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Devshirme Child-Recruitment System

Type Object Region Ottoman Empire Time c. 1300–1600

Devshirme was the Ottoman institutionalized mechanism for periodically recruiting boys from Balkan Christian subjects from the 14th century;…

Timeline

  1. c. 1300–1400Edirne · EdirneAfter conquering the Balkans, the Ottomans incorporated prisoners of war and tribute boys into a military slave system; from Murad I's reign a prototype of regular recruitment and centralized training took shape, developing in step with the Janissary corps.
  2. c. 1400–1481Balkan provinces · Ottoman EmpireImperial decrees regulated the recruitment cycle, quotas, and selection criteria; recruiting parties chose healthy boys from villages and sent them to Turkish villages in Anatolia for Islamization and Turkish-language education, before routing them to the Janissaries or palace schools.
  3. c. 1481–1566Istanbul · IstanbulFrom Bayezid II to Suleiman the Great, devshirme continuously supplied the empire with Janissary recruits and palace officials, including several grand viziers of devshirme background; the system reached its peak.
  4. 1601–1700Ottoman Empire · Ottoman EmpireAfter the 17th century the Janissaries permitted hereditary service, ranks were replenished by Muslim sons and volunteers, and devshirme recruitment intermittently ceased; local community resistance and rising administrative costs accelerated the system's collapse.

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