Subject: Гайдамак rebel
Culture: Yaik & other Cossacks
Setting: Ukraine mid 18th-early 19thc
Context (Event Photos, Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Field Notes)
* Groushko 1992 p140
"Gaidamak[:] Rebel or bandit in Ukraine (Ukrainian 'haidamak)"
* Groushko 1992 p78
"Gangs of penniless Cossacks from the Zaporozhskaya Sich, with no prospects of land or wealth at home, launched a reign of terror in the Ukraine in the 18th century. Their sole aim was plunder and any likely target would serve -- Polish or Russian, Christian or Jew. Even fellow-Cossacks were fair game, if the bandits thought they could get away with it.
"Their favourite roaming-ground was the Polish territory of the western Ukraine, which Poland, beset by political troubles, left poorly defended. Respectable Zaporozhi leaders turned a blind eye to the bandits' activities there. As on the Don in Stenka Razin's time, they judged it better to have disaffected Cossacks breaking the law somewhere else than causing trouble on their own soil.
"Young Zaporozhi who had completed their military apprenticeships made up the hard core of the gangs, which had anything from a dozen to several hundred members. Around them, they collected the usual gaggle of criminals and runaways. From hideaways along the Dnieper, they burst out on lightning raids, returning to sell the spoils in the Cossack townships."
Costume
* Groushko 1992 p104
"Ukrainian, Zaporozhi and Don Cossacks could be identified by the prevalence among them of the chekmen, a modified version of the kaftan."
* Yarwood 1978 p420
"In general, men's dress consisted of full trousers tucked into leather boots, a white, long-sleeved shirt embroidered in colour at neck and sleeves and a sleeveless decorative jacket. For cold weather a cloak or caftan of homespun cloth was worn and a fur hat or cap."
Pipe
*
Crop
* Groushko 1992 p140
"Nagaika[:] Cossack riding-whip"
* Groushko 1992 p79
"As the Cossacks became more organized militarily, they developed a semi-uniform style of whip, or nagaika, with a looped leather thong attached to a wooden handle. That was good enough for riding, but not really suitable for administering punishment or use as a supplementary weapon. For those purposes, some Cossacks were eventually equipped with a longer, single-thonged whip which had a small lead weight at the tip. It became both an instrument and a symbol of repression."
Pistol
*
Saber
* Tarrasuk/Blair 1979 p297
"Sabers of the kilij type were ... widely used in eastern Europe, and they were especially popular among the Cossacks of the Ukraine and southern Russia."
