Nalyvaiko Uprising

The Nalyvaiko Uprising (Polish: powstanie Nalewajki, Ukrainian: повстання Наливайка) was a failed Cossack rebellion against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Headed by Severyn Nalyvaiko, it lasted from 1594 to 1596. The second in a series of failed Cossack uprisings, the conflict was ultimately won by the Crown of Poland, but two years of warfare and scorched-earth tactics employed by both sides left much of right-bank Ukraine in ruins.

The steppe borderland between Poland-Lithuania, Muscovy, various Tatar states (under influence from the Ottomans) and the Black Sea was mostly under control of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth, at least since the fall of Kievan Rus'. However, control over such a huge area was never direct and far from complete. The vast, scarcely populated areas of what is now Ukraine (the name itself could be translated as Borderlands) had been attracting all sorts of people, from adventurers to brigands, foreign merchants, landless gentry and runaway serfs. Over time a certain common identity started to form among them, giving birth to the Cossacks.

The Republic tried to strengthen control over those lands by creating the so-called Cossack registry, a small yet well-trained and well-equipped unit formed of local folk, tasked above all with policing and peace-keeping duties in the Kiev Voivodeship, and most importantly in the so-called Wild Fields. Although in the 16th century the unit was at no time stronger than 1000 men, it was nevertheless a formidable force in an area where no large settlements existed. In addition, unlike the force fielded by and loyal to the central authorities rather than local magnates--who often fielded their own armies--the Registered Cossacks were to be paid in the same manner as other Polish-Lithuanian standing army units: the local voivodes and castellans were to distribute salaries to them once a year. However, the salaries were being paid irregularly and the basic source of income for the armed Cossacks remained pillaging raids on Zaporizhian Sich, Crimea, Moldavia and other lands under Ottoman control. The international situation of the Cossacks and Polish-Lithuanian control over the vast areas of Kiev Voivodeship was further complicated by the fact that the rulers of Muscovy and Austria (Feodor I and Rudolf II, respectively) wanted to win the support of Cossacks in their struggle against the Turks.

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Wikipedia