# The Janissary Revolts: When the Elite Guard Turned on the Sultan

An episode of [The Ottoman Empire: How It Ruled Three Continents for 600 Years — Fexingo History](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1895336292), 23 Jul 2026, 5:52.

Audio: https://audio.fexingo.com/history/the-ottoman-empire/episode-0176.mp3

They were the sultan's most feared warriors, recruited through the devshirme system, raised in the palace, and forbidden to marry or own property. But by the 17th century, the Janissaries had become kingmakers — and the Ottoman Empire's greatest internal threat. In this episode, Lucas and Luna trace the arc from the corps' founding under Murad I through the 1622 regicide of Osman II, the 1703 Edirne Event, the 1807 Alemdar Mustafa Pasha incident, and finally Mahmud II's 1826 Auspicious Event — when the sultan dissolved the Janissaries with cannon fire. Along the way, they explore how the corps' economic privileges, resistance to reform, and political meddling dragged the empire toward stagnation. A story of loyalty, rebellion, and the cost of refusing to change. #Janissaries #OttomanEmpire #MahmudII #AuspiciousEvent #OsmanII #Vaka-iHayriye #AlemdarMustafaPasha #EdirneEvent #Deveşirme #Yeniçeri #MuradI #OttomanReform #Sultanate #MilitaryHistory #17thCentury #18thCentury #19thCentury #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

## Transcript

Lucas: So we've talked before about the Janissaries — how they were recruited through devshirme, trained in the palace, and became the empire's elite infantry. But we haven't really looked at what happened when they turned against the sultan.
Luna: You mean the revolts?
Lucas: Exactly. The Janissaries were supposed to be the sultan's loyal guard, but by the 17th century they were more like a hereditary aristocracy — they had married, gone into trade, and passed their positions to their sons. And they resisted any change that threatened their privileges.
Lucas: The first major crisis came in 1622, with Sultan Osman II. He was only 17 years old, but he saw that the Janissaries were becoming a liability. They had lost discipline, they meddled in politics, and they had even forced his predecessor to abdicate. So Osman decided to create a new, loyal army — and that was a direct threat.
Luna: He tried to replace them?
Lucas: He planned to recruit a new force from Anatolia, and even talked about moving the capital to Cairo to get away from the Janissaries' influence in Istanbul. But the Janissaries got wind of it. They stormed the palace, dragged Osman out, and — this is rare in Ottoman history — they murdered a sitting sultan.
Luna: Wait, they actually killed the sultan?
Lucas: Yes. They strangled him in the Seven Towers prison. That sent a message: no sultan could challenge them without risking his life. For the next two centuries, the Janissaries became kingmakers. They deposed sultans, installed puppets, and even dictated policy. It's a big reason why the empire started to stagnate — reform became nearly impossible.
Luna: So every sultan after Osman II must have been terrified of them.
Lucas: Many were. The pattern repeated in 1703 with the Edirne Event — sultan Mustafa II tried to avoid the Janissaries by staying in Edirne, but they marched there, deposed him, and put his brother on the throne. Then in 1807, Selim III tried to build a new model army called the Nizam-ı Cedid — and the Janissaries revolted, killed him, and replaced him with Mustafa IV.
Lucas: But the last straw came with Mahmud II. He came to the throne in 1808, and he spent years preparing. He built up a loyal artillery corps, secured support from the religious authorities, and waited for the right moment.
Luna: He must have known it would be a bloodbath.
Lucas: He did. In June 1826, Mahmud announced the creation of a new force — the Sekban-ı Cedid, or 'New Guard.' The Janissaries responded exactly as expected: they tipped over their soup kettles, which was their traditional signal for revolt. They marched on the palace.
Lucas: But Mahmud was ready. He had the ulema issue a fatwa declaring the Janissaries rebels. Then he ordered his artillery to fire into their barracks. The cannonade killed hundreds. Survivors were hunted down in the streets. Within a week, the Janissary corps was formally abolished. They call it the Vaka-i Hayriye — the Auspicious Event.
Luna: Auspicious for the empire, but terrible for them.
Lucas: Exactly. It cleared the way for reform. Mahmud went on to modernize the army, the bureaucracy, even clothing — he started wearing a fez instead of a turban. But the Janissary legacy lingered. For centuries, they had been both the sword and the shackle of the Ottoman state.
Luna: It's such a dramatic arc — from elite guard to internal enemy.
Lucas: And it's a cautionary tale about institutions that resist change. The Janissaries had originally been a meritocratic force — Christian boys taken through devshirme, converted to Islam, trained as soldiers. But over time, they became a hereditary caste that put its own interests above the state's.
Luna: So the system that built them also destroyed them.
Lucas: In a way. And speaking of systems that depend on support — this show depends on listeners like you. A small group of people chip in monthly at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's what keeps us ad-free and able to dig into stories like this.
Luna: Yeah, it really does make a difference. We get to spend time on the details that get left out of shorter formats.
Lucas: Right. And if you're already one of those supporters — thank you. It matters. Now, back to the Janissaries — after the Auspicious Event, Mahmud II didn't stop. He also abolished the Bektashi order, which was closely tied to the Janissaries, and confiscated their property.
Luna: So he really wiped out their entire network.
Lucas: He did. The Janissary legacy is complicated — they were fearsome warriors who conquered for the empire, but also a brake on progress. Their end opened the door for the Tanzimat reforms, which tried to modernize the whole state. But by then, the empire had lost a lot of ground to Europe.
Luna: It makes you wonder — if the Janissaries had been reformed earlier, could the empire have kept up?
Lucas: That's the big 'what if.' Some historians argue that the Janissary stranglehold on reform is a key reason the Ottoman Empire fell behind. But it's not that simple — other factors like economic shifts and geopolitical pressures were at work too. Still, the story of the Janissaries shows how internal power struggles can be just as dangerous as external enemies.
Luna: And how hard it is to dismantle a privileged institution.
Lucas: Exactly. Thanks for listening — see you next time.

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