Celali Revolts

Timeline

1. 1590–1596Anatolia · AnatoliaDroughts in the 1590s caused crop failures and famine in Anatolia, while the collapse of the timar system deprived local cavalry of land income. The empire recruited large numbers of sekban mercenaries for the Hungarian war and Persian frontier campaigns, shifting military and tax burdens onto the countryside; landless peasants and unemployed soldiers grew in number, laying the social groundwork for revolt.
2. 1596Mezőkeresztes · HungaryIn October 1596, Mehmed III personally campaigned in Hungary, and the Ottoman army won a pyrrhic victory at the Battle of Mezőkeresztes. Afterwards, large numbers of sekban mercenaries were disbanded and sent home without pay or resettlement; these experienced armed men wandered Anatolia as bandits, directly triggering the large-scale escalation of the Celali movement.
3. 1596–1603Sivas · AnatoliaDisbanded sekban and unemployed peasants formed Celali armed bands across Anatolia, plundering villages and disrupting the tax system. The revolt grew from sporadic banditry into armed uprisings of tens of thousands, with local officials such as Hussein Pasha, governor of Karaman, also drawn in. The empire was forced to split its forces between the Hungarian war and pacifying Anatolia, severely weakening central control over the Anatolian countryside.