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The Janissaries as the Locus of Opposition from Sened-i İttifak to Vak’a-yi Hayriyye

Mert Sunar

Monday, July 16, 2007 6:00 PM Salon: ŞAKİR KOCABAŞ SALONU

This dissertation examines the role of the janissaries in social and political life of the early nineteenth century Istanbul. In contrast to the mainstream historiography which has treated the Janissary Corps exclusively as a military institution, this study attempts to explore social and political functions of the janissaries within the Ottoman polity. The involvement of the janissaries in crafts, commerce and agriculture in growing numbers, which became noticeable in the early seventeenth century, resulted in their integration into civil life. By the early nineteenth century, ‘janissary’ as a social category included different members of urban society from daily wage workers to small merchants in Istanbul.
This dissertation argues that the integration of the janissaries into civil life had far reaching effects on the political dynamics of the Ottoman Empire. The presence of janissaries among artisans, guilds and working population of Istanbul enabled these groups to carve out a political space for themselves despite the ruling elite’s resentment and resistance. Throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the threat of a potential janissary rebellion forced the central authorities to pay attention to the demands and interests of the urban groups which constituted the Janissary Corps. Still, the central state obstinately refused the demands of these urban groups to be represented in the government following the rebellion of 1808. Although Mahmud II’s administration granted this right to junior janissary officers for a brief period during the early phases of the Greek Rebellion, it had no intention of constituting a political structure based on popular consent. As soon as it became clear that Greeks in Istanbul did not pose any threat to the central state, Mahmud II’s government not only moved to annul this right but also to eliminate the janissary control over the state once and for all.         

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