Ottoman Empire, janissary troops

Janissary Troops

‘Janissary’ is a word that originates from the Turkish ‘yeni cheri’, or ‘new troops’. Until around 1826, the Ottoman Empire used Janissaries as a military force. Historically, Turkey began as a nation completely without a stable army. Instead, Turkey employed all able-bodied Muslims as volunteers, called ‘akinjis’, who were either gathered with the use of town criers, or secret messengers, if necessary.

A paid, standing army was finally organized under the rule of Orkhan. This army would be known as the ‘piyade’ or ‘yaya’, infantrymen. Unfortunately, the piyade were unsatisfactory warriors, as their ranks, the Turcomans, were not willing to face military discipline and incapable of efficiently fighting on foot. By 1330, thousands of Christian children were levied from their parents and drafted into the army as new troops after a period of training, at the suggestion of Chendereli Kara Khalil; at first, one thousand were taken, but the number grew. Saint Haji Bektash, who also founded the dervishes of Bektashi, promised victory to the corps with his blessing, and became known as the Janissaries’ patron saint.

In the beginning, this army was completely comprised of levied Christian children. Mahommed II is indicated as the earliest ruler with this fixed organization. Early on, the corps would enroll all Christians without question, but later on, the corps began to prefer Christians only from Bulgaria, Bosnia and Albania. During their training and apprenticeship, these young recruits were educations about the idea of faith by the Khojas, though they were not forced to leave their Christian backgrounds.

The corps of Janissaries never reached over 20,000 members, until Murad III became ruler in 1574. By 1582, the ranks changed their admission processes. Because the corps offered such great privileges, families began to willingly offer their children up to the system, and even beg. Slightly after this, only descendants or relatives of Janissaries were admitted, but eventually, the Janissaries didn’t turn anyone away.