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Çorbacı (sometimes variously transliterated as chorbaji, chorbadzhi, tschorbadji) (Turkish: çorbacı, "soup server" [1]) was a military rank of the corps of Janissaries in the Ottoman Empire, used for the commander of an orta (regiment), i.e., approximately corresponding to the rank of colonel. The word is pronounced [tʃoɾbaˈdʒɯ] in Turkish and literally means "soup server", derived from çorba, "soup".
In seafaring the term was in use for the boss of a ship's crew, a role similar to that of boatswain.
In several predominantly Christian areas of the Ottoman Empire, such as the current Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria, the term çorbacı (Macedonian: чорбаџи, Bulgarian: чорбаджия, chorbadzhiya) was also as used as a title for (Christian) members of the rural elite: heads of villages and other rural communities and rich peasants. The Ottomans employed them in various administrative positions, such as that of tax collector and in courts of law. Since the 19th century in independent Bulgaria the term largely fell out of use as the Ottoman system was abandoned.
The word is still in use in vernacular Turkish and Bulgarian with the meaning of "boss". It is also a common family name among Albanians, Bulgarians, Turks or Ukrainians (e.g. a vice-governor of Odessa is named Ivan Chorbadzhi - Иван Чорбаджи).
References
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