The Kozachchina period left a huge mark in the history of Ukraine specifically and in the history of the Russian Empire as a whole. In order for subsequent generations to have a clear concept of the historical process of events of this time, some authors created Cossack annals.
Chronicles of the Self
One of the most important sources of information about Ukraine of the 17th century can be considered a work written by the Samovidets. This is an unknown author who lived precisely in that historical period, which is discussed in the source.
What is the importance of this record? Firstly, the events taking place in the territory of modern Ukraine are written in the Old Ukrainian language. Secondly, Samovidets is such an author who could easily describe the events, because he was practically their participant. Historiographers consider a higher percentage of reliability of the presentation of events to be the main difference between the Chronicles of the Samovid and Old Russian sources. If we talk, for example, about the "Tale of Bygone Years", then the percentage of speculation in this chronicle will be higher, since its author, Nestor, could not be a witness to events that took place several centuries before his birth.
The historical fullness of the work
The main idea, of which the Samovidets was a supporter, is the desire to reunite Ukraine and Russia forever. The source describes in detail the events occurring in the period from 1648 to 1702. The starting date was not chosen by chance, because at that time the National Liberation War of the Ukrainian people against the Commonwealth began, which ended in 1654. The author describes in detail the most important battles of this war. An important role is given to the description of the events of 1654, especially those that took place in Pereyaslav.
Of course, the author expresses his subjective opinion. From the text you can often understand that Samovidets is an ardent supporter of one of the political Cossack groups. The author describes the moments of various internecine clashes between groups as a form of struggle for power and influence on events in the country.
The central historical image that Samovidets describes is Bogdan Khmelnitsky as an ideologist and leader of the struggle of Ukrainians, in particular Cossacks, against the Polish government.
Who can be the author of the source?
Until 1840, almost no one knew about the “Chronicle of the Samovid”. One of the essay lists was found by the famous Ukrainian writer Panteleimon Kulish. After analyzing the presentation of the material, he came to the conclusion that the author of the work can only be an active participant in the events. Kulish believes that this is the Cossack foreman Roman Rakushka-Romanovsky.