Meat Procurement in the 1615 Revan Campaign: Ottoman Campaign Logistics and Sinan Çavuş’s Role

Abstract

Meat supply constituted a critical aspect of provisioning during Ottoman campaigns. The task of procuring meat during campaigns was carried out by koyun eminleri (sheep provisioning officers). These officials focused on procuring small livestock, especially sheep, to meet meat supply demands. This study focuses on Sinan Çavuş’s role in meat provisioning during the Revan Campaign of 1615-1616, when Kara Mehmet Pasha served as serasker  during the reign of Sultan Ahmed I. Sinan Çavuş had previously served as a sheep provisioning officer in the eastern campaigns led by Kuyucu Murat Pasha and Nasuh Pasha. Owing to his prior experiences in these campaigns, he was again assigned to this role during Kara Mehmet Pasha’s eastern campaign. The study conducts a detailed examination of accounting records related to Sinan Çavuş’s efforts in meat provisioning. One such record is the ruznamçe (daily logbook), which contains information about the transactions he conducted throughout the entire campaign. The second, and more central, source is the accounting record containing details of the first five-month period of the campaign, which was kept under Sinan Çavuş’s supervision. These records offer substantial insights into the meat procurement processes, serving as this study's central focus. The study thoroughly evaluates these sources, shedding light on how Sinan Çavuş procured the necessary sheep for the campaign, how the procured livestock was distributed, and other activities carried out by Sinan Çavuş during this process.

Keywords: Campaign Provisioning, Meat Supply, Sinan Çavuş, Kara Mehmet Pasha, Revan Campaign