Copyright by Richard Jacob Paikoff 2012 The Thesis Committee for Richard Jacob Paikoff Certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: A History of the Cossack Assembly And Its Arthurian Connection APPROVED BY SUPERVISING COMMITTEE: Supervisor: Thomas Garza Co-Supervisor: Bella Jordan A History of the Cossack Assembly And Its Arthurian Connection by Richard Jacob Paikoff B.A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts The University of Texas at Austin May 2012 Dedication To Kate Zazulina for her constant love, support, and encouragement. Acknowledgements I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my faculty readers for all their guidance and support during the writing and research phases of my M.A. thesis. I would especially like to thank Professor Bella Bychkova Jordan, whose tireless support should be interpreted as nothing less than an instrumental factor in my successful completion of the CREEES M.A. program. I also owe a great debt of gratitude to my wonderful parents, Dr. Susanne Powell and Dr. Lawrence Paikoff, who likely lost a lot of sleep as a result of my escapades in Southern Russia. Additionally, I would like to acknowledge the pivotal role that my younger brother, Daniel Paikoff, played in acquiring appropriate maps for my work. His contribution to this thesis was instrumental. I would like to personally thank the staff of the Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies as well as the Center for Russian and Eastern European Studies for their invaluable support throughout my studies at the University of Texas at Austin. I genuinely appreciate everything they have done for me. For all their patience, I would also like to extend my appreciation to the staff of the Don State Public Library (Donskaja Gosudarstvennaja Publichnaja Biblioteka) in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. Without their enthusiastic assistance, my work would likely not have proceeded as smoothly as it did. Conjunctively, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Vadim Zazulin and Tatiana Zazulina for their combined help and understanding during my various trips to Rostov-on-Don, Russia. I am beyond grateful for the generosity and support that they have shown me over the years, and I would not be where I am without them. Finally, I would like to thank every Cossack that I had the opportunity to speak with over the years. This thesis would not have been possible without their input. v Abstract A History of the Cossack Assembly And Its Arthurian Connection Richard Jacob Paikoff M.A. The University of Texas at Austin, 2012 Supervisor: Thomas Garza Co-Supervisor: Bella Jordan The main intent of this thesis is to review the history and roots of the Cossack assembly, and to analyze its connection to western civilization. In terms of the roots of the Cossack assembly, this thesis will explore the Scytho-Sarmatian, the early Slavic, the Novgorodian, as well as the Turkic-Mongol influences that led to its creation. While the Zaporozhian Cossack assembly will be discussed, the primary focus of the history of the Cossack assembly section will deal with the Don Cossacks’ assembly, since the practices and traditions inherent in this structure are representative of most Cossack groups. In addition to reviewing the Sarmatian Hypothesis, this thesis will also examine the connections and parallels between the Arthurian legends, the ancient Iranian governing practices, and the Cossack assembly. It is thus hoped that this multileveled analysis will generate a comprehensive portrait of the Cossack assembly and, through its ancient Iranian predecessor’s connection to the Arthurian Round Table, prompt a reconsideration of analytical approaches to both the foundations of Cossack and western democracy. vi Table of Contents List of Figures ..............................................................................................................................................viii INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................................. 1 SECTION 1: THE HISTORICAL FOUNDATION OF THE COSSACK ASSEMBLY .......................................................5 I. Section Introduction .................................................................................................................... 5 II. The Sarmatians, Scythians, and their Mythology .......................................................................6 III. Sarmatian Influences, Early Slavic Tribes, and the Novgorod Republic ..............................13 IV. The Golden Horde ....................................................................................................................27 V. Section Conclusion ....................................................................................................................33 SECTION 2: A HISTORY OF THE COSSACK ASSEMBLY .....................................................................................35 VI. Section Introduction ................................................................................................................35 VII. 1548 – 1721: Early Democratic Attitudes and Practices ......................................................40 VIII. Eighteenth Century – 1917: Don Cossack Democracy at the Local Level ........................52 IX. The Return of the Krug of the Don Host ................................................................................57 X. The Soviet Period to the Present Day .......................................................................................61 XI. Section Conclusion ..................................................................................................................65 SECTION 3: THE SARMATIAN HYPOTHESIS, THE ARTHURIAN ROUND TABLE, AND THE KRUG .....................67 XII. Section Introduction ..............................................................................................................67 XIII. The Sarmatian Hypothesis: A Review ...................................................................................69 XIV. The Sarmatian Hypothesis and the Round Table .................................................................80 XV. The Round Table and the Cossack Assembly .........................................................................86 XVI. Section and Overall Conclusion: Broader Implications .....................................................91 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................................95 vii List of Figures Figure 1: Distribution (as of 1914) and founding periods of the Cossack hosts in European Russia ............................................................................... 37 Figure 2: Structure of the Cossack Krug ............................................................ 42 Figure 3: Example of Papakhi ...........................................................................44 Figure 4: The River Dons of the United Kingdom .............................................71 Figure 5: The Religious Sarmatian Sword .........................................................75 viii INTRODUCTION The Cossacks are nothing if not some of history’s finest warriors. Unfortunately, they are rarely considered to be anything outside of this militaristic sphere, especially in terms of western scholarship. In fact, the Cossacks, who are a distinct ethnic and cultural group within what is now Russia and Ukraine, are much more than the blood thirsty mounted warriors of legend. They have a unique cultural heritage that contains unique songs, literature, ethnic composition, linguistic history, an Orthodox religious tradition, as well as other notably elements. Perhaps the most interesting of these cultural characteristics is the historic democratic structure of their communities. Indeed, the Cossack assembly (known as the Krug or Rada) is truly a unique component of their cultural background; however, one must analyze it in three distinct areas, in order to truly understand and appreciate its history. First, noting that the Cossacks first appeared as an identifiable group roughly within the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, it is important to understand the ethnohistorical foundations of the Cossack assembly, beginning with its possible ancient Iranian roots. Second, it is important to have a grounded understanding of the history of the Cossack assembly from the late fifteenth century up through the present day. Third, taking their history into consideration, it may be beneficial to discuss how the ethnohistorical foundations of the Cossack assembly may have also played a role in the development of western civilization, especially in terms of the Arthurian tradition. The goal of this thesis is to present a reasonably thorough ethnohistorical account of the Cossack assembly by reviewing and analyzing the three previously mentioned areas. 1 ! In terms of the first component of the analysis, which will be reviewed in Section 1, the primary objective here will be to attempt to trace the roots of the Cossack assembly as far back as realistically possible. Utilizing linguistic, religious, and historical sources, as well as mythological references, the analysis will begin by reviewing the possible role that the ancient Iranian peoples may have played in laying the groundwork for the Cossack assembly.