Xiongnu, Tujue, Avars, Kipchaks, Mongols, Don Cossacks and the various Turkic peoples are also examples of the horse-mounted groups that managed to gain substantial successes in military conflicts with settled agrarian and urban societies, due to their strategic and tactical mobility.

On the east there is « Ukraine or the land of Don Cossacks, who are dependent from Muscovy ( Vkraina ouero Paese de Cossachi Tanaiti Soggetti al Moscouita )».

Cossacks (, ) are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in Ukraine and Southern Russia.

The origins of the first Cossacks are disputed.

Historical records of the Cossacks before the 16th century are scant as the history of the Ukrainian lands in that period for various reasons.

The various peoples identified in ancient and medieval history, from the Scythians, Huns, Goths and Bulgars, through the Polyane, Duleby, Drevliane, Pechenegs, to in more recent times, the Cossacks, Ukrainians, and Belarussians, are nothing but elements of the single Russian Horde.

This marked the beginning of Russo-Chechen conflict, if the Cossacks are to be considered Russian.

The Kuban Cossacks are now generally considered to be ethnic Russians, even though they are still an important minority in their own right in this area.

The Kuban Cossacks are now generally considered to be ethnic Russians, even though they are still an important minority in their own right in this area.

Other notable ethnic groups are the Adyghe who have lived in the Kuban area before the Cossacks and for thousands of years ; other residents include the Armenians ( mostly Christian Hamsheni ) who have lived in the region since at least the 18th century.

The origins of the first Cossacks are uncertain.

From the mid-15th century, the Cossacks are mostly mentioned with Russian and Ukrainian names.

" In 1549 the infamous Tsar of Russia, Ivan the Terrible, replied to a request of the Turkish Sultan to stop the aggressive actions of the Don Cossacks, stating, " The Cossacks of the Don are not my subjects, and they go to war or live in peace without my knowledge.

The fighting qualities of the sea-going Cossacks were even admired in the Ottoman chronicles: " One can safely say that in the entire world one cannot find a people more careless for their lives or having less fear of death ; persons versed in navigation assert that because of their skill and boldness in naval battles these bands are more dangerous than any other enemy.

The exact origins of Cossacks are unknown.

In modern view Cossacks on Don River are descendants of medieval Russians who have come from Novgorod Republic and Principality of Ryazan and several local tribes of Goths-Alans origin in West part of North Caucasus as a minority groups.

Cossacks of Ryazan are mentioned in 1444 as a defenders of Pereslavl-Zalessky against the units of Golden Horde and in a letter of Ivan III of Russia since 1502.

Don Cossacks are credited with playing a significant part in repelling Napoleon's Invasion of Russia.

Napoleon is credited with declaring, " Cossacks are the finest light troops among all that exist.

Though there are some differences in traditions and customs, the Don Cossacks speak the Russian language and have always related themselves to greater Russia, while maintaining their own unique national identity.

His party encounters some Cossacks and Tartars and a fight breaks out in which Jan ’ s soldiers are slaughtered and he severely wounded.

It is usually thought that the first such camp in the general area of today's Khabarovsk was the fortified winter camp named Achansk () or Achansky gorodok (), built by the Cossacks of Yerofey Khabarov in September 1651 after they had sailed to the area from the upper Amur.

) Also, he stressed the national aspect to the Ukrainian renaissance of the 16th and 17th centuries and thought the great revolt of Bohdan Khmelnytsky and the Cossacks against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a largely national and social rather than simply religious phenomenon.

According to the ethnographer P. Zhytetsky, kobzars were thought to have been initially sighted Cossacks, who were especially associated with epic songs, or dumy.

In Russia's 2010 Population Census, Cossacks have been recognized as an ethnicity.

Suvorov nonetheless allowed his troops to loot the city for a much longer period than was usually accepted, which might have been seen by some, particularly the unruly Cossacks, as a green light to do whatever they wanted.

As well as amassing large numbers of Cossacks and peasants, Pugachov also acquired artillery and arms and was able to supply his force better than the Russian army would have predicted.

Those early Cossacks seemed to have included a significant number of Tatar descendants judging from the records of their names.

The Don Cossacks have a tradition of choral singing and many of their songs, such as Chyorny Voron ( Black Raven ) and Lyubo, Bratsi, Lyubo ( It's good, brothers, good ) became popular throughout the rest of Russia.

When crossing the Urals, the Cossacks had to carry their possessions on their backs because they did not have horses.

Indeed, the first schools were known to have existed since the migration of the Black Sea Cossacks, and by 1860, the host had one male high school and 30 elementary schools.

The Cossacks have actively participated in some of the more abrupt political developments following the dissolution of the Soviet Union: South Ossetia, Crimea, Kosovo, Transnistria and Abkhazia.

In the 2002 Russian census the Cossacks were allowed to a have distinct nationality as a separate Russian sub-ethnical group.

Kuban Cossacks not politically affiliated with the Kuban Cossack Host, such as the director of the Kuban Cossack Choir Viktor Zakharchenko, have maintained at various times a pro-Ukrainian orientation.

However, combining Cossack infantry with Crimean Tatar cavalry could have provided a balanced military force and given the Cossacks a chance to beat the Polish army.

As such, the treaty as signed would have assured the Cossacks of autonomy and dignity to an extent they had not known for centuries.

The intended relief force would have an effective strength of about 21, 500 men and would include: 24 chorągiews of Winged Hussars (~ 3, 200 horses ), 27 chorągiews of light cavalry — also known as Cossack cavalry but not composed of Cossacks —( 3, 600 horses ), 10 squadrons of raitars (~ 1, 700 horses ), 7 Lithuanian petyhor regiments (~ 780 horses ), 7 large regiments of dragoons (~ 2, 250 horses ), and ~ 20 regiments of infantry (~ 12, 000 men ).

" He further notes that: " These have no connection with the Russian Cossacks.

This causes a great dilemma in the church because the Cossacks were defenders of the faith, and since they lost, and the faith is infallible, the Cossacks themselves must have done something sinful.

Cossacks fell under the Russian sphere of influence, with much fewer privileges under the Hetmanate than would have been granted under the treaty of Hadiach.

It should be pointed out that most of the collaborators, who some say numbered over 250, 000 ( although current figures claim the true number was not even a third of that ) were the Don Cossacks, who, formerly the largest and strongest host, suffered the worst under Soviet collectivization policies.

At the time of the arrival of the first Cossacks to the peninsula, in the early 1650s, villages numbered between 200 and 300 residents, a number which had dwindled to 40 or 50 at most by the time of the composition of Steller ’ s account in 1744.

The Wallachian army numbered approximately 22, 000, consisting mainly of mercenaries of different nationalities, including Hungarian Szeklers, Cossacks, and Poles.