Danubian Sich
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Danubian Sich Задунайська Сiч (Ukrainian) | |||||||||
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| 1775–1828 | |||||||||
 Seal of the Transdanubian Cossack Army from the beginning of the 19th century.
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 Metropolitan bishopric of Proilava (Brăila) | |||||||||
| Demonym(s) | Zaporozhian Cossacks | ||||||||
| Government | Cossack Republic | ||||||||
| Historical era | Early modern period | ||||||||
| 1775 | |||||||||
| 1828 | |||||||||
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The Danubian Sich (Ukrainian: Задунайська Сiч, romanized: Zadunaiska Sich) was an organization of the part of former 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 Zaporozhian Sich was destroyed.
In 1863 Semen Hulak-Artemovsky wrote his libretto Zaporozhets za Dunayem in Saint Petersburg to commemorate the exodus of Zaporizhian Cossacks to the Danube, an area of Silistra Eyalet. The Cossacks were protecting the Metropolitan bishop of Brăila who serviced the area of Budjak and Yedisan (Ottoman Ukraine) and was titled as Metropolitan bishop of all Ukraine.[1]
End of Zaporozhia
By the late 18th century, the combat ability of Zaporozhia was greatly reduced, especially after the
Tekeli's operation, carried out in June 1775, was bloodless. The
These Cossacks were joined by numerous Ukrainian peasants fleeing from
Rivalry with Nekrasovites
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Following Turkey's defeat, some Cossacks retreated with the Turkish Army across the
In 1800 the
The new
After negotiations with the Russian General
Service to the Sultan
After a few years of peace, trouble once again came to the Balkans, with the outbreak of the
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
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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
Hladky 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 30 (18) May 1828,[3] 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:
God will forgive you, the Motherland forgives you, and I too forgive
— [4]
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
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.
Aftermath
After the war ended, Russia remained to administer the
There were plans to relocate the Danubian Cossack Host to the
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.[5] 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 around Ukraine and Romania. In 1992 they numbered four thousand people according to official Romanian statistics [6] while the local community claims to number 20,000.[5] Known as Rusnaks[7] 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" (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
See also
- Ottoman Ukraine
- Azov Cossacks
References
Notations
- Shambarov, Valery (2007). Kazachestvo Istoriya Volnoy Rusi. Algoritm Expo, Moscow. ISBN 978-5-699-20121-1..
- 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 [3]
- online Danube Sich by L.Malenko for the Small Encyclopedia of Ukrainian Cossackdom
Footnotes
- ^ [Mitropolitul Proilaviei, al Tomarovei, al Hotinului, al tuturor marginilor Dunării și ale Nistrului și al întregii Ucraine a hanului]; Iustin S. Frățiman, Administrarea bisericească la românii transnistreni, între Bug și Nistru. Cercetare politico-istorico-bisericească relativ la viața românilor ce trăiesc în Rusia, editura „Dimitrie V. Păun”, Chișinău, 1943, republicat de Vlad Cubreacov în ziarul Flux, 8 mai 2009 [1], accesat la 15 decembrie 2012.
- ^ Taras Chukhlib Alexander Suvorov in Ukrainian history, Pravda.org.ua Retrieved on 21 April Archived 2007-12-19 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Йосип Михайлович Гладкий at «Енциклопедія історії України» [2]
- ^ Osip Gladky at www.rulex.ru Retrieved 21st Feb, 2008
- ^ a b "Union of Ukrainians in Romania website". Archived from the original on 2008-12-30. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
- ^ Calculated from statistics for the counties of Tulcea and Constanţa from "Populaţia după etnie la recensămintele din perioada 1930–2002, pe judete" (PDF) (in Romanian). Guvernul României — Agenţia Naţională pentru Romi. pp. 5–6, 13–14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2007-05-02.
- ^ "Dobrudja". Encyclopedia of Ukraine. Retrieved December 21, 2006.