Ivan Sirko

Sotnik

Raids on Varna & Perekop

In 1620, Sirko held the rank of Sotnik, taking part in his first recorded campaign against the Ottomans. He led his detachment of Cossacks in a campaign against Varna, sacking it. Afterwards, he raided Crimean city of Perekop.

Battle of Khotyn 1621

In 1621, Ukrainian Cossack Hetman, Petro Sahaidachny gathered an army of Zaporozhian Cossacks against the Ottoman army that threatened the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, along with other regions. Sirko with his detachment took part in the Battle of Khotyn, inflicting heavy losses on Ottoman Janissaries.

Raid on Istanbul 1629

In 1629, Sirko took part in a raid on Istanbul organized by Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the future Ukrainian Cossack Hetman. Cossacks ravaged Turkish villages in vicinity of Istanbul and took large amount of loot during the raid.

Siege of Azov

In 1637, Sirko took part in the capture of Azov fortress by the Zaporozhian and Don Cossacks. Cossacks defeated the Ottoman Janissaries and captured the Azov fortress. Don Cossacks remained in Azov, while Zaporozhian Cossacks returned to the Sich with loot and captives.

Sirko later joined the Azov garrison which had 700 Zaporozhian Cossacks among them, which later grew to 1,000 Zaporozhians. Zaporozhian and Don Cossacks defended Azov from Ottoman attacks in 1641.

Colonel

Thirty Years' War

In 1644, Sirko appears in historical sources as Polkovnyk (Colonel) of Vinnytsia. Ukrainian and some French historians mention involvement of 2,000–2,500 Zaporozhian Cossacks led by Ivan Sirko during the Siege of Dunkirk in 1646.

Khmelnytsky Uprising

Sirko supported Bohdan Khmelnytsky during the uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and took an active part in it. He distinguished himself at the Battles of Zhovti Vody, Korsun, Pyliavtsi, Zboriv, Batih and Zhvanets.

Chortomlyk Sich

Sirko changed his political orientation several times. In 1654, he initially opposed the alliance with Moscow during the Pereyaslav Rada, departing to Chortomlyk Sich to protect the southern borders of Ukraine from Crimean-Nogai raids.

In 1655, Sirko launched a campaign into Crimea to thwart planned Tatar campaign into Ukraine. Together with the Don Cossacks, he captured Taman Peninsula, an important strategic point that controlled the Kerch Strait. Cossacks kept the Azov Sea locked for two months and the population in terror.

Kosh Otaman

Russo-Polish War

In 1659, he was elected as Kosh Otaman of the Zaporizhian Host, allying with Tsardom of Russia. Together with the Russian Prince Trubetski fought against the Crimean Khanate. In 1660, he launched a major campaign against the Ottoman fortresses of Ochakiv and Aslam-Kermen. He took large number of captives during both campaigns.

Career

Sirko has been elected by the Cossacks as Kosh Otaman 8 times. He was the first Cossack Otaman to ally with Kalmyks against Tatars. Sirko was respected by Kalmyks, stating they only wanted to participate in his campaigns. In October 1667, Sirko launched a campaign against the Crimean Khanate, during which he sacked Kaffa. He freed 2,000 Christian slaves, while taking thousands of Tatars as captives. This campaign caused so much panic in Crimea that Khan Adil Giray took refuge in Anatolia.

Despite his pro-Moscow orientation, he distrusted and hated pro-Russian Hetman Ivan Briukhovetsky, but at the same time married his son Roman to Briukhovetsky's daughter. In 1668, this rivalry even forced Ivan Sirko to switch sides again and briefly join Petro Doroshenko in his fight against "Muscovite boyars and Voivodes" during Left-Bank Uprising, where he notably fought the Russian Tsarist forces during his campaign, but in 1670, once again Sirko pledged loyalty to the Tsar. Sirko besieged Ochakiv and Ismail, capturing these Ottoman strongholds.

Sirko played an important role in Cossack campaigns and raids against the Crimean Khanate, Nogai Horde and Ottoman Empire. Sirko put emphasis on taking Turks, Tatars and other Muslim peoples as captives during Cossack campaigns and raids. Jews were also recorded to have been targeted by Cossack raids. Captives taken during their campaigns and raids could be used for ransom or sold into slavery to various states. Sirko's campaigns and raids were so problematic, that Sultan Mehmed IV issued a firman to the mosques to pray for the death of Ivan Sirko. Sirko's absence eased the pressure of the Turkish-Tatar aggression to such an extent that they felt permissive.

Russo-Turkish War

In 1673, Russian Tsar returned Sirko back to Ukraine, reportedly at the request of John III Sobieski and other European states concerned about the growing Ottoman threat. Sirko once again fought against Tatars and Turks. He captured the Arslan fortress, and for the second time captured Ochakiv. He sacked Tighina, massacring or enslaving all inhabitants. Same year, he launched a campaign against the Crimean Khanate, Nogai Horde and Ottoman Empire. Author of History of Ruthenians described his campaign in Crimea:

In 1674, when the rivers froze, Turkish-Tatar forces launched a campaign into Ukraine. The campaign was unsuccessful, Turkish-Tatar troops were forced to retreat after suffering heavy losses. Sirko wanted revenge for the attack, this inspired his Crimean campaign in 1675. During the campaign, he sacked the capital of the Crimean Khanate, Bakhchysarai. He freed 7,000 Christian slaves, while taking thousands of Tatars and Turks as captives. However, Sirko discovered that 3,000 of the freed Christian slaves wanted to go back to Crimea, a lot of whom actually converted to Islam, so he ordered their execution. After execution, Sirko is quoted to have said:

Despite Sirko's brutality during warfare and towards those he viewed as traitors; Tatars respected him for his fairness during the times of peace. Hetman Samoylovych complained to Otaman Sirko for allowing Tatar herds to graze on Cossack land. Ivan Sirko replied to Samoylovych:

In 1676, the Zaporozhian Cossacks defeated Ottoman army in a major battle, however, the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed IV still demanded that the Cossacks submit to Turkish rule. Cossacks led by Ivan Sirko replied in an uncharacteristic manner: they wrote a letter, replete with insults and profanities, which later became the subject of a painting by Ilya Repin. Doroshenko resigned and offered the Hetman's insignia to Sirko, which he accepted.

Sirko launched frequent attacks on Turkish-Tatar forces, which helped to halt Turkish-Tatar advance into Right-Bank Ukraine in 1678. Despite capturing Chyhyryn during the campaign, Turkish-Tatar forces were soon forced to abandon it, after being weakened by the fighting and constant raids of Ivan Sirko.

In 1679, he set out to "scare the entire Crimea". The brave men then devastated a number of settlements and reached as far as Bakhchiserai. The Khan apparently escaped to the mountains. Having freed many prisoners, the Cossacks returned with the loot to Zaporozhye. After a series of defeats suffered by the Turkish-Tatar forces against Zaporozhian Cossacks, Sirko with Cossacks sent a reply to Crimean Khan Murad Giray. They wrote:

Sirko repelled the second invasion of Sich of Turkish-Tatar army. Later, he fell ill and retired from Sich to the village of Hrushivka.

Burial

Sirko died at his estate Hrushivka (today Dnipro Raion, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast) on August 11 , 1680. Next day he was buried near the Chortomlyk Sich. In 1709 the Moscow Army totally destroyed the Sich and the grave of the Otaman Sirko was not fixed until 1734. The Cossacks replaced the broken cross with a memorial rock that has survived to the present, but they erroneously marked the date of his death as May 4. On November 1967, the Kakhovka Reservoir was threatening the Otaman Sirko's burial site, causing him to be reburied near the village of Kapulivka, Nikopol Raion, but without his skull. The journal Pamyatky Ukrainy (Attractions of Ukraine) responded to the calls in 1990 and after 23 years with the help of anthropologist Serhiy Seheda the remains of Ivan Sirko were returned to his native land.

Influences

Sirko's military career is legendary. According to Dmytro Yavornytsky, Sirko took part in 55 Cossack campaigns and never lost a battle. New sources reveal a larger number of campaigns in which Sirko was involved during his career, but so far, Sirko wasn't proven to have definitely lost any battle. Sirko's exploits gained the attention of Europe, with chroniclers such as Wespazjan Kochowski writing about him. Polish chronicler Wespazjan Kochowski characterised Sirko the following way:

Author of History of Ruthenians gave the following impression of Sirko:

Ukrainian assessment

Solemn opening of the monument to Ivan Sirko. August 23, 2017. Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Monuments were built to Ivan Sirko in Kharkiv, Merefa, Pokrov, and Torhovytsia. His image is displayed on Ukrainian currency and his name is tied with Pokrovske city. Sirko's reputation as undefeated, invincible Cossack leader made him a subject of Ukrainian folk legends. He's one of the most famous Kharakternyks of Ukrainian mythology. Cossacks and Tatars believed that Ivan Sirko knew in advance against who and where he was going to battle, allowing him to win. They also believed that during the battle he turned into a wolf or hawk, conjuring the enemy army. Adrian Kashchenko wrote about Sirko:

Sirko’s legacy was also met with controversy and criticism among some Ukrainian historians. Dmytro Doroshenko blamed Sirko for having "unprincipled politics", "demagogic tendencies" and even "absence of rational reasoning" in his actions. That is, blocking actions of Cossack Hetmans to form a Cossack state independent from Tsardom of Russia and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. History of Ruthenians gives an extreme assessment of Sirko: "Sirko was a remarkable man and of rare qualities as far as courage, discrimination, and military successes were concerned . . . and yet he was also a Zaporozhian, and therefore a species of clown or madman". However, Ivan Sirko remained an advocate of autonomous Cossack Ukraine, despite changing his political views many times. After a popular book, Iak kozaky voiuvaly ("How the Cossacks Fought") was published in 1990, Ivan Sirko began to be viewed in a more positive and idealistic image. According to this book: "the famed Cossack leader was a deeply religious man, an altruistic ascetic who almost never consumed alcohol and was known for his strength, valour, and high moral standards".

In 1979, Soviet dissident Valentyn Moroz made his first public appearance in New York, in a rally for defense of Soviet political prisoners and Ukrainian national rights. During the rally, he told his Ukrainian audience the tale of Otaman Sirko, who executed 3,000 freed captives who wanted to go back to Crimea after Sirko's Crimean campaign. Moroz believed the execution was justified, saying: "A true Ukrainian would not remain in the Crimea if given the chance to return to Ukraine."

In August 2019, the 92nd Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was renamed after Ivan Sirko by a decree of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russian and Soviet assessment

Sirko is credited as the co-author of the mocking reply to Ottoman Sultan, which created a basis for the painting that was important in shaping both Ukrainian and Russian nationalism.

Sirko's reply to Ottoman Sultan became extremely popular at the beginning of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878).

Other assessments

In 1966, when the President of France, Charles de Gaulle was visiting the Soviet Union, he personally requested to bring him to the burial location of Ivan Sirko. De Gaulle laid flowers to Sirko's monument in Kyiv and reportedly called him the "National Hero of France". On June 17, 2017, a commemorative plaque dedicated to Cossacks led by Ivan Sirko during the capture of Dunkirk was unveiled in presence of the Mayor of Dunkirk, Patrice Vergriete.

In 2011, David Bolgiano and James Patterson used Ivan Sirko’s reply to Ottoman Sultan in their book as an example of how Zaporozhian Cossacks dealt with "Islamists of the Ottoman Empire" in their clashes and underlined the strong use of language in the letter. This was used as an example to criticise the appeasement and soft approach of U.S. policy in Muslim countries.