betyár

The betyárs (Hungarian: betyár (singular) or betyárok (plural)) were the highwaymen of the 19th century Kingdom of Hungary. The "betyár" word is the Hungarian version of "Social Bandit". (The word itself is of Ottoman Turkish origin:"bekar" means 'bachelor' or 'unmarried man' in Turkish.) Several betyárs have become legendary figures who in the public mind fought for social justice. The most famous Hungarian betyárs were Sándor Rózsa from the Great Hungarian Plain, Jóska Sobri, Jóska Savanyú from Bakony and Márton Vidróczky from Mátra. Batyar culture (Ukrainian: батяр, romanized: batiar) was spread in the western part of Ukraine (modern Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zakarpattia, Ternopil oblast) during the 19th and 20th centuries.