Of the regular troops the Spahis are the most ancient, and at first formed the body-guard of the sultan. This corps consisted of the flower of the Turkish youth, being the sons of wealthy mussul mans; and were held, on account of their accom plishments and birth, in great honour and esteem throughout the empire. But in consequence of their frequent mutinies and rebellions, they were severely punished in the reign of Mahomet IV., and they now form an inconsiderable force of 15,000 men.
The order of Janissaries, who were long the cho sen troops of the Ottomans, was instituted by Amu rath I. He claimed a fifth of the christian captives, whom, having instructed in the Mahometan faith, and disciplined to arms, he formed into a body of infantry of 12,000 men. The formation of this force was consecrated by the prayers of Hagi Boktcsh, a celebrated dervise, who, placing the sleeve of his gown upon one of their heads, said, " Let them be called (young soldiers); let their coun tenance be ever bright, their hands victorious, their swords keen; let their spears always hang over the heads of their enemies; and wherever they go may they return with a shining face." This order, how ever, was in a great measure remodelled by Amu rath 11. When the royal fifth of the captives was diminished by conquest, he levied a tax of every fifth child upon his christian subjects. At the age of fifteen they were torn from their parents, had their names enrolled in a book; and from that mo ment they were clothed, taught, and fed for the public service. Their bodies were inured to fatigue by the athletic exercises of wrestling, leaping, and running, and when drafted into chambers and com panies of the janissaries, were severely trained in the military discipline of the order. This institu tion gave a decisive superiority to the Turkish arms, as it presented a system of discipline, and a permanency of organization till then unknown in Europe; and these celebrated and formidable troops continued to be the terror of the surrounding na tions. They were blindly devoted to the person of the prince, and were always reserved for the most difficult and perilous actions. To them were in trusted the protection of the capital, and also the frontier garrison towns. The sultans and their sons were uniformly members of this body; and, from the privileges which they enjoyed, and the high consideration in which they were held, many were attracted to their standard; and at one time a great portion of the youth of the empire were enrolled in the regiments of the janissaries. Those only, how ever, who were quartered in their barracks at Con stantinople, and in the garrisons, were entitled to receive pay; and these amounted to about 40,000. While the reins of government were held by war like and energetic sultans, this institution was the great support of the throne and the empire; but when these reins were relaxed in the hands of weak and effeminate princes, the janissaries became the instruments of aspiring and intriguing men, parti cularly the 1.71ema, who by their assistance deposed
or murdered their sovereigns whenever it suited their ambitious and selfish purposes. Like the Prm torian bands of Rome, the janissaries thus acquired an ascendancy in the affairs of government alike destructive of the prosperity and happiness of the nation. Whatever abuses they committed, were to lerated through fear. The revolts in the capital were always embraced from an esprit de corps, by the janissaries of the provinces; and being sanc tioned by the Ulerna, were considered as triumphs against their common enemy the sultan. Amurath IV., whose enmity they had roused, and whose feel ings they had outraged by rising in sedition and massacring his favourite before his eyes, watched only for an opportunity of revenge. Returning vic torious from an expedition against Persia, sur rounded by numerous Albanian, Bosniak, and Kur dish military chiefs, whose attachment he had secured, he ordered for execution all the officers and soldiers of the janissaries who had been active in the sedition against him. He also sent an army into Asia Minor, then the focus of janissarism, and exterminated all belonging to the order in that pro vince; and so great was the number of his victims, that for the sake of concealment, he ordered deep wells to be dug, into which they were thrown by hundreds. This severe chastisement effectually curbed this turbulent soldiery during the remain der of his reign; but after his death a succession of revolts deluged the Ottoman throne with blood. Mahmoud I. who owed his throne to the last of these revolts, saw his danger, and formed the de sign of overcoming the power and violence of this body, by promoting among them a love of ease and indulgence. " He continued their pay, allowed them to pursue any trade, and invested them with exclusive commercial privileges; so that he gained their love and subdued their ferocity." They thus lost by degrees their military habits, became more attached to their lucrative occupations than to arms; and at length were so enervated and de graded, that they were despised for their cowardice and military ignorance. In the Russian wars they were uniformly beaten, almost without a show of resistance, and retained nothing of the soldier but the name. Their last revolt, in 1806, cost Selim his throne and his life; but his successor, Mahmoud II. has succeeded in completely dissolving the corps, and in introducing European tactics into his ar mies. The next in importance to the janissaries are the topgis or gunners, amounting to 30,000 men, some of whom are quartered at Tophana, where there is a cannon foundry, and the rest are dispersed throughout the empire; the gebegis or armourers, who are divided into sixty companies, and have their barracks near the mosque of St. So phia; and the sakhas or water carriers, who attend in the field, and supply the troops with water, which their frequent religious ablutions render necessary.