The Janissaries

Introduction

            The Janissaries were two organizations formed by the sultan who was the leader of Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman leaders recruited their military troops from the prisoners and slaves. Janissaries were civil servants, and they mainly worked in military institutions, and they were the main corps in the Ottoman Empire. The Janissaries were not allowed to marry until they retire from their duty and they stayed together within the country cities. When they defeated the Balkans, they took some of the Balkans people and made them slaves of the sultan. The slaves from Balkans on arrival to Ottoman Empire were converted to the Muslim religion, and they were to obey sultan and the Muslim faith. Also, the Empire got its slaves by capturing their enemies and forcing them to become slaves.

            The most successful troops were promoted to work in the palace-military, and later they were trained and positioned in the ruling organizations[1]. The other remaining soldiers were trained on military education, and the more afterward join the army of the Janissary.  These troops offered good services, were well disciplined, and they were highly respected in Europe. Ottoman Empire was known in the history to be the greatest since it ruled many countries.  It benefited the world with the culture, politics, war, and science. Thus its fall did not go unnoticed through the history. Sultanate was known to be most potent in the Europe, where the sultan would choose his successor from his sons.  Sultanate Empire started becoming weak during the time of Suleyman the Magnificent. Suleyman was not concerned with the affairs of his country[2].

             The two successor of the Suleyman were killed since Suleyman claimed they were against his leadership. Selim II was chosen to become the next sultan, and he had no experience in ruling the country, and therefore he did not govern the country well.  After the rule of Selim II, the sultanate continued to collapse since the brothers of sultanate were retained in the Harem, and they had no experience in ruling the country. Another reason that leads to the decline of the Ottoman Empire is that the sultan used the old-fashioned method of training the troops in issues of governing the country. Due to this their fighting methods became out-dated and they were no longer the mightier corps[3]. They were changes in the power balance and that created division in the Janissaries, and they kept quarrelling and fighting over new lands.  During the World War 1, the empire was destroyed which was caused by the Empire failing to industrialize.

            In conclusion, the Ottoman Empire was the greatest in the history, and it failed due to external and internal factors.  It was known for its best and most excellent leaders who brought significant changes during their ruling period.  Different religions and cultures were accepted in the empire, it had well-structured and established laws which motivated people to move and stay in their country. The empire experienced corruption, poor leadership, economic difficulties and it faced rebellion from the people

REFERENCES

Akgündüz, Ahmed, and Said Öztürk. 2011. Ottoman history: misperceptions and truths. Rotterdam: IUR Press.

Palmer, Alan Warwick. 2011. The decline and fall of the Ottoman Empire. London: Faber. http://www.myilibrary.com?id=779539.

 

[1] Akgündüz, Ahmed, and Said Öztürk. 2011. Ottoman history: misperceptions and truths. Rotterdam: IUR Press.

[2] Palmer, Alan Warwick. 2011. The decline and fall of the Ottoman Empire. London: Faber. http://www.myilibrary.com?id=779539.

[3] Akgündüz, Ahmed, and Said Öztürk. 2011. Ottoman history: misperceptions and truths. Rotterdam: IUR Press.