This elite class consisted of four main groups: the military, the court officials, the nobility, and the religious clergy. Though term itself literally means "of the military", it more broadly encompasses all higher levels of imperial administration. To be a member of this ruling elite, one thus had to hold a political office in the service of the Ottoman Empire, meaning that both Muslims and non-Muslims in those positions could be considered askeri.
It was contrasted with the reaya, the tax-paying lower class.
