Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh
First of all, we warmly welcome you to our website, Real History.
You may have heard or seen a little about the Janissaries before. Today, we will tell you who actually founded this fierce army and on what basis it was established. Find out now!
Who founded the Janissary army? Find out now! in Eng-4j
The Foundation of the Modern Army – The Janissaries
One of the significant achievements of Sultan Orhan was the establishment of the Islamic army and the planning to organize it under a structured military system. The army was divided into various units, with each unit consisting of a thousand soldiers. The spoils of war (one-fifth share) were spent on maintaining this army. Before this, people would voluntarily gather during wars, and there was no organized military system. Sultan Orhan established military camps where soldiers were trained for battle.
He also introduced another army known as the “Janissaries” (Yeniçeri). This army primarily consisted of new Muslims who became Ottoman citizens as the empire expanded. Due to the success of Muslims against non-Muslim and anti-Islamic forces, a large number of people in the conquered lands embraced Islam. Sultan Orhan invited them to join the Muslim military and contribute to the spread of Islam. After converting to Islam, these new Muslims received religious education, and once their intellectual and military training was complete, they were sent to various jihad centers. Scholars and jurists worked alongside Sultan Orhan to instill in them the spirit of jihad, the protection of religion, the desire for conquests, and the love for martyrdom in the path of Allah. Their battle cry in war was always: “Gazi or Shaheed” (Victorious or Martyr).
The False Narrative of Forced Conversions
Many biased historians claim that the Janissary army was formed from Christian children who were forcibly taken from their parents and converted to Islam. They argue that there was a systematic law for this practice, referring to it as the “Devshirme system” or a “child tax.” According to them, under this law, Muslims were allowed to take five Christian children from every village as war booty and forcibly convert them. Among the historians who have distorted facts in this manner, Carl Brockelmann, Gibbons, and Jebb are particularly notable.
However, this is far from the truth. The claim that Muslims collected children as a tax and forcibly converted them is a fabricated story inserted into Ottoman history. Later, all Ottoman rulers, including Orhan and Murad Khan, were falsely accused of this practice. The actual reality is that the Ottoman Empire had a formal system for providing care and protection to Christian orphans who had lost their parents due to continuous wars. Islam, which was the guiding principle of the Ottoman state, does not permit taking children as a tax in any form. These false accusations are merely a reflection of the Islamophobia and biases of certain Christian historians.
Due to wars and conflicts, a large number of children were separated from their parents. The Ottoman rulers ensured the care of these orphans, who would otherwise roam the streets of conquered cities without any guardianship. They guaranteed these children a bright future—and what better guarantee of a prosperous future than Islam? If Muslims sought to guide these destitute and abandoned children toward Islam, does that justify the false claim that they forcibly converted them?
It is unfortunate that instead of exposing this falsehood, some Muslim historians teach this fabricated narrative in schools, colleges, and universities. They present it as an established fact, despite its baseless nature. Many Muslim historians have been deeply influenced by these biased Western sources. Some openly oppose Islam, and they repeatedly propagate this slander in their books. Among them, Advocate Muhammad Fareed Beg (author of “Al-Dawlah Al-Uthmaniyyah”), Dr. Ali Hassoun (“Tarikh al-Dawlah al-Uthmaniyyah”), Muhammad Kurd Ali (“Khitat al-Sham”), Dr. Omar Abdul Aziz (“Muhadharat fi Tarikh al-Shu’ub al-Islamiyyah”), and Dr. Abdul Karim Ghariba (“Al-Arab wa Al-Turak”) are particularly notable.
The truth is that this entire narrative is a lie, a fabricated accusation, and a baseless slander. There is no Muslim historical source that provides evidence of such a practice. This story originates solely from Orientalist writings, which claim that Muslims collected Christian children as tax and forcibly converted them under an official law. Among these biased Orientalist scholars, Jebb, Samuel, and Brockelmann stand out. Their intentions regarding Islamic history and civilization are far from trustworthy. Their goal is to distort Muslim history and alienate future Muslim generations from their glorious past.
Who Were the Real Janissaries?
The specially trained soldiers in the Janissary army were not forcibly converted Christians. They were actually the children of Muslim converts—families who had willingly embraced Islam and fully accepted it as their way of life. These parents voluntarily sent their sons to serve the Ottoman Sultan, ensuring they received an education based on Islamic principles. Other children in the army were orphans—war orphans who had no one to care for them. The Ottoman Empire took these children in, raised them, and trained them according to Islamic values.
The Establishment of the Janissary Army
The modern army formed by Orhan bin Osman was a well-structured force that remained battle-ready at all times, regardless of war or peace. This army included:
- Members of the royal family
- Mujahideen (warriors) who were always ready to answer the call for jihad
- Emirs and commanders of Rum who had fully embraced Islam
Once Sultan Orhan had organized the army, he sought blessings from a revered Islamic scholar, Hajji Bektash Wali. The saint met the Sultan and was greatly pleased with his efforts. He placed his hand on the head of one of the soldiers and prayed:
“May Allah grant them honor, sharpen their swords, remove all obstacles, and grant them victory in every battle they fight for His sake.”
Then, he turned to Sultan Orhan and asked:
“Have you chosen a name for this army?”
The Sultan replied:
“No, I have not yet given it a name.”
Hajji Bektash Wali then said:
“This army shall be called ‘Yeniçeri’—the ‘New Army’.”
The flag of this new army was red, featuring a crescent moon with a sword beneath it, symbolizing the legendary sword Dhulfiqar—the sword of Imam Ali (RA).
Thank you very much for reading this post on our website, Real History.
