THE WORLD FAMOUS OTTOMAN ARMY-JANISSARIES
Janissary army is the permanent paid army of the Ottoman Empire as infantry class of belonging to the Sultan's service so it was a military class. It is known that it was established after the conquest of Adrinople during the reign of Murat I to provide the need of the regular arm of Ottomans expanding in Balcans. It was called as Yeniçeri Ocağı-Janissary foundation- and the main souce of the janissary troops were the Christian children who were picked from Christian families by Ottoman commanders at the age of 8-18 . Janissaries have been both private army loyal to the sultans and military shooters of the Ottoman Empire for about five hundred years.
Establishment
It was founded during the reign of sultan Murat I in 1362 just after the coquest of Edirne by grand vizier black Halil Pasha depending on Pençik law-that means one in five. According to Pençik law rules, one child from each five Christian children is given to the Ottoman state to be trained as Janissary in between 8 and 18 years of age called as Acemi oğlanı-Apprentice boy. Apprentice boys were collected in a large square and checked & selected carefully in front of everyone's eyes as the candidates for the Janissary army. The boys who were the blind, lame, deaf, sick, weak and short ones were eliminated and they were given back to their parents at once. The selected boys were gathered in some certain points and they were sent to the military school in Gallipoli under the commander of responsible army general as a big convoy in secure. The candidates were circumcised at the military school, they were registrated as future Janisarries in books and they were converted from Christianity to İslam. After spending some months in Gallipoli military school, the apprentice boys were divided into two groups with another selection ; the intelligent, tall and good looking ones were sent to Enderun-Royal Palace Academy to be educated as the future governors & viziers and the others were given to Turkish families to be educated according to the Tukish traditions as to become Janisarries in two–five years. If the candiates were succesful as the time came, they were sent to Edirne or Istanbul to be guards of Sultans or Janissaries of Ottoman Army as private soldiers. The Janisssaries used take salaries in every three months and were accommodated in army barracks either Edirne or Istanbul with all war equippments provided free by the Ottoman state.
Their mission & overall structure
The main task of the Janissaries was to protect the sultan who were considered as the slaves of him both in peace and war times. As İstanbul became the capital of Ottoman empire, the majority of Janissary troops were sent to the capital and one big comlex around Şehzade mosque and the other barracks in Aksaray were built for them to survive their lives. There were total of 196 troops in the army and each section used to live in their barracks. 101 of them are the pedestrians, 61 of them were special troops and 34 of them were responsible for Sultan’s hunting parties.-war games in Ottoman period. According to Janissary law known as -Kavanin-i Yeniçeriyan- Ottoman sultan is the first Janissary as registered member of the first troop and he could take his salary in every three months. The Janissary army commander was the chief of staff who is the equivelent of present army general and he was chosen among the military commanders by Ottoman Sultan. The chief of staff was the member of imperial council which was held in Topkapı palace every week as we call cabinet ministers today. He used to own a big kiosk in the middle of army barracks in Istanbul and he had a title with two brigadiers considered as vizier. His duty was to escort the ceremonies and Fridays prayers as well as to protect Sultan with a special squad and he was the chief constable of Istanbul city in peace. When he was promoted, he was appointed either a governor for a big state or was a captain of Ottoman navy forces. The famous chief of staff was appointed as grand vizier-prime minister-very rarely.
Janissary army special forces
Janissary army used to have some special forces to be done secret and dangerous missions which were selected from strong, intelligent and brave soldiers . These specail forces tasks were to conquer the enemy castles, to dig underground tunnels, to sabotage the enemy lines, to seize flagship of enemy fleet, to blow up the arsenals and etc. These heroes wore special military uniforms, their coat of arms were painted on their arms & legs as tattoo and were respected by the people loving so much. When they were martyrs in the battles, their legends were told for years and became immortal. They were given the right to have the erected gravestones with tattoos, headgears and detailed epitaphs on so some of Janissary tombstones have all deatiled items on their tombstones today. Unfortunately as the Janissary army was destroyed in 1826 by Sultan Mahmut II, most of the Janisssary tombstones have been gone into pieces or broken down.
Janissary headgears
Janissaries used to wear a cone called bork made of white felt which was 45cm in height and a piece of broadcloth was dropped from the top of the cone to the shoulders. This long piece covered completely the neck of the Janissaries. There was small hole called hairy or spoon section which was made of brass or silver in the middle of the börk in the front top. The part of bork, which the head goes in, was surrounded with an emroided strap. The cone without long broadcloth at the back of shoulder was called Uskuf headgear. In the peace time Janissaries used to wear low-heeled shoes but in war time they used to wear boots ; red for soldiers and yellow for officers made from polished leather. Janissary officers wore special uniforms for all kinds of ceremonies and military regiments.
Basic principles in Janisssary army troops
Janissary army foundation was established on three basic elements; hunting, cooking and Bektashi sect. Some unions in Janissary army called Sekban had qualified dogs and trained pradicious birds to be used in hunting parties of Ottoman Sultans. The backbone of the army were the cooks and chefs and they were also responsible for both the training and moral discipline of the Janissaries. Each union had a blessed cauldron where the meals cooked and if it was taken into the enemy’s hands in war, all the soldiers would be hung and the union would be removed from Janisssary army foundation. The cauldron was also considered representing as the holy one in Bektashi sect so Janissaries were making important meetings on critical issues creating circles around it. Janissaries were the members of Bektashi sect because Hacı Bektashi Vali, the founder of Bektashi sect, cooked the meals in holy cauldron and delivered the dishes to Janissaries by his own hands in the day of establishment of Janisary army. Therefore Bektashi was the main sect of all Janissary troops and Janissaries used to wear twelve angled Bektashi stones called teslim taşı-surrender stone of the heart- on their necks while they were alive.
Establishment
It was founded during the reign of sultan Murat I in 1362 just after the coquest of Edirne by grand vizier black Halil Pasha depending on Pençik law-that means one in five. According to Pençik law rules, one child from each five Christian children is given to the Ottoman state to be trained as Janissary in between 8 and 18 years of age called as Acemi oğlanı-Apprentice boy. Apprentice boys were collected in a large square and checked & selected carefully in front of everyone's eyes as the candidates for the Janissary army. The boys who were the blind, lame, deaf, sick, weak and short ones were eliminated and they were given back to their parents at once. The selected boys were gathered in some certain points and they were sent to the military school in Gallipoli under the commander of responsible army general as a big convoy in secure. The candidates were circumcised at the military school, they were registrated as future Janisarries in books and they were converted from Christianity to İslam. After spending some months in Gallipoli military school, the apprentice boys were divided into two groups with another selection ; the intelligent, tall and good looking ones were sent to Enderun-Royal Palace Academy to be educated as the future governors & viziers and the others were given to Turkish families to be educated according to the Tukish traditions as to become Janisarries in two–five years. If the candiates were succesful as the time came, they were sent to Edirne or Istanbul to be guards of Sultans or Janissaries of Ottoman Army as private soldiers. The Janisssaries used take salaries in every three months and were accommodated in army barracks either Edirne or Istanbul with all war equippments provided free by the Ottoman state.
Their mission & overall structure
The main task of the Janissaries was to protect the sultan who were considered as the slaves of him both in peace and war times. As İstanbul became the capital of Ottoman empire, the majority of Janissary troops were sent to the capital and one big comlex around Şehzade mosque and the other barracks in Aksaray were built for them to survive their lives. There were total of 196 troops in the army and each section used to live in their barracks. 101 of them are the pedestrians, 61 of them were special troops and 34 of them were responsible for Sultan’s hunting parties.-war games in Ottoman period. According to Janissary law known as -Kavanin-i Yeniçeriyan- Ottoman sultan is the first Janissary as registered member of the first troop and he could take his salary in every three months. The Janissary army commander was the chief of staff who is the equivelent of present army general and he was chosen among the military commanders by Ottoman Sultan. The chief of staff was the member of imperial council which was held in Topkapı palace every week as we call cabinet ministers today. He used to own a big kiosk in the middle of army barracks in Istanbul and he had a title with two brigadiers considered as vizier. His duty was to escort the ceremonies and Fridays prayers as well as to protect Sultan with a special squad and he was the chief constable of Istanbul city in peace. When he was promoted, he was appointed either a governor for a big state or was a captain of Ottoman navy forces. The famous chief of staff was appointed as grand vizier-prime minister-very rarely.
Janissary army special forces
Janissary army used to have some special forces to be done secret and dangerous missions which were selected from strong, intelligent and brave soldiers . These specail forces tasks were to conquer the enemy castles, to dig underground tunnels, to sabotage the enemy lines, to seize flagship of enemy fleet, to blow up the arsenals and etc. These heroes wore special military uniforms, their coat of arms were painted on their arms & legs as tattoo and were respected by the people loving so much. When they were martyrs in the battles, their legends were told for years and became immortal. They were given the right to have the erected gravestones with tattoos, headgears and detailed epitaphs on so some of Janissary tombstones have all deatiled items on their tombstones today. Unfortunately as the Janissary army was destroyed in 1826 by Sultan Mahmut II, most of the Janisssary tombstones have been gone into pieces or broken down.
Janissary headgears
Janissaries used to wear a cone called bork made of white felt which was 45cm in height and a piece of broadcloth was dropped from the top of the cone to the shoulders. This long piece covered completely the neck of the Janissaries. There was small hole called hairy or spoon section which was made of brass or silver in the middle of the börk in the front top. The part of bork, which the head goes in, was surrounded with an emroided strap. The cone without long broadcloth at the back of shoulder was called Uskuf headgear. In the peace time Janissaries used to wear low-heeled shoes but in war time they used to wear boots ; red for soldiers and yellow for officers made from polished leather. Janissary officers wore special uniforms for all kinds of ceremonies and military regiments.
Basic principles in Janisssary army troops
Janissary army foundation was established on three basic elements; hunting, cooking and Bektashi sect. Some unions in Janissary army called Sekban had qualified dogs and trained pradicious birds to be used in hunting parties of Ottoman Sultans. The backbone of the army were the cooks and chefs and they were also responsible for both the training and moral discipline of the Janissaries. Each union had a blessed cauldron where the meals cooked and if it was taken into the enemy’s hands in war, all the soldiers would be hung and the union would be removed from Janisssary army foundation. The cauldron was also considered representing as the holy one in Bektashi sect so Janissaries were making important meetings on critical issues creating circles around it. Janissaries were the members of Bektashi sect because Hacı Bektashi Vali, the founder of Bektashi sect, cooked the meals in holy cauldron and delivered the dishes to Janissaries by his own hands in the day of establishment of Janisary army. Therefore Bektashi was the main sect of all Janissary troops and Janissaries used to wear twelve angled Bektashi stones called teslim taşı-surrender stone of the heart- on their necks while they were alive.
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