Devshirme Recruits and Palace Schools

16th Century Ottoman Acemi Oglan --
under the watchful eye of his 'drill sergeant' (Iç Oglan Çavusu)...

Another Islamic institution adapted by the Ottomans was the ghulam system. A ghulam was a slave (by definition, a non-Muslim) educated and trained for state service. The Islamic caliph Al-Mustasim (833-842) used ghulams, and the Ottomans knew of the institution from their direct predecessors, the Seljuk Turks. The Ottomans modified the ghulam system by instituting the infamous devshirme, in which young Christian males between the ages of 8 and 15 were removed from their villages in the Balkans to be trained for state service. The youths were brought before the sultan, and the best of them—in terms of physique, intelligence, and other qualities—were selected for education in the palace school. There they converted to Islam, became versed in the Islamic religion and its culture, learned Ottoman Turkish, Persian, and Arabic, and were trained in the military and social arts. They owed absolute allegiance to the sultan and were destined for the highest offices in the empire as they rose through the ranks of the school. When members of this select group graduated at about the age of 25, they assumed positions in the provincial military structure or took up service in the palace guards regiments. They could then work their way up the system and become its military-administrative head, the grand vizier. Those not selected for the palace school converted to Islam, worked for rural Turkish farmers, learned vernacular Turkish and folk Islamic culture, and became members of the sultan’s elite military infantry, the Janissaries.

This division in the devshirme, between those who received the best available education in the high Islamic tradition and those who followed the folk tradition and served as Janissaries, reflected a significant development within the society as a whole: the definition of the Ottoman identity. By the early 16th century the term Ottoman, which had first indicated the men around Osman and then the dynasty itself, had become a cultural-political-sociological term. Only a minority of the askeri class could be called "true" Ottomans. To be an Ottoman one had to serve the state and the religion and know the "Ottoman way." Serving the state meant having a position within the military, the bureaucracy, or the religious establishment that carried with it the coveted askeri status and tax exemption. Serving the religion meant being a Muslim. Knowing the "Ottoman way" meant being completely at home in the high Islamic tradition. It also meant being fully trained in Arabic and Persian—languages that were, along with Turkish, the constituent elements of Ottoman Turkish, the language vehicle of all Ottomans. By this definition, the bulk of the Janissary corps—made up of devshirme youths who were not trained in the palace school but rather in the traditions of folk Islam—could not be considered Ottomans. Even though they served the state and the religion, they did not know the Ottoman way. High-ranking Greeks who served as translators for the Ottoman state were not Ottomans because, while they knew the Ottoman way and served the state, they were not Muslims. Although it was possible for people born outside the "true" Ottoman group to overcome, either through the devshirme or through other avenues, the barriers that stood in their way, the later Ottomans remained a generally exclusive community. Children of Ottomans had the right connections and opportunities to follow in their fathers’ footsteps, and they were quick to do so.

The size of these corps were no more than 10.000 at all, and was around 7.000. The commander of these corps was the Agha of Istanbul, who was also the General-In-Chief of the capital.

The Devshirme recruits were sent to these places: Ajemioghlan Corps, Bostanji Palace Guard Corps, Tophane Artillery Corps, Kapikulu Corps, Imperial Workshops and Imperial Palaces. The Palace School was the place where the devşirme boys where trained. There were palace schools in the old palace in Edirne, one in the Galata Palace north of the Golden Horn in Istanbul and one in the Ibrahim Pasha Palace at the Hippodrome in central Istanbul. When graduating from these after seven years, the boys were ready to become servants for the sultan or other notables, to serve in the Six Divisions of Cavalry or as a Janissary. Some of the most talented devşirme boys came to the Topkapi Palace where they were trained for high positions within the Ottoman court or military.
 

An Ajemi Kahyasi, who was responsible from the training of the Ajemi Oghlans


The Harem was under the administration of the eunuchs, of which there were two categories, Black and White Eunuchs. Black Eunuchs were Africans taken as slaves who served the concubines and officials in the Harem and together with chambermaidens of low rank. The White Eunuchs were Europeans from the Balkans . They served the recruits at the Palace School and where from 1582 prohibited from entering the Harem.

An important figure in the Ottoman court was the Chief Black Eunuch (Kızlar Ağası or Harem Ağası). In control of the Harem and a perfect net of spies in the Black Eunuchs, the Chief Eunuch was involved in almost every palace intrigue and could thereby gain power over either the sultan or one of his viziers, ministers or other court officials.