Alay (Ottoman ceremonial parade and the military term)

Alay is a Turkish word, probably from the Greek allagion, which was applied to certain divisions of the Byzantine army. In Ottoman usage it meant a troop or a parade, and hence a crowd or a large quantity. From the 19th-century military reforms it denoted a regiment. ¹

The most important parades bearing the name were the killi alayi, held when the sultan visited Eyyub for his girding with the sword of 'Uthman; the alay-i humayun, on his departure from or return to the capital; the silre alayi, at the palace on the despatch of the annual gift to the Holy Cities; the Mevlid and Bayram alaylari, for his visit to mosques on the Prophet ﷺ's birthday and the two festivals; and the valide alayi, on the transfer of a new valide sultan from the Old to the New Palace. ¹

The word also appears in alay beyi, the officer commanding the feudal cavalry of a sanjak or eyalet, and in alay cavuşu, a cavush who cleared the route for processions or passed commands in battle. The Alay Koskü, a pavilion in the Topkapi Palace built under Murad III, was where the sultans viewed parades. ¹