Early Ukraine by Alexander Basilevsky

Author:Alexander Basilevsky
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Published: 2016-04-22T00:00:00+00:00

The charter created overnight an independent and unique social category, a new social class not seen anywhere before. Being freed to a large extent from the Polish Kingdom’s legal and political institutions, the Zaporozhian Cossacks had become a virtually untouchable and semi-privileged military body, with their “Cossack liberties and privileges” officially recognized; and all Cossacks, even those of the towns, began to consider themselves as Zaporozhians from “Down Under.” Most had spent time in the Sich and took part in Zaporozhian expeditions, but the Royal Charter of 1572 established the Sich as the undisputed Cossack center.

Three hundred Cossacks from the lower Dnipro region were also recruited by Jazlowiecky, with a quarterly payment of two and a half gold zlotys, and woolen cloth. The draft of the “registered Cossacks” as they became known was intended both to put an end to the raids on Tatar territory and to provide future border guards against Tatar raids. The number accepted on the royal payroll was negligible, and attacks by the non-registered Cossacks on Muslim territory continued. The strength of the Zaporozhian Cossacks had increased to several thousand, particularly in the summer months when many came to hunt, gather honey, and dry fish. The Sich was now protected with artillery and a permanent garrison of several hundred Cossacks, but larger forces would gather periodically to “inflict considerable damage to the Turks and Tatars. Several times already they have destroyed Ochakov, Tehin (Bendery) and other fortresses.”11

The Cossacks in the Sich had elected a Hetman who became known for the scale of his campaigns, a minor prince from Volin by the name of Ruzhinsky. “Bohdan Ruzhinsky, Hetman of the Cossacks of the Lower Dnipro Region … who abandoned the luxuries of the world (and) stands as a valiant lion with his right hand raised to engage the pagans in a bloody banquet,” we are told by a contemporary Polish writer.12 When the Tatars launched a devastating attack on Ukraine, Volin and Galicia in 1575 Ruzhinsky followed the horde, as it was returning to the Crimea loaded with booty. Entering the peninsula he proceeded to destroy all which lay in his path, killing Muslims who fell into his hands. This was the largest attack on the Crimea to date, involving 3,000 Cossacks as later claimed by the Khan. The following year at the request of Tsar Ivan IV (“The Terrible”) and provided with ample supplies, Ruzhinsky again attacked Tatar forces in the lower Dnipro region, obliging them to turn back from an intended invasion of Muscovy. Laying siege to the Tatar stronghold of Aslan Kerman, Ruzhinsky was accidentally killed by a mine which the Cossacks had laid under the walls of the fortress which had exploded prematurely. In January of the following year a Zaporozhian ataman, Jakiv Shach, attacked a Tatar envoy from Moscow who was stripped of the rich gifts he was bringing to the Khan. Outraged at the attack the Khan again invaded Kyiv and Bila Tserka, destroying Bar and other smaller outposts; but in

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.