Cossack Hetmanate

Cossack Hetmanate

The Hetmanate (Ukrainian: Гетьманщина, Het’manshchyna) or Zaporizhian Host (Ukrainian: Військо Запорозьке, Viys’kо Zaporoz’kе) was the Ukrainian Cossack statein Central Ukraine between 1649 and 1764. The Hetmanate was founded by Ukrainian hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky during the Khmelnytsky Uprising (1648–1657).

In 1654 it pledged its allegiance to Muscovy during the Council of Pereyaslav, while being a constituency of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Later the documents of the treaty (articles) were rewritten numerous times for reorganization purposes at every election of the new hetman. A regional referendum concluded the fall of the region under the protection of the Russian monarchy that guaranteed sovereignty of the region in fight against the Polish Crown. The Treaty of Andrusovo of 1667, however, was conducted without any representation from the Cossack Hetmanate and concluded the borders between Polish and Russian states, dividing the Hetmanate in half along the Dnieper. This division caused a civil war in Ukraine between various parties of Cossacks that lasted till the end of the 17th century. Already in December of 1662 the government of Russia established the Little Russian prikaz as part a department of the Polish prikaz.

In the 18th century the territory of the Hetmanate was limited to Left-bank Ukraine with its capital in Baturyn. During the Great Northern War the Russian forces sacked Baturyn and redesignated the new hetman residence in Hlukhiv, while the whole area was included into the Government of Kiev. In 1764 the autonomy of the Cossack state was officially abolished by Catherine II of Russia. The Hetmanate state was split between the Governments of Kiev and Malorossiya.

The Hetmanate state consisted of today's central Ukraine and a small part of Russia (former Starodub region of Chernigov Governorate). Specifically, its territory included provinces of Chernihiv, Poltava, and Sumy (without the southeastern portion), the left-bank territories of Kiev and Cherkasy, as well as the western portion of Bryansk Oblast of Russia. The lands of the Zaporizhian Host had a certain degree of self-government with its own administration.