Janissaries: The Ottoman Soldiers Recruited From Enslaved Christian Boys

In this video, we explore how the Janissaries became the Sultan’s elite, why they were recruited from enslaved Christians, how they fought, and why they were different from western pike and shot armies.

Some must read mlitary history books:

Video sources:
Agoston, Gabor, Firearms and Military Adaptation: The Ottomans and the European Military Revolution, 1450-1800, in: Journal of World History (2014), pp. 85-124.
Aksan, Virginia H., s.v. Janissaries, in: Holmes, Singleton, Jones (eds.), The Oxford Companion to Military History, Oxford 2001.
Hechelhammer, Bodo, The Corps of Janissaries. Eine militärische Elite im Spannungsfeld von Gesellschaft, Militär und Obrigkeit im Osmanischen Reich, in: Militär und Gesellschaft in der frühen Neuzeit 14 (2010), p. 33-58.
Huart, C., s.v. Janissaries, in: Encyclopedia of Islam, Leiden, 1987.
Stiles, Andrina, The Ottoman Empire, 1450-1700, London, 1989.
Veinstein, Gilles, On the Ottoman janissaries, in: Zürcher, Erik-Jan, Fighting for a Living. A Comparative Study of Military Labor 1500-2000, Amsterdam 2013, pp. 115-134.

#history #documentary #education

[SandRhomanHistory]

We also recently updated our book recommendations. Below are some of our personal favorites which are relevant to everybody looking to read anything related to military history.

[dzpower]

The janissaries were a double-edged weapon. This is what gave the Ottoman a superiority against European and Middle Eastern mamluk, Safavid, and aq qoyunlu
but after it was the janissaries and their corruption who blocked any change to modernization and Ottomans found themselves bypassed by European

[barbarianremover]

*Elite guards become corrupted and start threatening emperor

Roman : Hey, I seen this one before.

[Althemor]

After the acclaimed Kingmakers: Praetorian Guard, comes another smash hit from Empires That Ruled Over Constantinople: Kingmakers 2: Janissaries. Watch as yet another elite group of soldiers morphs from royal guards into a royal pain in the ass.

[somemeansfish]

As a bulgarian fan of your channel I can't express my gratitude for you stopping to mention our viewpoint on the jannisaries, I have seen no other historian do so.My deepest thanks

[juniorjames]

Its very interesting how both the Janissaries and the Knights Templar in Europe were both destroyed when their respective leaders saw them as threats. The Knights Templar were massacred by the orders of King Philip IV (France) & Pope Clement V.

[Spaceplayzsfs]

Ottomans to Christian boys:Want some candy kid?

[QasqaZhol]

In kazakh they are called jana seri, which means "new knight", because seri in our language means elite soldier or knight in medieval analogy.

[jacopoarmini]

the times of the janissaries were very cruel, but man, the Ottoman empire, for all its glory and ingenuity, made cruelty a substantial part of its system.

[belakovdoj]

It looks like the Russian 16th-century tactic was a copy of the Ottoman's one.
Especially the use of wagons and the absence of pikes (which sometimes led to catastrophes of musketeers vs cavalry massacre)

[SPQR]

This Channel has the best Military History content with extensive primary sources many history channels just use Wikipedia and never sight their sources

[AHersheyHere]

It is so interesting seeing kingdoms early attempts at professional armies, and how eventually these establishments become powerful political forces. Varangians, Praetorian Guards, Mamaluks, and Janissaries.

[endplanets]

Slavers rolling into town, forcing a tithe of children for future soldiers....
Damn. Warhammer 40k strikes again.

[Spaceplayzsfs]

Serbian boy:Exists
Ottomans:And I took that -Personally-

[Ron_the_Raptor_Rider]

I'm surprized by how many people in the comment section try to justify the devshirme. Boys were taken away from their families, given new names, new religion, new identity, raised to blindly obey the Sultan, their ties with their real families were completely severed. Sometimes they were assigned to serve in harems -- then they were castrated.

It is true that some families made an active effort to have their sons taken hoping that it would give them great opportunities, but on the other hand many people did whatever they could to avoid it.

[ningen]

They were basically spartans of early modern times. Recruited at young age, raped, tortured, brainwashed, overworked, and when they ready for their first battle they either become a high ranked statesman or a rotten corpse in battlefield.

[drdm]

Hope you dont use your sponsor too much, your unique art is what makes your channel special

[carlustin]

Thank you for mentioning that '''janisarry'' is the most humaliting way to call someone in Bulgarian

[manatarmsfittness]

Once again you are one of the only YouTubers to talk about early modern non English history with quality. 👏bravo

[gubgub]

Serious misjudgement on that sponsor. I hope you're not using it. You'd kill the channel.