Tell me about the cossacks, /his/
They seem sort of like Slavic samurai or knights, but they also seem to have had their own states? I don't really understand much about them. Can you put it in terms a romaboo or western civ buff would understand?
>>1366989
They were basically Turkified steppeniggers who were allowed some autonomy in exchange for their role as auxiliary cavalry for the Russian Empire.
>>1366989
THE COSSACKS WERE THE KNIGHTLY CAVALRY DIVISION OF THE TARTARIAN MILITARY; THEY WERE CONFERRED LAND WHEN THEY RETIRED.
>>1367050
>tripfag
Ah okay so your post is an Opinion not a fact. Opinion discarded.
>>1366989
>Tell me about the cossacks, /his/
Cossacks were basically semi-nomadic populations dwelling on the border between the forest zone (and thus sedentary population) and the steppe (where nomads lived). They origin could have been the so-called Chernoe Klobuki (Black Hoods) who were Christian Turks that were loosely allied with the Kievan Rus from 10th century onward. At any rate, the name of Cossacks seem to have Turkic etymology.
While the earliest origins might have been Turkic, Cossacks were bolstered from 14th century onwards by a strady stream of Slavs. Slavs had many reasons to join the Cossacks. Some were outlaws, others were peasants who escaped feudalism. By the time we have records on the Cossack culture (early 16th century), they are already Orthodox and completely Slavicized.
>>1366989
>They seem sort of like Slavic samurai or knights,
Slavs also had knights. Cossacks are more comparable to border ruffians.
>>1367016
Generally speaking, I'd agee. Horses and riding we much more prevalent in Eastern Europe than Western Europe
Main takeaway is that they were quasi- independent and often mercenary fighters. They varied in success and wealth but were usually used as the cheap local border guards of Eastern Empires. The rich and wealthy among them organised and could form communal entities
Cossacks are the cowboys of the steppes, they claimed land for Eastern Empires while fighting off incursions from native peoples and Turkish advances
>>1367016
>>1367107
You talking about Russian cossacks.
The ones in PLC were mostly fighting as infantry(using wagons and firearms) and raid coast of Black Sea. Also they were mix of outlaws, exiles, running peasants and deserters from all around the world(but mostly Slavs).
It make them more like Slavic Vikings.
>>1366989
The word Cossack comes from Turkic kazak, meaning free-man. They were runaway Slavic peasants who adopted elements of the Turkic steppe nomad's lifestyle. They were militiarized communities and much like the Turkic nomads subsisted on raiding their neighbors on horseback. Later in the Russian empire they formed a distinct caste and were granted privileges in exchange for military service.
![kazak4[1].gif](https://i.imgur.com/rez2GdE.gif "kazak4[1].gif")
>>1366989
>their own states
It's complicated. What's now modern Ukraine had a power vacuum as old Ruthenian nobility got mostly polonified. Then Zaporozhian cossacks, largely consisting of Ukrainians and old noblemen (as Ukraine was right next to the lands they prowled on), slowly became a new Ukrainian elite, protecting its interests, most importantly Orthodox faith.
Then they wanted to get more rights, Poland which they were a part of objected, a bloody war happened. Bohdan Khmelnytsky, their leader at the time, got limited independence but wanted to cement it properly. He couldn't just declare independence citing self-determination because that concept didn't exist yet. Sovereignty was equalized with the figure of the leader who had to have some rights to the throne. Cossacks didn't have anyone like that but the next best thing was getting a protectorate. There were three choices for that: Poland, Ottomans and Russia. Getting back to Poland was unpopular, Ottomans were actually a sound option as they were far away but they were Muslim. Thus Russia was chosen as it was quite weak and also Orthodox.
At first cossacks enjoyed a large amount of autonomy but Russians were methodically eliminating it. In 1754 customs border was eliminated, in 1764 Hetman rule was cancelled, in 1776 Zaporozhian Host was destroyed.
>>1367107
Turkic origin theory is considered very questionable these days, at the very least for Zaporozhian cossacks, since a lot of it has probably been invented by cossacks themselves as they loved calling themselves descendants of Sarmatians. Being descendants of a Bible age nation was considered very prestigious those days.
>Slavs also had knights. Cossacks are more comparable to border ruffians.
Zaporozhian cossacks loved calling themselves knights, and to be fair their structure could probably even be compared to a military order. One of the names for their emblem, pic related, was actually "knight with a gun" ("лицap з caмoпaлoм").
