The 'Janissaries' comprised
infantry units that formed the
Ottoman sultan's household troops and
bodyguard. The force originated in the
14th century; it was abolished by Sultan
Mahmud II in
1826 in
The Auspicious Incident.
The name ''janissary'' or ''janizary'' derives from the
Ottoman Turkish: يكيچرى (''yeniçeri'') meaning "new soldier", with slight variations in other languages: in
Albanian: ''Jeniçer''; in
Greek: Γενίτσαροι (''Yenitsari)''; in
Bulgarian: еничари (''enichari)'' or яничари (''yanichari)''; in
Croatian: ''Janjičari''; in
Macedonian: Јаничари; in
Serbian: Јањичари or ''Janjičari''; in
German: ''Janitscharen''; in
Polish ''Janczaria'' or ''Janczarzy''; in
Romanian: ''ieniceri''; in
Hungarian ''Janicsárok''; in
Arabic: الانكشارية.
Origin of the Janissaries
Sultan
Murad I of the fledgling
Ottoman Empire founded the units around
1365. It was initially formed of
Dhimmi (non-
Muslims, originally exempted from the military service), especially
Christian youths and prisoners of war, reminiscent of
Mamelukes. Sultan Murad may have also used
futuwa groups as a model.
Such Janissaries became the first Ottoman
standing army, replacing forces that mostly comprised tribal
ghazis, whose loyalty and morale could not always be trusted.
As corps other than the infantry were added, the totality of the Ottoman standing army corps was called
Kapıkulu, however the term Janissary, which formally refers to one of the Kapıkulu corps is often used interchangeably (albeit incorrectly) for all of the Ottoman Kapıkulu Corps.
Significance of the Janissaries
The Janissary corps was significant in a number of ways. The Janissaries wore
uniforms, were paid in cash as regular soldiers, and marched to distinctive music, the
mehter, similar to a modern
marching band. All of these features set the Janissaries apart from most soldiers of the time.
The Ottomans were the first state to maintain a standing army in Europe since the
Roman Empire. The Janissaries have been likened to the Roman
Praetorian Guard and they had no equivalent in the Christian armies of the time, where the feudal lords raised troops during wartime.
[1] A janissary regiment was effectively the soldier's family. They lived in their barracks and served as policemen and firefighters during peacetime.
[2]
The Janissary corps was also distinctive in the regular payment of a cash salary to the troops, and differed from the contemporary practice of paying troops only during wartime. The Janissaries were paid quarterly and the Sultan himself, after authorizing the payment of the salaries, dressed as a Janissary, visited the barracks and received his salary as a regular trooper of the First Division.
[3]
The Janissary force became particularly significant when the foot soldier carrying
firearms proved more effective than the cavalry equipped with sword and spear.
[4] Janissaries adopted firearms very early, starting in 15th century. By the 16th century, the main weapon of the Janissary was the
musket. Janissaries also made extensive use of early
grenades and
hand cannon.
The auxiliary support system of the Janissaries also set them apart from their contemporaries. The Janissaries waged war as one part of a well organized military machine. The Ottoman army had a corps to prepare the road, a corps to pitch the tents ahead, a corps to bake the bread. The
cebeci corps carried and distributed weapons and ammunition. The Janissary corps had its own internal medical auxiliaries: Muslim and Jewish surgeons who would travel with the corps during campaigns and had organized methods of moving the wounded and the sick to traveling hospitals behind the lines.
These differences, along with a war-record that was impressive, made the Janissaries into a subject of interest and study by foreigners in their own time. Although eventually the concept of the modern army incorporated and surpassed most of the distinctions of the Janissary, and the Ottoman Empire dissolved the Janissary corps, the image of the Janissary has remained as one of the symbols of the Ottomans in the western psyche.
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.
Recruitment, training and status
The first Janissary units comprised war captives and slaves, selecting one in five for enrollment in the ranks (''Pencik'' rule). After the 1380s
Sultan Mehmet I filled their ranks with the results of taxation in human form called ''
devshirmeh'': the Sultan’s men conscripted a number of non-Muslim, usually Christian Balkan boys, taken at birth at first at random, later, by strict selection – to be trained. Initially they favoured
Greeks,
Albanians (who also supplied many
gendarmes), and
Bulgarians, usually selecting about one boy from forty houses, but the numbers could be changed to correspond with the need for soldiers. Boys aged 14-18 were preferred, though ages 8-20 could be taken. Greeks formed the largest part of the Janissary units. Next the devshirmeh was extended to also include
Bosnians,
Serbs,
Croats and other
Balkan countries, later especially
Ukraine and southern
Russia. The Janissaries started accepting enrollment from outside the devshirmeh system first during the reign of Sultan
Murad III (1546-1595) and completely stopped enrolling devshirmeh in 17th century. After this period, volunteers were enrolled, mostly of Muslim origin.
Janissaries trained under strict discipline with hard labour and in practically
monastic conditions in ''acemi oğlan'' ("rookie" or "cadet") schools, where they were expected to remain
celibate. They were also expected to convert to
Islam. All did, as
Christians were not allowed to bear arms in the Ottoman Empire until the
19th century. Unlike other Muslims, they were expressly forbidden to wear beards (a Muslim custom), only a moustache. These rules were obeyed by Janissaries, at least until
18th century when they also began to engage in other crafts and trades, breaking another of the original rules.
For all practical purposes, Janissaries belonged to the Sultan, carrying the title ''kapıkulu'' ("door slave") indicating their collective bond with the Sultan. Janissaries were taught to consider the corps as their home and family, and the Sultan as their ''de facto'' father. Only those who proved strong enough earned the rank of true Janissary at the age of twenty-four or twenty-five. The
regiment inherited the property of dead Janissaries, thus amassing wealth (like religious orders and foundations enjoying the '
dead hand').
Janissaries also learned to follow the dictates of the
dervish saint
Hajji Bektash Wali, disciples of whom had blessed the first troops.
Bektashi served as a kind of
chaplain for Janissaries. In this and in their secluded life, Janissaries resembled Christian
military orders like the
Johannites of
Rhodes.
In return for their loyalty and their fervour in war, Janissaries gained privileges and benefits. They received a cash salary, received booty during wartime and enjoyed a high living standard and respected social status. At first they had to live in barracks and could not marry until retirement, or engage in any other trade but by the mid-
18th century they had taken up many trades and gained the right to marry and enroll their children in the corps and very few continued to live in the barracks.
Many of them became administrators and scholars. Retired or discharged Janissaries received
pensions and their children were also looked after. This evolution away from their original military vocation was the essence of the system's demise.
The Janissary corps
| Year | Number of Jannisaries[5] |
|---|
| 1514 | 10156 |
| 1526 | 7885 |
| 1567-68 | 12798 |
| 1609 | 37627 |
| 1660-61 | 54222 |
| 1665 | 49556 |
| 1669 | 51437 |
| 1670 | 49868 |
| 1680 | 54222 |
The full strength of the Janissary troops varied from maybe 100 to more than 200,000. According to
David Nicolle, the number of Janissaries in the
14th century was 1,000, and estimated to be 6,000 in
1475, whereas the same source estimates 40,000 as the number of
Timariot, the provincial soldiers. After the defeat in
1699, the number was reduced, but it was increased in the 18th century to 113,400 soldiers according to Ottoman, but most were not actual soldiers and were accepted into the army through corrupt means and were only taking salary.
The corps was organized in ''orta''s (equivalent to
regiment) An '''orta''' was headed by
çorbaci. All ''orta''s together would comprise the proper Janissary corps and its organization named '''ocak''' (literally "hearth").
Suleiman I had 165 ''orta''s but the number over time increased to 196. The Sultan was the supreme commander of the Army and the Janissaries in particular, but the corps was organized and led by their supreme '''ağa''' (commander). The corps was divided into three sub-corps:
★ the '''cemaat''' (frontier troops; also spelled ''jemaat''), with 101 ''orta''s
★ the '''beyliks''' or ''beuluks'' (the Sultan's own bodyguard), with 61 ''orta''s
★ the '''sekban''' or ''seirnen'', with 34 ''orta''s
In addition there was also 34 ''orta''s of the ''ajemi'' (cadets).
Originally Janissaries could be promoted only through seniority and within their own ''orta''. They would 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 a kitchen staff or hunters, perhaps to emphasise that Janissaries were servants of the Sultan.
In the first centuries, Janissaries were expert
archers, but they adopted
firearms as soon as such became available during the
1440s. The
siege of Vienna in 1529 confirmed the reputation of their engineers, e.g.
sapping. In melee combat they used
axes and
sabres. Originally in peacetime they could carry only clubs or
cutlasses, unless they served in border troops. Local Janissaries, stationed in a town or city for a long time, were known as
yerliyyas.
The Ottoman empire used Janissaries in all its major campaigns, including the
1453 capture of
Constantinople, the defeat of the
Egyptian
Mamluks 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 booty.
Janissaries’ reputation increased to the point that by
1683, Sultan
Mehmet IV abolished the ''
devshirmeh'' as increasing numbers of originally Muslim Turkish families had already enrolled their own sons into the force hoping for a lucrative career. Every governor wanted to have his own Janissary troops.
The Janissary revolts
Main articles: Janissary revolts
As Janissaries became aware of their own importance they began to desire a better life. In 1449 they revolted for the first time, demanding higher wages, which they obtained.
Janissary Music
The military march music of the Janissaries is characteristic because of its powerful, often shrill sound combining ''
davul'' (bass drum), ''
zurna'' (a loud oboe), ''naffir'' (trumpet),
bells,
triangle, and
cymbals (''zil''), among others. Janissary music influenced European classical musicians like
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and
Ludwig van Beethoven, both of whom composed marches in the Turkish style (Mozart's
Piano Sonata in A major, K. 331 (c. 1783), and Beethoven's incidental music for ''
The Ruins of Athens'', Op. 113 (1811), and the final movement of
Symphony no. 9).
In 1952, the Janissary
military band,
Mehter was organized again under the auspices of the
Istanbul Military Museum. They have 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.
See also
★
Ottoman military band
★
Devşirme system
★
Culture of the Ottoman Empire
★
Cantonist recruitment
★
Millet system
★
Ottoman Turkish language
★ The Spanish version of the word, ''
genízaro'', was also used for several types of Mexican Indians.
Sources and references
★
Godfrey Goodwin, ''Janissaries''
★
David Nicolle, ''Janissary'', 1995.
Osprey Publishing
★
★
Janissary section on German-language website about Ottomman empire (not yet exploited)
References
1. Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire, , , Lord Kinross, Morrow Quill Paperbacks, , ISBN 0-688-08093-6
2. Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire, , Jason, Goodwin, H. Holt, , ISBN 0-8050-4081-1
3. Osmanlı Devleti Teşkilatından Kapıkulu Ocakları: Acemi Ocağı ve Yeniçeri Ocağı, , İsmail Hakkı, Uzunçarşılı, Türk Tarih Kurumu, , ISBN 975-16-0056-1
4. History of the Balkans, 18th and 19th Centuries, , Barbara, Jelavich, Cambridge University Press, , ISBN 0-521 27458-3
5. Gábor Ágoston, ''Barut, Top ve Tüfek Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun Asker Gücü ve Silah Sanayisi'', ISBN 975-6051-41-8, Page 50
External links
★
History of the Janissary Music
★
Information about Janissaries (Yeniçeriler)
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