Authors

Discussion

The spread of Khazar ancestry myth in the Hetmanate was influenced by Cossack chronicles of the 17th–18th centuries, which presented the medieval Khazars as ancestors of the Cossacks, and the broader Ukrainian/Little Rus’ people. These chronicles connected the Cossacks to Old Testament genealogy of nations and medieval past, including Rus’ heritage and myth of ancestral homeland. While the Khazar myth was prominent in the Hetmanate's historical narratives, it rarely appeared in official documents. However, it resurfaced in political discourse, particularly among political émigrés after Hetman Ivan Mazepa's defeat at the Battle of Poltava in 1709. The Khazar myth became instrumentalized within the broader historical and political context of 18th-century Ukraine. It provided the Cossacks with a prestigious and ancient lineage, reinforcing their claims to autonomy and historical significance. By aligning themselves with the Khazars, the Cossacks could emphasize their historical role as defenders of the frontier, resisting external domination independence, military strength, and long-standing presence in the region, which in turn legitimized their historical right to the lands they inhabited. The myth allowed them to assert a unique identity, one that was not entirely aligned with that of the Russian Empire or other neighboring powers. It provided an origin story that predates the rise of both Moscow and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, thus giving the Cossacks a sense of deeper historical legitimacy. The Khazar myth reflects broader European intellectual influences, trends that sought to enhance a people's historical prestige by tracing their lineage to prominent ancient civilizations, particularly from Renaissance-era ethnogenetic concepts like Sarmatism, which linked the Polish nobility (szlachta) with ancient Sarmatians, a semi-nomadic Iranian people mentioned by ancient historians. Thus, the myth served as both an intellectual reflection of European influences and a tool for political and ideological resistance in the Cossack Hetmanate also as a significant marker of Ukrainian proto-national identity in the early modern era.