User:Visnelma/Palanka

Palanka
Dolma rıhtım palanka duvar
Alternative names	Parkan, Palanga
General information
Status	Obselete
Classification	Fortification
Country	Ottoman Empire, Archduchy of Austria, Safavid Empire
Technical details
Material	Wood and earth (in Europe) Mudbrick; earth and grass (in eastern territories of Ottoman Empire)
Other information
Facilities	Tower Gatehouse

Palanka (Turkish pronunciation: [paˈɫaŋka]), is a fortress which was used extensively by Ottoman Empire and its rivals. Palankas could be constructed and expanded rapidly. They were constructed cheaply with simple materials. Although most of the palankas built in Europe were made of wood and earth, construction materials differed accordingly to the region due to resource scarcity. A typical palanka was surrounded with a ditch. The style of palanka walls were interchangeable, they could be either single rowed or double rowed with a filling in between. Also, corners of the walls could be fortified with D-shaped towers.

Fortifications that are made of wooden materials such as palisades were used since Ancient times. Palanka had its origins from a earlier Ottoman fortification called havale which was built outside the fortresses that were intended to be conquered. In 16th century, palankas were used in Hungary, Balkans, northern Black Sea, Anatolia, and North Africa. They were widely used during Ottoman-Austrian Wars in 16-17th centuries. Names of many settlements which were a part of Ottoman territories have its origins from this fortification.

Etymology

The word palankas originates from the Hungarian word palánkvārcode: hun promoted to code: hu which means palisade. The Hungarian has its roots from the Late Latin word palanca. This word was borrowed from the Ancient Greek word phálanks, phalang (φάλανξ, φαλαγγ) which means log.

Bibliography

Books

• Murphey, Rhoads (1999). Ottoman Warfare 1500-1700 (PDF). United Kingdom: UCL Press.
• Özgüven, Burcu (2003). "Characteristics of Turkish and Hungarian Palanka-protected Settlements along the River Danube". Archaeology of the Ottoman Period in Hungary. Budapest: Hungarian National Museum.
• Stein, Mark L. (2007). Guarding the Frontier: Ottoman Border Forts and Garrisons in Europe. Tauris Academic Studies.
• Özgüven, Burcu (2009). "Palanka Forts and Construction Activity in the Late Ottoman Balkans". The Frontiers of the Ottoman World. A.C.S. Peacock.
• Nicolle, David (2010). Ottoman Fortifications 1300-1710. Osprey Publishing.

Journal articles

• Radushev, Evgeni (1995). "Ottoman Border Periphary (Serhad) in the Vilayet of Niğbolu, First Half of the 16th Century". Institut d'etudes balkaniques.
• Özgüven, Burcu (2001). "The Palanka: A Characteristic Building Type of the Ottoman Fortification Network in Hungary". Electronic Journal of Oriental Studies. 4.
• Hayli, Selçuk (2011). "Az Bilinen Bir Yerleşme Tipi "Palangalar" ve Erzincan Ovasında Palanga Yerleşmesi Örnekleri". Türk Coğrafya Dergisi (58).
• Acıoğlu, Yusuf (2016). "Çanakkale Tabyaları". Sanat Tarihi Dergisi. 25 (1).

Thesises

• Göger, Veysel (2014). 16. Yüzyıl Osmanlı Kale Kuşatmaları (strateji, taktik, kuşatma aşamaları ve teknolojisi) (Master's thesis). Marmara University.
• Akto, Deniz Armağan (2019). Ottoman Fortresses and Garrisons in the Hungarian and Eastern Frontiers (PDF) (Master's thesis). Middle East Techinal University.