Yamaks (Turkish: yamaklar) were auxiliary troops of the army of the Ottoman Empire[1] raised from the local Muslim population.
Initially they were non-military members of Ottoman forces[2] who in later periods of the empire evolved into newly recruited janissary troops and eventually became ill-trained and ill-paid garrison guards.
[7] Initially, Yamaks were civilians who were mobilized for different tasks during wars or as volunteers who wanted to be recruited as janissaries.
[9] In 1768, during mobilisation of troops for struggle against Russia, 1,000 yamaks were recruited in Sarajevo and dispatched against Montenegro, a Russian ally.
Soon their number would become too big for the garrison to support them, so many of them would move to the countryside to cause misery to peasants and landlords by instituting a reign of terror.