Ataman
Encyclopedia
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
title of the Ukrainian People's Army
Ukrainian People's Army
The Ukrainian People's Army , also known as the Ukrainian National Army were often quickly reorganized units of the former Russian Imperial Army or newly formed volunteer detachments that later joined the national armed forces. The army for a long period lacked a certain degree of uniformity,...
, Cossack
Cossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
, and haidamak leaders, who were in essence the Cossack
Cossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
s. In the Russia Empire, the term was the official title of the supreme military commanders of the Cossack armies. It had a derogatory suggestion and was also used for the leader of a fisherman
Fisherman
A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishermen and fish farmers. The term can also be applied to recreational fishermen and may be used to describe both men...
artel
Artel
Artel is a general term for various cooperative associations in Russia and Ukraine, historical and modern.Historically, artels were semi-formal associations for various enterprises: fishing, mining, commerce, of loaders, loggers, thieves, beggars, etc. Often artels worked far from home and lived...
, a band of robbers or thieves, or leaders of the opposition forces.
Etymology
The etymology of the word ataman / hetman is disputed. There may be several independent Germanic and Turkic origins for seemingly cognate forms of the word, all referring to the same concept. The hetman form may derive from the German HauptmannHauptmann
Hauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian and Swiss armies. While "haupt" in contemporary German means "main", it also has the dated meaning of "head", i.e...
by the way of Polish, like several other titles. The ataman form is more probably of Turkic origin, literally meaning "father of horsemen". During certain periods, broadly corresponding with involvement with the Polish-Lithuanian or Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian Commonwealth, the supreme leader of Ukrainian Cossacks was called Hetman
Hetmans of Ukrainian Cossacks
Hetman of Ukrainian Cossacks as a title was not officially recognized internationally until the creation of the Ukrainian Hetmanate. With the creation of Registered Cossacks units their leaders were unofficially referred to as hetmans, however officially the title was known as the "Senior of His...
. The ataman form is more commonly found in Russian periods, and exists in modern Russian, Turkish and Tatar. Also see Hetman: Etymology.
Uses
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 .In the Cossack Hetmanate
Cossack Hetmanate
The Hetmanate or Zaporizhian Host was the Ruthenian Cossack state in the Central Ukraine between 1649 and 1782.The Hetmanate was founded by first Ukrainian hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky during the Khmelnytsky Uprising . In 1654 it pledged its allegiance to Muscovy during the Council of Pereyaslav,...
, leaders of non-Cossack military units (artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
, etc.) were also called Otamans. In the Cossack Hetmanate
Cossack Hetmanate
The Hetmanate or Zaporizhian Host was the Ruthenian Cossack state in the Central Ukraine between 1649 and 1782.The Hetmanate was founded by first Ukrainian hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky during the Khmelnytsky Uprising . In 1654 it pledged its allegiance to Muscovy during the Council of Pereyaslav,...
, 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
Kuban Cossacks
Kuban Cossacks or Kubanians are Cossacks who live in the Kuban region of Russia. Most of the Kuban Cossacks are of descendants of two major groups who were re-settled in the Western Northern Caucasus during the Caucasus War in the late 18th century...
and were common in Kuban Oblast with different variations.
There were various types of Otaman:
- ArmyCossack hostA Cossack host or Cossack viysko was an administrative subdivision of Cossacks in Imperial Russia...
Otaman (Військовий отаман) was a title of an executive officer in the Zaporizhian Host; - Campaign Otaman (Похідний отаман);
- Kosh Otaman (Кошовий отаман);
- KurinKurinKurin is a military term that was established by the cossacks.During the Second World War, the basic combat unit of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army was a kurin...
Otaman (Курінний отаман) was a commander of a kurinKurinKurin is a military term that was established by the cossacks.During the Second World War, the basic combat unit of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army was a kurin...
; - SotennySotniaSotnia was a traditional division of the Cossack regiments. For example from earliest records of the Zaporizhian Sich, and means 'a hundred'. It is equivalent to company ....
Otoman (Сотенний отаман) and City Otaman (Городовий Отаман) were Sotnyk's lieutenants. Those titles were introduced during the HetmanateHetmanateThe Ukrainian State or The Hetmanate was a short-lived polity in Ukraine, installed by Ukrainian Cossacks and military organizations under the support of the Central Powers, after disbanding the Central Rada of the Ukrainian National Republic on 28 April 1918.-History:On April 29, 1918 the head...
in the 17th century. Together with Osaul (Осавул; aide-de-camp) and ChorążyChorążyChorąży or Khorunzhyi is a military rank in Poland, Ukraine and some neighboring countries. A chorąży was once a knight who bore a standard — the emblem of an armed troop, a province , a land , a duchy, or the kingdom...
(Хорунжий; flag-bearer) Otoman has helped Sotnyk in administrative affairs. - Village Otoman (Сільський отаман) was an administrative rank of 17th-18th centuries;
- OkrugOkrugOkrug is an administrative division of some Slavic states. The word "okrug" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "district", or "region"....
Otaman (Окружний отаман) was a territorial leader, - Stanytsia Otaman (Станичний отаман) was a territorial leader,
- Khutir Otaman (Хутірський отаман) was 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
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
. When Ukraine acquired its independence in 1918, the rank took on different value. Among the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen and the Ukrainian Galician Army
Ukrainian Galician Army
Ukrainian Galician Army , was the Ukrainian military of the West Ukrainian National Republic during and after the Polish-Ukrainian War. -Military equipment:...
, it was equivalent to a major, as is the battalion executive officer today. In the Ukrainian People's Republic
Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic or Ukrainian National Republic was a republic that was declared in part of the territory of modern Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, eventually headed by Symon Petliura.-Revolutionary Wave:...
, 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
Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic or Ukrainian National Republic was a republic that was declared in part of the territory of modern Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, eventually headed by Symon Petliura.-Revolutionary Wave:...
, in particular, Symon Petliura, was called Supreme Otaman (Головний отаман).