The Gypsies in the logistic units in Rumeli in the 16th century

As gypsies spread all over the world, they were found mostly in the European part (Rumeli) of the Ottoman Empire. Since the Ottoman state wanted to expand its borders in the Balkan lands, military logistic organizations were created and the gypsies were included in this organization because of their fame particularly for their expertise in processing of iron ore. Gypsies were organized same as the other logistic bodies such as Yürüks, Yaya- miisellems, Martolos and Voynuks within the Ottoman military organization. The divisions, composed of both müsellem and yamak brigands, were quartered in seventeen different small towns of Rumeli. While Müsellems were responsible for their duty, Yamaks carried out the fiscal responsibilities. Since the organization was consisted of Muslim gypsies, they were exempted from some state taxes such as ispençe, avarız-ı divaniye and tekalif-i örfiyye. From the 17th century onwards, as the empire was decaying in terms of social and economic reasons, gypsy organization also started to decline as was the case for other logistic divisions. Consequently, the tımar, which had been allocated for the Müselleme before, was now divided into zeamets and timars for the wages of troops or converted to mukataas in order to get more money.