THE RISE OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE 103During his reign, Selim I sought to strengthen his control over the
Janissaries by conciliating them and enlarging their numbers to 35,000
men. Selim’s conciliatory efforts did not last long and in 1514, as he began
his war against the Safavids, he had already started implementing a much
stricter program of discipline. The struggle of the sultans for dominance
over the Janissaries and the Janissaries for independence from the sultans
would be an ongoing problem in Ottoman politics until the Janissaries
were finally destroyed.
When Selim died in 1520 he was succeeded by Suleiman I (1520–66).
The Ottoman Empire reached its peak under Suleiman, who would earn
the title, “the Magnificent.” The Janissary corps served as his instrument
of power to control all elements of the Ottoman ruling class. This control
reached a level never seen before or since. Suleiman, however, was a
military man and would become one of the greatest Ottoman military
leaders.
Under Suleiman, the Janissary corps rose to a strength of 101 battalions
(orta).Its officers were known ascorbacis(literally “soup-ladlers”). The
Janissaries were supposed to maintain themselves on a war basis at all
times and ready for instant action. They were not allowed to marry and
remained in barracks, training regularly. Though they numbered about
30,000, their organization, training, and discipline, and their muskets,
made them the most important part of the Ottoman army until well into
the seventeenth century. When not on military operations in the field, they
were responsible for the security of key points throughout the empire. In
Istanbul they guarded the Imperial Council as well as serving as the city’s
police and fire department.
Suleiman launched his first major campaign against Rhodes and the
Knights of St. John. Pirates from Rhodes were an endless problem for
Muslim commerce in the eastern Mediterranean and needed to be re-
moved. In 1522 he sent a massive force against the fortified island and its
garrison of 60,000 soldiers. Assault after assault failed until agents among
the Jews and Muslim women enslaved by the Knights enabled the Otto-
mans to force entry and capture the fortress. By the terms of the subse-
quent surrender, all who wished to leave the islands were permitted to go,
and the Knights were permitted to take their weapons and belongings.
Those that chose to remain were to be exempted from taxes for five years
and given the freedom of religion found elsewhere in the Ottoman Empire.
The Knights left in papal ships, first for Cyprus, and then for Malta, which
they fortified as a new base against Islam. These terms were surprisingly
lenient, given that the Ottomans appear to have lost 60,000 men taking
the island.