Wiktionary
n. (plural of janissary English)
Wikipedia
The Janissaries ( , meaning "new soldier") were elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and bodyguards. Sultan Murad I created the force in 1383. The number of Janissaries grew from 20,000 in 1575, to 49,000 (1591), dropped to a low of 17,000 (1648), then rebounded to 135,000 in 1826.
They began as an elite corps of slaves made up of kidnapped young Christian boys, and became famed for internal cohesion cemented by strict discipline and order. By 1620, they were hereditary, corrupt, and an impediment to reform. The corps was abolished by Sultan Mahmud II in 1826 in the Auspicious Incident in which 6,000 or more were executed.
Janissaries is a novel by science fiction author Jerry Pournelle. It was originally published in 1979, and was illustrated by comic artist Bermejo. It is the first book of Pournelle's Janissaries series. The following books are Janissaries: Clan and Crown and Janissaries III: Storms of Victory.
Like King David's Spaceship, a novel in Pournelle's CoDominium Series, it is the story of a capable military leader undertaking campaigns on a backward planet.
Usage examples of "janissaries".
His mouth curled down at the corners as he remembered the sharp thudding of the Turkish guns and the hiss of grapeshot whipping across the plain to rip into the Christian ranks, the whirling scimitars of the weirdly wailing Janissaries blocking any advance, and the despairing cry that went up from the defenders of the west when it became evident that the Turks had outflanked them.
The landsknechten know the wages of hot-headed charges -- and those Turks out there are Janissaries, the best fighting men in the East.
The Janissaries still stood in the lee of the wall, apparently reloading for another volley.
The dozen retreating Janissaries had reached the Turkish lines, and there seemed to be activity there.
The walls are tottering already, and there are fifty thousand fanatic Janissaries out on the plain waiting for a gap to run in through.
He may think he could keep his Janissaries in line and hold the city till spring, crumbled walls and all.
At last the Janissaries retreated, leaving almost half of their number scattered broken and motionless across the wide-flung heaps of rubble.
But the old wretch was afraid of me -- may the Janissaries use his head for a cannon ball!
Then the bayonets of the Janissaries herding her and a mob of terrified children into trucks.
His Janissaries had carried him out on their backs at risk of their lives, but it had been far too late.
Even Janissaries carried weapons only on operations or training, under supervision, were issued ammunition only in combat zones or firing ranges.
The Janissaries were at their rear, but once in the narrow approaches over the mountains, they could hold the Draka forever.
The Janissaries are also extensively used for internal-security work in time of peace.
He knew I was no longer content to remain in this room, leading his band of janissaries progressively inward, conceding motion to each hour that passed.
In the end, the janissaries would have to strangle them and trot out another royal prisoner.