TRENDEFRAtlas of the Sultans · Glossary
Term · Army and navy
Also known as: ghaza, gazi
In the narrow sense “fighting the enemy”; in the Ottoman founding era, both the purpose and the source of legitimacy of raids on the frontier.
In the late 13th and early 14th centuries, on the frontiers of Anatolia, gaza served the Turkmen principalities and dervish communities both as a motivation and as a source of legitimacy. One who took part in gaza was called a gazi; early Ottoman rulers such as Osman and Orhan are called gazi in the sources.
Source: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, article “GAZ” (in Turkish); text condensed for the atlas.