One thing is unclear - how such tribes as Khakas, Tanaits, Alans-Ases, Kaisaks, considered to be the progenitors of the described class, could adopt Russian culture, traditions and customs, thereby becoming de facto Slavs. To argue about who the Cossacks, you can endlessly. There is also such a point of view that the North Caucasus has always been the birthplace of "Cossacks". Other scholars, answering the question of who the Cossacks are, suggest that they are descendants of the Black Sea and Azov tribes who have tied themselves with kinship and formed a unique nationality. Some experts claim that the above-mentioned class was formed among the nomadic peoples of the Indo-Iranian race who left the territory of the eastern part of Lake Baikal and went to live on the coast of the Angara River. The majority of Russian historians, when asked about who the Cossacks are, declare that this is an integral component of the Slavic nation, its particular branch. The French Ambassador Guillaume de Rubruk, as far back as 1253, went to the Mongols and saw the Don Cossacks. Not everyone knows who the Cossacks are, and when they even formed as a class.įor the first time they are mentioned in the XIII century. Hot discussions about the relative origin of the word do not stop until now. The word "Cossack" in translation from the Turkic language means "free man." This definition most accurately reflects the meaning of the concept, although different peoples have their own interpretation of its meaning.