A sich (),
was an administrative and military centre of the
Zaporozhian Cossacks
The Zaporozhian Cossacks (in Latin ''Cossacorum Zaporoviensis''), also known as the Zaporozhian Cossack Army or the Zaporozhian Host (), were Cossacks who lived beyond (that is, downstream from) the Dnieper Rapids. Along with Registered Cossa ...
. 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 (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...
with the trees that have been chopped down.
The
Zaporozhian Sich
The Zaporozhian Sich (, , ; also ) was a semi-autonomous polity and proto-state of Zaporozhian Cossacks that existed between the 16th to 18th centuries, for the latter part of that period as an autonomous stratocratic state within the Cossa ...
was the fortified capital of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, located on the
Dnieper
The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called 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. Approximately long, with ...
, in the 16th–18th centuries in the area of what is now
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
. The
Sich Rada
The Sich Council () was the highest branch of government of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, and based at their center, the Zaporizhian Sich. It was also called . The Rada, a type of governing committee but with participation from the cossack members, ...
was the highest organ of government in the
Zaporozhian Host
The Zaporozhian Host (), or Zaporozhian Sich () is a term for a military force inhabiting or originating from Zaporizhzhia, the territory in what is Southern and Central Ukraine today, beyond the rapids of the Dnieper River, from the 15th to th ...
, or army of the Zaporozhian Cossacks. The
Danubian Sich
The Danubian 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 previous host was disbanded and the Zaporozhian Sich was des ...
was the fortified settlement of those Zaporozhian Cossacks who later settled in the
Danube Delta
The Danube Delta (, ; , ) is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. Occurring where the Danube, Danube River empties into the Black Sea, most of the Danube Delta lies in Romania ...
.
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 the Middle East.
Lamb was an advo ...
(1917) - Siech
*William Cresson (1919) - Sitch
List of sichs
Zaporozhian sichs:
* (1556–1558)
* (1564–1593)
* (1593–1638)
* (1639–1652)
*
Chortomlyk Sich (1652–1709)
* (1709–1711; 1730–1734)
* (1711–1728)
*
Nova Sich (1734–1775)
Danubian sichs:
* Katerlez Sich
* Seimen Sich
* Dunavets Sich (1814–1828)
References
{{Wiktionary
Kiev Voivodeship
Zaporizhian Sich