Don Cossack
Flag of the Don Cossacks.
|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (0.2–2 million) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Russia: Rostov and Volgograd Oblasts
|
1,500,000 in 1918; 140,000 in 2010 |
| Languages | |
| Dialect of Russian: Don Balachka, Don Gutar | |
| Religion | |
| Eastern Orthodox Christians, Starovers | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Russians,Kalmyks, Brodnici, Circassians, Ukrainians | |
Don Cossacks (Russian: Донские казаки) are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don. Historically, they have been located within what was the Don Cossack Host (Russian: Всевеликое Войско Донское, Vsevelikoye Voysko Donskoye), which was either an independent or an autonomous democratic republic in the present day Southern Russia and the Donbas region of Ukraine, from the end of the 16th century until 1918. As of 1992, by the presidential decree of the Russian Federation, Cossacks can be enrolled on a special register. A number of Cossack communities have been reconstituted to further the Cossack cultural traditions, including those of the Don Cossack Host.
Don Cossacks have had a rich military tradition, playing an important part in the historical development of the Russian Empire and participating in most of its major wars.
The name Cossack (казак, козак) was widely used to describe "free people" as opposed to others with different standing in a feudal society (i.e., peasants, nobles, clergy, etc.). The word 'cossack' was also applied to migrants, free-booters and bandits.
The exact origins of Cossacks are unknown. In modern view, Don Cossacks are descendants of Slavic people, who came from the Dnieper, Novgorod Republic, and Principality of Ryazan, and of Goths-Alans people originating from the Western part of North Caucasus.
More than two thousand years ago the Scythians lived on the banks of the river Don. Many Scythian tombs have been found in this area. Subsequently, the area was inhabited by the Khazars and the Polovtsians. The steppes of the Don River were called "The Wild Field" (Дикое Поле). The area was under the general control of the Golden Horde, and numerous Tatar armed groups roamed there, attacking Russian and foreign merchants.
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Wikipedia