Yesaul is a rank in the Cossack army. At first, this was the name of the assistant commander, later Yesaul was equated with a captain or captain. What does this word mean?
Etymology of the word
According to one version, “esaul” is a word of Turkic origin. In some chronicles, the son of Genghis Khan is called "eke yasaul", which means "second yasaul."
According to another version, the word has Iranian-speaking roots. It came from two early Iranian words “asa” - “free” and “ul” - “son”. Meaning the phrase "son of the free."
Over time, the Iranian word entered the Turkic language, and later in Old Russian. In Ukrainian and Russian languages, the word has several forms: "esaul", "osavul" and others.
Cossack rank
For the first time, the position of Yesaul among the Cossacks appeared in 1578. It is mentioned in the Register Army, which was in the Commonwealth during the reign of Stephen Batory.
Cossack Yesaul was divided into the following ranks:
- General Esaul - this was the highest post after the hetman, he commanded the regiments, and sometimes the entire army. In peacetime, he was engaged in inspection matters. The rank was characteristic of the Zaporozhye Cossacks.
- Troops - was in charge of administrative affairs, in the nineteenth century he was an adjutant, carrying out orders of the punish chieftain.
- Regimental - was the main assistant to the regiment commander, performing the duties of a staff officer. Among the Don Cossacks there were village esaul, they were considered as assistants to the village chieftain.
- Marching - appointed before the start of the campaign, served as an assistant ataman. If he was absent, Yesaul himself could command the army. This was permitted in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
- The artillery esaul is the acting commander of the artillery.
In the sequence of military ranks, the esaul stood above the subaul, but below the military foreman.
The post of general esaul, who kept the hetman's mace, lasted until 1764. It disappeared as a result of the elimination of hetmanism on Ukrainian lands.
The most famous Yesaul
Ivan Mazepa began his career with the hetman Doroshenko in Right-Bank Ukraine. At first he was the captain, later became the general secretary. In 1674, by order of the hetman, Mazepa went to the Crimean Khanate as an envoy. When his delegation was heading to Constantinople, he was captured by the ataman Ivan Sirko.
Zaporizhzhya Cossacks decided to execute Mazepa, but as a result they sent them to the Left-Bank Ukraine to Samoilovich. The hetman made him a military comrade, and a few years later he granted the rank of general esaul. So Mazepa approached the Cossack foreman. After the fall of Samoilovich, Mazepa took his place, becoming one of the controversial figures of his time.
Chin after 1775
By order of Prince Potemkin, the title of esaul (regimental) was equated with an officer rank. At the end of the eighteenth century, this position provided its owner with hereditary nobility.
At the end of the nineteenth century, the rank of Yesaul corresponded to the captain's. In modern times it is equated with the rank of major. The post disappeared after 1917 with the arrival of the Bolsheviks.