The word hajduk, which had entered the…

The word hajduk, which had entered the Polish language from Hungarian in the late sixteenth century, was initially a colloquial term for a style of foot soldier, Hungarian or Turco-Balkan in inspiration, that has formed the backbone of the Polish infantry arm from the 1570s.

Unusually for this period, Polish-Lithuanian hajduks wear uniforms, typically of grey-blue woolen cloth, with red collar and cuffs.

Their principal weapon is a small caliber matchlock firearm, known as an arquebus.

For close combat they also carry a heavy variety of saber, capable of hacking off the heads of enemy pikes and polearms.

Contrary to popular opinion, the small axe they often wear tucked in their belt (not to be confused with the huge half-moon shaped berdysz axe, which is seldom carried by hajduks) is not a combat weapon but a tool for cutting wood.