A sich (), was an administrative and military centre of 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 ...

. The word ''sich'' derives from the Ukrainian verb , "to chop" – with the implication of clearing a forest for an encampment or of building a

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

with the trees that have been chopped down. The

Zaporozhian Sich The Zaporozhian Sich ( ua, Запорозька Січ, ; also uk, Вольностi Вiйська Запорозького Низового, ; Free lands of the Zaporozhian Host the Lower) was a semi-autonomous polity and proto-state of Co ...

was the fortified capital of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, located on the

Dnieper } 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 Ukraine ...

, in the 16th–18th centuries in the area of what is now

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

. The

Sich Rada The Sich Rada (, ''Sichova Rada'') was the highest branch of government of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, and based at their center, the Zaporizhian Sich. It was also called Viyskova Rada (Military Council). The Rada, a type of governing committee but ...

was the highest organ of government in the

Zaporozhian Host Zaporozhian Host (or Zaporizhian Sich) is a term for a military force inhabiting or originating from Zaporizhzhia, the territory beyond the rapids of the Dnieper River in what is Central Ukraine today, from the 15th to the 18th centuries. These in ...

, or army of the Zaporozhian Cossacks. The

Danubian Sich The Danubian Sich ( uk, Задунайська Сiч, translit=Zadunaiska Sich) was an organization of the part of former Zaporozhian Cossacks who settled in the territory of the Ottoman Empire (the Danube Delta, hence the name) after their pre ...

was the fortified settlement of those Zaporozhian Cossacks who later settled in the

Danube Delta The Danube Delta ( ro, Delta Dunării, ; uk, Дельта Дунаю, Deľta Dunaju, ) is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. The greater part of the Danube Delta lies i ...

Other transcriptions

* Sietch *

Jeremiah Curtin Jeremiah Curtin (6 September 1835 – 14 December 1906) was an American ethnographer, folklorist, and translator. Curtin had an abiding interest in languages and was conversant with several. From 1883 to 1891 he was employed by the Bureau of Ame ...

(1898) — Saitch *Samuel Binion (1898) - Sich *Beatrice Baskerville (1907) - Setch * Isabel Hepgood (1915) - Syech *

Harold Lamb Harold Albert Lamb (September 1, 1892 – April 9, 1962) was an American writer, novelist, historian, and screenwriter. In both his fiction and nonfiction work, Lamb gravitated toward subjects related to Asia and Middle East. Lamb was an advocat ...

(1917) - Siech *William Cresson (1919) - Sitch

List of sichs

Zaporozhian sichs: * (1556–1558) * (1564–1593) * (1593–1638) * (1639–1652) *

Chortomlyk Sich The Chortomlyk Sich (also Old Sich) is a Zaporozhian Sich state founded by the Cossacks led by kish otaman Fedir Lutay in the summer of 1652 on the right bank of the Chortomlyk distributary of the Dnieper near modern village of Kapulivka. The Si ...

(1652–1709) * (1709–1711; 1730–1734) * (1711–1728) *

Nova Sich Nova Sich or Pidpilnenska Sich ( uk, Нова Січ, lit=New Sich or uk, Підпільненська Січ, lit=Underground / Сlandestine Sich, label=none) was the administrative and military center of the Zaporozhian Cossacks in 1734–17 ...

(1734–1775) Danubian sichs: * Katerlez Sich * Seimen Sich * Dunavets Sich (1814–1828)

References

{{Wiktionary Kiev Voivodeship Zaporizhian Sich