A cheta ( sq, çeta; rup, ceatã; bg, чета; gr, τσέτης; ro, ceată; tr, çete; sr, чета / ), in plural chetas, was an armed band organized by the mostly

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 ...

, Serbian,

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 ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian population on the territory 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) ...

that undertook anti-Ottoman activity. The cheta was usually led by a leader, called

voivoda 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 ...

. The members of the chetas were called chetniks. In the late Ottoman Empire, armed rebellions became a chronic feature of life in geographic Macedonia as armed groups of pro-Bulgarian, as well as pro-Serbian, pro-Greek, Aromanian and Albanian formations fought against each other as well as the Ottoman troops, trying to impose their nationality on the territory's inhabitants, and increasingly harsh Ottoman crackdowns indicated that reform and reconciliation of the Ottoman state with the various nationalist groups was growing less likely.Vickers, Miranda (2011)
''The Albanians: A Modern History''
I.B. Tauris: 28 January 2011.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Guerrilla organizations History of the Balkans Rebels from the Ottoman Empire Macedonian Struggle

See also

References