The phrase "Be patient, Cossack, you will be the chieftain!" has long been winged. When pronouncing it, we don’t really think about the meaning of words, although we put the correct meaning into it. The leader of the free Cossacks for many is associated with military honor, valor and courage, but is everything so simple with this title? Is Ataman a noble governor or is he a dashing robber? Let's look into this issue.
Who are the chieftains?
This term has several definitions, each of which quite justifiably conveys the essence of the kind of affairs that a person called the ataman has to deal with. First of all, he is the leader of the Cossacks, replacing him with his father, not only in domestic "household" affairs, but also during combat feats. Moreover, in this form, the ataman is an elective, almost democratic position, dashing warriors choose their leader at their own discretion, and if they are not satisfied with their own decision after a certain time, they can deprive him of the right to be their representative.
But there is another meaning with respect to what is the “chieftain”. The definition given in the explanatory dictionaries says that this person is the head of gangsters, mercenaries and robbers. In this vein, the word takes on a rather negative connotation, and the chieftain himself is not associated with either a brave person or a brave one. The gangster leader in the subconscious of the majority is not just Robin Hood, but on the contrary, an unprincipled nightingale the robber, who does not disdain to use any means to achieve his goals and methods, is ready to transgress all sorts of concepts about honor and nobility.
Robber soul
In fact, the way it is, the chieftain is the leader over the grouping of people who have fled from the generally accepted legal system. At one time, when the very concept of the Cossacks was just beginning, and also at the time of the heyday of this page in the history of our state, people from this social class were not a military unit subordinate to the commander in chief (tsar or governor). They belonged to themselves, obeyed only their elder, who was guided in actions on the principle of "who pays the most, we serve."
Cossacks were to a greater extent bandits, gathered in disparate groups, which for a long time did not cooperate with each other, on the contrary, divided the spheres of influence. Ataman (the definition sounds like the head of a robber group or an irregular military formation) gathered his subordinates as necessary. He was responsible for providing the gang with food and weapons, was engaged in tactical planning and, in general, was its “brain”.
Military rank
The Ataman of the Cossack detachment is the leader of the military unit. Its number could be different, so the chieftains were divided not only into well-known smokers and cats (we will talk about these ranks in more detail), but also into camp, detachment, and punishment. There were also divisions into leaders responsible for specific areas of activity, for example, the fox chieftain - this is the person who was in charge of hunting, the cossack - was responsible for trade, the school - taught the Cossacks the basics of science and literacy.
The very capacious meaning of the word "ataman" is acquired along with the prefixes "winter", "village", "village". Such leaders were responsible for the administrative-territorial unit entrusted to them, as well as its inhabitants. In addition to direct recruiting, such chieftains dealt with issues of resolving conflict situations, collecting money, including from retail outlets located in the territory entrusted to them.
This man possessed not only judicial power and could judge the quarreling Cossacks, but also executive, so he could physically punish his subordinate, who could more likely be called a ward, because the soldiers could choose both their leader and “fire” him. In a combat situation, submission to the ataman was unquestioning, the Cossacks followed their "father" and were ready to lay their heads on the battlefield.
From north to south
Who is the chieftain, they knew in many territories. This position is most often noted among the Don and Zaporozhye Cossacks. But they were not the first to call their leader so. The first mention of atamans is in the historical documents of the thirteenth century, the later officially approved "ataman" was Karsten Rohde, which is surprising, because he was a sailor. Tsar Ivan the Terrible in 1570 issued him a license for privateering in the waters of the Baltic Sea, it clearly stated that Karsten was awarded the title of chieftain of the ship and his crew.
However, nevertheless, this term is more applicable specifically to the land military leaders who were related to the Cossacks. Atamans were in such power structures:
- Zaporizhzhya Cossack army.
- Black Sea Cossack army.
- Don Cossack army.
- Novgorod chiefs of the city guard.
Note that in Ukrainian this title is written and sounds a little different, namely, as "otaman", which is incorrect from the point of view of etymology, because then the word loses its roots.
Origin of the word
What is the “ataman” will help clarify the analysis of the word, and the translation of its individual parts from the source language. The most common version of the origin is considered to be a transfiguration from the Germanic adverb of the words atta and mann. The first can be interpreted as “father”, and the second - “husband”, “hero”. United together, both parts give rise to the term “chieftain”, which very well explains the essence of this military rank, because it translates as “father of warriors”.
There is another opinion, according to which the progenitor of this word is one of the names of the Ottoman Empire, which was also called the Ottoman. Zaporizhzhya Cossacks did not always defend the borders of their state. Their first formations did not disdain to sell their services to the Crimean khans, some were minions of the lord of the Golden Horde. Perhaps this was the reason to believe that the word "ataman" is of eastern origin.
Our answer to the Amazons
Usually the chieftain was called the wife of the leader of the Cossacks or robbers, however, in history there were those ladies who rightly wore such a title, being real warriors. One of the most desperate was Maria Nikiforova, better known as Maroussia.
The girl was the daughter of a military man, perhaps this left a strong imprint on her life views and values. Being quite young, she joined the anarchists, at first participated in campaigning, then gathered around herself a whole team of like-minded people.
Even before she reached adulthood (21 years old), she was engaged in terrorist activities, was involved in robberies, killings and robberies, for which the official authorities sentenced her to death, which, however, was not brought into effect, replacing her with an unlimited term of hard labor.
She managed to escape from there, and again take up her dark business. Marusi detachment operated in different territories and was always in the thick of the events of the Civil War. The girl was partially subordinate to the Makhnovists, and helped the Bolsheviks, but in the end she was not able to engage in any constructive activity. According to one version, Marusya was still shot when the mass sweeping of unreliable and dangerous elements in the new communist society began.
Cossack father
As we have said, atamans are divided into smokers and cats. The former were less significant in terms of their sphere of influence, but this statement is rather controversial. In Sich there were 38 people with this rank, each of them had a smoky subordinate. They chose the chieftain, who was also called smokers, the Cossacks themselves, it was either a former governor, or an ordinary employee. The main thing is that his person satisfy the majority of community members. No one else could influence the election process; it would always be exclusively “his” person who was revered, respected and listened to.
Ataman received a salary. At that time, when the Cossack army was subordinate to imperial power, it amounted to 27 rubles, and the soldiers (voluntarily and at their discretion) shared part of the booty with it. The attitude to the smokers was so trusting and “filial” that the Cossacks could go for it even against the will of the highest-ranking governor and, conversely, at the request of their immediate leader suffered temporary difficulties and hardships.
