Evaluation of Şakir Garâmî's work named Ottoman Army Organization

The aim of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the changes and transformations (modernization and demodernization) that the Ottoman Army Organization (1329-1911) underwent during its 600-year history by evaluating the manuscript work titled "Ottoman Army Organization" by Şakir Garâmî, a student of the second battalion, sixth company of the Mekteb-i Harbiye-i Şahane Regiment, with this work as a primary source. The author, Şakir Garâmî, wrote the work in two sections: "The Organization of the New Ottoman Army" and "The Army and its History". In the first section titled "The Organization of the New Ottoman Army", which is between 1a-54b, the author describes in detail the army inspectorates, corps, and brigades under the army inspectorates, and all the elements of the army, both material and spiritual, of the late modern Ottoman army organization of 1911. In the second section titled "The Army and the Edvâr-ı Tarihiyye it Underwent" (56a-84b), he describes how the army underwent a change in the period covering the dates 730-1330 AH (1329-1911 AD) by referring to important developments in the history of the army. In addition, the book also discusses the Ottoman army organization in periods of peace and war, the changes in the weapons, ammunition and clothing used by the army, the work of the teachers, officers and students brought from Europe and sent there within the scope of the army's reform efforts, changes in recruitment procedures, and issues such as eligibility and unfitness for military service. What makes the work important is that it presents some statistics that can be used to compare the Ottoman army with other armies. The fact that the statistics of other major armies of the world in some wars are also shared in the work shows that the work is written from a broad perspective that is not indifferent to the developments of armies in the world. The study is planned as an introduction, two chapters and a conclusion. In the introduction, the developments of the land and naval organizations of the Ottoman army in the historical process are outlined in order to create the basis for a better understanding of the Ottoman army organization, which is the subject of the manuscript. In this section, information about the purpose, importance, scope, methodology, problems and related bibliography of the study are also shared. The first chapter provides information about the author and a general introduction of the work. In the second chapter, since the manuscript was originally created under two main headings, it was evaluated under two separate headings. In the annex-3, the pdf copies of the work, which we obtained from the database of the Manuscript and Printed Works Institution, are given in the form of pdf by indicating the leaf numbers. In the conclusion part, the data we obtained from the information contained in the manuscript titled "Ottoman Army Organization" are shared. Keywords Shakir Garâmî, Manuscript, Ottoman Army Organization, Army İnspectorates, Corps Organization