TheCossacks: a sabre on the wall
Don Cossacks – photo taken in the late 19th century
A history of the Cossacks from earliest times as they bartered for their social freedoms in exchange for military service, contributing to the expansion of the small Tsardom of Muscovy into a vast Russian Empire. Cossacks fiercely defended their independence for centuries in a period of serfdom.
The creation of an army of super warriors has been the dream of rulers and politicians since time immemorial, epitomized by the Mamluks and Janissaries, or in more modern projects of designing genetically modified soldiers (fortunately, still at the drawing board). However, few people realize that there is a country, which had been successfully using the advantages of such an army for ages. In Russia, the Cossacks were no substitute for the regular army, but were instrumental in expanding the frontiers of the small Tsardom of Muscovy into a giant Russian Empire eventually becoming responsible for guarding its borders. In Tsarist times, the Cossacks were subjugated, and an honorable compromise was devised: military service in exchange of freedom. In the age of monarchies and serfdom, Cossacks remained standalone communities, enjoying a kind of social freedom up until Soviet times. Today, there is little of the Cossack lifestyle left. However, Russia would not exist without the Cossacks, nor they without Russia.
Monuments to Cossacks are plentiful across Russia, signifying their historical contribution to the country’s might. Left: a monument/lighthouse to Semyon Dezhnev (1956) at Cape Dezhnev, the Bering Straight, the easternmost point of Eurasia reached by Dezhnev in 1648 – Source; right: a monument to Yermak in Novocherkassk (1904) Source
European Wild East
The word “Cossack” (of Turkic origin) originally meant “free man, warrior.” The English spelling of this word reflects the way it is pronounced in Ukraine. However, in Russia, it was pronounced and written differently, as “kazak.” Like the Tsardom of Muscovy, the Cossacks entered on to the stage of history, under their present name, in the 15th century. This Turkic meaning of the word became an integral part of the Kazakh khanate in 1460 (meaning freedom from former suzerains), and subsequently became part of modern Kazakhstan’s official country name.
The word “Cossack” (of Turkic origin) originally meant “free man, warrior.” The English spelling of this word reflects the way it is pronounced in Ukraine. However, in Russia, it was pronounced and written differently, as “kazak.” Like the Tsardom of Muscovy, the Cossacks entered on to the stage of history, under their present name, in the 15th century. This Turkic meaning of the word became an integral part of the Kazakh khanate in 1460 (meaning freedom from former suzerains), and subsequently became part of modern Kazakhstan’s official country name.
For many centuries after Attila’s Huns erased all trace of the presence of Scythians and Goths in the steppes north of the Black Sea, the plains between the Dnieper, Don and Volga rivers were successively taken over by Turkic tribes such as the Bulgars, Khazars, Torks, Pechenegs and Cumans. At the time of the Crusades, those tribes warred or allied themselves with various Kyevan Rus princes, contributing to their internecine fighting in 11-13th centuries. This drama was vividly illustrated in Alexander Borodin’s epic opera Prince Igor (the most recent production was staged in Moscow last June 2013 by Yuri Lyubimov).
Cuman stone statue, c12th century. Around 2,000 statues have survived until today. Cumans were predecessors of Cossacks in the Eurasian steppes (Wikipedia)
By the time Marco Polo, Guillaume de Rubrouck and Giovanni da Pian del Carpine had pioneered European travel into Central Asia in the 13th century, the steppes had been taken over by the Mongol Khans. Under the 250-year Mongol rule, the tribes of the steppes were obliged to participate in the Mongols’ military campaigns. After the Golden Horde broke up into several khanates (Kazan, Astrakhan, Nogai, Crimea, etc), vast territories along the Dnieper, Don, Volga and modern Ural (Yaik at the time) rivers evaded all authority. By the time the Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453) had ended in Europe, and Constantinople was taken by the Ottomans (1453), the steppe population, fortunate to retain their military democracy-style self-government had been labeled by the Turkic word “Cossack.”
It is hardly surprising that this tumultuous historical background gave birth to masses of steppe peoples who mastered the craft of war, horsemanship and enjoyed their freedom after the break-up of the Golden Horde. Their military skills were one of the few goods they could offer for sale, so when raids into whatever neighbouring country stopped yielding enough gains, they acted as mercenaries for princes, tsars and kings of those same countries, which they had recently plundered. In Russia, the Southern steppes between the Dnieper, Don and Volga rivers were called “the Wild Field,” (Deekoye Pole) which was a somewhat similar concept to the Wild West and the US Frontier which unfolded in the 19th century.
Medieval freedom fighters
The fact that Cossacks were free people, owning private property, horses, with a rudimentary (or atavistic?) democracy of sorts, was an exceptional phenomenon for the period ranging from the 15-19 centuries. They enjoyed their freedom and military vagabond life for many generations – quite a genetic selection.
The fact that Cossacks were free people, owning private property, horses, with a rudimentary (or atavistic?) democracy of sorts, was an exceptional phenomenon for the period ranging from the 15-19 centuries. They enjoyed their freedom and military vagabond life for many generations – quite a genetic selection.
To denote their freedom and liberties, the Cossacks used the word ‘will’ (volya), instead of ‘freedom’ (svoboda). Currently, there is practically no difference between the two words in the Russian language, but it appears that ‘volya’ has a wider meaning, meaning also (like in English) the determination to do whatever one wants.
There is an interesting historical parallel: Lev Gumilev wrote that Chinghiz Khan owed his rise in the 12th century to the “people of long will,” outcasts, or people who left their tribes to live in the steppes, just like the Cossacks, who inherited the Horde’s steppes and expanded their ranks by absorbing people fleeing from serfdom and oppression several hundred years later.
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