n the 14th century, during the advance of the Ottoman troops, Mohammed II launched a system of child-recruitment from areas under his control to reinforce his army and personal guard. Devshirme, otherwise known as paidomazoma. Christians living on the mainland plains were subject to this levy. Throughout the 16th and the 17th centuries, state employees selected healthy and intelligent children aged between ten and eighteen. Other criteria for selection were that both parents were alive, that the children were unmarried and did not belong to privileged groups, or groups with any particular obligations. Residents of urban areas and Muslims were exempt from the levy. However, from time to time, exceptions were made in special cases. After a long and specialized training, these children became the Sultan's most loyal vassals. He had the right over their life. They also constituted the most competent army, not only within the Empire, but in the whole of Europe.
The frequency with which the children were recruited and their number varied according to the period and the needs for new recruits. The institution of the sultan's slaves provided the army and the administration of the empire with high rank officers. Many vizirs and district administrators were sultan's slaves who had come from a levy. This measure was applied until the beginning of the 18th century but it had weakened long before; so the janissaries and the vizirs did not come exclusively from this procedure. The populations which underwent this trial, viewed their children's abduction as a unpleasant and painfull event. The children were separated from their parents and became Muslims. It is however worth mentioning that the perspective of a brilliant career urged some parents to seek for the state's employers who would recruit their children and for that reason they often resorted to the bribery of officials.
