Cairo janissaries are recruited from among the children of janissary families, which gives them a sense of camaraderie and superiority. Janissaries were always an elite group within the Ottoman military, although by the end of the eighteenth century they were no longer necessarily numbered among the best soldiers in the world. Originally, Janissaries had been recruited among Christian boy children within the Ottoman lands, as troops under the direct control of the Sultan and as a counter to some of his more powerful vassals. The practice of taking children in this way was gradually abandoned and by the 18th century the Janissaries were a power in their own right. The Cairo Janissaries were almost exclusively recruited from among Arabic Egyptians. Turkish members of the larger corps did the