Hajduk (soldiers)

Hajduk (soldiers)

The Hajduk were Hungarian irregular or mercenary soldiers in the 16th and 17th centuries, and a liveried bodyguard of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th and 18th centuries. In Serbia and the Banat region in the 18th century, hajduk referred to an infantry soldier, though the term is now used for a brigand (see Hajduk). The term has numerous alternative spellings in English including heyduck, hayduck, heyduk, and haiduk.