Janissaries in the Light of the Sidjill of Tuzla of 1054-55/1644-46

Abstract

This paper gives a shorter analysis of some data on janissaries in the region of Tuzla recorded as documents of fragmentary Sicill of Tuzla. These are preserved in the Tuzla Sharia court record of 1054-55/1644-46 in the Gazi Husrev Bey Library in Sarajevo, as a part of the bequest of Osman Asaf-ef. Sokolović. Many of the records, be it shorter or longer ones, give better insight into history of janissaries in region of Tuzla region during the Ottoman rule. There are numerous records of janissaries in the Sicill, and in some they are recorded as direct participants of an act, while in some they are recorded as witnesses of an act. Many records in which janissaries are mentioned indeed show that they were omnipresent in all spheres of life in the Tuzla region. What particularly is interesting is the fact that many janissaries are recorded with non-Muslim names of their fathers, and furthermore some of them count names of their non-Muslim ancestors far back. This clearly confutes theories of some Balkan nationalists that conversion to Islam meant the death of remembering of the past. Added to this, author in wider context puts janissary violence which actually was reflection of discontent of many groups in the society and was directed against government, and it is clear that this violence was not directed primarily against some ethno-religious groups protected by the Ottoman State. The paper is a small contribution to still clearly not known history of janissaries in Bosnia, but also to that of the other parts where Ottomans ruled.