The Janissaries were a critical constituent in the development of supremacy of the Ottoman Empire. What started as a tentatively structured team of soldiers accumulated through forced recruitment from the class of prisoners taken into custody after battle progressively developed into a privileged and influential warrior force that also provided a quite effective way to convert young Christian men to Islam and instruct them in the Turkish martial arts. Stringently imposed moral codes united with potent martial training to transform the Janissaries into much more than merely an impressive force of military strength, but eventually a political entity of such unchecked power that they unwittingly contributed to the very downfall of the empire itself.
The training of Janissaries was exceedingly regimented, obeying Islamic laws supporting celibacy and rejecting facial hair. The Janissaries were an indispensable factor in the military expansion of the Ottoman Empire during the course of all its most important wars, ranging from the 1453 capture of Constantinople to the battles against the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. As the Janissaries began to emphasize their domination on the battlefield, their reputation started to grow, and with it came a big ol’ burst of prestige that caused the ranks to swell. This proved acceptable as a means of recruiting new members, but any time one faction begins to grow in power there is always an in increase in tension. It slowly dawned on the Janissaries that their prestige could serve to increase the quality of life. The next couple of centuries witnessed the growth of the power of the Ottomans, but that growth was punctuated by a succession of uprisings that resulted in more power finding its way into the Janissaries’ hands. The inaugural Janissary revolt did not occur until 1449 and it resulted in an increase in their wages, but the true value achieved by this uprising was the priceless dividend of precedent. That first Janissary uprising served as a model that set the stage for many later successful revolts, each of which brought them more power.
The Janissaries had reached such an enviable state of influence by the late 1600s that the vaunted Ottoman bureaucracy was effectively held hostage to their whims and demands. If any of them staged a mutiny, the result was sure to be a change in the policy of the politicians. Eventually, the Janissaries reached such a height of power that they could engage in successful coups to topple any Sultan who was deemed appropriately receptive to their specific desires. With great power comes great responsibility, or so a certain weirdo often seen flying above NYC in red spandex would tell us, and one of those responsibilities is knowing when to refrain from pushing things too far. Although it must surely have seem like a good idea at the time, the Janissaries’ biggest mistake was not sensing the responsibility of putting the Ottoman Empire ahead of their own self-interests and their steadfast efforts to place obstacles in the path of modernizing the army eventually was the cause of their own downfall.
In 1807, the Janissaries revolted yet again; this time the object of their collective wrath was Sultan Selim III, who had made the dangerous mistake of seeing clearly that the western European nations were going to become really, really big trouble as a result of their progress in the modernization of warfare. Selim III was deposed before his supporters could come to his defense and was replaced by Mahmud II. Sensing intuitively the forward progress that the last few centuries had brought could lead to only one logical end, the abolition of the position of Sultan entirely, Mahmud II finally decided that the Janissaries had to be sacrificed in order to preserve the empire. In the summer of 1826, the Janissaries again staged an uprising, but by this point they no longer had the support of either the rest of the army or the people. The troops that had kept loyal to Mahmud successfully pushed back the Janissary force until finally their ranks faced either death or retreat and exile. The survivors were indeed banished and their wealth secured for the Sultan.
