Devshirmeh

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Social structure of the
Ottoman Empire
Lifestyle · Ottoman court · Slavery · Devşirme
"Devşirme" ( gravure from Topkapi Palace)

Devşirme or devshirme was the systematic and high-percentage taxes that non-Muslims of the Ottoman Empire were forced to pay. Muslims also paid taxes, but the cost was significantly lower, due to the belief that non-Muslims would convert because of high taxes.

Contents

History

The Ottoman Empire, beginning with Murat I, felt a need to "counteract the power of (Turkic) notables by developing Christian vassal soldiers and converted kapıkulları as his personal troops, independent of the regular army." 1 The elite forces, which served the Ottoman Sultan directly, were divided into two main groups: cavalry and infantry. 2 The cavalry was commonly known as the Kapıkulu Süvari (The Cavalry of the Servants of the Porte) and the infantry were the popular Yeni Çeri (translated in English to Janissary), meaning "the New Corps".

At first, the soldiers to serve in these corps were selected from the slaves captured during warfare. However, the system commonly known as "devşirme" was soon adopted: in this system non-Muslim children of the rural Christian populations of the Balkans were conscripted before adolescence and were brought up as Muslims. Upon reaching adolescence, these children were enrolled in one of the four royal institutions: the Palace, the Scribes, the Religious and the Military. Those enrolled in the Military would become either part of the Janissary corps, or part of any other corps.3 The brightest were sent to the Palace institution (Enderun), and were destined for a career within the palace itself where the most able could aspire to attain the very highest office of state, that of Grand Vizier, the Sultan's immensely powerful chief minister and military deputy.

The life of the devşirme

Although the influence of Turkic nobility continued in the Ottoman court until Mehmet II, (See Çandarlı Halil) the Ottoman ruling class slowly came to be ruled exclusively by the Devşirme, creating a separate social class.4 This class of rulers was chosen from the brightest of Devşirme and hand-picked to serve in the Palace institution, known as the Enderun. 5 They had to accompany the Sultan on campaigns, but exceptional service would be rewarded by assignments outside the palace.6 Those chosen for the Scribe institution, known as Kalemiyye were also granted prestigious positions. The Religious institution, İlmiyye, was where all Orthodox clergy of the Ottoman Empire were educated and sent to provinces or served in the capital.7

Tavernier noted in 1678 that the Janissaries looked more like a religious order than a military corps.8 The members of the organization were not banned from marriage, as Tavernier further noted, but it was very uncommon for them. He goes on to write that their numbers had increased to a hundred thousand, but this was because of a degeneration of regulations and many of these were in fact "fake" Janissaries, posing as such for tax exemptions and other social privileges. He notes that the actual number of Janissaries was in fact much lower. (Shaw writes that their number was 30 000 under Suleiman the Magnificent.9)

Albertus Bobovius wrote in 1686 that diseases were common among the devşirme and strict discipline was enforced.10

Ethnicity of the devşirme, and exemptions

The devşirme were collected once in every four or five years from rural provinces in Balkans, and only from non-Muslims. The devşirme levy was not applied to the major cities of the empire, and children of local craftsman in rural towns were also exempt, as it was considered that conscripting them would harm the economy.11 Jews and Armenians were exempt from this service, 1213 so the Devşirme were recruited from the Christian minorities of the Balkans. However, Bosnian Muslims were also recruited into the ranks of the Devşirme. Shaw wrote that they were sent directly to serve in the Palace, under groups called "potor".14 Lewis wrote that the "Ottoman Janissaries were Slavic and Balkanic origin, mostly Albanian."15

Decline of the devşirme class

The devshirme declined in the 16th and 17th Century due to a number of factors, including the inclusion of free Muslims in the system. After 1568 the 'boy harvest' was only occasionally made. In 1632 the Janissaries attempted an unsuccessful coup against Murad IV, who then imposed a loyalty oath on them. In 1648 the corps was officially abolished;16 attempts to reintroduce it failed due to the resistance of the new Turkish members of the Janissary corps in 1703, who wanted the coveted posts exclusively for their own families.

The response of society

There are accounts of Muslim families attempting to smuggle their offspring into the levy, which was strictly forbidden. Although the devshirme made boys the Sultans' state slaves, most considered it an honor as it led to a highly privileged position in Ottoman society, but inevitably led to their conversion to Islam. The system also had specific limits on who and how many could be taken. The seizure of sons whose absence would cause hardship and difficulties was not permitted.

Another aspect is that recruiting personnel for the military and administration counterbalanced the grip of the old Turkish nobility, which was largely channeled into education, law, Muslim religion and the provincial cavalry, in the spirit of division of tasks and rights of the millet system which increased the cohesion of the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural empire.

See also

References

  1. ^ Shaw, Stanford (1976). History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Volume I. United States of America: Cambridge University Press, 27. ISBN 0521212804. 
  2. ^ More classifications, such as the artillery and cannon corps, miners and moat diggers and even a separate cannon-wagon corps were introduced later on, but the number of people in these groups were relatively small, and they incorporated Christian elements.
  3. ^ Shaw, Stanford (1976). History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Volume I. United States of America: Cambridge University Press, 112-129. ISBN 0521212804. 
  4. ^ Zürcher, Erik (1999). Arming the State. United States of America: LB Tauris and Co Ltd, 5. ISBN 186064404X. 
  5. ^ Shaw, Stanford (1976). History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Volume I. United States of America: Cambridge University Press, 115-117. ISBN 0521212804. 
  6. ^ Shaw, Stanford (1976). History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Volume I. United States of America: Cambridge University Press, 117. ISBN 0521212804. 
  7. ^ Shaw, Stanford (1976). History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Volume I. United States of America: Cambridge University Press, 132-139. ISBN 0521212804. 
  8. ^ Tavernier. Nouvelle Relation de L'ınterieur du Serrial du Grand Seigneur. 1678, Amsterdam.
  9. ^ Shaw, Stanford (1976). History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Volume I. United States of America: Cambridge University Press, 121. ISBN 0521212804. 
  10. ^ Nicolas Brenner. Serai Enderun; das ist inwendige beschaffenheit der türkischen Kayserl, residentz, zu Constantinopoli die newe burgk genannt sampt der ordnung und gebrauschen so von Alberto Bobivio Leopolitano. J. J. Kürner. 1667. Search under Bobovio, Bobovius or Ali Ulvi for other translations. French version exists, and fragments exist in C.G. and A.W. Fisher's "Topkapi Sarayi in the Mid-17th Century: Bobovi's Description" in 1985.
  11. ^ Shaw, Stanford (1976). History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Volume I. United States of America: Cambridge University Press, 114. ISBN 0521212804. 
  12. ^ Shaw, Stanford (1976). History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Volume I. United States of America: Cambridge University Press, 114. ISBN 0521212804.  Shaw states that the reason for this exemption may have been the recognition of both People as a separate Nation (none of the Balkan ethnic groups were recognized as such.) or that both Jews and Armenians lived mostly in the major cities anyway.
  13. ^ Albertus Bobovius, who was enslaved by Crimean Tatars and sold into the palace in the 17th century, reports that both Armenians and Jews were exempt from the devşirme levy. He writes that the reason for this exemption of Armenians is religious: That Gregorian church is considered to the closest to Christ's (therefore Muhammed's) teachings.
  14. ^ Shaw, Stanford (1976). History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Volume I. United States of America: Cambridge University Press, 114. ISBN 0521212804. 
  15. ^ Lewis, Bernard. Race and Slavery in the Middle East: An Historical Enquiry. Oxford University Press. 1990.
  16. ^ Zürcher, Erik (1999). Arming the State. United States of America: LB Tauris and Co Ltd, 80. ISBN 186064404X. 

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