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The haydamaks, also haidamakas or haidamaky or haidamaks ( haidamaka; haidamaky, from and ) were soldiers of Ukrainian Cossack paramilitary outfits composed of commoners (peasants, craftsmen), and impoverished noblemen in the eastern part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. They were formed in reaction to the Commonwealth's actions that were directed to reconstitute its orders on territory of right-bank Ukraine, Haidamaka movement (ГАЙДАМАЦЬКИЙ РУХ). Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine which was secured following ratification of the Treaty of Perpetual Peace with the Tsardom of Russia in 1710.
The word has been adopted into Ukrainian from the Crimea and the neighbouring region, where it has been used in some Kipchak, Oghuz languages and Slavic languages. The origin is the Turkic languages word 'haydamak', 'to drive, to drive away', the etymological vehicle being the Ottoman Turkish. The verb (h)ayda was probably derived from the onomatopoeic Word stem used to spur someone on: 'hayda!'. Depending on the local context, it was understood to mean 'driving someone or something away', and later 'to chase, to pursue'. In the infinitive Turkish verbs have the ending -mak or -mek. The ending -ak(a) however also exists in Ukrainian, in words with meanings somewhat related to each other, such as huljáka, 'crouser' (crouse = brisk, livelyl, confident), pyjak(a), 'drunkard', rozbyšaka, 'brigand', and that might have led to the initial meaning of 'to chase, to pursue' evolving to mean 'chaser, pursuer', and finally 'insurgent'. In different other languages the meaning of 'brigand' given to hajdamak(a) took shape in accordance to the way their enemies saw the hajdamaks.
In Ottoman Turkish, haydamak used to mean "a cattle-lifter, marauder", and in modern Turkish language it means "to attack, raid, drive cattle".
The words hajduk used in Central Europe and the Balkans has a similar meaning.
Haidamaks waged war mainly against the Polish szlachta and collaborationists in right-bank Ukraine, though the movement was not limited to the right bank only, and they participated in Zaporozhian raids on the Cossack szlachta in left-bank Ukraine as well. The latter raids occasionally deteriorated to common robbery and murder, for example in the so-called Matsapura case in the Left Bank in 1734. A horror story from the Cossack Hetmanate: The crimes and execution of Pavlo Matsapura’s gang that inspired an 18th-century word for villain
The haidamak movement included representatives of various social strata: peasants, townspeople, impoverished nobles, Cossacks and even monks. They engaged in attacks against merchants, officials and small army units, robbed warehouses and destroyed estates. Haidamak outfits were usually led by Zaporozhian Cossacks not aligned with any neghbouring power. Living in the lands of Zaporozhian Sich, Cossack Hetmanate and Ottoman Ukraine, they remained outside of the reach of Polish authorities, and many even took official positions in government and military. From time to time, haidamaks would gather in military encampments (sich) to prepare for the next campaign. Local population in Ukraine widely supported the rebels, recognizing them as protectors of their civic, religious and economic rights, delivered them food, supplied with weapons, provided shelter and warned about enemy presence. Many joined the ranks of haidamaks themselves.
One of the main centres of haidamak activity was the Motronyn Monastery near Chyhyryn, then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1717 the post of its hegumen was taken by a former Cossack sotnyk Ustym Sakhnenko (clerical name Ignatius), who headed the monastery for almost 40 years and turned it into a refuge for Zaporozhians. The first big wave of haidamak rebellions, which took place in 1729-1730, saw the emergence of rebel bands in nearby Chyhyryn and Medvedivka.
Opposition to the szlachta and to Roman Catholics led to the haidamaka rebellions ( haidamachchyna). Three major uprisings took place, in 1734, 1750, and the largest – usually referred to as Koliyivschyna in 1768.
The first uprising came during the war for control of the Polish Kingdom in 1734 after the death of Frederick Augustus II in 1733. Russian troops, brought in to remove King Stanisław I (Leszczyński), were initially seen as liberators from the Poles, and an insurrection developed in Kiev, spreading to Podolia and Volhynia. After Augustus III gained the throne of Poland-Lithuania in 1734, the Russian military suppressed the insurrection. Small raids by haidamakas against Polish nobility continued in the following years under the leadership of Hnat Holy. Holy, Hnat
In 1750 another uprising occurred as the haidamakas continued to receive popular sympathy. Based in the lands of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, they moved into the south of the Kiev Count palatine, generating a near-complete rebellion by Right-Bank Ukraine. Although they captured a number of towns and areas, they were eventually crushed due to lack of organization.
In 1768, led by Zaporozhian Cossack Maksym Zalizniak and leader of the Uman Cossack paramilitary group Ivan Gonta, the peasants were initially successful in conquering much of the Kiev Voivodeship and Bracław Voivodeships, as well as large chunks of Volhynia and Podolia. In captured territories the nobility, Ukrainian Catholics, Jesuits and above all the Jews, were murdered en masse (see Massacre of Uman), which led to a quick response by the Polish army. By July of the same year the Poles – with Russian military assistance – had suppressed the revolt, though bloody repression against the Cossacks lasted for several years. See Koliyivschyna article for more details.
The last flare-up of the Haydamak violence occurred in 1830s, during the Ustym Karmaliuk rebellion. This final chapter of Haydamaka history was unique in large part due to the support the rebellion enjoyed not only among the peasantry, but also among the Poles and the Jews marginalized and rendered destitute by the Russian Empire.
Older Ukrainian terms
Other more ancient of the same haidamaks include levenetz and deineka.
Я. Шульгин, «Очерк Колиивщины» (Киев, 1890) Equivalents of haidamaka include opryshky in Ukrainian Galicia.
In other languages
The Romanian word haidamac means 'strong, sometimes no-good man'.
Historical connotations
Because of the massacres of Jews, Jesuits, , and Polish nobility, the Polish language term Hajdamactwo became a pejorative label for Ukrainians as a whole. However, Ukrainian folklore and literature generally (with some notable exceptions) treat the actions of the haidamaks positively. Haidamaky (1841), an epic poem by Taras Shevchenko, treats its subjects both sympathetically and critically.
History
The term "haidamak" was used in Polish and Muscovite sources in relation to Cossacks starting from the time of Khmelnytsky Uprising in the mid-17th century. However, the emergence of haidamaks as a separate phenomenon is related to the consequences of the Treaty of Prut, which was signed in 1711 and led to a renewed partition of Ukraine between Muscovy and Poland. Starting from that time, Cossacks loyal to hetman Pylyp Orlyk and the Zaporozhian Sich engaged in raids on Right-bank Ukraine in order to expel the Polish administration from the area. Those "unruly Cossacks" became widely known as haidamaks.
Legacy
Cultural depictions
Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko presented a romanticized depiction of the haidamak movement in his poems Haidamaky (1841) and Cold Ravine (1845).
Commemoration
In the 20th century the commemoration of haidamaks was promoted by Soviet Ukraine authorities. In 1967 Kholodnyi Yar, the historical base of haidamaks, was visited by Petro Shelest, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine, who was claimed to be a descendant of one of the haidamak leaders. Plans were made to turn the area into a memorial object, which would include a museum of Koliivshchyna, but those were never realized due to Shelest's removal from power in 1972.
See also
External links
Articles in the Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies:
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