We haven't been able to pinpoint a time frame when the Ottomans began adopting the use of the miquelet lock. But we believe it was early on. At least with the Ottoman/Turks. But we simply don't have the volume of records for the Ottomans like we do for Europe. So much of it is speculation and reasonable guess work.
It might be that most bigger game was pinned up by hunting dogs against something or just worn down from the chase. No need for a rifled barrel, and they were too heavy to haul around for miles. Now, hunting your enemies was a different story. You wanted to stay FAR away but get a good shot . That needs a rifled barrel if you could afford one.
Purely conjecture, but I believe there are a couple possibilities even a mix of them. It could have to do with location within the empire, some areas were much closer to the Western world and further from the Balkan/Turkish style influence. Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Northern Bosnia, etc would all have been candidates. There is also the possibility the customer was a European, much more familiar with the Western styled stock who wanted something from a local smith. And then there is the idea that the customer was an Ottoman subject who wanted to appear more wealthy/worldly. I dont have much info on prices throughout the empire, however in the Caucasus it is known that locally made guns were as a rule, the cheapest option, with Turkish guns being the next step up and European arms being the most expensive. Another idea is that due to the military reforms in the 1820's, the Western style stock would become more familiar with the general public and someone wanting a "military" styled gun would have it made in this fashion.
Robert Elgood has a good explanation for this. The first part is obvious; martial figures such as soldiers or bandits need to be on the move, and thus cannot have fixed symbols of wealth like houses or plantations. Therefore, for such people, the only way to show off your wealth is to carry it, so they showed it off by simply blinging out what they already had to have on themselves. Also, apparently, in a cinch, they could sell/barter parts of their decorations, and not have to carry extra coin with them.
I think this was part of the case as well. Ottomans of the classical era were fascinated by clocks and seemingly never tried to replicate them on a competitive scale - I guess the domestic market didn't have much use for it, considering that the call for prayer also acted as a reminder of time. The Europeans often brought clocks and pocketwatches as diplomatic gifts, some specifically made for the Ottomans (who back then used different units of time). I also recall reading about Ottomans asking foreigners to repair their broken clocks. Diplomats probably brought along watchmakers in their retinue just for this purpose.
I'm doubtful of that. Part of the Ottoman military modernization process was a constant attempt at standardization. Provincial volunteers no doubt provided their own guns (Afshars, Albanians, Circassians and Kurds come to mind, for one), but having your regular conscript also supply his own firearm creates not only logistical issues but also a problem concerning the fact that his higher-ups could no longer as easily hold him responsible for taking care of his firearm and such.
Someone in the thread mentioned that the wheellock was primarily a cavalry affair and I would not disagree. Adding onto this statement, I should mention that Ottoman cavalrymen adopted firearms at a later date than their European contemporaries (early accounts suggesting that the first cavalry recipients of firearms found them finicky and messy and asked to go back to bows). By the time they warmed up to its use, the miquelet was not an uncommon sight, and we also know that they used captured wheellocks, so it seems there was no "need" at any time for the Ottomans to produce their own wheellocks.
I agree but to address the decoration of "military" arms as well, it is mentioned in Luigi Marsigli's "L'Etat Militaire de l'empire Ottoman" (The military state of the Ottoman Empire) That the Janissaries loved to decorate their arms as they thought it brought honor to them, particularly the Egyptians. That was published in 1732. He had spent time in the 1670's traveling the Ottoman Empire and fought and was captured from 1682-1684, so his account is considered accurate.
That Royal Armouries gun May be one of my favorite matchlocks.Here is a slightly decorated 17th century example
One should not forget that the Janissaries of that era could hardly be called "military" in the modern sense of the word, or even the contemporary European sense of the word. They had nothing akin to drill, uniform, or standard armament (most of their arms being privately owned). It was more of a bloated social class with martial connotations, not unlike the Samurai of the Edo period. You could simply bribe your way into being a Janissary and not have to go into combat and only take the ulufe salary every three months.
I wonder what the average monthly wage (or equivalent compensation) was for someone in these regions? Those prices are absurdly low, given how much labor was involved.
I finished all my work and now I got 5 hours to kill! May as well post about old guns. Anything before 12 was me being a bad employee, though…
Oh boy, I have gone into things I never thought I'd research today, ancient currencies/their gold or silver content, Ottoman wages, math etc.
Excellent research! That adds some great context and makes a lot more sense for the prices.
