Under the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, an askeri (

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

: عسكري) was a member of a

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

of military

administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

s. This

elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (, from , to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful or wealthy people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. Defined by the ...

class consisted of three main groups: the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

, the

court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

officials, and

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

. Though the term ''askeri'' itself literally means "of the military", it more broadly encompassed all higher levels of imperial administration. To become a member of this ruling elite, one thus had to hold a ''political'' office in the service of the Ottoman Empire, meaning that both

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and non-Muslims in those positions could rank as ''askeri''. After

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

invaded Ottoman Egypt in 1798, a reform movement in the regime of Sultan

Selim III Selim III (; ; was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. Regarded as an enlightened ruler, he was eventually deposed and imprisoned by the Janissaries, who placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV (). A group of a ...

aimed to reduce the numbers of the askeri class, who were the first-class citizens or military class (also called

Janissaries A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted du ...

). Sultan Selim III was taken prisoner (1807) and murdered (1808) in the course of Janissary revolts. A subsequent sultan,

Mahmud II Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...

(), was patient but remembered the results of the uprising in 1807. In June 1826 he caused a revolt among the Janissaries, kept them all in their barracks and slaughtered thousands of them. Hubbard, Glenn and Tim Kane. (2013). ''Balance: The Economics of Great Powers From Ancient Rome to Modern America''. Simon & Schuster. P. 153. The askeris stood in contrast with the reaya, the tax-paying lower class, and with the

kul Kul or KUL may refer to: Airports * KUL, current IATA code for Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia * KUL, former IATA code for Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (Subang Airport), Malaysia Populated places * Kul, Iran, a village in Kurdist ...

, or slave class, which included the

References

Politics of the Ottoman Empire Military of the Ottoman Empire Social classes in the Ottoman Empire {{Ottoman-stub

See also

References