This force was the core of the Turkish army - the regular infantry created in 1330 by sultan Urkhan. First they were recruited from
Christians taken from their families in their childhood and converted to Moslems. Later janissary service became hereditary. They constituted a sort of
military caste and took an active part in palace revolutions. Janissaries were equipped with muskets, yataghans, daggers, and sometimes pikes, but no
armor. Generally janissaries were used for the same battle missions as European musketeers, i.e. they were a multipurpose infantry. Also janissaries
have performed surveillance over the enormous Turkish army recruited from varied parts of the Ottoman Empire and often far from strong morale.
