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Janʹissaries or Janʹizaries

,

a celebrated militia of the Ottoman Empire, raised by Orchan in 1326, and called the Yengi-tscheri (new corps). It was blessed by Hadji Bektash, a saint, who cut off a sleeve of his fur mantle and gave it to the captain. The captain put the sleeve on his head, and from this circumstance arose the fur cap worn by these footguards. In 1826, having become too formidable to the state, they were abolished.

“There were two classes of Janizaries, one regularly organised … and the other composing an irregular militia.ʹ—Chambers: Encyclopœdia, vol. vi. p. 279.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Jail-bird (A)
Jamambuxes [Soldiers of the round valleys]
Jambon
Jambuscha [Jam-bus-cah]
James
James (St.)
Jamie or Jemmie Duffs
Jamshid
Jane
Jane Eyre
Janissaries or Janizaries
Jannes and Jambres
Jansenists
Januarius (St.)
January
Ja nus
Japanese
Japheth’s Stone
Japhetidie
Jaquemart
Jaques