stl formatA janissary (UK: /ˈdʒænɪsəri/ JAN-iss-ər-ee, US: /-sɛri/ -⁠err-ee; Ottoman Turkish: یڭیچری, romanized: yeñiçeri, IPA: [jeˈɲit͡ʃeɾ̞i], lit. 'new soldier') was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the household troops. They were one of the first modern standing armies, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped primarily with firearms, adopted during the reign of Murad II (r. 1421–1444, 1446–1451).[4][5][6][7] The corps was established under either Orhan or Murad I,[4] and dismantled by Mahmud II in 1826.

Janissaries began as an elite corps made up through the devşirme system of child levy enslavement,[8][9][10] by which Christian boys, chiefly from the Balkans, were taken, levied, subjected to forced circumcision and forced conversion to Islam,[8][9][10] and incorporated into the Ottoman army.[8][9][10] They became famed for internal cohesion cemented by strict discipline and order. Unlike typical slaves, they were paid regular salaries. Forbidden to marry before the age of 40 or engage in trade, their complete loyalty to the Ottoman sultan was expected.[11] By the 17th century, due to a dramatic increase in the size of the Ottoman standing army, the corps' initially strict recruitment policy was relaxed. Civilians bought their way into it in order to benefit from the improved socio-economic status it conferred upon them. Consequently, the corps gradually lost its military character, undergoing a process that has been described as civilianization.[12]

The Janissary Corps were a formidable military unit in the early centuries, but as Western Europe modernized its military organization and technology, the Janissaries became a reactionary force that resisted all change within the Ottoman army. Steadily the Ottoman military power became outdated, but when the Janissaries felt their privileges were being threatened, or outsiders wanted to modernize them, or they might be superseded by their cavalry rivals, they would rise in rebellion. By the time the Janissaries were suppressed, it was too late for Ottoman military power to catch up with the West.[13] The Janissary Corps was abolished by Mahmud II in 1826 in the Auspicious Incident, in which 6,000 or more Janissaries were executed.[14]