Note 138 — LETTER I. (continued 2)

The permanent corps of paid cavalry in the Turkish army was divided into four squadrons, organised like those which the Caliph Omar instituted for the guard of the Sacred Standard. The whole corps at first consisted of only 2,400 horsemen, but under Solyman the Great (Busbecq’s Sultan), the number was raised to 4,000. They marched on the right and left of the Sultan, they camped round his tent at night, and were his bodyguard in battle. One of these regiments of Royal Horseguards was called the Turkish Spahis, a term applied to cavalry soldiers generally, but also specially denoting these select horseguards. Another regiment was called the Silihdars, meaning ‘the vassal cavalry.’ A third was called the Ouloufedgis, meaning ‘the paid horsemen,’ and the fourth was called the Ghourebas, meaning ‘the foreign horse.’ See Creasy, History of the Ottoman Turks, chap. ii.