Description
Turkish mercenary or a bashi-bazouk is “one whose head is turned, damaged head, crazy-head”, roughly “leaderless” or “disorderly”) was an irregular soldier of the Ottoman army, raised in times of war. These were chiefly recruited from Albanians, Bulgarians, Kurds and Circassians, but came from all ethnic groups. They were known for their bravery, but also as undisciplined and notorious for savagery and looting. Unrestrained by the regulations that governed regular soldiers in the army, they became notorious for preying on civilians.
