A friend in a SCAdian Janissary band invited me to look over his group’s uniforms and help him make them more historically accurate. (He’s excited about my research now. Wait until I tell him everyone has to wear wool coats and two pairs of wool pants. In Pennsylvania. In August.) The topic has turned into quite the rabbit hole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the complicating factors is that Janissary uniforms, like the rest of Ottoman fashion, changed drastically between the 16th century and the late 17th century, and this late version is what both scholars and Turkish reenactors gravitate to.<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> This page is an attempt to dig through the late scholarship and unearth the uniforms as they were worn in the 16th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kafadar, Cemal. Yeni\u00e7eri-Esnaf Relations: Solidarity and Conflict<\/em>. Master’s thesis, 1981.http:\/\/digitool.library.mcgill.ca\/webclient\/StreamGate?folder_id=0&dvs=1554148876895~418<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mihailovic, Konstantin. Memoirs of a Janissary<\/em>.https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/155876531X\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=155876531X&linkCode=as2&tag=greatestbattl-20&linkId=2VHK5P5YCYZN2D53<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Minkov, Anton. Conversion to Islam in the Balkans: Kisve Bahas \u0327petitions and Ottoman Social Life, 1670-1730<\/em>.https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=zQsB_AghBKkC&pg=PA133&lpg=PA133&dq=yeniceri+defter+clothing&source=bl&ots=GffY4_yHfC&sig=ACfU3U11AsYpIZf0lCmIGL3XkR_13w_yWQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjqxP_01a_hAhVGZN8KHfkRCXsQ6AEwDHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=clothing&f=false<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sahillioglu, Halil. “Yeni\u00e7eri \u00e7uhasi ve II Bayezid’in son yillarinda yeni\u00e7eri \u00e7uha muhasebesi” [Janissary broadcloth and accounting for Janissary broadcloth in the later years of Bayezid II?] http:\/\/dergipark.gov.tr\/download\/article-file\/12829<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Vural, Timur. “MEHTER GELENE\u011e\u0130N\u0130N YA\u015eAYAN K\u0130ML\u0130\u011e\u0130” [The living identity of the mehter [Janissary band] tradition]https:\/\/www.jasstudies.com\/Makaleler\/812042561_4-Do%C3%A7.%20Dr.%20Timur%20VURAL.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n http:\/\/dergipark.gov.tr\/download\/article-file\/17958<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/archive.aramcoworld.com\/issue\/201302\/the.r.lamb.mission.htm<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.facsimilefinder.com\/facsimiles\/book-of-felicity-facsimile<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nPapers, Articles, and Books<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Image Sources<\/h3>\n\n\n\n