Cossack and haydamak leadership title
Ataman
(variants:
otaman
,
[1]
wataman
,
vataman
;
Russian
:
атаман
;
Ukrainian
:
отаман
) was a title of
Cossack
and
haidamak
leaders of various kinds. In the
Russian Empire
, the term was the official title of the supreme military commanders of the Cossack armies. The Ukrainian version of the same word is
hetman
.
Otaman
in Ukrainian Cossack forces was a position of a lower rank.
Etymology
[
edit
]
The etymologies of the words
ataman
and
hetman
are disputed. There may be several independent Germanic and Turkic origins for seemingly cognate forms of the words, all referring to the same concept. The
hetman
form cognates with German
Hauptmann
('captain', literally 'head-man') by the way of
Czech
or
Polish
, like several other titles. The Russian term
ataman
is probably connected to
Old East Slavic
vataman?,
and cognates with Turkic
odoman
(
Ottoman Turks
). The term
ataman
may had also a lingual interaction with Polish
hetman
and German
hauptmann
.
[2]
Suggestions have been made that the word might be of Turkic origin, literally meaning 'father of horsemen'
[3]
[4]
or 'father of men', 'pure blooded father' or 'eldest man'. Considering the '-man' suffix in turkic languages means men, person, pure blooded or most.
[5]
[6]
Dictionaries assert that the word comes from the
German
word '
Hauptmann'
which means 'head man', 'headman' or 'chieftain' which entered the
Russian language
through
Polish
'
hetman
'.
[7]
[8]
See also
Hetman § Etymology
.
Otaman in Ukraine
[
edit
]
Otamans
were usually elected by the Host Council or could have been appointed, especially during the military campaigns. The appointed otamans were called
acting otaman
(
наказний отаман
,
nakaznyi otaman
).
In the
Cossack Hetmanate
, leaders of non-Cossack military units (
artillery
, etc.) were also called
otamans
. In the Cossack Hetmanate, the title was used for the administrative purposes, such as the head of the city,
City
Otaman (городовий отаман). Later such administrative uses were adopted by the
Kuban Cossacks
and were common in
Kuban Oblast
with different variations.
There were various types of otaman:
- Army
otaman (
в?йськовий отаман
), an executive officer in the
Zaporizhian Host
- Campaign otaman (
пох?дний отаман
)
- Kish otaman
(
кошовий отаман
)
- Kurin
otaman (
кур?нний отаман
), a commander of a
kurin
;
- Sotennyi
otoman
(
сотенний отаман
) and
city
otaman (
городовий Отаман
) were the
sotnyk
's lieutenants. Those titles were introduced during the
Hetmanate
in the 17th century. Together with the
osaul
(
осавул
, 'aide-de-camp') and
chor??y
(
хорунжий
, 'flag-bearer'), this otoman helped the
sotnyk
in administrative affairs.
- Village otoman (
с?льський отаман
), an administrative rank in the 17th to 18th centuries
- Okruh
otaman (
окружний отаман
), a territorial leader
- Stanytsia
otaman (
станичний отаман
), a territorial leader
- Khutir
otaman (
хут?рський отаман
), a territorial leader
Otamans were also in charge of general- and regimental-size artillery units, as well as any volunteer military formations and the Zholdak cavalry.
20th century-present
[
edit
]
Atamans
were the titles of supreme leaders of various Cossack armies during the
Russian Civil War
.
When Ukraine acquired its independence in 1918, the rank took on different value. Among the
Ukrainian Sich Riflemen
and the
Ukrainian Galician Army
, it was equivalent to a major, as is the battalion executive officer today. In the
Ukrainian People's Republic
, the title was of a general rank.
Chief Otoman
(головний отаман) was the general of the Ukrainian Army who was assisted by his deputies, Acting Otomans.
The head of the army of the
Ukrainian People's Republic
, in particular,
Symon Petliura
, was called
Supreme Otaman
(головний отаман).
Russian-Azerbaijani MMA fighter
Rafael Fiziev
fights with the nickname "Ataman" as a homage to his mixed Central Asian heritage.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Otaman" in
The Encyclopedia of Ukraine
(in English)
- ^
"ataman"
.
YourDictionary
. Retrieved
2019-07-17
.
- ^
"The Cossacks: A super-ethnos in Russia's ribs".
The Economist
. December 21, 1996.
- ^
"Ataman"
.
Cossackweb.narod.ru
. Retrieved
July 6,
2012
.
- ^
Clark, Larry (1996).
Turkmen Reference Grammar
. Harrassowitz. p. 4.
ISBN
9783447040198
.
,
Annanepesov, M. (1999).
"The Turkmens"
. In Dani, Ahmad Hasan (ed.).
History of civilizations of Central Asia
. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 127.
ISBN
9789231038761
.
,
Golden, Peter (1992).
An introduction to the history of the Turkic peoples : ethnogenesis and state-formation in the medieval and early modern Eurasia and the Middle East
. Harrassowitz. pp. 213?214.
.
- ^
Turkmen Reference Grammar
. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. 1998.
ISBN
9783447040198
.
- ^
"Ataman"
.
Collins English Dictionary
.
Archived
from the original on 2012-06-07.
from Russian, from Polish hetman, from German Hauptmann (literally: head man)
- ^
"ataman"
.
Definitions.net
.
Archived
from the original on 2012-06-29.
Etymology: [Russ. ataman': cf. Pol. hetman, G. hauptmann headman, chieftain. Cf. Hetman.]
External links
[
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]