Komitadji, Comitadjis, or Komitas (
Bulgarian,
Macedonian
Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia.
Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to:
People Modern
* Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Ma ...
and sr, Комити,
Serbian Latin: ''Komiti'', ro, Comitagiu, gr, Κομιτατζής,
plural: Κομιτατζήδες, tr, Komitacı, sq, Komit) means in Turkish "committee members". It refers to members of rebel bands (
chetas) operating in the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
during the final period of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
. They fought against the Turkish authorities and were supported by the governments of the neighbouring states, especially Bulgaria.
Komitadji was used to describe the members of the
Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee
The Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee ( bg, Български революционен централен комитет, ''Balgarski revolyutsionen tsentralen komitet'') or BRCC was a Bulgarian revolutionary organisation founded in 186 ...
during the
April uprising
The April Uprising ( bg, Априлско въстание, Aprilsko vastanie) was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876. The regular Ottoman Army and irregular bashi-bazouk units brutally su ...
in 1876, and Bulgarian bands during the following
Russo-Turkish War
The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European histo ...
. The term is often employed to refer later to groups of rebels associated with the
and the
Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee
Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee (SMAC), ( bg, Върховен македоно - одрински комитет, (ВМОК)), also known as Supreme Macedonian Committee was a Bulgarian paramilitary and political organization, active ...
called by the Turks simply the ''Bulgarian Committees''.
In interwar Greece and Yugoslavia the term was used to refer to the bands organized by the pro-Bulgarian
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation and
Internal Thracian Revolutionary Organisation, which operated in Vardar and Aegean Macedonia and Western Thrace. In interwar
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
, the term was used to refer to the bands organized by the pro-Bulgarian
Internal Dobrujan Revolutionary Organisation
The Internal Dobrujan Revolutionary Organisation ( bg, Вътрешна добруджанска революционна организация; ro, Organizația Revoluționară Internă Dobrogeană) or IDRO was a Bulgarian nationalist and revol ...
, which attacked the Romanian outposts and the
Aromanian colonists in
Southern Dobruja
Southern Dobruja, South Dobruja or Quadrilateral ( Bulgarian: Южна Добруджа, ''Yuzhna Dobrudzha'' or simply Добруджа, ''Dobrudzha''; ro, Dobrogea de Sud, or ) is an area of northeastern Bulgaria comprising Dobrich and Silis ...
. During the Second World War this name was used to designate the members of the pro-Bulgarian
Ohrana active in Northern Greece.
Other uses
* The term is used by the supporters of
FK Vardar
FK Vardar Skopje ( mk, ФК Вардар Скопје), or simply Vardar, is a football club based in the capital city of Skopje, North Macedonia. The club was founded in 1947 and currently competes in the Macedonian Second Football League. The ...
.
FootballDerbies.com - Komiti
/ref>
* ''Komitadji'' was the name given to a space-travelling warship of the Earth-based Pax Empire in the science-fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...
''Angelmass'' (TOR Books, 2001) by Timothy Zahn.
See also
* Hajduk
* Chetnik
The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationa ...
* Makedonomachoi
References
{{reflist
Macedonia under the Ottoman Empire
Militias in Europe
Rebel militia groups
Turkish words and phrases