From the Turkish for "damaged head", WHAT TERM referred to unpaid irregular soldiers of the Ottoman Empire? They were infamous for looting (because, hey, "unpaid"), and their name was sometimes used to describe any undisciplined plunderer. (Haddock seems to use the term in this figurative sense, and since the "Tintin" series is largely responsible for preserving the term, it's for the best that he gets it mostly right.)
BASHI-BAZOUK