Answer:Highly respected for their military prowess in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Janissaries became a powerful political force within the Ottoman state. During peacetime they were used to garrison frontier towns and police the capital, Istanbul. They constituted the first modern standing army in Europe.
Explanation:
The formation of the Janissaries has been dated to the reign of Murad I (r. 1362–1389), the third ruler of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans instituted a tax of one-fifth on all slaves taken in war, and it was from this pool of manpower that the sultans first constructed the Janissary corps as a personal army loyal only to the sultan.[5]
From the 1380s to 1648, the Janissaries were gathered through the devşirme system, which was abolished in 1638.[11] This was the taking (enslaving) of non-Muslim boys,[12] notably Anatolian and Balkan Christians; Jews were never subject to devşirme, nor were children from Turkic families. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "in early days, all Christians were enrolled indiscriminately. Later, those from the territories what is now Albania, Bosnia, and Bulgaria were preferred."[13]
The Janissaries were kapıkulları (sing. kapıkulu), "door servants" or "slaves of the Porte", neither freemen nor ordinary slaves (köle).[14] They were subjected to strict discipline, but were paid salaries and pensions upon retirement and formed their own distinctive social class.[15] As such, they became one of the ruling classes of the Ottoman Empire, rivalling the Turkish aristocracy. The brightest of the Janissaries were sent to the palace institution, Enderun. Through a system of meritocracy, the Janissaries held enormous power, stopping all efforts at reform of the military.[11]
