I've been assigned a research paper about the devshirme system in the Ottoman Empire, and am supposed to analyze some primary sources. I have found three sources in an Ottoman Empire Sourcebook, however those were the only three that had to due with the devshirme system. Does anyone have any good databases or websites I could use to find additional sources? Not sure if this kind of question is allowed on this sub but I would greatly appreciate some advice.
Unfortunately there are very few primary sources in English translated from Ottoman for a project like this. There are a couple European texts I would recommend, but you'll have to read through them to find what you are looking for. Paul Rycaut's Present State of the Ottoman Empire is a 17th century book that deals with Ottoman history and there are English translations. Oghier Ghislaine de Busbeq's letters has his impressions of the empire, he was a Habsburg ambassador. You can find both of these archive.org. I also recommend taking a look through Hakluytus Posthumous which has English travel/exploration narratives where you might find something that will help. It's a multi-volume set of books and they are available on archive as well.