Editing Janissary (section)

==Organization==
{{see also|List of Ottoman titles and appellations}}
[[File:Bremen, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, ms. Or. 9, fol. 34r.jpg|thumb|right|215px|''Solaks, the Janissary archer bodyguard of the Sultan'' by [[Lambert de Vos]], c. 1574]]

The Janissary Corps was organized into ''[[Orta (Janissary)|orta]]'' ("centers").<ref>{{cite web |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/orta-SIM_6034?s.num=0&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-2&s.q=orta |title=Orta |date=2012 |website=brillonline.com |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |access-date=14 September 2020 |quote="Orta" (t.), literally "centre", in Ottoman Turkish military terminology, the equivalent of a company of fighting men... |archive-date=1 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201030426/https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/orta-SIM_6034?s.num=0&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-2&s.q=orta |url-status=live }}</ref> An ''orta'' (equivalent to a [[battalion]]) was headed by a [[çorbaci]]. All ''orta'' together comprised the Janissary corps proper and its organization, named ''ocak'' ("hearth"). [[Suleiman the Magnificent|Suleiman I]] had 165 ''orta'' and the number increased over time to 196. While the Sultan was the supreme commander of the Ottoman Army and of the Janissaries in particular, the corps was organized and led by a commander, the ''ağa''. The corps was divided into three sub-corps:
* the ''cemaat'' (frontier troops; also spelled ''jemaat'' in old sources), with 101 ''orta''
* the ''bölük'' or ''beylik'' (the Sultan's own bodyguard), with 61 ''orta''
* the ''sekban'' or ''seymen'', with 34 ''orta''
In addition there were also 34 ''orta'' of the ''ajemi'' ("cadets"). A semi-autonomous Janissary corps was permanently based in [[Algiers]], called the [[Odjak of Algiers]].

Originally Janissaries could be promoted only through seniority and within their own ''orta''. They could leave the unit only to assume command of another. Only Janissaries' own commanding officers could punish them. The rank names were based on positions in the kitchen staff or Sultan's royal hunters; 64th and 65th Orta 'Greyhound Keepers' comprised as the only Janissary cavalry,{{sfn|Nicolle|1983|p=17}} perhaps to emphasise that Janissaries were servants of the Sultan. Local Janissaries, stationed in a town or city for a long time, were known as [[yerliyya]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/yerliyya-SIM_8016 |title=Yerliyya |author=Abdul-Karim Rafeq |date=2012 |website=brillonline.com |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |access-date=14 September 2020 |quote="Yerliyya", colloquial Turkish-Arabic term derived from the Turkish yerlü "local". |archive-date=9 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209121533/https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/yerliyya-SIM_8016 |url-status=live }}</ref>