Chavdar ( bg, Чавдар) was a 16th-century semi-legendary

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

hajduk A hajduk ( hu, hajdúk, plural of ) is a type of irregular infantry found in Central and parts of Southeast Europe from the late 16th to mid 19th centuries. They have reputations ranging from bandits to freedom fighters depending on time, p ...

voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...

, a leader of a band of outlaws and a protector of the people against Ottoman injustice. Hajduks would usually take to the woods and wage

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...

on the ruling

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...

. Chavdar was born in south Macedonia and headed a band of 300 people. He was initially active in the

Štip Štip ( mk, Штип ) is the largest urban agglomeration in the eastern part of North Macedonia, serving as the economic, industrial, entertainment and educational focal point for the surrounding municipalities. As of the 2002 census, the city ...

and Kozjak regions, but subsequently moved to the region of

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

. According to the legend, he was captured by the

pasha Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, gener ...

of Sofia by trickery, but rescued by his nephew and

standard-bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a ...

Lalush Voyvoda who devastated the pasha's estates. It is thought that Chavdar may have been one of the hajduks who assaulted Sofia in February 1595.

Legacy

One of the greatest hajduk figures in Bulgarian folklore and epic tales, Chavdar was immortalised by national poet

Hristo Botev Hristo Botev ( bg, Христо Ботев, ), born Hristo Botyov Petkov (Христо Ботьов Петков; – ), was a Bulgarian revolutionary and poet. Botev is considered by Bulgarians to be a symbolic historical figure and nationa ...

. One of Botev's masterpieces, ''Hajduks'', is about Chavdar, as are a large number of folk songs. A Bulgarian coach company carries the name of this character.

Chavdar Peninsula Chavdar Peninsula ( bg, полуостров Чавдар, poluostrov Chavdar, ) is a 10-km wide peninsula projecting 13 km in northwest direction from Graham Land on the Antarctic Peninsula in Antarctica. It is bounded by Curtiss Bay to the nort ...

Graham Land Graham Land is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula that lies north of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This description of Graham Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the British Antarctic Place-names Committee and ...

on the

Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martín in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctic ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

is named after Chavdar.Chavdar Peninsula.
SCAR

Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica The Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica (CGA) of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is the authoritative international gazetteer containing all Antarctic toponyms published in national gazetteers, plus basic information about th ...

References

External links

''Chavdar Voyvoda and Standard-bearer Lalush''
by

Nikolay Haytov Nikolay Haytov ( bg, Николай Хайтов), or Nikolai Haitov (15 September 1919 – 30 June 2002) was a Bulgarian fiction writer, playwright, patriot and publicist known for his publications and research regarding the life of Bulgaria ...

''Chavdar (Voyvoda) Between Folklore and History''
by Todor Mollov {{in lang, bg Bulgarian revolutionaries 16th-century births 16th-century Bulgarian people Year of death unknown Macedonia under the Ottoman Empire People from Štip Macedonian Bulgarians