Odjak

The Odjak was one of the first two Ottoman military institutions established by the second Ottoman Sultan, Orhan I.[1]

The etymology of the lexeme is Old Bulgarian and means "hearth", i.e. where cooking is done, therefore, the most important overseer of the fireplace is called a chorbaji.[2]

Gradually, after the conquest of Edirne by the Ottomans, the odjak, with the introduction of the devshirme, grew into a Janissary odjak, and over time it expanded, acquiring its own special and specific structure and organization, collectively referred to as a military unit — a Janissary corps. The Janissary corps in its finished form was divided into 196 ortas, i.e. military companies or units.[3]

After the capture of Constantinople, the janissary barracks in the capital of the Ottoman Empire began to be called odjak.