Ahajduk (Hungarian:hajdúk, plural ofhajdú'foot-soldier') is a type ofirregular infantry found inCentral,Eastern, and parts ofSoutheast Europe from the late 16th to mid 19th centuries, especially fromHajdú-Bihar county.[1] They have reputations ranging frombandits tofreedom fighters depending on time, place, and their enemies.
In the European lands of the Ottoman Empire, the termhajduk was used to describe bandits andbrigands of theBalkans, while inCentral Europe for theWest Slavs,Hungarians, andGermans, andEastern Europe for theUkrainians, it was used to refer tooutlaws who protected Christians against provocative actions by the Ottomans.[2]
By the 17th century they were firmly established in the Ottoman Balkans, owing to increased taxes, Christian victories against the Ottomans, and a general decline in security. Hajduk bands predominantly numbered one hundred men each, with a firm hierarchy under one leader. They targeted Ottoman representatives and rich people, mainly rich Turks, for plunder, punishment to oppressive Ottomans, revenge, or a combination of all.[2]
In Balkan folkloric tradition, the hajduk is a romanticised hero figure who steals from, and leads his fighters into battle against, theOttoman authorities.[3] They are comparable to the English legendaryRobin Hood and his merry men, who stole from the rich (who as in the case of the hajduk happened to also beforeign occupiers) and gave to the poor, while defying seemingly unjust laws and authority.[citation needed]
People that helped hajduks were called jataks. Jataks lived in villages and towns and provided food and shelter for hajduks. In return, hajduks would give them part of the loot.
The hajduk of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries commonly were as muchguerrilla fighters against the Ottoman rule as they were bandits andhighwaymen who preyed not only on Ottomans and their local representatives, but also on local merchants and travellers. As such, the term could also refer to any robber and carry a negative connotation.[4][5]
The etymology of the wordhajduk is unclear. One theory is thathajduk was derived from theTurkish wordhaidut orhaydut 'bandit', which was originally used by theOttomans to refer toHungarian andPolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth infantry soldiers. Another theory suggests that the word comes fromHungarianhajtó orhajdó (pluralhajtók orhajdók) '(cattle)drover'.[6] These two theories do not necessarily contradict each other because the Turkish wordhaidut orhaydut is adapted from the Hungarianhajtó orhajdó, just as many Slavic words were adapted from Turkish in what is known asTurcizam or Turkification.[4][5][7]
Other spellings in English includeajduk,haydut,haiduk,haiduc,hayduck, andhayduk.
Forms of the word in various languages, in singular form, include:
In 1604-1606,István Bocskay, Lord ofBihar, led an insurrection against theHabsburgEmperor, whose army had recently occupiedTransylvania and begun a reign of terror. The bulk of Bocskay's army was composed ofserfs who had either fled from the war and the Habsburg drive towardCatholic conversion, or been discharged from the Imperial Army. Thesepeasants, freelance soldiers, were known as thehajduks.[9] As a reward for their service, Bocskay emancipated the hajduk from the jurisdiction of their lords, granted them land, and guaranteed them rights to own property and to personal freedom.[10] The emancipated hajduk constituted a new "warrior estate" within Hungarianfeudal society.[11] Many of the settlements created at this time still bear the prefixHajdú such as Hajdúbagos,Hajdúböszörmény, Hajdúdorog, Hajdúhadház, Hajdúnánás, Hajdúsámson,Hajdúszoboszló, Hajdúszovát, Hajdúvid etc., and the whole area is calledHajdúság (Land of the Hajduk) (seeHajdú County).
The Hajdú have always been an important pillar of Hungarian society and its defence. During the great Turkish attack of 1551/52, it was possible to recruit several hundred or even several thousand Hajdú troops from the Nyírség-Debrecen region for an action against the Turks. Among the Hungarians, the Hajdú lifestyle was significant. At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, we know of tens of thousands of hajdú, who were also the first to fight in wars in the first half of the 17th century. Their activities were significant both as mercenaries and as Defence Forces. Hajdú life provided social mobility, as their success was illustrated by the fact that, although they were born as peasant or petty nobles, they often received substantial land donations from the ruler and became quasi-nobility.[12]
The wordhajduk was initially a colloquial term for a style of footsoldier, Hungarian or Turco-Balkan in inspiration, that formed the backbone of the Polish infantry arm from the 1570s until about the 1630s.[13] Unusually for this period, Polish-Lithuanian hajduks woreuniforms, typically of grey-blue woolen cloth, with red collar and cuffs. Their principal weapon was a small calibrematchlock firearm, known as anarquebus. For close combat they also carried a heavy variety ofsabre, capable of hacking off the heads of enemypikes andpolearms. Contrary to popular opinion, the small axe they often wore tucked in their belt (not to be confused with the huge half-moon shapedberdysz axe, which was seldom carried by hajduks) was not a combat weapon, but rather was intended for cutting wood.
In the mid-17th century hajduk-style infantry largely fell out of fashion in Poland-Lithuania, and were replaced bymusket-armed infantry of Western style. However, commanders orhetmans of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth continued to maintain their own liveried bodyguards of hajduks, well into the 18th century as something of a throwback to the past, even though they were now rarely used as field troops. In imitation of these bodyguards, in the 18th century wealthy members of theszlachta hired liveried domestic servants whom they called hajduks, thereby creating the meaning of the term 'hajduk' as it is generally understood in modern Polish.[14]
The Serbs established a Hajduk army that supported the Austrians.[15] The army was divided into 18 companies, in four groups.[16] In this period, the most notable obor-kapetans wereVuk Isaković fromCrna Bara,Mlatišuma fromKragujevac andKosta Dimitrijević fromParaćin.[15]
The Croatian football teamHNK Hajduk Split; Serbian football teamsHajduk Kula,FK Hajduk Beograd,FK Hajduk Veljko andHajduk Lion; the Macedonian football teamFK Hajduk - Vratnica; Czech amateur football teamHajduk Lipník; the pop-music projectHaiducii, and RomanianRoma musical troupeTaraful Haiducilor are all named after the hajduci. The surnames of the fictional characterGeorge Washington Hayduke, invented byEdward Abbey, actressStacy Haiduk, US national soccer team defenderFrankie Hejduk, Czech Republic national ice hockey team forwardMilan Hejduk and Montenegrin theoretical physicist Dragan Hajduković, are likewise derived from this word.
The term "haiduci" was used by theRomanianresistance movementHaiducii Muscelului, between 1947 and 1959, which opposed the Soviet occupation and theCommunist government.
In the 2003 viral Moldovan pop songDragostea Din Tei, the singer begins by introducing himself as a 'haiduc'. In 2004, Haiducii herself released a successful cover of the song.[17][18]
Хајдучка војска била је подељена на 18 компанија, које су се распореЬивале у 4 групе.
