Opryshky (,
opryshok, опришок) were groups of
active in the region of Ukrainian Carpathians between the 16th and early 19th century. Consisting of runaway peasants, noblemen's servants and, in a latter period,
draft evasion, they formed small groups headed by individual leaders and attacked noble estates,
, tax farmers, tavern keepers, merchants and wealthy peasants. In some cases part of their booty would be distributed among the poorer peasantry. This contributed to the image of Opryshky as popular heroes and protectors of the common folk, which rooted itself in Ukrainian folklore and literature.
The Ukrainian "opryshok" is analogous to the Polish zbójnik and the Balkan hajduk, as similar bands of bandits (often romanticised in folklore and later popular media) were present in other parts of the Carpathian Mountains as well, including the Polish and Slovak Tatra Mountains that have birthed the legendary highwayman Juraj Jánošík.
Name
The term "opryshok"/"opryshky" itself started to be used in the 16th century and has an unclear origin: some researchers consider it to be derived from the adverb
oprich () - "separately", compare to
oprichnina; alternatively it could be connected to dialectal words
oprysok (оприсок) - "piece of rock",
oprysklyvyi (оприскливий) - "bothering", "uneasy", or even to the
Latin noun
opressor, which used to mean "destroyer" or "violator".
During that period the word had an official connotation, and in Ukrainian folk tradition members of opryshky bands were instead called with the
euphemism term "black boys" ().
History
First information about brigand groups in the Carpathian region comes from the mid-15th century.
The emergence of opryshky as a social movement was connected with the developments in the 18th-century Poland. The breakdown of central authority during the rule of the Saxon dynasty (1709-1763), led to the rise of powerful
magnates, who established full control over the countryside by organizing manorial estates (
latifundia) and ruling as local "kinglets" with their own private armies. In the lands of Ruthenia (Galicia),
Belz Voivodeship, western
Volhynia and western
Podolia the peasants bore the greatest burden of serfdom compared to those living in lands further to the east. The rise of
Sarmatism also led to repression against the Orthodox Church, to which the majority of Ukrainian population belonged. This resulted in the emergence of a social protest movement concentrated along Poland's border in the Carpathians, which involved peasants, sheep herders and, occasionally, demobilized soldiers. Forming into small groups, they attacked properties of the landlords, sometimes distributing the spoils among poor peasants.
Based in the border region between the Kingdom of Poland, Hungary and Moldavia, opryshky used the mountainous terrain as an advantage for their activities. During episodes of major upheaval, such as the Cossack–Polish War, opryshky would be joined by numerous peasants, forming insurgent bands. The peak of their activity took place in 1738–1759, when their raids expanded into the regions of Hutsuls, Boykos, Bukovina and Transcarpathia. During that period legendary outlaw leader Oleksa Dovbush, as well as Vasyl Bayurak and Ivan Boychuk were active in those areas. In the late 18th and early 19th century, increasing taxes and forced conscription led to a new spike in the movement. A notable leader of opryshky in the Hutsul region during that time was Myron Shtoliuk.
The Opryshko movement was eventually defeated by Austrian Empire military detachments sent into the areas of their activity, and became redundant after the abolition of serfdom in the Austrian Empire in the mid-19th century.
Activities
Despite their popular fame, opryshky's attacks were not exclusively aimed at
, and rich peasants would also become their victims. Despite this, they enjoyed general sympathy of the peasant population, and contemporary sources present evidence, that many of the brigands would be sheltered, fed and cared for by ordinary villagers and townsfolk. The centre of opryshky activities was located in the region of
Pokutia. Their bands would usually gather in spring, when trees became green and provided a hideout from persecution. To join the opryshky, a young man had to undergo a special
initiation ritual, accompanied with swearing of an oath on a shepherd's axe, a traditional Hutsul battle weapon. This and other elements of archaic
paganism culture were strongly present in the culture of opryshky, and the origin of some of their practices, such as finishing off members of own band who were wounded or fell sick while on march, remain unclear to this day.
In folklore and literature
Although opryshky in general had no religious or ideological motivation, their actions became a subject of praise in local folklore and literature.
Folkloric materials dedicated to Opryshky were gathered and published by several ethnographers, including Volodymyr Hnatiuk,
Yakiv Holovatsky and Volodymyr Shukhevych. Their image is also present in works of Ukrainian authors such as
Yuriy Fedkovych,
Ivan Franko,
Hnat Khotkevych,
Mykhailo Pavlyk, Markiian Shashkevych,
Ivan Vahylevych etc. The topic of
zbójnicy, the Polish equivalent of opryshky, attracted the attention of Polish authors and Stanisław Vincenz, as well as Austrian Leopold von Sacher-Masoch and Czech
Ivan Olbracht. In the Ukrainian Carpathians many geographic features bear the names of famous Opryshky, most prominently Oleksa Dovbush.
See also
-
- rebel outfits in Dnieper Ukraine during the 18th century
-
- brigands and paramilitaries active in the Balkans during the same era
Sources
