Yesaul, osaul or osavul (russian: есау́л, translit=yesaul, uk, осаву́л, translit=osavul) (from Turkic yasaul - ''chief''), is a
post and a
rank in the Ukrainian
Cossack
The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
units.
The first records of the rank imply that it was introduced by
Stefan Batory,
King of Poland
Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16t ...
in 1576.
Cossacks in Russia
There were different yesaul posts and ranks in
Cossack Hosts in
Imperial Russia
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...
:
*Генеральный есаул (''generalny yesaul'') - General Yesaul
*Походный есаул (''pokhodny yesaul'') -
Campaign
Campaign or The Campaign may refer to:
Types of campaigns
* Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed
* Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme
* B ...
Yesaul
*Войсковой есаул (''voiskovoy yesaul'') -
Army Yesaul
*Полковой есаул (''polkovoy yesaul'') -
Regimental Yesaul
*Артиллерийский есаул (''artilleriysky yesaul'') -
Artillery Yesaul
*Сотенный есаул (''sotenny yesaul'') - Company Yesaul (commander of a
sotnia)
*Станичный есаул (''stanichny yesaul'') - Yesaul of a
stanitsa
Cossack Hetmanate and Sloboda Ukraine
In Ukraine of the 17th and 18th centuries, an osaul was a military and administrative official performing the duties of
aide-de-camp.
Encyclopedia of Ukraine
The head of state, hetman, would appoint up to two osauls known as a General Osaul. There also was a Regimental Osaul as well as Company Osaul, with each regular cossack regiment and company except artillery having two of each. Beside them there were osauls under special assignments, one of them serving for General Obozny (quartermaster) who performed duties of a chief executive and was the second in importance after the Hetman.
General Osaul
A senior officer of a Hetmanate cossack army who was a member of the general officer staff.
;Duties
*supervising army's condition
*leading large detachments (wartime)
*managing muster rolls
*directing the army engineers
*commanding mercenary troops
*sometimes serving as an acting hetman
Other duties consisted of being a hetman's envoy, supervised matters of internal security, conducted annual regimental musters and inspections. Among the notorious osauls were Petro Doroshenko, Demian Mnohohrishny
Demian Ignatovych (Mnohohrishny) ( uk, Дем'ян Многогрішний) (1621, Korop – 1703) was the Hetman of Left-bank Ukraine from 1669 to 1672. See The Ruin (Ukrainian history)
His surname literally means "of many sins".
In 1689 he pa ...
, Ivan Mazepa, and Ivan Skoropadsky.
From 1798 to 1800 after the liquidation of the Zaporizhian 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 ...
, the rank of osaul was equated with the ranks of rittmeister in cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
and captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
in infantry.
Regimental Osavul
Regimental Osavul ( uk, Полковий осавул) is an assistant Colonel in Military Affairs.
Sotenny Osavul
Sotenny Osavul ( uk, Сотенний осавул) is an assistant sotnik in Military Affairs.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Osaul at the encyclopedia of Ukraine
Military organization of Cossacks
Military ranks of Russia
Military ranks of Ukraine