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The Urban Janissary in Eighteenth- Century Istanbul

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THE URBAN JANISSARY IN EIGHTEENTH- CENTURY ISTANBUL By GEMMA MASSON A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham For the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman And Modern Greek Studies School of History and Cultures University of Birmingham July 2019 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. i Abstract The traditional narrative of Ottoman history claims that the Empire went into decline from the seventeenth century onwards, with the eighteenth century being a period of upheaval and change which led to the eventual fall of the Ottomans. The janissaries are major players in these narratives with claims from both secondary and primary writers that this elite military corps became corrupt and this contributed significantly to the overall decline of the Ottoman Empire. Such a simplistic view overlooks the changes taking place in the environment surrounding the janissaries leading to members of the corps needing to adapt to changing circumstances. The result is that the janissaries of this period were for the longest time almost exclusively studied through a binary ‘purity/corruption’ paradigm and it became difficult for scholars to move away from this system of thinking about the corps. As the principal aim of this dissertation is to facilitate a further move away from to the ‘purity/corruption’ paradigm for scholars it shall explore a range of secondary literature pertaining to the janissary corps and use primary sources to argue that this institutional ‘corruption’ is in fact and institutional adaptation. The primary documentation for this thesis is drawn primarily from the Prime Ministerial Archives in Istanbul and from the Istanbul Court Registers held at ISAM library as well as a range of published primary sources. This thesis shall break down the identity and function of the janissaries of eighteenth-century Istanbul into three principal chapters and examine each aspect janissary life within these chapters highlighting how janissary developments in these areas lend themselves to an interpretation of adaptation as opposed to corruption. Furthermore, this thesis shall attempt to reframe the discussion of the janissary corps moving towards an image of an institution adapting to the changing context it found itself in. ii For Robert, This would never have happened without you iii Acknowledgements A project such as this one inevitably incurs many debts. First and foremost, I owe thanks to Dr Rhoads Murphey, who first took me on as a PhD student and encouraged me from the very beginning. To Drs Marios Hadjianastasis and Arezou Azad for taking up the baton and getting me to the finish line, thank you. I am also indebted to Tübitak (The Scientific and Technological Research Council for Turkey) for a one-year scholarship allowing me to study in Istanbul and carry out archive work and language courses to support this project. My thanks go to the staff of the Başbakan Osmanlı Arşivi, İSAM Library and the Süleymaniye Mosque Library for their assistance. I also thank the entire team at Dilmer Language School in Istanbul. Gratitude and respect go to Dr Sevim Yılmaz Önder, for some of the happiest and educational hours I spent in Istanbul, pouring over archive documents and drinking tea together. I would also like to thank my examiners Dr Christopher Markiewicz and Dr Antonis Hadjikriacou for their constructive feedback and guidance. I am also indebted to the E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Trust for the award of a partial scholarship enabling me to complete this manuscript. Numerous staff and students from the University of Birmingham, both past and present have supported me in this work and to name just a few I would like to mention Dr Ruth Macrides, Dr Sadiah Qureshi, Dr Annika Asp and Dr Onur Usta. Furthermore, immense gratitude goes to Ozan Çekmez for his invaluable assistance with the archival aspects of this research. Finally, my husband Robert Masson, for having faith in me when I had none. iv Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. vi A note on translation and transliteration ................................................................................... vii Glossary ................................................................................................................................... viii Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 Secondary Literature Review ................................................................................................. 3 Sources ................................................................................................................................. 19 Chapter 1: Methodology and Research Framework ................................................................. 26 Locating Istanbul .................................................................................................................. 26 Locating the Janissary .......................................................................................................... 28 Historical Institutionalism .................................................................................................... 32 Research Framework ............................................................................................................ 34 Chapter 2: The Janissaries as Soldiers ...................................................................................... 40 Training and Military Structure ............................................................................................ 43 Provisioning .......................................................................................................................... 47 European Perceptions ........................................................................................................... 54 Paramilitary Duties ............................................................................................................... 60 1. Policemen ..................................................................................................................... 60 2. Firemen ......................................................................................................................... 71 Numbers and Pay .................................................................................................................. 75 Chapter 3: The Janissaries as Power Brokers ........................................................................... 85 Relations with the Sultan ...................................................................................................... 87 Janissaries and the baklava event ......................................................................................... 94 The Arm of The State: Janissary Officers and their Authority ............................................. 98 Discipline and Punishment ................................................................................................. 108 1. Sedition and Conspiracy ............................................................................................. 108 2. Janissary Criminals ..................................................................................................... 114 Civic Authority ................................................................................................................... 127 Chapter 4: The Janissaries as Social and Economic Actors ................................................... 137 The Eighteenth Century Ottoman Economy ...................................................................... 138 Janissaries in Trade ............................................................................................................. 141 1. Roles and Appointments ............................................................................................. 141 2. Janissaries and Guilds................................................................................................. 148 3. Appointed Collectors .................................................................................................. 163 Janissary Families ............................................................................................................... 165 1. Children and Families................................................................................................. 165 2. Janissaries and inheritance ........................................................................................
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