Serbian hajduks

The Serbian hajduks (хајдуци, hajduci) were brigands and guerrilla fighters (rebels) throughout Ottoman-held Balkans, organized into bands headed by a harambaša ("bandit leader"), who descended from the mountains and forests and robbed and attacked the Ottomans. They were often aided by foreign powers (Habsburg Monarchy, Russian Empire, Republic of Venice) during greater conflicts.

The hajduks are seen as part of the Serbian national identity. In stories, the hajduks were heroes; they had played the role of the Serbian elite during Ottoman rule; they had defended the Serbs against Ottoman oppression, and prepared for the national liberation and contributed to it in the Serbian Revolution. The Chetniks saw themselves as hajduks, freedom fighters.

The hajduk movement is known as hajdučija (хајдучија) or hajdukovanje (хајдуковање).

History
Starina Novak (~1530–1601), a military commander in Wallachian service, is said to have been the oldest hajduk.

During the Great Eastern Crisis (1875–78), set off by a Serb uprising against the Ottoman Empire in 1875 in Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Herzegovina Uprising), Prince Peter adopted the nom de guerre of hajduk Petar Mrkonjić of Ragusa, and joined the Bosnian Serb insurgents as a leader of a guerilla unit.

List of notable hajduks
This is a list of notable people, in chronological manner. Hajduks who participated in the Serbian Revolution (1804–1815) are also found in Category:People of the Serbian Revolution.

Early modern period

 * Starina Novak (~1530–1601), commander in Wallachian service
 * Sava Temišvarac (fl. 1596)
 * Deli Marko Segedinac (fl. 1596),
 * Deli Petar Rac (fl. 1596)
 * Djordje Rac (fl. 1596)
 * Djordje Slankamenac (fl. 1596)
 * Živko Crni
 * Grdan (fl. 1596–1612)
 * Teodor of Vršac, Sava Ban and Velja Mironić ( 1594), raised the Uprising in Banat
 * Petar Smiljanić (died 1648), commander in Venetian service during the Cretan War
 * Ilija Smiljanić (died 1659), commander in Venetian service during the Cretan War
 * Janko Mitrović (1613–1659), commander in Venetian service during the Cretan War
 * Stojan Janković (1636–1687), commander in Venetian service during the Cretan War and Morean War
 * Petar Mrkonjić (fl. 1645–1669), commander in Venetian service during the Cretan War
 * Vuk Mandušić (fl. 1648), commander in Austrian service in the Military Frontier
 * Bajo Pivljanin (fl. 1669 – died 1685), commander in Venetian service during the Cretan War
 * Jovan Monasterlija (fl. 1689–1706), commander in Austrian service
 * Arnold Paole (d. 1726), militiaman in Austrian service, noted as alleged vampire
 * Vuk Isakovič (fl. 1696–1759), commander in Austrian service
 * Nikac Tomanović (fl. 1695–1755), commander in Montenegro
 * Koča Anđelković (1755–1789), commander in Austrian service, led the Koča's frontier rebellion
 * Lazar Dobrić (fl. 1790),

Serbian Revolution

 * Karađorđe (1768–1817), leader of the First Serbian Uprising and founder of modern Serbia
 * Stanoje Glavaš (1763–1815), vojvoda in the First Serbian Uprising
 * Stojan Čupić, vojvoda in the First Serbian Uprising
 * Đorđe Ćurčija (d. 1804), vojvoda in the First Serbian Uprising
 * Hajduk Veljko (c. 1780–1813), vojvoda in the First Serbian Uprising
 * Stojan Abraš
 * Pavle Irić
 * Jovan Mićić
 * Petronije Šišo

Rebels in Bosnia and Herzegovina

 * Jovan Šibalija (fl. 1804–15), rebel leader in Drobnjaci, participated in the First Serbian Uprising
 * Šujo Karadžić (fl. 1804–15), rebel leader in Drobnjaci, participated in the First Serbian Uprising
 * Joko Kusovac (d. 1863), priest, serdar and rebel leader
 * Petar Popović–Pecija (1826–1875), led the Doljani Revolt (1858) and Bosanska Krajina Uprising (1875–78)
 * Luka Vukalović (1823–1873), led the Herzegovina Uprising (1852–62)
 * Mićo Ljubibratić (1839–1889), participated in the Herzegovina Uprising (1852–62)
 * Pero Tunguz (fl. 1875),
 * Lazo Škundrić (fl. 1875),
 * Petko Kovačević (fl. 1875),
 * Prodan Rupar (1815–1877), leader in the Herzegovina Uprising (1875–77)
 * Draga Mastilović (d. 1877), rebel leader
 * Golub Babić (1824–1910), rebel leader in Western Bosnia.
 * Stojan Kovačević (1821–1911),

Rebels in Old Serbia and Macedonia

 * Gligor Sokolović (1872–1910), in Ottoman Macedonia

Hajduks in epic poetry
In Serbian epic poetry, the hajduks are cherished as heroes, freedom fighters against the Ottoman rule. There is a whole cyclus regarding the hajduks and uskoks. Among the most notable hajduks in the epics were Starina Novak, Mali Radojica, Stari Vujadin, Predrag and Nenad, Novak, Grujica, etc.