What am I?

Prapor

Active member
Something I am thinking about. Had a argument recently with someone over this. We Cossacks still are not sure what we are, a nation, an ethnos in our own right; or more of a sub-culture, a warrior caste, that worthy outsiders can join.

I think we are a bit of both.

One the one hand, yes, we are distinct from other Slavic or Christian or Muslim or Caucasian or Siberian or any other Russian people
mg9920.jpg
mg9872.jpg

These are Kubanian Cossacks. They live in Krasnodar Krai (near and around Sochi, by the way :D), and are mostly of mixed Ukrainian and Circassian ancestry (notable particularly in the man in the second and far left in the first photo, the guy doesn't look Slav, that's for sure).

Ataman Sergei Senik of Azov Corps of Don Cossack Army
bcbe9a2f941f6f4303f18a6.jpg

(Those are all his own children, by the way. :D He's a big proponent of large families, even issued an order for his Cossacks to each family to have at least 5 children. That is what I call a real Cossack family lol)

Anyway, he says that we are a people and a culture. There is, according to him, a core group who trace their ancestry back to original Cossacks, descendants of Skythians and Kasog Circassians (Ataman Senik is one of those, actually). And then, there are those others, good people, loyal Russian patriots, regardless of ethnicity or even faith, whom we admit to our ranks.

Like this Siberian Cossack of Buryat background in Chita, receiving a blessing from a Buddhist Lama as he is initiated into the Amur Cossack Army
78.jpg


I think that is true. Though... On the Census, I and most other Cossacks wrote 'Cossack' as our "nationality" (in this country that means ethnic group).
 
Last edited:
Prapor - whatever you guys say you are - I ain't gonna argue!:)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cossacks

lol Thanks. I wrote much of that article. All the modern photos on there are mine :D

No, there are many theories. One, that I like, is the Scythian one.

The Scythians lived in the steppes of Eurasia as many as 2000 years ago.
215870_10150235059871558_721246557_8968387_8184528_n.jpg

There are Scythian artifacts in museums in Russia and Ukraine that date back 1200, 1500, 1800 years. Art, mostly. Metal figurines of animals.
ts
Scythian_Art.jpg

Scythians used a lot of animal imagery in their art, in garments, etc.

But they were more than just artists and craftsmen. Scythians were fierce and skilled warriors too
Scythians.jpg

-Oil-painting-Battle-of-Slavs.jpg

In their days, Scythian cavalry knew no equal.
Scythian.jpg


Back then, all feared the Scyth. The ancient Russian Tsars hired them as mercenaries often enough. Some historians even say Tsar Vladimir I had a team of Scythian bodyguards...

Well, many figure those are the ancestors of modern day ethnic Cossacks like myself. Certainly possible, I see much in common there.
 
LOL. I knew that(?). It was a trap I set to snare you.:wink:

Well, I've checked right through the link today and it's good. As has already been said - great pics.
 
Last edited:
If those photos are yours, you really should be putting them together to make a book. This is really wonderful stuff.
 
Back
Top