The janissaries

the Janissaries?

Janissaries were a standing army of the sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The Janissaries never constituted the whole Ottoman army but, in the 16th and 17th centuries during the height of the Ottoman power, were its most efficient part, largely responsible for the expansion of the borders of the Empire in the Balkans in North Africa. In the later periods, the Janissaries lost their military importance, however, they became an influential force in the internal politics of the Ottoman Empire, capable of overthrowing sultans