A bashi-bazouk ( , , , roughly "leaderless" or "disorderly") was an irregular soldier of the

Ottoman army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

, raised in times of war. The army primarily enlisted

Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...

and sometimes

Circassians The Circassians or Circassian people, also called Cherkess or Adyghe (Adyghe language, Adyghe and ), are a Northwest Caucasian languages, Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation who originated in Circassia, a region and former country in t ...

as bashi-bazouks, but recruits came from all ethnic groups of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, including slaves from Europe or Africa. Bashi-bazouks had a reputation for being undisciplined and brutal, notorious for looting and preying on civilians as a result of a lack of regulation and of the expectation that they would support themselves off the land.

Origin and history

Although the Ottoman armies always contained irregular troops such as mercenaries as well as regular soldiers, the strain on the Ottoman feudal system, caused mainly by the Empire's wide expanse, required a heavier reliance on irregular soldiers. They were armed and maintained by the government, but did not receive pay and did not wear uniforms or distinctive badges. They were motivated to fight mostly by expectations of

plunder Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

. Though the majority of troops fought on foot, some troops (called '' aḳıncı'') rode on horseback. Because of their lack of discipline, they were not capable of undertaking major military operations, but were useful for other tasks such as reconnaissance and outpost duty. However, their uncertain temper occasionally made it necessary for the Ottoman regular troops to disarm them by force. The Ottoman army consisted of the following: * The Sultan's household troops, called ''

Kapıkulu ''Kapıkulu'' (, ''Kapıkulu Ocağı'', "Slaves of the Sublime Porte") was the collective name for the household division of the Ottoman Sultans. They included the Janissary infantry corps as well as the Six Divisions of Cavalry. Unlike provincia ...

'', which were salaried, most notable being

Janissary A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted dur ...

corps. * Provincial soldiers, which were fiefed (Turkish '' Tımarlı''), the most important being ''Timarli

Sipahi The ''sipahi'' ( , ) were professional cavalrymen deployed by the Seljuk Turks and later by the Ottoman Empire. ''Sipahi'' units included the land grant–holding ('' timar'') provincial ''timarli sipahi'', which constituted most of the arm ...

'' (lit. "fiefed cavalry") and their retainers (called ''cebelu'' lit. armed, man-at-arms), but other kinds were also present * Soldiers of subject, protectorate, or allied states (the most important being the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

n Khans) * Bashi-bazouks, who usually did not receive regular salaries and lived off loot Many

Afro-Turks Afro-Turks () are Turkish people of African Zanj descent, who trace their origin to the Ottoman slave trade like the Afro-Abkhazians. Afro-Turk population is estimated to be between 5,000 and 20,000 people. Afro-Turks are distinct from Afri ...

Crimean Tatars Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...

Muslim Roma Muslim Romani people or Muslim Roma are people who are ethnically Romani and profess Islam. They may also be known as Muslim Gypsies, with some Roma preferring to use the term, not perceiving it as derogatory. They primarily live in the Balkan ...

, and

Pomaks Pomaks (; Macedonian: Помаци ; ) are Bulgarian-speaking Muslims inhabiting Bulgaria, northwestern Turkey, and northeastern Greece. The strong ethno-confessional minority in Bulgaria is recognized officially as Bulgarian Muslims by th ...

were bashi-bazouks in

Rumelia Rumelia (; ; ) was a historical region in Southeastern Europe that was administered by the Ottoman Empire, roughly corresponding to the Balkans. In its wider sense, it was used to refer to all Ottoman possessions and Vassal state, vassals in E ...

. An attempt by

Koca Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha Koca Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha (also known as Koca Hüsrev Pasha; sometimes known in Western sources as just Husrev Pasha or Khosrew Pasha;Inalcık, Halil. Trans. by Gibb, H.A.R. ''The Encyclopaedia of Islam'', New Ed., Vol. V, Fascicules 79–80, pp ...

to disband his

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

bashi-bazouks in favor of his regular forces began the rioting which led to the establishment of

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

Khedivate of Egypt The Khedivate of Egypt ( or , ; ') was an autonomous tributary state of the Ottoman Empire, established and ruled by the Muhammad Ali Dynasty following the defeat and expulsion of Napoleon Bonaparte's forces which brought an end to the short- ...

. The use of bashi-bazouks was abandoned by the end of the 19th century. However, self-organized bashi-bazouk troops still appeared later. The term "bashibozouk" has also been used for a mounted force, existing in peacetime in various provinces of the Ottoman Empire, which performed the duties of

gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

Reputation and atrocities

The bashi-bazouks were notorious for being violently brutal and undisciplined, thus giving the term its second, colloquial meaning of "undisciplined bandit" in many languages. The term was popularised in the 20th century by the comic series ''

The Adventures of Tintin ''The Adventures of Tintin'' ( ) is a series of 24 comic albums created by Belgians, Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century. By 2007, a c ...

'', where the word is frequently used as an insult by

Captain Haddock Captain Archibald Haddock (French: ''Capitaine Archibald Haddock'') is a character in the comic book series ''The Adventures of Tintin''. He is Tintin (character), Tintin's best friend, a seafaring captain in the Merchant Navy or Merchant Mar ...

. The

Batak massacre The Batak massacre was a massacre of Bulgarians in the town of Batak by Ottoman irregular cavalry troops in 1876, at the beginning of the Bulgarian April Uprising of 1876. The estimate for the number of casualties ranges from 1,200 to 8,000, d ...

(1876) was carried out by thousands of bashi-bazouks sent to quell a local

rebellion Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

. Likewise, bashi-bazouks perpetrated the massacres of

Candia The name Candia can refer to: People * The House of Candia, a noble family from Savoy (14th-16th) * Alfredo Ovando Candía, 56th president of Bolivia * Antoinette Candia-Bailey, American academic administrator * Cecilia Maria de Candia, British-It ...

in 1898 and

Phocaea Phocaea or Phokaia (Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek: Φώκαια, ''Phókaia''; modern-day Foça in Turkey) was an ancient Ionian Ancient Greece, Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia. Colonies in antiquity, Greek colonists from Phoc ...

in 1914. During the 1903 Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising in Ottoman Macedonia, these troops burned 119 villages and destroyed 8400 houses, and over 50,000 Bulgarian refugees had to flee into the mountains. File:Пиотровский. батакская резня. 1889 год.jpeg, Bashi-bazouks carrying out the

. Antoni Piotrowski, (1889). File:Basibozuk-1877.jpg, Bashi-bazouks' atrocities in

Ottoman Bulgaria The history of Ottoman Bulgaria spans nearly 500 years, beginning in the late 14th century, with the Bulgarian–Ottoman Wars, Ottoman conquest of smaller kingdoms from the disintegrating Second Bulgarian Empire. In the late 19th century, Bulgar ...

. Unknown author, (1877). File:Konstantin Makovsky - The Bulgarian martyresses.jpg, ''The Bulgarian Martyresses'' (1877), painting by

Konstantin Makovsky Konstantin Yegorovich Makovsky (; (20 June o.c.) 2 July n.c. 1839 – 17 o.c. (30 n.c.) September 1915) was an influential Russian painter, affiliated with the " Peredvizhniki (Wanderers)". Many of his historical paintings, such as ''Beneath the ...

depicting the

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

of two Bulgarian women in a church by one African-looking and two Turkish-looking bashi-bazouks, during the

April Uprising The April Uprising () was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876. The rebellion was suppressed by irregular Ottoman bashi-bazouk units that engaged in indiscriminate slaughter of both rebels ...

Depictions in art

File:Chef arnaute by Jean-Léon Gérôme.jpg, An Albanian bashi-bazouk in Egypt. Painting by

Jean-Léon Gérôme Jean-Léon Gérôme (; 11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academic painting, academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living art ...

, 1870. File:A Bashi-Bazouk, drawn by Francis Davis Millet.jpg, Drawing of a bashi-bazouk by

Francis Davis Millet Francis Davis Millet (November 3, 1848. – April 15, 1912) was an American academic classical painter, sculptor, and writer who died in the sinking of the RMS ''Titanic'' on April 15, 1912. Early life Francis Davis Millet was born in Mattapo ...

, 1889. File:Jean-Léon Gérôme – Bachi-bouzouk Arnaoute.jpg, An Albanian bashi-bazouk painted by Jean-Léon Gérôme in the 1860s. File:Vernet-Lecomte 7.jpg, A bashi-bazouk contemplating his loot. Painting by Émile Vernet-Lecomte, 1862. File:Jean-Léon Gérôme - A Bashi-Bazouk.jpg, An African bashi-bazouk, painted by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1860s. File:Два ястреба (Башибузуки).jpg, Two captured bashi-bazouks, painted by

Vasily Vereshchagin Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin (; 26 October 184213 April 1904) was a Russian painters, Russian painter, war artist, and traveller. The Violence in art, graphic nature of his Realism (arts), realist scenes led to many of them never being printe ...

, 1878.

References

Sources

* * *''Ottoman warfare'', 1500–1700 by Rhoads Murphey. London : UCL Press, 1999. *

Özhan Öztürk Özhan Öztürk (born 1968, Istanbul) is a Turkish writer and researcher. He is known for his work on the culture and folklore of Turkey’s Black Sea region. Born in Istanbul to a family with roots in the Black Sea region, Özhan Öztürk g ...

(2005). ''Karadeniz'' (

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

): Ansiklopedik Sözlük. 2 Cilt. Heyamola Yayıncılık. İstanbul. . *Montgomery, Viscount Bernard (1968). ''A History of Warfare'', The World Publishing Company. . {{Albanians under the Ottoman Empire Turkish words and phrases Military units and formations of the Ottoman Empire Mercenary units and formations 19th century in the Ottoman Empire Robbers Outlaws Ottoman period in the Balkans Persecution of Christians in the Ottoman Empire

Origin and history

Reputation and atrocities

Depictions in art

See also

References

Sources