A bashi-bazouk

A bashi-bazouk


A portrait of a bashi-bazouk, an irregular soldier in the Ottoman army. Their name translates literally as 'damaged-head', a reference to their lack of discipline, which was notorious, and their brutality. In many languages the term has a secondary, colloquial meaning of 'undisciplined bandit'.

Photographer unidentified.
 


Code: 126110
© Paul Frecker 2024