Janissaries

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The elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan’s personal guard. The Janissaries were the first modern standing army and probably the first to be armed with firearms. Its recruits were non-Muslim Albanians, Bulgarian, Croat, Greek, Romanian, Serb, and Ukrainian boys between the ages of ten and twenty who were forcefully taken from their homes, circumcised and converted to Islam. This was so they would have no ties with anyone in the Ottoman royal family or the Ottoman government, ensuring their loyalty to the Sultan and no one else. They were subject to strict discipline and came to wield much power in the Ottoman Empire. They revolted occasionally and resisted efforts to modernize their force along European lines. This eventually led to a conflict with Sultan Mahmud II, during which their barracks were set on fire, killing 4,000 of them. The survivors were either exiled or executed. The last of them were decapitated in Thessalonica, in the Tower of Blood, today called the White Tower.

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  • Janissaries

    The Janissaries were an elite infantry unit of the Ottoman military primarily responsible for protecting the sultan. They were perhaps the first modern standing army and the first to be armed with firearms. They were famous for their internal adhesion, cemented by strict discipline and order. Total loyalty to the Sultan was expected. However, as European militaries modernized their organization and equipment, the janissaries resisted all change and often protested and rebelled against the Sultan. Finally, in 1826, Sultan Mahmut II had had enough of the janissaries and abolished them. During what was called the "Auspicious Incident," 6,000 janissaries were killed or executed, bringing an end to the janissary corps. Unfortunately for the Ottoman Empire, catching up with the Europeans was too late.

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