838 T H E V E N o T j Travels Book III. 
to them, prepared in the Grand SIgnior’s Kitchen : For 
they eat it quietly, if they are contented, and on the 
contrary, they throw the Difhes on the Ground, and 
turn them topfy turvy, if they are out of Humour at 
the Miniftry. There is no Infolence they fcruple to ut- 
ter at fuch a Time againft the principal Minifters, be- 
ing well perfuaded they fliall obtain Satisfa6lion •, for this 
Reafon the mofl: favourable Opportunity is taken early 
to prevent their Rifing, efpecially at the Time when they 
give them feveral Days Pay together. 
The Mutinies of the ‘Janizaries are much to be dread- 
ed : For how often have they in an Inftant changed the 
Face of the Empire The fierceft Sultan’s and the moft 
fkllfui Minifters have often found how dangerous it was 
to keep on Foot, in Time of Peace, a Militia who fo 
well underftand their own Interefts, They depofed 
BajazetW. in 1512; and promoted the Death of Jmu- 
rat III. in 1595. They threatned Mahomet III. with 
Dethronement. Ofman II. who had fworrt to deftroy 
them, having imprudently difclofed his Defign, was 
dirgracefully treated by them, for they made him walk 
on Foot to the Caftle of the feven Towers, where he 
was ftrangled in 1622. Mujiapha I. whom this im- 
pudent Soldiery put in Ofman^s Room, was depoled 
two Months after, by the fame Hands tliat advanced 
him. They alfo put to Death Sultan Ibrahim in 1649, 
after they had dragged him ignominioufly to the feven 
Towers. Flis hon Mahomet IV. was not fo unhappy 
indeed, but they depos’d him after the laft Siege of 
Vienna^ which mifcarried yet only by the Fault of Cara 
Mujiapha the prime Vizier. In this Sultan’s Stead was 
preferred his Brother Solyman III. a Prince of no 
Merit, who was alfo depofed in his Turn fometime 
afterwards, as others have alfo been. 
With Refpecft to the Sultanefs Mother, the Viziers^ 
the Caimacan^ the firft Eunuchs of the Seraglio, the 
Grand Treafurer, and their Aga himfelf, the Janizaries 
value them not, and demand their Pleads upon the leaft 
Uneafinefs. All the World knows how they ufed, at the 
Beginning of this Century, the Mufti Fefullah Effendi, 
who had been Preceptor of Sultan Mujiapha. This 
Prince who loved his Tutor blindly, was not able to 
prevent his being drawn upon a Hurdle to Adriample, 
and thrown into the River. The only Expedient which 
could ever be devifed to reprefs the Infolence of thefe 
Soldiers, was to encourage the Spall's againft them, and 
thereby make them jealous one of another, but they 
agree together too well upon certain Occafions. It fig- 
nifies nothing to change their Quarters, for as the Ab- 
fent always ftand to what their Fellows have done, it is 
impoftible to avoid their Fury, when they have once 
taken it into their Head that they have fuffered fome great 
Injuftice. The Hiftory of the Turks can furnifli few 
Examples of their having been appeafed, without con- 
fiderable Largeftes, or without its cofling the firft Offi- 
cers of the Empire their Lives. 
They have never dar’d to confifcate the Treafure of 
the Janizaries, nor to fhare the Goods their Officers 
poffefs in Property, in feveral Parts of Af,a, as at Ca- 
taya, at Angora, at Caraijfar, and in other Places. When 
the General dies, the Treafurer inherits his Goods ; he 
is the only Officer whofe Effects are not feiz’d to the 
Emperor’s Profit. This General has the Privilege of 
prefenting himfelf before the Sultan with his Arms at 
Liberty, whereas the Prime Vizier, and the other great 
Men^ of the Port, never appear in his Prefence, but 
with their Arms acrofs their Breaft, which is rather a 
fervile than a refpetffful Pofture, 
After the Aga, the Principal Officers of the Janiza- 
ries are the z^Vs Lieutenant, the Grand Provoft, the 
Captain of the Serjeants, who march by the Emperor’s 
Side upon Days of Ceremony, the Captain, of his Foot 
Archers, and the Commander of his Pages, on Foot ; 
thefe laft as well as the Archers, march by the Grand 
Signior’s Perfon when he walks through the City. 
They are but threefcore, and wear Caps of beaten Gold, 
embelliffi’d before with Milk white Feathers. As for 
the Foot Archers, or Archers of the Guard, they are in 
Number three or four hundred, and in a Day of Battle, 
they are about the Sultan, arm’d only with Bows and 
Arrows, -that they may not frighten the Grand Signior’s 
Horfe. Their Habit is a Coat of Cloth, tucked up at 
the Corners as high as their Waift, fo as to ffiew their 
Skirts ; their Cap is Cloth, and ends in a Point, and is 
adorn’d with Feathers, in Fafhion of a Plume. Thefe 
Archers ftioot with their left Hand, as well as with the 
right, which they are taught, that fo they may never 
turn their Back upon the Sultan : When he paffes over 
Rivers, they fwim by his Horfe, and found the Ford- 
ings with all the Diligence imaginable ; As a Reward, 
the firft Time the Sultan paffes the River, he caufes a 
Crown a Piece to be given to every one who was up to 
the Knee in Water, and if they were up to the Middle, 
they have two Crow'ns, and three if they were above the 
Waift. Out of the Body of the Janizaries are taken the 
Gunners, and thofe who take Care of the Arms. 
The Gunners are about twelve hundred, and receive 
their Orders from the Grand Mafter of the Artillery 
they live at Topana, in Apartments divided into fifty 
two Chambers-; but it is very happy that they are not as 
dextrous as the Chriftians in the cafting and managing 
Artillery. They who look to the Arms are fix hundred 
in Number, divided into fixty Chambers; they lodge in 
Apartments near Sandia Sophia. They not only take 
Care of the ancient Arms which are in the ArfenaJ, 
but of thofe of the Janizaries and Spahi^s, which they 
deliver out to them in good Order, when they are go- 
ing into the Field. 
Befides the Janizaries now mentioned, all the Provinces 
of this vaft Empire are fill’d at prefent with Foot Soldi- 
ers, who bear the Name of Janizaries ; but thefe Janiza- 
ries of the fecond Order are not inrolled in the Body of 
Janizaries of the Port ; and have nothing of the an- 
cient Difeipline of the Turks. All ill Perfons who 
would fkreen themfelves from the ordinary Courts of 
Juftice,and honeft Perfons alfo who are willing to cover 
them.felves from the Infults of others ; they who would 
efcape the Taxes, and be excufed from publick Offices, 
purchafe of the Colonels of the Janizaries who are in 
the Towns of the Province, the Title of Janizaries. 
They are fo far from receiving Pay, that they give feve- 
ral Afpers a Day to thefe Officers to enjoy thofe Privi- 
leges ; fometims they pafs for Invalids, or Penfioners for 
Life, and live quietly at Home, without being obliged 
to go into the Army. Is it furprifing after this, that 
the Turkijh Forces are fo much diminifhed ? They 
never have had fo many Soldiers, nor fuch fmall Ar- 
mies. The Officers who are obliged to take the Field, 
pafs their own Domefticks for Soldiers, and put the 
Pay of thofe who ought to bear Arms in the Prince’s 
Service into their own Pockets. The Corruption which 
is introduced into this great Empire, feems to threaten 
it with fome ftrange Revolution. 
Neither muft w^e confound with the Janizaries, ano- 
ther Sort of Infantry, call’d Azapes and Arcangi’s. The 
Azapes are the old Mu£iilman-B?Lnds, more ancient than 
ihe Janizaries themfelves, but very much defpifed. They 
ferve for Pioneers, and fometimes are meerly a Bridge 
to the Horfe in marfliy Grounds, and fo many Falcines 
to fill up the Ditches of a Place befieged. The Ar- 
cangds have no more Pay than the Azapes, but are 
appointed only to ravage the Frontiers of the Enemy. 
Yet in full Peace, (for the War is not efteemed to be 
declared, unlefs the Artillery be drawn into the Field) 
they are perpetually making Incurfions and pillaging 
their Neighbours. If any one among thefe Troops 
happens to become a good Soldier, after fome vigorous 
Aeffion, he is entered in the Body of Janizaries. This 
is the State of the Turkifh Infantry, nor is that of their 
Cavalry at prefent one Tittle better ; it is cbmpofed of 
two Sorts, known by the Name of Spahls, but they 
muft be carefully diftinguiffied. 
The one are upon the Emperor’s Pay, and the other 
not. The Spahds in Pay are divided into feveral 
Standards, the Principal of which are the Yellow and 
the Red ; Thofe who have no Pay are of two Sorts, 
the Zaims and the Timariots. The Spahi’s in Pay are 
taken from among the Ichoglams and the Azamoglans, 
who have been bred up in the Grand Signior’s Se- 
raglio’s. Their loweft Pay is twelve Alpers a Day, and 
