HAIDUK (also written Hayduk, Heiduc, Heyduke and Heyduque)  , a term which appears originally to have meant " robber " or " brigand," a sense it retains in Servia and some other parts of the Balkan Peninsula . It is probably derived from the Turkish haidud, " marauder," but its origin is not absolutely certain . Most of the European races with which the Turks came into close contact during the 15th and 16th centuries seem to have adopted it as a loan-word, and it appears in Magyar as hajdis (plural hajduk), in Serbo-Croatian, Rumanian, Polish and Cech as hajduk, in Bulgarian as hajdutin and in Greek as XaivTobrrts . By the beginning of the 17th century its use had spread north and west as far as Sweden and Great Britain . In Hungary it was applied to a class of mercenary foot-soldiers of Magyar stock . In 16o5 these haiduks were rewarded for their fidelity to the Protestant party (see HUNGARY: History) with titles of nobility and territorial rights over a district situated on the left bank of the river Theiss, known thenceforward as the Haiduk region . This was enlarged in 1876 and converted into the county of Hajdu (Ger . Hajduken) . Hajdu is also a common prefix in Hungarian, place-names, e.g . Hajdu-Szoboszl5, Hajdu-Namas . In Austria-Hungary, Germany, Poland, Sweden and some other countries, haiduk came to mean an attendant in a court of law,or a male servant, dressed in Hungarian semi-military costume .