オスマン帝国におけるイェニチェリの廃止と軍制改革：ダマスカスの事例

In Arab cities under the Ottoman rule, such as Damascus, Aleppo and Cairo, Janissaries formed one of the most important social groups. However, so far no researcher has studied the abolition process of Janissaries in Arab cities. Therefore, first of all, we must understand the abolition process, and the author chose to analyze the case of Damascus.In 1826, Sultan Mahmut II decreed imperial orders that all Janissaries should be abolished. However, in reality each provincial governors (wālīs) had to make efforts to abolish Janissaries and to organize a new army named ʻAsākir Manṣūra Muḥammadīya (The invincible army of the prophet Muḥammad). In the province of Damascus, this process was conducted in the following two steps. The first step was to have the governor inspect the actual military condition of the province and the accounts of taxes given to Janissaries of Damascus as salaries before the abolition. This step was successfully completed. As a result, until 1827, the accounts of Janissaries were recorded in registers, and management of those taxes was transferred from the commanders of Janissaries to the governors.The second step was the organization of ʻAsākir Manṣūra Muḥammadīya composed of Turks, and to disband the old army composed of Arabs and Kurds. It is important to point out that the Ottoman central government selected Turks as the core of the new army. However, this step wasn't successful due to the failure of conscription and training of Turks.After this failure, governors obliged to correct the program. During the Russo-Turkish War (1828-29), governors conscripted Arabs for ʻAsākir Manṣūra Muḥammadīya, and in the postwar period, tried to impose a new tax in order to allocate funds for organizing the new army. However, this process also wasn’t successful.In conclusion, after the abolition, economic power and leadership of ex-officers (aghas) of Janissary at Damascus had been weakened. Then, in order to cope with governors, they tried to cooperate with the other aghas, who served as commanders or officers of mercenaries, or as officials of provincial government. The cooperation of those aghas can be seen as an example during the revolt of 1831. “aghas of the city (aghawāt al-balad)” organized an army and led the revolt. In other words, this military reform promoted an union of aghas of Damascus as an urban social group.