From
the Electronic Encyclopedia Zaporizhzhya
The Zaporizhzhya Cossacks
The island of Khortytsya, in the Dnieper, was headquarters (sich) of the
Zaporizhzhya Cossacks from the 16th to 18th cent. (The word Zaporizhzhya
means beyond the rapids, i.e., of the Dnieper.) For nearly three centuries
the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks served as the rallying point for Ukrainian struggles
against social, national, and religious oppression.
After the union of Poland and
Lithuania in 1569, Ukraine came under Polish rule; but the Poles were
too weak to defend it from frequent devastating Tatar raids. The need
for self-defense led at the end of the 15th cent. to the rise of the
Ukrainian Cossacks, who by the mid-16th cent. had formed a state, organized
along republican lines and ruled by a hetman, along the lower and middle
Dnieper.
At its height it occupied most
of S Ukraine except the Black Sea littoral, a possession of the Crimean
khans. Although they formally recognized the sovereignty of the Polish
kings, the Cossacks, for all practical purposes, enjoyed complete political
independence.
By the end of the 16th cent.,
however, Poland sought fuller control over Ukraine and the Zaporizhzhya
Cossacks. Persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church after 1596 provoked
repeated outbreaks among the Ukrainians, and the Cossacks, as staunch
adherents of the Orthodox faith, participated actively in the rebellions.
In 1648 the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, led by Hetman Bohdan Chmielnicki,
began a series of campaigns that eventually defeated the Poles and freed
Ukraine from Polish domination.
Chmielnicki's forces suffered
defeat in 1651, however, and were forced at Bila Tserkva to accept a
treaty unfavorable to Ukraine.In 1654, Chmielnicki persuaded the Cossacks
to transfer their allegiance to the Russian czars. By the Treaty of
Andrusov in 1667, the left bank of the Dnieper and Kiev were ceded to
Russia.
The Russians proceeded to encroach
upon Cossack privileges much as the Poles had, thus engendering revolts
in what was left of the Zaporizhzhya territory. When Hetman Ivan Mazepa
joined Charles XII of Sweden against Russia in the Northern War, he
shared in the Swedish defeat at Poltava (1709).
Many Zaporizhzhya Cossacks fled
to the khanate of Crimea, but in 1734 they were allowed to return to
their old territory and to establish a new Cossack headquarters.Russia,
however, continued to view the Cossacks with suspicion; and in 1775
the Russian army, on orders from Catherine II, destroyed the Zaporizhzhya
camp, thus completely abolishing the last stronghold of Ukrainian independence.
Most of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks
then moved to Turkish territory at the mouth of the Danube, where they
founded a new community. In 1828-29, however, they returned to Ukraine
and settled along the shores of the Sea of Azov.When
the
Russians tried in the 19th cent.
to settle them in the newly conquered N Caucasus, the Cossacks rebelled
and were disbanded (1865). Those Zaporizhzhya Cossacks who had remained
in Ukraine were allowed in 1787 to settle along the Black Sea shores
between the Dnieper and Buh rivers; they became known as the Black Sea
Cossacks. In 1792 they were resettled in the Kuban region and
"Cossacks
& The Zaporozhian
Cossacks"
While researching the Sokol
family, I came across the written notes of my father-in-law, John
explaining how his ancestors had been members of the Zaporozhian
(he wrote the name as Zazaporian Kazak) Cossack "tribe".
Further research brought me to sites with wonderful information
on this rich and historic part of the Ukranian history.
"Cossack" means
"free man" - that is man who cannot find his place in
the present society and decides to live in a place, where there
are no rules "from above". From the 15th century "Cossack"
is referred to free Ukrainians, emigrated to the "steppe",
who lived on commerce, fishing and hunting, meat breeding and
salt collecting.
Historical
background
In the 17th Century, Ukraine was a constantly disputed borderland
between Catholic Poland and Muslim Turkey (both more powerful
in those days), and Orthodox Russia (just starting to emerge
as a great power). Indeed the very name "Ukraine"
means "border."
The Cossacks were Ukrainian cavalrymen originally chartered
by Poland to establish autonomous military communities on the
Turkish border. The most famous Cossack settlement was the Zaporogian
"Syech'" near present-day Zaporozh'e on the Dnepr
River. At various times, different Cossack bands shifted allegiance
back and forth between Poland and Russia. As Poland intended,
however, they usually opposed Muslim Turkey on religious grounds.In
1675, Poland was forced by military reverses to sign a treaty
surrendering areas including Zaporozh'e to the Turks. The Cossacks
themselves had plenty of fight left, however ...The following
is translated from D. I. Evarnitsky, "History of the Zaporogian
Cossacks (Vol 2)," St. Petersburg, 1895; pp. 517-518:
Russkij tekst
Original text in Russian
These [Cossack attacks] so inflamed the hatred of the Muslims
toward the Zaporogian Cossacks and the entire Christian population
of Ukraine that the Turks decided to attack the Zaporogian Syech
and raze it to the ground. There is a popular tradition that,
before sending his troops to the Zaporogian Syech, Turkish Sultan
Muhammad IV sent to the Zaporogians a letter demanding they
submit voluntarily to him, an unconquerable knight. To
the Sultan's letter, the Cossacks responded with free choice
of words in a letter of their own.
It denied the Sultan all
honor, cruelly mocking the boasts of an "unconquerable
knight." Many who treasure South Russian lore preserve
copies of this letter of the Turkish Sultan and of the quaint
reply of the Zaporogians.
The letter may be fictitious,
but it is entirely consistent with the spirit of the Zaporogian
Cossacks.
Sultan Mahmud IV to the
Zaporogian Cossacks: As the Sultan; son of Muhammad; brother
of the sun and moon; grandson and viceroy of God; ruler of the
kingdoms of Macedonia, Babylon, Jerusalem, Upper and Lower Egypt;
emperor of emperors; sovereign of sovereigns; extraordinary
knight, never defeated; steadfast guardian of the tomb of Jesus
Christ; trustee chosen by God himself; the hope and comfort
of Muslims; confounder and great defender of Christians -- I
command you, the Zaporogian Cossacks, to submit to me voluntarily
and without any resistance, and to desist from troubling me
with your attacks.
--Turkish Sultan Mahmud IV
