( rus, старшина, p=stərʂɨˈna, a=Ru-старшина.ogg or in Ukrainian transliteration) is a senior non-commissioned rank or designation in the military forces of some Slavic states, and a historical military designation. In army terminology, a starshina is equivalent to "

Sergeant Major Sergeant major is a senior non-commissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. History In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's infantry, and ranked about third in th ...

" (Most senior member at the company level) or a rank equal to a NATO OR-8. In naval terminology, ''starshina'' is a general term for junior and middle-ranking non-commissioned officers, similar in usage to "

Chief Petty Officer A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards. Canada "Chief petty officer" refers to two ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy. A chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2) (''premier maître de deuxi ...

". The word originates from the russian: старший, starshij, older, more senior, from russian: старый, staryj, old.

Cossack Hetmanate

Among Cossacks in Ukraine, ''starshyna'' was a

collective noun In linguistics, a collective noun is a word referring to a collection of things taken as a whole. Most collective nouns in everyday speech are not specific to one kind of thing. For example, the collective noun "group" can be applied to people (" ...

for categories of military officers and state officials. It derived from the offices in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Sharshyna was subdivided into: *General Starshyna (), headed by

Hetman ( uk, гетьман, translit=het'man) is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders. Used by the Czechs in Bohemia since the 15th century. It was the title of the second-highest military co ...

(or Quartermaster General as acting Hetman) **Quartermaster General (Генеральний обозний) **Judge General (Генеральний суддя) **Secretary General (Генеральний писар) **Adjutant General (Генеральний осавул) **Treasurer General (Генеральний підскарбій) **Ensign General (Генеральний хорунжий) **Bunchuk General (Генеральний бунчужний) *Regimental (Polkova) Starshyna, headed by

Polkovnyk ''Polkovnik'' (russian: полковник, lit=regimentary; pl, pułkownik) is a military rank used mostly in Slavic-speaking countries which corresponds to a colonel in English-speaking states and oberst in several German-speaking and Scandin ...

(Colonel) **Regimental Obozni (Quartermaster) ( uk, Полковий обозний) – first Deputy Colonel. He was in charge of artillery and fortress fortifications. In the absence of a colonel he replaced him, but he was not authorized to issue universal orders (as opposed to the commanding colonel). **Regimental Judge ( uk, Полковий суддя) – was in charge of a civil court in the

ratusha In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

**Regimental Osavul ( uk, Полковий осавул) – assistant Colonel in Military Affairs **Regimental Khorunzhy ( uk, Полковий хорунжий) – commander of the "Khorunzhy Cossacks", guarding the colonel and the starshina. He was in charge of regimental music and was responsible for keeping the khorugv (regiment flag). **Regimental Chancellor ( uk, Полковий писар) – secretaries at the

. One was in charge of military affairs, and the other of civilian affairs. *Starshyna of Hundred (Sotenna) – headed by Sotnyk **Sotenny

otaman Ataman (variants: ''otaman'', ''wataman'', ''vataman''; Russian: атаман, uk, отаман) was a title of Cossack and haidamak leaders of various kinds. In the Russian Empire, the term was the official title of the supreme military command ...

( uk, Сотенний отаман) – the deputy

sotnik Sotnik or sotnyk (, uk, сотник, bg, стотник) was a military rank among the Cossack '' starshyna'' (military officers), Strelets Troops (17th century) in Muscovy and Imperial Cossack cavalry (since 1826), the Ukrainian Insurgent A ...

, implemented the duties of an obozni and a judge on a sotnia level **Sotenny Osavul ( uk, Сотенний осавул) – assistant sotnik in military affairs **Sotenny Khorunzhy ( uk, Сотенний хорунжий) – headed the sotnias flags **Sotenny Chancellor ( uk, Сотенний писар) – a secretary *Junior Starshyna () – headed by

Otaman Ataman (variants: ''otaman'', ''wataman'', ''vataman''; Russian: атаман, uk, отаман) was a title of Cossack and haidamak leaders of various kinds. In the Russian Empire, the term was the official title of the supreme military command ...

Later, sometime after the Khmelnytsky's Uprising, it was also associated with the Ukrainian nobility which derived out of the officership and the

Russia

Imperial Russia

Later, in the

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I ...

and Imperial Russia, a was the chief of a (a rural administrative unit), in charge of the distribution of taxes, resolving conflicts within (communes), distributing community lands and military conscription. The rank of ( – Starshina of the Army (Host)) was introduced into the ranks of the Imperial military in 1826, as the equivalent of a " Lieutenant Colonel" in the Cossack cavalry. Аксакал деревни Ходжагент.jpg, Uzbek, ''stashina'' (аксакал) village Chodshagent (ru: Ходжагент), 1868, drawing by V.V. Vereshchagin Bashkir elder.jpg,

Bashkirs , native_name_lang = bak , flag = File:Bashkirs of Baymak rayon.jpg , flag_caption = Bashkirs of Baymak in traditional dress , image = , caption = , population = approx. 2 million , popplace ...

-starshina with starshina insignia (medal), Orenburg, 1892

Soviet Union and Russian Federation

The word gained its modern meaning in the Red Army, and is a hangover from the functional titles (like "Brigade Commander" or "Assistant Platoon Leader") that were initially used by that force – the word literally means "senior". Most functional titles in the Red Army were abolished in 1942, but remained. was the highest non-commissioned rank in the Soviet Army until the reintroduction of the imperial rank of ''

Praporshchik ( rus, Пра́порщик, 3=ˈprapərɕːɪk, ) is a rank used by the Russian Armed Forces and a number of former communist states. The rank is a non-commissioned officer's and is equivalent to in navies. It is usually equivalent to Warrant ...

'' in 1972. In the Soviet Navy, the term was introduced between 1940 and 1943 as term equivalent to "

Petty Officer A petty officer (PO) is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotation OR-5 or OR-6. In many nations, they are typically equal to a sergeant in comparison to other military branches. Often they may be super ...

" for every enlisted seaman above "'' Matros, 1st class.''" There was also created a rank equal to in the Army, but termed () – this is the naval rank depicted in the tables below.

Insignia in the Red Army (1919–1946) and Soviet Armed Forces (1946–1991)

Insignia in the Russian Federation

Insignia

Russia-Army-OR-8-1994-field.svg,

(

Belarusian Ground Forces The Belarusian Ground Forces is a service branch of the Armed Forces of Belarus. History The ground forces were founded on March 20, 1992, on the same day the Defence Ministry of Belarus was established. By 1994, the ground forces had over 5 ...

) Bulgaria-Army-OR-8.svg,

(

Bulgarian Land Forces The Bulgarian Land Forces ( bg, Сухопътни войски на България, Sukhopŭtni voĭski na Bŭlgariya, lit=Ground Forces of Bulgaria) are the ground warfare branch of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. The Land Forces were established ...

) 06.Kyrgyzstan Army-MSG.svg,

(

Kyrgyz Army The Kyrgyz Ground Forces, also commonly known as the Kyrgyz Army is the infantry branch of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. History In April 1992, Kyrgyzstan formed a State Committee for Defense Affairs, and in June the republic ...

) Russia-Army-OR-8-2010.svg,

(

Russian Ground Forces The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces ...

) Tajikistan-Army-OR-8.png,

( Tajik Ground Forces) Turkmenistan army OR-8.svg,
( Turkmen Ground Forces)

Language variants

In some former communist state, the rank of "older" is used with the local language variants. Armenia-Army-OR-8.svg,

(

Armenian Ground Forces The Armenian Ground Forces () is the collective term for personnel branches of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia that are responsible for the country's land-based operations. It was established in conjunction with the other compone ...

) Mongolian Army-SGT-service.svg,

( Mongolian Ground Force)

Naval variants

* * * *

References

Cossack starshyna
at the

Encyclopedia of Ukraine The ''Encyclopedia of Ukraine'' ( uk, Енциклопедія українознавства, translit=Entsyklopediia ukrainoznavstva), published from 1984 to 2001, is a fundamental work of Ukrainian Studies. Development The work was creat ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Starshina Military organization of Cossacks Military ranks of Russia Military ranks of the Soviet Union Military ranks of Ukraine