Devşirme or devshirme was the practice by which the Ottoman Empire conscripted boys from Christian families, who were taken from their families by force, converted to Islam, trained and enrolled in one of the four royal institutions: the Palace, the Scribes, the Religious and the Military. The devşirme system humiliated non-Muslim societies controlled by the Ottomans and was resisted. History The Ottoman Empire, beginning with Murat I, felt a need to "counteract the power of (Turkic)… (More on Devsirme)