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Free Lands of the Lower Zaporozhian Host Вольностi Вiйська Запорозького Низового (Ukrainian) | |||||||||||
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| 1552–1775 | |||||||||||
 Flag .svg) Cossack with a musket | |||||||||||
 Historical map of the UkrainianCossack Hetmanate (dark green) and the territory of the Zaporozhian Cossacks (purple) between theRussian Empire (khaki), theCrimean Khanate (pink) and thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (yellow) | |||||||||||
| Status | De facto independent[1] De jure vassal of:
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| Capital | Sich (various locations inZaporozhia) | ||||||||||
| Common languages |
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| Religion | Eastern Orthodox | ||||||||||
| Demonyms | Zaporozhtsi (Zaporozhians),Sichovyky (Sich Cossacks),[2]Rusyny (Ruthenians),[3]Ukraintsi (Ukrainians),[4]Nyzovyky (members of Lowerhost)[5] | ||||||||||
| Government | CossackRepublic | ||||||||||
| Kish otaman | |||||||||||
• 1552-1563 (first) | Dmytro Vyshnevetsky (founder ofKhortytsia castle) | ||||||||||
• 1765-1775 (last) | Petro Kalnyshevsky | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Early modern period | ||||||||||
• Established | 1552 | ||||||||||
| 1775 | |||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||
• 1650 | c. 100,000[6] | ||||||||||
• 1762 | c. 183,700[7] | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Today part of | Ukraine | ||||||||||
TheZaporozhian Sich[a] was a semi-autonomous polity andproto-state ofZaporozhian Cossacks that existed between the 16th to 18th centuries. For the latter part of that period, it was an autonomousstratocratic state within theCossack Hetmanate. The lands of Zaporozhian Sich were centred around theGreat Meadow region ofUkraine, spanning the lowerDnieper river. In different periods the area came under the sovereignty of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, theOttoman Empire, theTsardom of Russia, and theRussian Empire.
The establishment of Zaporozhian Sich was an important factor in defense ofUkraine andRussia fromCrimean-Nogai raids.[8] Inc. 1650, its total population consisted of 100,000. In1657–1687, Zaporizhian Sich was practically independent, possessing its own administration and armed forces consisting of 12,000–20,000 Cossacks. It was reliant on population growth, mainly consisting of Ukrainian refugees from devastated lands.[6]
In 1775, shortly after Russia annexed the territories ceded to it by theOttoman Empire under theTreaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774),Catherine the Great disbanded the Sich. She incorporated its territory into the Russian province ofNovorossiya.
The termZaporozhian Sich can also refermetonymically and informally to the whole military-administrative organisation of theZaporozhianCossack host.
The nameZaporizhzhia refers to the military and political organization of the Cossacks and to the location of their autonomous territory 'beyond the rapids' (za porohamy) of theDnieper River.[9] TheDnieper rapids were a major portage on the north–south Dnieper trade route. The termsich is a noun related to the East Slavic verbsich (сѣчь), meaning 'to chop' or 'cut'; it may have been associated with the usual wood sharp-spiked stockades around Cossack settlements.[10]
The full, official name of the polity centred around the Sich was theFree Lands of the Lower Zaporozhian Host (Ukrainian:Вольностi Вiйська Запорозького Низового,romanized: Volnosti Viyska Zaporozkoho Nyzovoho), wherehost is a name for a large army or other military congregation.[11]
The Sich was located in the region around theGreat Meadow (Velykyi Luh) in today's south-eastern Ukraine, which was flooded by theKakhovka Reservoir from the construction of theKakhovka Dam in 1956 untilits destruction in 2023. The area was also known under the historical termWild Fields.
A possible precursor of the Zaporozhian Sich was a fortification (sich) built on theTomakivka island[12] (Tomakivka Sich [uk]) in the middle of theDnieper River in the present-dayZaporizhzhia region ofUkraine. However, there is no direct evidence about the exact time of the existence of Tomakivka Sich, whereas indirect data suggest that at the time of Tomakivka Sich there was no Zaporozhian Sich yet.[13]
The history of Zaporozhian Sich spans six time-periods:
The Zaporozhian Sich emerged as a method of defence bySlavic colonists against the frequent and devastating raids ofCrimean Tatars, who captured and enslaved hundreds of thousands ofUkrainians,Belarusians andPoles to supply theCrimean slave trade in operations called "the harvesting of the steppe". The Ukrainians created a self-defence force, theCossacks, to stop theTatars, and builtsiches, fortified camps that were later united to form a central fortress, the Zaporozhian Sich.[9]
The location of the Sich, just beyond theDnieper rapids was a key factor for the development and organisation of the early Cossack movement. The nine different rapids on this 70 kilometres (43 mi) long part of the river made navigation upstream (towardsKyiv) by boat practically impossible, as the boats had to be left or slowlyportaged across. Sailing downstream, while easier, was also dangerous and required intimate knowledge of the area. This protected the areas north of the rapids fromOttoman expansion whilst also limiting the ability of thePolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to fully control the area south of them.[14]
Despite thesteppe south of the rapids being largely flat and suitable for the nomadic Tatars, the immediate area of the Sich was difficult to traverse, largely due to being dominated by a large wetland known as theGreat Meadow (Ukrainian:Великий Луг). Littered with hundreds of small islands, marshes and woods, the Great Meadow also provided the Zaporozhians with plentiful pasture,game and honey. This made it an attractive and defensible outpost for access to the surroundingWild Fields.[15]
PrinceDmytro Vyshnevetsky established the first Zaporozhian Sich on the island of Small (Mala)Khortytsia in 1552, building a fortress atNiz Dnieprovsky (LowerDnieper) and placing a Cossack garrison there;[16] Tatar forces destroyed the fortress in 1558. The Tomakivka Sich was built on a now-inundated island to the south, near the modern city ofMarhanets; the Tatars also razed that sich in 1593. A third sich soon followed, onBazavluk island [uk], which survived until 1638, when it was destroyed by a Polish expeditionary force suppressing a Cossack uprising.[citation needed] These settlements, founded during the 16th century, were already complex enough to constitute an earlyproto-state.[17]
TheZaporozhian Cossacks became included in theKiev Voivodeship from 1583 to 1657, which was part of theLesser Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland. They resented Polish rule, however. One of the reasons being religious differences, as the cossacks wereEastern Orthodox Christians whereas thePoles were mostlyCatholics.[17] They thus engaged in a long struggle for independence from surrounding powers, thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (I Rzechpospolita), theOttoman Empire, theCrimean Khanate, and theTsardom of Russia, later theRussian Empire. The Sich became the centre of Cossack life, governed by theSich Rada alongside itsKish otaman (sometimes called ahetman from GermanHauptmann).
In 1648,Bohdan Khmelnytsky captured a sich at Mykytyn Rih,[18] near the current city ofNikopol, Ukraine.[16] From there theKhmelnytsky Uprising began against the I Rzechpospolita that led to the establishment of theCossack Hetmanate (1648–1764).
After thePereiaslav Agreement with the Tsar in 1654, the Zaporozhian Host was split into the Hetmanate, with its capital atChyhyryn, and the more autonomous region ofZaporizhzhia, which continued to be centred on the Sich. During this period, the Sich changed location several times but was generally located in theGreat Meadow. TheChortomlyk Sich was built at the mouth of theChortomlyk River in 1652. In 1667 theTruce of Andrusovo made the Sich acondominium ruled jointly by Russia and thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
During the reign ofPeter the Great, Cossacks were used to construct canals and fortification lines in northern Russia. An estimated 20–30 thousand were sent each year. Hard labour led to a high mortality rate among builders, and only an estimated 40% of Cossacks returned home.[19]
In advance to theBattle of Poltava in 1709, the Chortomlyk Sich (sometimes referred to as the "Old Sich" (Stara Sich)) was destroyed andBaturyn, the capital of HetmanIvan Mazepa, was razed. Another sich was built at the mouth of the Kamianka river but was destroyed in 1711 by the Russian government. The Cossacks then fled to the Crimean Khanate to avoid persecution and founded the Oleshky Sich in 1711 (today the city ofOleshky). In 1734, they were allowed to return to the Russian Empire. Suffering from discrimination in the Khanate, Cossacks accepted the offer to return and built another Sich close to the former Chortomlyk Sich, referred to as theNova Sich.[16] The population in the steppes numbered around 52,000 in the year 1768.[20]
Fear of the independence of the Sich resulted in the Russian administration abolishing the Hetmanate in 1764. The Cossack officer class was incorporated into theRussian nobility (Dvoryanstvo). However, rank and file Cossacks were reduced to peasant status, including a substantial portion of the old Zaporozhians. Tension rose after theTreaty of Küçük Kaynarca, when the need for a southern frontier ended after the annexation of theCrimea. The Imperial colonisation ofNovorossiya (New Russia) withSerbs andRomanians created further conflict.[9] After the end of the war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire for possession of theBlack Sea and Crimean steppes, Russia no longer needed the Zaporozhian Cossacks for protection of the border region. Russia finally destroyed the Zaporozhian Sich through military force in 1775.
In May 1775, Russian GeneralPeter Tekeli received orders to occupy and destroy the Zaporozhian Sich fromGrigory Potemkin, who had been formally admitted into Cossackdom a few years earlier. Potemkin was given direct orders fromCatherine the Great. On 5 June 1775, Tekeli surrounded the Sich with artillery and infantry. He postponed the assault and even allowed visits while the head of the Host,Petro Kalnyshevsky, decided how to react to the Russian ultimatum. The Zaporozhians chose to surrender. The Sich was officially disbanded by the 3 August 1775 manifesto of Catherine, "On the Liquidation of Zaporozhian Sich and Annexation thereof toNovorossiya Governorate", and the Sich was razed to the ground.
Some of the Cossack officer class, thestarshyna, became hereditary Russian nobility and obtained huge lands despite their previous attempts to relocate the Sich toNorth America orAustralia. Under the guidance of astarshyna named Lyakh, a conspiracy was formed among a group of fifty Cossacks to pretend to go fishing on theInhul next to theSouthern Buh in the Ottoman provinces and to obtain fifty passports for the expedition. The pretext was enough to allow about 5000 Zaporozhians to flee, some travelling to theDanube Delta, where they formed a newDanubian Sich as a protectorate of the Ottoman Empire. Others moved toHungary to form a Sich there as a protectorate of theAustrian Empire. According to folklore, some moved toMalta, becauseKosh otamans and other senior members of the starshyna considered themselves a kind ofMaltese chivalry.[21]
_Last_Rada_on_Sich.jpg)
The leader of the Zaporozhian Host,Petro Kalnyshevsky, was arrested and exiled to theSolovetsky Islands (where he lived to the age of 112 in theSolovetsky Monastery). Four high-levelstarshynas were repressed and exiled, later dying in Siberian monasteries. Lower levelstarshynas who remained and went over to the Russian side were given army ranks and all the privileges that accompanied them, and allowed to joinHussar andDragoon regiments. Most of the ordinary Cossacks were made peasants and even serfs.[22]
In 1780, after disbanding the Zaporozhian Cossack Host, Potemkin attempted to gather and reorganize the Cossacks voluntarily, and they helped to defend Ukraine from the Turks during theRusso-Turkish War (1787–1792). He gathered almost 12,000 Cossacks and called them the Black Sea Cossacks. After the conflict was over, rather than allowing the Cossacks to settle across Southern Ukraine, the Russian government began to resettle them on theKuban River. In 1860, they changed their name to theKuban Cossacks.
Ukrainian writerAdrian Kashchenko (1858–1921)[23] and historianOlena Apanovych[24] note that the abolition of the Zaporozhian Sich had a strong symbolic effect. Memories of the event remained for a long time in local folklore.
The Zaporozhian Host was led by theSich Rada that elected aKish otaman as the host's leader. He was aided by a head secretary (pysar), head judge, and head archivist. During military operations theOtaman carried unlimited power supported by his staff as the military collegiate. He decided with an agreement from the Rada whether to support a certain Hetman (such asBohdan Khmelnytsky) or other leaders of state.
Some sources refer to the Zaporozhian Sich as a "Cossack republic",[25] because the highest power in it belonged to the assembly of all its members, and its leaders (starshyna) were elected. The Cossacks formed a society (hromada) that consisted of "kurins" (each with several hundred Cossacks). A Cossack military court severely punished violence and stealing among compatriots, the bringing of women to the Sich, the consumption of alcohol in periods of conflict, and other offenses. The administration of the Sich providedOrthodox churches and schools for the religious and secular education of children.
The population of the Sich had a cosmopolitan component, includingUkrainians,Moldavians,Tatars,Poles,Lithuanians,Jews,Russians and many other ethnicities.[citation needed] The social structure was complex, consisting of destitute gentry andboyars,szlachta (Polish nobility), merchants, peasants, outlaws of every sort, runaway slaves from Turkishgalleys, and runawayserfs (as the Zaporozhianpolkovnyk Pivtorakozhukha). Some of those who were not accepted to the host formed gangs of their own, and also claimed to be Cossacks. However, after theKhmelnytsky Uprising these formations largely disappeared and were integrated mainly into Hetmanate society.
The Zaporozhians, besides their formidable status as infantrymen, also developed a large and sophisticated maritime presence. Their vessels were often constructed out of bundled reeds from the Great Meadow, which made them difficult to sink even after taking in much water. As their primary opponents on the sea, the Ottomans, largely relied on largergalleys, the Zaporozhians would head for shallower waters if faced with a superior enemy fleet, then conceal themselves within the reeds. TheDanube Delta, in particular, was often host to Cossacks for months a time, as it provided a good area from which to raid Ottoman shipping on theDanube and surrounding sea.[26]
The Zaporozhians developed a large fleet of fast, light vessels. Their campaigns were targeted at rich settlements on theBlack Sea shores of theOttoman Empire, and several times took them as far asConstantinople[27] andTrabzon (formerlyTrebizond).
As Kish Otamans also known as "Hetmans":
As Kish Otamans formally subject to theHetman of Zaporizhian Host:
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