The unit was largely composed of volunteers from the Kingdom of Slavonia and Slavonian Military Frontier, and named after security guards otherwise employed to maintain public order.

The Pandurs were presented to the empress in May 1741 with the unit's military band earning them a claim of pioneering martial music in Europe.

"Pudar" is still applied to security guards protecting crops in vineyards and fields, and it was coined from the verb puditi (also spelled pudati) meaning to chase or scare away.

[2] The word was likely ultimately derived from medieval Latin banderius or bannerius, meaning either a guardian of fields or summoner,[3] or follower of a banner.

[7] The role of the pandurs as security guards was extended to Dalmatia after the establishment of Austrian rule there in the early 19th century.

The unit was largely composed of men enlisted as volunteers from areas of the Kingdom of Slavonia and Slavonian Military Frontier,[1] consisting of ethnic Croats and Serbs.

Their oriental appearance was compounded by mandatory head shaving, leaving a rattail, as well as by the use of a horse tail bunchuk instead of a unit banner.

They took part in capturing Zobten am Berge and Strehlen in Lower Silesia from the Prussians, and defending a bridgehead near Vienna after the Battle of Mollwitz.

[10] The Pandurs earned a reputation for being brave and audacious,[14] as well as feared and ruthless soldiers, looting and pillaging, but also characterized by disobedience, breaches of military discipline and stubbornness.

In 1756, as the Seven Years' War started, the battalion was reformed into the 53rd Infantry Regiment and its headquarters moved to Zagreb ending history of the Pandurs.

[15] The achievements of the Pandurs led by Trenck left a lasting mark on the culture and heritage of Croatia as well as Bavaria.

Special police platoon Trenk, formed in Požega on 8 March 1991, took part in the Croatian War of Independence.