# Haidamak uprising of 1734

Haidamak uprising 1734 - was an uprising of Haidamaky bands against the power of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth over the right bank Ukraine.

## Historical Background

The Poles took steps to attract labourers, known as settlers from other towns, to the abandoned villages, promising them exemption from service duties for 15-30 years. But years passed, benefits ran out, dominion was introduced, duties were increased, new ones were introduced. Rent had a major impact on the peasantry. In addition to lordships and other direct taxes and tributes, indirect taxes were applied, among which propination was the most difficult. The lords had the exclusive right to produce and sell spirits. They forced peasants to buy a certain amount of vodka regardless of their consumption needs. The peasants also suffered at the outposts of the Polish army.
The lord's arbitrariness was met with resistance from the peasants, which turned into an armed struggle, one manifestation of which was the Haidamak movement. In the second quarter of the 18th century, this movement was concentrated in the Kyiv and Braclaw regions, where the most favourable conditions prevailed: the presence of a significant number of free, not fully settled people, the proximity of the borders of Zaporozhian Sich, Left-Bank Ukraine, Moldova and the Ottoman Empire.
in general, the activity of the haidamaks began in wison and summer and ended in winter due to the temperatures that prevailed. They would congregate in the forests and join together in larger groups after winter. Mostly these troops consisted of peasants and Zaporozhian Cossacks. One of the important conditions for the success of the Haidamaks was their fast movement, so they always had good steppe horses. In horsemanship the Haidamaks were not inferior to ordinary soldiers. Their units had no rollers. It was even more difficult to deal with the Haidamaks on foot. If victory was not possible, the Haidamaks died in battle, but they did not give up. The courage and cunning of the Haidamaks, their ability to fight was appreciated even by their enemies.
A unique role in the development of the Haidamak movement was played by Zaporozhian Sich, to which refugees from all over Ukraine were drawn. There, Haidamak units were formed in Zaporozhye, which included Zaporozhian Cossacks and were often led by them. In 1729-1730, the wave of Haidamak performances intensified. In December 1729 it happened in Kaharalyk, Smil, Kuzmyn, Vinnytsia. At the beginning of 1730, a wide wave of Haidamak protests covered the Kyiv and Braclaw provinces.

### Etymology "Haidamak"
#### Hungarian Etymology

Hungarian etymological dictionaries (i.e. SzófSz, TESz and EWU) consider the word to be derived from the Hungarian verb hajt 'to drive away, drive away (sth, sb) (German treiben)', i.e. from the present tense participle form hajtó 'to drive away, drive away (sth, sb) (German treiber)', which, according to Hungarian etymologists, is a derivative of the Hungarian verb hajtó. from the present tense participle form hajtó 'to drive away, drive away (sth, sb), driver (German: Treiber)', which according to Hungarian etymologists yielded after the expression -t-to-d hajdú - and a change of the final -ó to -ú [-ū]. 3 Authors of etymological dictionaries, however, have doubts about the possibility of changing -jt->-jd-, as only a few examples documenting such consonantal sonority can be found in Hungarian.A number of authors have attempted to identify similar shifts jt > jd in other languages (De Bartolomeis, Sulán)
Therefore, regarding the change -jt-> -jd- in Kiss/Pusztai one can read the following: "[...] Előreható részleges hasonulás: R.: hajtó > hajdú, [...] a zöngétlen t aj hatására zöngésül d-vé." The same process can be seen in Hung. *hajtan > hajdan 'once'; majt > majd 'later, some time' (see e.g. Kiss/Pusztai ibid.), see dialectal forms majd 'schon, bald, später': màjD ~ majt ~ majtég (Gálffy/Márton 312; also Szinnyei 1386: majt id. (Transylvania)
Let us take a closer look at the duplicated forms hajdú and hajduk (nom. sg.) in Hungarian. The use of Hung. hajdukok (from 1527 onwards) for the plural nominative is apparently (for native speakers of Hungarian) an example of a double plural added to the subject, i.e. hajdú-k-ok. We also agree with the author that this may indicate that hajduk (the singular of the word hajdukok) was not treated as a native word. However, we believe that Hung. hajduk should be explained from SCr. hajduk as Rückwanderer, i.e. Hung. hajdú 'Viehhirt, Fußsoldat' > SCr. hajduk 'insurgent, soldier against Turkish rule in the Balkans' > Hung.hajduk identifier. This pattern seems to confirm the following.

#### Turkish Etymology

The word was adopted into Ukrainian from Crimea and the neighbouring region, where it was used in some Kipchat , Oghuz and Slavic languages . The origin is from the Turkish word 'haidamak', 'to ride, to drive away', and the etymological device is Ottoman Turkish . The verb (h)ayda probably comes from the onomatopoeic stem used to agitate someone: "hayda". Depending on the local context, it was understood as "to drive someone or something away" and later "to chase, to pursue". In the infinitive, Turkish verbs have the ending -mak or -mek. However, the ending -ak(a) also exists in Ukrainian, in words with somewhat related meanings, such as huljáka , 'crouser' (crouse = energetic, lively, confident), pyjak(a) , 'drunkard' ', rozbyšaka , 'highwayman', which may have led to the original meaning of 'pursue, prosecute' evolving to 'pursuer, pursuing' and eventually 'insurgent'. In various other languages, the meaning of 'highwayman' given to a hajdamak(a) took shape in accordance with the way their enemies perceived the hajdamaks.

## Uprising

However, by 1734, Haidamak troops were being formed and operating in an uncoordinated manner. The first attempt to coordinate the actions of the Haidamak troops was made by centurion Verlan. He enrolled all rebels in the Cossack register, appointed centurions, captains, lieutenants.
The preparatory phase of the uprising has not been fully explained. Historical documents testify to its solemn beginning, when the centurion Verlan, who had previously served in the court militia of the Lubomyrsky princes in Shargorod, declared himself a colonel commander and published the manifesto of the uprising:
"Our time has come, citizens living on noble, royal and ecclesiastical estates: the time of liberation from the yoke of the nobility and release from the burdens that your lords have imposed on you. God has looked down from high heaven on your misfortune. For your tears and patience, he has heard your prayers and sent you defenders to avenge your wrongs. Help those who have undertaken to protect you and your rights. The time has come to demand payment from your enemies for your wrongs, the beatings, the torments, the unprecedented extortion you have suffered from them so far. We are sending you guides to trust and follow, regardless of your weapons. Leave your homes, your women and your beloved children and you will not regret it, for you will soon find that God has destined you to be victorious and you will all become free people once you destroy this viper tribe of your masters , who continue to suck your blood. We have called on you before, but you did not believe in success; now you can believe when your brothers have started the successful liberation from slavery and this yoke in Ukraine and Podolia. Call upon God for help and unite with us in helping".
From the testimony of V. Antonovich, it appears that Verlan in his appeals referred to a circular by the Russian Colonel Polansky, who called on the armed people on the Right Bank, mainly policemen, to oppose Stanislav Leshchinsky and his collaborators. In the event of success, the Cossack structures created by the insurgents would be preserved and incorporated into the Russian Empire, where at that time the relative autonomy of the Hetmanate was still preserved and the freedom of Zaporozhye was respected. The population of the Right Bank was open to the prospect of reunification with other parts of the Ukrainian nation living in more prosperous conditions. In this case, the peasants were freed from serfdom, which did not exist in Left Bank Ukraine at the time. On the other hand, researcher P. Mirchuk notes that there are no documents confirming Verlan's interaction with Polansky, and this kind of information is the result of the spread of Polish propaganda techniques aimed at discrediting the uprising.
According to the testimony of V. Antonovich, while Verlan was in Shargorod, he summoned open-air militia units from other towns and began to recruit local residents. In this way, the town became the epicentre of the uprising. An army began to form, which Verlan divided into ranks and ranks ( centurions, captains, lieutenants, etc.), the rebels themselves chose centurions and tenths, which included previously separated Haidamak, Zaporizhzhia and even representatives of the nobility. To the army.
Verlan passed through the Braclaw Land several times, and then - Podolia and south-western Volhynia, took Krzemieniec, Zhvanets, Brody and Zbarazh. His troops appeared at Kamieniec and Lviv. Hryva's detachment captured Vinnitsa and Medzibizh. Hundreds of well-organised rebels captured Korsun, Berdychev, Pogrebeshch, Pavloch, Kotelnya, Koshovate, Khodory and Rozhov in Kyiv province. In Chudnov, the burghers independently dealt with the nobility. At the beginning of 1735, the uprising covered the entire territory of the Ukrainian provinces.
By 1736, the Verlaan chieftains re-established themselves in the Braclaw and Kyiv provinces: the Hrevsky, Medvedev, Zhyla, Rud, Ivanitsky and Kharko provinces. In the spring of 1737, more than a thousand Haidamaks gathered in Zaporozhye on the Cibulnica River. They were suddenly attacked by Tatars, in a fight with whom the leaders of Kharko, Ivanytsa and Zhyla were killed, and the wounded Rud was arrested.

## Aftermath

Despite the suppression of the uprising, Haidamite bands continued to raid magnate's estates and obstruct the march. Due to the incomplete destruction of this group, it was reborn in 1750 when it started an uprising which was suppressed and then another one in 1768 which was joined by Russia in order to get rid of the rebellion for fear of spreading to their territories.