A Pamphlet about Janissary Organization (Critics-Comparative Text)

Abstract

In order to examine and track the development of the history and law of the Janissary Corps, it is important to look at first-hand sources. Every archival source in this regard will shed light on the researchers for this purpose. We ascertained one of these works in the TTK (Turkish Historical Society) Library, which is registered with the catalogue number Y / 228 and titled as Avusturya Seferine Dair Bir Risale. This pamphlet, whose author and date cannot be determined exactly, begins with a brief introduction to Suleiman the magnificent’s expedition to Austria, starting from the situation of thearmy, a number of laws, reconstruction activities such as improvement and repair within the crops, various ceremonies, promotion and dismissals, narratives about the need for meat, barracks, etc. as well as small and striking stories.

A copy of the pamphlet is located in the collection of Esad Efendi nr. 3622, which Fatma Kaytaz evaluated in detail in her article. The second copy is registered in Rare Works Library No: 3293 at the Istanbul University. This copy has been used in various academic works without knowing that it is a copy of the pamphlet. The copy of the TTK was not mentioned in any studies because researchers had not found it until now. With this work, we found the copy of the Istanbul University and the copy of the TTK for the benefit of the academic world, and by making a text comparison of the existing copies, we tried to explain the topics mentioned in the pamphlet in detail by using thefirst and second hand sources.