The Auspicious Incident The Auspicious Incident ( or Event ) ( Turkish : ( in Istanbul ) " Vaka - i Hayriye " " Fortunate Event " ; ( in Balkans ) " Vaka - i Şerriyye " , " Unfortunate Incident " ) was the forced disbandment of the centuries – old Janissary corps by Mahmud II on 15 June 1826 . The Janissaries revolted against Mahmud II , and after the rebellion was suppressed , its leaders killed , and many members exiled or imprisoned , the Janissary corps was disbanded and replaced with a more modern military force . Background . Since the early 17th century , the Janissary corps had ceased to function as an elite military unit . Many Janissaries were not soldiers and simply extorted money from the Turkish state and dictated its government , adding to the steady decline of the Ottoman Empire . Any sultan who attempted to modernize the Ottoman military structure and replace the Janissaries was either immediately killed or deposed . Mutiny . When Mahmud II began forming a new army and hiring European gunners , the Janissaries mutinied as usual and fought on the streets of the Ottoman capital , but the numerically superior Sipahi s charged and forced them back into their barracks . Turkish historians claim that the counter – Janissary force was dominated by local residents who had hated the Janissaries for years and that this force was great in numbers . Historians suggest that Mahmud II purposely incited the revolt , and have described it as the sultan ' s " coup against the Janissaries " . The sultan informed them , through a fatwa , that he was forming a new army , the " Sekban - ı Cedit " , organized and trained along modern European lines ( and that the new army would be Turkish – dominated ) . The Janissaries saw their institution as crucial to the well being of the Ottoman Empire , especially to Rumelia , and had previously decided they would never allow its dissolution . Thus as predicted , they mutinied , advancing on the sultan ' s palace . Mahmud II then brought out the sacred standard of the Prophet from inside the treasury , intending all true believers to gather beneath it and thus bolster the opposition to the Janissaries . In the ensuing fight , the Janissary barracks were set in flames by artillery fire resulting in 4 , 000 Janissary deaths , more were killed in the heavy fighting on the streets of Constantinople ( the capital of the Ottoman Empire , and the center of the Janissary order ) . The survivors either fled or were imprisoned , their possessions confiscated by the Sultan . By the end of 1826 the captured Janissaries , constituting the remainder of the force , were put to death by decapitation in the Thessaloniki fort that soon came to be called the " Blood Tower " ( but which has been , since 1912 , known as the White Tower ) . Roughly 100 other Janissaries fled to Cistern of Philoxenos where many drowned . Aftermath . The Janissary leaders were executed and their possessions confiscated by the Sultan . The younger Janissaries were either exiled or imprisoned . Thousands of Janissaries had been killed , and thus the elite order came to its end . The Sufi Order of the Bektaşi Brotherhood , a core Janissary institution , was also disbanded , and its followers executed or exiled . A new modern corps , " Asakir - i Mansure - i Muhammediye " ( " The Victorious Soldiers of Muhammad " ) was established by Mahmud II to guard the Sultan and replace the Janissaries . 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 began to rally against the new Turkish armies sent from Constantinople . Some Janissaries 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 negative impact on the newly - converted Muslims and their communities in the Balkans , who lost their privileges , as rebellions broke out across Rumelia , especially in Bosnia and Albania . Taking advantage of the temporary weakness in the military position of the Ottoman Empire following the The Auspicious Incident , the Russian Empire forced the Ottomans to accept the Akkerman Convention on 7 October 1826 .