Osman II, also known as Osman the Young, was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 26 February 1618 until his regicide on 20 May 1622.
A Janissary was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan (1324–1362), during the Viziership of Alaeddin.
Ottoman military reforms began in the late 18th century.
Sipahi were professional cavalrymen deployed by the Seljuks, and later by the Ottoman Empire. Sipahi units included the land grant-holding (timar) provincial timarli sipahi, which constituted most of the army, and the salaried regular kapikulu sipahi, or palace troops. However, the irregular light cavalry akıncı ("raiders") were not considered to be sipahi. The sipahi formed their own distinctive social classes and were rivals to the Janissaries, the élite infantry corps of the Sultans.
Selim III was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. Regarded as an enlightened ruler, he was eventually deposed and imprisoned by the Janissaries, who placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV. A group of assassins subsequently killed Selim.
Mahmud II was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms which culminated in the Decree of Tanzimat ("reorganization") that was carried out by his successors. His disbandment of the conservative Janissary corps removed a major obstacle to his and his successors' reforms in the Empire. Mahmud's reign was also marked by further Ottoman military defeat and loss of territory as a result of nationalist uprisings and European intervention.
Devshirme was the Ottoman practice of forcibly recruiting soldiers and bureaucrats from among the children of their Balkan Christian subjects and raising them in the religion of Islam. Those coming from the Balkans came primarily from noble Balkan families and rayah (poor) classes. It is first mentioned in written records in 1438, but probably started earlier. It created a faction of soldiers and officials loyal to the Sultan. It counterbalanced the Turkish nobility, who sometimes opposed the Sultan. The system produced a considerable number of grand viziers from the 1400s to the 1600s. This was the second most powerful position in the Ottoman Empire, after the sultan. Initially, the grand viziers were exclusively of Turk origin, but after there were troubles between Sultan Mehmed II and the Turkish grand vizier Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Younger, who was the first grand vizier to be executed, there was a rise of slave administrators (devshirme). They were much easier for the sultans to control, compared to free administrators of Turkish aristocratic extraction. The devshirme also produced many of the Ottoman Empire's provincial governors, military commanders, and divans during the 1400s–1600s period. Sometimes, the devshirme recruits were castrated and became eunuchs. Although often destined for the harem, many eunuchs of devshirme origin went on to hold important positions in the military and the government, such as grand viziers Hadım Ali Pasha, Sinan Borovinić, and Hadım Hasan Pasha.
The Military of the Ottoman Empire was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire.
The Auspicious Incident was the forced disbandment of the centuries-old Janissary corps by Sultan Mahmud II on 15 June 1826. Most of the 135,000 Janissaries revolted against Mahmud II, and after the rebellion was suppressed, most of them were executed, exiled or imprisoned. The disbanded Janissary corps was replaced with a more modern military force.
Alemdar Mustafa Pasha was an Ottoman military commander and a Grand Vizier born in Hotin in the then Ottoman territory of Ukraine in 1765. Of Albanian origin, he hailed from the village of Goskovë near Korçë).
The Kapi Agha, formally called the Agha of the Gate of Felicity, was the head of the eunuch servants of the Ottoman Seraglio until the late 16th century, when this post was taken over by the Kizlar Agha. In juxtaposition with the latter office, also known as the Chief Black Eunuch as its holders were drawn from Black African slaves, the Kapi Agha is also known as the Chief White Eunuch.
Slavery in the Ottoman Empire was a major institution and a significant part of the Ottoman Empire's economy and traditional society. The main sources of slaves were wars and politically organized enslavement expeditions in the Caucasus, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Southeast Europe, and Africa. It has been reported that the selling price of slaves decreased after large military operations. In Constantinople, the administrative and political center of the Ottoman Empire, about a fifth of the 16th- and 17th-century population consisted of slaves. Statistics of these centuries suggest that Istanbul's additional slave imports from the Black Sea have totaled around 2.5 million from 1453 to 1700.
Jason Goodwin is an English writer and historian.
The Snake Stone (ISBN 9780312428020) is the second in a series of detective novels by Jason Goodwin, featuring the eunuch Yashim. It is set in Constantinople in 1838. The novel was nominated for a Macavity Award.
Eunuchs have appeared in many films, works of literature, and in popular culture.
The Edirne Incident was a janissary revolt that began in Constantinople in 1703. The revolt was a reaction to the consequences of the Treaty of Karlowitz and Sultan Mustafa II's absence from the capital. The rising power of the Sultan’s former tutor, Şeyhülislam Feyzullah Efendi and the empire's declining economy caused by tax farming were also causes of the revolt. As a result of the Edirne Event, Şeyhülislam Feyzullah Efendi was killed, and Sultan Mustafa II was ousted from power. The Sultan was replaced by his brother, Sultan Ahmed III. The Edirne Event contributed to the decline of the power of the sultanate and the increasing power of the janissaries and kadis.
The Ottoman palace coups of 1807–1808 refers to several coups and rebellions deposing or restoring to the throne three Ottoman sultans, that took place as a result of the attempted reforms of Selim III.
The Mansure Army was an ocak of the Ottoman army. It was established by Mahmud II, who also disbanded the Janissary Corps.
The Agha of the Janissaries or Janissary Agha was a top Ottoman military official and courtier, and the commander of the Janissary corps. Apart from the commander-general of the entire corps, the title of "Agha of the Janissaries" was also borne by the commander of a provincial garrison of Janissaries.
The Ottoman army was the military structure established by Mehmed II, during his reorganization of the state and the military. This was the major reorganization following Orhan's standing army of janissaries that were paid by salary rather than booty or fiefs. This army was the force during the rise of the Ottoman Empire. The organization was twofold, central (Kapıkulu) and peripheral (Eyalet). This army was forced to disband by Sultan Mahmud II on 15 June 1826 in what is known as Auspicious Incident, which followed a century-long reform effort.
