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Thehaydamaks, alsohaidamakas orhaidamaky orhaidamaks (sg.haidamaka;Ukrainian:Гайдамаки,Haidamaky,Polish:Hajdamacy) wereUkrainian Cossack paramilitary outfits composed of commoners (peasants, craftsmen), and impoverished noblemen in the eastern part of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. They were formed in reaction to the Commonwealth's actions that were directed to reconstitute its orders[clarification needed] on territory ofright-bank Ukraine,[1] which was secured following ratification of theTreaty of Perpetual Peace with theTsardom of Russia in 1710.
The wordhaydamak has two related meanings: either 'Ukrainian insurgent against the Poles in the 18th century', or 'brigand'.[2] The role played by haydamaks in the anti-Polish Ukrainian revolts of the 18th-century led byMaksym Zalizniak andIvan Honta led to the first meaning.[2]
The word has been adopted into Ukrainian from theCrimea and the neighbouring region, where it has been used in someKipchak,Oghuz andSlavic languages.[2] The origin is theTurkic word 'haydamak', 'to drive, to drive away', the etymological vehicle being theOttoman Turkish.[2] The verb (h)ayda was probably derived from theonomatopoeicstem used to spur someone on: 'hayda!'.[2] Depending on the local context, it was understood to mean 'driving someone or something away', and later 'to chase, to pursue'.[2] In theinfinitive Turkish verbs have the ending -mak or -mek.[3] The ending -ak(a) however also exists in Ukrainian, in words with meanings somewhat related to each other, such ashuljáka, 'crouser' (crouse = brisk, livelyl, confident),pyjak(a), 'drunkard',rozbyšaka, 'brigand', and that might have led to the initial meaning of 'to chase, to pursue' evolving to mean 'chaser, pursuer', and finally 'insurgent'.[2] In different other languages the meaning of 'brigand' given to hajdamak(a) took shape in accordance to the way their enemies saw thehajdamaks.[2]
In Ottoman Turkish, haydamak used to mean "a cattle-lifter, marauder",[2] and in modernTurkish it means "to attack, raid, drive cattle".[3]
Other more ancientexonyms of the same haidamaks includelevenetz anddeineka.[4] Equivalents ofhaidamaka includeopryshok in UkrainianGalicia.[clarification needed]
TheRomanian wordhaidamac means 'strong, sometimes no-good man'.[5]
The wordshajduk used inCentral Europe and theBalkans has a similar meaning.[2]
Because of the massacres ofJews,Jesuits,Uniates, and Polish nobility, thePolish language termHajdamactwo became a pejorative label for Ukrainians as a whole. However, Ukrainian folklore and literature generally (with some notable exceptions) treat the actions of the haidamaks positively.Haidamaky (1841), anepic poem byTaras Shevchenko, treats its subjects both sympathetically and critically.
The haidamak movement consisted mostly of local freeCossacks (not members of anyhost) and peasantry (kozaky andholota), and rebels.[citation needed]
Haidamaks waged war mainly against the Polishnobility and collaborationists inright-bank Ukraine, though the movement was not limited to the right bank only, and they participated inZaporozhian raids on the Cossackszlachta in left-bank Ukraine as well. The latter raids occasionally deteriorated to common robbery and murder, for example in the so-calledMatsapura case in the Left Bank in 1734.[6][7]
Opposition to theszlachta and toRoman Catholics led to the haidamaka rebellions (haidamachchyna). Three major uprisings took place, in 1734, 1750, and the largest – usually referred to asKoliyivschyna in 1768.
The first uprising came in the war for control of thePolish Kingdom in 1734 after the death ofFrederick Augustus II in 1733. Russian troops, brought in to remove KingStanisław I (Leszczyński), were initially seen[by whom?] as liberators from the Poles, and an insurrection developed inKiev, spreading toPodolia andVolhynia. AfterAugustus III gained the throne of Poland-Lithuania in 1734, the Russian military suppressed the insurrection. Small raids by haidamakas against Polish nobility continued in the following years under the leadership ofHnat Holy.[8]
In 1750 another uprising occurred as the haidamakas continued to receive popular sympathy. Based in the lands of theZaporozhian Cossacks, they moved into the south of theKievPalatinate, generating a near-complete rebellion by Right-Bank Ukraine. Although they captured a number of towns and areas, they were eventually crushed[by whom?] due to lack of organization.
In 1768, led byZaporozhianCossackMaksym Zalizniak and leader of theUman Cossack paramilitary groupIvan Gonta, the peasants were initially successful in conquering much of theKiev andBracław Voivodeships, as well as large chunks ofVolhynia andPodolia. In captured territories the nobility,Ukrainian Catholics, Jesuits and above all the Jews, were murdereden masse (seeMassacre of Uman), which led to a quick response by the Polish army. By July of the same year the Poles – with Russian military assistance – had suppressed the revolt, though bloody repression against the Cossacks lasted for several years. SeeKoliyivschyna article for more details.
The last flare-up of the Haydamak violence occurred in 1830s, during theUstym Karmaliuk rebellion. This final chapter of Haydamaka history was unique in large part due to the support the rebellion enjoyed not only among the peasantry, but also among the Poles and the Jews marginalized and rendered destitute by the Russian Empire.
Articles in theInternet Encyclopedia of Ukraine of theCanadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies:
