Cossack Hetmanate

Ukraine, 1648–1764. Draft, not yet reviewed

The Cossack Hetmanate, officially the Zaporozhian Host, was a stratocratic state established by Registered Cossacks in Dnieper Ukraine. The Hetmanate existed between 1648 and 1764, although its administrative-judicial system persisted until 1781. The 1667 Treaty of Andrusovo, conducted without any representation from the Cossack Hetmanate, divided the Hetmanate in half along the Dnieper. Catherine II of Russia officially abolished the position of Hetman in 1764.

Seat of power: Baturyn

Rulers

Bohdan Khmelnytsky

Hetman of Zaporizhian Host, 1648–1657

He led the Cossacks to victory in a successful uprising against the Commonwealth and its magnates that resulted in the creation of an independent Cossack state in Dnieper Ukraine. In 1654, Khmelnytsky concluded the Treaty of Pereiaslav with the Russian Tsar and allied the Cossack Hetmanate with Tsardom of Russia, thus placing Ukraine under Russian protection. In 1648–1649, the Cossacks under Khmelnytskyi's leadership massacred tens of thousands of Poles and Jews.

Portrait of Bohdan Khmelnytsky: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file

Ivan Vyhovskyi

Hetman of Zaporizhian Host, 1657–1659

His time as hetman was characterized by generally pro-Commonwealth policies and an attempt to establish a sovereign Grand Principality of Ruthenia within it by the Treaty of Hadiach. However, when the Sejm of the Commonwealth unilaterally altered the terms of the treaty without his knowledge or consent in May 1659, an invasion by the Tsardom of Russia and revolts amongst the Zaporizhian Cossacks in the south eventually led to the end of his hetmanship in October 1659.

Portrait of Ivan Vyhovskyi: Havrylo Vasko / After Samiilo Vasyliovych Velychko, Public domain, file

Yakym Somko

Head of state, 1660–1663

At the Pereiaslav Council of 1660, which concluded the Treaty of Slobodyshche, he was elected colonel of the Pereiaslav regiment and Acting Hetman of Left-Bank Ukraine. He strongly opposed the treaty because it restored the union with Poland.

Portrait of Yakym Somko: Unknown artistUnknown artist, Public domain, file

Ivan Briukhovetsky

Hetman of Zaporizhian Host, 1663–1668

At the Black Council of 1663, he was elected as hetman of the Left Bank with the support of Moscow as an alternative to already elected hetman Pavlo Teteria. Early on, he arrested and executed his opponents, namely polkovniks Yakym Somko and Vasyl Zolotarenko. To gain support, he signed the Moscow Articles of 1665, which placed left-bank Ukraine under the direct control of the tsar.

Portrait of Ivan Briukhovetsky: Havrylo Vasko, Public domain, file

Pavlo Teteria

Hetman of Zaporizhian Host, 1663–1665

Before his hetmancy he served in a number of high positions under Bohdan Khmelnytsky, and Ivan Vyhovsky. When a civil war between Right-bank Cossacks and Left-bank Cossacks broke out, he openly supported pro-Polish policies, and was elected Hetman in the Right-bank Ukraine in 1663. He participated with the Poles in a campaign into Left-Bank Ukraine, but in 1665 he abdicated because of political and social unrests in Right-bank.

Portrait of Pavlo Teteria: After Havrylo Vasko, Public domain, file

Demian Mnohohrishny

Hetman of Zaporizhian Host, 1669–1672

In 1668 he was appointed acting hetman of Left-bank Ukraine. Lack of military assistance from Petro Doroshenko, strong Moscow garrisons in the Left Bank cities and pressure from the pro-Moscow part of the officers and the Orthodox clergy prompted Demian Ihnatovych to negotiate with the tsarist government.

Portrait of Demian Mnohohrishny: Havrylo Vasko / After Samiilo Vasyliovych Velychko, Public domain, file

Ivan Samoilovych

Hetman of Zaporizhian Host, 1672–1687

His term in office was marked by further incorporation of the Cossack Hetmanate into the Tsardom of Russia and by attempts to win Right-bank Ukraine from Poland–Lithuania. In public affairs, Samoilovych paid great attention to stabilization of internal situation in Ukraine.

Portrait of Ivan Samoilovych: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file

George Ducas

Hetman of Zaporizhian Host, 1681–1683

He also served as the hetman of Ottoman Ukraine.

Portrait of George Ducas: Losy, CC BY-SA 3.0 ro, file

Ivan Mazepa

Hetman of Zaporizhian Host, 1687–1708

His long and stable rule was marked by economical and political recovery from the Ruin. In 1708, Mazepa abandoned his alliance with Peter I and sided with Charles XII of Sweden after the Tsar refused to protect the Hetmanate against the advancing Swedes, instead ordering that much of Ukraine be burned to prevent the Swedes from gaining access to supplies and winter quarters. The hetman himself was famous as a patron of the arts.

Portrait of Ivan Mazepa: Martin Bernigeroth (de), CC BY-SA 4.0, file

Ivan Skoropadsky

Head of state, 1708–1722

Elected at the insistence of tsar Peter I, who considered him a weaker politician than other members of the Cossack elite, Skoropadsky presided over the Hetmanate during a period when its autonomy was increasingly limited by the Russian government. After his death, control over affairs in Ukraine was transferred to the Collegium of Little Russia.

Portrait of Ivan Skoropadsky: Stepan Zemlyukov, Public domain, file

Pylyp Orlyk

Hetman of Zaporizhian Host, 1710–1742

He served as the hetman in exile from 1710 to 1742. He was a close associate of hetman Ivan Mazepa, and the author of the Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk.

Pavlo Polubotok

Head of state, 1722–1724

In 1722, after the death of Skoropadsky, Pavlo Polubotok was named as his temporary replacement. He wrote numerous petitions to Peter the Great asking him to re-instate the former way of electing the Hetman by the starshyna.

Portrait of Pavlo Polubotok: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file

Danylo Apostol

Hetman of Zaporizhian Host, 1727–1734

During Apostol's rule, Little Russia and the Cossack nobility increased their wealth and estates, at the same time being further incorporated into the Russian Empire.

Portrait of Danylo Apostol: Anonymous (Russia or Ukraine)Unknown author, Public domain, file

Kirill Razumovsky

Hetman of Zaporizhian Host, 1750–1764

In 1750, Razumovsky was elected Hetman of the Zaporozhian Host. He sought to increase the independence and autonomy of the Hetmanate. The administration of the state was reformed with the state being divided into twenty counties.

Portrait of Kirill Razumovsky: Louis Tocqué, Public domain, file

Culture

As ruler of the Hetmanate, Khmelnytsky engaged in state-building across multiple spheres: military, administration, finance, economics, and culture.
Ivan Mazepa's patronage not only raised the level of culture in Ukraine but also in Moscow itself. Mazepa provided donations of land, money and entire villages to the Church.
The Hetmanate's military continued to be recruited from among Cossack landowners, who were freed from taxes and enjoyed a number of privileges and were subordinated to Cossack starshyna.

Picture

The Khmelnytsky Uprising was a successful Cossack rebellion with elements of a religious war that took place between 1648 and 1657 in the eastern territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Image: Mykola Ivasiuk, Public domain, file

Sources

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.