Azab Infantry Corps

Timeline

1. c. 1400–1520Anatolia and Rumelia · RumeliaAzabs (Azab, meaning "unmarried men" or volunteer/obligatory soldiers) were composed of local Muslim freemen, recruited by sancak, and tasked with garrison duty, grain transport, and auxiliary combat; organizationally distinct from timar-holding sipahis and the sultan's own Janissaries.
2. 1531–1540Hungary · Kingdom of HungaryDuring Suleiman's campaigns in Hungary in the 1530s, large numbers of Azabs took the field, serving as siege infantry, trench workers, and garrison troops; some units were already equipped with matchlocks, cooperating with Janissaries and artillery in sieges of fortresses such as Buda.
3. c. 1600–1826Ottoman Empire · Ottoman EmpireAfter the 17th century, as Janissaries and local standing forces expanded, the Azabs' military status relatively declined, taking on more local garrison duties; after the 19th-century Tanzimat reforms, the old formation was gradually incorporated into the new-style army system.