Šajkaši
| Šajkaši | |
|---|---|
| Tschaikisten (German) | |
| Active | 1475–1804 |
| Allegiance |
|
| Branch | River Flottila |
| Role | Defence of Danube and Sava |
| Colors | Blue |
šajkaši (In Serbian, Serbian Cyrillic: шајкаши, German: Tschaikisten) refers to the river flotilla troops guarding the Danube and Sava, and especially, the Port of Belgrade, against the Ottoman Empire from the 16th to the 19th century. During that period, the rivers were natural borders of the Kingdom of Hungary and Habsburg Monarchy with the Ottoman Empire, part of the Military Frontier. The troops were composed out of ethnic Serbs, who had special military status. Their name derives from the small wooden boat known as chaika (šajka, tschaiken), a type of galley.
The Šajkaši were armed with sabres, spears and ordinary and mechanical arrows. Sometimes they wore helmets and shields. Their spears likely were longer than ordinary, set to be used at longer distances. They used arrows until the end of the 16th century when the arquebus had been perfected. Later, when gunpowder began to be widely used, the Šajkaši were armed with sabres, long spears and muskets.
In 1475, King Matthias had in his Danube Flotilla around 330 chaika with 10,000 men, among which were 1,700 lancers, 1,200 men-at-arms, while "the rest were catapultists and crossbowers". In the Belgrade port, 34 chaika with 18 oars, 18 soldiers and a catapult at the front were stationed. Larger chaika, of which there were 16, had 24 oars and 300-man-crew, 4 large guns at the front, "from which 100-pounds of weight of shots, 100 carbott or pisside (types of shells), and 200 hand-guns, were shot". Apart from the ordinary chaika, there were larger ones, called "galleys".
Their clothing was in dark-blue colour.
Pavle Bakić commanded the Šajkaši in the service of Ferdinand, the Archduke of Austria and King of Hungary and Croatia. The Šajkaši participated in the Battle of Mohács (1526). After the battle the Šajkaši were still unpaid for their services. Ferdinand reprimanded the court for not having paid at least part of the unpaid salary to the Šajkaši. Bakić once again turned to Ferdinand, alerting him that the nonpayment to the Šajkaši would cause estrangement of the Serbs in his lands, and those of Zapolya and the Ottoman Empire. He also informed Ferdinand of the persecution of Serbs by the Austrian staff and officers.
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