JANISSARIES (corrupted from Turkish _yeni chéri_, new troops), an organized military force constituting until 1826 the standing army of the Ottoman empire. At the outset of her history Turkey possessed no standing army. All Moslems capable of bearing arms served as a kind of volunteer yeomanry known as _akinjis_; they were summoned by public criers, or, if the occasion required it, by secret messengers. It was under Orkhan that a regular paid army was first organized: the soldiers were known as _yaya_ or _piyadé_. The result was unsatisfactory, as the Turcomans, from whom these troops were recruited, were unaccustomed to fight on foot or to submit to military discipline. Accordingly in 1330, on the advice of Chendéréli Kara Khalil, the system known as _devshurmé_ or forced levy, was adopted, whereby a certain number of Christian youths (at first 1000) were every year taken from their parents and, after undergoing a period of apprenticeship, were enrolled as _yeni chéri_ or new troops. The venerable saint Haji Bektash, founder of the Bektashi dervishes, blessed the corps and promised them victory; he remained ever after the patron saint of the janissaries. At first the corps was exclusively recruited by the forced levy of Christian children, for which purpose the officer known as _tournaji-bashi_, or head-keeper of the cranes, made periodical tours in the provinces. The fixed organization of the corps dates only from Mahommed II., and its regulations were subsequently modified by Suleiman I. In early days all Christians were enrolled indiscriminately; later those from Albania, Bosnia and Bulgaria were preferred. The recruits while serving their apprenticeship were instructed in the principles of the faith by _khojas_, but according to D'Ohsson (vii. 327) they were not obliged to become Moslems. The entire corps, commanded by the aga of the janissaries, was known as the _ojak_ (hearth); it was divided into _ortas_ or units of varying numbers; the _oda_ (room) was the name given to the barracks in which the janissaries were lodged. There were, after the reorganization of Suleiman I., 196 ortas of three classes, viz. the _jemaat_, comprising 101 ortas, the _beuluk_, 61 ortas, and the _sekban_, or _seimen_, 34 ortas; to these must be added 34 ortas of _ajami_ or apprentices. The strength of the orta varied greatly, sometimes being as low as 100, sometimes rising considerably beyond its nominal war strength of 500. The distinction between the different classes seems to have been principally in name; in theory the jemaat, or _yaya beiler_, were specially charged with the duty of frontier-guards; the _beuluks_ had the privilege of serving as the sultan's guards and of keeping the sacred banner in their custody.