Kizlyar Cossacks

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Origin and History

The earliest known records of Slavic settlements on the Lower Terek River date to 1520 when the Ryazan Principality was annexed by the Grand Duchy of Moscow and a lone group left and settled on the Terek River, at the mouth of the Aktash River. They rapidly expanded their settlements on both banks of the Terek River. These refugees from the Ryazan Principality formed the oldest Cossack group, the Mountain Cossacks.

From 1559 to 1571, the Russians built several fortifications in the region. In 1577, after the Volga Cossacks were defeated by the Strelets Ivan Murashkin, many scattered, some of whom settled in the Terek basin, marking the start of the Terek Cossacks.

Imperial Russia created several administrative subdivisions of Cossacks called Kozache Viysko (Cossack Host). These Hosts consisted of a certain territory with Cossack settlements that had to provide military regiments for service in the Imperial Russian Army and for border patrol. The stanitsa (village) formed the primary unit of this organization.

The Terek Cossack Host was created in 1577 from free Cossacks who had resettled from the Volga to the Terek River, a major river in the Northern Caucasus, flowing through Georgia and Russia into the Caspian Sea. Many of the early members of the Terek Cossacks were Ossetians.

In 1580, some Don Cossacks led by Shadra joined the Terek Cossack Host, settling in the frontier town of Tersky.

In the late XVIth century, the Terek Cossacks made several campaigns against the Ottoman Empire.

By the mid XVIIth century the Terek Cossacks again expanded into the Sunzha where they built a new outpost in 1651. However, in 1653, the tsar advised the Cossacks to pull down this outpost. In the 1670s the Terek Cossacks helped to defeat Stenka Razin in Astrakhan.

From 1695 to 1707, the Turks gradually destroyed the outposts of the Terek Cossacks on the right bank of the Terek.

In 1720, the Terek Cossacks were fully incorporated into the Russian Empire.

During the Russo-Persian War (1722-1723), the Terek Cossack Host took part in the conquest of Eastern Dagestan and in the capture of Derbent.

In 1735, the Agrakhan Cossack Host were incorporated into the Terek Cossack Host and re-settled on the Lower Terek Delta. The host was reorganised in 3 parts:

  1. Grebenskoye Cossacks (Rowers), from the descendants of the earliest Cossacks
  2. Tersko-Semeynoye (Terek-Family) from the re-settled Agrakhan Cossacks up to Kizlyar
  3. Tersko-Kizlyarskoye (Terek-Kizlyar) from the Agrakhan Cossacks as well as Armenians and Georgians

During the Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739), the Terek Cossacks, led by Atamans Auka and Petrov took part in a campaign against Temryuk at the mouth of the Kuban River.

The Terek Cossacks were eventually incorporated in the Kizlyar Cossacks.

According to Maslovskiy, in 1755 the Kizlyar Cossacks counted 498 men including the following commands:

  • Terek Cossacks (178 men)
  • Terek-family Cossacks (452 men)
  • Kizlyar squadron of Armenians and Georgians (112 men)


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Service during the War

In 1756, these Cossacks were stationed in their initial places along the Terek River. They did not participate in any campaign of the Seven Years' War.


Illustrations of Cossacks





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Maslovskiy, Dmitrij Fedorovich: Russkaia armija w siemieletnjuju wojnu, Vol. 1

Seaton, Albert: The Cossacks, Oxford: Osprey, 1972


Wikipedia - Terek Cossacks


Roman Shlygin for additional information on the Kizlyar Cossacks