07 September 2003, 20:12
Azov sitting
Heroic defense of Azov by Don Cossacks in 1637-42, one of the most striking events in the entire world military history. Azov, a powerful Turkish fortress with a 4,000 garrison and 200 cannons, served as a base for the Crimean and Nogai Tatars to carry out devastating raids on the Russian South. At the same time, it prevented the Cossacks from carrying out similar raids on Turkish and Crimean-Tatar possessions. Azov also hosted a slave market, one of the largest in the area.
In summer 1637, an alliance of Don Cossacks with a squadron of Dnieper Cossacks made use of infighting in the Crimea and despite Turkish Ambassador Thomas Kantakuzen's intrigues, took Azov after a rather brief siege, destroyed the garrison, freed several hundreds of Russian captives, and then held it for five years.
A huge Turkish-Tatar army laid siege to Azov in early June 1641. Yet the Don Cossacks (c. 5,500 of them, including 800 women) showed exceptional fortitude and skill in its defense, repelling the enemy's multiple assaults. With heavy casualties inflicted on them, the Turks were forced to raise the siege in late September. The fortress defended, the Cossacks suggested the Russian government placing Azov under its rule.
It called a Zemsky Sobor (national council; serfs, as a rule, did not take part in them - trans.) on the issue (1642); part of the delegates supported the Cossacks' proposal. However, the Sobor decided to reject Azov for the avoidance of war with Turkey and suggested the Cossacks to leave it. In summer 1642, the Cossacks left Azov razing its works. The heroic defense of Azov was reflected in tales of the XVII cent. Azov siege sitting.
