Janissaries
![Registration of boys for the devşirme. Ottoman miniature painting from the Süleymanname, 1558.[16]](/uploads/202501/21/Janissary_Recruitment_in_the_Balkans-Suleymanname3508.jpg)
The Janissaries (Ottoman Turkish:يڭيچرى yeniçeri, meaning "new soldier") were elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and bodyguards. Sultan Murad I created the force in 1383. The number of Janissaries grew from 20,000 in 1575, to 49,000 (1591), dropped to a low of 17,000 (1648), then rebounded to 135,000 in 1826.