The Morlach troops was an

irregular military Irregular military is any non-standard military component that is distinct from a country's national armed forces. Being defined by exclusion, there is significant variance in what comes under the term. It can refer to the type of military orga ...

group in the

Dalmatian hinterland The Dalmatian Hinterland ( hr, Dalmatinska zagora; it, La Morlacca or ) is the southern inland hinterland in the historical Croatian region of Dalmatia. The name ''zagora'' means "beyond (the) hills", which is a reference to the fact that it is t ...

, composed of

Morlachs Morlachs ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Morlaci, Морлаци or , ; it, Morlacchi; ro, Morlaci) has been an exonym used for a rural Christian community in Herzegovina, Lika and the Dalmatian Hinterland. The term was initially used for a bilingual Vlach p ...

, that was hired by the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

to fight 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) ...

during the

Cretan War (1645–69) Cretan War may refer to multiple wars involving the island of Crete, including: *Cretan War (205–200 BC), a war between King Philip V of Macedon and Rhodes *Cretan War (1645–69), a war between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire See ...

and the

Great Turkish War The Great Turkish War (german: Großer Türkenkrieg), also called the Wars of the Holy League ( tr, Kutsal İttifak Savaşları), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Pola ...

(1683–99).

Leaders

The leaders, called ''

harambaša Harambaša ( sr-cyr, Харамбаша) was the rank for a senior commander of a ''hajduk'' band (brigand gangs). Etymology It is derived from Turkish word for bandit leader ( tr, haramibaşı; - "Bandit" + - "Head"), and was like some other Ot ...

'' (tr. "bandit leader") and ''

serdar Serdar may refer to * Serdar (given name) * Serdar (surname) * SERDAR, a stabilized remote-controlled Ukrainian weapon station * Serdar (city) in Turkmenistan, the capital of Serdar District * Serdar (Ottoman rank), a military and noble rank of the ...

'' ("commander-in-chief"), held several titles in Venetian service. ;Cretan War *Stjepan Sorić, Catholic priest, "governator delli Morlachi" * Ilija Smiljanić, "governator principale" *

Petar Smiljanić Petar ( sr, Петар, bg, Петър) is a South Slavic masculine given name, their variant of the Biblical name Petros cognate to Peter. Derivative forms include Pero, Pejo, Pera, Perica, Petrica, Periša. Feminine equivalent is Petra. Pe ...

, "capo" *

Vuk Mandušić Vuk Mandušić ( sr-Cyrl, Вук Мандушић; Vučen Mandušić, ''Vucen Mandussich''; 1645 – died 13 July 1648) was the ''capo direttore'' of the Morlach army, one of the most prominent '' harambaša'' (rebel leaders) in the Dalmati ...

, "capo direttore" *

Janko Mitrović Janko Mitrović ( sr-cyr, Јанко Митровић; 1613–1659) was a ''harambaša'' (Ottoman for "bandit leader"), and the commander of the '' Morlach army'', in the service of the Republic of Venice, from 1648 until his death in 1659. He par ...

, "capo principale de Morlachi" *Šimun Bortulačić, "governator" *Jovan Dračevac, "governator" *

Petronije Selaković Petronije Selaković ( sr-cyr, Петроније Селаковић; fl. April 1648) was a Serbian Orthodox monk of the Krka monastery who led a Morlach army during the Cretan War (1645–69) against the Ottoman Empire. His army came as far as th ...

, Orthodox monk

Etymology

Stanko Guldescu argued that the

Vlachs "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Easter ...

, were Latin speaking and pastoral peoples who lived in the Balkan mountains since pre-Roman times Morlachs were Slavicized and partially Islamized during Turkish occupation. Silviu Dragomir wrote that the

were called Morlachs by Venetians and Velebit county was named Morlacca for a while and the naval channel in vicinity, the

Velebit Channel The Velebit Channel ( hr, Velebitski kanal, or ; it, Canale della Morlacca or ) is a channel in Croatia located between the lands at the foot of the Velebit mountain range and the islands of Pag, Rab, Goli Otok, Prvić and Krk. It is about l ...

was called "Canale della Morlacca" Cicerone Poghirc showed that Morlach is an Italian translation of the Turkish name Caravlach. "Cara" means "Black" in Turkish but means North in Turkish geography. So Morlachs are Northern Vlachs in opposition with the Vlachs from Greece.

History

With the

, a solid organization was needed, with an officer commanding over several harambaše. At first this position was undetermined. Priest Stjepan Sorić is mentioned as "governator delli Morlachi", Petar Smiljanić as "capo", Vuk Mandušić as "capo direttore", and

as "capo principale de Morlachi", Jovan Dračevac as "governator" etc. This "Uskok" or "Morlach" army had less than 1,500 fighters.

Legacy

The rebel fighters are enumerated

Serbian epic poetry Serbian epic poetry ( sr, Српске епске народне песме, Srpske epske narodne pesme) is a form of epic poetry created by Serbs originating in today's Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia. The ...

, of which there is a cyclus.

References

Sources