World History
Following the custom of expanding empires everywhere, the Ottoman sultans had routinely taken one-fifth of the booty taken in conquest for themselves, enslaving some of those conquered as footsoldiers for further military conquests.
However as the empire took control of predominantly Muslim territories, Islamic legal injunctions against the enslavement of other Muslims made the old practice impossible. Therefore, Muslim theologians under Murad I (reigned 1362–89) innovated a levy where by young non-Muslim boys were taken into the sultan’s service. These enforced recruits were called Yeni Cheri, new soldiers, or Janissaries.
On a rotation system of about every five years, a levy or devshirme of young boys between the ages of eight and 20 was collected from mostly Christian areas, especially in the Balkans. All the recruits were taught Turkish and converted to Islam.
The most able of the young boys were taken to be educated in the palace to become servants and, sometimes, high officials within the vast Ottoman bureaucracy. The rest were given rigorous military training and became a formidable fighting force. The Janissaries owed their sole allegiance to the sultan.
The Ottoman Empire was one of the first so-called gunpowder empires, and the Janissaries were known for their skills with the most advanced weaponry of the age. The Janissaries enjoyed considerable legal privileges, including the right to own land and to pass on property to their heirs under Islamic law.
Gradually the Janissaries increased in numbers and power and became the core of the Ottoman army with increased pay and benefits. Spread throughout the empire, the Janissaries lived communally in military barracks and were the main protectors of the Ottoman government throughout the provinces.
When the empire was at its zenith, the Janissaries were loyal protectors and champions of the sultan. However, as the empire declined and the sultans became increasingly weak and corrupt, the Janissaries became a political force in their own right and frequently rose up in armed rebellions.
The overturning of the huge cooking pots used by all Janissary garrisons became the signal of such revolts. In some instances, the Janissaries even overthrew sultans to replace them with candidates of their own selection.
- Bayezid I
Bayezid I Bayezid I was declared sultan following the death of Sultan Murad on the battlefield at Kosovo in 1389. To ensure his uncontested succession to the sultanate, Bayezid had his brother Yakub assassinated; subsequently the practice of fratricide...
- Ottoman Empire: 1299–1453
Ottoman Empire In the 13th century a nomadic Turkish tribesman named Ertogrul established control over large parts of northwest Anatolia. The Ottoman Empire took its name from his son Osman (r. 1280–1324); Ottoman was an Italian corruption of Osmanli....
- Koprülü Family
Koprülü Family Four different members of the Koprülü family served as grand viziers in the Ottoman Empire during the 17th century. Of obscure Albanian origins, Mohammad Koprülü had a fairly inauspicious career in the vast Ottoman bureaucracy...
- Abdul-menan Sinan - Ottoman Architect
Abdul-Menan SinanSinan was born in Kayseri in central Anatolia to a Greek Orthodox family. When he was in his early 20s, older than was customary, he was recruited in the devshirme levy to be educated in Istanbul. He was selected for the elite Janissaries...
- The Ottoman Sultans And Caliphs 1290-1924 Ad
The Ottoman Sultans and Caliphs 1290-1924 AD - Well done site by Kelley L. Ross, Ph.D. listing rulers of the Ottoman Turks. Includes maps of the Ottoman Empire throughout the ages. From the site: The Sultânate of Rûm had been dormant for some years,...
World History
Janissaries
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| Janissaries |
However as the empire took control of predominantly Muslim territories, Islamic legal injunctions against the enslavement of other Muslims made the old practice impossible. Therefore, Muslim theologians under Murad I (reigned 1362–89) innovated a levy where by young non-Muslim boys were taken into the sultan’s service. These enforced recruits were called Yeni Cheri, new soldiers, or Janissaries.
On a rotation system of about every five years, a levy or devshirme of young boys between the ages of eight and 20 was collected from mostly Christian areas, especially in the Balkans. All the recruits were taught Turkish and converted to Islam.
The most able of the young boys were taken to be educated in the palace to become servants and, sometimes, high officials within the vast Ottoman bureaucracy. The rest were given rigorous military training and became a formidable fighting force. The Janissaries owed their sole allegiance to the sultan.
  |   |
The Ottoman Empire was one of the first so-called gunpowder empires, and the Janissaries were known for their skills with the most advanced weaponry of the age. The Janissaries enjoyed considerable legal privileges, including the right to own land and to pass on property to their heirs under Islamic law.
Gradually the Janissaries increased in numbers and power and became the core of the Ottoman army with increased pay and benefits. Spread throughout the empire, the Janissaries lived communally in military barracks and were the main protectors of the Ottoman government throughout the provinces.
When the empire was at its zenith, the Janissaries were loyal protectors and champions of the sultan. However, as the empire declined and the sultans became increasingly weak and corrupt, the Janissaries became a political force in their own right and frequently rose up in armed rebellions.
The overturning of the huge cooking pots used by all Janissary garrisons became the signal of such revolts. In some instances, the Janissaries even overthrew sultans to replace them with candidates of their own selection.
- Bayezid I
Bayezid I Bayezid I was declared sultan following the death of Sultan Murad on the battlefield at Kosovo in 1389. To ensure his uncontested succession to the sultanate, Bayezid had his brother Yakub assassinated; subsequently the practice of fratricide...
- Ottoman Empire: 1299–1453
Ottoman Empire In the 13th century a nomadic Turkish tribesman named Ertogrul established control over large parts of northwest Anatolia. The Ottoman Empire took its name from his son Osman (r. 1280–1324); Ottoman was an Italian corruption of Osmanli....
- Koprülü Family
Koprülü Family Four different members of the Koprülü family served as grand viziers in the Ottoman Empire during the 17th century. Of obscure Albanian origins, Mohammad Koprülü had a fairly inauspicious career in the vast Ottoman bureaucracy...
- Abdul-menan Sinan - Ottoman Architect
Abdul-Menan SinanSinan was born in Kayseri in central Anatolia to a Greek Orthodox family. When he was in his early 20s, older than was customary, he was recruited in the devshirme levy to be educated in Istanbul. He was selected for the elite Janissaries...
- The Ottoman Sultans And Caliphs 1290-1924 Ad
The Ottoman Sultans and Caliphs 1290-1924 AD - Well done site by Kelley L. Ross, Ph.D. listing rulers of the Ottoman Turks. Includes maps of the Ottoman Empire throughout the ages. From the site: The Sultânate of Rûm had been dormant for some years,...