Mahmud’s first Ottoman officer school collapsed after just four years amid elite infighting

Evidence

Another major problem that affected the performance of Sultan Mahmud’s army was the training and composition of his officer corps. Shortly after the Sultan got rid of the Janissaries, and in order to create a new nucleus for his officer corps, he founded the Battalion of the Agas of the Court’s Inner Service (the Enderun-i Hümayun Ağavati) in which young slaves from the Sultan’s own household, as well as from those of important notables and officials in the Empire, were enrolled. This unit, in effect the first modern Ottoman officer training institution, was, however, a battle-ground for intrigues and feuds among many dignitaries who tried to ensure that their sons would find a place in it. Dissatisfied with its performance, the Sultan finally abolished it in May 1830, only four years after it had been created. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1383

Categorization

• XREF: Ties to Mehmed Ali’s more successful officer schools built earlier, directly serving the reader’s interest in the birth of the modern Egyptian army versus Ottoman failure.