Humbaracı

Humbaracı corps were bombardier and mortar troops of the Ottoman army.

Humbaracı
Active	16th century–1826
Allegiance	Ottoman Empire
Type	Bombardier, mortar
Size	Around 600
Garrison/HQ	Hasköy, Istanbul
Commanders
Notable commanders	Humbaracı Ahmet Paşa
Insignia
Identification symbol

Name

Humbara (also pronounced kumbara) was derived from the Persian word hum-i pare (metal bowl or casing to store money). Due to the similarity of the shape of the projectiles, in Ottoman Turkish, it was used to name the bombshells cast from iron or bronze.

In modern Turkish, it also denotes the earthenware money box used by kids, basically a metal piggy bank.^[1]

History

In the 16th century, Mustafa, an artillery officer in the Ottoman army established a workshop to cast humbaras in order to give the fire power of the artillery to the mobilized infantry groups.

Ammunition

Humbaras could be cast by two ways:

• Humbara-i dest: thrown by hand
• Humbara-i kebir: thrown with an apparatus^[1]

Garrison

Humbaracı Kışlası or Kumbarahane ("Humbaracı Garrison") was located in the Hasköy district of the Istanbul, on the coast of Haliç. The street in front of the barracks are still called "Kumabarahane Street".

As considered one the first example of military garrisons, it included casting workshop, stable, training ground, kitchen, mosque, hospital, and shops. Garrison was also home lağımcılar, corresponds to sapper in modern armies.

On 1795, the garrison was expanded to include the Imperial School of Military Engineering.

After the modernization of the Army and dissolving of the corps, barracks were used as a medical school: the Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Şahane.^[2]