Cossacks: Difference between revisions

[[File:AmericanCossacks.jpg|thumb|An American Cossack family in the 1950s]]

[[File:Cossacks in parade 2015.jpg|thumb|Cossacks marching in [[Red Square]] at the [[2015 Moscow Victory Day Parade|2015 Victory Day Parade]]]]

The '''Cossacks'''{{efn|{{unordered list| {{langx|be|казакi}} {{IPA|be|kazaˈkʲi|}}| {{langx|cs|kozáci}} {{IPA|cs|ˈkozaːtsɪ|}}| {{langx|et|Kasakad|cazacii}} {{IPA|et|ˈkɑsɑkɑd|}}| {{langx|fi|Kasakat|cazacii}} {{IPA|fi|ˈkɑsɑkɑt|}}| {{langx|hu|kozákok|cazacii}} {{IPA|hu|ˈkozaːkok|}}| {{langx|orv|коза́ки}}| {{langx|pl|Kozacy}} {{IPA|pl|kɔˈzatsɨ|}}| {{langx|ru|казаки́}} or {{lang|ru|козаки́}} {{IPA|ru|kəzɐˈkʲi|}}| {{langx|sk|kozáci}} {{IPA|sk|ˈkɔzaːtsi|}}| {{langx|uk|козаки́}} {{IPA|uk|kozɐˈkɪ|}}}}}} are a predominantly [[East Slavic languages|East Slavic]] [[Eastern Orthodox|Orthodox Christian]] people originating in the [[Pontic–Caspian steppe]] of eastern [[Ukraine]] and [[southern Russia]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kollmann |first1=Nancy Shields |title=The Russian Empire 1450–1801 |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-928051-3 |page=58 |edition=1st}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last1= O'Rourke|first1= Shane |chapter= Cossacks|date= 2011|encyclopedia= The Encyclopedia of War|publisher= American Cancer Society|language= en|doi= 10.1002/9781444338232.wbeow143|isbn= 978-1-4443-3823-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Magocsi|first=Paul Robert|title=A History of Ukraine|year=1996|pages=179–181|author-link=Paul Robert Magocsi}}</ref> Historically, they were a semi-[[nomad]]ic and semi-militarized people, who, while under the nominal [[suzerainty]] of various Eastern European states at the time, were allowed a great degree of self-governance in exchange for military service. Although numerous linguistic and religious groups came together to form the Cossacks, most of them coalesced and became [[East Slavic languages|East Slavic]]-speaking [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christians]].

 

 

Early "Proto-Cossack" groups are generally reported to have come into existence within what is now [[Ukraine]] in the 13th century as the influence of Cumans grew weaker, although some have ascribed their origins to as early as the mid-8th century.<ref name="Galskow">Vasili Glazkov (Wasili Glaskow), ''History of the Cossacks'', p. 3, Robert Speller & Sons, New York, {{ISBN|0-8315-0035-2}} Vasili Glazkov claims that the data of [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]], [[Iran]]ian and [[Arab]] historians support that. According to this view, by 1261, Cossacks lived in the area between the rivers [[Dniester]] and [[Volga]] as described for the first time in Russian chronicles.</ref> Some historians suggest that the Cossack people were of mixed ethnic origin, descending from [[East Slavs]], [[Turkish people|Turks]], [[Tatar]]s, and others who settled or passed through the vast Steppe.<ref name="Newland1991">{{harvnb|Newland|1991}}</ref> Some [[Turkology|Turkologists]], however, argue that Cossacks are descendants of the native [[Cumans]] of [[Ukraine]], who had lived there long before the Mongol invasion.<ref name="Neumann132">{{cite book |last1=Neumann |first1=Karl Friedrich |title=Die völker des südlichen Russlands in ihrer geschichtlichen entwickelung |trans-title=The Peoples of Southern Russia in its Historical Evolution |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_XE1BAAAAIAAJ |year=1855 |publisher=B.G. Teubner |location=Leipzig |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_XE1BAAAAIAAJ/page/n143 132] |quote=The Cumans, who have been living in the land of the Kipchak since time immemorial, … are known to us as Turks. It is these Turks, no new immigrants from the areas beyond the Yaik, but true descendants of the ancient Scythians, who now again occur in world history under the name Cumans, … |access-date=2015-10-25 }}</ref>

 

As the grand duchies of [[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Moscow]] and [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuania]] grew in power, new political entities appeared in the region. These included [[Moldavia]] and the [[Crimean Khanate]]. In 1261, Slavic people living in the area between the [[Dniester]] and the [[Volga River|Volga]] were mentioned in [[Ruthenians|Ruthenian]] chronicles. Historical records of the Cossacks before the 16th century are scant, as is the history of the Ukrainian lands in that period.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

 

====Emergence====

Prior to the formation of the Zaporozhian [[Sich]], Cossacks had usually been organized by [[Ruthenians|Ruthenian]] [[boyar]]s, or princes of the nobility, especially various [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuanian]] [[starosta]]s. Merchants, peasants, and runaways from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, [[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Muscovy]], and Moldavia also joined the Cossacks.

 

* [[Fyodor Pirotsky]] - russian engineer, inventor of the world's first railway electrification system and electric tram

* [[Petro Prokopovych]] - ukrainian beekeeper who made revolutionary contributions to the practice

* [[Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny]] - a political and civic leader

* [[Vasily Karazin]] - a russian enlightenment figure, intellectual, inventor, scientific publisher

* [[Alexander Zasyadko (general)]] - russian general

* [[Sergei Winogradsky]] - ukrainian and russian microbiologist, ecologist and soil scientist who pioneered the cycle-of-life concept

 

== Noble families ==