other · Poland, Lithuania and Russia

Danube Sich

1775 CE – 1828 CE · capital Dunavets

The refuge of Zaporozhian Cossacks in the Ottoman Danube Delta after Catherine the Great destroyed their Sich.

Origins

When the Russian army abolished the Zaporozhian Sich in 1775, several thousand Cossacks fled to Ottoman territory. After moving between several sites, they settled in the Danube Delta, where the sultan allowed them to found a new Sich in return for military service. Its main centre from 1814 was at Dunavets, in modern Romania.

Rule and society

The Danube Sich kept the old Zaporozhian institutions of an elected kish otaman, a council and kurins. The Cossacks fished, farmed and fought in Ottoman campaigns, including against Serbian and Greek rebels. They clashed repeatedly with the Nekrasov Cossacks, Russian Old Believers settled nearby, over fishing grounds and Ottoman favour.

Decline and legacy

During the Russo-Turkish War of 1828, the kish otaman Osyp Hladky defected to Russia with part of the Host. In response the Ottomans destroyed the Sich. The defectors formed the Azov Cossack Host in Russia, while the others dispersed within Ottoman lands.

Lineage

Zaporozhian Sich 1552 CE – 1775 CEDanube Sich

Connections (1)

Danube Sich was a vassal of Ottoman Empire1775 CE – 1828 CE

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Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Danube Sich. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/danube-sich
MLA: “Danube Sich.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/danube-sich. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Danube Sich.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/danube-sich.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Danube Sich’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/danube-sich (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻