Shishana

The Shishana or Shishane (Turkish: şişhane, from Persian šeš, "six") was a type of musket used in the Ottoman Empire, traditionally by the Janissaries, produced mostly in the Rumelia (Balkans) territories of what is today Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia (Serbo-Croatian: šišana) beginning in the 17th century, characterized by a hexagonal buttstock.

TypeMusket

Inservice 17th century–mid-19th century

Usedby Ottoman Army, Janissaries

Produced17th to mid-19th century

Quick facts Type, Service history ...

Shishana
Shishane with Miquelet Lock
Type	Musket
Service history
In service	17th century–mid-19th century
Used by	Ottoman Army, Janissaries
Production history
Produced	17th to mid-19th century
Specifications
Barrel length	110–130 centimeters
Caliber	14–27 millimeters
Action	matchlock and miquelet lock

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The Shishana was built with the firing mechanism of both matchlock (or "fuse lock"), and the eastern Mediterranean-type miquelet lock.^[1] It was characterized by a pentagonal or hexagonal buttstock and sharp barrel.^[2] The musket design was used until the mid-19th century.^[1]

The Shishanas were muskets initially used by the Janissaries in the Ottoman army in the 17th century, with barrels imitating 16th- and 17th-century central European defensive muskets (and later hunting muskets).^[1] The Ottoman army at the beginning obtained barrels and muskets from European centres, including high-quality ones from Spain.^[1] The Janissaries used matchlock muskets until the 17th century, while in the late 16th century more miquelet-lock muskets were built.^[3] The 17th-century Shishana were large and weighed c. 5 kilograms, 110–130 centimeters long, with a calibre of 14–27 millimeters, and barrel wall thickness of 7–8 millimeters.^[1] It was very heavy.^[2] The Shishana was used throughout the Ottoman Empire.^[2] In the 18th century high-quality barrels were produced in central Bosnia, using quality iron ore from Bosnia and Serbia.^[1] It was produced in workshops in Ottoman Serbia since the 17th century, including also a domestic variant called paragun, and was notably used by the Serbian rebel army in the First Serbian Uprising (1804–1813).^[2] It was mostly produced in Bosnia.^[2] In the late 19th century, Sliven in Bulgaria produced versions of Shishana rifles known as boyliya (Bulgarian: Бойлия).^[4]

After the disbandment of the Janissary corps in 1826, irregular forces and bandits continued using the weapon.

There exists decorated specimen held at museums all over the world. The Croatian History Museum has 54 specimen, most acquired from Bosnia following 1878.^[1]