With an ornate deed of gift dated 2 September 1606, István Bocskai, Prince of Transylvania, provided smallholdings for 700 Hajdú (Heyduck) cavalrymen at the site of Szoboszló, which had been destroyed by the Crimean Tartars. Henceforth the prefix "Hajdú" was attached to the settlement's previous Slavonic name, though the compound form - Hajdúszoboszló - only became widespread in the 19th century. The town led the customary, toilsome life of the small agricultural, stock-breeding towns of Hajdú County until well into the 20th century.