half-yellow, placed before the tent of its commander. Each orta had two or three great caldrons used for boiling the soup and pilaw; these were under the guard of subordinate officers. A particular superstition attached to them: if they were lost in battle all the officers were disgraced, and the orta was no longer allowed to parade with its caldrons in public ceremonies. The janissaries were stationed in most of the guard-houses of Constantinople and other large towns. No sentries were on duty, but rounds were sent out two or three times a day. It was customary for the sultan or the grand vizier to bestow largess on an orta which they might visit.
The janissaries conducted themselves with extreme violence and brutality towards civilians. They extorted money from them on every possible pretext: thus, it was their duty to sweep the streets in the immediate vicinity of their barracks, but they forced the civilians, especially if rayas, to perform this task or to pay a bribe. They were themselves subject to severe corporal punishments; if these were to take place publicly the ojak was first asked for its consent.
At first a source of strength to Turkey as being the only well-organized and disciplined force in the country, the janissaries soon became its bane, thanks to their lawlessness and exactions. One frequent means of exhibiting their discontent was to set fire to Constantinople; 140 such fires are said to have been caused during the 28 years of Ahmed III.’s reign. The janissaries were at all times distinguished for their want of respect towards the sultans; their outbreaks were never due to a real desire for reforms of abuses or of misgovernment, but were solely caused to obtain the downfall of some obnoxious minister.
The first recorded revolt of the janissaries is in 1443, on the occasion of the second accession of Mahommed II., when they broke into rebellion at Adrianople. A similar revolt happened at his death, when Bayazid II. was forced to yield to their demands and thus the custom of the accession-bakshish was established; at the end of his reign it was the janissaries who forced Bayazid to summon Prince Selim and to hand over the reins of power to him. During the Persian campaign of Selim I. they mutinied more than once. Under Osman II. their disorders reached their greatest height and led to the dethronement and murder of the sultan. It would be tedious to recall all their acts of insubordination. Throughout Turkish history they were made use of as instruments by unscrupulous and ambitious statesmen, and in the 17th century they had become a praetorian guard in the worst sense of the word. Sultan Selim III. in despair endeavoured to organize a properly drilled and disciplined force, under the name of nizam-i-jedid, to take their place; for some time the janissaries regarded this attempt in sullen silence; a curious detail is that Napoleon’s ambassador Sebastiani strongly dissuaded the sultan from taking this step. Again serving as tools, the janissaries dethroned Selim III. and obtained the abolition of the nizam-i-jedid. But after the successful revolution of Bairakdar Pasha of Widdin the new troops were re-established and drilled: the resentment of the janissaries rose to such a height that they attacked the grand vizier’s house, and after destroying it marched against the sultan’s palace. They were repulsed by cannon, losing 600 men in the affair (1806). But such was the excitement and alarm caused at Constantinople that the nizam-i-jedid, or sekbans as they were now called, had to be suppressed. During the next 20 years the misdeeds and turbulence of the janissaries knew no bounds. Sultan Mahmud II., powerfully impressed by their violence and lawlessness at his accession, and with the example of Mehemet Ali’s method of suppressing the Mamlukes before his eyes, determined to rid the state of this scourge; long biding his time, in 1825 he decided to form a corps of regular drilled troops known as eshkenjis. A fetva was obtained from the Sheikh-ul-Islam to the effect that it was the duty of Moslems to acquire military science. The imperial decree announcing the formation of the new troops was promulgated at a grand council, and the high dignitaries present (including certain of the principal officers of the janissaries who concurred) undertook to comply with its provisions. But the janissaries rose in revolt, and on the 10th of June 1826, began to collect on the Et Meidan square at Constantinople; at midnight they attacked the house of the aga of janissaries, and, finding he had made good his escape, proceeded to overturn the caldrons of as many ortas as they could find, thus forcing the troops of those ortas to join the insurrection. Then they pillaged and robbed throughout the town. Meanwhile the government was collecting its forces; the ulema, consulted by the sultan, gave the following fetva: “If unjust and violent men attack their brethren, fight against the aggressors and send them before their natural judge!” On this the sacred standard of the prophet was unfurled, and war was formally declared against these disturbers of order. Cannon were brought against the Et Meidan, which was surrounded by troops. Ibrahim Aga, known as Kara Jehennum, the commander of the artillery, made a last appeal to the janissaries to surrender; they refused, and fire was opened upon them. Such as escaped were shot down as they fled; the barracks where many found refuge were burnt; those who were taken prisoner were brought before the grand vizier and hanged. Before many days were over the corps had ceased to exist, and the janissaries, the glory of Turkey’s early days and the scourge of the country for the last two centuries, had passed for ever from the page of her history.
See M. d’Ohsson, Tableaux de l’empire ottoman (Paris, 1787–1820); Ahmed Vefyk, Lehjé-i-osmanié (Constantinople, 1290–1874); A. Djévad Bey, État militaire ottoman (Constantinople, 1885).
JANIUAY, a town of the province of Iloilo, Panay, Philippine
Islands, on the Suague river, about 20 m. W.N.W. of Iloilo, the
capital. Pop. (1903), 27,399, including Lambúnao (6661)
annexed to Janiuay in 1903. The town commands delightful
views of mountain and valley scenery. An excellent road
connects it with Pototan, about 10 m. E. The surrounding
country is hilly but fertile and well cultivated, producing rice,
sugar, tobacco, vegetables (for the Iloilo market), hemp and
Indian corn. The women weave and sell beautiful fabrics of
pina, silk, cotton and abaca. The language is Panay-Visayan.
Janiuay was founded in 1578; it was first established in the
mountains and was subsequently removed to its present site.
JANJIRA, a native state of India, in the Konkan division of
Bombay, situated along the coast among the spurs of the
Western Ghats, 40 m. S. of Bombay city. Area, 324 sq. m.
Pop. (1901), 85,414, showing an increase of 4% in the decade.
The estimated revenue is about £37,000; there is no tribute.
The chief, whose title is Nawab Sahib, is by descent a Sidi or
Abyssinian Mahommedan; and his ancestors were for many
generations admirals of the Mahommedan rulers of the Deccan.
The state, popularly known as Habsan (= Abyssinian), did not
come under direct subordination to the British until 1870. It
supplies sailors and fishermen, and also fire-wood, to Bombay,
with which it is in regular communication by steamer.
The Nawab of Janjira is also chief of the state of Jafarabad (q.v.).
JAN MAYEN, an arctic island between Greenland and the
north of Norway, about 71° N. 8° W. It is 34 m. long and 9 in
greatest breadth, and is divided into two parts by a narrow
isthmus. The island is of volcanic formation and mountainous,
the highest summit being Beerenberg in the north (8350 ft.).
Volcanic eruptions have been observed. Glaciers are fully
developed. Henry Hudson discovered the island in 1607 and
called it Hudson’s Tutches or Touches. Thereafter it was
several times observed by navigators who successively claimed
its discovery and renamed it. Thus, in 1611 or the following
year whalers from Hull named it Trinity Island; in 1612 Jean
Vrolicq, a French whaler, called it Île de Richelieu; and in 1614
Joris Carolus named one of its promontories Jan Meys Hoek
after the captain of one of his ships. The present name of the
island is derived from this, the claim of its discovery by a Dutch
navigator, Jan Mayen, in 1611, being unsupportable. The
island is not permanently inhabited, but has been frequently
visited by explorers, sealers and whalers; and an Austrian
station for scientific observations was maintained here for a
year in 1882–1883. During this period a mean temperature of
27.8° F. was recorded.
