Editing Ataman

{{Short description|Cossack and haydamak leadership title}}
{{cleanup language|date=April 2025}}
{{for multi|the surname|Ataman (surname)|the town in Syria|Ataman, Syria}}
{{Cossacks}}
[[File:Krasnoshchekov Fedor Ivanovich.jpg|right|thumb|262px|Ivan Matveevich Krasnoshchekov, Ataman of the [[Don Cossacks]]. Portrait is from 1761. The term Ataman is a theme of various Russian folk songs ({{YouTube|KlWDQLn0qcM|Watch Russian folk song where Ataman is the theme of the song}})]]
'''Ataman''' (variants: ''otaman'',<ref>[http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages\O\T\Otaman.htm "Otaman" in ''The Encyclopedia of Ukraine''] {{in lang|en}}</ref> ''wataman'', ''vataman''; {{langx|ru|атаман|ataman}}; {{langx|uk|отаман|otaman}}) was a title of [[Cossack]] and [[haidamak]] leaders of various kinds. In the [[Russian Empire]], the term was the official title of the supreme military commanders of the Cossack armies. The Ukrainian version of the same word is ''[[hetman]]''. ''Otaman'' in Ukrainian Cossack forces was a position of a lower rank.<!-- It had a [[derogatory]] suggestion and was also used for the leader of a [[fisherman]] ''[[artel]]'', a band of [[robber]]s or [[thieves]], or  leaders of the opposition forces.-->

==Etymology==
The etymologies of the words ''ataman'' and ''[[hetman]]'' are disputed. There may be several independent Germanic and Turkic origins for seemingly cognate forms of the words, all referring to the same concept. The ''hetman'' form cognates with German ''[[Hauptmann]]'' ('captain', literally 'head-man') by the way of [[Czech language|Czech]] or [[Polish language|Polish]], like several other titles. The Russian term ''ataman'' is probably connected to [[Old East Slavic]] ''vatamanŭ,'' and cognates with Turkic ''odoman'' ([[Ottoman Turks]]). The term ''ataman'' may have also had a lingual interaction with Polish ''hetman'' and German ''hauptmann''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yourdictionary.com/ataman|title=ataman |website=YourDictionary|access-date=2019-07-17}}</ref>

Suggestions have been made that the word might be of Turkic origin, literally meaning 'father of horsemen'<ref>{{cite news |title=The Cossacks: A super-ethnos in Russia's ribs |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=December 21, 1996}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.cossackweb.narod.ru/cossacks/ataman.htm |title=Ataman |work=Cossackweb.narod.ru |access-date=July 6, 2012}}</ref> or 'father of men', 'pure blooded father,' or 'eldest man,' considering the '-man' suffix in turkic languages means men, person, pure-blooded, or most.<ref>{{cite book|last=Clark |first=Larry|title=Turkmen Reference Grammar|publisher=Harrassowitz  |year=1996|page=4|isbn=9783447040198|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RMe7KpwS3KsC&dq=Turkmen+etymology&pg=PA4}},{{cite book|last=Annanepesov |first=M. |chapter=The Turkmens |title=History of civilizations of Central Asia |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1999 |editor-last=Dani |editor-first1=Ahmad Hasan |page=127|isbn=9789231038761 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzG5llo3YCMC&dq=Turkmen+etymology&pg=PA127}},{{cite book|last=Golden |first=Peter |title=An introduction to the history of the Turkic peoples : ethnogenesis and state-formation in the medieval and early modern Eurasia and the Middle East |publisher=Harrassowitz |year=1992 |pages=213–214}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RMe7KpwS3KsC&dq=Turkmen+etymology&pg=PA4|title=Turkmen Reference Grammar|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|year=1998|isbn=9783447040198}}</ref> Dictionaries assert that the word comes from the [[German language|German]] word {{'}}''Hauptmann''{{'}} which means 'head man', 'headman' or 'chieftain', which entered the [[Russian language]] through [[Polish language|Polish]] {{'}}''hetman''{{'}}.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ataman|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/ataman|url-status=live|website=[[Collins English Dictionary]]|quote=from Russian, from Polish hetman, from German Hauptmann (literally: head man)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607070607/http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/ataman |archive-date=2012-06-07 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=ataman|url=https://www.definitions.net/definition/ataman|url-status=live|access-date=|website=Definitions.net|quote=Etymology: [Russ. ataman': cf. Pol. hetman, G. hauptmann headman, chieftain. Cf. Hetman.]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629013737/http://www.definitions.net/definition/ataman |archive-date=2012-06-29 }}</ref> {{Crossref|See also {{section link|Hetman#Etymology}}.}}

==Otaman in Ukraine==
''Otamans'' were usually elected by the Host Council or could have been appointed, especially during the military campaigns. The appointed otamans were called 'acting otaman' ({{lang|uk|наказний отаман}}, {{lang|uk-Latn|nakaznyi otaman}}).

In the [[Cossack Hetmanate]], leaders of non-Cossack military units ([[artillery]], etc.) were also called ''otamans''. In the Cossack Hetmanate, the title was used for the administrative purposes, such as the head of the city, [[Grad (Slavic settlement)|City]] Otaman (городовий отаман). Later such administrative uses were adopted by the [[Kuban Cossacks]] and were common in [[Kuban Oblast]] with different variations.

There were various types of otaman:
*[[Cossack host|Army]] otaman ({{lang|uk|військовий отаман}}), an executive officer in the [[Zaporizhian Host]]
*Campaign otaman ({{lang|uk|похідний отаман}})
*[[Kish otaman]] ({{lang|uk|кошовий отаман}})
*[[Kurin]] otaman ({{lang|uk|курінний отаман}}), a commander of a {{lang|uk-Latn|[[kurin]]}};
*''[[Sotnia|Sotennyi]] otoman'' ({{lang|uk|сотенний отаман}}) and [[Grad (Slavic settlement)|city]] otaman ({{lang|uk|городовий Отаман}}) were the {{lang|uk-Latn|[[sotnyk]]}}'s lieutenants. Those titles were introduced during the [[Cossack Hetmanate|Hetmanate]] in the 17th century. Together with the {{lang|uk-Latn|[[osaul]]}} ({{lang|uk|осавул}}, 'aide-de-camp') and {{lang|uk-Latn|[[chorąży]]}} ({{lang|uk|хорунжий}}, 'flag-bearer'), this otoman helped the {{lang|uk-Latn|sotnyk}} in administrative affairs.
*Village otoman ({{lang|uk|сільський отаман}}), an administrative rank in the 17th to 18th centuries
*[[Okrug|Okruh]] otaman ({{lang|uk|окружний отаман}}), a territorial leader
*[[Stanytsia]] otaman ({{lang|uk|станичний отаман}}), a territorial leader
*[[Khutir]] otaman ({{lang|uk|хутірський отаман}}), a territorial leader

Otamans were also in charge of general- and regimental-size artillery units, as well as any volunteer military formations and the Zholdak cavalry.

== 20th century to present ==
{{see|Village otaman}}
''Atamans'' were the titles of supreme leaders of various Cossack armies during the [[Russian Civil War]].

When Ukraine acquired its independence in 1918, the rank took on different value. Among the [[Ukrainian Sich Riflemen]] and the [[Ukrainian Galician Army]], it was equivalent to a major, as is the battalion executive officer today. In the [[Ukrainian People's Republic]], the title was of a general rank. ''Chief Otaman'' (головний отаман) was the general of the Ukrainian Army who was assisted by his deputies, Acting Otamans.

The head of the army of the [[Ukrainian People's Republic]], in particular, [[Symon Petliura]], was called ''Supreme Otaman'' (головний отаман).

Russian-Azerbaijani MMA fighter [[Rafael Fiziev]] fights with the nickname "Ataman" as a homage to his mixed Central Asian heritage.

==See also==
* [[Harambaša]]
* [[Voivode]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/default.asp Encyclopedia of Ukraine main page] {{in lang|en}}

[[Category:Military organization of Cossacks]]
[[Category:Military ranks of Russia]]
[[Category:Military ranks of Ukraine]]
[[Category:Positions of subnational authority]]
[[Category:Atamans|*]]
[[Category:History of the Cossacks]]