When one thinks of the army, the thought of children does not usually come to mind. But the Ottoman Empire had a military unit composed entirely of young Christian boys. There are two types of elite forces in the service of the Sultan: the cavalry (the cavalry of the Porete's servants) and the infantry (the corps of the Janissaries). The Janissary Corps is also known as the yeniceri ocak, or "New Soldiers Corps". and were the slaves of the sultan. They were trained and educated to be the most formidable force in Europe and had enormous political power. The janissary corps is organized into ortas (units) with four subgroups: the camaat (border troops with 101 ortas), the beuluks (the sultan's bodyguards with 61 ortas), the sekban (mercenary peasants with 34 ortas) ) and the ajemi. (cadets with 34 ortas). The commander of the total 196 Ortas was called an Aga who is a very important person and is appointed by the Sultan. In the 1300s, the Ottoman Turks captured, selected, and trained Christian boys to join the Janissary Corps. The Janissary Corps was created by Sultan Murad I (362-1389). It was created in the 14th century around 1365 to counter the power of the Turkish nobles. The Janissaries were a symbol of pride and strength that replaced the ghazis, the early Arab raiders who had been the force of Islamic conquest. Devşirme, the practice of Ottoman Turks taking Christian boys and converting them to Islam, was how the Janissary Corps was created. The Christian boys taken were Albanians, Serbs and Greeks from the northern Balkan Peninsula. They were raised as Muslims, then sent to an imperial institute: the Palace (Enderun), the Scribes, the Religious or the Military. The janissaries worked as soldiers of the infantry corps, civil administrators... middle of paper ......ent his new army, Cedid with other loyal janissaries to attack the barracks. They gave the rebel Janissaries a chance to surrender, but they refused. The Janissaries' barracks were burned and the rest of the Janissaries were exiled to a tower of blood in Thessaloniki (known as the Auspicious Incident). The Ottoman Turks built up the Janissary Corps by recruiting Christian boys in the 1300s. Although the Janissary Corps was a strict system, the soldiers were bonded together. Like the Romans and samurai warriors, the Janissaries represented an era of warfare where lifelong commitment and dedication were essential, they rose to higher status, and were a transitional phase from a peasant army to a professional army. As the strict rules became more lenient, the janissaries became freemen. The Janissary Corps ended in 1826 due to corruption and failure to follow strict rules..