jews became intolerable and many left Spain for nearby northern Africa. In 711, thousands of Jews from North Africa accompanied the Muslims who invaded Spain, subsuming Catholic Spain and turning much of it into an Arab state, Al-Andalus.
The Jews of Hispania had been utterly embittered and alienated by Catholic rule by the time of the Muslim invasion. To them, the Moors were perceived as, and indeed were, a liberating force. Wherever they went, the Muslims were greeted by Jews eager to aid them in administering the country. In many conquered towns the garrison was left in the hands of the Jews before the Muslims proceeded further north. Thus were initiated the two centuries of Muslim rule in the Iberian peninsula which became known as the "Golden Age" of Sephardi Jewry.
With the victory of Tariq ibn Ziyad in 711, the lives of the Sephardim changed dramatically. In spite of the covenant of protection given to the dhimmis (non-Muslim members of monotheistic faiths), the coming of the Moors was by-and-large welcomed by the Jews of Iberia.
Both Muslim and Christian sources claim that Jews provided valuable aid to the Muslim invaders. Once captured, the defense of Cordoba was left in the hands of Jews, and Granada, Malaga, Seville, and Toledo were left to a mixed army of Jews and Moors. Although in some towns Jews may have been helpful to Muslim success, they were of limited impact overall. However, it was frequently claimed by Christians in later centuries that the fall of Iberia was due in large part to Jewish perfidy.
In spite of the restrictions placed upon the Jews as dhimmis, life under Muslim rule was one of great opportunity and Jews flourished as they did not under the Christian Visigoths. Many Jews came to Iberia, seen as a land of tolerance and opportunity, from the Christian and Muslim worlds. Following initial Arab victories, and especially with the establishment of Umayyad rule by Abd al-Rahman I in 755, the native Jewish community was joined by Jews from the rest of Europe, as well as from Arab lands, from Morocco to Babylon. Jewish communities were enriched culturally, intellectually, and religiously by the commingling of these diverse Jewish traditions.
Arabic culture, of course, also made a lasting impact on Sephardic cultural development. General re-evaluation of scripture was prompted by Muslim anti-Jewish polemics and the spread of rationalism, as well as the anti-Rabbanite polemics of Karaite sectarianism (which was inspired by various Muslim schismatic movements). The cultural and intellectual achievements of the Arabs, and much of the scientific and philosophical speculation of Ancient Greek culture, which had been best preserved by Arab scholars, was made available to the educated Jew. The meticulous regard which the Arabs had for grammar and style also had the effect of stimulating an interest in philological matters in general among Jews. Arabic came to be the main language of Sephardic science, philosophy, and everyday business, as had been the case with Babylonian geonim. This thorough adoption of the Arabic language also greatly facilitated the assimilation of Jews into Moorish culture, and Jewish activity in a variety of professions, including medicine, commerce, finance, and agriculture increased.
By the ninth century, some members of the Sephardic community felt confident enough to take part in proselytizing amongst Christians. Most famous were the heated correspondences sent between Bodo Eleazar, a former Christian deacon who had converted to Judaism in 838, and the Bishop of Córdoba Paulus Albarus, who had converted from Judaism to Christianity. Each man, using such epithets as "wretched compiler", tried to convince the other to return to his former faith, to no avail.
The Golden Age is most closely identified with the reign of Abd al-Rahman III (882-942), the first independent Caliph of Cordoba, and in particular with the career of his Jewish councilor, Hasdai ibn Shaprut (882-942). Within this context of cultural patronage, studies in Hebrew, literature, and linguistics flourished.
Hasdai benefitted world Jewry not only indirectly by creating a favorable environment for scholarly pursuits within Iberia, but also by using his influence to intervene on behalf of foreign Jews. In his letter to Byzantine Princess Helena, he requested protection for the Jews under Byzantine rule, attesting to the fair treatment of the Christians of al-Andalus, and perhaps indicating that such was contingent on the treatment of Jews abroad.
One notable contribution to Christian intellectualism is Ibn Gabirol's neo-Platonic Fons Vitae ("The Source of Life;" "Mekor Hayyim"). Thought by many to have been written by a Christian, this work was admired by Christians and studied in monasteries throughout the Middle Ages, though the work of Solomon Munk in the 19th century proved that the author of Fons Vitae was the Jewish Ibn Gabirol.
In addition to contributions of original work, the Sephardim were active as translators. Texts were translated between Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin. In translating the great works of Arabic, Hebrew, and Greek into Latin, Iberian Jews were instrumental in bringing the fields of science and philosophy, which formed much of the basis of Renaissance learning, into the rest of Europe.
In the early 11th century, centralized authority based at Cordoba broke down following the Berber invasion and the ousting of the Umayyads. In its stead arose the independent taifa principalities under the rule of local Arab, Berber, or Slavonic leaders. Rather than having a stifling effect, the disintegration of the caliphate expanded the opportunities to Jewish and other professionals. The services of Jewish scientists, doctors, traders, poets, and scholars were generally valued by Christian and Muslim rulers of regional centers, especially as order was restored in recently conquered towns. Rabbi Samuel ha-Nagid (ibn Naghrela) was the Vizier of Granada. He was succeeded by his son Joseph ibn Naghrela who was slain by an incited mob along with most of the Jewish community. The remnant fled to Lucena.
The decline of the Golden Age began before the completion of the Christian Reconquista, with the penetration and influence of the Almoravids, and then the Almohads, from North Africa. These fundamentalist sects abhorred the liberality of the Islamic culture of al-Andalus, including the position of authority which some dhimmis held over Muslims. When the Almohads gave the Jews a choice of either death or conversion to Islam, many Jews emigrated. Some, such as the family of Maimonides, fled south and east to the more tolerant Muslim lands, while others went northward to settle in the growing Christian kingdoms.
Meanwhile the Reconquista continued in the north throughout the 12th century. As various Arab lands fell to the Christians, conditions for some Jews in the emerging Christian kingdoms became increasingly favorable. As had happened during the reconstruction of towns following the breakdown of authority under the Umayyads, the services of Jews were employed by the victorious Christian leaders. Sephardic knowledge of the language and culture of the enemy, their skills as diplomats and professionals, as well as their desire for relief from intolerable conditions — the very same reasons that they had proved useful to the Arabs in the early stages of the Muslim invasion — made their services very valuable.
However, the Jews from the Muslim south were not entirely secure in their northward migrations. Old prejudices were compounded by newer ones. Suspicions of complicity with the Muslims were alive and well as Jews immigrated, speaking Arabic. However, many of the newly arrived Jews of the north prospered during the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries. The majority of Latin documentation regarding Jews during this period refers to their landed property, fields, and vineyards.
In many ways life had come full circle for the Sephardim of al-Andalus. As conditions became more oppressive during the 12th and 13th centuries, Jews again looked to an outside culture for relief. Christian leaders of reconquered cities granted them extensive autonomy, and Jewish scholarship recovered somewhat and developed as communities grew in size and importance. However, the Reconquista Jews never reached the same heights as had those of the Golden Age.
Some of the more prominent Sephardic Jews are:
Maimonides (Ibn Maymun)
Isaac Abrabanel
Baruch Spinoza
David Nieto
Daniel Mendoza
David Ricardo
Moses Montefiore
Benjamin Disraeli
Sabato Morais
Emma Lazarus
Benjamin Cardozo
David de Sola Pool
Basil Henriques
Pierre Mendès-France
Sam Costa
Jacques Derrida
Sílvio Santos
Hank Azaria
Sefardim see Sephardim
Sepoy
Sepoy. The word sepoy is the English corruption of the Persian sipahi, the adjective formed from sipah --“army.” In Persian (spahi), Turkish, and French (Spahi), it invariably means a “horse soldier.” Sepoy is a term derived from the Persian term spahi (horseman). The term sepoy, from the mid-eighteenth century forward, has come to mean an Indian foot soldier disciplined and dressed in the European style and usually under European command. In India, the French and the British applied it since the beginning of the eighteenth century to natives of India trained, armed and clad after the European fashion as regular infantry soldiers. Sepoy battalions, largely recruited from among high-caste brahmans and Rajputs, constituted the major component of the East India Company’s army. The Indian Mutiny of 1857 to 1859 is also called Sepoy Mutiny because it was started by the Sepoys. After the so-called Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 sepoy recruits were drawn instead from the Sikhs, Gurkhas, and Muslims of the Northwest.
A sepoy was formerly the designation given to an Indian soldier in the service of a European power. In the modern Indian Army, Pakistan Army and Bangladesh Army it remains in use for the rank of private soldier.
Following the formation of the French East India Company (Compagnie des Indes) in 1719, companies of Indian sepoys (cipayes) were raised to augment the French and Swiss mercenary troops available. By 1720 the sepoys in French service numbered about 10,000. Although much reduced in numbers, France continued to maintain a Military Corps of Indian Sepoys (corps militaire des cipayes de l'Inde) in Pondichery (now Puducherry) until it was disbanded in 1898 and replaced by a locally recruited gendarmerie..
In its most common application Sepoy was the term used in the British Indian Army, and earlier in that of the British East India Company, for an infantry private (a cavalry trooper was a Sowar). It is still so used in the modern Indian Army, Pakistan Army and Bangladesh Army. Close to 300,000 sepoys were crucial in securing the subcontinent for the British East India Company. There was widespread mutiny amongst the sepoys of the Bengal Army in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 after it was alleged that the new rifles being issued to them used animal fat to grease the casing.
Sepoys were also recruited in Portuguese India. Some Portuguese sepoys were later sent to serve in other territories of the Portuguese Empire, especially those in Africa. The term "sipaio" (sepoy) was also applied by the Portuguese to African soldiers and African rural police officers.
The same Persian word has reached English via another route in the form of Spahi.
Zipaio, the Basque version of the word, is used by leftist Basque nationalists as an insult for members of the Basque Police, implying that they are not a national police but servants of a foreign occupier.
Sipahi see Sepoy.
Sepoy. The word sepoy is the English corruption of the Persian sipahi, the adjective formed from sipah --“army.” In Persian (spahi), Turkish, and French (Spahi), it invariably means a “horse soldier.” Sepoy is a term derived from the Persian term spahi (horseman). The term sepoy, from the mid-eighteenth century forward, has come to mean an Indian foot soldier disciplined and dressed in the European style and usually under European command. In India, the French and the British applied it since the beginning of the eighteenth century to natives of India trained, armed and clad after the European fashion as regular infantry soldiers. Sepoy battalions, largely recruited from among high-caste brahmans and Rajputs, constituted the major component of the East India Company’s army. The Indian Mutiny of 1857 to 1859 is also called Sepoy Mutiny because it was started by the Sepoys. After the so-called Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 sepoy recruits were drawn instead from the Sikhs, Gurkhas, and Muslims of the Northwest.
A sepoy was formerly the designation given to an Indian soldier in the service of a European power. In the modern Indian Army, Pakistan Army and Bangladesh Army it remains in use for the rank of private soldier.
Following the formation of the French East India Company (Compagnie des Indes) in 1719, companies of Indian sepoys (cipayes) were raised to augment the French and Swiss mercenary troops available. By 1720 the sepoys in French service numbered about 10,000. Although much reduced in numbers, France continued to maintain a Military Corps of Indian Sepoys (corps militaire des cipayes de l'Inde) in Pondichery (now Puducherry) until it was disbanded in 1898 and replaced by a locally recruited gendarmerie..
In its most common application Sepoy was the term used in the British Indian Army, and earlier in that of the British East India Company, for an infantry private (a cavalry trooper was a Sowar). It is still so used in the modern Indian Army, Pakistan Army and Bangladesh Army. Close to 300,000 sepoys were crucial in securing the subcontinent for the British East India Company. There was widespread mutiny amongst the sepoys of the Bengal Army in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 after it was alleged that the new rifles being issued to them used animal fat to grease the casing.
Sepoys were also recruited in Portuguese India. Some Portuguese sepoys were later sent to serve in other territories of the Portuguese Empire, especially those in Africa. The term "sipaio" (sepoy) was also applied by the Portuguese to African soldiers and African rural police officers.
The same Persian word has reached English via another route in the form of Spahi.
Zipaio, the Basque version of the word, is used by leftist Basque nationalists as an insult for members of the Basque Police, implying that they are not a national police but servants of a foreign occupier.
Sipahi see Sepoy.
No comments:
Post a Comment