Tavernier noted in 1678 that the Janissaries looked more like a religious order than a military corps. The members of the organization were not banned from marriage, as Tavernier further noted, but it was very uncommon for them. He goes on to write that their numbers had increased to a hundred thousand, but this was because of a degeneration of regulations and many of these were in fact "fake" Janissaries, posing as such for tax exemptions and other social privileges. He notes that the actual number of janissaries was in fact much lower (Shaw writes that their number was 30,000 under Suleiman the Magnificent). By the 1650s the number of janissaries had increased to 50,000, although by this time the "devşirme" had largely been abandoned as a method of recruitment. Recruits were sometimes gained through voluntary accessions, as some parents were eager to have their children enroll in the Janissary service that ensured them a successful career and comfort. The Balkan peasantry tried to evade the tribute collectors, with many attempting to substitute their children in Bosnia, but there are cases Albanian families offering their children voluntarily as it offered them prospects not available to them in any other manner. Conversion to Islam was used in Bosnia and Herzegovina to escape the system. Some Muslim families tried to have the recruiters take their sons so they could achieve professional advancement.