The Cossack raids were a series of military offensives conducted by the Cossacks (the Zaporozhian Cossacks of southern Ukraine and the Don Cossacks of southern Russia) between 1441 and 1774. Primarily occurring in the Crimean Khanate, the Nogai Horde, and the Ottoman Empire, the raids developed as a reaction to the Crimean–Nogai slave raids in Eastern Europe. Typical actions during these raids involved freeing enslaved Christians, plundering local settlements, and capturing Muslims for enslavement. Unlike the Tatars, the Cossacks could threaten fortified positions because of their access to cannons. Though difficult to calculate, the level of devastation caused by the Cossack raids is estimated to have been on a par with that of the Crimean–Nogai slave raids.
Background
The first Zaporozhian Cossack raid was recorded on 1 August 1492, a raid on the Tatar settlement of Tiahynka. During this period, the Cossacks were less organized; their activities resembled guerrilla warfare or "steppe sport", with back-and-forth raids by Cossacks and Tatars. According to Mykhailo Hrushevsky, being a Cossack during this period was "more an occupation than a social status". This began to change in the 1580s, when Cossacks began acquiring higher social status in their respective states and transformed into regular military formations. Between the 1580s and the mid-17th century, Cossack raids were a major problem for the Crimean Khanate and Ottoman Empire.
Cossack raiders were often successful due to their adoption of gunpowder weaponry, allowing them to match the Crimean-Nogai raiders and Ottomans. The Cossacks also made efficient use of cannons. Many attacks were north of the Black Sea, but the Cossacks also attacked targets deep inside Anatolia (including the Ottoman capital of Istanbul). Zaporozhian sea raids ended in 1648 with the Khmelnytsky Uprising and formation of the Cossack Hetmanate, but Don Cossacks continued sea raiding until the 1660s and 1670s. By the 18th century, Cossack raids decreased in intensity due to increasing Russian control over Cossack hosts and their incorporation into the Imperial Russian Army. The raids ceased in 1783 with the end of Crimean-Nogai raids in Eastern Europe after the Russian annexation of Crimea.
Conflict and raids The Cossack conflict with the Tatars and Turks was often waged in parallel with Russia. They also acted independently of each other during the 16th century. The Cossacks preferred offense, but Russia primarily limited itself to passive defense.
Tatar raids
During the early 16th century Russia reinforced the Oka and Ugra rivers with fortifications and troops, their only defensive measures. The first Crimean raid on Russia took place from 1500 to 1503. The Tatars raided Chernihiv in 1503, and Russian envoys complained to the khan. In 1527, they reached the Oka and plundered Ryazan. From 1580 to 1590, Russia built defensive fortresses along the southern line of Belgorod, Voronezh, Lebedyan, and other cities. Russia was weakened by turmoil from 1607 to 1618, and the Tatars took the opportunity to plunder Bolkhov, Dankov, and Lebedyan despite the defensive line of fortresses.
In 1632, 20,000 Tatars devastated Yelets, Karachev, Livny, and other settlements. The following year, another 20,000-strong Tatar army looted Aleksin, Kaluga, Kashira, and other towns along the Oka; even Moscow, on the other side of the Oka, was affected. Russia ordered the construction of the Belgorod defense line in 1635, which stretched from the Vorskla tributary of the Dnieper to the Chelnova River. Construction began in 1646, and took over 10 years to complete. Tsar Alexis expanded the defensive line to Russia's Crimean border. Tatar raiders were hardly deterred by these measures, abducting 150,000 to 200,000 people from Russia during the first half of the 17th century. Russia was forced to pay an average of 26,000 rubles annually in tribute to the Crimean Khanate (a total of one million rubles) during that timeaccording to modern calculations, the cost of building four new cities.
Cossack raids
The Cossacks launched raids on land and sea. Cossack cavalry often picked off wandering Tatars along the northern Black Sea coast, plundering Ottoman fortresses on the lower Dnieper and Danube and in Crimea. In 1516, Cossacks besieged the Ottoman fortress in the port of Akkerman. Eight years later, they first attacked Crimea. The Cossacks attacked Ochakov in 1545 and looted its surrounding area, capturing an Ottoman delegation along the way.
Cossack influence rose in the Black Sea during the third quarter of the 16th century, and Ataman Foka Pokatilo's Cossacks devastated Akkerman. In 1575, Ataman Bogdan launched a Crimean campaign in response to Tatar attacks on Ukrainian territory. Bogdan later raided Kozlov, Trebizond, and Sinop. In 1587, Cossacks again attacked Kozlov and Akkerman. The Ottomans responded by establishing the Azov and Ochakov fortresses as a defense against Cossack raids; the Kizil-Kermen, Tavan, and Aslan fortresses were also built on the upper Dnieper and in the Don region. These small fortresses were ineffective at stopping the raiders, however, and the Cossacks learned to bypass them. The areas around Ochakov, Tighina, Akkerman, and Islam-Kermen were raided by the Zaporozhian Cossacks four or five times a year. According to , the Zaporozhian Cossacks conducted over 40 raids and seized 100,000 cattle, 17,000 horses, and 360,000 złoty between 1570 and the 1580s.
Russian policy and the Cossacks
Russia began assisting the Cossacks under Ivan the Terrible, providing them with military supplies. Despite this, the ineffective Russian policy of trying to appease the Crimean Khanate continued. Tatar raids continued; unlike their Polish and Swedish counterparts, the Crimean khans were unwilling to negotiate. Russia ordered the Cossacks to stop raiding the Tatars, threatening to cut off their financial and military support, but the Cossacks often ignored these orders. Russia moved forward in cutting off its support, imposing an economic embargo on the Zaporozhian Sich and the Don region.
Russia entered armed confrontations with the Cossacks to appease the Crimean Khanate and Ottoman Empire. During the early 1630s, Russia ordered the Don Cossacks to stop raiding the Tatars and Turks. The Don Cossacks disobeyed these orders, and were willing to revolt. The Zaporozhian Cossacks had minimal connections with Russia during this time, and acted more recklessly.
Assessment
Russia's ineffectiveness against Tatar raids was attributed to a flawed strategy which sought to appease the raiders, and limited itself to defenses incapable of stopping the raiders or inflicting heavy losses on them. Tatar raiders could be restrained only through offensive action, which the Cossacks frequently conducted. As inhabitants and defenders of border regions, the Cossacks did not limit themselves to defense; they organized defenses that repelled Tatar attacks and, in response to Tatar losses, launched retaliatory strikes. The Cossacks were more effective than Russia against Tatar raids.
Sea raids
Black Sea piracy was rare until the Cossacks began conducting sea raids. Until the mid-16th century, maritime Ottoman superiority was undisputed; this changed when the Cossacks began frequent sea raids during the 1550s. Ottoman officials viewed Cossack sea raiding with great concern, fearing an outbreak of banditry in the Black Sea. The Cossacks were better-organized than typical banditscapable of adapting to harsh frontier conditions and using the environment for their benefit, which allowed them to harass an empire the size of the Ottoman. Cossack society also attracted diverse individuals, from escaped serfs to mercenaries and dissenters from neighboring empires, who found the ungoverned Wild Fields appealing.
For the Cossacks, sea raiding was economical because they had developed a "water culture" from living near rivers. Their boats, known as chaikas, resembled upgraded Viking ships. The Cossacks could call up to 300 chaikas for a campaign, and their boats had greater mobility than Ottoman ships. Cossacks in chaikas were active in the Black Sea.
French military engineer Vasseur de Beauplan provided his account of Cossack sailing:
Impact of sea raids
The partially-successful need to counter Cossack sea raids led the Ottomans to withdraw a significant portion of their naval forces from the Mediterranean Sea, weakening their influence. Cossack sea raids also had an economic impact, discouraging trade on the Ottoman shore due to the risk of attack. As explorer Evliya Çelebi noted, the rural population of Sinop was unwilling to engage in agriculture because they believed their harvest would be destroyed during Cossack attacks.
Cossack raids demonstrated in the long term that the Ottoman Empire, which had conquered southeast Europe centuries before, was not invincible and its era of influence over European affairs was coming to an end. European and Ottoman chronicles of the devastation caused by Cossack sea raids resembled those describing Gothic sea attacks on the Byzantine Empire during the fifth century.
Impact
Crimean Khanate and Nogai Horde
When exploring Crimea, Evliya Çelebi noted signs of depopulation and attributed them to Cossack raids. In addition to devastating Tatar lands, Cossack raids deterred Tatar raiders from attacking Ukrainian lands. Cossack raiding also had a psychological effect on the Tatars, especially during the era of Cossack leader Ivan Sirko. Polish chronicler Wespazjan Kochowski described the Tatar attitude toward Sirko in Crimea:
Ottoman Empire
Cossack raids inflicted significant economic losses on the Ottoman Empire, resulting in a decline of its military power. The raids also had a psychological impact, particularly the Zaporozhian raids from 1672 to 1674. An influential Ottoman sultan reportedly admitted that thinking about the Cossacks kept him awake at night.
Sultan Mehmed IV demanded in 1675 that the Zaporozhian Cossacks, led by Ivan Sirko, submit to Ottoman rule. The Cossacks responded with a letter full of profanity and insults. This inspired the most popular painting in Ukrainian-Russian history, Ilya Repin's Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks.
Europe
The Zaporozhian Cossacks were more adaptable than their Tatar counterparts. During the 16th century, Chevalier wrote: "There was no warrior better fitted to outfight a Tatar than a Zaporozhian". Ottoman sultans often complained to the neighboring states about Zaporozhian attacks, but their rulers denied any association with them. The Tatars and Turks sometimes inflicted considerable losses on the Cossacks. In 1593, the Tatars burnt Tomakivka Sich while the Cossacks were away. The Zaporozhian host had no trouble recruiting and building a new fleet in a short time, but struggled to find horses. Pope Clement VIII, Polish kings, and even Habsburg emperors recognized Cossack efficiency in fighting the Ottomans and sought them as allies. Tsar Feodor I described the Zaporozhian Cossacks to the Austrian delegation as "good fighters, but cruel and treacherous".
Italian Dominican missionary Emidio Portelli d'Ascoli said about the brutality of Cossack raids, "The Cossacks destroy, rob, burn, lead off into slavery, kill; often they besiege fortified cities, take them by storm, devastate, and burn them down". French military engineer Vasseur de Beauplan agreed:
List of Cossack raids