The Bashibuzuki are irregular foot and horse troops in the Ottoman Empire in the 18-19th century. They were undisciplined warriors, distinguished by high cruelty and tendency to violence, and looked more like robber squads.
Irregular troops are military units, detachments, military units that are not part of the regular army, they served in a special period, and not constantly. They had a strong difference in weapons and uniforms from the regular army, very often they did not receive salaries from the government, sometimes they got their own military equipment. Famous representatives are Bashibuzuk in Turkey, Cossacks, Kalmyks in Russia.
Before the start of the First World War, they were part of the armies of many states, after the end of the First World War, almost all states in the world refused to use them.
The Turks recruited Bishibuzuks from the warlike tribes of Albania and Asia Minor.
They had the following weapons:
- Spears 3 meters long;
- Saber
- Pistol
- Dagger
The approximate number in the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Ottoman Empire was about 20 thousand people.
The Bashi-bazouks received from the government of the Ottoman Empire only weapons and food, they were not paid salaries.
Promotional video:
The use of bashibuzouks
They were used mainly as punitive detachments, in peacetime they were used for internal service, their units were located in remote areas.
The use of bashibuzuks in wartime led to the disruption of military operations due to the lack of discipline in the ranks of their detachments, their detachments were more like armed gangs that were called odes, led by the odabash.
In the conduct of hostilities with developed European countries, the bashibuzuks were ineffective, due to their lack of military organization and clear discipline, and were easily destroyed by European armies.
They were actively used by the Turks during the suppression of the uprising in Bulgaria in 1876, and in the Russian - Turkish war of 1877-1878.
They showed themselves there as a bandit gang, and showed their complete inefficiency, as a result they were disarmed by the Turkish authorities and eliminated as a class of military units.
Author: antikstarina1983