Pro tempore, No. 17, 2022.
Professional paper
Devshirme as a Desirable Practice: A Few Examples from the Second Half of the 16th and the First Half of the 17th Century
Ivana Đordić
Abstract
Concerning the Christians of newly conquered European land, Sultan Murat II imposed the institution of devshirme, which gathered young suitable Christian boys to be turned into Janissaries. In this paper, by source analysis, it will be shown whether this seemingly cruel imposed order was actually something that Christian families were trying to avoid at all costs or whether there were some positive sides to devshirme. By looking at the sources, it has been shown that not only did devshirme affect Christians but also Muslims, that boys voluntarily applied for devshirme, and that some villages were spared from this levy. Cases like these point to the fact that we cannot talk about devshirme as a generally negative practice, although it, of course, does not mean it is solely positive practice. This only means that there are examples in which devshirme proved to be favorable or in which it was not rigidly followed through.
Keywords
devshirme; voluntary applying; exemptions from devshirme; Janissaries
Hrčak ID:
301702
URI
Publication date:
24.12.2022.
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