Harambaša

Harambaša (Serbian Cyrillic: Харамбаша) was the rank for the senior commander of a hajduk band (brigand gangs).

Etymology

It is derived from Turkish word for bandit leader (Turkish: haramibaşı; Turkish: haram - "Bandit" + Turkish: baş - "Head"), and was like some other Ottoman Turkish titles adopted into the irregular militias of Montenegrin, Serbian, Croatian rebels (bimbaša, serdar, buljubaša).

Usage

• Montenegrin hajduks
• Serbian hajduks
• Military Frontier: Seressaners, Pandurs, and others.
• Serbian Revolution, most of the supreme commanders were former harambaša's
• Military of Principality of Montenegro
• Serbian Orthodox tradition of Čuvari Hristovog Groba ("Keepers of Christ's Grave") in Vrlika, Croatia

See also

• Harambašić, Serbian and Croatian surname
• Hussar, Hungarian origin light cavalry in Europe, word meaning "the best of twenty" or in Slavic etymology "pirate"
• Vojvoda, a civil and military administrator of Serbs in the Habsburg Monarchy
• Korun Aramija
• Ataman

References

• Hanka Vajzović 1999, Orijentalizmi u književnom djelu: lingvistička analiza, : "harambaša m (tur. harami basi) = vođa hajduka, odmetnika,"
• The Military Museum, 1968, Fourteen centuries of struggle for freedom, Belgrade (Serbia). Vojni muzej Jugoslovenske narodne armije, p. xxvii