The Cossack raid on Istanbul (Constantinople) of 1615 was an attack on

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

by the

Zaporozhian Cossacks The Zaporozhian Cossacks, Zaporozhian Cossack Army, Zaporozhian Host, (, or uk, Військо Запорізьке, translit=Viisko Zaporizke, translit-std=ungegn, label=none) or simply Zaporozhians ( uk, Запорожці, translit=Zaporoz ...

, led 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 ...

Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny ( uk, Петро Конашевич-Сагайдачний; pl, Piotr Konaszewicz-Sahajdaczny; born about 1582 in Kulchytsi, today Sambir Raion – 20 April 1622 in Kyiv) was a Ukrainian Cossack political and ...

. Cossacks attacked the harbor of the city and burned it before returning to Ukraine. The success of this raid inspired the Tutora campaign of 1620 and the Khotyn campaign of 1621.

Background

The Cossack communities emerged in the fourteenth century in the Ukrainian steppe by the

Dnieper River } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukrain ...

. The Cossacks developed highly militaristic communities largely responsible for raids on

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

. Neighboring states, including the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...

, employed them in times of conflict. In the 1500s, the Cossacks frequently attacked the Crimean Tatars and Ottomans with the intention of plundering treasure and liberating Christian slaves. By the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Cossacks began raiding communities in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, ...

, including the cities of Varna,

Perekop Perekop ( Ukrainian & Russian: Перекоп; ; ) is an urban-type settlement located on the Perekop Isthmus connecting the Crimean peninsula to the Ukrainian mainland. It is known for the fortress Or Qapi that served as the gateway to Crime ...

, Bilhorod,

Izmail Izmail (, , translit. ''Izmail,'' formerly Тучков ("Tuchkov"); ro, Ismail or ''Smil''; pl, Izmaił, bg, Исмаил) is a city and municipality on the Danube river in Odesa Oblast in south-western Ukraine. It serves as the administ ...

, and Trebizond.

Raid

In May 1615, a group of Cossacks embarked to Turkey on eighty small boats, each one carrying approximately 50 men. By mid-June they crossed the

and landed in the vicinity of

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

. The Cossacks captured and set on fire the Istanbul neighborhood of Scutari (now

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a large and densely populated district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered to the north by Beykoz, to the east by Ümraniye, to the southeast by Ataşehir and to the south by Kadıköy ...

), as well as the ports of Mizevna and Archioca. After raiding the city, the Cossacks returned to Ukraine. Sultan

Ahmed I Ahmed I ( ota, احمد اول '; tr, I. Ahmed; 18 April 1590 – 22 November 1617) was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1603 until his death in 1617. Ahmed's reign is noteworthy for marking the first breach in the Ottoman tradition of royal ...

, noticing smoke from his windows caused by the fire, sent a fleet of

galleys A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be u ...

in pursuit. The Ottomans caught up with the Cossacks at the mouth of the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , ...

. However the Cossacks defeated them and the admiral of the fleet was captured.{{Cite book, last=Imber, first=Colin, title=The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650: The Structure of Power, publisher=Palgrave Macmillan, year=2009, isbn=0230574505, location=New York, pages=66

Aftermath

The raid strengthened the morale of the Cossacks, who were now successfully attacking strongholds which neither the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

nor the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ...

dared to attack. European diplomats brought news of the Cossack raid to the West. French historian

Michel Baudier Michel Baudier (c. 15891645), French historian, was born in Languedoc, during the reign of Louis XIII, and was historiographer to the Court of France. Life In the 1620s Baudier, a soldier turned historian wrote a treatise on Islam, which was one ...

wrote: "The only mention of the Cossacks brings dread and terror to Constantinople". As retribution, Ahmed I sent a fleet under the command of Admiral Ali-Pasha the following year with the intention of raiding the Cossacks at Dnieper. They were met by chaikas under the command of Konashevich-Sagaidachny. The Cossacks again defeated the Ottomans, seizing a dozen galleys and nearly a hundred boats. Ali-Pasha narrowly escaped. The Cossacks subsequently blockaded the

Crimean Peninsula Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

and launched an attack on Kaffa, which was at the time one of the most important Turkish ports on the Black Sea and a center of their slave trade.

Sources

:1. Крип'якевич І., Гнатевич Б. та ін. Історія українського війська. – Львів, 1992. – С.193-194 :2. "Cossack Navy 16th - 17th Centuries". geocities. Archived from the original on 26 October 2009.

References

Conflicts in 1615 17th century in Istanbul 17th century in the Zaporozhian Host 1615 in the Ottoman Empire Military history of Turkey Military history of Ukraine Cossack raids on the Ottoman Empire

Background

Raid

Aftermath

See also

Sources

References