Paul Goble’s 50 Windows on Eurasia January 15, 2023
Day: January 15, 2023
A Brief History of the Cossacks
A Brief History of the Cossacks
The Cossacks owe their origins to the mixing of Asiatic and Slavic cultures on the Russian steppes that had been a part of Russian life since the first Slavic migrations out of the Carpathian Mountains.
The first group of horsemen to gain the term Cossacks were Tartar (descendents of the Mongol Golden Horde) freebooting outlaws robbing and raiding without Tartar permission. They were called Kazaks by Greek and Turkish traders in the early 14th century, a Turkish word of Arabic origin. Kazak soon found its way into the Tartar, Polish and Russian languages.
By the 15th century bands of Tartar Kazaks, organised on Mongol principles (groups of 10 forming the base unit), were roaming and raiding in the Russian principalities, Lithuania-Poland and even Tartar Khanates. Soon their numbers grew to the point where they were braving direct confrontations with organised forces. Read more