Abstract:

This study examines the activities of janissaries in Üsküdar district of Istanbul in the beginning of the nineteenth century. As in other parts of Istanbul, janissaries were important actors in political and socio-economic life of Üsküdar district. The present paper will focus on the relation between the janissary efforts to protect their economic interests as well as their social status and their roles in important political events of the reigns of Sultan Selim III and Sultan Mahmud II such as the Rebellion of Kabakçı Mustafa and the so-called Alemdar Incident. Involvement of janissaries in trade and crafts from the seventeenth century forward also affected the daily life of Üsküdar and increased the presence of artisans, daily wageworkers and merchants with janissary connections. As a result, these janissary artisans came to occupy a dominant position among various trades and crafts from transportation and construction sectors to coffeehouse ownership and leather production in the early nineteenth century. Starting with the New Order of Sultan Selim III, the efforts the central government to reform the military and the existing social order threatened janissaries as well as certain status groups in the society. This paper also focuses on the reactions of these groups and their results in the case of Üsküdar till the abolition of the Janissary Corps and its immediate aftermath.

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