Janissaries

In History class, we have been learning about the Ottoman Empire, and I found the Jannisaries to be quite an interesting topic. Here is my definition on the term.

Janissaries- The definition to the term Janissaries is the troops the Ottomans attained through the process of devshirme. Devshirme is when Christian boys in the Ottoman Empire were converted to Islam and trained to become Ottoman fighters. The Balkans was an area where much of these boys were recruited from. These Janissaries were trained and the elite crop could become top officials for the whole empire and this was seen as a way up social mobility to the families of the young boys being given to the Military. These janissaries were known as the “Slaves of the Gate”. Janissary in turkish meant new soldier.