Janissaries

The janissaries (in Turkish, yeniçeri, meaning "new troops or soldiers") were highly trained infantrymen. Among their many missions, the one in charge of the custody and safeguarding of the Ottoman sultan stood out, as well as the dependencies of the imperial palace of Edirne and, later, of the new imperial palace Topkapi in Istanbul; they were considered the sultan's personal guard. The body was created by bey Orhan I around 1330, and abolished in 1826 by decree of Sultan Mahmud II.

Origin

By Orhan I, ruler of the fledgling Ottoman Empire, founded the Janissary corps around 1330. It initially consisted of non-Muslim fighters, mostly Christian prisoners of war. Orhan was perhaps influenced by the Mamluk sultans for the creation of this model of a military body. The Janissaries became the first standing Ottoman army, replacing forces that were made up mainly of tribal warriors, whose loyalty and morale could not always be trusted. Furthermore, no free (non-enslaved) combatant would consent to be a foot soldier, considering the risky fate assigned to him.

Instruction, training and lifestyle

Registration of children for the devşirme. Suleymanname Ottoman miniature, 1558.

Early Janissary units had captives of war and adult slaves among their ranks. After the 1380s, King and later Sultan Murad I increased their ranks as a result of a human-shaped tax called devşirme. The Sultan's men would recruit a number of non-Muslim boys, usually Christian boys from the humble rural areas of the Balkans—chosen at first at random and later through strict selection—to be trained in various Ottoman public activities, mainly in the military area (where the Janissary infantry stood out). In later centuries they seem to have had a predilection mainly for Greek and Albanian candidates. They generally selected boys between the ages of seven and fourteen, and their number was governed by the need for soldiers at the time. Later the Ottoman authorities would extend the devşirme to the Kingdom of Hungary. It could be expected that local residents would not appreciate the Ottoman custom when conscription was carried out, although many populations saw it as a source of wealth and a prosperous future for their children due to the benefits derived from belonging to said military corps.

The janissaries were trained under a strict discipline with hard physical training, teaching in the use of weapons of the time and military tactics, as well as an impeccable education (they learned different languages, literature, accounting, etc.) and in practically monasticism in Acemi Oğlanı schools. In these schools of instruction they were expected to remain celibate and were at least encouraged to convert to Islam, which most did. In practice, the janissaries belonged to the sultan. Unlike free Muslims, they were expressly forbidden to grow beards: they were only allowed to wear a mustache. They were taught from the very beginning to regard the janissary corps as their home and family, and the sultan as their real, de facto father. Only those who proved strong enough during the training period reached the rank of a true Janissary, usually at the age of twenty-four to twenty-five. The regiment inherited the properties of the deceased Janissaries.

The Janissaries also learned to follow the dictates of the dervish saint Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli, who had blessed the first troops. In this way, the sufi bektaşı order and their dervishes became a kind of chaplain for the janissary guard. In this aspect, it bears similarities in its isolated life, the janissaries resemble the Christian monastic orders of warrior monks, such as the Knights of Saint John or the Order of the Temple.

The Janissary Guard

Jenízaro in the middle of the centuryXVII.

The number of Janissary troops varied from 100 to over 200,000 depending on the period. The Janissary guard was organized into orta (Turkish equivalent of regiment). Suleiman Kanuni owned 165 ortas but, over time, the number increased to 196. The sultan was the supreme commander of the Janissaries, although the corps was organized and commanded by the ağa (commander). The Janissary guard was divided into three categories:

• Cemaat (border losses), with a hundred percent ortes.
• Beyliks or beuluks (the personal guard of the Sultan), with sixty-one orths.
• Sekban or seirnen, with thirty-four prayers.

There were also 34 ortas made up of acemi (apprentices). Initially, Janissaries could rise in rank only within their own orta and only by criteria of seniority and rank. They only left their unit to assume command of another.

Agha jenizaro 1768

This guard was so strong and powerful that Sultan Selim I (1512-1520) was shown it when the discontent of many of these janissaries caused many riots and the burning of the city of Constantinople. Machiavelli names them in his book Il principe and praises them as an excellent guard with a lot of power, so much so that not even a rebellion by the entire Ottoman Empire could stop them.

Decline and extinction

The military successes of the Ottoman Empire since the late 15th century had increased the prestige of the Janissaries among the Ottoman elite, but gradually they had given this military body greater political power and influence with the sultan. Following the military triumphs of the 16th century, the Janissaries had accumulated vast amounts of wealth and loot, relaxing their military discipline and allowing themselves to enter non-military activities.

The military importance of the Janissaries in turn gave them growing political influence, which they used from the late 16th century to demand concessions and privileges from the sultan, under threat of overthrowing him. While the janissaries were the personal guard of the sultan and his family, as well as the military garrison of Istanbul, sultans, aristocrats, and viziers tried to curry favor with the janissaries through bribery and intrigue, which affected the discipline and efficiency of the janissaries. whole body. Encouraged by this power, the janissary chiefs managed to have the devşirme system abolished in 1648 so that only already recruited janissaries could pass on their jobs and privileges to their sons, which further damaged military power. actual of the body

After decades of inefficiency in combat and abuse of political influence, mixed with indiscipline and ambition, the Janissaries had become a problem for the sultan's government, but their military might still made them fearsome for the Ottoman aristocracy, while Janissaries could start palace revolts to depose or appoint sultans, much like the corruption of the Praetorians in ancient Rome. Finally, in 1826, the Janissaries were forcibly disbanded by Sultan Mahmud II following the so-called Lucky Incident.

Time parade on the occasion of Turkey Day in Berlin: Ginger at the Brandenburg Gate.

The Janissaries in Literature

• The tree of the Jenizarites, by Jason Goodwin, is a historical and detective novel, set in the Turkish Empire of 1830, in which a series of murders are committed, directly linked to these, after their disintegration of the army.
• The sublime door, by Jesús Sánchez Adalid, narrates the adventures of a Spanish soldier imprisoned by the Turks.
• The burialLord Byron's story is unfinished for unknown reasons. From her, the little thing you know is that it belongs to the mystery genre. A Turkish jenízarus, called Solimán, who escorts the protagonist aliens.
• The Saga of Captain StormEmilio Salgari, constantly alludes to the Jesuits as the forces of the Turks facing the Venetians.

At the movies

The film Dracula Untold illustrates the historical moment of the Ottoman occupation of Transylvania by the Janissaries. Prince Vlad's legacy to his son, who was to be recruited into the Turkish ranks as a tribute to Sultan Mehmed II.

In video games

In the renowned Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, it is possible to use the Janissaries as unique units of the Turkish civilization.

Other uses

The term jenízaro has been used in Spanish to indicate mixed ancestry. In Spain, for example, the children of a Spaniard and a foreigner or of a foreigner and a Spanish woman used to be called that.