History Of The Cossacks

EARLY COSSACK HISTORY

The Cossack s came to existence in the territories of today's Ukraine , around the 13th Century , as a result of Early Medieval Migrations Of Peoples In Europe .

Byzantine writers of the 10th Century first mentioned the Cossacks and described them as a separate people who lived on the River Don . In 1261 these people living in the area between the rivers Dniester and the Volga were described for the first time in Russian chronicles.

In all historical records of that period Cossack society was described as a loose Federation of independent communities, often merging into larger units of a military character, entirely separate from, and mostly independent of, other nations (such Poland , Russia or Tatar s).

In the 16th Century these Cossack societies created two relatively independent territorial organisations:

Zaporizhia ( Zaporozhie ), on the lower bends of the river Dnieper, between Russia, Poland and the Tatars of the Crimea, with the center, Zaporizhian Sich ;

The Don Cossack State , on the river Don, separating the then weak Russian State from the Mongol and Tatar tribes, vassals of Ottoman Empire.

COSSACKS IN POLISH-LITHUANIAN COMMONWEALTH

Numerous historical documents of that period contain refer to the cossacks as sovereign nations with a unique warrior culture, for which raids and pillaging conducted against their neighbours were important sources of income. They were renowned for their attacks on the Ottoman Empire and its Vassal s (like the Tatars), although they did not shy from pillaging other neighbouring communities. Their actions increased the tension at the southern border of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ( Kresy ), which resulted in almost constant low-level warfare in those territories for almost the entire existence of the Commonwealth.
" oil on canvas, 1894, 61 x 120 cm, painted by Józef Brandt .]]

In 1539 , replied to a request of the Turkish Sultan to stop the aggressive actions of the Don Cossacks, stating, "The Cossacks of the Don are not my subjects, and they go to war or live in peace without my knowledge." Similar exchanges passed between Russia, Ottomans and the Commonwealth, each of which often tried to use the Cossacks' warmongering for its own purposes. The Cossacks for their part were mostly happy to plunder everybody more or less equally, although in the 16th Century , with Commonwealth dominance extending south, the Zaporoijan Cossacks were mostly, if tentatively, regarded as subjects of the Commonwealth.

with Tuhgay Bey at Lwów ", oil on canvas, 1885, National Museum in Warsaw . Chmielnicki Uprising 1648-1654. Painted by Jan Matejko ]]

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History Of The Cossacks