The Auspicious Incident (or Event[1]) (in Turkish Vaka-i Hayriye "Fortunate Event"; also known as Vaka-i Şerriyye, "Unfortunate Incident") was the forced disbandment of the centuries-old Janissary corps by Ottoman sultan Mahmud II in June 1826.[2][3]
Historians suggest that Mahmud II incited them to revolt on purpose, describing it as the sultan's "coup against the Janissaries". The sultan informed them, through a fatwa, that he was forming a new army, the Nizam-ı Cedid, organized and trained along modern European lines (and that the new army would be Turkish-dominated). The Janissary saw their order as crucial to the Ottoman Empire and especially to Rumelia they would never allow its dissolution. Thus as predicted, they mutinied, advancing on the sultan's palace. In the ensuing fight, the Janissary barracks were set in flames by artillery fire resulting in 4,000 Janissary fatalities, more were killed in the heavy fighting on the streets of Constantinople (the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and the center of the Janissary order). The survivors either fled or were imprisoned, their possessions confiscated by the Sultan, an event sometimes called the Auspicious Incident. By the end of 1826 the captured Janissaries, constituting the remainder of the force, were put to death by decapitation in the Thessaloniki fortification that was soon called the "Blood Tower" (but which has been, since 1912, known as the White Tower).
Since the early 17th century, the Janissary corps had ceased to function as an elite military unit. Many Janissaries were not soldiers and simply extorted money from the Turkish state and dictated its government, adding to the steady decline of the Ottoman Empire. Any sultan who attempted to modernize the Ottoman military structure and replace the Janissaries was either immediately killed or deposed.[4]
When they noticed that the Sultan Mahmud II was forming a new army and hiring European gunners, the Janissaries mutinied as usual and fought on the streets of the Ottoman capital demanding justice, but the outnumbered Sipahis charged and forced them back into their barracks. Turkish historians claim that the counter-Janissary force was dominated by local residents who had hated the Janissaries for years and that this force was great in numbers [5]
In the ensuing fight the Janissary barracks at Etmeydanı in Aksaray were set in flames by artillery fire resulting in a massive number of casualties. The ringleaders were executed and their possessions confiscated by the Sultan. The youths were either exiled or imprisoned. Thousands of Janissaries had been killed, and thus the elite order came to its end.[1][2] The Sufi order of the Bektaşi Brotherhood, a core Janissary institution, was also disbanded, and its followers executed or exiled. A new modern corps, Asakir-i Mansure-i Muhammediye (Muhammed's Victorious Army) was established by Mahmud II to guard the Sultan and replace the Janissaries.
Many ordinary Janissaries, especially in the provinces, began rogue revolts and demanded autonomy. Christians in the Balkans became very hostile to their Muslim convert neighbors and Christians began to rally against the new Turkish armies coming from Constantinople. Some Janissary survived by keeping a low profile and taking ordinary jobs.[1]
Immediately following the destruction of the elite Janissary, Mahmud II ordered the court chronicler, Mehmet Esad Efendi (c. 1789 - 1848), to record the official version of events, Üss-i Zafer (Foundation of Victory), which was printed in Constantinople in 1828 and served as the main source for every other Ottoman account of this period.[6]
The incident had a negative impact on the newly-converted Muslims and their communities in the Balkans, who lost their privileges, and rebellions broke in every region of Rumelia, especially in Bosnia and Albania.