janissary
August 08, 2004, 09:20
Janissaries (Turkey)
This force was the core of the Turkish army - the regular infantry created in 1330 by sultan Urkhan. First they were made up of Christians taken from their families in their early childhood and converted to Moslems. Later, janissary service became hereditary. They constituted a kind of military caste and took an active part in palace revolutions. Janissaries were equipped with muskets, yataghans, daggers and sometimes pikes, but had no armour. Generally, janissaries were used for the same battle missions as European musketeers, i.e. they were considered all-purpose infantry. Janissaries also watched over the enormous Turkish army recruited from varied parts of the Ottoman Empire, which was often far from having a strong morale.
This force was the core of the Turkish army - the regular infantry created in 1330 by sultan Urkhan. First they were made up of Christians taken from their families in their early childhood and converted to Moslems. Later, janissary service became hereditary. They constituted a kind of military caste and took an active part in palace revolutions. Janissaries were equipped with muskets, yataghans, daggers and sometimes pikes, but had no armour. Generally, janissaries were used for the same battle missions as European musketeers, i.e. they were considered all-purpose infantry. Janissaries also watched over the enormous Turkish army recruited from varied parts of the Ottoman Empire, which was often far from having a strong morale.