Sultan Mahmud II abolished the janissary corps in 1826, ending a 500-year-old Ottoman military institution and enabling modernization of the empire's armed forces.
Key Facts
- Date of disbandment
- 15 June 1826
- Janissaries involved
- 135,000 soldiers
- Executed after suppression
- 6,000 or more persons
- Ordered by
- Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II
- Ottoman name (Constantinople)
- Vak'a-i Hayriyye (The Fortunate Event)
- Ottoman name (Balkans)
- Vaka-i Şerriyye (Event of Malignity)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The janissary corps, a centuries-old Ottoman military institution, had grown resistant to reform and wielded considerable political power, frequently opposing modernization efforts by the sultan. By 1826, Sultan Mahmud II judged the corps an obstacle to military and administrative reform and moved to eliminate it, using its revolt against new military regulations as justification.
On 15 June 1826, Sultan Mahmud II forcibly disbanded the janissary corps after most of its approximately 135,000 members revolted against him. The rebellion was suppressed by loyal forces, and in its aftermath the janissaries were killed in large numbers, with at least 6,000 executed and the remainder exiled or imprisoned. The event was officially termed the 'Auspicious Incident' by the Ottoman court.
The disbandment eliminated the janissary corps as a political and military force after roughly five centuries of existence. In its place, Mahmud II established a modern military organization, clearing the way for broader Tanzimat-era reforms in the Ottoman Empire. The event was viewed negatively in parts of the Balkans, where it was called the 'Event of Malignity.'