Askeri

Under theOttoman Empire,anaskeri(Ottoman Turkish:عسكري) was a member of aclassof militaryadministrators.

Thiseliteclass consisted of three main groups: themilitary,thecourtofficials, andclergy.Though the termaskeriitself 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 apoliticaloffice in the service of the Ottoman Empire, meaning that bothMuslimsand non-Muslims in those positions could rank asaskeri.

AfterNapoleoninvaded Ottoman Egyptin 1798, a reform movement in the regime of SultanSelim IIIaimed to reduce the numbers of the askeri class, who were the first-class citizens or military class (also calledJanissaries).

Sultan Selim III was taken prisoner (1807) and murdered (1808) in the course ofJanissary revolts.A subsequent sultan,Mahmud II(r. 1808–1839), was patient but remembered the results of the uprising in 1807. In June 1826 he causeda revolt among the Janissaries, kept them all in their barracks and slaughtered thousands of them.

The askeris stood in contrast with thereaya,the tax-paying lower class, and with thekul,or slave class, which included theJanissaries.

See also

• Rayah