Janissaries in the making: coerced labor and chivalric masculinity in the early modern Ottoman Empire

Abstract

ABSTRACT Until the late sixteenth century, the devşirme system was the main method of manning the janissary army. This was no simple conscription. It required an intense process of identity formation that transformed adolescent Christian boys into Muslim warriors fighting for Islam and the sultan. The training that the boys and young men received was composed of several aspects, including coerced labor, disciplined and harsh physical training, the learning of Turkish and Islamic practices, and a mental formation that would give them a certain perception of their manhood. This article examines these prominent components of janissary training. First, it investigates the function of coerced labor in the boys’ transformation, followed by a discussion of the centrality of structured and intensive training with weapons to become professional warriors. Second, it examines the masculine identity formed by the communal way of life in the barracks as soldiers and by notions of military prowess, brotherhood, and comrade solidarity that were strengthened through Bektashism. These dynamics are investigated through an examination of archival sources, chronicles, travelers’ writings, and poems by janissary poets.