The addition of former Morean possessions to the empire left the Ottomans, now the dominant power in Anatolia, In a far more secure position. The riches of Egypt and Mesopotamia enticed Bayezid, but his advisers convinced him to consolidate for a few years before attempting further conquest. Bayezid grudgingly complied, if only so he could finally institute the devshirme. The system was conceived with two main goals in mind. The formation of a disciplined infantry force along with a reliable pool of administrators. The devshirme was hardly new, various Turkic tribes had practiced it over the centuries. The Ottoman system was not revolutionary in itself, but it brought about, among other things, the first national census.
These first attempts at census taking went hand in hand with land reform initiatives. The empire had gained control of large amounts of land during it's conquests. Some of the land was gifted to irregular cavalrymen as a reward for their service. The rest was parceled up and offered to landless peasants, with the incentive of tax exemption on the first year's yield. Not surprisingly, many Anatolian peasants took up the offer and migrated, contributing to a doubling of the Balkan's population within a decade. In turn, the empires reduced dependence on imported grain, primarily from Egypt, gave the empire more room for maneuver politically.
Traditionally Ottoman rulers had allowed local communities practical self rule. The policy contributed to a rapid and relatively bloodless expansion into the Balkans but encouraged the various ethnicities/ religions to form their own isolated enclaves. A firman signed by Bayezid I made it illegal for these enclaves to restrict residence based on ethnicity or religion. The influx of settlers from other parts of the empire helped to dilute the composition of the enclaves, and in the long term, meant that the empire was less prone to bouts of nationalistic dissent. Law however, continued to be practiced in separate religious courts.
