Devshirmeh

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Devshirmeh (Turkish devşirme, Greek, παιδομάζεμα, paedomazema, "collection of children" or Bulgarian кръвен данък, kraven danak, "blood tax") was the system of collection of young boys from conquered Christian lands by the Ottoman sultans as a form or regular taxation in order to build a loyal slave army and class of administrators: the Janissaries, or other servants such as tellak. The word devşirme means "gathering" in Ottoman Turkish. Boys delivered to Ottomans in this way were called ghilmán or acemi oglanlar ("foreign boys").

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History

The devshirmeh was similar to a system used by earlier Islamic dynasties, such as the Abbasids who used slaves to build armies -especially guard troops- intended to be loyal to the ruler and thus provide a steady pool of manpower that was outside of local politics, but in many cases they ended up supporting or staging coups.

The descendants of these slaves would form the Mamluk dynasties. Despite the intentions of the Abbasid rulers, the Mamluks would eventually grow in power, reducing the caliph to a virtual puppet.

The devshirmeh was an outgrowth of this system, but it also proved to be more efficient and effective at achieving its goals. Under the Ottomans, the system was first instituted by Murad I who needed a large pool of manpower from which the Sultan could build armies to fight in seemingly never-ending wars on many fronts and put down insurrections.

Under the Ottomans, newly conquered lands were "taxed" of their youth, with each province ordered to present a certain number of boys to the Sultan. Initially, these boys came from Christian families (mainly Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbians and Albanians). The boys would not be forced to convert to Islam (however, since the vast majority of them were very young and permanently cut off from their original families, they did in the end convert), but their children would be Muslims, and thus their children would not be allowed to enter the devshirmeh. This was intended to keep the system from generating a hereditary class, such as the Mamluks.

Boys were collected every year, from lands in the Balkans by a janissary. From here, they were taken to the Sultan if deemed fit, or sent to other families where they would train until they reached adulthood. Upon reaching adulthood, they were sent to different units of the Janissaries. Again there were two paths open, they could end up as cavalry soldiers and eventually hope to attain the rank of an officer, or they could remain in the court of the Sultan and possibly become the grand vizier.

Training itself involved physical preparation in the arts of war, as well as the study of culture, such as calligraphy, theology, literature, law and languages. Despite the rigors of training, while students, the devshirmeh were not allowed to leave the palace.

The devshirmeh began to decline in the 17th century due to a number of factors, including the inclusion of free Muslims in the system. Although the devshirmeh made boys into state slaves, some actually considered it an honor as it would lead to a relatively privileged position in Ottoman society, and allowed many to leave lives of poverty. To others, it was forced servitude and conversion, causing intense grief to families who lost their children, and who knew, moreover, that many of the boys were fated to become sexual servants to Turkish high officials. Most people in Christian Balkan countries hold the latter view, and colloquially this practice is often called "the blood tax" in many Balkan languages.

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