Chapter XVIII: Section III: The subject that we are now to treat is as follows

At the accession to the throne of that flower of Emperors, Sultan Suleÿman Kannuni, the science of firing with quickness artillery in position, making use of muskets, and practising such like military exercises, and of defeating large armies with a very small body of troops, was not known amongst the foreign states of Europe and other nations. In this state of things they carried on wars against us; and in such contests the pious enthusiasm of the soldiers of Islam caused the gales of victory and conquest to blow on the side of the Sublime Government. Sometimes, also, they were on that of the enemy. It came to pass by a disposition of Divine Providence, that His Highness Sultan Suleÿman having for some years following continually met with bad success in his wars against the Germans, and perceiving that his defeats were owing to the unskilfulness and want of discipline of our soldiers, employed himself in creating a corps of regular troops[82], and inscribing recruits for that purpose. Immediately a number of idle and ignorant vagabonds, who disapproved of this institution of troops, quarters, and military regulations, began to murmur, saying, “Was the world originally conquered by the Janissaries? No; it was subdued by the Segbans, and other valiant companies.[83] What sort of corps is this? and what is the meaning of these dresses? What strange things are the water-carriers, cooks, and servants, with their various dresses and titles!” By disseminating these seditious speeches, they entirely corrupted the minds of those soldiers who had been, or were to be enrolled in the new corps of Janissaries. So that, for instance, if an hundred recruits had their names inscribed to-day, to-morrow two hundred would desert.

His Highness the said Emperor, reflecting on what passed, and considering the favour which had been granted by Divine Providence to our magnificent Lord[84]; understanding also that every age was gifted with some polar star of intellectual excellence, discovered that there existed at that period from among the sons and successors of Hagee Bektash, the polar star of the times. The Emperor having caused this personage to be brought to him from Anatolia, spoke to him of the new corps which he had formed for the purpose of snatching victory from the infidels, and giving it to the people of Islam, and demanded the prayers of this Sheich, that the soldiers enrolled in the corps, instead of deserting, might display constancy and firmness. The said personage having therefore prayed, from that day forth the recruits no longer fled, but looking upon themselves as the children of Hagee-Bektash, firmly persevered in their service; and thus, when expeditions were undertaken against the enemy by these regular troops, who were kept closely to the pitch of discipline necessary at that time, the happy influence as well of the Emperor of Islam who is the chief of religious conquerors, as of the aforesaid holy personage, had so beneficial an effect, that they overthrew the armies of the enemies of the faith, and gained such signal advantages, that were we to describe them at large, our discourse would be too prolix. Before much time had elapsed, the enemy being broken and routed, and perceiving by experience the advantages of this discipline, obtained peace with a thousand entreaties. Hereupon all the Crals[85] being seized with consternation, after communicating with each other, held a council in a place appointed, to which they invited men of wisdom and experience. The conclusion they came to was this: “The Ottoman Emperor having introduced an admirable system into his army, and established a corps for the express purpose of keeping it up, we shall no longer be able to keep face with such well disciplined troops: as the soldiers of the Islam are naturally brave, they will fall in among us, sword in hand, and make a speedy end of us; and as the opinion which they hold that those who die in war are martyrs, and go immediately to Paradise, makes them fight with great zeal, it is evident that if we do not establish good and sufficient military regulations, the Ottomans will conquer the whole of Europe, and oblige us all to pay the Haratsh. It is our business therefore to find some method of preventing those soldiers from closing with us.” They concluded their conference by forming a masterly project, and inventing a method of using with expedition their cannon, muskets, and other instruments of war, and prohibiting their troops from engaging in commerce, they obliged them to pass their whole time in learning military exercises, in which they made such progress that it became at last impossible to break their ranks. In truth, it is well known to those who are acquainted with history, that in the wars which have taken place since the invention of this new system of tactics, the Ottomans have been most frequently worsted, because they found it impossible to make use of their sabres among the infidels as they wished to do; for their regular troops keep in a compact body, pressing their feet together that their order of battle may not be broken; and their cannon being polished like one of[86]Marcovich’s watches, they load twelve times in a minute, and make the bullets rain like musket balls; thus they keep up an unintermitted discharge of artillery and small arms. When the Islamites make an attack upon them with infantry or cavalry, the enemies of our faith observe a profound silence, till the soldiers of Islam are come close up to their front, and then at once giving fire to some hundred carriage-guns, and to seventy or eighty thousand muskets, overturn our men in heaps without so much as receiving a bloody nose. When they have thus by a few volleys caused thousands of the people of Islam to drink the sherbet of martyrdom, the surviving remnant are wont to fly. Our troops perceiving how skilful the enemy are in the use of fire-arms, and seeing many thousand men slain in the space of half an hour, while they are unable to avenge themselves on their opponents, have necessarily begun to lose courage. But although the wicked infidels, exerting their whole strength, have with great prudence and boldness invented so masterly an art of war, yet the soldiers of Islam, who have not been able to make any stand against them, may justly assert that the fault does not belong to themselves; for since the enemy sends us eighty thousand charges of grape before a thousand of our men have time to fire their muskets, it is certain that resistance in such a case is beyond their power. Thus during the period which elapsed before the reign of his Highness Sultan Mustapha Khan, although we were sometimes victorious and sometimes vanquished, yet success was, for the most part, on the side of the infidels.

By explaining all this, and by giving answers founded on the knowledge of passing events, I have succeeded in convincing many persons, who by falsehood endeavoured to support the unjust opposition of the partisans of the Janissaries. What remains to be mentioned is this: His Highness Sultan Mahmoud, having enquired the reason of the successes of the infidels, and the defeats of the people of Islam, a dissertation, treating of the way to victory, and entitled “The Origin of Discipline,” was composed and published; and as it afforded satisfaction to the Emperor, copies of it were disseminated amongst the public. I have, in the year 1206, undertaken to write a description of the new troops, being encouraged thereto by the favour which the Emperor has been pleased to bestow both on the motive and the work; but as, by the mercy of Heaven, I have reached the extreme period of life, it is very uncertain whether I shall be able to finish the execution of it.