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Article: Janissary
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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JANISSARY
JANISSARY.
The Janissaries (from
yeni
ç
eri,
meaning 'new soldier' in Turkish) were an elite standing force of infantrymen, first formed by the Ottoman Sultan Murad I around 1380. Legally slaves
(kul )
of the sultan, they served over the centuries as bowmen, crossbowmen, and musketeers. The Janissaries were distinguished from the main body of the army, which was made up of cavalrymen
(sipahis)
drawn from the freeborn retinues of provincial officials and notables. Janissary recruits were chosen from groups of boys who were taken into Ottoman service in periodic levies on Christian peasant families, predominantly those in the Balkans. The boys were brought to Istanbul, ...