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Ottoman armies consisted of salaried kapıkulu regulars, topraklı regional irregulars, short-term levied called miri-askeris, yerli-neferats consisting of the entire Muslim population of a town called up for a local defence, and the gönüllüyan, a general mass of tribal irregulars.
The establishment of a regular army early in the 14th. Century saw the emergence of Byzantine and Classical Islamic elements in th eOttoman battle array.Byzantine influence was strong because of the important role played by Christian vassals,particularly in siege warfare.
By the 16th century Ottoman tactics had reached their classic form.within a formidable system of entrenchments, top arabalari gun-waggons and artillery stood the Sultan, his personal guard of solaks, and the Janissaries armed with arquebuses.On their immediate flanks were the armoured alti bölük housed cavalry.Azap infantry assambled in front of the artillary and to the rear, where they and the muteferika guarded the baggage train.On their flanks stood the provincial sipahi cavalry,whose tast was to draw an enemy to the azaps.They in turn would absorb the charge, then move aside to allow the artillery and Janissaries to open fire. Finally the flanking sipahis would attack and, where possible, surround the foe.The Janissaries were, of course, also trained to attack, but they did so at a rush in large closely-packed formations which rendered their gunfire largely ineffective.
Turcoman nomads, the first element in the Ottoman army , were generally known as akincis if they served for one campaign as volunteers receiving booty instead of pay,and as yürüksi if they formed a tribal contingent. Such troops were horse-archers, rarely owning more than leather lamellar armour and still using the ancient Central Asian lassoo as a weapon

Ex-Byzantine troops included cavalry and infantry. Though many used the bow, they did not employ Turcoman tactics. Most of the gazis also seem to have fought in traditional Islamic style as mixed cavalry and infantry.The horse men were known as müsellem (tax-free men) and were organised under the overall command of sancak beys into hundereds, under subasis, and thousands, under binbasis.The foor-soldiers, or yaya, were compareably divided into tens,hunderds and thousands.These infantry archers occasionally fought for Byzantium,where they were known as mourtatoi.Müsellems and yayas were at first paid wages,but by the time of Murat I (1359) they were normally given lands or fiefs in return for military service, the yayas also having the special responsibilty for the protection of roads and bridges.

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