Cairo Janissaries are a type of elite infantry in Empire: Total War. They are available with the Elite Units of the East DLC to the Ottoman Empire.
Description[]
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 their best to make sure that the Janissaries and their own families gained and kept control of the plum jobs within the Ottoman administration. As a result they ceased to be a purely military force and became a highly conservative group, determined to fight any reform within the Empire that reduced influence.
General Information[]
Cairo Janissaries are in essence superior versions of Beylik Janissary Musketeers. Like Beyllik Janissary Musketeers, they cannot utilize Fire by Rank, bayonets (handily cancelled out by the fact that they have three more melee attack than Nizam-I Cedit Infantry by default), or form squares, but make up for this somewhat with their good statistics and their ability to inspire nearby troops.
Gallery[]
Elite Units of the East artwork