''Kapıkulu'' (, ''Kapıkulu Ocağı'', "Slaves of the

Sublime Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( or ''Babıali''; ), was a synecdoche or metaphor used to refer collectively to the central government of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul. It is particularly referred to the buildi ...

") was the collective name for the household division of the

Ottoman Sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to Dissolution of the Ottoman Em ...

s. They included the

Janissary A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted dur ...

infantry corps as well as the Six Divisions of Cavalry. Unlike provincial levies such as the

timariots Timariot (or ''tımar'' holder; ''tımarlı'' in Turkish language, Turkish) was the name given to a Sipahi cavalryman in the Ottoman army. In return for service, each timariot received a parcel of revenue called a timar, a fief, which were usual ...

and irregular forces ('' levend''), the ''kapıkulu'' were professional, standing troops, mostly drawn through the

devshirme Devshirme (, usually translated as "child levy" or "blood tax", , .) was the Ottoman practice of forcibly recruiting soldiers and bureaucrats from among the children of their Balkan Christian subjects and raising them in the religion of Islam ...

system. They formed the backbone of the

military of the Ottoman Empire The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

during its "classical period", from the 15th century until the

Auspicious Incident The Auspicious Incident or Auspicious EventGoodwin, pp. 296–299. ( in Constantinople; , "Event of Malignity" in the Balkans) was the forced disbandment of the centuries-old Janissary Corps by Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II on 15 June 1826.Kinross, ...

of 15 June 1826 that led to the abolition of the kapıkulu during the

Tanzimat The (, , lit. 'Reorganization') was a period of liberal reforms in the Ottoman Empire that began with the Edict of Gülhane of 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. Driven by reformist statesmen such as Mustafa Reşid Pash ...

References

* Turkish words and phrases {{Ottoman-stub

See also

References