In the previous article we witnessed the rise of the Janissary Corps, which began as a Praetorian Guard in the service of the Ottoman Sultan and would end up becoming a powerful elite infantry. The Janissaries were the only infantry division within the Ottoman army whose main mission in battle was to protect the sultan, but they were also focused on holding the center of the army against the enemy attack during the false strategy of throwing the Turkish cavalry. The janissary corps also included teams of explosives experts, engineers, and sappers. As for weapons, there was a great variety. Although, initially, slingshots, bows and crossbows predominated, the development of firearms was not alien to these soldiers who at some point in the fifteenth century went on to incorporate a good proportion of pistols and muskets, proving to be very skilled in their use. driving. As for the white weapons, the short sabers called yataghan Y kilij.
The quartering of a permanent army meant that provisioning, the distribution of supplies and food had a fundamental importance, which is perceived not only in the internal organization of each orta, but also in the name that the officers received, all related to the kitchens and gastronomy. Thus, at the head of each orta was an officer called basi corbaci (soup delivery man) assisted in command by the basic asci (head chef), who was in charge of provisioning and sometimes acted as executioner.
To show the importance given to food is the significance they gave to the cauldron in which they cooked and ate. This object was as important and had as much symbolic weight as the eagles on the banners of the Roman legions could have. The explanation is given that the cauldron had been an object of almost divine veneration by the nomadic tribes of Central Asia, from where the Ottoman Turks originated. Each group of 25 or 30 soldiers had their own cauldron and each orta in turn had a large bronze cauldron, the Kazan, on which there were a series of rituals. Each morning, in solemn procession, two Janissaries carried the cauldron from the barracks barracks to the kitchens, followed by another carrying a large ladle. This ritual was carried out every day except Friday, when the ortas of Constantinople marched with their respective cauldrons to the sultan’s seraglio, where they filled the cauldron with a large amount of pilaf, a corn and lamb-based stew that came directly from the kitchens of the great lord. This was always a time of great tension, for if the janissaries refused to accept the sultan’s food, it indicated that they were dissatisfied with some measure taken by him or his superiors. If, in addition, the janissaries came out of the seraglio with the empty cauldron and showed it to the people, it was a clear sign of rebellion, often followed by some altercation.
The loss of the cauldron in battle or by theft was the greatest humiliation that could befall the orta. In such cases, the officers were dishonorably discharged from the army and the unit that had lost the cauldron was prohibited from displaying the new cauldron in public view. Thus, when an orta paraded without a cauldron in front of the population, it was mocked and insulted for its cowardice on the battlefield or incompetence in peacetime, all for having allowed the cauldron to be stolen.
As in any professional army, the janissaries received food, uniforms and pay from the imperial coffers. But the empire only provided the janissaries with bread and lamb, the other provisions were provided by the head of each orta. In times of peace, each janissary only received his salary after the third year of service. The pay grew each year and increased exponentially according to the rank acquired or according to the merits made on the battlefield in times of war. Promotions worked in a similar way, initially by seniority and later by merit.
Janissary pay varied throughout the corps’ history. In the early years they received a maximum of 3 aspers per day, rising to 10 in the case of mounted troops. The increases were achieved through riots and revolts until Suleiman the Magnificent decided to end the chaos and monetary ruin caused by the different levels of pay and established a system of classes and pensions. A 12% salary was always withdrawn, which was destined to swell the coffers of the general treasury of the body to acquire uniforms, buy weapons, prepare barracks or rescue prisoners of war.
The uniform consisted of a long jacket called dolarma, of different colors although with the same cut for all, so it could be considered the first infantry uniform of the Modern Age. The hat, called ketsch, each janissary had to acquire it on their own and was characterized by carrying a wooden “spoon” on the front, another sign of the extreme importance that the janissaries gave to proper nutrition. Over time, the hat spoon evolved into other objects of adornment that were more and more ostentatious and without the slightest military utility.
Although in campaign the Janissaries marched in disorder as they approached the battlefield, each man knew exactly where in the formation to stand and what his role was. What appeared to be a disorganized mob turned into a perfect formation, highly disciplined and with a military preparation that was difficult to match. The Ottomans used Janissaries in all of their major military expeditions, notably their role in the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
Little by little, the janissaries became aware of their privileged position, not in vain the sultan’s life depended on them, and they began to develop political interests by taking sides in palace intrigues. On a couple of occasions, the Janissaries even forced a change of sultan on the Ottoman throne. In addition, as they had priority in access to the most important positions in the administration, they became the main agents of the empire, which would make them rival the old Turkmen aristocracy that based its power on large landed property.
One factor explaining the decline of the body was the changes that occurred in its social and organizational structure. Initially, the corps commander (aga), was the one who had the power to grant marriage permits to soldiers, always on the condition that they continue to form part of the body. Normally, when a janissary obtained permission to marry he was sent to one of the frontier fortresses of the empire. But in 1556 one of the sons of Suleiman the Magnificent, Sultan Selim II, would come to the throne relying on the help of the Janissaries and as a reward he was forced to grant them marriage permits without any restrictions. With this right, the janissaries who married also acquired the possibility of sleeping in their homes and not in the barracks with their comrades-in-arms, which broke with the esprit de corps.
The consequences were disastrous, as the janissaries began to demand new benefits since with the pay they received each one could support himself but not a family. Taking advantage of the fact that the sultan needed them to stop a series of disturbances, they demanded that the Ottoman state commit to supporting their children. The next demand was clear: to allow the sons of the Janissaries to become members of the corps, a practice strictly prohibited for 300 years. With this the Acemi Oglan it went from being an academy to a simple recruitment center to go directly to the force without the necessary military knowledge, conceived as an intermediate step towards obtaining a position in the administration. This led to a progressive worsening in the military quality of the members of the corps that degenerated into a caste inefficient in combat but endowed with great wealth and political influence, often dedicated to activities unrelated to the military such as trade and other businesses that had little. to do with its initial mission.
The situation worsened in the following years, as the large number of casualties suffered by the soldiers of the Ottoman Empire in a series of disastrous defeats, including the calamitous naval failure at Lepanto, made it impossible to replace them both quantitatively and, above all, qualitatively. The janissaries were then forced to accept into their ranks recruits of Turkish origin without any training, since the acemi oglan were still reserved for young men of Christian origin. This situation continued until 1638, when in order to improve the training of young Turks, the acemi oglan were opened for everyone. All these measures made the institution progressively lose its old customs and the spirit of camaraderie among its members. Finally, the devsirme system was abolished in 1648, which further damaged the military power of the entire body.
Certain civil occupations began to be massively occupied by janissaries, who had a series of commercial advantages and fiscal exemptions, among them, the coffee monopoly. Corruption began to grow out of control. Anyone who wanted to make easy money had only to bribe any Janissary officer to include his name in the orta register. In 1622, the first attempt to recover the old military spirit and reduce the influence of the Janissaries would be made by the young sultan Osman II, who was seriously concerned about the technical advances of the European armies that he had observed during his frustrated attempt to occupy Poland. After being defeated at the Battle of Chocim (1621) he accused the Janissaries of cowardice and tried to limit their powers by closing down their coffee halls (meeting points for conspirators) and moving loyal troops into the capital. But the sultan’s intentions were perceived by them as a threat to their privileges won years before and he was killed in a riot. From then on and for the next 100 years, the Janissaries would prevent any attempt to reform the armed forces. For this, they also had the support of the Bektasí dervishes, who did not want to lose the prestige and power they had acquired through their relationship with the body.
The situation continued until the end of the 18th century when the invasion of the eyalets of Egypt and Syria by a certain Napoleon influenced the decision of Sultan Selim III to modernize the army, which had become obsolete compared to the armies of Europe. Western. This took advantage of a respite to abolish the military occupation of the Ottoman fiefdoms and introduced a series of reforms called under the name of Nizam-ı Cedid (from Persian Nizām-e Jadīd or “New Order”) that had a…