The Don Cossacks 1549–1920

Abstract

The Don river basin is one of the oldest sites of human habitation, having been settled continuously since paleolithic times. For millenia its numerous waterways, open steppe and abundance of game have proved attractive to countless peoples. Nomads in particular have been drawn to its expansive plains which are part of the great Eurasian steppe, stretching from Mongolia to Hungary. Among the people who passed through the steppe or settled on it were the Scythians, the Samartians, the Huns, the Avars, the Khazars, the Pechenegs, the Polovtsi, the Mongols and the Tatars. In the course of their long migrations, these people linked the great civilizations of the East with those of the West. Interaction between steppe peoples and the surrounding civilizations through war, trade and marriage created a complex exchange in which the customs of many cultures and societies were absorbed into a new context. Such a fluid movement of peoples and customs makes it impossible to arrive at absolute statements about the ethnic origins and cultural roots of any of the steppe peoples, including the Cossacks. As one people wrested mastery of the steppe from another, the conquered people did not vanish without trace but were absorbed along with some of their customs into the society of the new masters of the steppe.