Danubian Sich
Encyclopedia
The Danubian Sich was a fortified settlement (sich
) of Zaporozhian Cossacks who settled in the territory of the Ottoman Empire
(the Danube Delta
, hence the name) after their previous host was disbanded and the Zaporizhian Sich
was destroyed.
and the Russian annexation of Crimea
, when the need for the Host to guard the borders was removed. At the same time the Zaporozhian's other enemy, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
, was also weakened and on the verge of being partitioned
. This meant that militarily the Zaporozhian Sich was becoming increasingly superfluous, but at the same time their existence caused friction with Imperial Russian authorities who wanted to colonise the newly acquired lands that the Cossacks inhabited. After a number of Cossack attacks on Serbian colonies and with Cossack support offered to Yemelyan Pugachev
, the Russian Empress Catherine the Great
issued an order to General Pyotr Tekeli to end the troublesome Sich.
Tekeli's operation, carried out in June 1775, was bloodless. The Zaporozhian Sich was surrounded with infantry and artillery and an ultimatum was given to the Kosh otaman Petro Kalnyshevsky
. Under the guidance of a starshyna Lyakh, and apparently without Kalnyshevky's knowledge, an agreementwas reached to allow a group of 50 Cossacks to go fishing in the river Ingul next to the Southern Buh in Ottoman territory. The pretext was enough to allow the Russians to let the Cossacks out of the siege, as in total the 50 Cossacks grew to five thousand (approximately 30% of the Zaporozhian Cossacks).
These Cossacks were joined by numerous Ukrainian peasants fleeing from Russian Serfdom and lived on the left bank of the Danube river (Budjak
) then part of the Ottoman Empire
, who allowed them to settle there. By 1778 they numbered 12 thousand men, and the Turkish Sultan
decided that they would have much more use as a Cossack Host
, and allocated them the land of Kuchungary (modern Transnistria
) in the lower Dniester
where they swore loyalty to the Ottaman Empire. However the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War divided the Cossacks. Some returned to Russia and joined the new Host of Loyal Zaporozhians (later the Black Sea Cossack Host
) formed out of the Cossacks who chose to remain in Russia in 1775. After the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812, Bessarabia
became part of Russia, and the Cossacks lost all of their allocated land.
in the settlement of Katerlez in the Danube Delta
right next to existing settlements of Nekrasov Cossacks
and Lipovans
. There was increasing friction between the two groups over land and fishing rights. In 1794, the Nekrasovites attacked and destroyed Katerlez. Afterwards the Turkish authorities re-located the Danubian Zaporozhians further up the Danube on the Brailov Island
. The new location was much poorer for fishing and resulted in a group of 500 Cossacks, led by Kosh Pomelo to return to Russia.
In 1800 the Balkan Peninsula erupted in uprisings led by Osman Pazvantoğlu
who rebelled against the new Turkish Sultan Selim III
. In order to gain support, Pazvantoğlu promised the Nekrasovites all the land on the lower Danube. Seeing an opportunity to settle the score with their rivals, the Danubian Zaporozhians sided with the Sultan. The resulting Civil War saw severe losses in both Cossack groups. In the end the rebellion was put down, the Zaprozhians where rewarded by the Brailov Nazir
, who allowed then to return to Katerlez in 1803. However the Nekrasovites found their own protector, the commandant of Izmail
Pekhlevanoğlu. With his aid, they attacked the Sich once again in 1805 and sacked it. The surviving Zaporozhians fled to Brailov (modern Brăila
, Romania
).
The new Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812) caused further division among the Danubian Cossacks. After Russia overran the Danube, the Kosh Otaman Trofim Gaibadura and Ivan Guba offered their allegiance to Russia. They were permitted to settle in the Budjak
region and by order of Alexander I
and on 20 January 1807 formed the Lower-Danube Budjak Host (Усть-Дунайское Буджацкое Войско). The new host lasted only five months, during which many neghbouring Ukrainian and Moldovan landowners complained about their serfs running off to Kiliya (modern Ukraine
) and Galats (modern Galaţi
, Romania
) where the Host was based. Therefore on 20 June, the host, which by that point numbered only 1387 men, was disbanded. Approximately 500 of them moved to the Kuban
. This caused many of the remaining Danubians, who initially wished to follow the Kosh and return to Russia, to reconsider.
After negotiations with the Russian General Kutuzov
, many Nekarsovites were pardoned and allowed to return to Russia. The 1812 Treaty of Bucharest resulted in the Danube delta becoming part of Russia. With the old rivalry still strong, the Zaporozhian Danubians once again attacked their enemy, and in 1813 retook Katerlez. After a very brutal conflict, which shocked even the Turkish authorities, Zaporozhians captured the Nekrasovite capital Upper Dunavets (modern Romania
)in 1814 . There they founded their final Sich. This marked the end of the Nekrasov Cossack presence in the Balkans. Later many were re-located to Anatolia
, while those who remained mixed with the Danubians.
. In 1821 the Russian-Greek commander Alexander Ypsilantis
moved the Eterian Greeks
from Russia to Wallachia
. The Danubian Cossacks, under command of Kosh Nikifor Beluha, assisted in the defeat of this incursion. Afterwards five thousand Cossacks under the Kosh Semen Moroz were sent to Greece to fight for the Turks. In 1824 they took part in the storming of Messolonghi
. Many died there, and Moroz himself was killed in the naval battle off the island of Chios
.
During this time the Danube Sich reached its height, numbering 10,000-15,000 men, and controlling all of the Danube delta region with six villages being in personal control of the Kosh. In the Upper Dunavets there were 38 kurens under old traditional names of the Zaporozhian Sich. However, the new Sich was noticeably different from its predecessor. There were no longer any Host Starshynas, and only un-married Cossacks were considered as eligible for service. Polkovnyks were assigned temporarily by the Kosh. The Host lacked any cavalry, only infantry in boats. The social structure also began to fragment; instead of the former equality of all Cossacks, many fishing, tradesmen and landowners became the Rayah
. In order to gain permission to do so, there had to be at least a marriage link to a Cossack family.
In 1825 Kosh otaman Lytvyn promised to send another expedition to Greece but fled the Sich without any trace. The events in Greece once again affected relations between Turkey and Russia, and a new Russo-Turkish War broke out. Among the Danubian Cossacks there was as ever a pro-Russian and a pro-Turkish split. The former were willing to return to Russia if a pardon was given. Learning of this, the head (Hradonachalik) of Izmail
S.A. Tuchkov entered into secret negotiations with Kosh Vasily Nezmayevsky (1827). The conditions were set to allow the whole Host to return to Russia. Despite being a Russophile, Nezmayevsky was not ready to accept such a move.
With the outbreak of the new Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829), the Russian Army under command of Field-Marshal Peter Wittgenstein
advanced. Threatening to overrun the Sich, the Sultan wished to relocate it to Adrianopol (modern Edirne
, Turkey
) and ordered the Kosh to rally the Dunubian Army to Silistra
(modern Bulgaria). The new Kosh was Osyp Hladky, originally from a rich landowner family from Poltava
who in 1820 had left his home to earn a living, but after a few failed business attempts in Crimea and Odessa, had left Russia and joined the Sich in 1822. He took part in the campaign against Messolonghi and afterwards was elected to be a Kuren Ataman of the Platnyrovsky Kuren. After the failed negotiations with Nezmayevsky, Tuchkov approached Hladky, who upon the Kosh elections held on Pokrov (1 October) was elected to be the Kosh Ataman.
Gladky only gathered those that he suspected of having a pro-Turkish allegiance (about two thousand men) and set out for Silistra. After reaching there, he asked to return to the Sich to gather more. When he returned, he instead called for a Cossack Rada
and announced his decision to side the whole Sich with Russia. On 10 May 1828, Hladky along with 218 Cossacks and 578 Rayah crossed the Danube with all the Sich regalia, treasury and prized possessions. After landing on the left bank, they were taken to the Russian headquarters where they knelt before Emperor Nicholas I
himself, who was quoted saying:
The Danubian Cossacks were fully pardoned for their past, and managed to win over the Tsar's trust, which was confirmed when the Russian Army Crossed the Danube, as Nicholas was in the same boat that Hladky had initially came over in, with Kosh Polkovnyks rowing. The Tsar let the Danubians form a new Special Zaporozhian Host (Отдельное Запорожное Войско), with Hladky as the appointed Ataman. The new Host was small with only a five infantry sotnia
s (~100 men each) and came under the control of the Danube flotilla
. Despite the small number of men, they soon became a prized asset due to their knowledge of the complicated Danube Delta. They proved themselves in combat in the storming of Isaccea
, and 10 Cossacks were awarded the Cross of St. George
.
For those Danubian Sich Cossacks who refused to follow Hladky, their fate was tragic. Learning of Hladky's betrayal, the Sultan called upon the Janissary
corps to raze the Sich, massacre its population and burn down its church. Even those that were in Silistra were disarmed and sent to forced labour deep in Turkey.
. Nicholas I decided to form yet another new Cossack group the Danube Cossack Host
, which was to include descendants of the Zaporozhians who fled Russia in 1775 but did not join the Sultan and instead settled in Bessarbia. In addition it included loyal Nekrasovites as well as many volunteers from the Balkan peoples. It was based in the many historical refuge areas, now part of Russia, where over the previous decades many Cossacks fleeing from Turkey found sanctuary such as Akkerman.
The larger Danube Cossack Host thus made the former Danubian Sich Cossacks under Gladky appear small and ineffective. There were plans to relocate them to the Kuban
, where Gladky visited in 1830. But the Caucasus War was in full swing, and the long journey for such a small group would have been too difficult. Instead the Tsar allowed Gladky to remain in Novorossiya
and find a piece of land that was uninhabited. Gladky chose the northern coast of the Azov Sea, next to Berdyansk. In May 1832 Gladky carried his men over to the new land and there they formed the Azov Cossack Host
. Initially numbering 2336 people (including 687 women), the new Host was the only Cossack force in Russia which had a Naval role, acting as a coast guard for the Caucasus and Crimean coasts, by defending them from Turkish and Circassian raiders.
The remaining Cossacks who managed to escape the Sultan's vengeance, but did not return to Russia moved to the Danube Delta, where in 1830 they numbered 1,095 families . Over the years they were joined by other peasants fleeing serfdom in the Russian Empire. To date there is still a small Ukrainian minority
living in the Dobruja
region of Romania
. In 1992 they numbered four thousand people according to official Romanian statistics while the local community claims to number 20,000 . Known as Rusnaks they continue to pursue the traditional Cossack lifestyle of hunting and fishing.
(Zaporozhetz za Dunayem) composed in the 1850s by Semen Hulak-Artemovsky
, a student of Mikhail Glinka
. Although the opera historically relates to the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish war of 1828-9, where according to a peace treaty, the Danube cossacks were granted the right to return to their homeland, Hulak-Artemovsky reset the opera to take place in the 18th century.
The opera first opened in St. Petersburg at the Mariinsky Theatre
on 14 March 1863. After its premiere it was censored and restricted from performance. In the 1870s it was revived by amateur Ukrainian theatre troupes and received a new lease of live. Today it is considered a Ukrainian opera classic.
Sich
A sich is the administrative and military centre for Cossacks and especially the Zaporizhian Cossacks. It is derived from the Ukrainian word siktý, "to chop", meaning to clear a forest for an encampment, or to build a fortification with the trees that have been chopped down.The Zaporizhian Sich...
) of Zaporozhian Cossacks who settled in the territory of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
(the Danube Delta
Danube Delta
The Danube Delta is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. The greater part of the Danube Delta lies in Romania , while its northern part, on the left bank of the Chilia arm, is situated in Ukraine . The approximate surface is...
, hence the name) after their previous host was disbanded and the Zaporizhian Sich
Zaporizhian Sich
Zaporizhian Sich was socio-political, grassroot, military organization of Ukrainian cossacks placed beyond Dnieper rapids. Sich existed between the 16th and 18th centuries in the region around the today's Kakhovka Reservoir...
was destroyed.
End of Zaporozhia
By the late 18th century the combat ability of Zaporozhia was greatly reduced, especially after the Treaty of Küçük KaynarcaTreaty of Kucuk Kaynarca
The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca was signed on 21 July 1774, in Küçük Kaynarca , Dobruja between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire after the Ottoman Empire was defeated in the...
and the Russian annexation of Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
, when the need for the Host to guard the borders was removed. At the same time the Zaporozhian's other enemy, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
, was also weakened and on the verge of being partitioned
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
. This meant that militarily the Zaporozhian Sich was becoming increasingly superfluous, but at the same time their existence caused friction with Imperial Russian authorities who wanted to colonise the newly acquired lands that the Cossacks inhabited. After a number of Cossack attacks on Serbian colonies and with Cossack support offered to Yemelyan Pugachev
Yemelyan Pugachev
Yemelyan Ivanovich Pugachov , was a pretender to the Russian throne who led a great Cossack insurrection during the reign of Catherine II...
, the Russian Empress Catherine the Great
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
issued an order to General Pyotr Tekeli to end the troublesome Sich.
Tekeli's operation, carried out in June 1775, was bloodless. The Zaporozhian Sich was surrounded with infantry and artillery and an ultimatum was given to the Kosh otaman Petro Kalnyshevsky
Petro Kalnyshevsky
Kalnyshevsky Petro was the last Koshovyi Otaman of the Zaporozhian Host, serving in 1762 and from 1765 to 1775. Kalnyshevsky was the Hero in the Russo-Turkish war of 1768-1774 and was honoured with a gold medal with brilliants for courage.Being the leader of the Zaporozhian Host, Kalnyshevsky...
. Under the guidance of a starshyna Lyakh, and apparently without Kalnyshevky's knowledge, an agreementwas reached to allow a group of 50 Cossacks to go fishing in the river Ingul next to the Southern Buh in Ottoman territory. The pretext was enough to allow the Russians to let the Cossacks out of the siege, as in total the 50 Cossacks grew to five thousand (approximately 30% of the Zaporozhian Cossacks).
These Cossacks were joined by numerous Ukrainian peasants fleeing from Russian Serfdom and lived on the left bank of the Danube river (Budjak
Budjak
Budjak or Budzhak is a historical region in the Odessa Oblast of Ukraine. Lying along the Black Sea between the Danube and Dniester rivers this multiethnic region was the southern part of Bessarabia...
) then part of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, who allowed them to settle there. By 1778 they numbered 12 thousand men, and the Turkish Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
decided that they would have much more use as a Cossack Host
Cossack host
A Cossack host or Cossack viysko was an administrative subdivision of Cossacks in Imperial Russia...
, and allocated them the land of Kuchungary (modern Transnistria
Transnistria
Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...
) in the lower Dniester
Dniester
The Dniester is a river in Eastern Europe. It runs through Ukraine and Moldova and separates most of Moldova's territory from the breakaway de facto state of Transnistria.-Names:...
where they swore loyalty to the Ottaman Empire. However the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War divided the Cossacks. Some returned to Russia and joined the new Host of Loyal Zaporozhians (later the Black Sea Cossack Host
Black Sea Cossack Host
Black Sea Cossack Host , also known as Chernomoriya , was a Cossack host of the Russian Empire created in 1787 in the southern Ukraine from former Zaporozhian Cossacks. In the 1790s, the host was re-settled to the Kuban River...
) formed out of the Cossacks who chose to remain in Russia in 1775. After the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812, Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
became part of Russia, and the Cossacks lost all of their allocated land.
Rivalry with Nekrasovites
Following Turkey's defeat, some Cossacks retreated with the Turkish Army across the Danube River, where the Sultan allowed them to build a SichSich
A sich is the administrative and military centre for Cossacks and especially the Zaporizhian Cossacks. It is derived from the Ukrainian word siktý, "to chop", meaning to clear a forest for an encampment, or to build a fortification with the trees that have been chopped down.The Zaporizhian Sich...
in the settlement of Katerlez in the Danube Delta
Danube Delta
The Danube Delta is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. The greater part of the Danube Delta lies in Romania , while its northern part, on the left bank of the Chilia arm, is situated in Ukraine . The approximate surface is...
right next to existing settlements of Nekrasov Cossacks
Nekrasov Cossacks
Nekrasov Cossacks, Nekrasovite Cossacks, Nekrasovites, Nekrasovtsy are descendants of Don Cossacks which, after the defeat of the Bulavin Rebellion fled to the Kuban , headed by Ignat Nekrasov, hence the name. The Kuban was then under the rule of the Crimean Khanate...
and Lipovans
Lipovans
Lipovans or Lippovans are the Old Believers, mostly of Russian ethnic origin, who settled in the Moldavian Principality, in Dobruja and Eastern Muntenia...
. There was increasing friction between the two groups over land and fishing rights. In 1794, the Nekrasovites attacked and destroyed Katerlez. Afterwards the Turkish authorities re-located the Danubian Zaporozhians further up the Danube on the Brailov Island
Great Braila Island
The Great Brăila Island is an island on the Danube river in the Brăila County, Romania. It has on average 60 km length and 20 km width, with a total area of 710 km²...
. The new location was much poorer for fishing and resulted in a group of 500 Cossacks, led by Kosh Pomelo to return to Russia.
In 1800 the Balkan Peninsula erupted in uprisings led by Osman Pazvantoğlu
Osman Pazvantoglu
Osman Pazvantoğlu was a Bosnian Ottoman soldier, a governor of the Vidin district after 1794, and a rebel against Ottoman rule...
who rebelled against the new Turkish Sultan Selim III
Selim III
Selim III was the reform-minded Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. The Janissaries eventually deposed and imprisoned him, and placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV...
. In order to gain support, Pazvantoğlu promised the Nekrasovites all the land on the lower Danube. Seeing an opportunity to settle the score with their rivals, the Danubian Zaporozhians sided with the Sultan. The resulting Civil War saw severe losses in both Cossack groups. In the end the rebellion was put down, the Zaprozhians where rewarded by the Brailov Nazir
Nazir
-Given name:* Nazeer Abbasi , Sindhi political activist* Nazeer Akbarabadi, 18th-century Urdu poet* Nazeer Allie , South African footballer* Nazeer Naji, Pakistani journalist* Nazir Ahmed...
, who allowed then to return to Katerlez in 1803. However the Nekrasovites found their own protector, the commandant of Izmail
Izmail
Izmail is a historic town near the Danube river in the Odessa Oblast of south-western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Izmail Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast....
Pekhlevanoğlu. With his aid, they attacked the Sich once again in 1805 and sacked it. The surviving Zaporozhians fled to Brailov (modern Brăila
Braila
Brăila is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County, in the close vicinity of Galaţi.According to the 2002 Romanian census there were 216,292 people living within the city of Brăila, making it the 10th most populous city in Romania.-History:A...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
).
The new Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812) caused further division among the Danubian Cossacks. After Russia overran the Danube, the Kosh Otaman Trofim Gaibadura and Ivan Guba offered their allegiance to Russia. They were permitted to settle in the Budjak
Budjak
Budjak or Budzhak is a historical region in the Odessa Oblast of Ukraine. Lying along the Black Sea between the Danube and Dniester rivers this multiethnic region was the southern part of Bessarabia...
region and by order of Alexander I
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
and on 20 January 1807 formed the Lower-Danube Budjak Host (Усть-Дунайское Буджацкое Войско). The new host lasted only five months, during which many neghbouring Ukrainian and Moldovan landowners complained about their serfs running off to Kiliya (modern Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
) and Galats (modern Galaţi
Galati
Galați is a city and municipality in Romania, the capital of Galați County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, in the close vicinity of Brăila, Galați is the largest port and sea port on the Danube River and the second largest Romanian port....
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
) where the Host was based. Therefore on 20 June, the host, which by that point numbered only 1387 men, was disbanded. Approximately 500 of them moved to the Kuban
Kuban
Kuban is a geographic region of Southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Don Steppe, Volga Delta and the Caucasus...
. This caused many of the remaining Danubians, who initially wished to follow the Kosh and return to Russia, to reconsider.
After negotiations with the Russian General Kutuzov
Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov
Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov was a Field Marshal of the Russian Empire. He served as one of the finest military officers and diplomats of Russia under the reign of three Romanov Tsars: Catherine II, Paul I and Alexander I...
, many Nekarsovites were pardoned and allowed to return to Russia. The 1812 Treaty of Bucharest resulted in the Danube delta becoming part of Russia. With the old rivalry still strong, the Zaporozhian Danubians once again attacked their enemy, and in 1813 retook Katerlez. After a very brutal conflict, which shocked even the Turkish authorities, Zaporozhians captured the Nekrasovite capital Upper Dunavets (modern Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
)in 1814 . There they founded their final Sich. This marked the end of the Nekrasov Cossack presence in the Balkans. Later many were re-located to Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
, while those who remained mixed with the Danubians.
Service to the Sultan
After a few years of peace, trouble once again came to the Balkans, with the outbreak of the Greek War of IndependenceGreek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
. In 1821 the Russian-Greek commander Alexander Ypsilantis
Alexander Ypsilantis (1792-1828)
Alexander Ypsilantis, Ypsilanti, or Alexandros Ypsilantis was a member of a prominent Phanariot Greek family, a prince of the Danubian Principalities, a senior officer of the Imperial Russian cavalry during the Napoleonic Wars, and a leader of the Filiki Eteria, a secret organization that...
moved the Eterian Greeks
Filiki Eteria
thumb|right|200px|The flag of the Filiki Eteria.Filiki Eteria or Society of Friends was a secret 19th century organization, whose purpose was to overthrow Ottoman rule over Greece and to establish an independent Greek state. Society members were mainly young Phanariot Greeks from Russia and local...
from Russia to Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
. The Danubian Cossacks, under command of Kosh Nikifor Beluha, assisted in the defeat of this incursion. Afterwards five thousand Cossacks under the Kosh Semen Moroz were sent to Greece to fight for the Turks. In 1824 they took part in the storming of Messolonghi
Messolonghi
Missolonghi is a town of 12,225 people in western Greece. The town is the capital of Aetolia-Acarnania and is also its third largest town. It is the seat of the municipality of Iera Poli Mesolongiou . Missolonghi is linked to, although bypassed since the 1960s by, GR-5/E55...
. Many died there, and Moroz himself was killed in the naval battle off the island of Chios
Chios
Chios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, seven kilometres off the Asia Minor coast. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages...
.
During this time the Danube Sich reached its height, numbering 10,000-15,000 men, and controlling all of the Danube delta region with six villages being in personal control of the Kosh. In the Upper Dunavets there were 38 kurens under old traditional names of the Zaporozhian Sich. However, the new Sich was noticeably different from its predecessor. There were no longer any Host Starshynas, and only un-married Cossacks were considered as eligible for service. Polkovnyks were assigned temporarily by the Kosh. The Host lacked any cavalry, only infantry in boats. The social structure also began to fragment; instead of the former equality of all Cossacks, many fishing, tradesmen and landowners became the Rayah
Rayah
A rayah or reaya was a member of the tax-paying lower class of Ottoman society, in contrast to the askeri and kul...
. In order to gain permission to do so, there had to be at least a marriage link to a Cossack family.
End
Izmail
Izmail is a historic town near the Danube river in the Odessa Oblast of south-western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Izmail Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast....
S.A. Tuchkov entered into secret negotiations with Kosh Vasily Nezmayevsky (1827). The conditions were set to allow the whole Host to return to Russia. Despite being a Russophile, Nezmayevsky was not ready to accept such a move.
With the outbreak of the new Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829), the Russian Army under command of Field-Marshal Peter Wittgenstein
Peter Wittgenstein
Ludwig Adolph Peter, Prince Wittgenstein was a Russian Field Marshal distinguished for his services in the Napoleonic wars.-Life:...
advanced. Threatening to overrun the Sich, the Sultan wished to relocate it to Adrianopol (modern Edirne
Edirne
Edirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
) and ordered the Kosh to rally the Dunubian Army to Silistra
Silistra
Silistra is a port city of northeastern Bulgaria, lying on the southern bank of the lower Danube at the country's border with Romania. Silistra is the administrative centre of Silistra Province and one of the important cities of the historical region of Southern Dobrudzha...
(modern Bulgaria). The new Kosh was Osyp Hladky, originally from a rich landowner family from Poltava
Poltava
Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....
who in 1820 had left his home to earn a living, but after a few failed business attempts in Crimea and Odessa, had left Russia and joined the Sich in 1822. He took part in the campaign against Messolonghi and afterwards was elected to be a Kuren Ataman of the Platnyrovsky Kuren. After the failed negotiations with Nezmayevsky, Tuchkov approached Hladky, who upon the Kosh elections held on Pokrov (1 October) was elected to be the Kosh Ataman.
Gladky only gathered those that he suspected of having a pro-Turkish allegiance (about two thousand men) and set out for Silistra. After reaching there, he asked to return to the Sich to gather more. When he returned, he instead called for a Cossack Rada
Cossack Rada
Cossack Rada was a general cossack meeting often military in nature. It was also known as the Chorna Rada, from the Slavic chern - mob.The Rada was an institution of cossack administration in Ukraine from 16th to 18 centuries. One of the famous such councils was the Chorna rada of 1663 described...
and announced his decision to side the whole Sich with Russia. On 10 May 1828, Hladky along with 218 Cossacks and 578 Rayah crossed the Danube with all the Sich regalia, treasury and prized possessions. After landing on the left bank, they were taken to the Russian headquarters where they knelt before Emperor Nicholas I
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
himself, who was quoted saying:
The Danubian Cossacks were fully pardoned for their past, and managed to win over the Tsar's trust, which was confirmed when the Russian Army Crossed the Danube, as Nicholas was in the same boat that Hladky had initially came over in, with Kosh Polkovnyks rowing. The Tsar let the Danubians form a new Special Zaporozhian Host (Отдельное Запорожное Войско), with Hladky as the appointed Ataman. The new Host was small with only a five infantry sotnia
Sotnia
Sotnia was a traditional division of the Cossack regiments. For example from earliest records of the Zaporizhian Sich, and means 'a hundred'. It is equivalent to company ....
s (~100 men each) and came under the control of the Danube flotilla
Imperial Russian Navy
The Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...
. Despite the small number of men, they soon became a prized asset due to their knowledge of the complicated Danube Delta. They proved themselves in combat in the storming of Isaccea
Isaccea
Isaccea is a small town in Tulcea County, in Dobruja, Romania, on the right bank of the Danube, 35 km north-west of Tulcea. According to the 2002 census, it has a population 5,374....
, and 10 Cossacks were awarded the Cross of St. George
Cross of St. George
thumb|Original Cross of St. George.Ist and 2nd class were in gold.The Cross of St. George ', or simply the George's Cross, was, until 1913, officially known as the Sign of Distinction of the Military Order of St. George....
.
For those Danubian Sich Cossacks who refused to follow Hladky, their fate was tragic. Learning of Hladky's betrayal, the Sultan called upon the Janissary
Janissary
The Janissaries were infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguards...
corps to raze the Sich, massacre its population and burn down its church. Even those that were in Silistra were disarmed and sent to forced labour deep in Turkey.
Aftermath
After the war ended, Russia gained the extensive territory of the Danubian PrincipalitiesDanubian Principalities
Danubian Principalities was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th century. The term was coined in the Habsburg Monarchy after the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in order to designate an area on the lower Danube with a common...
. Nicholas I decided to form yet another new Cossack group the Danube Cossack Host
Danube Cossack Host
The Danube Cossack Host was an Imperial Russian Cossack Host formed in 1828 prior to the Russo-Turkish War , on the order of Emperor Nicholas I from descendants of the Zaporozhian Cossacks living in Bessarabia and in particularly the Budjak. Russian Cossack Host named Lower-Danube Budjak Host had...
, which was to include descendants of the Zaporozhians who fled Russia in 1775 but did not join the Sultan and instead settled in Bessarbia. In addition it included loyal Nekrasovites as well as many volunteers from the Balkan peoples. It was based in the many historical refuge areas, now part of Russia, where over the previous decades many Cossacks fleeing from Turkey found sanctuary such as Akkerman.
The larger Danube Cossack Host thus made the former Danubian Sich Cossacks under Gladky appear small and ineffective. There were plans to relocate them to the Kuban
Kuban
Kuban is a geographic region of Southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Don Steppe, Volga Delta and the Caucasus...
, where Gladky visited in 1830. But the Caucasus War was in full swing, and the long journey for such a small group would have been too difficult. Instead the Tsar allowed Gladky to remain in Novorossiya
Novorossiya
Novorossiya is a historic area of lands which established itself solidly after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate by the Russian Empire, but was introduced with the establishment of Novorossiysk Governorate with the capital in Kremenchuk in the mid 18th century. Until that time in both Polish...
and find a piece of land that was uninhabited. Gladky chose the northern coast of the Azov Sea, next to Berdyansk. In May 1832 Gladky carried his men over to the new land and there they formed the Azov Cossack Host
Azov Cossack Host
Azov Cossack Host was a Cossack host that existed on the northern shore of the Sea of Azov, between 1832 and 1862.The host was made up of several Cossack groups who were re-settled there. The most numerous were the former Danubian Sich Cossacks, who previously returned to Russian Patronage in 1828...
. Initially numbering 2336 people (including 687 women), the new Host was the only Cossack force in Russia which had a Naval role, acting as a coast guard for the Caucasus and Crimean coasts, by defending them from Turkish and Circassian raiders.
The remaining Cossacks who managed to escape the Sultan's vengeance, but did not return to Russia moved to the Danube Delta, where in 1830 they numbered 1,095 families . Over the years they were joined by other peasants fleeing serfdom in the Russian Empire. To date there is still a small Ukrainian minority
Ukrainian diaspora
The Ukrainian diaspora is the global community of ethnic Ukrainians, especially those who maintain some kind of connection, even if ephemeral, to the land of their ancestors and maintain their feeling of Ukrainian national identity within their own local community.-1608 To 1880:After the loss...
living in the Dobruja
Dobruja
Dobruja is a historical region shared by Bulgaria and Romania, located between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, including the Danube Delta, Romanian coast and the northernmost part of the Bulgarian coast...
region of Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. In 1992 they numbered four thousand people according to official Romanian statistics while the local community claims to number 20,000 . Known as Rusnaks they continue to pursue the traditional Cossack lifestyle of hunting and fishing.
Legacy
The legacy of the Danube Cossacks survived in a lyrical-comic opera called "A Zaprorozhian Cossack beyond the Danube"Zaporozhets za Dunayem
Zaporozhets za Dunayem Beyond the Danube, also referred to as Cossacks in Exile) is a Ukrainian comic opera with spoken dialogue in three acts with music and libretto by the composer Semen Hulak-Artemovsky . The orchestration has subsequently been rewritten by composers such as Reinhold Glière and...
(Zaporozhetz za Dunayem) composed in the 1850s by Semen Hulak-Artemovsky
Semen Hulak-Artemovsky
Semen Stepanovych Hulak-Artemovsky , was a Ukrainian opera composer, singer , actor, and dramatist who lived and worked in Imperial Russia....
, a student of Mikhail Glinka
Mikhail Glinka
Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka , was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition within his own country, and is often regarded as the father of Russian classical music...
. Although the opera historically relates to the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish war of 1828-9, where according to a peace treaty, the Danube cossacks were granted the right to return to their homeland, Hulak-Artemovsky reset the opera to take place in the 18th century.
The opera first opened in St. Petersburg at the Mariinsky Theatre
Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. The...
on 14 March 1863. After its premiere it was censored and restricted from performance. In the 1870s it was revived by amateur Ukrainian theatre troupes and received a new lease of live. Today it is considered a Ukrainian opera classic.
Notations
.- Cossacks and military settlers on Dniester and Bug 18th-19th centuries by I.A.Antsupov. First published in Annual Almanach of Pridnestrovye, 1997, vol.1 p. 30-39 Available online on www.cossackdom.com
- Olena Bachynska. "The Danube Territory-land of the traditions of the Ukrainian Cossacks 18th-19th centuries". First published in Наукових записок. Збірника праць молодих вчених та аспірантів". 2001. vol.6 p. 263-274 available online at www.cossackdom.com
- Alexander Bachinsky, The Danube Sich 1775-1828 Odessa State University http://www.cossackdom.com/rechenzii/moguliova_naris.htm
- online Danube Sich by L.Malenko for the Small Encyclopedia of Ukrainian Cossackdom
External links
- Danubian Sich in the Encyclopedia of UkraineEncyclopedia of UkraineThe Encyclopedia of Ukraine is an English language, free, online encyclopedia covering wide range of issueson Ukraine, including its history, people, geography, economy, culture etc....