Throughout the centuries-old history of the Russian state, not only representatives of the Russian people were involved in military service, but also people of other nationalities who inhabited the vast expanses of our country. Some of the alien warriors served in the regular army, but the majority formed irregular units that were considered Cossack or had a similar status. Such military formations, although they differed from the regular army, sometimes showed themselves very well in hostilities. The French and Germans were afraid of the unusual soldiers of the Russian army like fire - rumors about the fearless Bashkirs and Kalmyks, Turkmens and Caucasians circulated at that time throughout Europe.
Kalmyk army
At the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries. From the steppes of distant Dzungaria (now Western China), the Oirat tribes moved to the west - the Torgouts, Derbets, Khoshuts and many others, who were called Kalmyks in Russia. They mastered vast steppe territories from the Yaik River to the Don River and from the Samara River to the Terek River. Around 1609, the Oirats appeared on the Volga, where they gradually settled and formed the Kalmyk Khanate. The exact date of the Kalmyks' entry into Russian citizenship is still the subject of debate among historians. But it is known that in the first half of the 18th century the Kalmyk Khanate had already lost its formal independence. In 1724, the Kalmyk taishi Baksadai-Dorji was baptized, receiving the name Pyotr Taishin. Emperor Peter I personally bestowed upon him the title of prince and power over all baptized Kalmyks of the Volga steppes.
In 1738, the construction of the city of Stavropol on the Volga began, which was planned to be turned into the administrative center of the entire vast territory inhabited by Kalmyks. In the next year, 1739, the Stavropol Kalmyk army was founded - an irregular formation in the Russian service. By 1745, the army consisted of 8 companies, it had a military-administrative structure similar to the Cossacks - a military chieftain, a judge, a clerk, an office, and the courts were carried out according to the Kalmyk custom. By 1802, the army numbered 2830 Cossacks and 81 foremen, consisted of 11 companies, which put 800 Cossacks into service. From 1806 to 1815, the Stavropol Kalmyk army was part of the Kalmyk district of the Don Cossack army. In 1806, the Stavropol Kalmyk regiment was formed, which included 5 hundred Cossacks.
The Kalmyk regiment took an active part in the Patriotic War of 1812 and in the foreign campaigns of the Russian army in 1813-1814. The steppe warriors brought real terror to the French, demonstrating great courage and excellent military skills. In 1842, the Stavropol Kalmyk army was abolished, and the Kalmyks that were part of it were transferred to the Orenburg Cossack army.
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A large number of Kalmyks served in the Astrakhan and Don Cossack troops. The villages of the Salsk steppes, inhabited by Kalmyks, made up the Kalmyk district of the Don troops and sent Cossacks to participate in hostilities and military campaigns of the Russian army. During the Civil War, most of the Kalmyks - Cossacks fought on the side of the Whites. The 80th Dzungar (Zyungar) regiment was formed, staffed by Kalmyks, as well as the Kalmyk Stavropol cavalry regiment.
Bashkir-Meshcheryak army
Trying to attract to the service the warlike steppe peoples who lived on the periphery of the Russian state, the Russian tsars drew attention to the Bashkirs.
When in 1557 the Bashkirs finally accepted Russian citizenship, they retained the right to have their own armed formations, which they exhibited to participate in the campaigns and wars of Russia. On April 10 (21), 1798, the Bashkirs and Mishars were transferred to the rights of the military-service class. Their duties included carrying out the border service on the border with the Kyrgyz-Kaisak steppes. In 1798-1849, the Bashkirs put 5.5 thousand people on the Orenburg line every year. This service continued until the middle of the 19th century, when, as a result of the expansion of the empire, the state border shifted to the south and east.
In addition to the border service, the Bashkir-Meshcheryak army allocated fighters to participate in the campaigns of the Russian army. So, in the Patriotic War of 1812 and the foreign campaigns of 1813-1814. 28 Bashkir regiments took part. The Bashkirs took part in the Russian-Turkish war of 1828-1829, in the Khiva campaign of 1839-1840, in campaigns against the Kokand Khanate, in the Crimean War of 1853-1856.
On campaigns, the army equipped five hundred regiments, each of which included a regiment commander, a foreman, 5 esauls, 5 centurions, 5 cornet, quartermaster, regimental imam, 10 Pentecostals and ordinary Cossacks. It is noteworthy that the rule of the army was staffed with army officers, and the marching command - with Bashkir, Meshcheryak and Teptyar commanders who came from noble families. The army commander was appointed from among Russian generals or colonels. In 1855, the Bashkir-Meshcheryak army was renamed the Bashkir army, and in 1863, due to a change in borders, the army ceased to exist.
Buryat Cossacks
In the 18th century, representatives of the Buryat clans living in Transbaikalia began to carry out border service on the distant eastern borders of the Russian Empire. It is known that the first Buryat detachments guarding the Russian border appeared in 1727-1728, and in 1764, at the suggestion of the Buryat elders, 4 Buryat Cossack regiments of six hundred were formed. Each regiment bore the name of those clans whose representatives formed its basis - the regiment of Atagans, Ashibagats, Sartulov and Tsongols. Although only volunteers were recruited into the regiments, there was no end to those wishing to become Cossacks. The fact is that the servicemen of these regiments were exempted from paying yasak. Soon the regiments received Cossack privileges, but the service became mandatory. Unlike the Don and other Russian Cossacks, the Buryats served in shifts - they did not live on the border, but guarded it for a year,then they returned home for three years, and then again entered the service for a year.
The tsarist government took the Buryat Cossacks very seriously. In 1833, a Russian-Mongolian military school was opened in Troitskasavsk to teach Russian and Mongolian literacy to the Cossack and petty officers of the four Buryat regiments. The school lasted until 1888.
In 1851, the Trans-Baikal Cossack army was formed, into which the Buryat regiments joined, having lost the status of independent formations. Already as part of the Trans-Baikal Cossacks, Buryat Cossacks fought in the Crimean War in 1853-1856, took part in the Amur campaign, in an expedition to China in 1900 to suppress the “Boxer uprising”. The Russo-Japanese War became a big test for the Buryat Cossacks, and during the First World War they fought as part of the 1st Trans-Baikal Cossack Division, which fought in the Galician and Polish directions. Ayur Sakiev became a full Knight of St. George.
During the Civil War, part of the Buryat Cossacks joined the formation of Baron Ungern and Ataman Semyonov, another part took the side of the Reds and participated in the establishment of Soviet power in Transbaikalia. Currently, the Buryat Cossacks have been restored, most of the Buryat Cossacks belong to the 1st department of the Trans-Baikal Cossack army.
Dagestan cavalry regiment
The expansion of the Russian Empire in the Caucasus met with a double attitude from the local population. Some Caucasians resisted Russia to the last, others quite willingly went to the tsarist service. In 1842 two hundred “Dagestan horsemen” were formed, and in 1850 the number of horsemen was increased and four hundred were formed.
On December 16, 1851, Emperor Nicholas I signed a decree on the creation of the Dagestan Cavalry Irregular Regiment. This armed formation took the most active part in the Caucasian War. The regiment was recruited from representatives of the peoples of Dagestan, but at first it was commanded by immigrants from the Christian peoples of the Caucasus and Transcaucasia - Major Mikhail Dzhemardzhidze, Colonel Zakhary Chavchavadze, Colonel Prince Ilya Chelokaev (Cholokashvili). Then came the regimental commanders - Mohammedans - Colonel Naimatulla Gaidarov (Azerbaijani), Colonel Inal Kusov (Ossetian), Colonel Huseyn-khan Nakhichevan (Azerbaijani), Colonel Safarbek Malsagov (Ingush).
Since 1865, the regiment carried out guard duty in the Dagestan region, at the same time providing personnel for participation in various campaigns of the Russian army. Dagestan horsemen took part in the Mangyshlak campaign, the Khiva campaign, and the Akhal-Tekin expedition. In 1894, the Dagestan Cavalry Irregular Regiment was renamed the Dagestan Cavalry Regiment and included in the regular Russian army. From 1894 to 1904 in its status and character of organization and service, it was close to the Cossack regiments of the Russian army, and in 1904 it was included in the regular cavalry and equated to the dragoon regiments. During the Russo-Japanese War, on the basis of the regiment's personnel, the formation of the 2nd Dagestan Cavalry Regiment began, which, together with the Terek-Kuban Cavalry Regiment, made up the Caucasian Cavalry Brigade, directed to the Far East.
Tekinsky cavalry regiment
After the conquest of the Central Asian coast of the Caspian Sea, the Russian Empire decided to turn the militancy of the Turkmen tribes living in this region to serve its interests. In 1885, the Turkmen Horse Militia was established - an irregular formation, which was staffed by Turkmens. In 1892, the Turkmen militia was transformed into the Turkmen cavalry irregular division, which consisted of two hundred horsemen. For nine years, from 1899 to 1908, the battalion was commanded by the captain (then lieutenant colonel and colonel) Malakhiy Margania, whom the Turkmen politely called Mergen-aga.
In 1911, the division was renamed the Turkmen Cavalry Division, and on July 29, 1914, the Turkmen Cavalry Regiment was deployed at its base. This formation was staffed with volunteers and was created at the expense of the Turkmen population of the Trans-Caspian region. The regiment included four squadrons and was part of the Trans-Caspian Cossack brigade. In the fall of 1914, Turkmen horsemen took part in battles against German troops. The Germans were afraid of the fearless horsemen of the Central Asian deserts. In the regiment, which consisted of 627 horsemen, 67 people, that is, more than every tenth, received St. George's crosses in the first two months of the war. The Turkmen cavalry became a real nightmare for the enemy and pride for their command.
On March 31, 1916, the emperor renamed the Turkmen Cavalry Regiment into the Tekinsky Cavalry Regiment. Thus, it was emphasized that the majority of the regiment's personnel consisted of the Tekins of Akhal and Merv, representatives of the most militant Turkmen tribe. However, despite the fact that the personnel of the regiment were mainly Turkmen, Russian officers were in command of the regiment. So, the regiment began to participate in the First World War under the command of Colonel Semyon Drozdovsky, who was then replaced by Colonel Sergei Zykov, and then Colonel Baron Nikolai von Kugelgen. Nevertheless, the Turkmen division, and then the regiment, became a real military school for young representatives of the Tekin nobility who wanted to become Russian officers.
All the variety of unusual units of the Russian imperial army and irregular troops in the 18th - early 20th centuries does not boil down to these formations. At different times in the service of Russia were the Albanian army, staffed by Greeks and Arnauts (Orthodox Albanians), the Volosh hussar regiment, the Azerbaijani Kangerlinsky horse militia, Kabardin, Ossetian, Tatar, Chechen, Ingush, Crimean Tatar units. During the First World War, there was a project to create the Euphrates Cossack army, which was proposed to be recruited from Christians - Armenians and Assyrians, as well as Yezidis of the Middle East.
All these formations, regardless of the nationality of the people who served in them, made a huge contribution to the defense of the Russian Empire and to the development of new territories. Military service was also of great cultural and civilizational significance, contributing to the consolidation of different peoples and ethnic groups living on the territory of Russia, their awareness of themselves as a single supranational imperial community.
Ilya Polonsky
