Service class people of Siberia: Cossacks of the "Lithuanian List"

This paper presents a review of the category of service class people of Siberia which is named "Cossacks of the Lithuanian List". The author's point of view on the concept of the origin of this definition is also presented along with defining the time period for this phenomenon. The original differences among the "Cossacks of the Lithuanian List" and other semantically similar definitions such as "Lithuania", "Litvins" and horse Cossacks. The main activity areas of the "Cossacks of the Lithuanian List" are highlighted. Their role in the development of Siberia is shown and emphasized. Also the issue of emergence of foreign troops in the service class people of Russia is discussed. As a part of military men a prominent place in Siberia belonged to the foreign contingent. Originally foreigners appeared under the title: "Lithuania", "Litvin", "Poles", "Circassians", "German", "Lithuanian List" Cossacks. Cossacks of the "Lithuanian List " entered the structure of the service class of Siberia, making a separate servitor rank following the boyar children and scribes in the service class hierarchy. This category opened the Cossack ranks in Siberia. This phenomenon existed in the 17th -early 18th centuries. Early papers on the history of Siberia leveled "Lithuania", "Litvin", "Poles","Circassians", "German", "Lithuanian List" Cossacks, yet noted differences between them, as well as between the Cossacks of the "Lithuanian List" and mounted Cossacks. Analyzing the sources, surnames of people from these categories, it can be concluded that in most cases the use of terms denoting foreign contingent in documents came from the Russian understanding of their origin. According to the documents the Cossacks of the "Lithuanian List", along with servicemen Yurt Tatars, were sent to perform the most complex military operations, so they had special military experience, which can be traced in the fact that this category of servicemen was replenished by people with distinctive military knowledge. The author suggests that the Cossacks of the "Lithuanian List" initially and until the middle of the 17th century were those prisoners of war, or volunteers for the Russian service, who were the so-called Registered Cossacks on the territory of the Polish- Lithuanian state. The Cossacks of the "Lithuanian List" played an important role in the history of Siberia, performed the most complicated outer service. They became the founders of the Siberian servitor dynasties, were more often promoted, referred to the senior official hierarchy in Siberia - the boyar children, the ancestors of most of the Siberian nobles. The foreign contingent participated in the colonization and development of the region, establishing a system of management of the territory, with time they became part of the region's population.

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