Video on the topic
Story
Early history
The path of the Russians to the Caucasus opened under Ivan the Terrible after the annexation of the Astrakhan Khanate (1556) and the marriage of the tsar to the Kabardian princess Maria Temryukovna (1561). By this time, the Cossacks on the Terek, Sunzha and Agrakhani had already lived for at least a century. Some researchers associate the appearance of the Sunzha (Grebensky) and Agrakhan (Caspian) Cossacks with the Ushkuin Pomors who migrated along the Volga and Caspian Sea in the 13th-14th centuries. In 1563, the governor of Pleshcheev, at the head of 500 archers, found himself on the Terek River for the first time. Following the archers, the Volga Cossacks (descendants of the Don Cossacks) find themselves on the Terek, disturbing the Nogai Murza Tinekhmat (the territory of the western Caspian region north of the Terek was called the Nogai steppe). In 1567, in the area of modern Kizlyar, Russian governors built the Terek city, which they had to leave under pressure from Turkey. In 1577, Russians from Astrakhan again revived the Terek city; the influx of people to the Terek was associated with repressions against the Volga Cossacks of the steward Ivan Murashkin. It is noteworthy that the Terek Cossacks trace their seniority back to this time. However, the border between the Russian state and the Kumyk Shamkhalate was unclear. During the unsuccessful campaign of Prince Khvorostin to Dagestan (1594) about 1000 Terek Cossacks joined the Russian army. No less unsuccessful was the campaign of governor Buturlin (1604), which was also joined by the Terek Cossacks. However, the failures of the governor turned the Terek into a relatively free place for the Cossacks. In 1606, it was on the Terek that the rebel Ilya (Ileika) Muromets gathered his forces. Meanwhile, Turkey is losing its influence on the banks of the Terek, and Muslim Nogais are being forced out of the steppes of the North Caucasus by Buddhist Kalmyks. By the turn of the 16th-17th centuries, four Cossack cities were known on the Terek and Sunzha - Terki, Tyumen, Sunzha (on the site of present-day Grozny) and Andrey (now the village of Enderey in Dagestan). As a result of the campaigns of the Iranian army of Khosrow Khan (1651-1653), many Cossack settlements on the Terek cease to exist, and the Cossacks themselves go into the shadow of the pro-Russian Kabarda, which is fighting both against the Dagestan Kumyks and the Kuban Nogais. Probably, it was then that the Terek Cossacks began to be called Grebensky, that is, mountainous, living on the “ridge” (Tersky ridge): in the area between the Terek and Sunzha rivers. The Terek Cossacks acquired their originality by adopting elements of the culture, genotype and anthropotype of the local Caucasian tribes (Ossetians, Circassians, Georgians, Armenians, Kabardians, Chechens and Kumyks).
Grebensky Cossack Army
North Caucasus in the 18th century
In 1711, some revival began among the Greben Cossacks. They begin to settle down along the banks of the Terek. New Cossack towns are being built, now known as villages: Chervlennaya, Shchedrinskaya, Novogladovskaya, Starogladovskaya and Kurdyukovskaya. These towns, named after the surnames or nicknames of the atamans, stretch along the left bank of the Terek. In 1717, ataman Basmanov is mentioned, who, at the head of 500 Greben Cossacks, takes part in the Khiva campaign of Prince Bekovich-Cherkassky.
At the same time, the Cossacks lost their freedom, turning into an orderly army, which was first subordinate to the Astrakhan governor, and then (from 1721) to the Military Collegium in St. Petersburg.
In 1723, to replace the abolished old Russian fortresses in the North Caucasus, the fortress of the Holy Cross was founded, after which Kizlyar was built in 1735. Don Cossacks settled near it, who later formed the “Tersk-Family Army” (different from the Greben Cossacks, but also a Terek army). The following towns and villages are known: Aleksandrovskaya, Borozdinskaya, Kargalinskaya, Dubovskaya.
Russo-Turkish War
Astrakhan Cossack Army
In 1776, Grebenskoye, Volga, Tersko-Kizlyar and Tersko-Semeynoye Cossack army became part of the Astrakhan Cossack Army. The post-war period is used for the construction of new villages: Ekateringradskaya, Pavlovskaya, Maryinskaya and Cossack settlements at the fortresses of Georgievskaya and Aleksandrovskaya at the expense of the second half of the Volga regiment. In 1784, after Georgia was accepted under the protectorate of Russia, Vladikavkaz was founded on the eve of the Daryal Gorge - a key place on the road leading to Transcaucasia.
Caucasian linear Cossack army
In 1786, the Grebenskoye, Terskoye-Semeynoye, Volga and Terek Cossack troops and the Mozdok Cossack regiment were separated from Astrakhan army and together with the Khopersky Cossack regiment they received the name of the Cossacks settled by the Caucasian line.
In 1845, construction began on a new cordon line along the Sunzha River. appeared a large number of new villages - Vladikavkazskaya, Novo-Sunzhenskaya, Aki-Yurtovskaya, Feldmarshalskaya, Terskaya, Karabulakskaya, Troitskaya, Mikhailovskaya and others. The 1st Sunzhensky and 2nd Vladikavkaz Cossack regiments were formed from the Cossacks of these villages. And from the Cossack villages of Samashki, Zakan-Yurt, Alkhan-Yurt, Grozny, Petropavlovskaya, Dzhalkinskaya, Umakhan-Yurt and Goryachevodskaya the 2nd Sunzhensky Regiment was formed.
Symbolism
The flags of the Terek Cossack regiments were a blue cloth with silver embroidery. From the inscriptions the slogan was used: God is with us, from the images the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands or a black double-headed eagle against the background of an orange medallion
In uniform, Terek Cossacks use black and light blue colors:
Religion
Terek Cossacks were Christians of both Orthodox and Old Believers. The largest center of Old Believers on the Terek long time the village of Chervlennaya remained. They practiced baptism and rejected smoking and shaving their beards.
Military units
- 1st Kizlyar-Grebenskaya Regiment of General Ermolov. Dislocation - Grozny, Terek region. Led by a colonel.
- 2nd Kizlyar-Grebensky Regiment.
- 3rd Kizlyar-Grebensky Regiment.
- 1st Volga Regiment of His Imperial Highness the Heir to the Tsarevich. Dislocation - Khotyn, Bessarabian province. (07/1/1903), Kamenets-Podolsk (02/1/1913, 04/1/1914).
- 2nd Volga Regiment.
- 3rd Volga Regiment.
- 1st Gorsko-Mozdok Regiment of General Krukovsky. Dislocation - Olty m., Kara region.
- 2nd Gorsko-Mozdok Regiment.
- 3rd Gorsko-Mozdok Regiment.
- 1st Sunzhensko-Vladikavkaz Regiment of General Sleptsov. Dislocation - ur. Khan-Kendy of Elisavetgrad province.
- 2nd Sunzhensko-Vladikavkaz Regiment.
- 3rd Sunzhensko-Vladikavkaz Regiment.
- Terek local teams
- Terek Cossack Artillery:
- 1st Terek Cossack Battery
- 2nd Terek Cossack Battery
- Own His Imperial Majesty Convoy 3 and 4 hundreds. Dislocation - Tsarskoe Selo (02/1/1913). The standard was taken abroad during the Civil War and is now in the Life Cossack Museum near Paris.
Farm
Number
Terek River basin
Settlement
Terek Cossacks historically lived in villages in the North Caucasus (Terek River basin), which were territorially united into departments. In addition to the villages, a farmstead was considered a small settlement. By 1917, the territory of the Terek Cossacks consisted of regimental departments: Pyatigorsk, Kizlyar, Sunzhensky, Mozdok, and the mountainous part was divided into districts: Nalchik, Vladikavkaz, Vedensky, Grozny, Nazran and Khasav-Yurtovsky. Regional center in Vladikavkaz, department centers in Pyatigorsk, Mozdok, Kizlyar and the village of Starosunzhenskaya.
Terek Cossack. Postcard from the French emigrant publication from the Russian Army series (Tersk Cossack Army. 1st Volga Regiment)
Historical departments
Kizlyar department was located in the modern territories of the northern part of Dagestan (Kizlyarsky and Tarumovsky districts) and Chechnya (Grozny, Gudermessky, Naursky and Shelkovsky districts) and included the following villages: Alexandriyskaya, Alexandro-Nevskaya,
In the development of any nation, moments arose when a certain ethnic group separated and thereby created a separate cultural layer. In some cases, such cultural elements coexisted peacefully with their nation and the world as a whole, in others they fought for an equal place in the sun. An example of such a warlike ethnic group can be considered such a stratum of society as the Cossacks. Representatives of this cultural group have always been distinguished by a special worldview and very intense religiosity. Today, scientists cannot figure out whether this ethnic layer of the Slavic people is a separate nation. The history of the Cossacks dates back to the distant 15th century, when the states of Europe were mired in internecine wars and dynastic coups.
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 more precisely, 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 Territory). 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 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. The culture of the Don Cossacks has been preserved in our time. On the territory of the modern Russian Federation there are about 140 thousand people who record their nationality as “Cossacks”.
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.
Bubnov - Taras Bulba
In 1907, an argot dictionary was published in France, in which the following aphorism was given in the article “Russian”: “Scratch a Russian and you will find a Cossack, scratch a Cossack and you will find a bear.”
This aphorism is attributed to Napoleon himself, who actually described the Russians as barbarians and identified them as such with the Cossacks - as did many French, who could call hussars, Kalmyks or Bashkirs Cossacks. In some cases, this word could even become synonymous with light cavalry.
How little we know about the Cossacks.
In a narrow sense, the image of a Cossack is inextricably linked with the image of brave and freedom-loving men with a stern warlike look, an earring in the left ear, a long mustache and a hat on their head. And this is more than reliable, but not enough. Meanwhile, the history of the Cossacks is very unique and interesting. And in this article we will try to very superficially, but at the same time meaningfully understand and understand - who the Cossacks are, what is their peculiarity and uniqueness, and how much the history of Russia is inextricably linked with the original culture and history of the Cossacks.
Today it is very difficult to understand the theories of the origin of not only the Cossacks, but also the word-term “Cossack” itself. Researchers, scientists and experts today cannot give a definite and accurate answer - who the Cossacks are and from whom they came.
But at the same time, there are many more or less probable theories and versions of the origin of the Cossacks. Today there are more than 18 of them - and these are only the official versions. Each of them has many convincing scientific arguments, advantages and disadvantages.
However, all theories are divided into two main groups:
- theory of the fugitive (migration) emergence of the Cossacks.
- autochthonous, that is, local, indigenous origin of the Cossacks.
According to autochthonous theories, the ancestors of the Cossacks lived in Kabarda and were descendants of the Caucasian Circassians (Cherkasy, Yasy). This theory of the origin of the Cossacks is also called Eastern. It was this that one of the most famous Russian orientalist historians and ethnologists, V. Shambarov and L. Gumilyov, took as the basis of their evidence base.
In their opinion, 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.
Dean of the Faculty of History of Moscow State University S. P. Karpov, working in the archives of Venice and Genoa, I found there references to Cossacks with Turkic and Armenian names, which protected the medieval city of Tana* and other Italian colonies in the Northern Black Sea region from raids.
*Tana- a medieval city on the left bank of the Don, in the region modern city Azov (Rostov region of the Russian Federation). Existed in XII-XV centuries under the rule of the Italian trading republic of Genoa.
Some of the first mentions of the Cossacks, according to the eastern version, are reflected in the legend, the author of which was Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Stefan Yavorsky (1692):
“In 1380, the Cossacks presented Dmitry Donskoy with an icon of the Don Mother of God and took part in the battle against Mamai on the Kulikovo Field.”
According to migration theories, the ancestors of the Cossacks are freedom-loving Russian people who fled beyond the borders of the Russian and Polish-Lithuanian states either due to natural historical reasons or under the influence of social antagonisms.
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 Slavic lands, there 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 the spiritual life and appearance of the Russian Cossacks.”
And the historian Karamzin advocated a mixed version of the origin of 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. More and more multiplying in numbers, nourishing the spirit of independence and brotherhood, the Cossacks formed a military Christian Republic in southern countries Dnieper, they began to build villages and fortresses in these places devastated by the Tatars; 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 the lands above the Dnieper rapids, where the city of Cherkassy was named after them..."
I would not like to go into details, listing all the official and unofficial versions of the origin of the Cossacks. Firstly, it’s long and not always interesting. Secondly, most theories are only versions, hypotheses. There is no clear answer about the origin and origin of the Cossacks as a distinctive ethnic group. It is important to understand something else - the process of formation of the Cossacks was long and complex, and it is obvious that at its core representatives of different ethnic groups were mixed. And it’s hard to disagree with Karamzin.
Some orientalist historians believe that the ancestors of the Cossacks were Tatars, and that supposedly the first detachments of Cossacks fought on the side against Rus' in the Battle of Kulikovo. Others, on the contrary, argue that the Cossacks were already on the side of Rus' at that time. Some refer to legends and myths about bands of Cossacks - robbers, whose main trade was robbery, robbery, theft...
For example, the satirist Zadornov, explaining the origin of the well-known children’s yard game “Cossacks-robbers,” refers to “unbridled by the free character of the Cossack class, which was “the most violent, uneducable Russian class.”
It’s hard to believe this, because in the memory of my childhood, each of the boys preferred to play for the Cossacks. And the name of the game is taken from life, since its rules imitate reality: in Tsarist Russia, the Cossacks were people's self-defense, protecting civilians from raids by robbers.
It is possible that the original basis of the early Cossack groups contained various ethnic elements. But for contemporaries, the Cossacks evoke something native, Russian. I remember the famous speech of Taras Bulba:
The first Cossack communities
It is known that the first Cossack communities began to form back in the 15th century (although some sources refer to an earlier time). These were communities of free Don, Dnieper, Volga and Greben Cossacks.
A little later, in the 1st half of the 16th century, the Zaporozhye Sich was formed. In the 2nd half of the same century - communities of free Terek and Yaik, and at the end of the century - Siberian Cossacks.
On early stages existence of the Cossacks, the main types of their economic activity were trades (hunting, fishing, beekeeping), later cattle breeding, and from the 2nd half. 17th century - agriculture. War booty played a major role, and later government salaries. Through military and economic colonization, the Cossacks quickly mastered the vast expanses of the Wild Field, then the outskirts of Russia and Ukraine.
In the XVI-XVII centuries. Cossacks led by Ermak Timofeevich, V.D. Poyarkov, V.V. Atlasov, S.I. Dezhnev, E.P. Khabarov and other explorers participated in the successful development of Siberia and the Far East. Perhaps these are the most famous firsts reliable references to the Cossacks, beyond doubt.
V. I. Surikov “Conquest of Siberia by Ermak” Found a mistake? Select it and press left Ctrl+Enter.
COSSACKS (from the Turkic Cossack, Cossack - daredevil, free man), socio-ethnic and historical communities of people that formed on the southern outskirts of Russian lands in the 14th century.
From the beginning of the 15th century, the Cossacks began to serve the Russian state, forming the service Cossacks. As abatis and border fortified lines were created on the southern, southeastern and eastern borders of the Russian state, the categories of city Cossacks and stanitsa (guard) Cossacks were formed (see Stanichnaya and guard service). Since the 16th century, the Cossacks were under the jurisdiction of the Razryadny Prikaz, and then the Cossack Prikaz (17th century). In the 1st half of the 16th century, the Zaporozhye Sich was formed in Ukraine, in the 2nd half of the 16th century - communities of Terek Cossacks and serving Siberian Cossacks, and on the border with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - a special category of Ukrainian Cossacks who were in the service of the Polish government, the so-called registered Cossacks. In the mid-17th century, the Sloboda Cossacks formed on the territory of Eastern Ukraine (see Sloboda Cossacks). The Cossacks actively participated in the development of new lands in the South of Russia, Siberia and the Far East (V.V. Atlasov, I.Yu. Moskvitin, I.I. Kamchatoy, I.A. Rebrov, M.V. Stadukhin, etc.).
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Cossacks enjoyed broad autonomy. All the most important matters were decided on the military circle. The communities were headed by elected atamans. The government gradually limited autonomy Cossack regions, striving for the complete subjugation of the Cossacks. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Cossacks stubbornly defended their freedom and actively participated in the uprisings of the 17th and 18th centuries; From their midst came S. T. Razin, K. A. Bulavin and E. I. Pugachev. Some of the Don Cossacks, after the defeat of the Bulavin uprising of 1707-09, went to the Kuban and then to the Ottoman Empire (see Nekrasovtsy). At the beginning of the 18th century, Cossack communities were transformed into Cossack irregular troops, and the Cossacks became the military class of the Russian Empire. In 1723, the election of military atamans and foremen was eliminated, who began to be appointed by the government and called nakazny (appointed). After the suppression of the Pugachev uprising of 1773-75, the Zaporozhye Sich was abolished. In the 2nd half of the 18th - 19th centuries, a number of Cossack troops were abolished and new ones were created, completely subordinate to the government: Astrakhan (1750), Orenburg (1755), Black Sea (1787-1860), Siberian (1808), Caucasian linear (1832-60 ), Transbaikal (1851), Amur (1858), Kuban (1860), Tersk (1860), Semirechenskoe (1867), Ussuriyskoe (1889). The position of the Cossacks as a closed class was consolidated under Emperor Nicholas I. Cossacks were forbidden to marry members of the non-Cossack population, and leaving the military class was prohibited (allowed in 1869). The Cossacks received a number of privileges: exemption from poll tax and zemstvo tax, the right to duty-free trade within military territory, special rights for the use of state-owned lands and lands (fishing, salt extraction, etc.). The economic situation of the Cossacks was based on the system of Cossack land ownership that developed in the 19th century (see Cossack lands).
By the beginning of the 20th century, there were 11 Cossack troops in the Russian Empire (Don, Kuban, Terek, Astrakhan, Ural, Orenburg, Semirechenskoe, Siberian, Transbaikal, Amur, Ussuri); the total number of Cossacks exceeded 4.4 million people, including about 480 thousand service personnel (1916). In 1917, the Yenisei Cossack Army was formed from Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk Cossacks. All Cossack troops were militarily and administratively subordinated to the Ministry of War through the Main Directorate of Cossack Troops (since 1879), and since 1910 - through the Cossack Department of the General Staff. The Yakut Cossack Regiment was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Since 1827, the ataman of the Cossack troops was the heir to the throne. In the Don Cossack Army, the position of the appointed ataman was independent; in other troops, the appointed ataman was the governor general or the commander of the military forces. Under the ataman, there was a military headquarters that managed the affairs of the army through the atamans of departments or districts. Village and farm atamans were elected at assemblies.
From the age of 18, Cossacks were obliged to carry out military service, which lasted 20 years [according to the Charter of Military Service dated April 17 (29), 1875 for the Don Army, later extended to other troops]: the first 3 years in the preparatory category, then 12 years in the combat class, 5 years in reserve, after which the Cossacks were enlisted in the militia for 10 years. In 1909, the service life was reduced to 18 years by reducing the preparatory category to 1 year. A Cossack was required to show up for military service with his uniform and equipment. The Cossacks participated in all Russian military campaigns of the 18th-20th centuries. He distinguished himself in the wars: Seven Years 1756-1763, Patriotic 1812, Caucasian 1817-64, Crimean 1853-56, Russian-Turkish. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, the Cossacks were widely used to ensure state security and law and order. Since the era of Emperor Nicholas I, state power has headed towards the unification of the Cossack troops. In 1875, under Emperor Alexander II, Cossack regiments were included in the regular cavalry divisions. By the end of the 19th century, the requirements for the combat training of the Cossacks, the quality of their weapons and equipment, and the level of mobilization readiness of the Cossack units increased significantly, which led to an increase in the Cossacks’ costs for self-equipment (purchase of a combat horse and uniform) and the impoverishment of the Cossacks. The disappearance of the immediate military threat led to the peasantization of the Cossacks - the so-called natural historical decossackization.
After the February Revolution of 1917, elected authorities were created on the territory of the troops, and the process of autonomization of the Cossack troops began, which strengthened the class isolation and isolation of the Cossacks. During the Civil War of 1917-22, the Cossacks split into two irreconcilable camps. The absolute majority of the Cossacks ended up in the ranks of the white armies and fought under the command of A.P. Bogaevsky, A.I. Dutov, A.M. Kaledin, P.N. Krasnov, K.K. Mamontov, G.M. Semenov, A. G. Shkuro. In the ranks of the Red Army, the Cossacks fought under the command of S. M. Budyonny, B. M. Dumenko, N. D. Kashirin, F. K. Mironov. The Cossack Department was created as a governing body for the “red” Cossacks under the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. Some troops (Don, Kuban, Ural, Orenburg) had their own Cossack armies, state symbols, and legislative acts that established military autonomy. After the defeat of the White armies, tens of thousands of Cossacks were forced to emigrate (see Cossack Unions). The Cossacks were the only organized numerous social group, whose representatives were generally anti-Bolshevik, had combat experience and organization, so it was subjected to mass terror and forced deportations. In 1920, by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the laws of the RSFSR on land were extended to Cossack lands, which was the legislative abolition of the Cossacks.
On April 20, 1936, the USSR Central Executive Committee abolished the restrictions on service in the Red Army that had existed since 1922 for the Cossacks, and Cossack cavalry divisions were created. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45, Cossack units fought on the fronts - in April 1942, from the Cossack volunteers of the Don and Kuban, the 17th (from August 27 - 4th Guards) Cossack Cavalry Corps was formed, which on November 20, 1942 was divided into 4 - 1st Guards Kuban Cossack and 5th Guards Don Cossack Cavalry Corps (disbanded in 1947). Since the beginning of the 1990s, the revival of the Cossacks in Russia began on the basis of the RSFSR Law of April 26, 1991 “On the Rehabilitation of Repressed Peoples” and the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of June 15, 1992 on measures to implement this law in relation to the Cossacks. In January 1996, the Main Directorate of Cossack Troops under the President of the Russian Federation was created, which in 1998 was transformed into the Directorate of the President of the Russian Federation for Cossack Issues.
Lit.: Khoroshkhin M.P. Cossack troops. Experience in military statistical description. St. Petersburg, 1881; McNeal R. N. Tsar and cossack, 1855-1914. L.; Oxf., 1987; History of the Cossacks of Asian Russia. Ekaterinburg, 1995. T. 1-3; Holquist R. Making war, forging revolution. Russia’s continuum of crisis, 1914-1921. Camb.; L., 2002; Russian Cossacks/ Rep. editor T.V. Tabolina. M., 2003.
Cossacks
Origin of the Cossacks.
09:42 December 16, 2016Cossacks are a people formed at the beginning new era, as a result genetic connections between many Turanian (Siberian) tribes of the Scythian people Kos-Saka (or Ka-Saka), the Azov Slavs Meoto-Kaisars with a mixture of Ases-Alans or Tanaites (Donts). The ancient Greeks called them kossakha, which meant “white sahi,” and the Scythian-Iranian meaning “kos-sakha” was “white deer.” The sacred deer is the solar symbol of the Scythians; it can be found in all their burials, from Primorye to China, from Siberia to Europe. It was the Don people who brought this ancient military symbol of the Scythian tribes to the present day. Here you will find out where the Cossacks got their shaved head with a forelock and drooping mustache, and why the bearded prince Svyatoslav changed his appearance. You will also learn the origin of many names of the Cossacks, Don, Grebensky, Brodniks, Black Klobuks, etc., where the Cossack military paraphernalia, papakha, knife, Circassian coat, gazyri came from. And you will also understand why the Cossacks were called Tatars, where Genghis Khan came from, why the Battle of Kulikovo took place, Batu’s invasion and who really was behind all this.
“Cossacks, an ethnic, social and historical community (group), which, due to their specific characteristics, united all Cossacks... Cossacks were defined as a separate ethnic group, an independent nationality, or as a special nation of mixed Turkic-Slavic origin.” Dictionary of Cyril and Methodius 1902.
As a result of processes that in archeology are usually called “the introduction of the Sarmatians into the Meotian environment,” in the North. In the Caucasus and Don, a mixed Slavic-Turanian type of a special nationality appeared, divided into many tribes. It was from this mixture that the original name “Cossack” came about, which was noted by the ancient Greeks back in ancient times and was written as “Kossakhi”. The Greek style Kasakos remained until the 10th century, after which Russian chroniclers began to mix it with the common Caucasian names Kasagov, Kasogov, Kazyag. But from the ancient Turkic “Kai-Sak” (Scythian) meant freedom-loving, in another sense - a warrior, a guard, an ordinary unit of the Horde. It was the Horde that became the unification of different tribes under a military union - whose name today is Cossacks. The most famous: “Golden Horde”, “Pied Horde of Siberia”. So the Cossacks, remembering their great past, when their ancestors lived beyond the Urals in the country of Assov (Great Asia), inherited their name of the people “Cossacks”, from As and Saki, from the Aryan “as” - warrior, military class, “sak” - by type of weapon: from sak, sech, cutters. "As-sak" was later transformed into a Cossack. And the name Caucasus itself is Kau-k-az from the ancient Iranian kau or kuu - mountain and az-as, i.e. Mount Azov (Asov), like the city of Azov, was called in Turkish and Arabic: Assak, Adzak, Kazak, Kazova, Kazava and Azak.
All ancient historians claim that the Scythians were the best warriors, and Svydas testifies that from ancient times they had banners in their troops, which proves the regularity of their militias. The Getae of Siberia, Western Asia, the Hittites of Egypt, the Aztecs, India, Byzantium, had a coat of arms depicting a double-headed eagle on their banners and shields, accepted by Russia in the 15th century as a legacy of their glorious ancestors.
It is interesting that the tribes of the Scythian peoples depicted on the artifacts found in Siberia, on the Russian Plain, are shown with beards and long hair on their heads. Russian princes, rulers, and warriors are also bearded and hairy. So where did the Oseledets come from, with a shaved head with a forelock and a drooping mustache?
The custom of head shaving was completely alien to European peoples, including the Slavs, while in the east it had been widespread for a long time and very widely, including among the Turkic-Mongolian tribes. So the hairstyle with the assailant was borrowed from the eastern peoples. In 1253 it was described by Rubruk in the Golden Horde of Batu on the Volga.
So, we can say with confidence that the custom of shaving the head of the Slavs in Rus' and Europe was completely alien and unacceptable. It was first brought to Ukraine by the Huns, and for centuries it was in use among the mixed Turkic tribes living on the Ukrainian lands - Avars, Khazars, Pechenegs, Polovtsians, Mongols, Turks, etc., until it was finally borrowed by the Zaporozhye Cossacks along with all the other Turkic-Mongol traditions of the Sich . But where does the word “Sich” come from? This is what Strabo writes. ХI.8,4:
“All southern Scythians attacking Western Asia were called Sakas.” The weapon of the Sakas was called sakar - ax, from slash, to chop. From this word, in all likelihood, came the name of the Zaporozhye Sich, as well as the word Sicheviki, as the Cossacks called themselves. Sich is the camp of the Saks. Sak in the Tatar language means careful. Sakal - beard. These words are borrowed from the Slavs, Masaks, and Massagets.
In ancient times, during the mixing of the blood of the Caucasians of Siberia with the Mongoloids, new mestizo peoples began to form, which later received the name Turks, and this was long before the emergence of Islam itself and their adoption of the Mohammedan faith. As a result of these peoples and their migration to the West and Asia, a new name appeared, defining them as the Huns (Huns). From the discovered Hunnic burials, a reconstruction was made from the skull and it turned out that some Hunnic warriors wore oseledets. The ancient Bulgars later had the same warriors with forelocks, who fought in the army of Attila, and many other peoples mixed with the Turks.
By the way, the Hunnic “devastation of the world” played an important role in the history of the Slavic ethnic group. Unlike the Scythian, Sarmatian and Gothic invasions, the invasion of the Huns was extremely large-scale and led to the destruction of the entire previous ethnopolitical situation in the barbarian world. The departure of the Goths and Sarmatians to the west, and then the collapse of Attila’s empire, allowed the Slavic peoples in the 5th century. begin mass settlement of the Northern Danube, the lower reaches of the Dniester and the middle reaches of the Dnieper.
Among the Huns there was also a group (self-name - Gurs) - Bolgurs (White Gurs). After the defeat in Phanagoria (Savernaya Black Sea region, Don-Volga interfluve and Kuban), part of the Bulgarians went to Bulgaria and, strengthening the Slavic ethnic component, became modern Bulgarians, the other part remained on the Volga - the Volga Bulgarians, now the Kazan Tatars and other Volga peoples. One part of the Hungurs (Hunno-Gurs) - the Ungars or Ugrians - founded Hungary, the other part of them settled on the Volga and, mixing with Finnish-speaking peoples, became Finno-Ugric peoples. When the Mongols came from the east, they, with the agreements of the Kyiv prince, went to the west and merged with the Ungars-Hungarians. That's why we talk about Finnish-Ugric language group, but this does not apply to the Huns in general.
During the formation of the Turkic peoples, entire states appeared, for example, from the mixing of the Caucasoids of Siberia, the Dinlins, with the Gangun Turks, the Yenisei Kirghiz appeared, from them - the Kyrgyz Kaganate, after - the Turkic Kaganate. We all know the Khazar Kaganate, which became a union of the Khazar Slavs with the Turks and Jews. From all these endless unifications and separations of the Slavic peoples with the Turks, many new tribes were created, for example, the Pechenegs and Cumans suffered for a long time from the raids state association Slavs
For example, according to Genghis Khan's law "Yasu", developed by the cultured Central Asian Christians of the Nestorian sect, and not by the wild Mongols, the hair should be shaved, and only one braid should be left on the top of the head. High-ranking individuals were allowed to wear a beard, while others had to shave it off, leaving only a mustache. But this is not a Tatar custom, but of the ancient Getae (see Chapter VI) and Massagetae, i.e. people known back in the 14th century. BC and brought fear to Egypt, Syria and Persia, and then mentioned in the 6th century. according to R. X. by the Greek historian Procopius. The Massagetae - the Great Saki-Geta, who made up the advanced cavalry in Attila's hordes, also shaved their heads and beards, leaving a mustache, and left one pigtail on top of their head. It is interesting that the military class of the Russians always bore the name Het, and the word “hetman” itself is again of Gothic origin: “great warrior.”
The paintings of the Bulgarian princes and the Liutprand indicate the existence of this custom among the Danube Bulgarians. According to the description of the Greek historian Leo the Deacon, the Russian Grand Duke Svyatoslav also shaved his beard and head, leaving one forelock, i.e. imitated the Geta Cossacks, who made up the advanced cavalry in his army. Consequently, the custom of shaving beards and heads, leaving a mustache and forelock, is not Tatar, since it previously existed among the Getae more than 2 thousand years before the appearance of the Tatars in the historical field.
The already canonical image of Prince Svyatoslav with a shaved head, long forelock and drooping mustache, like a Zaporozhye Cossack, is not entirely correct and was mainly imposed Ukrainian side. His ancestors had luxurious hair and beards, and he himself was depicted in various chronicles as bearded. The description of the forelocked Svyatoslav was taken from the above-mentioned Leo the Deacon, but he became such after he became the prince not only of Kievan Rus, but also the prince of Pechenezh Rus, that is southern Rus'. But why then did the Pechenegs kill him? Here it all comes down to the fact that after Svyatoslav’s victory over the Khazar Kaganate and the war with Byzantium, the Jewish aristocracy decided to take revenge on him and persuaded the Pechenegs to kill him.
Well, also Leo the Deacon in the 10th century, in his “Chronicles,” gives a very interesting description of Svyatoslav: “King of the Goths Sventoslav, or Svyatoslav, the ruler of Rus', and the hetman of their army, was of the origin of the Balts, the Rurikids (the Balts are the royal dynasty of the Western Goths. From this dynasty was Alaric, who took Rome.)... His mother, regentess Helga, after the death of her husband Ingvar, killed by the Greuthungs, whose capital was Iskorost, wanted to unite under the scepter of the Balts the two dynasties of the ancient Riks, and turned to Malfred, the Riks of the Greuthungs , give her sister Malfrida for her son, giving her word that she would forgive Malfred for the death of her husband. Having received a refusal, the city of the Greuthungs was burned by her, and the Greuthungs themselves submitted... Malfrida was escorted to Helga's court, where she was raised until did not grow up and did not become the wife of King Sventoslav..."
In this story, the names of Prince Mal and Malusha, the mother of Prince Vladimir the Baptist, are clearly visible. It is curious that the Greek persistently called the Drevlyans Greuthungs - one of the Gothic tribes, and not Drevlyans at all.
Well, we’ll leave this to the conscience of the later ideologists, who did not notice these same Goths. Let us only note that Malfrida-Malusha was from Iskorosten-Korosten (Zhitomir region). Next - again Leo the Deacon: “Sventoslav’s mounted warriors fought without helmets and on light horses of Scythian breeds. Each of his Rus warriors had no hair on their heads, only a long strand that went down to the ear - a symbol of their military god. They fought furiously on horseback, descendants of those Gothic regiments that brought great Rome to its knees. These horsemen of Sventoslav were gathered from the allied tribes of the Greuthungs, Slavs and Rosomons, they were also called in Gothic: “kosaks” - “horseman”, that is, and among the Rus they were the elite, themselves The Russians, from their Gothic fathers, inherited the ability to fight on foot, hiding behind shields - the famous "turtle" of the Vikings. The Russians buried their fallen in the same way as their Gothic grandfathers, burning the bodies on their canoes or on the banks of the river, in order to then let the ashes fall on flow. And those who died by their own death were laid in mounds, and hills were poured on top. Among the Goths, such resting places in their land sometimes stretch for hundreds of stadia..."
We will not figure out why the chronicler calls the Rus Goths. And there are countless burial mounds throughout the Zhytomyr region. Among them there are also very ancient ones - Scythian, even before our era. They are mainly located in the northern regions of the Zhytomyr region. And there are also later ones, from the beginning of our era, IV-V centuries. In the area of the Zhytomyr hydropark, for example. As we see, the Cossacks existed long before the Zaporozhye Sich.
And here is what Georgy Sidorov says about the changed appearance of Svyatoslav: “The Pechenegs chose him over themselves, after the defeat of the Khazar Kaganate, he becomes a prince here, that is, the Pecheneg khans themselves recognize his power over themselves. They give him the opportunity to control the Pecheneg cavalry, and the Pecheneg cavalry goes with him to Byzantium.
In order for the Pechenegs to submit to him, he was forced to take on their appearance, which is why, instead of a beard and long hair, he has an asshole and a drooping mustache. Svyatoslav was a Veneti by blood, his father did not wear a forelock, he had a beard and long hair, like any Veneti. Rurik, his grandfather, was the same, and Oleg was exactly the same, but they did not adapt their appearance to the Pechenegs. In order to control the Pechenegs, so that they would trust him, Svyatoslav had to put himself in order, to be outwardly similar to them, that is, he became the khan of the Pechenegs. We are constantly divided, Rus' is the north, the south is the Polovtsy, the wild steppe and the Pechenegs. In fact, it was all one Rus', steppe, taiga and forest-steppe - it was one people, one language. The only difference was that in the south they still knew the Turkic language, it was once Esperanto of the ancient tribes, they brought it from the East, and the Cossacks knew this language too, preserving it until the 20th century."
In Horde Rus' it was used not only Slavic writing, but also Arabic. Until the end of the 16th century, Russians had a good command of the Turkic language at the everyday level, i.e. Until then, the Turkic language was the second spoken language in Rus'. And this was facilitated by the unification of the Slavic-Turkic tribes into a union whose name is the Cossacks. After the Romanovs came to power in 1613, they, due to the freedom and rebellion of the Cossack tribes, began to propagate a myth about them as the Tatar-Mongol “yoke” in Rus' and contempt for everything “Tatar”. There was a time when Christians, Slavs and Muslims prayed in the same temple; this was common faith. There is one God, but different religions, and then everyone was divided and taken in different directions.
The origins of ancient Slavic military vocabulary date back to the era of Slavic-Turkic unity. This still unusual term is provable: sources provide reasons for this. And first of all - a dictionary. A number of designations for the most general concepts of military affairs are derived from ancient Turkic languages. Such as - warrior, boyar, regiment, labor, (meaning war), hunting, roundup, cast iron, iron, damask steel, halberd, axe, hammer, sulitsa, army, banner, saber, brush, quiver, darkness (10 thousandth army ), hurray, let's go, etc. They no longer stand out from the dictionary, these invisible Turkisms that have been tested for centuries. Linguists notice only later, clearly “non-native” inclusions: saadak, horde, bunchuk, guard, esaul, ertaul, ataman, kosh, kuren, bogatyr, biryuch, jalav (banner), snuznik, kolymaga, alpaut, surnach, etc. And the common symbols of the Cossacks, Horde Rus' and Byzantium, tell us that there was something in the historical past that united them all in the fight against the enemy, which is now hidden from us by false layers. Its name is the “Western World” or the Roman Catholic world with papal rule, with its missionary agents, crusaders, Jesuits, but we’ll talk about that later.
As mentioned above, “Oseledets” was first brought to Ukraine by the Huns, and in confirmation of their appearance we find in the Name Book of the Bulgarian Khans, which lists the ancient rulers of the Bulgarian state, including those who ruled in the lands of present-day Ukraine:
“Avitohol lived 300 years, he was born Dulo, and for years I eat dilom tvirem...
These 5 princes reigned over the country of the Danube for 500 years and 15 shorn heads.
And then the prince Isperi came to the country of the Danube, the same as I have hitherto.”
So, facial hair was treated differently: “Some Russians shave their beards, others curl and braid it, like a horse’s mane” (Ibn-Haukal). On the Taman Peninsula, the fashion for Oseledets, later inherited by the Cossacks, became widespread among the “Russian” nobility. The Hungarian Dominican monk Julian, who visited here in 1237, recorded that local “men shave their heads bald and carefully grow beards, except noble people, who, as a sign of nobility, leave a little hair above the left ear, shaving the rest of the head."
And here is how contemporary Procopius of Caesarea described the lightest Gothic cavalry in fragments: “They have little heavy cavalry, long hikes the Goths travel lightly, with little load on their horses, and when the enemy appears, they mount their light horses and attack... The Gothic horsemen call themselves “kosak,” “owning a horse.” As usual, their riders shave their heads, leaving only a long tuft of hair, so they become like their warrior deity - Danaprus. All their deities have their heads shaved in this way, and the Goths rush to imitate them with their appearance... When necessary, this cavalry also fights on foot and here they have no equal... When stopping, the army places carts around the camp for protection, which hold the enemy in case of a sudden attacks..."
Over time, the name “Kosak” was assigned to all these military tribes, whether with forelocks, beards or mustaches, and therefore the original written form of the Cossack name is still fully preserved in English and Spanish pronunciation.
N. Karamzin (1775-1826) calls the Cossacks a knightly people and says that their origins are more ancient than the Batu (Tatar) invasion.
Due to Napoleonic Wars The whole of Europe begins to take a special interest in the Cossacks. The English General Nolan states: “The Cossacks in 1812-1815 did more for Russia than its entire army.” The French general Caulaincourt says: “All of Napoleon’s numerous cavalry died, mainly under the blows of the Cossacks of Ataman Platov.” The generals repeat the same thing: de Braque, Moran, de Bart, etc. Napoleon himself said: “Give me the Cossacks, and with them I will conquer the whole world.” And the simple Cossack Zemlyanukhin, during his stay in London, made a huge impression on the whole of England.
The Cossacks saved everything distinctive features, received by them from their ancient ancestors, is the love of freedom, the ability to organize, self-esteem, honesty, courage, love of the horse...
Some concepts of the origin of Cossack names
Horsemen of Asia - the most ancient Siberian army, originating from the Slavic-Aryan tribes, i.e. from the Scythians, Saks, Sarmatians, etc. All of them also belong to the Great Turan, and the Turs are the same Scythians. The Persians called the nomadic tribes of the Scythians “Turas,” because for their strong physique and courage, the Scythians themselves began to be associated with the Tura bulls. Similar comparison emphasized the masculinity and bravery of the warriors. So, for example, in Russian chronicles you can find the following expressions: “Brave be, like a tur” or “Buy tur Vsevolod” (this is what is said about Prince Igor’s brother in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”). And this is where the most curious thing arises. It turns out that in the time of Julius Caesar (F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron refer to this in their Encyclopedic Dictionary), the wild bulls of Turov were called “Urus”! ... And today, for the entire Turkic-speaking world, Russians are “Uruses”. For the Persians we were "Urs", for the Greeks - "Scythians", for the British - "cattle", for the rest - "tartarien" (Tatars, wild) and "Uruses". From them came many, the main ones from the Urals, Siberia and ancient india, from where military teachings spread in a distorted form, known to us in China as oriental martial arts.
Later, after regular migrations, some of them populated the Azov and Don steppes and began to be called horse azas or princes (in ancient Slavic, prince - konaz) among the ancient Slavic-Russians, Lithuanians, Aryan peoples of the Volga and Kama, Mordovians and many others from ancient times became the head of the board, forming a special noble caste of warriors. Perkun-az among the Lithuanians and Az among the ancient Scandinavians were revered as deities. And what is konung among the ancient Germans and könig among the Germans, king among the Normans, and kunig-az among the Lithuanians, if not converted from the word horseman, who came out of the land of the Azov-Aces and became the head of the government.
The eastern shores of the Azov and Black Seas, from the lower reaches of the Don to the foot of the Caucasus Mountains, became the cradle of the Cossacks, where they finally formed into the military caste we recognize today. This country was called by all ancient peoples the land of the Az, Asia terra. The word az or as (aza, azi, azen) is sacred to all Aryans; it means god, lord, king or folk hero. In ancient times, the territory beyond the Urals was called Asia. From here, from Siberia, in time immemorial, the people's leaders of the Aryans with their clans or squads came to the north and west of Europe, to the Iranian plateau, the plains of Central Asia and India. For example, historians mention the Andronovo tribes or the Siberian Scythians as one of these, and the ancient Greeks note the Issedons, Sindons, Sers, etc.
Ainu - in ancient times they moved from the Urals through Siberia to Primorye, Amur, America, Japan, known to us today as the Japanese and Sakhalin Ainu. In Japan they created a warrior caste, recognized by everyone today as the samurai. The Bering Strait was formerly called Ainsky (Aninsky, Ansky, Anian Strait), where they inhabited part of North America.
Kai-Saki (not to be confused with Kyrgyz-Kaisak),wandering across the steppes, these are the Cumans, Pechenegs, Yases, Huns, Huns, etc., lived in Siberia, in the Piebald Horde, in the Urals, the Russian Plain, Europe, Asia. From the ancient Turkic "Kai-Sak" (Scythian), it meant freedom-loving, in another sense - a warrior, a guard, an ordinary unit of the Horde. Among the Siberian Scythians-Sakas, "kos-saka or kos-sakha", this is a warrior, whose symbol is a totemic animal deer, sometimes elk, with branched antlers, which symbolized speed, fiery tongues of flame and the shining sun.
Among the Siberian Turks, the Solar God was designated through his intermediaries - the swan and the goose; later the Khazar Slavs would adopt the symbol of the goose from them, and then on historical scene the hussars will appear.
But Kirgis-Kaisaki,or Kyrgyz Cossacks, these are today's Kyrgyz and Kazakhs. They are descendants of the Ganguns and Dinlins. So, in the first half of the 1st millennium AD. e. on the Yenisei (Minusinsk Basin), as a result of the mixing of these tribes, a new ethnic community- Yenisei Kyrgyz.
In their historical homeland, in Siberia, they created a powerful state - the Kyrgyz Kaganate. In ancient times, this people was noted by the Arabs, Chinese and Greeks as blond and blue-eyed, but at a certain stage they began to take Mongolian women as wives and in just a thousand years changed their appearance. It's interesting that in percentage The Kyrgyz haplogroup R1A is larger than that of the Russians, but you should know that the genetic code is transmitted through the male line, and external characteristics are determined through the female line.
Russian chroniclers begin to mention them only from the first half of the 16th century, calling them Horde Cossacks. The character of the Kyrgyz people is direct and proud. Kirghiz-Kaysak only calls himself a natural Cossack, without recognizing this for others. Among the Kirghiz there are all transitional degrees of types, from purely Caucasian to Mongolian. They adhered to the Tengrian concept of the unity of the three worlds and entities "Tengri - Man - Earth" (" predator birds- wolf - swan"). So, for example, ethnonyms found in ancient Turkic written monuments and associated with totemic and other birds include: kyr-gyz (birds of prey), uy-gur (northern birds), bul-gar ( aquatic birds), bash-kur-t (Bashkurt-Bashkirs - head-birds of prey).
Until 581, the Kyrgyz paid tribute to the Turks of Altai, after which they overthrew the power of the Turkic Kaganate, but gained independence for a short time. In 629, the Kyrgyz were conquered by the Teles tribe (most likely of Turkic origin), and then by the Kok-Turks. Continuous wars with related Turkic peoples forced the Yenisei Kyrgyz to join the anti-Turkic coalition created by the Tang state (China). In 710-711 the Turkuts defeated the Kyrgyz and after that they were under the rule of the Turkuts until 745. In the so-called Mongol era (XIII-XIV centuries), after the defeat of the Naimans by the troops of Genghis Khan, the Kyrgyz principalities voluntarily joined his empire, finally losing their state independence. Kyrgyz combat units joined the Mongol hordes.
But the Kyrgyz-Kyrgyz did not disappear from the pages of history; already in our times, their fate was decided after the revolution. Until 1925, the government of the Kyrgyz autonomy was located in Orenburg - administrative center Cossack army. In order to lose the meaning of the word Cossack, the Judeo-commissars renamed the Kyrgyz ASSR to Kazakstan, which would later become Kazakhstan. By decree of April 19, 1925, the Kirghiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was renamed the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Somewhat earlier - on February 9, 1925, by decree of the Central Executive Committee of the Kirghiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, it was decided to transfer the capital of the republic from Orenburg to Ak-Mechet (formerly Perovsk), renaming it Kyzyl-Orda, since one of the decrees of 1925, part Orenburg region was returned to Russia. So the ancestral Cossack lands, together with the population, were transferred to the nomadic peoples. Now, for today’s Kazakhstan, world Zionism demands payment for the “service” provided in the form of an anti-Russian policy and loyalty to the West.
Siberian Tartars - Dzhagatai,this is the Cossack army of the Rusyns of Siberia. Since the time of Genghis Khan, the Tatar Cossacks began to represent the dashing invincible cavalry, which was always in the forefront campaigns of conquest, where its basis was made up of the Chigets - Dzhigits (from the ancient Chigs and Gets). They also served in the service of Tamerlane; today they are known among the people as dzhigit, dzhigitovka. Russian historians of the 18th century. Tatishchev and Boltin say that the Tatar Baskaks, sent to Rus' by the khans to collect tribute, always had detachments of these Cossacks with them. Finding themselves close to sea waters, some of the Chigs and Getae became excellent sailors.
According to the news of the Greek historian Nikephoros Gregor, the son of Genghis Khan, under the name Telepuga, in 1221 conquered many peoples who lived between the Don and the Caucasus, including the Chigets - Chigs and Gets, as well as the Avazgs (Abkhazians). According to the legend of another historian George Pachimer, who lived in the second half of the 13th century, a Tatar commander named Noga conquered all the peoples living along the northern shores of the Black Sea under his rule and formed a special state in these countries. The Alans, Goths, Chigs, Rosses and other neighboring peoples they conquered mixed with the Turks, little by little they adopted their customs, way of life, language and clothing, began to serve in their army and raised the power of this people to highest degree glory.
Not all of the Cossacks, but only part of them, accepted their language, morals and customs, and then along with them the Mohammedan faith, while the other part remained faithful to the idea of Christianity and for many centuries defended their independence, dividing into many communities, or partnerships, representing from itself one common union.
Sinds, Miots and Tanaitesthese are Kuban, Azov, Zaporozhye, partly Astrakhan, Volga and Don.
Once upon a time from Siberia, part of the tribes of the Andronovo culture moved to India. And here is an indicative example of the migration of peoples and the exchange of cultures, when some of the proto-Slavic peoples had already moved back from India, bypassing the territory of Central Asia, passing the Caspian Sea, crossing the Volga, they settled on the territory of the Kuban, these were the Sinds.
Afterwards they formed the basis of the Azov Cossack army. Around the 13th century, some of them went to the mouth of the Dnieper, where they later began to be called Zaporozhye Cossacks. At the same time, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania subjugated almost all the lands of present-day Ukraine. The Lithuanians began to recruit these military men for their military service. They called them Cossacks and during the time of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Cossacks founded the border Zaporozhye Sich.
Some of the future Azov, Zaporozhye and Don Cossacks, while still in India, accepted the blood of local tribes with dark skin color - the Dravidians and among all the Cossacks, they are the only ones with dark hair and eyes, and this is what makes them different. Ermak Timofeevich was precisely from this group of Cossacks.
In the middle of the first millennium BC. In the steppes, the Scythian nomads lived on the right bank of the Don, displacing the Cimmerian nomads, and the Sarmatian nomads lived on the left. The population of the Don forests was original Don - all of them in the future will be called Don Cossacks. The Greeks called them Tanaitians (Donets). At that time, near the Sea of Azov, in addition to the Tanaitians, there lived many other tribes who spoke dialects of the Indo-European group of languages (including Slavic), to which the Greeks gave the collective name "Meotians", which translated from ancient Greek means "marsh people" (inhabitants swampy places). The sea where these tribes lived was named after the name of this people - “Meotida” (Meotian Sea).
Here it should be noted how the Tanaites became the Don Cossacks. In 1399 after the battle on the river. Vorskla, the Siberian Tartars-Rusyns who came with Edigei, settled along the upper reaches of the Don, where Brodniki also lived, and they gave rise to the name of the Don Cossacks. In the first row Don Ataman, recognized by Muscovy, is worth Sarah Azman.
The word sary or sar is an ancient Persian word meaning king, ruler, lord; hence Sary-az-man - royal Azov people, the same as the Royal Scythians. The word sar in this sense is found in the following proper and common nouns: Sar-kel is a royal city, but Sarmatians (from sar and mada, mata, mati, i.e. woman) from the dominance of women among this people, from them - Amazons. Balta-sar, Sar-danapal, serdar, Caesar, or Caesar, Caesar, Caesar and our Slavic-Russian tsar. Although many are inclined to think that sary is a Tatar word meaning yellow, and from here they deduce red, but in the Tatar language there is a separate word to express the concept of red, namely zhiryan. It is noted that Jews descended from the maternal side often call their daughters Sarah. It is also noted about female dominance that from the 1st century. along the northern shores of the Azov and Black Seas, between the Don and the Caucasus, the rather powerful people Roksolane (Ros-Alan) become known, along Iornand (6th century) - the Rokas (Ros-Asy), whom Tacitus classifies as the Sarmatians, and Strabo - as Scythians. Diodorus Sicilian, describing the Saks (Scythians) of the northern Caucasus, talks a lot about their beautiful and cunning queen Zarina, who conquered many neighboring peoples. Nicholas of Damascus (1st century) calls the capital of Zarina Roskanakoy (from Ros-kanak, castle, fortress, palace). It’s not for nothing that Iornand calls them Aesir or Rokas, where a giant pyramid with a statue on top was erected for their queen.
Since 1671, the Don Cossacks recognized the protectorate of the Moscow Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, that is, they abandoned an independent foreign policy, subordinating the interests of the Army to the interests of Moscow, Internal routine remained the same. And only when the Romanov colonization of the south advanced to the borders of the Land of the Don Army, then Peter I carried out the incorporation of the Land of the Don Army into the Russian state.
This is how some of the former Horde members became the Cossacks of the Don, took an oath to serve the Tsar Father for a free life and protection of borders, but refused to serve the Bolshevik authorities after 1917, for which they suffered.
So, the Sinds, Myots and Tanaits are Kuban, Azov, Zaporozhye, partly Astrakhan, Volga and Don, of which the first two for the most part died out due to the plague, replaced by others, mainly Cossacks. When, by decree of Catherine II, the entire Zaporozhye Sich was destroyed, then the surviving Cossacks were collected and resettled to Kuban.
The photo above shows the historical types of Cossacks who made up the Kuban Cossack army in the reconstruction of Yesaul Strinsky.
Here you can see a Khoper Cossack, three Black Sea Cossacks, a Lineets and two Plastuns - participants in the defense of Sevastopol during the Crimean War. The Cossacks are all distinguished, they have orders and medals on their chests.
-The first on the right is a Cossack of the Khoper regiment, armed with a cavalry flintlock rifle and a Don saber.
-Next we see a Black Sea Cossack in the uniform of the 1840 - 1842 model. He holds an infantry percussion rifle in his hand, an officer’s dagger and a Caucasian saber in a sheath hang on his belt. A cartridge bag or cannon hangs on his chest. At his side is a revolver in a holster with a lanyard.
-Behind him stands a Cossack in the uniform of the Black Sea Cossack Army of the 1816 model. His weapons are a flintlock Cossack rifle, model 1832, and a soldier's cavalry saber, model 1827.
-In the center we see an old Black Sea Cossack from the time of settlement of the Kuban region by the Black Sea people. He is wearing the uniform of the Zaporozhye Cossack Army. In his hand he holds an old, apparently Turkish flintlock gun, in his belt he has two flintlock pistols and a powder flask made of horn hangs from his belt. The saber at the belt is either not visible or missing.
-Next stands a Cossack in the uniform of a linear Cossack army. His weapons consist of: a flint infantry rifle, a dagger - beibut at the belt, a Circassian saber with a recessed handle in the scabbard, and a revolver on a cord at the belt.
The last ones in the photograph are two Plastun Cossacks, both armed with the authorized Plastun weapons - Littikh double-rifled fittings of the 1843 model. Cleaver bayonets hang from their belts in homemade sheaths. To the side stands a Cossack pike stuck into the ground.
Brodniki and Donets.
Brodniki are descended from the Khazar Slavs. In the 8th century, the Arabs considered them Saqlabs, i.e. white people, Slavic blood. It is noted that in 737, 20 thousand of their horse breeding families settled on eastern borders Kakheti. They are indicated in the Persian geography of the tenth century (Gudud al Alem) on the Sreny Don under the name Bradas and were known there until the 11th century. after which their nickname is replaced in the sources by a common Cossack name.
Here it is necessary to explain in more detail about the origin of the wanderers.
The formation of the union of Scythians and Sarmatians received the name Kas Aria, which later became distortedly called Khazaria. It was Cyril and Methodius who came to missionize the Slavic Khazars (KasArians).
Their activities were also noted here: Arab historians in the 8th century. noted the Sakalibs in the Upper Don forest-steppe, and the Persians, a hundred years after them, the Bradasov-Brodnikovs. The sedentary part of these tribes, remaining in the Caucasus, was subordinate to the Huns, Bulgarians, Kazars and Asam-Alans, in whose kingdom the Azov region and Taman were called the Land of Kasak (Gudud al Alem). It was there that Christianity finally triumphed among them, after the missionary work of St. Kirill, ok. 860
The difference between KasAria is that it was a country of warriors, and later became Khazaria - a country of traders, when the Jewish high priests came to power in it. And here, in order to understand the essence of what is happening, it is necessary to explain in more detail. In 50 AD, Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome. In 66-73 there was a Jewish uprising. They capture the Jerusalem Temple, the Antonia fortress, the entire upper city and the fortified palace of Herod, and arrange a real massacre for the Romans. They then rebel throughout Palestine, killing both the Romans and their more moderate compatriots. This uprising was suppressed, and in 70 the center of Judaism in Jerusalem was destroyed and the temple was burned to the ground.
But the war continued. The Jews did not want to admit they were defeated. After the great Jewish revolt of 133-135, the Romans wiped out all historical traditions Judaism In 137, on the site of the destruction of Jerusalem, a new pagan city, Elia Capitolina, was built; Jews were forbidden to enter Jerusalem. To further offend the Jews, Emperor Ariadne forbade them from being circumcised. Many Jews were forced to flee to the Caucasus and Persia.
In the Caucasus, Jews became neighbors of the Khazars, and in Persia they slowly entered all branches of government. It ended with a revolution and civil war under the leadership of Mazdak. As a result, the Jews were expelled from Persia - to Khazaria, where the Khazar Slavs lived there at that time.
In the 6th century, the Great Turkic Khaganate was created. Some tribes fled from him, such as the Hungarians to Pannonia, and the Khazar Slavs (Kozars, Kazars), in alliance with the ancient Bulgars, united with the Turkic Kaganate. Their influence reached from Siberia to the Don and the Black Sea. When the Turkic Kaganate began to fall apart, the Khazars took in the fleeing prince of the Ashin dynasty and drove out the Bulgars. This is how the Khazar-Turks appeared.
For a hundred years, Khazaria was ruled by Turkic khans, but they did not change their way of life: they lived a nomadic life in the steppe and only returned to the adobe houses of Itil in the winter. The Khan supported himself and his army himself, without burdening the Khazars with taxes. The Turks fought the Arabs, taught the Khazars to repel the onslaught of regular troops, since they had the skills of steppe maneuver warfare. Thus, under the military leadership of the Turkuts (650-810), the Khazars successfully repelled the periodic invasions of the Arabs from the south, which united these two peoples, moreover, the Turkuts remained nomads, and the Khazars remained farmers.
When Khazaria accepted the Jews who fled from Persia, and wars with the Arabs led to the liberation of part of the lands of Khazaria, this allowed the refugees to settle there. So gradually Jews who fled from the Roman Empire began to join them, it was thanks to them at the beginning of the 9th century. the small khanate turned into a huge state. The main population of Khazaria at that time could be called “Slav-Khazars”, “Turkic-Khazars” and “Judeo-Khazars”. The Jews who arrived in Khazaria were engaged in trade, for which the Khazar Slavs themselves did not show any ability. In the second half of the 8th century, rabbinic Jews expelled from Byzantium began to arrive among the Jewish refugees from Persia in Khazaria, among whom were also descendants of those expelled from Babylon and Egypt. Since Jewish rabbis were city dwellers, they settled exclusively in cities: Itil, Semender, Belendzher, etc. All these immigrants from the former Roman Empire, Persia and Byzantium are known to us today as Sephardim.
At the beginning, there was no conversion of the Slavic Khazars to Judaism, because The Jewish community lived separately among the Slavic Khazars and Turkic Khazars, but over time some of them accepted Judaism and today they are known to us as Ashkenazis.
By the end of the 8th century. The Judeo-Khazars began to gradually penetrate the power structures of Khazaria, acting using their favorite method - becoming related through their daughters to the Turkic aristocracy. Children of Turkic-Khazars and Jewish women had all the rights of their father and the help of the Jewish community in all matters. And the children of Jews and Khazars became a kind of outcasts (Karaites) and lived on the outskirts of Khazaria - in Taman or Kerch. At the beginning of the 9th century. the influential Jew Obadiah took power into his own hands and laid the foundation for Jewish hegemony in Khazaria, acting through the puppet khan of the Ashin dynasty, whose mother was Jewish. But not all Turkic-Khazars accepted Judaism. Soon a coup took place in the Khazar Kaganate, which resulted in a civil war. The "old" Turkic aristocracy rebelled against the Judeo-Khazar authorities. The rebels attracted the Magyars (ancestors of the Hungarians) to their side, the Jews hired the Pechenegs. Constantine Porphyrogenitus described those events as follows: “When they separated from power and an internecine war broke out, the first government (the Jews) gained the upper hand and some of them (the rebels) were killed, others fled and settled with the Turks (Magyars) in the Pecheneg lands (lower Dnieper), made peace and received the name Kabars."
In the 9th century, the Judeo-Khazar Kagan invited the Varangian squad of Prince Oleg to war with the Muslims of the Southern Caspian region, promising the division of Eastern Europe and assistance in capturing the Kyiv Kaganate. Tired of the constant raids of the Khazars on their lands, where the Slavs were constantly taken into slavery, Oleg took advantage of the situation, captured Kyiv in 882 and refused to fulfill the agreements, and a war began. Around 957, after the baptism of the Kyiv princess Olga in Constantinople, i.e. After gaining the support of Byzantium, the confrontation between Kyiv and Khazaria began. Thanks to the alliance with Byzantium, the Russians were supported by the Pechenegs. In the spring of 965, Svyatoslav's troops descended along the Oka and Volga to the Khazar capital Itil, bypassing the Khazar troops who were waiting for them in the Don steppes. After a short battle the city was taken.
As a result of the campaign 964-965. Svyatoslav excluded the Volga, the middle reaches of the Terek and the middle Don from the sphere of the Jewish community. Svyatoslav returned independence to Kievan Rus. Svyatoslav’s blow to the Jewish community of Khazaria was cruel, but his victory was not final. Returning, he passed Kuban and Crimea, where Khazar fortresses remained. There were also communities in the Kuban, Crimea, Tmutarakan, where Jews under the name Khazars continued to hold dominant positions for another two centuries, but the state of Khazaria ceased to exist forever. The remnants of the Judeo-Khazars settled in Dagestan (Mountain Jews) and Crimea (Karaite Jews). Part of the Slavic Khazars and Turkic-Khazars remained on the Terek and Don, mixed with local related tribes and, according to the old name of the Khazar warriors, they were called “Podon Brodniks,” but it was they who fought against Rus' on the Kalka River.
In 1180, the Brodniks helped the Bulgarians in their war for independence from the Eastern Roman Empire. The Byzantine historian and writer Nikita Choniates (Acominatus), described in his “Chronicle”, dated 1190, the events of that Bulgarian war, and in one phrase comprehensively characterizes the Brodniks: “Those Brodniks, despising death, are a branch of the Russians.” The initial name was borne as “Kozars”, by origin from the Kozar Slavs, from whom the name Khazaria or the Khazar Kaganate received. This is a Slavic warring tribe, part of which did not want to submit to the already Jewish Khazaria, and after its defeat, uniting with their kindred tribes, they subsequently settled along the banks of the Don, where the Tanaitians, Sarmatians, Roxalans, Alans (Yas), Torquay-Berendeys, etc. lived. They received the name Don Cossacks after most of the Siberian army of the Rusins of Tsar Edygei settled there, which also included black hoods left after the battle on the river. Vorskla, in 1399 Edigei is the founder of the dynasty, who led the Nogai Horde. His direct descendants in the male line were the princes Urusov and Yusupov.
So the Brodniki are the undisputed ancestors Don Cossacks. They are indicated in the Persian geography of the tenth century (Gudud al Alem) on the Middle Don under the name Bradas and were known there until the 11th century. after which their nickname is replaced in the sources by a common Cossack name.
- Berendei, from the territory of Siberia, like many tribes due to climatic shocks, moved to the Russian Plain. The field was pressed from the east by the Polovtsy (Polovtsy - from the word “polovy”, which means “red”), the Berendeys at the end of the 11th century entered into various alliance agreements with Eastern Slavs. According to agreements with the Russian princes, they settled on the borders Ancient Rus' and often performed guard duty in favor of the Russian state. But after that they were scattered and partly mixed with the population of the Golden Horde, and partly with Christians. They existed as an independent people. From the same region originate the formidable warriors of Siberia - Black Klobuki, which means black hats (papakhas) who will later be called Cherkas.
Black hoods (black hats), Cherkasy (not to be confused with Circassians)
- moved from Siberia to the Russian Plain, from the Berendey kingdom, last name countries - Borondai. Their ancestors once inhabited the vast lands of the northern part of Siberia, before Arctic Ocean. Their stern disposition terrified their enemies; it was their ancestors who were the people of Gog and Magog, and it was from them that Alexander the Great was defeated in the battle for Siberia. They did not want to see themselves in kinship alliances with other peoples, they always lived separately and did not classify themselves as any people.
For example, about important role black hoods in the political life of the Kyiv principality are evidenced by repeated occurrences in chronicles set expressions: “The whole Russian land and black hoods.” Persian historian Rashid ad-din (died in 1318), describing Rus' in 1240, writes: “The princes Batu with his brothers, Kadan, Buri and Buchek set out on a campaign to the country of the Russians and the people of the black hats.”
Subsequently, in order not to separate one from the other, the black hoods began to be called Cherkasy or Cossacks. In Moscow chronicle code the end of the 15th century, under the year 1152 it is explained: “All the Black Klobuks are called Cherkassy.” The Resurrection and Kiev Chronicles also speak about this: “And gather up your squad and go, taking with you Vyacheslav’s entire regiment and all the black hoods, which are called Cherkassy.”
Black hoods, due to their isolation, easily entered the service of both the Slavic and Turkic peoples. Their character and special differences in clothing, especially the headdress, were adopted by the peoples of the Caucasus, whose attire is now considered for some reason only to be Caucasian. But in ancient drawings, engravings and photographs, these clothes, and especially hats, can be seen among the Cossacks of Siberia, the Urals, Amur, Primorye, Kuban, Don, etc. Living together with the peoples of the Caucasus, an exchange of cultures took place and each tribe acquired something from the others, both in cuisine and in clothes and customs. From the Black Klobuks also came the Siberian, Yaitsky, Dnieper, Grebensky, Terek Cossacks, the first mention of the latter dates back to 1380, when free Cossacks living near the Grebenny Mountains blessed and presented the holy icon of the Mother of God (Grebnevskaya) to Grand Duke Dmitry (Donskoy) .
Grebensky, Tersky.
The word ridge is purely Cossack, meaning the highest line of the watershed of two rivers or gullies. In each Don village there are many such watersheds and they are all called ridges. In ancient times there was also a Cossack town of Grebni, mentioned in the chronicle of Archimandrite Anthony of the Donskoy Monastery. But not all combs lived on the Terek; in the old Cossack song, they are mentioned in the Saratov steppes:
As on the glorious steppes it was on Saratov,
Below the city of Saratov,
And higher up was the city of Kamyshin,
Friendly Cossacks gathered, free people,
They, brothers, gathered in a single circle:
like Don, Grebensky and Yaitsky.
Their chieftain is Ermak son Timofeevich...
Later in their origin, they began to add “living near the mountains, i.e. at the ridges.” Officially, the Terets trace their ancestry back to 1577, when the city of Terka was founded, and the first mention of the Cossack army dates back to 1711. It was then that the Cossacks of the Free Community of Grebenskaya formed the Grebensk Cossack Army.
Pay attention to the photograph from 1864, where the Greben people inherited a dagger from the Caucasian peoples. But in essence, this is an improved sword of the Scythians akinak. Akinak is a short (40-60 cm) iron sword used by the Scythians in the second half of the 1st millennium BC. e. In addition to the Scythians, the Akinaki were also used by the tribes of the Persians, Saks, Argypeans, Massagetae and Melanchleni, i.e. proto-Cossacks.
The Caucasian dagger is part of national symbols. This is a sign that a man is ready to defend his personal honor, the honor of his family and the honor of his people. He never parted with it. For centuries, the dagger has been used as a means of attack, defense and as a cutlery. The Caucasian dagger "Kama" is most widespread among the daggers of other peoples, Cossacks, Turks, Georgians, etc. The attribute of gazyrs on the chest appeared with the advent of the first firearm with a powder charge. This detail was first added to the clothing of a Turkic warrior, it was among the Mamelukes of Egypt, the Cossacks, but it was already established as an adornment among the peoples of the Caucasus.
The origin of the hat is interesting. Chechens adopted Islam during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad. A large Chechen delegation that visited the prophet in Mecca was personally initiated into the essence of Islam by the prophet, after which in Mecca the envoys of the Chechen people accepted Islam. Muhamed gave them karakul for the journey to make shoes. But on the way back, the Chechen delegation, considering that it was not appropriate to wear the prophet’s gift on their feet, sewed papakhas, and now, to this day, this is the main national headdress (Chechen papakha). Upon the return of the delegation to Chechnya, without any coercion, the Chechens accepted Islam, realizing that Islam is not only “Mohammedanism,” which originated from the Prophet Muhammad, but this original faith of monotheism, which made a spiritual revolution in the minds of people and laid a clear line between pagan savagery and true educated faith.
It was the Caucasians who adopted military attributes from different nations, adding their own, such as a burka, a hat, etc., improved this style of military attire and secured it for themselves, which no one doubts today. But let's look at what military vestments they used to wear in the Caucasus.
In the middle photo above we see Kurds dressed according to the Circassian pattern, i.e. this attribute of military attire is already attached to the Circassians and will continue to be attached to them in the future. But in the background we see a Turk, the only thing he doesn’t have is gazyrs, that’s what makes him different. When the Ottoman Empire waged war in the Caucasus, the peoples of the Caucasus adopted some military attributes from them, as well as from the Greben Cossacks. In this mixture of cultural exchange and war, the universally recognizable Circassian woman and papakha appeared. The Ottoman Turks seriously influenced historical move events in the Caucasus, so some photographs are replete with the presence of Turks with Caucasians. But if not for Russia, many peoples of the Caucasus would have disappeared or been assimilated, such as the Chechens who left with the Turks for their territory. Or take the Georgians, who asked for protection from the Turks from Russia.
As we see, in the past, the main part of the peoples of the Caucasus did not have their recognizable today attributes, “black caps”, they will appear later, but the combs have them, as the heirs of the “black caps” (hoods). We can cite as an example the origins of some Caucasian peoples.
Lezgins, ancient Alans-Lezgi, the most numerous and brave people throughout the Caucasus. They speak a light, sonorous language of Aryan root, but thanks to influence, starting from the 8th century. Arab culture, which gave them their writing and religion, as well as pressure from neighboring Turkic-Tatar tribes, have lost much of their original nationality and now represent a striking, difficult-to-research mixture with Arabs, Avars, Kumyks, Tarks, Jews and others.
Neighbors of the Lezgins, to the west, along the northern slope of the Caucasus Range, live the Chechens, who received their name from the Russians, actually from their large village “Chachan” or “Chechen”. The Chechens themselves call their nationality Nakhchi or Nakhchoo, which means people from the country of Nakh or Noach, i.e. Noah. According to folk tales, they came around the 4th century. to their present residence, through Abkhazia, from the area of Nakhchi-Van, from the foot of Ararat (Erivan province) and pressed by Kabardians, they took refuge in the mountains, along the upper reaches of the Aksai, the right tributary of the Terek, where even now there is still the old village of Aksai, in Greater Chechnya , built once, according to the legend of the inhabitants of the village of Gerzel, by Aksai Khan. The ancient Armenians were the first to connect the ethnonym "Nokhchi", the modern self-name of the Chechens, with the name of the prophet Noah, the literal meaning of which means Noah's people. Georgians, from time immemorial, have called Chechens “Dzurdzuks,” which means “righteous” in Georgian.
According to the philological research of Baron Uslar, the Chechen language has some similarities with Lezgin, but in anthropological terms the Chechens are a mixed people. In the Chechen language there are quite a lot of words with the root “gun”, such as in the names of rivers, mountains, villages and tracts: Guni, Gunoy, Guen, Gunib, Argun, etc. They call the sun Dela-Molkh (Moloch). Mother of the sun - Aza.
As we saw above, many Caucasian tribes of the past do not have the usual Caucasian attributes, but all the Cossacks of Russia have them, from the Don to the Urals, from Siberia to Primorye.
And here below, there is already a discrepancy in military uniforms. Their historical roots began to be forgotten, and military attributes were copied from the Caucasian peoples.
After repeated renamings, mergers and divisions, the Grebensky Cossacks, according to the order of the Minister of War N 256 (dated November 19, 1860) “... were ordered: from the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th brigades of the Caucasian Linear Cossack troops, in full force, to form the “Terek Cossack Army”, incorporating into its composition the horse-artillery batteries of the Caucasian Linear Cossack Army No. 15 and the reserve... "
In Kievan Rus, subsequently, the semi-sedentary and sedentary part of the Black Klobuks remained in Porosye and over time were assimilated by the local Slavic population, taking part in the ethnogenesis of the Ukrainians. Their free Zaporozhye Sich ceased to exist in August 1775, when the Sich and the very name “Zaporozhye Cossacks” in Russia, according to Western plans, were destroyed. And only in 1783 Potemkin again gathered the surviving Cossacks into the sovereign service. The newly formed Cossack teams of the Zaporozhian Cossacks receive the name “Kosh of the faithful Zaporozhye Cossacks” and settle on the territory of the Odessa district. Soon after this (after repeated requests from the Cossacks and for their faithful service), according to the personal decree of the Empress (dated January 14, 1788), they were transferred to Kuban - to Taman. Since then, the Cossacks have been called Kuban.
In general terms, the Siberian army of the Black Cowls had a huge influence on the Cossacks throughout Russia; they were in many Cossack associations and were an example of the free and indestructible Cossack spirit.
The name “Cossack” itself dates back to the times of the Great Turan, when the Scythian peoples of Kos-saka or Ka-saka lived. For more than twenty centuries, this name has changed little; initially among the Greeks it was written as Kossahi. The geographer Strabo called the military people located in the mountains of Transcaucasia during the life of Christ the Savior by the same name. After 3-4 centuries, back in the ancient era, our name is repeatedly found in Tanaid inscriptions (inscriptions), discovered and studied by V.V. Latyshev. Its Greek script, Kasakos, was preserved until the 10th century, after which Russian chroniclers began to confuse it with the common Caucasian names Kasagov, Kasogov, Kazyag. The original Greek script of Kossahi gives two constituent elements of this name "kos" and "sakhi", two words with a specific Scythian meaning "White Sakhi". But the name of the Scythian tribe Sakhi is equivalent to their own Saka, and therefore the following Greek style “Kasakos” can be interpreted as a variant of the previous one, closer to the modern one. The change of the prefix “kos” to “kas” is obviously due to purely sound (phonetic) reasons, peculiarities of pronunciation and peculiarities of auditory sensations among different peoples. This difference continues to this day (Kazak, Kozak). Kossaka, in addition to the meaning of White Saki (Sakhi), has, as mentioned above, another Scythian-Iranian meaning - “White deer”. Remember the animal style of Scythian jewelry, tattoos on the mummy of the Altai princess, most likely deer and deer buckles - these are attributes of the Scythian military class.
And the territorial name of this word was preserved in Sakha Yakutia (Yakuts in ancient times were called Yakolts) and SakhaLin. In the Russian people, this word is associated with the image of branched antlers, like elk, colloquially - elk deer, elk. So, we again returned to the ancient symbol of the Scythian warriors - the deer, which is reflected in the seal and coat of arms of the Cossacks of the Don Army. We should be grateful to them for preserving this ancient symbol warriors of the Rus and Rusyns who come from the Scythians.
Well, in Russia, Cossacks were also called Azov, Astrakhan, Danube and Transdanubian, Bug, Black Sea, Slobodsk, Transbaikal, Khopyor, Amur, Orenburg, Yaik - Ural, Budzhak, Yenisei, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Yakut, Ussuri, Semirechensk, Daur, Onon , Nerchen, Evenk, Albazin, Buryat, Siberian, you can’t cover everyone.
So, no matter what all these warriors are called, these are still the same Cossacks living in different parts of your country.
P.S.
There are the most important circumstances in our history that are hushed up by hook or by crook. Those who throughout our historical past have constantly played dirty tricks on us are afraid of publicity, afraid of being recognized. That’s why they hide behind false historical layers. These dreamers came up with their own story for us in order to hide their dark deeds. For example, why did the Battle of Kulikovo take place in 1380 and who fought there?
- Dmitry Donskoy, Prince of Moscow and Grand Duke of Vladimir, led the Volga and Trans-Ural Cossacks (Siberians), who are called Tatars in Russian chronicles. The Russian army consisted of princely cavalry and foot squads, as well as militias. The cavalry was formed from baptized Tatars, defected Lithuanians and Russians trained in Tatar equestrian combat.
- In Mamaev’s army there were Ryazan, Western Russian, Polish, Crimean and Genoese troops that fell under the influence of the West. Mamai's ally was the Lithuanian prince Jagiello, Dmitry's ally is considered to be Khan Tokhtamysh with an army of Siberian Tatars (Cossacks).
The Genoese financed the Cossack ataman Mamai, and promised the troops manna from heaven, i.e. “Western values,” well, nothing changes in this world. The Cossack ataman Dmitry Donskoy won. Mamai fled to Cafa and there, as unnecessary, was killed by the Genoese. So, the Battle of Kulikovo is a battle of Muscovites, Volga and Siberian Cossacks led by Dmitry Donskoy with an army of Genoese, Polish and Lithuanian Cossacks led by Mamai.
Of course, later the whole story of the battle was presented as a battle between the Slavs and foreign (Asian) invaders. Apparently, later, with tendentious editing, the original word “Cossacks” was replaced everywhere in the chronicles with “Tatars” in order to hide those who so unsuccessfully proposed “Western values”.
In fact, the Battle of Kulikovo was just an episode of a civil war that broke out, in which Cossack hordes of one state fought among themselves. But they sowed the seeds of discord, as the satirist Zadornov says - “traders”. It is they who imagine that they are chosen and exceptional, it is they who dream of world domination, and hence all our troubles.
These "traders" persuaded Genghis Khan to fight against his own people. the Pope and French king Saint Louis sent a thousand envoys, diplomatic agents, instructors and engineers, as well as the best European commanders, especially the Templars (knightly order), to Genghis Khan.
They saw that no one else was suitable for the defeat of both Palestinian Muslims and Orthodox Eastern Christians, Greeks, Russians, Bulgarians, etc., who once destroyed ancient Rome, and then Latin Byzantium. At the same time, to be sure and strengthen the blow, the popes began to arm the Swedish ruler of the throne, Birger, the Teutons, the Swordsmen and Lithuania against the Russians.
Under the guise of scientists and capital, they took administrative positions in the Uyghur kingdom, Bactria, and Sogdiana.
These rich scribes were the authors of the laws of Genghis Khan - "Yasu", in which all sects of Christians were shown great favor and tolerance, unusual for Asia, the popes and the Europe of that time. In these laws, under the influence of the popes, the Jesuits themselves, permission was expressed, with various benefits, to convert from Orthodoxy to Catholicism, which many of the Armenians took advantage of at that time, who later formed the Armenian Catholic Church.
To cover up the papal participation in this enterprise and to please the Asians, the main official roles and places were given to the best native commanders and relatives of Genghis Khan, and almost 3/4 of the secondary leaders and officials consisted mainly of Asian sectarians of Christians and Catholics. This is where Genghis Khan’s invasion came from, but the “traders” did not take into account his appetite, and cleaned up the pages of history for us, preparing the next meanness. All this is very similar to the “invasion of Hitler”, they themselves brought him to power and got it in the teeth from him, so that they had to take the goal of the “USSR” as an ally and delay our colonization. By the way, not so long ago, during the Opium War in China, these “traders” tried to repeat the “Genghis Khan-2” scenario against Russia, for a long time they occupied China with the help of Jesuits, missionaries, etc., but later, as they say: "Thank you Comrade Stalin for our happy childhood."
Have you wondered why Cossacks of various stripes fought both for Russia and against it? For example, some of our historians are perplexed why the governor of the Brodniks, Ploskin, who, according to our chronicle, stood with 30 thousand troops on the river. Kalka (1223), did not help the Russian princes in the battle with the Tatars. He even clearly sided with the latter, persuading the Kyiv prince Mstislav Romanovich to surrender, and then tied him up with his two sons-in-law and handed him over to the Tatars, where he was killed. As in 1917, here too there was a protracted civil war. Peoples related to each other were pitted against each other, nothing changes, the same principles of our enemies remain, “divide and conquer.” And so that we don’t learn lessons from this, the pages of history are being replaced.
But if the plans of the “traders” of 1917 were buried by Stalin, then the events described above were buried by Batu Khan. And of course, both of them were smeared with the indelible mud of historical lies, these are their methods.
13 years after the Battle of Kalka, the “Mongols” led by Khan Batu, or Batu, the grandson of Genghis Khan, from beyond the Urals, i.e. from the territory of Siberia moved to Russia. Batu had up to 600 thousand troops, consisting of many, more than 20, peoples of Asia and Siberia. In 1238, the Tatars took the capital of the Volga Bulgarians, then Ryazan, Suzdal, Rostov, Yaroslavl and many other cities; defeated the Russians at the river. City, took Moscow, Tver and went to Novgorod, where at the same time the Swedes and the Baltic crusaders were marching. It would be an interesting battle, the crusaders with Batu would storm Novgorod. But mud got in the way. In 1240, Batu took Kyiv, his goal was Hungary, where the old enemy of the Genghisids, the Polovtsian Khan Kotyan, had fled. Poland and Krakow fell first. In 1241, the army of Prince Henry and the Templars was defeated near Legica. Then Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary fell, Batu reached the Adriatic and took Zagreb. Europe was helpless; it was saved by the fact that Khan Udegey died and Batu turned back. Europe received a full blow in the teeth for its crusaders, Templars, bloody baptisms, and order reigned in Rus', the laurels for this remained with Alexander Nevsky, Batu’s brother-in-law.
But this mess began with the baptist of Rus', with Prince Vladimir. When he seized power in Kyiv, Kievan Rus began to increasingly unite with the Christian system of the West. Here we should note interesting episodes from the life of the baptist of Rus', Vladimir Svyatoslavich, including the brutal murder of his brother, the destruction of not only Christian churches, the rape of the prince’s daughter Ragneda in front of her parents, a harem of hundreds of concubines, a war against her son, etc. Already under Vladimir Monomakh, Kievan Rus represented the left flank of the Christian crusader invasion of the East. After Monomakh, Rus' broke up into three systems - Kyiv, Darkness-Tarakan, Vladimir-Suzdal Rus'. When the Christianization of the Western Slavs began, the Eastern Slavs considered this a betrayal and turned to the Siberian rulers for help. Seeing the threat of a crusading invasion and the future enslavement of the Slavs, many tribes united into a union on the territory of Siberia, and thus the state formation appeared - Great Tartaria, which stretches from the Urals to Transbaikalia. Yaroslav Vsevolodovich was the first to call on Tartaria for help, for which he suffered. But thanks to Batu, who created Golden Horde, the crusaders were already afraid of such power. But still, quietly, the “traders” destroyed Tartary.
Why everything happened this way, the question here is solved very simply. The conquest of Russia was led by papal agents, Jesuits, missionaries and other evil spirits, who promised all sorts of benefits and benefits to the local residents, and especially to those who helped them. In addition, in the hordes of the so-called “Mongol-Tatars” there were many Christians from Central Asia, who enjoyed many privileges and freedom of religion; Western missionaries, based on Christianity, bred there various kinds religious movements, such as Nestorianism.
Here it becomes clear why there is so much in the West vintage maps territories of Russia and especially Siberia. It becomes clear why the state formation on the territory of Siberia, which was called Great Tartaria, is kept silent. On early maps Tartaria is indivisible, on later maps it is fragmented, and since 1775, under the guise of Pugachevism, it has ceased to exist. So, with the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Vatican took its place and, continuing the traditions of Rome, organized new wars for its dominance. Thus the Byzantine Empire fell, and its successor Russia became main goal for papal Rome, i.e. Now the Western world is "hucksters". For their insidious purposes, the Cossacks were like a bone in the throat. How many wars, upheavals, how much grief befell all our peoples, but the main thing historical time, known to us since ancient times, the Cossacks kicked our enemies in the teeth. Closer to our times, they still managed to break the dominance of the Cossacks and after famous events 1917, the Cossacks were dealt a crushing blow, but it took them many centuries.
In contact with