Nizam-i-Cedid (1)

 

This is the first unit of Ottoman infantry I painted - a unit of "boustangee" musketeers from the Nizam-i-Cedid army.  This was a corps of infantry trained in more modern, European methods that was developed in the wake of the Ottoman Empire's defeat in the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-92: the name means "new order".  The aim of Sultan Selim III was to develop a modern army that could hold it's own against its enemies, given that the Janissaries were beginning to show their age as a fighting force.  By 1806 the Nizam-i-Cedid numbered about 25,000 men.  However, Janissaries saw the corps as a rival rather than an ally.  When Selim III was deposed in 1807, the ensuing political strife saw the disbanding of the Nizam-i-Cedid, many units of which were attacked by the "old" army and their soldiers killed by vengeful Janissaries.

All that said, I'm not entirely sure whether what I've painted here is an proper Nizam-i-Cedid unit.  This rather fetching pink and grey uniform is that of the "imperial gardeners" regiment, which was part of the Sultan's household guard.  Accordingly to Flaherty, "they were responsible for the maintenance, policing and defence of some 70 imperial estates as well as the coasts around Constantinople."  This description also seems to include guarding the imperial seraglio.  Flaherty suggests that troops from this regiment, or at least some of them, were recruited into the Nizan-i-Cedid, but it may well be the case that the regiment itself never took the field.  But the uniform is so good I just couldn't resist painting it up!

A note on the paints used, for those who are interested.  The tunics were painted with the Foundry palette 16 "Nipple Pink" and the trousers with palette 31 "Granite". For the soldiers' flesh, I wanted a middle-eastern, rather than European, look and used the Foundry palette 123 "Near Eastern Flesh".  It took me a while to finish this unit.  I ran out of figures a couple of times and then couldn't decide on the flag.  There isn't that much information on flags for regiments other than the Janissaries, but plain green and red ones seemed to be used, so I painted up one of the former.    

36 figures. Painted May 2023 to June 2024.