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Al Jinan الجنان

Al Jinan الجنان

Abstract

The Janissaries turned from an army protecting the Ottoman state and a source of its strength into a source of corruption, weakness and competition for it. They directed their weapons with which they defeated their enemies against the chests of the sultans and the Grand Vizier, permitted the killing of innocents, and subjected the markets to burning, looting and plundering, which caused the state to be covered with blood and weakness and the conquests to stop.

This backwardness was a natural result of several economic factors, including the Jews’ deception of the currency that was paid (salaries) to the Janissaries and the reduction of its value, which prompted them to revolt and demand an increase in salaries and the exchange of currency. The delay in paying salaries was a cause of rebellion and disobedience, in addition to the depletion of resources due to the cessation of conquests. Add to that some social factors such as allowing them to marry after the ban imposed on them by the sultans, which drowned them in marital and family problems.

Some of the political factors that led to the weakness of the Janissaries are the sultans' failure to participate in wars at the head of their armies, starting from the reign of Sultan Suleiman II, their failure to attend and chair the sessions of the Imperial Court, as well as their failure to monitor its work; therefore, they desired and were satisfied to remain in their palaces, which led to the sultans' status being shaken in the eyes of the military powers. This led to an increase in the power of the Grand Vizier and the Janissary Agha. Among the factors of weakness was the emergence of the power of the harem, as a result of the sultans abandoning training their sons for war, and the decline in their efficiency and administrative experience.

In addition to that, there were conflicts and disputes between the brothers over assuming power and the intervention of the Janissaries to resolve disputes.

The compatibility of the interests of the religious class with the interests of the Janissaries and the legitimization of their actions were among the most important factors of weakness and decline, which led to the loss of order, as well as the abuse of people and their demands for gifts and gratuities.

The joining of large numbers of the Janissaries’ sons, in addition to some Armenian, Roman, and Frankish communities, peasants, princes, and divers to the ranks of the Janissaries, granting them agricultural fiefdoms, and allowing them to practice commercial and craft activities, increased the factors of their weakness and failure to catch up with the warriors; it also increased their connection to their fiefdoms and crafts.

All these factors combined made the Janissaries time bombs, weakened them, and turned them into a source of corruption, until they became a burden on the state and the sultans.

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