The Yaik (Ural) cossack host in the 17th and first quarter of the XVIII century: ethno-social composition and migration processes (based on the 1632 and 1723–1724 census data)

Based on an analysis of the 1632 Yaik Cossack lists and Colonel I. Zakharov's 1723–1724 census, this study aims to comprehensively examine the formation, ethnosocial composition, and migration dynamics of the Yaik (Ural) Cossack Host from the 17th to the first quarter of the 18th centuries. This work addresses the challenges of determining the geographic and chronological parameters of migration, identifying the ethnic and class composition of the host, analyzing its relationship with the state, and refuting the established theory of its Don origins. The methodological basis is formed by historical- genetic, comparative-historical, and statistical methods, as well as source study and anthroponymic analysis. Key findings based on quantitative data refute the thesis that the Yaik Cossacks launched Don offensives: the overwhelming majority of settlers (over 85% according to the 1632 lists and over 97 % according to Zakharov's census) arrived in the region from the Volga basin. The ethnosocial composition of the host, reconstructed from the 1723–1724 census, turned out to be diverse: the backbone was made up of former Russian peasants (about 65 %), while a significant proportion was made up of representatives of non-Russian peoples (Tatars, Bashkirs, Kalmyks, etc.) The conclusions note that the Yaik host went through a difficult path from a free community to a structured military corporation, under the influence of external threats and the internal politics of the state.