The Odjak of Algiers((efn|also spelled Ujaq was a unit of the Algerian army. It was a highly autonomous part of the Janissary Corps, acting completely independently from the rest of the corps, similar to the relationship between Algiers and the Sublime Porte. Led by an Agha, they also took part in the country's internal administration and politics, ruling the country for several years. They acted as a defense unit, a Praetorian Guard, and an instrument of repression until 1817.
A Janissary of Algiers
A Soldier of the Janissaries by Jean Baptiste Vanmour (1671–1737)
Dey Ali Khoja, surrounded by the severed heads of vanquished enemies after the bombardment of 1816
Origin of Algerian Janissary recruitment according to Marcel Colombe (1943)
A janissary was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms; adopted during the reign of Murad II. The corps was established either under Sultans Orhan or Murad I, and dismantled by Mahmud II in 1826.
Agha of the Janissaries and a Bölük of the Janissaries by Lambert Wyts, 1573
Agha of the Janissaries, the commander of the corps, in 1768
Janissary, before 1657
Registration of boys for the devşirme. Ottoman miniature painting from the Süleymanname, 1558.