COSSACKS
(Own name: Kazaki)
Kazak
is an originally Turko-Tatar word for a free warrior. The Cossack
movement originates from the mid-fifteenth century but turned
into a mass movement a century later due to worsening living conditions
for the peasants. Many fled and joined Tatar Cossack groups at
the fringes of Muscovy. They formed independent, self-governing
military communes along the river valleys of the steppe, beyond
the borders. Cossacks repeatedly supported peas- ant uprisings
but also participated in military campaigns of the Russian army,
where they played a major role in the expansion of the Russian
Empire and the protection of her borders.
Some of the largest Cossack formations were located in the Don
and the Terek basins, and later the Kuban, close to the Caucasus,
and they became strongly involved in the Russian conquest of the
Caucasus region. All capitals of the North Caucasian Republics
were founded as Cossack fortifications, and following the conquest
Cossacks settled on soil earlier inhabited by Caucasian people.
After the Russian Revolution, Cossacks of the North Caucasus formed
the core of Denikin's White Voluntary Army and established a Terek
Cossack Republic. When the Bolshevik regained the region in 1921,
some 70,000 Cossacks were deported from their settlements in the
North Caucasus to Siberia. Orthodox Christianity and traditional
values such as a democratic but military form of organization
still characterize the Cossacks of the region. Yet in many ways
they have adapted to Caucasian ways of life. They cooperate with
other Caucasian peoples on certain issues such as the rehabilitation
of repressed peoples while on other issues, such as land claims,
they are opposed to those of the North Caucasians. Many Russians
have lately affiliated with the Cossacks. Two groups are important
to the region today: Terek Cossacks in the east, and Kuban Cossacks
in the West. No numbers can be given as they were never included
in Soviet census data. Cossacks themselves give their number in
the millions, although this is questionable
Note:
This information is taken from "The North Caucasus: Minorities
at a Crossroads" written by Helen Krag and Larsh Funch.
