A la Cossack

A LA COSSACK*à la casaque. In Cossack style, without ceremony, rudely. Nicholas, inspired by the devotion of Kleinmichel and his executors... thought to introduce this arbitrariness into European law, dealing with Turkey and disposing of the principalities à la casaque. K. N. Lebedev Zap. // RA 1900 3 249. || Like a Cossack. She dresses a little strangely à la casaque, that is, she wears mostly at home a shirt made of dark pink foulard, belted with a belt. Trample Shooting Star. // RV 1886 10 716.

Historical dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian language. - M.: Dictionary publishing house ETS http://www.ets.ru/pg/r/dict/gall_dict.htm. Nikolai Ivanovich Epishkin [email protected] . 2010 .

See what “a la Cossack” is in other dictionaries:

COSSACK- husband. or Cossack (probably from the Central Asian kazmak, to wander, wander, like haiduk, haidamaka, from haida; uskok from jump off, run; tramp from wander, etc. The Kirghiz call themselves Cossack), a military man in the street, a settled warrior belonging to ... ... Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

COSSACK- Cossack, slave in Kholmsky district. 1495. Scribe. II, 850. Vasco Cossack, peasant in Paozerye. 1498. Scribe. IV, 15. Cossack, slave in Kotor. 1498. Scribe. IV, 95. Cossack Skripitsyn, hearsay, St. XV century A.K. II, 5. Cossack Zakharov, Starodub peasant.... ... Biographical Dictionary

Cossack Vasil- Ivan Mikolaichuk as Cossack Vasil Appearance The Missing Letter (1829 1831) Creator ... Wikipedia

COSSACK- (Kozak obsolete), Cossack, plural. Cossacks and (obsolete) Cossacks, male (Turkic kazak bobyl). 1. A representative of the tax or tax-paying class, who evaded heavy state duties and sought an easier life either in free settlements in ... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

Cossack- free Cossack.. Dictionary of Russian synonyms and similar expressions. under. ed. N. Abramova, M.: Russian Dictionaries, 1999. Cossack, Cossack, Kuban, stanitsa, Zaporozhets, Cossack, Cossack, grunt, terets, plastun, serviceman, Serdyuk, white Cossack, ... ... Synonym dictionary

Kazak FM- Radio Rocks Region City Krasnodar Country ... Wikipedia

COSSACK- COSSACK, ah, plural. and, ov and and, ov, husband. 1. In the old days in Ukraine and Russia: a member of the military agricultural community of free settlers on the outskirts of the state. Zaporozhye k. Donskoy k. 2. On the Don, Kuban, Terek, Amur and other military areas: ... ... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

COSSACK- (tur.). 1) irregular cavalry army in Russia. 2) a type of women's outerwear similar to Cossack clothing. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. COSSACK ladies' costume, a type of cloak. Dictionary of foreign words included... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

COSSACK (Kasack) Herman- (1896 1966) German writer. In the mystical and symbolic novel City Beyond the River (1947), criticism from the standpoint of existentialism of the leveling of personality in capitalist society... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Cossack Lugansky- pseudonym Vl. Iv. Dalia... Biographical Dictionary

Cossack (free man in Rus')- Cossack, Cossack (Turkic daredevil, free man), a man who broke with his social environment(14-17 centuries); from the end of the 15th century. K. began to be called free people of the outskirts of the Russian state (see Cossacks) ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Books

, Kundryutskov B.. Description: Cossack epic in the setting of the Russian diaspora. Literature of Russian Cossacks. From the book: “I had an acquaintance, Ivan Ilyich Gamorkin, just tell me what villages and all that other stuff... Buy for 1848 UAH (Ukraine only)
Cossack Ivan Ilyich Gamorkin. Ingenuous notes about him, his godfather, Kondrat Evgrafovich Kudryavov, Kundryutskov B.. This book will be produced in accordance with your order using Print-on-Demand technology. Description: Cossack epic in the setting of Russian diaspora. Literature of Russian Cossacks. From the book: "I was at...

In ancient times, states on our land did not touch their borders the way they do now. Between them there remained gigantic spaces in which no one lived - it was either impossible due to the lack of living conditions (no water, land for crops, you can’t hunt if there is little game), or simply dangerous due to raids by nomadic steppe dwellers. It was in such places that the Cossacks were born - on the outskirts of the Russian principalities, on the border with the Great Steppe. In such places people gathered who were not afraid of a sudden raid by the steppe inhabitants, who knew how to both survive and fight without outside help.

The first mentions of Cossack detachments date back to Kievan Rus, for example, Ilya Muromets was called the “old Cossack”. There are references to the participation of Cossack detachments in the Battle of Kulikovo under the command of governor Dmitry Bobrok. By the end of the 14th century, two large territories were formed in the lower reaches of the Don and Dnieper, on which many Cossack settlements were created and their participation in the wars waged by Ivan the Terrible is already undeniable. The Cossacks distinguished themselves during the conquest of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates and in Livonian War. The first Russian statute of stanitsa guard service was drawn up by boyar M.I. Vorotynsky in 1571. According to it, guard duty was carried out by stanitsa (guard) Cossacks or villagers, while city (regimental) Cossacks defended cities. In 1612, together with the Nizhny Novgorod militia, the Don Cossacks liberated Moscow and expelled the Poles from the Russian land. For all these merits, the Russian tsars approved the Cossacks’ right to own Quiet Don forever and ever.

The Ukrainian Cossacks at that time were divided into the registered ones in the service of Poland and the grassroots ones, who created the Zaporozhye Sich. As a result of political and religious pressure from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Ukrainian Cossacks became the basis of the liberation movement and raised a number of uprisings, the last of which, led by Bohdan Khmelnitsky, achieved its goal - Ukraine was reunited with the Russian kingdom by the Pereyaslav Rada in January 1654. For Russia, the agreement led to the acquisition of part of the lands of Western Rus', which justified the title of the Russian tsars - Sovereign of All Rus'. Muscovite Rus' became a collector of lands with a Slavic Orthodox population.

Both the Dnieper and Don Cossacks at that time were at the forefront of the fight against the Turks and Tatars, who constantly raided Russian lands, ruining crops, driving people into captivity and bleeding our lands. Countless feats were accomplished by the Cossacks, but one of the most striking examples of the heroism of our ancestors is the Azov seat - eight thousand Cossacks captured Azov - one of the most powerful fortresses and important node communications - were able to fight off two hundred thousand Turkish army. Moreover, the Turks were forced to retreat, losing about one hundred thousand soldiers - half of their army! But over time, Crimea was liberated, Turkey was driven out from the shores of the Black Sea far to the south, and the Zaporozhye Sich lost its significance as an advanced outpost, finding itself several hundred kilometers inland on peaceful territory. On August 5, 1775, by signing Russian empress Catherine II of the manifesto “On the destruction of the Zaporozhye Sich and on its inclusion in the Novorossiysk province”, the Sich was finally disbanded. The Zaporozhye Cossacks then split into several parts. The most numerous moved to the Black Sea Cossack Army, which carried out border guards on the shores of the Black Sea; a significant part of the Cossacks were resettled to guard the southern borders of Russia in the Kuban and Azov. The Sultan allowed the five thousand Cossacks who went to Turkey to found the Transdanubian Sich. In 1828, the Transdanubian Cossacks, together with Koshevoy Josip Gladky, went over to the side of Russia and were personally pardoned by Emperor Nicholas I. Throughout the vast territory of Russia, Cossacks began to carry out border service. No wonder the peacemaker Tsar Alexander III once aptly remarked: “The borders of the Russian state lie on the arch of a Cossack saddle...”

The Donets, Kuban, Terets, and later their brothers in arms, the Urals and Siberians, were the permanent combat vanguard in all the wars in which Russia fought almost without respite for centuries. The Cossacks especially distinguished themselves in the Patriotic War of 1812. The memory of legendary commander Don ataman Matvey Ivanovich Platov, who led the Cossack regiments from Borodino to Paris. Those same regiments about which Napoleon would say with envy: “If I had Cossack cavalry, I would conquer the whole world.” Patrols, reconnaissance, security, distant raids - all this everyday hard military work was carried out by the Cossacks, and their battle formation - the Cossack lava - showed itself in all its glory in that war.

In the popular consciousness, the image of the Cossack as a natural mounted warrior has developed. But there was also Cossack infantry - plastuns - which became the prototype of modern special forces units. It originated on the Black Sea coast, where plastuns performed difficult service in the Black Sea floodplains. Later, Plastun units also operated successfully in the Caucasus. Even their opponents paid tribute to the fearlessness of the plastuns - the best guards of the cordon line in the Caucasus. It was the mountaineers who preserved the story of how the plastuns, besieged at the Lipka post, chose to burn alive - rather than surrender to the Circassians, even who promised them life.

However, the Cossacks are known not only for their military exploits. They played no less a role in the development of new lands and their annexation to the Russian Empire. Over time, the Cossack population moved forward into uninhabited lands, expanding the state boundaries. Cossack troops took an active part in the development of the North Caucasus, Siberia (Ermak’s expedition), Far East and America. In 1645, the Siberian Cossack Vasily Poyarkov sailed along the Amur, entered the Sea of Okhotsk, discovered Northern Sakhalin and returned to Yakutsk. In 1648, the Siberian Cossack Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnev sailed from the Arctic Ocean (the mouth of the Kolyma) to the Pacific Ocean (the mouth of the Anadyr) and opened the strait between Asia and America. In 1697-1699, Cossack Vladimir Vasilyevich Atlasov explored Kamchatka.

Cossacks during the First World War

On the very first day of the First World War, the first two regiments of the Kuban Cossacks left the Ekaterinodar station for the front. Eleven Russian Cossack troops fought on the fronts of the First World War - Don, Ural, Terek, Kuban, Orenburg, Astrakhan, Siberian, Transbaikal, Amur, Semirechensk and Ussuri - without knowing cowardice and desertion. They were especially pronounced best qualities on the Transcaucasian Front, where only 11 Cossack regiments of the third stage were created in the militia - from older Cossacks, who at times could give a head start to the cadre youth. Thanks to their incredible resilience in the heavy battles of 1914, it was they who prevented the breakthrough of the Turkish troops - far from the worst at that time! - to our Transcaucasia and, together with the arriving Siberian Cossacks, drove them back. After the grandiose victory in the Battle of Sarykamysh, Russia received congratulations from the allied commanders-in-chief, Joffre and French, who very highly appreciated the strength of Russian weapons. But the pinnacle of martial art in Transcaucasia was the capture of the mountain fortified area of Erzurum in the winter of 1916, in the assault of which Cossack units played an important role.

Cossacks were not only the most dashing cavalrymen, but also served in reconnaissance, artillery, infantry and even aviation. Thus, the native Kuban Cossack Vyacheslav Tkachev made the first long-distance flight in Russia along the route Kyiv - Odessa - Kerch - Taman - Ekaterinodar with a total length of 1,500 miles, despite unfavorable autumn weather and other difficult conditions. On March 10, 1914, he was seconded to the 4th Aviation Company upon its formation, and on the same day, Tkachev was appointed commander of the XX Aviation Detachment, attached to the headquarters of the 4th Army. IN initial period During the war, Tkachev made several very important reconnaissance flights for the Russian command, for which, by Order of the Army of the Southwestern Front dated November 24, 1914, No. 290, he was awarded the Order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George, IV degree (the first among pilots).

The Cossacks performed very well in the Great Patriotic War. In this most severe and difficult time for the country, the Cossacks forgot past grievances, and, together with the entire Soviet people, rose to defend their Motherland. The 4th Kuban and 5th Don Cossack Volunteer Corps passed with honor until the end of the war, participating in major operations. 9th Plastun Red Banner Krasnodar Division, dozens of rifle and cavalry divisions formed at the beginning of the war from the Cossacks of the Don, Kuban, Terek, Stavropol, Orenburg, Urals, Semirechye, Transbaikalia and the Far East. Guards Cossack formations often performed a very important task - while mechanized formations formed the inner ring of numerous “cauldrons,” Cossacks as part of cavalry-mechanized groups broke into operational space, disrupted the enemy’s communications and created an outer ring of encirclement, preventing the release of enemy troops. In addition to the Cossack units recreated under Stalin, there were many Cossacks among famous people during the Second World War who fought not in the “branded” Cossack cavalry or Plastun units, but in the entire Soviet army or distinguished themselves in military production. For example: tank ace No. 1, Hero of the Soviet Union D.F. Lavrinenko is a Kuban Cossack, a native of the village of Besstrashnaya; Lieutenant General of the Engineering Troops, Hero of the Soviet Union D.M. Karbyshev - ancestral Ural Cossack, native of Omsk; Commander of the Northern Fleet Admiral A.A. Golovko - Terek Cossack, native of the village of Prokhladnaya; gunsmith designer F.V. Tokarev is a Don Cossack, a native of the village of Yegorlyk Region of the Don Army; Commander of the Bryansk and 2nd Baltic Front, Army General, Hero of the USSR M.M. Popov is a Don Cossack, a native of the village of Ust-Medveditsk Region of the Don Army, commander of a guard squadron, Captain K.I. Nedorubov - Hero of the Soviet Union and complete Knight of St. George, as well as many other Cossacks.

All the wars of our time, which the Russian Federation has had the opportunity to wage, also could not do without the Cossacks. In addition to the conflicts in Transnistria and Abkhazia, the Cossacks took an active part in the Ossetian-Ingush conflict and in the subsequent protection of the administrative border of Ossetia with Chechnya and Ingushetia. During the First Chechen campaign, the Russian Ministry of Defense formed a motorized rifle battalion named after General Ermolov from volunteer Cossacks. Its effectiveness was so high that it frightened the pro-Kremlin Chechens, who saw the appearance of Cossack units as the first step towards the revival of the Terek region. Under their pressure, the battalion was withdrawn from Chechnya and disbanded. During the second campaign, Cossacks staffed the 205th motorized rifle brigade, as well as commandant companies serving in the Shelkovsky, Naursky and Nadterechny regions of Chechnya. In addition, significant masses of Cossacks, having concluded a contract, fought in “regular”, that is, non-Cossack units. More than 90 people from Cossack units received government awards based on the results of military operations; all Cossacks who participated in military operations and accurately fulfilled their duties received Cossack awards. For 13 years now, the Cossacks in the south of Russia have annually held field training camps, within the framework of which command and staff training with unit commanders and officers, classes in fire, tactical, topographical, mine and medical training have been organized. Cossack units, companies and platoons are led by Russian army officers with combat experience who took part in operations in hot spots in the Caucasus, Afghanistan and other regions. And Cossack horse patrols became reliable assistants to Russian border guards and police.

The meaning of the word COSSACK in Dahl's Dictionary

COSSACK

husband. or Cossack (probably from the Central Asian kazmak, to wander, wander, like a haiduk, haidamaka, from a guide; uskok from jump off, run; tramp from wander, etc. The Kirghiz call themselves Cossacks), a military man in the street, a settled warrior, belonging to. to a special class of Cossacks, a light cavalry army, obliged to serve on call on their horses, in their own clothes and weapons. There are also foot Cossacks, among whom the Black Sea plastuns are better known. In general, a Cossack is listed as a minor from 17 to 20 years old; employees or served until 50 or 55; then another 5 years of being a homebody, and then retired. Little Russian Cossacks are the same peasants and recruit on their own rights. According to the lands occupied, the unity of control, the Cossacks of each name form a separate army, under the command of the ataman: the Don Cossack army, the Ural, Orenburg, Terek, Kuban, etc. Cossacks are the eyes and ears of the army, Suvorov. The Cossacks were all naked (all led) by atamans. Be patient, Cossack, you will be an ataman. Not all Cossacks can be atamans. God is not without mercy, the Cossack is not without happiness. A Cossack does not cry even in trouble. Without a horse, a Cossack is an orphan all around (even if an orphan cries). The Cossack is hungry, but his horse is full. To a Cossack, a horse is more valuable than himself. The Cossack himself is starving, but the horse is well-fed. There is no Cossack without a horse. A Cossack without a horse is like a soldier without a gun. Cossacks are customary dogs. Cossack big-eyed dog. Our Cossacks’ custom is this: wherever there is room (where you can fit through), go to bed there. The custom among our Cossacks (well done) is this: he kissed his godmother and kissed his lips on his bag. If he is a Cossack, so will he be with the Don. Cossack Donskoy is like lake crucian carp: caviar (and spicy) and salted. Cossacks are like children: they eat a lot and eat little. A Cossack will drink from a handful and dine on the palm of his hand. The seagull kigi, and the Cossack hihi! The lapwing warns with a cry from danger. For good luck, the Cossack mounts the horse, and for the Cossack’s luck, the horse hits. The Cossack will grab the mane, with a pike, to hit harder. The Cossacks came from the Don and drove the Poles home.

| Cossack insect, Dytiscum marginalis.

| Plant. Cossack, dig.

| In Perm. (from Permyak) Cossack, hog, laid boar.

| Cossack, Trakilok, Sib. bird Plectorhanes lapponicus.

| Cossacks of Tver. game of burners, burners, running errands, running. Cossack woman a woman or girl of the Cossack class.

| Rogal, the handle of the plow, for which the plowman holds the plow.

| Cossack Cossack, unquilted beshmet.

| Cossack husband Cossack woman , north , Nov. farm laborer, annual wage earner, not day laborer. Don't rely on the priest, priest, keep your Cossack.

| Cossacks, Cossacks, are sometimes called young servants dressed like Cossacks, also messengers, mounted messengers, etc.

| Cossack and Cossack woman, arkhan. male and female walrus.

| Old, seasoned beluga whale, yellow whale (male?) arch. Cossack, Cossack, the night will diminish. ; Cossack girl is affectionate. e, Cossack woman is humiliating, he took the Cossack man away.

| Cossack, a boy for the servants, dressed in a Cossack coat, with a Circassian coat, and a Cossack haircut.

Dahl. Dahl's Dictionary. 2012

Etymology of the word "Cossack"

Many modern people have a general idea that a Cossack is a warrior or a type of warrior who lived in a certain historical period and fought for their freedom. However, such an interpretation is quite dry and far from the truth, if we also take into account the etymology of the term “Cossack”. There are several main theories about the origin of this word, for example:

Turkic (“Cossack” is a free person);

The word comes from kosogs;

Turkish (“kaz”, “cossack” means “goose”);

The word comes from the term "kozars";

Mongolian theory;

The Turkestan theory is that this is the name of nomadic tribes;

In the Tatar language, “Cossack” is a vanguard warrior in the army.

There are other theories, each of which explains this word in completely different ways, but the most rational grain of all definitions can be identified. The most common theory says that a Cossack was a free man, but armed, ready for attack and battle.

Historical origin

The history of the Cossacks begins in the 15th century, namely in 1489 - the moment the term “Cossack” was first mentioned. The historical homeland of the Cossacks is Eastern Europe, or rather, the territory of the so-called Wild Field (modern Ukraine). It should be noted that in the 15th century the named territory was neutral and did not belong to either the Russian Kingdom or Poland.

Basically, the territory of the “Wild Field” was subject to constant raids. The gradual settlement of immigrants from both Poland and the Russian Kingdom into these lands influenced the development of a new class - the Cossacks. In fact, the history of the Cossacks begins from the moment when ordinary people, peasants, begin to settle in the lands of the Wild Field, while creating their own self-governing military formations in order to fend off the raids of the Tatars and other nationalities. By the beginning of the 16th century, the Cossack regiments had become a powerful military force, which created great difficulties for neighboring states.

Creation of the Zaporozhye Sich

According to historical data that are known today, the first attempt at self-organization by the Cossacks was made in 1552 by the Volyn prince Vishnevetsky, better known as Baida.

At his own expense, he created a military base, the Zaporozhye Sich, which was located on the Cossacks’ entire life. The location was strategically convenient, since the Sich blocked the passage of the Tatars from the Crimea, and was also located in close proximity to the Polish border. Moreover, the territorial location on the island created great difficulties for the assault on the Sich. The Khortytsia Sich did not last long, because it was destroyed in 1557, but until 1775, similar fortifications were built according to the same type - on river islands.

Attempts to subjugate the Cossacks

In 1569, a new Lithuanian-Polish state was formed - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Naturally, this long-awaited union was very important for both Poland and Lithuania, and the free Cossacks on the borders of the new state acted contrary to the interests of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Of course, such fortifications served as an excellent shield against Tatar raids, but they were completely uncontrolled and did not take into account the authority of the crown. Thus, in 1572, the king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth issued a universal, which regulated the hiring of 300 Cossacks for the service of the crown. They were recorded in a list, a register, which determined their name - registered Cossacks. Such units were always in full combat readiness in order to quickly repel Tatar raids on the borders of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as well as suppress periodic uprisings of peasants.

Cossack uprisings for religious-national independence

From 1583 to 1657, some Cossack leaders raised uprisings in order to free themselves from the influence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and other states that were trying to subjugate the lands of the yet unformed Ukraine.

The strongest desire for independence began to manifest itself among the Cossack class after 1620, when Hetman Sagaidachny, together with the entire Zaporozhye army, joined the Kiev Brotherhood. Such an action marked the cohesion of Cossack traditions with the Orthodox faith.

From that moment on, the battles of the Cossacks were not only liberating, but also religious in nature. Increasing tension between the Cossacks and Poland led to the famous national liberation war of 1648 - 1654, led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky. In addition, no less significant uprisings should be highlighted, namely: the uprising of Nalivaiko, Kosinsky, Sulima, Pavlyuk and others.

Decossackization during the Russian Empire

After the unsuccessful national liberation war in the 17th century, as well as the outbreak of unrest, the military power of the Cossacks was significantly undermined. In addition, the Cossacks lost support from the Russian Empire after going over to the side of Sweden in the battle of Poltava, in which the Cossack army was led by

As a result of this series of historical events, a dynamic process of decossackization began in the 18th century, which reached its peak during the time of Empress Catherine II. In 1775, the Zaporozhye Sich was liquidated. However, the Cossacks were given a choice: to go their own way (live an ordinary peasant life) or join the hussars, which many took advantage of. Nevertheless, there remained a significant part of the Cossack army (about 12,000 people) that did not accept the offer of the Russian Empire. To ensure the former safety of the borders, as well as to somehow legitimize the “Cossack remnants,” the Black Sea Cossack Army was created in 1790 on the initiative of Alexander Suvorov.

Kuban Cossacks

The Kuban Cossacks, or Russian Cossacks, appeared in 1860. It was formed from several military Cossack formations that existed at that time. After several periods of decossackization, these military formations became a professional part of the armed forces of the Russian Empire.

The Kuban Cossacks were based in the North Caucasus region (the territory of modern Krasnodar region). The basis of the Kuban Cossacks was the Black Sea Cossack Army and the Caucasian Cossack Army, which was abolished as a result of the end of the Caucasian War. This military formation was created as a border force to control the situation in the Caucasus.

The war in this territory was over, but stability was constantly under threat. Russian Cossacks became an excellent buffer between the Caucasus and the Russian Empire. In addition, representatives of this army were involved during the Great Patriotic War. Today, the life of the Kuban Cossacks, their traditions and culture have been preserved thanks to the formed Kuban Military Cossack Society.

Don Cossacks

The Don Cossacks are the most ancient Cossack culture, which arose in parallel with the Zaporozhye Cossacks in the middle of the 15th century. Don Cossacks were located in the Rostov, Volgograd, Lugansk and Donetsk regions. The name of the army is historically associated with the Don River. The main difference between the Don Cossacks and other Cossack formations is that it developed not just as a military unit, but as an ethnic group with its own cultural characteristics.

The Don Cossacks actively collaborated with the Zaporozhye Cossacks in many battles. During the October Revolution, the Don army founded its own state, but the centralization of the “White Movement” on its territory led to defeat and subsequent repressions. It follows that a Don Cossack is a person who belongs to a special social formation based on the ethnic factor. Culture Don Cossacks has survived to this day. On the territory of modern Russian Federation There are about 140 thousand people who record their nationality as “Cossack”.

The role of the Cossacks in world culture

Today, the history, life of the Cossacks, their military traditions and culture are actively studied by scientists all over the world. Undoubtedly, the Cossacks are not just military formations, but a separate ethnic group that has been building its own special culture for several centuries in a row. Modern historians are working to reconstruct the smallest fragments of the history of the Cossacks in order to perpetuate the memory of this great source of a special Eastern European culture.

Origin of the Cossacks- main scientific and pseudo-scientific versions of the origin of the ethnonym "Cossacks" and raising the question of their ethnicity.

Etymology

According to a number of sources, the word “Cossack” is of Turkic origin.

According to some versions, the ancient Turkic meaning is “separated, separated from one’s own kind.”

Thus, according to the Turkic linguist R. G. Akhmetyanov, the word “Cossack” comes from the form "Kazgak" in the original meaning “a horse fighting off the herd during the tebenevka”, the root is the verb "kazoo"- dig, from which also comes "kazynu" in the meaning of “digging, dawdling, falling behind.”

According to other versions, however, close to the first group in essence, Cossack- “free man” “free, independent person, adventurer, vagabond.”

Thus, back in 1074, Mahmud Kashgari in the dictionary of Turkic languages “Divan lugat at-Turk” recorded an expression derived from the root "kaz"−"kasitgan", translating the Turkic expression "kasitgan er" as "a person who obeys no one." "Kaz itgan" in this case is the perfect verb form, and the word "Cossack" will be a verbal noun.[ source not specified 1284 days]

One of the Polovtsian khans, who became a character in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” appears in the literary monument under the name Gzak, which probably corresponds to the word “Cossack” and to some extent reflects the peculiarities of the pronunciation of the word characteristic of the Turkic language qazaq: with reduction of the first unstressed vowel and plosive back-lingual “K” in the first position.[ source not specified 378 days]

Word "Cossack", recorded in the dictionary of the Polovtsian (Kypchak) language of the 13th century, known as the “Code Cumanicus”, including in the expression "hasal kosak"- guard (p. 118 edition of Kuun). In this case, the presence of (d-dialect) correspondences is of interest:

in Khakassian "kadag"- security, guard, guard, as well as grazing, looking after livestock,
in Chulym-Turkic "kadakla"- keep watch,
Tuvan "kadar"- herd, guard, guard, wait.

The author of many poems and prose works about the Cossacks, Zakhireddin Babur, recalled in his famous “Notes” how “during his Cossack days” he decided to travel alone from the mountainous country of Matcha to Sultan Mahmud Khan. The daring fellow, as Babur put it, “tirelessly, with courage, driving away herds of the enemy,” is also a Cossack. According to the ideas of that time, as reported by Babur’s cousin, the author of “Tarikh-i Rashidi” Mirza Muhammad Haydar, it was considered commendable for men, exposing themselves to danger, to spend some time in solitude in their youth: in the desert, in the mountains or forests, at a distance of one or two months' journey from inhabited places, eating game meat and dressing in the skins of the animals they killed. (The Cossacks also told Rigelman about the first Cossacks from the Kozars, who killed goats and wore goat skins). Any person could become a Cossack, not only a Turk, a Baloch, a Pashtun, but also a Persian, a Slav, an ordinary nomadic herdsman or a prince of the blood in the tenth generation. For some time, the Cossacks were, for example, the eldest son of Tokhtamysh Jalal ad-Din Khan, the founder of the state of “nomadic Uzbeks” Sheybanid Abu-l-Khair Khan, his grandson Muhammad Sheybani, the Chagataids Weiss and Sultan Said Khan. Sultan Husayn, who wielded a saber like no other Timurid, spent more than one month in the “Cossacks.” It is important to note that a person who became a Cossack could return to his society, as happened with all the above-mentioned Cossacks from the high society of that time. Sultan Husayn and Sultan Said Khan later became sovereigns each in their own country; Muhammad Shaybani and Zahireddin Babur founded new states. Babur also widely used the term “Cossack style,” that is, modestly. At the same time, the Cossacks often formed their own communities - jamaats, they could have comrades similar to the Juras - the Cossacks.

The dictionary of V.I. Dahl notes that this term "probably" comes from Central Asian "Kazmak" meaning “to wander, wander.” For him, by Cossack he meant “military inhabitant, settled warrior, belonging to. to a special class of Cossacks", in Novgorod and northern dialects "farm laborer, annual wage earner, not day laborer", Sometimes "servant". That is, middle, modest, but not sedentary strata - a meaning noted by Babur.

At the same time, there was a constant mixing of Turkic Cossacks and Slavic (familiar with the Cossacks since the time of the Khazars - largely Slavs - and Polovtsians). In Beijing, it was the Russians, not Turkic or Mongol warriors. It is believed that by 1330 the Russian Yuan Guard numbered 10,000, displacing guards of other origins. It is known that, in addition to the continuous replenishment of the Zaporozhye Cossacks with Christian Tatars, the Zaporozhye Cossacks and Crimean Tatars in general actively collaborated in 1624-1629, as well as in 1636-1637, then the Crimean Khan was an ally of Bogdan Khmelnitsky. This, in particular, was manifested in the long stay of large Tatar detachments in Zaporozhye. Some of them could have settled here. For example, the Lviv Chronicle of 1637 recorded the following event: twelve thousand Tatars passed into the hands of the “King of Poland,” and they were ordered to settle “beyond the Dnieper among the Cossacks.”

According to the Military Encyclopedia of 1911−1915, the word "Cossack" or "Kozak" has several probable versions of origin and a number of meanings:

♦ from obliques ( "one of the Caucasian peoples"), or from Kasakhia [Comm 1]; ♦ from Turkish-Tatar "kaz"- goose; ♦ from the word "kozars"; ♦ from the Mongolian language, where "ko"- armor, protection; "zah"- border; Thus, "Kozak"- defender of the border. ♦ from Turkish-Tatar [Comm 2] - a free vagabond who has neither a stake nor a yard (robber); ♦ name (self-name) of the Kyrgyz [Comm 3]; ♦ in the Turkestan region - a “nickname” of nomadic tribes; ♦ in Polovtsian (Turkic) - “guard”; ♦ among the Tatars it is “familyless and homeless single warriors who served as the vanguard during the campaigns and movements of the Tatars. hord", who carried out mainly reconnaissance and guard service.

In Tatarintsev’s “Etymological Dictionary of the Tuvan Language” regarding the root basis of the word "Kazanak"- “shed, kennel”, an opinion is expressed about the existence of the archetype *kas, meaning “to block”, and the Mongolian "porridge"- “to block, block, protect” is a borrowing from Turkic[ specify] (against the opinion of Sevortyan[ specify])[source not specified 377 days].

According to M. Vasmer, the word “Cossack” came into the Polish language from Ukrainian and goes back to the Old Russian “Kozak”, which meant “a civilian worker, a farm laborer”.

In the plural, the stress in the form Cossacks arose as a result of the influence of the Polish-Ukrainian form plural kozácy(Cossacks), at the same time, the Orenburg Cossacks use the accent Cossacks.

According to Vasmer, the word “Kazakhs” is related to the Cossacks, but the ethnonym kasog is not related (although, according to the same Vasmer, such versions still exist).

The first mentions of the Cossacks

The first presumptive fixation of the name “Cossack” (in the meaning of “guard”) is in the Polovtsian language dictionary “Codex Cumanicus” of the early 14th century. (1303).

In the “Sugdei Synaxar” of the Crimean city of Sugdei on May 17, 1308 it is noted: “ On the same day, the servant of God Almalchu, the son of Samak, died, alas, a young man stabbed to death by the Cossacks».

The nickname from the base “Cossack” is first recorded in all three Pskov chronicles, where in 1406 the mayor Yuri Kozachkovich is mentioned: in the 1st and 3rd chronicles “Gyurgi the Pskov mayor son of Filipov Kozachkovich”, in the 2nd “Yuri the mayor Kozachkovich.” [Comm 4]

Since the 40s of the 15th century. the Cossacks become regularly mentioned in sources (in Samarkandi, in the Nikon and Ermolin chronicles and other sources).

According to S. M. Solovyov, the first mention of the Cossacks occurs at the end of the first half of the 15th century, when the chronicle “The Tale of Mustafa Tsarevich” mentions the Ryazan Cossacks, “who came to the aid of the Ryazan and Muscovites against the Tatar prince Mustafa” at the end of 1444.

The first Polish memories of the Cossacks date back to 1489. During the campaign of the Polish king Jan-Albrecht against the Tatars, Christian Cossacks showed the way to his army in Podolia. In the same year, detachments of atamans Vasily Zhila, Bogdan and Golubets attacked the Tavanskaya crossing in the lower reaches of the Dnieper and, having dispersed the Tatar guards, robbed the merchants.

The inscription on one of the old Ukrainian paintings with the Cossack Mamai: “I do not envy anyone - neither the lords nor the king. I thank my holy God for everything! Although I’m not famous for my til, I lead a cheerful life, I’m good at my affairs, I won’t be lost.”

Another of the first mentions of Cossacks in Polish chronicles dates back to 1493, when Mamai’s descendant, the Cherkassy governor Bogdan Fedorovich Glinsky, nicknamed “Mamai,” formed border Cossack detachments in Cherkassy and captured the Turkish fortress of Ochakov. “Cossack Mamai” has since become a hero of folklore and popular prints of Ukraine and symbolized the Cossacks.

Subsequently, the khan's complaints about Cossack attacks became regular. According to Litvin, given how habitually this designation is used in documents of that time, we can assume that the Russian Cossacks were known for more than one decade, at least from the middle of the 15th century. Considering that evidence of the Cossack phenomenon was localized in the territory of the so-called “Wild Field”, it is possible that from their neighbors from the Turkic-speaking (mainly Tatar) environment, the Ukrainian Cossacks borrowed not only the name, but also many other words, signs of appearance, organization and tactics, mentality.[ check the link]

Slavic colonists hypothesis

According to the hypothesis of S. M. Solovyov, which he constantly mentions on the pages of his work “History of the Russian State,” the Cossacks in Rus' from the XIV-XV centuries. called people free, not bound by any obligations, ready to work for hire and freely moving from place to place, regardless of their language, faith and origin. In the XIV−XVI centuries. It is from among such people that princes, boyars and rich merchants begin to equip industrial expeditions to remote, sparsely populated regions of Rus' with the aim of exploring new lands, routes, trade, hunting (in particular the “fur trade”), fishing, etc.: “The princes sent crowds of their industrialists, gangs, to the White Sea and the Northern Ocean, to the Terek and Pechersk countries for fish, animals and birds: from the letter of Grand Duke Andrei Alexandrovich we learn that even then three grand princely gangs went to the sea with their vatamman (vatagaman , ataman)". It was from these people that the first Cossack squads arose:

“Firstly, we see that the settlers of the lands could always find such people, untaxed and unwritten (not rewritten), people who do not have their own land, their own economy and therefore must feed themselves by working on other people’s lands, on other people’s farms, on other people’s industries; and these homeless people were called Cossacks. But it is clear that among these people there were many who did not want to live on foreign lands, depending on strangers and preferred to lead a warlike, dangerous, but more free, riotous life in the steppe, on the borders and further, beyond the borders of the state; where should the people who left the cities and volosts, whom the inhabitants of the lands had no right to accept, go to? The existence of the Cossacks as a border warlike population was natural and necessary according to geographical location ancient Rus', by the openness of borders on all sides; there should have been and indeed were Cossacks on all borders, but mainly they were necessary and numerous on the steppe borders, subjected to constant and merciless attacks by nomadic predators, where, consequently, no one dared to settle, not having the character of a warrior, always ready to repel an attack, to guard the enemy ."

V. O. Klyuchevsky held a similar opinion about the origin of the Cossack class, mentioning that landowners, including landowners, went “to become Cossacks,” that is, to temporarily engage in steppe crafts (hunting, fishing).

Over time, as Russian society was organized and its well-being increased, the number of such people decreased at the expense of zemstvo people (nobles, merchants, townspeople and peasants):

“And everything in the north, in the era of concentration, takes on the character of strength, settledness, as a result of which land relations, which condition strength, receive important; society is aware of the difference between a zemstvo man, a settled owner, and a free Cossack, a representative of antiquity, the old era of the independent movement; This representative of antiquity finds it difficult in the new society; he goes out into the open air into the free steppe and there waits for an opportunity to enter into a fight with the new order of things hostile to him. But the era of concentration, but the Moscow sovereigns did their job: the state is strong, and the Cossack cannot overcome the zemstvo man.”

According to the Soviet historian of the second half of the 20th century. A. L. Stanislavsky:

For noble historians, the “frantic” Cossacks were seekers of “wild freedom and prey”, “a bastard of homeless people” who were engaged only in robbery; for the great historian S. M. Solovyov - bearers of the anti-state principle, who sought to live at the expense of society; for the authors of the famous collection “Vekhi” - formidable, unorganized, spontaneous forces, because of whose struggle with the state the “cause of peasant liberation” was “ruined” and “perverted”. At the same time, the Decembrist V.D. Sukhorukoy saw in the Cossack community a community of equal people who fled from the oppression of their former owners, and in the view of A.I. Herzen, the Cossacks - “knights-men, knights-errant of the black people.

Cossacks - Turks

Word "Cossack" in different dialect forms and meanings has existed since ancient times in the language and culture of various Turkic peoples of the Great Steppe.

For the relatively numerous Turkic people, Kazakhs are a self-designation in singular. h. - Kaz. "Kazak", which goes back to and is associated with the Turkic meaning "free independent nomad".

After seeing off a relative in long journey and partings, Siberian Tatars traditionally drink tea called "kasgak-tsai", and the Nogai Tatars have a song genre - “Cossack songs”, in which the main characters are young unmarried men.

In the written and oral texts of the Turkic peoples that have come down to us, dating back to the events of the Middle Ages, the departure of the hero to "Cossacks"- a common plot device.[ source not specified 552 days]

About the departure of Genghis Khan "Cossacks"- the period of hermitage and exile - is said in the “Chyngyz daftar-name”, which was in circulation among the Tatars, handwritten copies of which have been known since the 17th century, and in the 19th century the work was translated into Russian (Life of Jingiz Khan. Translated from Tatar by V. Lugansky .)[ check the link]

In the epic “Idegei”, dedicated to the events of the late 14th century in the Golden Horde, the intentions of the heroes of the epic Idegei and his son Nuradyn under different circumstances are given to go to "Cossacks"- leave the khan's court and politics and lead an independent lifestyle.

Dean of the Faculty of History of Moscow State University S.P. Karpov, working in the archives of Venice and Genoa, found there references to Cossacks with Turkic and Armenian names who protected Tana and other Italian colonies in the Northern Black Sea region from raids.[ source not specified 552 days]

After the split of the Golden Horde, the Cossacks remaining on its territory found themselves in complete independence from both the fragments of the former empire (the Nogai Horde and Crimean Khanate), and from the Moscow state that appeared in Rus', but at the same time retained their military organization.

The historian M. Khudyakov, who was repressed in 1936, noted in his “Essays on the History of the Kazan Khanate” that in the structure of the military class of the Kazan Khanate “the permanent cadre of the army consisted of people called Cossacks and subordinate to the Oglans and Murzas... By this feature - the military nature of their professional service - the Cossacks differed from the mass of “ordinary Tatars” and, due to their importance for the state, received, from time to time, access to participation in kurultai together with oglans, for example. in January 1546 and July 1551. In some cases the term"Cossacks" is detailed: a distinction is made between “courtyard” and “backyard” Cossacks, that is, those who served at court, in the capital, and outside the courtyard, in uluses, in villages. Tatar terms corresponding to the Russian translation of “yard” and “backyard” - “ichki” (internal) and “isniky” (external)”.

Similar structure military organization can also be traced in other khanates that arose as a result of the collapse of the Golden Horde.[ source not specified 1198 days]

Prof. V.V. Velyaminov-Zernov in “Research on the Kasimov kings and princes” explains the term "Cossack", found in documents of the corresponding time as “simple Tatar”: “The simple Tatars who came to Russia together with their princes, and likewise the simple Tatars of Kazan, Crimea, etc., were usually called Cossacks by the Russians, and they themselves called themselves Cossacks.”.

The Meshchera (Gorodets) Cossacks have been mentioned in documents since 1491. Their main forces were in the border with the Nogai Tatars, including the land of Ryazan, the upper reaches of the Don. So, in 1493 the Meshchera people came to fight the Turks[ specify] to Azov. Gradually, immigrants from the Ryazan land, Kasimov Tatars and Meshcheryak Tatars began to settle on the banks of the Don and Volga. These people, called Cossacks, lived in fortified towns that they built along the banks of rivers and on islands. Historians suggest that in 1549 the founder of Cossack towns (stanitsa) on the Don was a native of Meshchera Sary-Azman.

The ancient Russian historian V. Tatishchev, in a report on the origin of the Don Cossacks, notes that “these Cossacks began in two places: some lived in Mescher in small towns, and their main city was Donskoy (most likely Dankov), 16 versts below Tulucheyeva, where the Donskoy monastery is now, and when Tsar John IV transferred the Nogai Tatars to Meschera, then These Cossacks from Meschera were all transferred to the Don".[check the link] The famous historian of the Don Cossacks V.B. Bronevsky also reports that “Tsar John Vasilyevich transferred the Meshchora Cossacks, who lived in different cities, to the Don. For this reason, these Meshchora Cossacks should be revered as the ancestors of the Don Cossacks."[check the link]. Peter I also resettled at the very beginning of the 18th century. part of the Cossacks from Meshchera to the lower reaches of the Don.[ source not specified 1198 days]

After the collapse of the Ulus of Jochi, several independent principalities were formed on the lands of the Mishars (Temnikov Principality, Narovchat Principality, Kadom, Saryklych, etc.), which did not become part of the Kazan Khanate, and from the end of the 15th century began to pass into Russian citizenship.

Researcher Mukhamedova R.G. cites historical facts of the Moscow government’s purposeful resettlement of Mishar Tatars along the border guard lines of the Moscow state created in the 16th–17th centuries, as evidenced by the localization of Mishar Tatar settlements[ check the link]:

In 1578, a notch line was founded along the river. Alatyr, where the guard service Alatyr-Arzamas-Temnikov is organized. Along the line, the government begins to distribute estates to the Mishars. But at present there are almost no Tatar-Mishar settlements on the territory of the former Arzamas district, the reason for which was the intensification in the 18th century. Christianization, when the Mishars, abandoning their estates, began to move to the east (in particular, to the Alatyr district).
At the beginning of the 17th century. During the construction of the Karsun abatis, the Mishar Tatars received land in the Simbirsk province.
In the middle of the 17th century. The Mishars are settling in a southerly direction. So the Mishars settled on the banks of the Verkhny Lomov, Nizhny Lomov and Insar rivers. To the southeast of the serif lines there was a “Wild Field”, to control which the fort of Penza (later a city) was built and populated by Mishars. Later the lands along the river. The Surahs were handed over to the Mishars.
In the 80s of the 17th century. The government distributes land in the Saratov region on a local basis to the Mishars. The earliest settlements are on the river. Uza (Iskeyevo, Ust-Uza, etc.). The distribution of land in this region continued until the end of the 18th century.
In 1652-1657, the Zakamsk fortified line was built along the line Eryklinsk - Tiinsk - Bilyarsk - Novosheshminsk - Kichuevsky fort - Zainsk - Menzilinsk. In the 18th century, a second line was drawn south of this line: Alekseevsk - Krasnoyarsk - Sergievsk - Kondurchinskaya - Cheremshanskaya - Kichuyskaya. Within the boundaries of Trans-Kama, which turned out to be by the end of the XIV-XV centuries. sparsely populated as a result of devastating wars and raids, the Mishars moved along with other peoples from various areas of their habitat.
The settlement of the Urals occurred from the beginning of the 16th century and was associated both with free colonization and with the transfer of some of the serving Tatars.
At the beginning of the 18th century. Mishars receive estates along the river. Tereshka

However, the resettlement of the Mishars is also associated with the free colonization of lands after the annexation of the Middle Volga region to the Moscow state. Thus, the southern interfluve of the Volga and Sura, as well as the Saratov Territory, were populated. The migration to the east was intensive. Already in the 16th–17th centuries, the Wild Field was inhabited by Mishar Tatars, and notched lines were built based on already existing villages (for example, the villages of Laki, Laush, Chiush, etc.), while the local population was included in the service class.[ specify][check the link]

Historian A. M. Orlov also claims that, in addition to the Don, Meshchera Cossacks were settled in the Middle Volga. As service people, the Arzamas Cossacks were first mentioned in 1572 as participants in the so-called “German campaign.” The Arzamas Cossacks remained a reliable part of the local army until the Razin uprising. Subsequently, they made up the bulk of the Nizhny Novgorod Tatars (Mishars), and some of them became Russified. In addition to the serving Meshchera Cossacks (Tatars), Cossacks who were engaged in robbery appear here. The Meshcheryaks went down the Volga[ specify]. Ermak’s associate, the Cossack ataman Matvey Meshcheryak, is known. The tsarist authorities repeatedly took measures to combat robbery in the Volga region and attracted the Volga Cossacks to their side. In this case, methods of forcible transfer to their former lands were often used. V. Tatishchev writes about one such fact that in 1554 the Meshchera Cossacks from the Volga, who had robbed these places, were transported. Arzamas governors and captains were actively involved in recruiting Volga atamans and Cossacks, who consisted mainly of Tatars, into the service. In this matter, Arzamas governors I.V. Izmailov and Buturlin showed particular activity [ specify], V. Ya. Kuzmin, G. Rodionov. It is known that in 1587 I.V. Izmailov went to the Volga Cossacks and atamans. They were also engaged in the resettlement of the collected people throughout the district. In particular, Izmailov, together with Buturlin, drove around the district in search of wastelands in the Zalesnoy camp of the district. The Tatar origin of the Volga Cossacks is evidenced by the fact that the tsarist governors officially addressed them in the Tatar language. Certificate of Prince Odoevsky[ specify] to the Volga Tatars in 1614 was written in Tatar letters and sent with the interpreter Safon Ogarkov. It was addressed “To the Great Russian Power and the Moscow region, to the guardians of the Volga and Terek and Yaitsk atamans and well done to the entire great army”.

Chief officer and Cossack of the Mishar cantons. 1845

The German historian G. Steckl points out that:

“The first Russian Cossacks were baptized and Russified Tatar Cossacks, since until the end of the 15th century. all the Cossacks who lived both in the steppes and in the Slavic lands could only be Tatars. The influence of the Tatar Cossacks on the borderlands of Russian lands was of decisive importance for the formation of the Russian Cossacks. The influence of the Tatars was manifested in everything - in the way of life, military operations, methods of struggle for existence in the conditions of the steppe. It even extended to spiritual life and appearance Russian Cossacks."

As follows from the work of Yakov Grishin[ source not specified 1504 days] “Polish-Lithuanian Tatars (heirs of the Golden Horde)”, Tatars who moved en masse to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries, had a social division into noble Tatars, equal in rights to the gentry, and Tatar-Cossacks, equal in rights to service boyars. Tatar-Cossacks served in tribal banners: Bargyn, Jalair, Khushin, Kongrat, Naiman, Ulan (supra-tribal banner headed by the Genghisids).

Mixed version

Karamzin also wrote about the Cossacks:

The Cossacks were not only in Ukraine, where their name became known in history around 1517; but it is likely that in Russia it is older than Batu’s invasion and belonged to the Torks and Berendeys, who lived on the banks of the Dnieper, below Kyiv. There we find the first dwelling of the Little Russian Cossacks. Torki and Berendey were called Cherkasy: Cossacks - also... some of them, not wanting to submit to either the Moguls or Lithuania, lived as free people on the islands of the Dnieper, fenced by rocks, impenetrable reeds and swamps; lured to themselves many Russians who fled oppression; mixed with them and, under the name Komkov, formed one people, which became completely Russian, all the more easily because their ancestors, having lived in the Kyiv region since the tenth century, were already almost Russian themselves. Multiplying more and more in numbers, nourishing the spirit of independence and brotherhood, the Cossacks formed a military Christian Republic in the southern countries of the Dnieper, began to build villages and fortresses in these places devastated by the Tatars; They undertook to be defenders of the Lithuanian possessions on the part of the Crimeans and Turks and gained the special patronage of Sigismund I, who gave them many civil liberties along with lands above the Dnieper rapids, where the city of Cherkassy was named after them.

According to L. Gumilyov, the Cossacks arose through the merger of the Kasogs and Brodniks after the Mongol-Tatar invasion. The Kasogs (Kasakhs, Kasaks, Ka-azats) are an ancient Circassian people who inhabited the territory of the lower Kuban in the 10th-14th centuries, and the Brodniks are a mixed people of Turkic-Slavic origin who absorbed the remnants of the Bulgars, Slavs, and also, possibly, the steppe Oguzes.

After being conquered by the Mongols, the Kasogs fled to the north and mixed with the Podon wanderers, who inherited their name - Cossack. At the same time, it is known that the wanderers themselves took the side of the Mongols and fought against Rus' in the Battle of Kalka. This is how the first cell of the Cossacks was formed, initially in the service of the Horde

The historian V.N. Tatishchev in “Russian History from the Most Ancient Times” believed that:

According to a legend dating back to Stefan Yavorsky (1692), the Cossacks in 1380 presented Dmitry Donskoy icon Our Lady of the Don and took part in the battle against Mamai on the Kulikovo Field.

According to S. M. Solovyov, the oldest chronicle news about the Cossacks (in “The Tale of Mustafa Tsarevich”) speaks of the Ryazan Cossacks, who in 1444 took part in the battle against the Tatars, brought by Tsarevich Mustafa. According to some reports[ what?], the Ryazan Cossacks were of Tatar origin.

According to Georgy Vladimirovich Vernadsky, the Cossacks are a community of “free people”, known by that name in the steppes of Europe at least since the time of the Horde kingdom (XIII-XIV centuries). In his work “Mongols and Rus'” Vernadsky writes:

according to Paul Pelio, the name Uzbek (Özbäg) means “master of himself” (maître de sa personne), that is, “free man”. Uzbek as a name for a nation would then mean “nation of free people.” Kazak (Kazakh) - in several Turkic dialects means “free man”, “free adventurer” and, hence, “resident of the border strip”. In its basic meaning, this word referred to both groups that included, among other things, the ancestors of modern Tatar, Ukrainian and Russian settlers (Cossacks), and the entire Central Asian people of the Kyrgyz (Kazakhs).

The same Vernadsky draws attention to the existence in the Great Yasa of Genghis Khan (which later became one of the sources of oral Cossack law) of provisions equalizing the rights and freedoms of all his free subjects:

They largely confirm the theory of mixed ethnogenesis and modern methods genetic studies, including population genetics, the results of which allow us to reliably state that:

Cossacks - descendants of the autochthonous proto-Slavic population of the Wild Field

Considering the issue of Cossacks in his work “History of Rus' and the Russian Word”, V.V. Kozhinov writes the following[ unreputable source?] :

We are talking about the space between the rivers Voronezh and Khopr, which has long been inhabited by people from mainland Rus', and if measured from north to south - from the Tsna River to the present village of Veshenskaya on the middle Don (now this space is included in its in separate parts to Lipetsk, Tambov, Voronezh, Volgograd and Rostov region). It has long been established that East Slavic, mainly Northern, settlements existed here back in the 8th-9th centuries (then the Russians were forced to leave here due to various dangers associated with the military practices of the Khazar Kaganate...), but it is much less known that in no way no later than the 12th century (or rather, even earlier - soon after the death of the Khazar Kaganate, at the end of the 10th century), Russian settlers came here again. They found themselves outside the power of any principality, and it was here, on this little-known outskirts of the then Rus', as A. A. Shennikov argues convincingly in his book, that the Cossacks began to take shape.
...now it is important to affirm one thing: the future Cossacks, obviously, brought the epic here not in the 15th-16th centuries, but no later than the 12th century (that is, perhaps in the 11th century), when its life actually still continued in Rus' (by the way, the word “Cossack” itself has been widely used in writing since the 15th century; it entered the spoken language, no doubt, much earlier).

Many modern historians agree with this:

There is still no single point of view among historians about the time of the emergence of the Don Cossacks. So N.S. Korshikov and V.N. Korolev believe that “in addition to the widespread point of view about the origin of the Cossacks from Russian fugitives and industrialists, there are other points of view as hypotheses. According to R. G. Skrynnikov, for example, the original Cossack communities consisted of Tatars, which were then joined by Russian elements. L.N. Gumilyov proposed to lead the Don Cossacks from the Khazars, who, having mixed with the Slavs, formed the Brodniks, who were not only the predecessors of the Cossacks, but also their direct ancestors. More and more experts are inclined to believe that the origins of the Don Cossacks should be seen in the ancient Slavic population, which, according to archaeological discoveries last decades, existed on the Don in the 8th–15th centuries.”

Even further after Academician I.E. Zabelin comes E.P. Savelyev. According to Zabelin and Savelyev, the Cossacks are the descendants of the autochthonous Slavic and even Proto-Slavic population (including the Khazars, Goths (N.V. Gogol paid attention to this), Sarmatians, Getae, Bastarni, Scythians, Massagetae, etc. .), for thousands of years from ancient times until the beginning of the second millennium AD. e. inhabiting the valleys of the current Cossack rivers in the territories stretching from the northern Caspian region to the northern Black Sea region (including the “Wild Field”), which subsequently, having actually completed a circular migration through the territory of ancient Rus' over several centuries, returned in the 15th century. within the boundaries of its historical settlement area.. In particular, Savelyev, including on archaeological research material obtained after the death of I.E. Zabelin, defends his version of the origin of the Don Cossacks from the Tanaitians. Recognizing, following Zabelin, the mixed origin of the Tanaitians, he at the same time classifies their culture as Sarmatian.

According to Savelyev, the descendants of the Slavic-Cossack population who left the Wild Field in the 9th-12th centuries moved to the Novgorod land (the so-called Gotheic / Gothic / Cossacks), from where, engaged in ushkuinism, they moved to Vyatka, making up the population of the veche republic of the Vyatka (Khlynovsky) ushkuiniki, which existed in the 12th–15th centuries.

At the end of the 15th century, the free Vyatka land with elected governors, atamans and clergy was taken under the control of Moscow during several military campaigns (in 1459 and 1489), after which part of the population of the former Vyatka veche republic was settled on the southern border of Russia, and some fled to the lower reaches of the Volga and Don and, possibly, the Dnieper and Yaik, quite likely becoming the foundation of the Cossacks in these regions.

Savelyev traces significant continuity in the lexical composition of the language, church architecture and customs among the Don Cossacks and Novgorodians (although he does not deny that this may also be due to the influence of the Roman Republic, which became a model for Novgorod - not only due to the influence of the Orthodox Church, which preserved the ideals of the Roman Republic, but due to the assimilation of both Hellenes and Romans by the Tanaitians).

There is also a similarity between the symbolism of the Don and Dnieper Cossacks and the Vyatka coat of arms (stretched bow-crossbow and equilateral cross).

Savelyev associates another wave of forced migrants to the above-mentioned traditional Cossack regions with the annexation of the Grand Duchy of Ryazan to Moscow in 1520 and the intensified resettlement of Ryazan Cossacks - descendants of the autochthonous population of the Don - to the Don.

According to E.P. Savelyev, these relocations, among other things, completed the centuries-old “circle” of part of the indigenous Cossack population of the Azov region and the Don, who left their ancestral territories in the 13th century and moved to the Novgorod and Vyatka lands.

What does the Turkic word Cossack mean?