Devshirme System — Government Reform

Devshirme System is a government reform that can be adopted by monarchy governments. Reforms are chosen one per tier to shape how your nation is governed.

From the end of the 14th to the middle of the 17th century, the Ottoman dynasty acquired slaves for its household through the practice of devshirme. Carefully chosen Non-Muslim children, usually Christians from the rural Balkans between the ages of 12 and 14, were sent to live with Turkish families to learn Turkish and the rules of Islam before being brought to the imperial capital. Most joined the Janissaries, an infantry standing army trained under strict discipline, while those who displayed particular leadership and intellectual ability were enrolled directly into the sultan's household as pages, where they were educated and, if successful, could be promoted to the highest ranks of the Ottoman military-administrative elite. With their livelihood dependent upon the ruler, these slaves, known as kul, showed intense loyalty and were critical for the Ottoman dynasty's establishment of centralized control over the empire.