On the Flyssa, the Iflissen, and Janissary Recruitment in Ottoman Algiers

[Emanuel]

Well, here is an update on my ongoing obsession with the flyssa. Get a coffee or tea, this is a long read.

The Flyssa

The flyssa draws its name (in French, Flissa/Flyssa/) from the Iflissen Lebhar (Iflissen Im Bahr)(FR: Iflissen sur Mer), one of the major tribal confederations of the Kabyle peoples of North-Western Algeria.

The Iflissen confederacy includes four tribal groups or "aârch", the At Zara, At Ahmed, At Zouaou, and the Tifra. The At Zouaou is the easternmost group and the largest, and it is this tribe that specialized as armorers and manufacturers of the flyssa. By the time of the French conquest of Algeria in 1830, they had developed a veritable arms industry, operating a hundred forges throughout their "tatla trudar" the three most important villages: Ighil Bousouil, Isukane, Taourirt At Zouaou. This activity ceased entirely by the 1850s, with French interdiction of their fabrication, and the introduction of standard fire-arms.

Now, the earliest dated example is that offered in 1827 to Ferdinand VII, King of Spain, by his consul to Algeria. This particular example is purportedly to be seen in the Catalogo de la Real Armeria de Valencia de Don Juan. I have not seen it, but if it is of the classic long, high-quality form, then it suggests its manufacture had existed for some time. The established manufacturing tradition of the At Zouaou would further support this argument. One doesn't establish 100 forges, the skill to use them, and the economic logistics to supply them in a short amount of time.

Therefore, the question is this: how long ago did the At Zouaou start producing the flyssa, and when did they achieve the classical design? Did the form exist in their cultural consciousness from antiquity, based on the "Iberian falcatta", or is it a much more recent variation on the Ottoman yataghan.


The Yataghan

I have searched through the published archaeological material at my disposal, looking for a proto-flyssa with no success.
The second explanation, that the flyssa is derived from the yataghan, is simplest. The two swords share many similarities, both in form, construction, and decoration.

- pic-

The differences, however, are problematic. In its oldest known form, the flyssa is much longer than the yataghan, has a straight back as opposed to convex, is twice as thick at the base, has what may be called an "integral bolster" forming half of its handle, and shows a complex decorative scheme. As a student of art history, among other things, I find these differences very hard to explain through a short design process. Change is most often incremental, and design problems are not solved at once.

The Circassian Sabre

This design phase can be shortened with the introduction of other exempla. The Circassian sabre, for example, shares many characteristics with the flyssa. It has a long blade with a very long, narrow point, and a very thick base.

-pic-



My purpose here is therefore to investigate the possibility of an Ottoman yataghan and a Circassian sabre serving as the basis for the flyssa design.

Ottoman Algeria

First of all the Ottoman question. In 1516, Hayreddin Barbarossa and Oruç Reis take Algiers from the Spanish with Ottoman forces. Within two years, most of the territories held by Spain are conquered and Algeria falls under Ottoman rule. The Kabyle territory remains untouched, however, having never been occupied by Ottoman forces, and remaining independent until French conquest in 1830. Ottoman influence on Kabyle arts and crafts would consequently not have been very great.

Assuming there was influence, where did it come from? What kind of yataghan were present in Algiers, and were there any Circassians among Ottoman forces in Algiers? Hard questions to answer.

Janissary Recruitment

Luckily, the Ottomans were good bureaucrats and kept meticulous records. The most efficient and well kept records in most cultures are finances and taxes. These two points combine to produce records of how many soldiers were recruited for the Algerian army, how much they were paid, what their name, rank and function was, and most importantly, where they came from.

A tease I say! A tease of immense proportions as I do not speak, nor read, a single word of Turkish, and I can barely read Arabic numerals.

Happily for me, the French were also very good at cataloguing, documenting and analyzing their "assets" and the people and cultures within their domain. This is good, since I do speak and read French.

Colombe (1943) and Shuval (1997) were inspired enough to investigate recruitment in Algiers at the turn of the 19th century. The records they found give much-needed glimpse at how Ottoman soldiers and Janissaries were recruited, and where they came from.

The Ottoman Algerian army was never recruited from locals. The Ottoman elite kept a strict policy whereby only Turks were allowed to serve in the "Odjak" the Janissary militia. This meant two things, Algiers had to periodically recruit turkish soldiers, and the Algerian elite was dependent on the Porte in Constantinople to allow it to recruit on Ottoman domains.

Of particular interest is one "Register #47" which catalogs recruits from 1801 to 1817. It identifies the following cities as origin of recruits:
- Roumelia, Morea, Tekirdag, Silivri, Malkara, Andrinople, Demotika, Gumurdjina, Saliki, Varna, Roustchouk, Tatar-Pazardjik, Vidin, Kostendil, Sofia, Tenedos, Mistilene, Eubea, Cos, Crete, Cyprus, Rhodes

No number are given for these sites, but numbers of recruits are given for recruits from Anatolia, which is said to have provided the largest number of troupes.

Van - 3
Manisa (Soma) – 12
Manisa - 23
Moughla (Megri) - 27
Smyrna (Menemen) – 30
Konya - 16
Isparta - 14
Brousse - 24
Pargamon - 17
Alachehir - 16
Smyrna – 55

This is confirmed by contemporary sources Abbe Poiret (1785-6) and Venture de Paradis (1796) who identify Smyrna on the Aegean cost of Anatolia as the principle supplier of recruits.

Register 47 is limited, obviously. It only covers a few hundred janissaries, while the entire militia numbered close to 8000 at the end of the 18th century. It is not statistically representative, but does offer some food for thought.

Given the data available I've produced the map below. We can see the bulk of recruits coming from the Ionian coast. We could therefore suppose that the type of yataghan found in Algiers at the turn of the 19th century was of this eastern Anatolian style.

The Anatolian connection had been brought up by forum member Ham some years ago

Here is another form yataghan that is stylistically very similar to the flyssa, but it is identified as eastern European.





Compare to this flyssa:


These examples seem to match the recruitment patterns shown higher up. Now do we have dates for these?




Thanks for reading this far.

Updates with pictures to illustrate points are coming.

Emanuel


Sources:

Colombe, Marcel. "Contributions a l'Etude du Recrutement de l'Odjaq d'Alger dans les Desrnieres Annees de l'Histoire de la Regence," in Revue Africaine, 87, 1943, pp.166-183.
Deny, J. "Les Registres de Solde des Janissaires, conserves a la – Bibliotheque nationale d'Alger," Revue Africaine 1920, pp.19-46, 212-260.
Lacoste-Dujardin, Camille. Dictionnaire de la Culture Berbere en Kabylie. Editions La Decouverte, Paris 2005.
Shuval, Tal. La Ville d'Alger vers la fin du XVIIIe Siecle. CNRS Histoire. 1997.