Ostap Daschkewytsch

Ostap Daschkewytsch

Ostap Dashkevych ( Ukrainian Остап Дашкевич ., Wiss transliteration Ostap Daškevyč , polish Eustachy Daszkiewicz ; * to 1472 ; † 1535 in Ovruch ) was one of the first co-founder of Kosakentums in the Ukraine and Starost of Kaniv , Krychaw and Cherkassy . He stands in line with Przecław Lanckoroński and Bernhard von Prittwitz , the other pioneers of Ukrainian Cossackism. He came from a wealthy boyar family .

Life

Daschkewytsch was born in Ovrutsch around 1472. In his early 20s he enlisted in the Lithuanian army, where he later worked his way up to become a military leader. In 1515 Daschkewytsch left the Lithuanian army for unknown reasons and went to Cherkassy, ​​where he founded the Cherkas Cossack League. Many Cossacks joined him. In Cherkassy he defended the Ukrainian border against the Crimean Tatars . Over the course of many years he learned the sophisticated methods of attack of the Tatars, which later became very useful to him.

He joined the Crimean Tatar Khan Mehmed I. Giray , who had allied himself with the Polish-Lithuanian king in 1520 and went with him to war against the Grand Duchy of Moscow .

In 1523 he was captured by the Tatars. A few months later he managed to escape. In the same year he was able to work again. He successfully attacked the fortress of Ochakiv to free Ukrainian prisoners. In 1528 he went again to Otschakiv with Przecław Lanckoroński and was able to prevail against the Tatars again.

Daschkewytsch accomplished the most famous deed of his life in 1532. On the orders of Saadet I. Giray , the Tatar army attacked Cherkassy. Daschkewytsch and his troop of 1200 men defended the city's fortress for several months. Although the Tatars were clearly outnumbered, they could not take the fortress.

In 1533 Daschkewytsch proposed to the Polish-Lithuanian Grand Duke a solution for the surveillance of the southern border of the country. He wanted to set up a strong fortress with 2000 Cossacks in the south of Ukraine. The ideal location would have been the stone steps on the largest island in the Dnieper . Daschkewytsch's proposal, however, was disregarded.

Ostap Daschkewytsch died in 1533. It was not until 1552 that Dmytro Wyschneweckyj was able to implement his ideas .