A Study Of The Devshirme System In The Ottoman Empire

As an empire established by nomadic people,the Ottoman Empire has got rid of the fate of a short reign of the previous nomadic empire.This was mainly due to the successful transformation of the ottoman-ruled Turkic principality from a nomadic tribal regime to a settled centralized state.During the transition period,the Ottoman Empire adopted a series of effective measures.The devshirme system was one of the important measures.The devshirme system,also known as the child tax,was largely the practice of the Ottoman government regularly sent janissary to recruit children from Christian villages in the Balkans and Anatolia.This method of recruitment is based on villages,with a levy rate of one in forty,that is,one young person is selected from every forty households.The selected children will convert to Islam and become outstanding talents loyal to sultan through long-term training and physical training.The devshirme system provided a kind of social mobility for the ottoman empire,making the empire politics more dynamic.The devshirme system was not static in the Ottoman Empire.With the development of the empire,the devshirme system was also making corresponding adjustments.The development of the devshirme system in the empire can be roughly divided into three stages: the period from the Murad I(1360-1389)to the Mehmet Ⅱ(1444-1446,1451-1481)was the initial stage of its establishment.During this period,the devshirme system was more to provide a stable source of soldiers for the janissary.At this time,the system did not have clear rules and regulations.Most of them were recruited according to the war situation at that time or the edict of sultan.From the conquest of Constantinople by Mehmet Ⅱ in 1453 to the reign of Murat III(1574-1595),the devshirme system was further perfected in the empire.During this period,the devshirme system formed a relatively perfect recruitment process.The period after Murat III and until the early 17 th century when the devshirme system wasabolished was the decline of the devshirme system.The decline of the devshirme system was caused by many reasons.The change in the system of succession to the throne,coupled with the intervention of the harem,led to the majority of Sultan in the 17 th century being young and incompetent.This made Sultan gradually a nominal existence.The powerful Grand Vezir and Pasha families began appointing elites trained by their factions to office.The original process of official appointment in the Ottoman Empire was broken,and the young people recruited by the devshirme system were replaced by the new elite group.The changing political situation in the Ottoman Empire made it no longer necessary for the devshirme system to recruit outstanding talents for the central government.Militarily,the sources of recruitment for the janissary were gradually diversified.The sons of the janissary were allowed to join the janissary.Muslims were able to enter the janissary through bribery and other means.This made the janissary no longer need the devshirme system to recruit soldiers.The decline of the devshirme system had a profound impact on the Ottoman Empire.After the fall of the devshirme system,factions within the central government of the Ottoman Empire fought constantly.The weakening of the power of the central government made its jurisdiction over the local areas useless,and the local separatist regimes became increasingly serious.This caused serious damage to the centralized power of the Ottoman Empire.The janissary gradually became a big obstacle to the modernization reform in the late Ottoman Empire.The change of the janissary made the military advantage of the Ottoman Empire no longer exist.In the historical study of the rise of the Ottoman Empire,the devshirme system occupied an important position.The young people recruited by the devshirme system not only provided a stable source of soldiers for the janissary,ensured the smooth expansion of the Ottoman Empire in the early stage,but also provided a large number of outstanding people for the early government construction of the Ottoman Empire.It was of great significance for the early political system evolution of the Ottoman Empire to study the devshirme system.Understanding the development and evolution of the devshirme system helped us to better understand the historical changes andsystem flexibility of the Ottoman Empire.This article mainly studies the evolution of the devshirme system from the perspective of the development of the Ottoman Empire,to better understand the various problems faced by the Ottoman Empire in its development process and the corresponding policy adjustments.