other · Poland, Lithuania and Russia
Don Cossack Host
Origins
Free men and runaways from Muscovy and Ukraine settled along the lower Don in the 16th century, living by fishing, hunting and raiding the Tatars and Turks. The Host traditionally dates its foundation to 1570, when Ivan IV sent a charter to the Don Cossacks. Their capital was Cherkassk, on an island in the Don.
Rule and society
The Host was run by a general assembly, the krug, which elected the ataman, and it kept its own laws in return for military service to Moscow. In 1637 the Cossacks took Azov from the Ottomans and held it for five years. The Don also bred great rebellions, led by Stepan Razin in 1670 and Kondraty Bulavin in 1707, which Moscow crushed.
Decline and legacy
Over the 18th century the Host lost its self-government and became a privileged military estate of the Russian Empire, with its capital moved to Novocherkassk in 1805. Ataman Matvei Platov led Don Cossacks against Napoleon. After 1917 they formed the anti-Bolshevik Don Republic, and Soviet rule dissolved the Host.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (2)
- Don Cossack Host was a vassal of Tsardom of Russia1671 CE – 1721 CE
- Don Cossack Host was a province of Russian Empire1721 CE – 1917 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Don Cossack Host. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/don-cossack-host
- MLA
- “Don Cossack Host.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/don-cossack-host. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Don Cossack Host.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/don-cossack-host.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Don Cossack Host’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/don-cossack-host (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻