The Auspicious Incident

Auspicious Incident (or Event) (in Turkish Vaka-i Hayriye Fortunate Event; in Balkans known as Vaka-i Şerriyye Unfortunate Incident in Arabic واقعة خيرية waq'a khayriyyya) was the forced disbandment of the centuries-old Janissary corps by Ottoman sultan Mahmud II in June 1826.

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 capitol of the Ottoman Empire, and the center of the Janissary order). The survivors either fled or were executed, and their possessions were confiscated by the Sultan. This event is now called the Auspicious Incident. The last of the Janissaries were then put to death by decapitation in what was later called the blood tower, in Thessaloniki.

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.

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.

The incident had a terrible impact on the Muslim converts and communities in the Balkans, and rebellions broke in every region of Rumelia, especially in Bosnia and Albania. The incident also marked the swift decline of Ottoman Turkish power in Europe.