Janissaries : Elite infantry of Ottoman Empire

Janissaries were the elite infantry of Ottoman empire. They were the best of the best of the empire and Sultan's personal household troops. Actually they were slaves. Though they were slaves, they held a respected and prestigious status in the society.  They had a feared reputation in battle. Those unique elite guards existed until the early half of 19th century. Later disbanded by the Sultan. They maybe gone but their legacy remains.

Ottoman Janissaries

Origin : The Janissaries were first introduced by ottoman sultan Murad I during his reign (1362-1389). The captured or kidnapped Christian boys (Mostly from 10-14 years of age) were sent to the Sultan. Most of them were captured or taken from Armenia, Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece. The ottomans also took one boy from every christian families in their territory as tax. These boys  sent to Sultan in the capital. There they were trained in Ottoman and Islamic ways. They were slaves and in Islam keeping Muslim slaves was restricted so they were not being converted to Islam. Their loyalty was only to Sultan himself. Best of them were promoted to Sultan's personal bodyguard. They also accompanied Sultan and sometimes the general as an elite brigade. They were slaves but treated well. They got wages for their service and pension after retirement.

Janissary

Weapon : Janissaries were famous for their ability in using firearms. Though before introduction of firearms they used axes, Turkish swords, daggers and bows as their weapon. The palace guards used halberd as their main weapon but after firearms being introduced it became their main weapon. They mainly used muskets as their main weapon along with swords and daggers. 

Janissaries in battle

Role : Janissaries' main role in battle was to protect sultan from any harm but they were also used as sappers, marksmen, engineers, technicians. Because of their elite status, they were highly respected by other troops and their presence worked as a moral booster for the army. They were the last resort and were used cautiously. Their defeat could be catastrophic for the moral of the army (We saw that in the Siege of Vienna in 1683). They were also used as palace guards.

Ottoman Siege

Disbandment : Janissaries became more powerful and influential in time. They started playing the role of king maker by supporting their favorite candidate for the throne. They revolted many time to secure their positions to increase their wages or getting some rights. They became greedy in time and sometimes took sultan captive or forced him to accept their demand. They started interfering with sultan's decisions. They stopped the idea of modernizing the ottoman army in European model in the fear of loosing their importance. Many sultans tried to disband or reduce their power but failed. They became the threat to the Ottoman empire like the praetorian guards became to the Western Roman empire. Finally during the reign of sultan Mahmud II Janissaries mutinied again in 1826. This time sultan was ready for them. He defeated and disbanded them. Captured Janissaires were either killed or exiled. It was the end of Janissaries.

Conclusion : The Janissaries became the main symbol of ottoman army in the western world because of their loyalty, bravery and attractive costume. They were slaves but became the king maker. They did many heroic deeds and atrocity for Ottoman empire and for their own interest. They became obsolete in time and finally became history.