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Al Jinan الجنان

Al Jinan الجنان

Abstract

The Janissaries turned from a protective army for the Ottoman State, and the source of its power, to a source of its corruption, weakness and competition, so that they directed and aimed their weapons, with which, they achieved victory over the enemies, to the chests of the Sultans and the Grand Vizier, and they permitted the killing of the innocent peoples, and subjected the markets to burning, looting and plundering, which afflicted the state with blood and weakness and caused the conquests to cease. This backwardness was a natural result of several economic factors, including the Jews› deception of the currency that was payed (salaries) for the Janissaries and lowering its value, which pushed them to revolt and demand increases in salaries and exchange of currency, and the delay in paying salaries was a reason for rebellion and disobedience, as well as depletion of the resources due to the cessation of conquests. In addition to, some social factors such as allowing them to marry, after the ban imposed on them by the sultans, which drowned them in marital and familial problems. Among the political factors that led to the weakness of the Janissaries were: not participating the Sultans in the wars at the head of their armies, starting from the reign of Sultan Suleiman the Second, and not attending and presiding of the sessions of the Humayuni court, and not monitoring its work, so they desired and satisfied to stay in their palaces, which led to the shaking of the position of the Sultans in the eyes of Military forces. This led to the increase in the strength of the Grand Vizier and the Agha Janissaries. Among the factors of weakness is the emergence of the power of the harem, as a result of the sultans giving up training their sons for war, and their low efficiency and administrative experience. In addition to that, the conflicts and disputes that were taking place among the brothers over the assumption of power and the intervention of the Janissaries to resolve the conflicts. The congruence of the interests of the religious class with the interests of the Janissaries, and the legalization of their actions were among the most important factors of weakness and degradation, which led to the loss of discipline, and to abuse the people and demand them for gifts and tips
It’s considered, the joining of large numbers of Janissaries sons and some Armenian, Roman and Frankish communities, peasants, princes and divers to the ranks of the Janissaries, and granting them agricultural fiefs, and allowing them to engage in trade and craft works, increased the factors of their weakness and their failure to catch up with the warriors, and increased their association with their fiefs and their trades. All those factors combined, made the Janissaries as ticking bombs, led to their weakness and turned them into a source of corruption, so that they became a burden on the shoulders of the state and the sultans.

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