Semen Paliy

Who was Semen Paliy?

Semen Paliy was a Ukrainian Cossack polkovnyk. Born in Chernihiv region, Paliy settled in Zaporizhian Sich at a very young age and gained fame as a brave fighter and Zaporozhian Cossack.

In 1685 Paliy moved to the right-bank Ukraine and joined the service of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth king Jan Sobieski. During his years in Polish service, Paliy proved himself as an able Cossack commander in wars against Crimean Tatars and Ottoman Turks. Among other military deeds his men successfully raided the Turkish fortress of Ochakov. He became the ataman of the right-bank Ukraine, still under Polish control.

In the 1690s Semen Paliy, however, became wary of Polish overlordship of Ukraine and sent several requests to Moscow asking the Russians to help him free right-bank Ukraine from Poland.

In 1699 a new Polish king Augustus II disbanded the Cossack militia and signed a peace treaty with Ottoman Turkey. Cossacks were angered by this situation, and in 1702 Paliy started an open rebellion against the crown, the last of the major Cossack uprisings against the Commonwealth.