The Cossacks at sea: pirate tactics in the frontier environment

Abstract

The article examines a complex period of premodern Cossack history and expands their image as frontier horsemen of the East European steppe to address their pirate activities on the Black and Caspian seas. The 1569-1669 period was characterized by transformations of the Russian and Polish-Lithuanian states and the advancement of the Ottoman Empire into the Black Sea. Cossack presence on the Sea of Azov was noted since the 15th-century, and the Don became the main arterial for the Cossacks allied with Muscovite Russia, while on the Dnieper the Zaporogue Ukrainian manoeuvred among the Polish, Austrian, Russian and Ottoman neighbours. Moscow’s eastward advancement toward the Volga in the mid-16th-century promoted the expansion of Cossack operations to the Caspian Sea. The destinations of Cossack raids, the level of river waters, provision of boats and crews determined the opportunities for robbing land targets or cargo traffic. While environmental conditions in estuaries or at islands could provide sanctuary from storm, starvation or retribution. Bribes to local officials were designed to soften government punishment upon return. Ottoman, Safavid, and even Christian shipping and settlements suffered from their raids. With time, the regulation of frontier settlement, construction of fortifications, supply of weapons or food staples increased state political control over the self-declared free hosts. Although governments resented the aggravation of foreign relations caused by Cossack depredations, both the Russian Tsar and Polish King requested and later required their participation in military operations. Official records and published European travel reports provide decrees, social commentary and eyewitness accounts of armed naval confrontations.