Bashi-bazouk

The BASI Bozuk ( Ottoman باشی بوزق, also Başıbozuk, Bashi- Bazouks ) were irregular troops of the Ottoman Empire, which were made up of different population groups. The term başıbozuk meant literally translated as " leaderless ", "irregular ( troops ) ," " irregulars ", but literally " broken head ", " Degraded ", " Tangled ".

They were the infamous soldiers or mercenaries of the Turkish sultan, which were not subject to military rules and regulations of the Ottoman army and were therefore punish and kill freely in its sole discretion. They had therefore no official uniforms or other special badge. These troops were often used to put down rebellions; accordingly, they were hated among the ( insurgent ) civilian population, in which she often extremely brutal vorgingen by abused and robbed them. The lack of discipline and her revolting temperament made ​​it sometimes necessary to disarm them by the regular Ottoman troops.

Among the numbered around 65,000 men warriors were among other things, Cossacks, who had come over the Danube region in the kingdom, as well as Tatars from Dobrogea, Circassians from the Caucasus or Turkmen and Kurds from eastern Anatolia. From the state they got weapons and supplies, but no pay. They provided over robbery, looting and pillaging, for which they were legitimized by the Sultan.

A similar phenomenon is found in the Indian Pindari, who also received no pay and lived by plunder.