The relationships between the Moscow government and the Cossack Hetmanate and the deportation of population (“zgon”) from the Middle Dnepr region in the spring of 1679

Abstract

After battles of Chigirin in 1677–1678 were finished, the Russian government and the Hetman Ivan Samojlovich were expecting a new massive Ottoman invasion, mainly aimed at Kiev. Therefore, the population of the Right-Bank Middle Dnepr region was deported to the Left-Bank Ukraine to make supply and accommodation difficult for the Ottoman army. Those events were studied in details by Nikolaj Kostomarov, based on archival sources. He stated, that Hetman Ivan Samojlovich organized the deportation by an order from Moscow. However, a new study of archival documents, especially those not used by Kostomarov, reveals that it was Samojlovich who initiated the deportation (“zgon”), sending to the Right-Bank Ukraine troops under the command of his son, Semen Samojlovich. The Tsar’s letter to approve this decision had not yet been received in Baturin (the Hetman’s residence) at that point. The Moscow government supported the action taken by Samojlovich and sent a Russian troop under the command of voivode Grigorij Kosagov to take part in the operation. The deportation was completed quickly because the local population did not resist and, moreover, was ready to move. People of the Right-Bank Ukraine did not want to recognize the Ottoman authority, as the previous attacks of the Ottoman army were accompanied by total devastation of cities and massive killings.