Identify this  Ottoman Age
explorer and trader |
To Jim and Peri's
Commercial-free CD
for Turkish Learning --
now with
triple ebook bonus!
|
Habibullah'sEncyclopedia
of the Ottoman EmpireAND HER TIMES
- J -
Sultans
and Concubines and Eunuchs, oh my...!
| J
|
| Term
|
Meaning
|
Comments
|
Jan d'Arc (Joan of Arc)
Joan in triumph at Orleans (1429)...14
|
The famous French 'Maid of Orleans' who, "with shining eyes" of confidence in her divine mission, delivered her countrymen from the English peril during the Hundred Years' War at the besieged city of Orleans. She stood beside the Dauphin when he was crowned Charles VII that year.
She was a contemporary of Sultan Murad II.
|
Her victory at Orleans was completed on the 8th of May, 1429. A year later, after her capture by the enemy at Compiègne, she was burned at the stake in the market place at Rouen (by French clerics who were English sumpathizers). The French King Charles VII, who owed so much to the young maid, never raised a finger to help her in her predicament.
|
Janissary (Yeniçeri)
16th Century Janissaries on the attack...15
---
"According to a traditional story, Orkhan (Orhan), having selected a number of Christian youths from those taken captive, sent them to be blessed by Hajji Bektash (Hacci Bektaş), the celebrated dervish , whom they found living near Amasia. Standing in front of their ranks, he stretched the sleeve of his gown over the head of the foremost [candidate], and delivered his blessing in these words: 'Let them be called janissaries (yeni ceri, or new soldiers)! May their countenance be ever bright, their hand ever victorious, their swords keen! May their spears always hang over the heads of their enemies! And wheresoever they go may they return with a white face!' And as the holy man raised his hand in blessing the thick sleeve of his robe hung down in a double fold, and in commemoration of the benediction a cloth flap modeled on the sleeve was henceforth attached to the hat of the janissaries. Whatever may have been its true origin, the head-dress is certainly curious."23
|
The sultans' elite corps of fighting men -- between the 14th and 16th Centuries. The corps began a sharp decline in efficiency and effectiveness after the reign of Süleyman, The Magnificent (1520-1566). Before 1582, all Janissary recruits came from prisoners of war, the devşirme, or other Christian slave sources. It was thought that a corps made from Christian slaves would be more dependent on the Sultan than free-born Muslims -- and, thus, more loyal. In fact, the Janissaries were often the source of unrest for even the most powerful of the Sultans.
See also, Yeniçeri ağası, yeniçeri nişanları, Yeniçeri Ocağı.
|
The idea for the corps seems to have originated with the second Ottoman Sultan, Orhan, in the mid-14th Century. Muslims were not allowed to 'join' the Janissaries until after 1582. Janissaries 'turned over their cooking cauldrons' to signify their revolt -- when, for instance, they wanted a raise in pay. Even Sultans as powerful as Mehmed, the Conqueror, and Süleyman, The Magnificent, quaked in their boots at the threat of Janissary revolt. It wasn't until the Corps had been corrupted through and through (by gross and fraudulent over-subscription of Christians and Muslims alike) that it finally sealed its own fate. And, in the summer of 1826, Sultan Mahmud II had the Janissaries massacred in the streets -- to the very last man.
|
Janissary flags
(pennants, banners, and standards)15
Regular Ottoman and Janissary flags, pennants, etc...
Use right mouse button to 'View' enlarged image...
|
See also Ottoman flags...
|
|
| jereed, jerid | See cirid. | |
| jinn (cin)
|
[Mostly] evil spirits and imps
|
The 'jinn' are mentioned in the Holy Koran (Kuran, Qur'an, Quran).
|
|
![[Learn Turkish Home Page]](homeicon.gif)
![[Learning Practical Turkish Table of Contents]](cntsicon.gif)
![[Turkish Learning Message
Center]](cmnticon.gif)
Please email us and tell us how we can improve
the Learning Practical Turkish Web site.
