Janissary - Janissary training and way of life

The first janissary units comprised war captives and slaves. After the 1380s Sultan Selim I filled their ranks with the results of taxation in human form called devshirmeh. The sultan’s men would conscript a number of non-Muslim, usually Christian, boys – at first at random, later, by strict selection – and take them to be trained. In later centuries they appear to have favored essentially Greeks, Albanians, Romanians, Serbs and Bulgarians. Usually they would select about one in five boys of ages seven to fourteen but the number ...

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Janissary, Janissary - Origin of the janissaries, Janissary - Janissary training and way of life, Janissary - The janissary corps, Janissary - The janissary revolts, Janissary - Modern janissaries, Janissary - Janissary music

Read more here: » Janissary: Encyclopedia II - Janissary - Janissary training and way of life

Janissaries also became aware of their own importance and began to desire better payment. In 1449 they revolted for the first time, demanding higher wages, which they obtained. After 1451, every new sultan was obliged to pay each janissary a reward and raise his pay rank. Sultan Selim II gave janissaries permission to marry in 1566. In the aftermath of the Moldavian Magnate Wars (1595–1621) with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Habsburgs, culminating in the battles of Cecora and Ottoman defeat at Khotyn, Sultan Os ...

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Janissary, Janissary - Origin of the janissaries, Janissary - Janissary training and way of life, Janissary - The janissary corps, Janissary - The janissary revolts, Janissary - Modern janissaries, Janissary - Janissary music

Read more here: » Janissary: Encyclopedia II - Janissary - The janissary revolts

The full strength of the janissary troops varied from maybe 100 to more than 200,000. The corps was organized in ortas (literally "hearth" but equivalent to regiment). Suleiman I had 165 ortas but the number over time increased to 196. The sultan was the supreme commander of the Janissaries but the corps was organized and led by the aga (commander). The corps was divided into three sub-corps: the jemaat (frontier troops), with 101 ortas the beyliks or beuluks (sultan's bodyguard), with 61 ortas the sekbanSee also:

Janissary, Janissary - Origin of the janissaries, Janissary - Janissary training and way of life, Janissary - The janissary corps, Janissary - The janissary revolts, Janissary - Modern janissaries, Janissary - Janissary music

Read more here: » Janissary: Encyclopedia II - Janissary - The janissary corps