Harambaša

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

Etymology

It is derived from the Turkish word for 'bandit leader' (Turkish: haramibaşı < haram 'bandit' + baş 'head') and, like some other Ottoman Turkish titles, was adopted into the irregular militias of Montenegrin, Serbian, and 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