Ottoman Devshirme System

Timeline

1. c. 1360–1400Edirne · Ottoman EmpireAfter conquering the Balkans, the Ottomans periodically recruited boys aged roughly eight to eighteen from Christian families; after screening, they were sent to Turkish villages in Anatolia for Islamization and language training, then selected for palace schools or the Janissary corps.
2. 1401–1410Frontier regions of Serbia and Bulgaria · Balkan PeninsulaDespite the political turmoil following the defeat at Ankara in 1402, the devshirme continued to be carried out in the Balkans on a roughly three-to-five-year cycle in the early 15th century, replenishing the Janissaries and training non-hereditary administrative elites for high offices such as grand vizier.
3. 1500–1638Istanbul · Ottoman EmpireIn the 16th century, devshirme graduates held high offices such as grand vizier and provincial governor, forming a tradition of a "slave ruling elite"; later, due to demand for Muslim sons to enter service and rising institutional costs, Murad IV formally abolished the levy in 1638.