thumb|300px|right|A Kirdzhali reenactment band in Bulgaria. The '''''kırcalı''''' or '''''kirdzhali''''' ({{langx|tr|kırcalı}}, from {{langx|ota|قیر|kır}} meaning "mountain", {{langx|bg|кърджалии}}, {{langx|sr|крџалије, krdžalije}}) is a term used for a type of bandits, brigands and rebels active in the Balkans at the end of the 18th- and beginning of 19th century, in the prelude of national revolutions and liberation of Bulgarians, Greeks and Serbs.{{sfn|Bumann|Jobst|Rohdewald|Troebst|2024|p=477}} According to some the name is derived from the town of Kardzhali in the Rhodopes, one of the important retreats of "mountain bandits" (''dağlı eşkıyası'') that emerged after the Ottoman Empire lost territory by the Black Sea and made Rumelia a borderland filled with refugees and former frontiersmen.{{sfn|Bumann|Jobst|Rohdewald|Troebst|2024|p=477}} The ''kırcalı'' was a new type of banditry that was registered from 1785, denoting outlaws that were mostly professional soldiers, but had local Muslims and non-Muslims in their ranks.{{sfn|Fleet|Faroqhi|Kasaba|2006|p=178}} They differed from brigands who robbed on the highway, and instead plundered and destroyed villages, towns and cities, indiscriminately killing.{{sfn|Fleet|Faroqhi|Kasaba|2006|p=178}} They were directed against the political order and were involved in the ''ayan'' infighting and rebellions against the Porte.{{sfn|Fleet|Faroqhi|Kasaba|2006|p=178}} The Porte also used the ''kırcalı'' in war-time, sanctioning violence against Christians.{{sfn|Bumann|Jobst|Rohdewald|Troebst|2024|p=477}}
They were active during the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792), Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791), Serbian Revolution (1804–17), Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812) and Ottoman coups of 1807–1808.
==See also== {{commonscat}} *Osman Pazvantoğlu *Hajduks *Armatoles
==References== {{reflist}} ==Sources== {{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Bumann|first=Ninja|last2=Jobst|first2=Kerstin S.|last3=Rohdewald|first3=Stefan|last4=Troebst|first4=Stefan|title=Handbook on the History and Culture of the Black Sea Region|publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG|date=2024-12-30|isbn=978-3-11-072321-2|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Handbook_on_the_History_and_CugLI0EQAAQBAJ?hl=sv&gbpv=1&dq=kircali&pg=RA1-PT477|access-date=2025-07-23}} * {{cite book|last=Fleet|first=Kate|last2=Faroqhi|first2=Suraiya N.|last3=Kasaba|first3=Reşat|title=The Cambridge History of Turkey|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2006|isbn=978-0-521-62095-6|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Cambridge_History_of_Turkey/g9UfRAnZzU4C|access-date=2025-07-23}} {{refend}}
Category:Kirdzhalis Category:Ottoman period in the Balkans Category:19th century in the Ottoman Empire Category:18th century in the Ottoman Empire Category:19th century in Bulgaria Category:18th century in Bulgaria Category:1780s in Serbia Category:1790s in Serbia Category:1800s in Serbia Category:1810s in Serbia Category:Irregular units and formations Category:Bandits Category:Guerrillas Category:Outlaws Category:Turkish words and phrases