Devşirme Totally Explained

Everything about Devsirme totally explained

Devshirme (derived from, "collection, gathering", also known as blood tax,) was the systematic collection of non-Muslim children and their involuntary conversion to Islam followed by their conscription as regular troops for the Ottoman Empire.

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." The elite forces, serving directly to the Ottoman Sultan, were divided into two main groups: The cavalry and the infantry. 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 be serving in these corps were selected from the slaves captured during warfare. However, the system commonly known as "devşirme" was soon adopted. In the "devşirme" 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 would be enrolled in either 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 one of the other corps. Those among sent to the Palace institution (Enderun) were the brightest, and they were set aside for a career within the palace itself where the very ablest could aspire to attaining 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. This class of rulers were chosen from the brightest of Devşirme and hand picked to serve in the Palace institution, known as the Enderun. They had to accompany the Sultan on campaigns, but exceptional service would be rewarded by outside the palace assignments. 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. Tavernier notes in 1678 that the Janissaries looked more like a religious order than a military corps. The members of the organization were not banned from marriage, as Tavernier further notes, but it was very uncommon for them. He goes on to write that their numbers had increased 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 were in fact much lower. (Shaw writes that their number was 30 000 under Suleiman the Magnificent.) Albertus Bobovius writes in 1686 that diseases were common among the devşirme and strict discipline was enforced.

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 wasn't applied to the major cities of the empire, and children of local craftsman in rural towns were also exempt, as such practice was believed would harm the economy. Since Jews and Armenians were exempt from this service, it was the Christian minorities of Balkans that the Devşirme were recruited. However, Bosnian Muslims were also recruited into the ranks of the Devşirme. Shaw writes that they were sent directly to serve in the Palace, under groups called "potor". Lewis writes that the "Ottoman Janissaries were Slavic and Balkanic origin, mostly Albanian."

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. Since 1568 the 'boy harvest' was only occasionally made. In 1632 the Janissaries attempted a coup against Murad IV who then imposed a loyalty oath on them. In 1648 the corps was officially abolished; 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 Societal Response

The families of those taken in countries often reviled it as forced servitude and loss of ancestral identity. Fearing that their children were never to be seen again and that some boys were fated to become servants to Turkish high officials, they did their best to hide their sons, which is shown in the folklore culture of the affected nations.
There are accounts, however, of Muslim families attempting to smuggle their offspring into the levy, which was strictly forbidden. Although the devshirme made boys into the Sultans' state slaves, most considered it an honor as it conversely led to a highly privileged position in Ottoman society, but inevitably led to their conversion to Islam (a price many adult Christians paid voluntarily for social promotion). 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 wasn't permitted.
Another aspect is that recruiting persons 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 benefited the cohesion of the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural empire.

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