Hajduk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hajduk (or haiduk, haiduc, hayduck, hayduk) is a term most commonly referring to outlaws, highwaymen or freedom fighters in the Balkans. Forms of the word in various languages include haiduc (Romanian) hajdúk (Hungarian) hajduk (Albanian), хајдук/hajduk (Serbian), hajduk (Croatian), ајдук (ayduk) (Macedonian), хайдут (haydut) (Bulgarian), aiducco (Italian), haïdouk (French), haydut (Turkish), hajduk (Bosnian), Հայդուկ (Armenian).
In Balkan folkloric tradition, the hajduk (hajduci or haiduci in the plural) is a romanticised hero figure who steals from, and leads his fighters into battle against, the Ottoman oppressors. They are comparable to the English legend of Robin Hood and his merry men, who stole from the rich (which in the case of the hajduci happened to be also foreign occupants) and gave to the poor, while participating in a small guerilla war against an injust authority.
In reality, the hajduci of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries were as much guerilla fighters against the Ottoman rule as they were bandits and highwaymen who preyed not only on Ottomans and their local representatives, but also on local merchants and travellers. However, most of the hajduci did follow a moral code which forbade robbing the poor and motiveless murder. Those who didn't, were no longer referred to as hajduci by the local population, but were called simply bandits.
The actual origin of the word hajduk is unclear. One theory is that hajduk was derived from the Turkish word haidud or haydut, which was originally used by the Ottomans to refer to Hungarian infantry soldiers. Another theory suggests that the word comes from the Hungarian hajtó (plural hajtók), meaning a (cattle) drover.
The Serbian leader Hajduk Veljko and the football teams Hajduk Kula, and Hajduk sa Liona, Croatian football team Hajduk Split, the Romanian band Taraful Haiducilor and the pop-music project Haiducii are all named after the haiduci. The surname of actress Stacy Haiduk is likewise derived from this word.
In modern times, the term haiduci was used by the Romanian resistance movement Haiducii Muscelului, between 1947 and 1959, which opposed the Soviet occupation and the Communist government. One of Romania's most prominent Roma musical troupes dubbed themselves Taraful Haiducilor.
The soccer team Hajduk Split from Croatia founded in 1911 has always been popular across the former Yugoslavia. As a result many new teams with this name were formed. In Serbia new clubs such as Hajduk Kula and Hajduk Beograd were formed by Croatian immigrants in Serbia and Serbian locals as they were fans of Hajduk Split.[citation needed] Today there are over 300 teams with the name Hajduk all over the world and all share a link to Hajduk Split who was the first to use that name.[citation needed]
The surname of the fictional character George Washington Hayduke, invented by Edward Abbey, recalls the term.
In the early 1970s hajduks started appearing in western social and anthropological literature after the publication, by historian Eric Hobsbawm, of now classic sociological studies, Primitive Rebels, and Bandits. Hobsbawm invented the term "social bandit" to describe outlaws who operate on the edges of rural societies by fighting against authorities and sometimes helping the ordinary people. There has always been a degree of fluidity in their status, whereby, as described by John Kolipoulos in his study of Greek klephts, Brigands with a Cause, brigands would sometimes change sides and start acting on behalf of the authorities to preserve peace and suppress banditry - and vice-versa.
From early 1980s sociological studies started narrating the stories of hajduks, kelphts, bandits, brigands, outlaws, rebels or pirates in all parts of the planet - from Australia to republican China, to Roman empire, to the American Wild West, to Balkans, to Cuba and Mexico.
Contents |
[edit] Notable hajduks
[edit] Notable Albanian hajduks
[edit] Notable Bulgarian hajduks
- Chavdar Voyvoda
- Indzhe Voyvoda
- Captain Petko Voyvoda
- Angel Voyvoda
- Ilyo Voyvoda
- Kara Kolyo
[edit] Notable Croatian hajduks
- Mijat Tomić
- Andrijica Šimić
- Ivan Bušić Roša
- Veli Jože (legend)
[edit] Notable Macedonian hajduks
[edit] Notable Montenegrin hajduks
[edit] Notable Romanian haiducs
- Toma Alimoş (legend)
- Gruia lui Novac (legend)
- Pintea Viteazul (1670-1703)
- Iancu Jianu (early 19th century) from Oltenia region, befriended and fought together with freedom fighter Tudor Vladimirescu in the emancipation Revolution of 1821
- Andrei Popa (or Andrii Popa)
- Gheorghe Magheru
- Avram Iancu
[edit] Notable Serbian hajduks
- Karađorđe
- Stari Vujadin
- Hajduk Veljko
- Hajduk Stanko
- Mali Radojica
- Starina Novak
- Jovo Stanisavljević Čaruga
[edit] See also
- Bandolero, a similar later figure in Andalusia.
- Haidamaka
- Hajduk (soldiers)
- Klepht
- Uskoks
