What was the name of the Ottoman military marching band?

What was the name of the Ottoman military marching band? The answer is Mehter.

Mehter refers to the Ottoman military band tradition, especially the ensembles associated with the Janissary corps. Its loud combination of drums, kettledrums, cymbals, horns, and zurnas accompanied military campaigns, palace ceremonies, and official occasions.

The music was designed to project power and organize troops on the march. Ottoman bands influenced European composers and helped inspire the “Turkish” style heard in 18th- and 19th-century European music. Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven all used musical effects associated with Janissary or Turkish bands.

Strictly speaking, mehter can refer to a musician, while mehterân is the plural and mehterhâne historically referred to a band or its institution. English quiz questions commonly use “Mehter” for the entire military ensemble. It is also often called a Janissary band because Janissaries formed its core, but Janissary was the military corps, not the band’s proper name. The tradition was curtailed after the Janissaries were abolished in 1826 and revived in modern Turkey.