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A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted during the reign of Murad II. The corps was established under either Orhan or Murad I, and dismantled by Mahmud II in 1826.
Janissaries began as elite corps made up through the devşirme system of Ghilman enslavement, by which indigenous European Christians, chiefly from the Balkans, were taken, levied, subjected to forced circumcision and forced conversion to Islam, and incorporated into the Ottoman army. They became famed for internal cohesion cemented by strict discipline and order. Unlike typical slaves, they were paid regular salaries. Forbidden to marry before the age of 40 or engage in trade, their complete loyalty to the Ottoman sultan was expected. (2025). 9780813348339, Westview Press. ISBN 9780813348339 By the 17th century, due to a dramatic increase in the size of the Ottoman standing army, the corps' initially strict recruitment policy was relaxed. Civilians bought their way into it in order to benefit from the improved socio-economic status it conferred upon them. Consequently, the corps gradually lost its military character, undergoing a process that has been described as "civilianization".
The Janissary Corps were a formidable military unit in the early centuries, but as Western Europe modernized its military organization and technology, the Janissaries became a reactionary force that resisted all change within the Ottoman army. Steadily the Ottoman military power became outdated, but when the Janissaries felt their privileges were being threatened, or outsiders wanted to modernize them, or they might be superseded by their Sipahi, they would rise in rebellion. By the time the Janissaries were suppressed, it was too late for Ottoman military power to catch up with the West.Peter Mansfield, A History of the Middle East (1991) p. 31 The Janissary Corps was abolished by Mahmud II in 1826 in the Auspicious Incident, in which 6,000 or more were executed.
From the 1380s to 1648, the Janissaries were gathered through the devşirme system of Ghilman enslavement, which was abolished in 1648. This recruitment of Janissary troops was achieved through the enslaving of dhimmi peoples (i.e., Kafir), predominantly Balkans Christians. Jews were never subject to devşirme; however, there is evidence that Jews tried to enroll into the system. Jews were not allowed to join the Janissary Corps, and so in suspected cases the entire batch would be sent to the Imperial Arsenal as indentured laborers. Ottoman documents from the levy of the winter of 1603-1604 from Bosnia Eyalet and Ottoman Albania wrote to draw attention to some children as "possibly being Jewish" (). According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "in early days, all Christians were enrolled indiscriminately. Later, those from what is now Albania, Bosnia, Serbia, Greece, and Bulgaria were preferred." The Bektashi Order became the official Sufism of the Janissaries in the 15th century.
The Janissaries were kapıkulları (sing. kapıkulu), "door servants" or "slaves of the Sublime Porte", neither freedmen nor ordinary slaves ( köle).Shaw, Stanford; Ezel Kural Shaw (1976). History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Volume I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 27. . They were subjected to strict discipline, but were paid salaries and pensions upon retirement and formed their own distinctive social class.Zürcher, Erik (1999). Arming the State. United States of America: LB Tauris and Co Ltd. pp. 5. . As such, they became one of the ruling classes of the Ottoman Empire, rivalling the Ottoman Turkish aristocracy. The brightest of the Janissaries were sent to the palace institution, Enderun School. Through a system of meritocracy, the Janissaries held enormous power, stopping all efforts to reform the military.
According to military historian Michael Antonucci and economic historians Glenn Hubbard and Tim Kane, the Turkish administrators would scour their provinces (but especially the Balkans) every five years for the strongest sons of the Europeans Christians. When a Kafir was recruited under the devşirme system of Ghilman enslavement, he would first be sent to selected Ottoman Turks in the provinces to learn Turkish, subjected to forced circumcision and forced conversion to Islam, and to learn the customs and culture of Ottoman society. After completing this period, acemi ("new recruit") boys were gathered for training at the Enderun acemi oğlan ("rookie" or "cadet") school in the capital city. There, young cadets would be selected for their talents in different areas to train as engineers, artisans, riflemen, clerics, archers, artillery, and so forth. Most were of Kafir because it was not permissible to enslave other Muslims.
It was a similar system to the Iranian Safavid dynasty, Afsharid dynasty, and Qajar dynasty ghilman, who were drawn from converted Circassians, Georgians, and Armenians, and in the same way as with the Ottoman Janissaries, who had to replace the unreliable ghazi. They were initially created as a counterbalance to the tribal, ethnic, and favoured interests the Qizilbash gave, which make a system imbalanced.
In the late 16th century, a sultan gave in to the pressures of the Corps and permitted Janissary children to become members of the Corps, a practice strictly forbidden for the previous 300 years. According to paintings of the era, they were also permitted to grow beards. Consequently, the formerly strict rules of succession became open to interpretation. While they advanced their own power, the Janissaries also helped to keep the system from changing in other progressive ways, and according to some scholars the corps shared responsibility for the political stagnation of Istanbul.
Greek historian Dimitri Kitsikis in his book Türk Yunan İmparatorluğu ("Turco-Greek Empire")Kitsikis, Dimitri (1996). Türk Yunan İmparatorluğu. Istanbul, Simurg Kitabevi states that many Bosnian Christian families were willing to comply with the devşirme because it offered a possibility of social advancement. Conscripts could one day become Janissary colonels, statesmen who might one day return to their home region as governors, or even Grand Viziers or beylerbey ("governor generals"). Some of the most famous Janissaries include George Kastrioti Skanderbeg, an Albanian people feudal lord who defected and led a 25‑year Albanian revolt against the Ottomans. Another was Sokollu Mehmed Paşa, a Bosnian Serbs who became a Grand Vizier, served three sultans, and was the de facto ruler of the Ottoman Empire for more than 14 years.Imamović, Mustafa (1996). Historija Bošnjaka. Sarajevo: BZK Preporod.
The slave trade in the Ottoman Empire supplied the ranks of the Ottoman army between the 15th and 19th centuries. (2025). 9781442223486, Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442223486 They were useful in preventing both the and the breakup of the Empire itself, especially due to the rising tide of nationalism among European peoples in its Balkan provinces from the 17th century onwards. Along with the Balkans, the Black Sea Region remained a significant source of high-value slaves for the Ottomans. Throughout the 16th to 19th centuries, the Barbary coast sent Barbary pirates nearby parts of Europe in order to capture Christian slaves to sell at slave markets in the Muslim world, primarily in North Africa and the Ottoman Empire, throughout the Renaissance and early modern period. According to historian Robert Davis, from the 16th to 19th centuries, Barbary pirates captured 1 million to 1.25 million Europeans as slaves, although these numbers are disputed. These slaves were captured mainly from the crews of captured vessels,Milton, G (2005) White Gold: The Extraordinary Story of Thomas Pellow And Islam's One Million White Slaves, Sceptre, London from coastal villages in Spain and Portugal, and from farther places like the Italian Peninsula, France, or England, the Netherlands, Ireland, the Azores Islands, and even Iceland. For a long time, until the early 18th century, the Crimean Khanate maintained a massive slave trade with the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East." The Crimean Tatars and their Russian-Captive Slaves " (PDF). Eizo Matsuki, Mediterranean Studies Group at Hitotsubashi University. The Crimean Tatars frequently mounted raids into the Danubian Principalities, Poland–Lithuania, and Russia to enslave people whom they could capture." Historical survey > Slave societies". Encyclopædia Britannica,
Apart from the effect of a lengthy period under Ottoman domination, many of the subject populations were periodically and forcefully converted to Islam as a result of a deliberate move by the Ottoman Turks as part of a policy of ensuring the loyalty of the population against a potential Venetian invasion. However, Islam was spread by force in the areas under the control of the Ottoman sultan through the devşirme system of Ghilman enslavement, by which indigenous European Christians from the Balkans (predominantly Albanians, Bulgarians, Croats, Greeks, Romanians, Serbs, and Ukrainians) were taken, levied, subjected to forced circumcision and forced conversion to Islam, and incorporated into the Ottoman army, and jizya taxes.Basgoz, I. & Wilson, H. E. (1989), The educational tradition of the Ottoman Empire and the development of the Turkish educational system of the republican era. Turkish Review 3(16), 15 Radushev states that the recruitment system based on child levy can be bisected into two periods: its first, or classical period, encompassing those first two centuries of regular execution and utilization to supply recruits; and a second, or modern period, which more focuses on its gradual change, decline, and ultimate abandonment, beginning in the 17th century.
In response to foreign threats, the Ottoman government chose to rapidly expand the size of the corps after the 1570s. Janissaries spent shorter periods of time in training as acemi oğlan, as the average age of recruitment increased from 13.5 in the 1490s to 16.6 in 1603. This reflected not only the Ottomans' greater need for manpower but also the shorter training time necessary to produce skilled musketeers in comparison with archers. However, this change alone was not enough to produce the necessary manpower, and consequently the traditional limitation of recruitment to boys conscripted in the devşirme was lifted. Membership was opened up to free-born Muslims, both recruits hand-picked by the commander of the Janissaries, as well as the sons of current members of the Ottoman standing army. By the middle of the seventeenth century, the devşirme had largely been abandoned as a method of recruitment. The prescribed daily rate of pay for entry-level Janissaries in the time of Ahmet I was three Akçes. Promotion to a cavalry regiment implied a minimum salary of 10 Akçes.Murphey, Rhoads (1999). Ottoman Warfare, 1500-1700, p. 225. Janissaries received a sum of 12 Akçes every three months for clothing incidentals and 30 Akçes for weaponry, with an additional allowance for ammunition as well.Murphey, Rhoads (1999). Ottoman Warfare, 1500-1700, p. 234.
For all practical purposes, the Janissary Corps belonged to the Ottoman sultan and they were regarded as the protectors of the throne and the sultan. Janissaries were taught to consider the corps their home and family, and the sultan as their father. Only those who proved strong enough earned the rank of true Janissary at the age of 24 or 25. The Odjak inherited the property of dead Janissaries, thus acquiring wealth. Janissaries also learned to follow the dictates of the dervish and Sufism Haji Bektash Veli, disciples of whom had blessed the first troops. The Bektashi Order served as a kind of chaplaincy for the Janissaries. In this and in their secluded life, Janissaries resembled Christian military orders like the Knights Hospitaller. As a symbol of their devotion to the order, Janissaries wore special hats called börk. These hats also had a holding place in front, called the kaşıklık, for a spoon. This symbolized the kaşık kardeşliği, or the "brotherhood of the spoon", which reflected a sense of comradeship among the Janissaries who ate, slept, fought, and died together.
Janissaries were trained under strict discipline with hard labour and in practically Monasticism in acemi oğlan ("rookie" or "cadet") schools, where they were expected to remain Celibacy. Unlike other Muslims, they were expressly forbidden to wear beards, only a moustache. These rules were obeyed by Janissaries at least until the 18th century, when they also began to engage in other crafts and trades, breaking another of the original rules. In the late 16th century, an Ottoman sultan gave in to the pressures of the Janissary Corps and permitted Janissary children to become members of the Corps, a practice strictly forbidden for 200 years. Consequently, succession rules, formerly strict, became open to interpretation. They gained their own power but kept the system from changing in other progressive ways.
Even after the rapid expansion of the size of the corps at the end of the 16th century, the Janissaries continued to undergo strict training and discipline. The Janissaries experimented with new forms of battlefield tactics, and in 1605 became one of the first armies in Europe to implement rotating lines of volley fire in battle.
Giovanni Antonio Menavino, a Genoese who was enslaved in the Ottoman Empire from 1504 to around 1514, spent five years (until 1509 or 1510) as a page to the Sultan in the Seraglio of Constantinople. in chapter XXIII Delli novitii Giannizzeri Agiami Schiavi del gran Turco (On the novice Janissaries Agiami Slaves of the Great Turk) from his book Trattato de costumi et vita de Turchi (1548), he describes what he observed about the Agiami (novice Janissaries):
Originally Janissaries could be promoted only through seniority and within their own orta. They could leave the unit only to assume command of another. Only Janissaries' own commanding officers could punish them. The rank names were based on positions in the kitchen staff or Sultan's royal hunters; 64th and 65th Orta 'Greyhound Keepers' comprised as the only Janissary cavalry, perhaps to emphasise that Janissaries were servants of the Sultan. Local Janissaries, stationed in a town or city for a long time, were known as .
Beginning in the 1530s, the size of the Janissary corps began to dramatically expand, a result of the rapid conquests the Ottomans were carrying out during those years. Janissaries were used extensively to garrison fortresses and for siege warfare, which was becoming increasingly important for the Ottoman military. The pace of expansion increased after the 1570s, due to the initiation of a series of wars with the Safavid Empire and, after 1593, with the Habsburg monarchy. By 1609, the size of the corps had stabilized at approximately 40,000 men, but increased again later in the century, during the period of the Cretan War (1645–1669) and particularly the War of the Holy League (1683–1699).
By the early 16th century, the Janissaries were equipped with and were skilled with . In particular, they used a massive "trench gun", firing an ball, which was "feared by their enemies". Janissaries also made extensive use of early grenades and , such as the abus gun. were not initially popular, but they became so after the Cretan War (1645–1669).
In 1449, they revolted for the first time, demanding higher wages, which they obtained. The stage was set for a decadent evolution, like that of the Streltsy of Tsar Peter's Russia or that of the Praetorian Guard which proved the greatest threat to Roman emperors, rather than effective protection. After 1451, every new Sultan felt obligated to pay each Janissary a reward and raise his pay rank (although since early Ottoman times, every other member of the Topkapi court received a pay raise as well). Sultan Selim II gave Janissaries permission to marry in 1566, undermining the exclusivity of loyalty to the dynasty. By 1622, the Janissaries were a "serious threat" to the stability of the Empire. Through their "greed and indiscipline", they were now a law unto themselves and, against modern European armies, ineffective on the battlefield as a fighting force. In 1622, the teenage Sultan Osman II, after a defeat during war against Poland, determined to curb Janissaries' excesses. Outraged at becoming "subject to his own slaves", he tried to disband the Janissary corps, blaming it for the disaster during the Polish war. In the spring, hearing rumours that the Sultan was preparing to move against them, the Janissaries revolted and took the Sultan captive, imprisoning him in the notorious Seven Towers: he was murdered shortly afterward.
The extravagant parties of the Ottoman ruling classes during the Tulip Period caused a lot of unrest among the Ottoman population. In September 1730, janissaries headed by Patrona Halil backed in Istanbul a rebellion by 12,000 Albanians troops which caused the abdication of Sultan Ahmed III and the death of the Grand Vizier Damad Ibrahim. The rebellion was crushed in three weeks with the massacre of 7,000 rebels, but it marked the end of the Tulip Era and the beginning of Sultan Mahmud I's reign. In 1804, the Dahias, the Janissary junta that ruled Serbia at the time, having taken power in the Sanjak of Smederevo in defiance of the Sultan, feared that the Sultan would make use of the Serbs to oust them. To forestall this they decided to execute all prominent nobles throughout Central Serbia, a move known as the Slaughter of the Knezes. According to historical sources of the city of Valjevo, the heads of the murdered men were put on public display in the central square to serve as an example to those who might plot against the rule of the Janissaries. The event triggered the start of the Serbian Revolution with the First Serbian Uprising aimed at putting an end to the 370 years of Ottoman occupation of modern Serbia.Leopold von Ranke. History of Servia and the Servian Revolution. Translated by Louisa Hay Ker. pp. 119–120
In 1807, a Janissary revolt deposed Sultan Selim III, who had tried to modernize the army along Western European lines. This modern army that Selim III created was called Nizam-ı Cedid. His supporters failed to recapture power before Mustafa IV had him killed, but elevated Mahmud II to the throne in 1808. When the Janissaries threatened to oust Mahmud II, he had the captured Mustafa executed and eventually came to a compromise with the Janissaries. Ever mindful of the threat that the Janissaries posed, the sultan spent the next years discreetly securing his position. The Janissaries' abuse of power, military ineffectiveness, resistance to reform, and the cost of salaries to 135,000 men, many of whom were not actually serving soldiers, had all become intolerable.Levy, Avigdor. "The Ottoman Ulama and the Military Reforms of Sultan Mahmud II". Asian and African Studies 7 (1971): 13–39.
By 1826, the sultan was ready to move against the Janissaries in favour of a more modern military. The sultan informed them, through a fatwa, that he was forming a new army, organised and trained along modern European lines. As predicted, they mutinied, advancing on the sultan's palace. In the ensuing fight, the Janissaries' barracks were set aflame by artillery fire, resulting in 4,000 Janissary fatalities. The survivors were either exiled or executed, and their possessions were confiscated by the Sultan. This event is now called the Auspicious Incident. The last of the Janissaries were then put to death by decapitation in what was later called the Tower of Blood, in Thessaloniki.
After the Janissaries were disbanded by Mahmud II, he then created a new army soon after recruiting 12,000 troops. This new army was formally named the Trained Victorious Soldiers of Muhammad, the Mansure Army for short. By 1830, the army expanded to 27,000 troops and included the Sipahi cavalry. By 1838, all Ottoman fighting corps were included and the army changed its name to the Ordered troops. This military corps lasted until the end of the empire's history. "Mansure Army" . Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa.
Mahmud II abolished the mehter band in 1826 along with the Janissary corps. Mahmud replaced the mehter band in 1828 with a European style military band trained by Giuseppe Donizetti. In modern times, although the Janissary corps no longer exists as a professional fighting force, the tradition of Mehter music is carried on as a cultural and tourist attraction.
In 1952, the Janissary military band, Mehterân, was organized again under the auspices of the Istanbul Military Museum. They hold performances during some national holidays as well as in some parades during days of historical importance. For more details, see Turkish music (style) and Mehter.
Training
When a Kafir was recruited under the devşirme system of Ghilman enslavement, he would first be sent to selected Ottoman Turks in the provinces to learn Turkish, subjected to forced circumcision and forced conversion to Islam, and to learn the customs and culture of Ottoman society. After completing this period, acemi ("new recruit") boys were gathered for training at the Enderun acemi oğlan ("rookie" or "cadet") school in the capital city. There, young cadets would be selected for their talents in different areas to train as engineers, artisans, riflemen, clerics, archers, artillery, and so forth.
Organization
The Janissary Corps was organized into orta ("centers"). An orta (equivalent to a battalion) was headed by a çorbaci. All orta together comprised the Janissary corps proper and its organization, named ocak ("hearth"). Suleiman I had 165 orta and the number increased over time to 196. While the Sultan was the supreme commander of the Ottoman Army and of the Janissaries in particular, the corps was organized and led by a commander, the ağa. The corps was divided into three sub-corps:
In addition there were also 34 orta of the ajemi ("cadets"). A semi-autonomous Janissary corps was permanently based in Algiers, called the Odjak of Algiers.
Corps strength
Even though the Janissaries were part of the royal army and personal guards of the sultan, the corps was not the main force of the Ottoman military. In the classical period, Janissaries were only one-tenth of the overall Ottoman army, while the traditional Turkish cavalry made up the rest of the main battle force. According to David Nicolle, the number of Janissaries in the 14th century was 1,000 and about 6,000 in 1475. The same source estimates the number of Sipahi, the provincial cavalry which constituted the main force of the army at 40,000.
+ Paper strength of the Janissary corps
Equipment
During the initial period of formation, Janissaries were expert Archery, but they began adopting firearms as soon as such became available during the 1440s. The siege of Vienna in 1529 confirmed the reputation of their engineers, e.g. sappers, and miners. In melee combat, they used and . Originally in peacetime, they could carry only clubs or , unless they served as border troops. Turkish Yataghan swords were the signature weapon of the Janissaries, almost a symbol of the corps.
Battles
The Ottoman Empire used Janissaries in all its major campaigns, including the 1453 capture of Constantinople, the defeat of the Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo and wars against Hungary and Austria. Janissary troops were always led to the battle by the Sultan himself, and always had a share of the Looting. The Janissary corps was the only infantry division of the Ottoman army. In battle the Janissaries' main mission was to protect the Sultan, using cannon and smaller firearms, and holding the centre of the army against enemy attack during the strategic fake forfeit of Turkish cavalry. The Janissary corps also included smaller expert teams: explosive experts, engineers and technicians, sharpshooters (with arrow and rifle) and sappers who dug tunnels under fortresses, etc.
Revolts and disbandment
As Janissaries became aware of their own importance, they began to desire a better life. By the early 17th century, Janissaries had such prestige and influence that they dominated the government. They could mutiny, dictate policy, and hinder efforts to modernize the army structure. Additionally, the Janissaries found they could change Sultans as they wished through . New rules allowed them to own land and establish businesses. They would also limit the enlistment of new Janissaries to their own sons who did not have to go through the original training period in the acemi oğlan, as well as avoiding the physical selection, thereby reducing their military value. When Janissaries could practically extort money from the Sultan and business and family life replaced martial fervour, their effectiveness as combat troops decreased.
Janissary music
The military music of the Janissaries was noted for its powerful percussion and shrill winds combining kös (giant timpani), davul (bass drum), zurna (a loud shawm), naffir, or boru (natural trumpet), çevgan bells, triangle (a borrowing from Europe), and ( zil), among others. Janissary music influenced European classical musicians such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven, both of whom composed music in the Turkish style. Examples include Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11 (c. 1783), Beethoven's incidental music for The Ruins of Athens (1811), and the final movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, although the Beethoven example is now considered a march rather than Alla turca.See "Janissary music," New Grove Online.
Popular culture
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External links
Categories: 1360s Establishments In The Ottoman Empire, Military Units And Formations Disestablished In 1826, Infantry, Islam And Violence, Military Units And Formations Of The Medieval Islamic World, Military Units And Formations Of The Ottoman Empire, Turkish Words And Phrases, Slaves From The Ottoman Empire, Christians From The Ottoman Empire, Military Units And Formations Established In The 14th Century, Military Slavery, Bektashi Order, 1826 Disestablishments In The Ottoman Empire
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