Ultimatum from the Sultan to the Powerful Janissary Military - Change… Or Die! Guess what they Chose? The Auspicious Event—Part II
A force of disciplined, elite royal guards of the 15th and 16th century Ottoman Empire grew in size by seizing Christian children and raising them as civil servants and dangerous soldiers. The Janissaries, renowned warriors, soon spiraled beyond the control of the Sultans and became a political powerhouse; this was a powder-keg situation that was going to blow!
To rid the empire of the Janissaries was no easy task, nor an easy secret plan to keep. Many had doubted if it were possible to keep such a secret from falling into the wrong hands. However, Sultan Mahmud II (1785–1839) had to do something if he wanted to restore the Ottoman throne as the central power of the Ottoman state.
Change…or Die
Mahmud II needed to assure his assets were in order before presenting the 500-year-old Janissary Corps with the ultimatum: Modernize or Die.
