Hard information about the strength and organization of Ottoman military units in the 18th Century is scarce. This article will share some of the information that I have found with the readership and add some of my own speculation. I will be pleased if my writing prompts others to come forward with more information, especially if new data alters my conclusions.
Evidence that I have found convinces me that a typical Janissary orta in the 18th Century comprised 400 to 600 officers and men. The entire orta did not serve in the field. When called on for field service, an orta would form an active echelon of one third to one half its total strength, between 200 and 300 men. If a town garrisoned by Janissaries were attacked, the entire orta would defend the town.
Contemporary Evidence
A French visitor to Algiers, Sieur Jean-Baptiste Gramaye, wrote in 1620, "There are ... five Colleges of Janissaries, where 600 live togeather in a house..." [1]
This seems to refer to five ortas, of 600 men in each barracks.
When the Ottoman Sultan Selim I accepted sovereignty over the regency of Algiers, 2,000 Janissaries were despatched to form the garrison. [2]
The number of ortas likely remained the same for the next century. This implies that the average strength of the (presumed) five ortas sent to Algiers was originally 400 men per orta. This figure is consistent with the statement that Janissary ortas in the 16th and l7th centuries numbered 400 men each. [3]
In 1785 the Ottoman governor of Syria, Cezzar Ahmed Pasha, reported to the Imperial government what forces would be needed for a military expedition against the Mamelukes of Egypt. Cezzar Ahmed wrote,"... it will also be decreed .. that .. there be sent .. an experienced Aga and seven Janissary regiments ... there must be sent .. two hundred men for each of the aforementioned corps. ...it is necessary that there be with them at least one thousand Janissaries from Anatolia... " [4]
Cezzar Ahmed apparently considered the field strength of a Janissary orta to be 200 men.
The book Ottoman Rule In Damascus 1708 - 1758 includes material on the Janissary garrison of Damascus. During this period, the Janissary garrison of Damascus comprised two elements: "local" Janissaries, whose units had been permanently stationed in Damascus since the 1500's, and a contingent of "imperial" Janissaries, added in1658 as a political and military counterweight to the locals. [5]
The imperial portion of the garrison may have been rotated back to Istanbul annually, to prevent them from developing local ties. The imperial contingent may have been fractional echelons of units permanently stationed in Istanbul.
A table in the book lists the "Complements of Damascus Janissary Corps, 1693-1746." This table [6] gives the following dates and Strengths for the imperial Janissaries:
The book also refers to "two ortas of imperial Janissaries" present in the city in 1740.
[7]
It is interesting that the strength of the imperial Janissary contingent in Damascus appears to fluctuate in increments of about 200 men. The 1735 figure of 641 men and the 1740 reference to two ortas, taken togeather, imply a strength of about 320 men per imperial orta in 1740. However, it is also noted that by 1740 a number of "unreliable and untrustworthy guildsmen-such as bakers and greengrocers-had entered the imperial Janissary corps with the understanding that they would assist the governor in obtaining provisions." [8]
It is not known how many of these pseudo-janissaries are included in the 1735 strength figure. It is also possible that a third orta of imperial Janissaries was in Damascus in 1735.
The same table [9] gives the following dates and strengths for the local janissaries:
It is not stated how many ortas the local corps comprised. There is a reference to a "15th orta of local janissaries." [10]
At a guess, it would be consistent with other evidence if the local janissaires of Damascus comprised two ortas, with strength varying from as many as 615 to as few as 375 men per orta.
From 1682 until 1732, the Damascus garrison sent only small contingents of troops to participate in imperial campaigns. The contingents are sometimes noted to have included 200 (1694-1696) or 500 (1682-1683 and 1710) local janissaires. After 1732, the governor of Damascus sent only cash contributions to support imperial campaigns, and did not participate in any himself. The local janissary contingents sent prior to 1732 appear to have been fractional active echelons of the local ortas.
After 1732, the active field service of the Damascus janissaries was limited to protecting the annual pilgrim caravans to and from the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Starting in 1708, a system was developed whereby Damascus local janissaries served one year out of three on active field duty, escorting the pilgrims or garrisoning small forts along the caravan route. The practice of forming an echelon of about one third of the orta for active field service is consistent with Cezzar Ahmed Pasha~s estimate of the strength of the imperial orta, with the contingents sent by Damascus to imperial campaigns, and with the estimated strength of imperial ortas stationed in Damascus. It was also the custom in the Algiers regency that janissaries should serve alternate one year tours in garrison and field duty. [11]
[1] Spencer, "Algiers in the Age of the Corsairs", p 32.
Barbir, Karl K. "Ottoman Rule in Damascus 1708-1758", Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1980
1709 413
1710 641
1734-1735 413
1735 6411693-1694 : 1,004
1706 : 1,231
1709 : 1,231 initially, reduced to 913 by a purge of unfits
1719-1720 : 750 initially, 83 more were added
1721-1722 : 833 initially, 90 more were added
1727-1728 : 923 Footnotes
[2] Wolf, "The Barbary Coast", p 10.
[3] Ede-Borrett, "The Nightmare of Europe," Wargames Illustrated #67, p 38.
[4] Shaw, "Ottoman Egypt in the Eighteenth Century p 10.
[5] Barbir, "Ottoman Rule in Damascus, 1708-1758," pp 89-90
[Notes 6 through 10] Ibid.
Sources
Ede-Borrett, Stephen "The Nightmare of Europeffhe Yeni-Cheri in the 16th and 17th Centuries in Wargames Illustrated #67
Shaw, Stanford J. "Ottoman Egypt in the 18th Century" Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1964.
Spencer, William "Algiers in the Age of the Corsairs" University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, 1976.
Wolf, John B. "The Barbary Coast" W.W. Norton & Co., New York,New York, 1979.
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© Copyright 1994 by James E. Purky
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