While the first known mention of Zalishchyky is traced back to 1340, the village had already existed for some time, and given its proximity to a number of other prehistoric settlements, probably dates back to the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture of late Paleolithic antiquity. The 'original' Zalishchyky was actually founded in the area just outside of the modern town's borders, on the land that is now the Ukrainian village of Dobrivlyany (which existed as a subdivision of the modern city between 1981-1986). In 1469, this village was a peasant farming community under the name Zalissia (Залісся) and later Zalishche (Залісще) in the 15th century. In 1569, Zalishchyky was assigned to the Podolian Voivodship, an administrative unit of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, to which the town became a seat for their county in 1774. In 1578, the village officially adopted the name "Zalishchyky". In 1594, Stanisław Żółkiewski raised an army in Zalishchyky and defended the locale from a Tartar invasion. In 1669, the village was completely destroyed by Turk invaders, and the survivors were almost wiped out under the rule of the sultan Mehmed IV during the better part of the Second Polish–Ottoman War. In 1750, at the invitation of Prince Stanisław Poniatowski, Saxon weavers of Silesian cloth settled on part of an historically older portion of Zalishchyky, and named it Hinterwälden. The establishment marked Zalishchyky's transition from a village to a true town. Hinterwälden still survives today, and is now known as "Old Zalishchyky". In 1766, Zalishchyky received the right to self-governance under the Magdeburg Law. The new town's seal read, "Sigillum civitatis (Za)leszczyki". The 1772 census lists 159 Jewish families of varying professions dwelling in Zalishchyky. Between 1772 and 1918 Zalishchyky was ruled by the Austrian states of the Habsburg Monarchy, Austrian Empire, and finally Austria-Hungary, though between 1809–1816 it was under control of the Russian Empire.