Wild Fields

Wild Field

Map of the Wild Field in the 17 century

The Wild Field or the Wilderness (lat. Loca deserta, sive campi deserti inhabitati; Ukrainian: Дике Поле Dyke Pole, Polish: Dzikie pole, Russian: Дикое Поле) is a historical term used in the Polish–Lithuanian documents of the 16th and 18th centuries^[1] referring to forest steppes and steppes of the Black sea and Azov sea regions. The location of this geographic reference is somewhat ambiguous and usually defined between the Don River on the east, Kiev on the north, and the left tributaries of the Dniester on the west. The western part of the Wild Field was known as Dykra.

The region acquired this name after a long period of raids and fighting (between Tatars, Ruthenians, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Nogai, and the Crimean Khanate) that brought considerable devastation and depopulation to this area prior to the rise of the Zaporozhian Cossacks. The Wild Field was traversed by the Muravsky Trail, an important trade route and also a warpath used by the Crimean Tatars to make war against and pillage Muscovy.

The region was gradually settled by runaway peasants and serfs^{[citation needed]} who made up the core of the Cossackdom.^{[citation needed]} As soon as a process of colonization was afoot,^{[citation needed]} the term "Wild Fields" gave way to more specific designations,^{[citation needed]} such as Zaporizhia, Sloboda Ukraine, and (later still) Novorossiya.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ Camporum Desertorum vulgo Ukraina Polish–Lithuanian by Guillaume Beauplan, Cum Privilegio S.R.M. Poloniae. Gedani 1648; [1] Campi Deserti citra Boristhenem, abo Dzike Polie Polish–Lithuanian, by Ian Jansson, c. 1663, Amsterdam

External links

• Cossack era
• The Zaphorozian Cossacks
• Palatinatus Kioviensis Pars. Boristhenem alias Dzikie Pola. [2].by Joannis Janssonii. Amsterdam. 1663.