Cossacks

Russian Cossacks displaying their attire and sabers.

Cossacks are typically thought of as people who came from Eastern Europe; however, some historians believe Cossacks originally came from the Turkish nomads. The definition of Cossack, “a free man, a vagabond, a fortune seeker,” is from a Turkic word. The word Cossack can also be written as Kazak.

The men who served as Cossacks were known for fighting while riding horses and using sabers. Cossacks also were famous for their ability to shoot their guns with accuracy while standing on their horses.

Cossacks defended the lands of the Russian Empire and helped the empire expand its territory. Cossacks were serving in areas on the border and important cities. By the mid-15th century when Poland also had Cossacks, the government provided them with payment and military equipment in exchange for their service. The government also gave Cossacks land for their service.

Different armies of Cossacks were formed over time and included Orenburg Cossacks, Ural Cossacks, Astrakhan Cossacks, Terek Cossacks, Kuban Cossacks, Zaporozhian Cossacks and Don Cossacks.

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History of Cossacks

One of the first mentions of Cossacks was noted in 1492 when Cossacks attacked a Turkish ship and captured Ukrainians who were sold as slaves. The Cossacks freed the enslaved Ukrainians near Tiahyn Castle, now in current day Kherson Region, Ukraine.

In the area now Ukraine, Cossacks began forming together in the 15^th century within the southern steppe area. The number of Cossacks grew because of peasants running away from serfdom and men of various social statuses seeking adventure.

The most famous Cossacks in the 16th century were the Zaporizhzhia Sich who were led by Dmytro “Baida” Vyshnevetskyi and Ivan Sirko. Then Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, the first Hetman, led the Cossack state, called the Cossack Hetmanate, in the 17th century.

Concerned about the trouble that could come from the Cossacks, Empress Catherine the Great had the Zaporizhzhia Sich destroyed and the Cossacks killed in 1775. Cossacks who survived the slaughter moved to lands on the Danube River and farther. This resulted in the formation of the Kuban Cossacks.

Even though there were struggles between the free spirit of the Cossacks and Russian rulers, the Cossacks helped the Russian Empire fight the Turks, Persians, Crimean Tatars and the Ottoman Empire. They also helped expand the Russian Empire to the south and east. The service of the Cossacks also was important when the Russian Empire was fighting against Emperor Napoleon I and the Germans during World War I.

Don Cossacks getting ready to fight on the front during World War I.

By the early 20^th century, it was estimated the Russian Empire included about three million Cossacks and their families. They were identified under groups called Amur, Astrakhan, Don, Transbaikal, Kuban, Orenburg, Semirechensk, Siberian, Terek, Ural, and Ussuri. This population equaled more than two percent of the Russian Empire's population.

During the Russian Civil War, many Cossacks died or left the Russian Empire. Another large portion of Cossacks faced persecution that involved being executed or sent to the gulags, camps for persecution victims. Some Cossacks were resettled. By the mid-1930s, the Soviet government allowed the remaining Cossacks to serve in the Red Army, the army of the Soviet Union.

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Where to find Cossack records

A record from the State Archives of Rostov Region details the service of a Don Cossack.

Metric records of Cossacks can be found in the state archives of the region where they lived. In addition, the Russian State Military Historical Archive in Moscow has birth records for Cossacks born between the 1830s and the 1880s, and the Central State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg has birth records for the years 1880-1914.

The Cossacks served the Chernihiv and Poltava provinces up to 1917. The records of the military service of Cossacks are available in the state archives for the region where they served, as well as in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts, the Russian State Military Historical Archive, the Russian State Historical Archive, and other archives. Ukraine has its own records at the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Kyiv and the state archives in their regions.

Besides metric and military records, Cossack groups published their own journals and newspapers to document their activities. Those publications noted individual Cossacks in addition to the Cossacks as a group. Some of those publications can be found online in Russian and Ukrainian libraries.

Some Cossack groups spread over more than one region of current-day Russia and Ukraine, so detailed research is needed to find locations of Cossack ancestors. Important archives and libraries for research involving the second half of the 19^th to the early 20^th centuries for Cossacks in general, Don Cossacks, and Kuban Cossacks can be found on this web page.

Explore more about Cossacks

• Russians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage
• European Historical Record Collections at MyHeritage
• Kuban Genealogy- Databases and other resources on Kuban Cossacks
• Donskoy Vremnik- Informative website on the Don Region from the Don State Public Library
• Collection of publication of the Don Cossacks at the Tsarskoye Selo Library
• Grains of History- A web page on information available on Zaporizhzhia Sich in Ukraine
• Victims of political terror in the USSR- Database of about 3 million people, including Cossacks, who were persecuted during the Soviet era.

References

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