Ostap Dashkevych

19th century representation of Ostap Dashkevych

Eustachy or Ostap Dashkevych (Russian: Евстафий Дашкович, Ukrainian: Остап Дашкевич; b. ca. 1495 Ovruch - d. after 1535) was a commander of a Cossack defense force, approved by the Sejm. He held the position of starosta of Cherkasy (1514-1535) in the early stages of the development of the cossacks, and is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a hetman. Some sources as well as oral tradition claim that Dashkevych lived past the age of 80, at which he routed Tatars at Cherkasy.

Dashkevych was considered the highest authority in Lithuania on the Tatar question. His campaigns sometimes took him as far as the Crimea. However in 1515 and 1521, while in alliance with the Tatars, he organized campaigns against the Grand Duchy to assist Lithuania.

He took part in the 1507 uprising of Michael Glinski against King Zygmunt I the Old. In 1514, he became the starosta of both Kaniv and Cherkasy.

Dashkevych was an effective leader. He took a major role in not only organizing Cossack forces to defend Ukraine, but also in organizing offensive campaigns against the Turks and Tatars. In Piotrków in 1533, he gave his plan to the Sejm, recommending that the government of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth organize the Cossacks as a standing military force for the defense of Ukraine, which at the time made up the southern border of the Commonwealth. His plan was approved, but the Commonwealth provided no assistance. In the end, Dashkevych's efforts greatly aided the rise of the Cossacks.

In literature

Dashkevych's successful rout of the Crimean Tatars' attempt to sack Cherkasy is commemorated in Tomasz Padura's ballad "Duma Rycerska".

See also

• List of Ukrainian rulers
• Cossack Hetmanate

References

• Dmytro Doroshenko, A Survey of Ukrainian History, ed. Oleh Gerus (Winnipeg, 1975).
• Ostafii Dashkevych at Encyclopedia of Ukraine
• Subtelny, Orest (1988). Ukraine: A History (1st edition ed.). Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-8390-0. 
• Chirovsky, Nicholas L. (1984). An Introduction to Ukrainian History. Volume II: the Polish Domination and the Cossack-Hetman State. New York: Philosophical Library. ISBN 0-8022-2407-5. 

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