A bashi-bazouk ( , , , roughly "leaderless" or "disorderly") was an irregular soldier of the Ottoman army, 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. 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'', which were salaried, most notable being Janissary corps. * Provincial soldiers, which were fiefed (Turkish '' Tımarlı''), the most important being ''Timarli Sipahi'' (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

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

, Crimean Tatars, Muslim Roma, and Pomaks were bashi-bazouks in Rumelia. An attempt by Koca Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha to disband his Albanian 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.

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. The Batak massacre (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 in 1898 and Phocaea 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 Batak massacre. Antoni Piotrowski, (1889). File:Basibozuk-1877.jpg, Bashi-bazouks' atrocities in Ottoman Bulgaria. Unknown author, (1877). File:Konstantin Makovsky - The Bulgarian martyresses.jpg, ''The Bulgarian Martyresses'' (1877), painting by Konstantin Makovsky 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.

Depictions in art

File:Chef arnaute by Jean-Léon Gérôme.jpg, An Albanian bashi-bazouk in Egypt. Painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1870. File:A Bashi-Bazouk, drawn by Francis Davis Millet.jpg, Drawing of a bashi-bazouk by Francis Davis Millet, 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, 1878.

References

Sources

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