Editing Devshirme (section)

== Ethnicity of the devshirme and exemptions ==
The devshirme were collected once every four or five years from rural provinces in [[Eastern Europe]], [[Southeastern Europe]] and [[Anatolia]]. They were mainly collected from Christian subjects, with a few exceptions. However, some Muslim families managed to smuggle their sons in anyway.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> The devshirme levy was not applied to the major cities of the empire, and children of local craftsmen in rural towns were also exempt, as it was considered that conscripting them would harm the economy.{{sfn|Shaw|1976|p=114}}

According to [[Bernard Lewis]], the janissaries were mainly recruited from the Slavic and Albanian populations of the Balkans.<ref>{{cite book|author=Lewis, Bernard|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: An Historical Enquiry|publisher=Oxford University Press|year= 1992|url=https://archive.org/details/raceslaveryinmid0000lewi|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/raceslaveryinmid0000lewi/page/65 65]|isbn=978-0-19-505326-5 }}</ref> According to the [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] and the [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]], in the early days of the empire, all Christians were enrolled indiscriminately. Later, those from [[Albania]], [[Bosnia]] and [[Bulgaria]] were preferred.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Janissaries |volume= 5 | pages = 151–152}}</ref><ref>Encyclopaedia of Islam (Leiden Grill, 1967–97), vol. 4, art. 'Devshirme'. p 151.</ref> What is certain is that devshirme were primarily recruited from Christians living in the Balkans.<ref name="Stiles66">Andrina Stiles, 'The Ottoman Empire: 1450–1700' (Hodder & Stoughton, 1989), p. 66.</ref><ref>Perry Anderson (1979). Lineages of the Absolutist State. Verso. p. 366</ref> Since Muslim Bosnians were the only Muslim ethnic group allowed to be recruited, an armed guard was required to lead the Bosnians on their way to Istanbul to avoid any Turkish boys from being smuggled into their ranks.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=Raphaela |url=http://archive.org/details/everydaylifeinot00raph |title=Everyday life in Ottoman Turkey |date=1988 |publisher=New York, NY : Dorset Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-88029-175-0 |pages=25 |language=en}}</ref>

[[Jews]] were exempt from this service. [[Armenians]] are also believed to have been exempt from the levy by many scholars,{{efn|Shaw states that the reason for the exemption may have been the recognition of both people as a separate nation (none of the Balkan ethnic groups were recognized as such) or that both Jews and Armenians lived mostly in the major cities anyway.<ref>Shaw 1976, p. 114</ref>}}{{efn|Albertus Bobovius, who was enslaved by [[Crimean Tatars]] and sold into the palace in the 17th century, reported that both Armenians and Jews were exempt from the devshirme levy. He wrote that the reason for the exemption of Armenians was religious in that Armenian Gregorian Church was considered the closest to Christ's (and therefore Muhammed's) teachings.}} although a 1997 publication that examined Armenian [[Colophon (publishing)|colophons]] from the 15th to the 17th centuries and foreign travelers of the time concluded that Armenians were not exempt.<ref>Kouymjian, Dickran (1997). "Armenia from the Fall of the Cilician Kingdom (1375) to the Forced Migration under Shah Abbas (1604)" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, Volume II: Foreign Dominion to Statehood: The Fifteenth Century to the Twentieth Century''. [[Richard Hovannisian]] (ed.) New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 12–14. {{ISBN|1-4039-6422-X}}.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|language=hy|author-link=Manvel Zulalyan|last=Zulalyan|first=Manvel|url=https://arar.sci.am/dlibra/publication/187429/edition/170162/content|script-title=hy:«Դևշիրմե»-ն (մանկահավաքը) Օսմանյան կայսրության մեջ ըստ թուրքական և հայկական աղբյուրների|trans-title=Devshirme (child-gathering) in the Ottoman Empire according to Turkish and Armenian sources|journal=[[Patma-Banasirakan Handes]]|volume=2-3|year=1959|pages=247–256}}</ref> Boys who were orphans or were their family's only son were exempt.<ref name="Stiles66"/><ref name="auto1">{{cite journal |last=Taskin |first=U. |year=2008 |title=Klasik donem Osmanli egitim kurumlari|trans-title=Ottoman educational foundations in classical terms |journal=Journal of International Social Research |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=343–366|language=tr}}</ref>

Well-known examples of Ottomans who had been recruited as devshirme include [[Skanderbeg]], [[Sinan Pasha]] and [[Sokollu Mehmed Pasha]].

=== Unifying factor ===
The diversity of the devshirme also served as a unifying factor for the Ottoman Empire. Greeks, Armenians,{{Clarify|reason=stated above Armenians were exempt|date=June 2020}} Albanians, and other ethnicities would see that the Sultan was Turkish, but his viziers were Albanian, Bulgarian, Greek and other ethnicities. The ethnic diversity in high-level and powerful positions of the Ottoman Empire helped to unite the diverse groups under its jurisdiction. They also prevented a hereditary aristocracy from forming but held sway over the Sultan themselves and practically formed their own aristocracy.<ref name="Barkey1">{{cite book |last1=Barkey |first1=Karen |title=Empire of difference : the Ottomans in comparative perspective |date=2008 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-71533-1}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=June 2020}}<ref name="Kopper">{{cite web |last1=Kopper |first1=Paul |title=The Devshirme System, a Necessary Evil |url=https://www.academia.edu/29083160 |website=Academia.edu |publisher=American Military University |access-date=8 April 2020}}{{Rp}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=June 2020}}