Atrocities and suppressions were common daily experiences for the sultan's subjects throughout the Ottoman rule. The war expeditions of the Ottomans signified the beginning of a turbulent and catastrophic period for the populations that inhabited close to the route course of the army troops until the 18th century. They were forced to contribute in goods and in cash for the maintenance of the asker, work in supplementary labors and often watched their houses being destroyed by attacks of the army groups. Their life was in jeopardy during the invasions for absolutely no reason, forcing some to abandon their lands and occupations. At the hunting landscapes of Thrace and central Greece, the sultan and his companions expeditions put the life of the peasants into danger. Testimonies of historians and travellers have reported incidents where the farmers were used as baits. Meanwhile they made them form a body fence around an area with preys. .As the circle was closing in, the animals attacked the wounded to escape but the hunters lurked to finish off the wounded animals and people.
After the mid of the 17th century the jannissaries in Constantinople had gained control over many industrial activities exercising terrorism and forcefully "offering" protection to the guilds. The central power tried to solve the problems by expelling them to smaller cities. As they had no other income the jannissaries joined in bands controlled by the dayi. They terrified the cities and the rural inland with raids and demands of extra taxes. They had increased power at regions where the local sovereigns did not own a small army corps capable to confront the bands successfully. The raids of the yamaks, as these armed groups were called, terrorized the inhabitants of the countryside; their life and fortune were at stake but they could barely react.