In modern Ukraine, as a new democratic state is being formed amidst fierce battles despite the clumsy attempts of the Russian Federation to restore its empire in our territories, the question of forming national self-awareness arises more and more often. An important part of this process is the theme of cossackdom, which for centuries existed as a unique phenomenon born from the Ukrainian people, a unique community of people united by the struggle for freedom.
One of the most vivid centers of such community at the end of the XVIII century was the Host of Loyal Cossacks (Black Sea Cossack Host), which showed examples of heroism and courage, helping Ukrainians realize themselves as brave victors who pave their own path to the future.
During their brief stay in the Bug-Dniester interfluve, the cossacks of the Black Sea Host, as heirs of the Zaporozhian Host, not only took part in battles on the territory between the Southern Bug and the Dniester rivers but also became
active and direct participants in its colonization and economic development.
The object of the research is the Black Sea Host during its stay in the BugDniester interfluve at the end of the XVIII century. The subject of the research is the historical conditions of emergence; military, social, and economic aspects of the functioning of the Black Sea Host; the life system of the host and colonization processes in the Bug-Dniester interfluve.
The object and subject determine the purpose of the study, the objective and comprehensive reconstruction of the eventful part of the life of the Black Sea Host in military and economic terms during its stay in the Bug-Dniester interfluve at the end of the XVIII century, taking into account achievements, losses, and present
prospects: to highlight the features of formation and numerical composition, determine its place and role in military actions during the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1791s, colonization, and economic development of the southern Ukrainian region.
The chronological boundaries of the work cover December 1787 - 1800s. The lower boundary is determined by the transition of Ukrainian Cossacks from Prohnoyiv (Prohnoyivska Palanka) to Vasylkiv tract at the mouth of the Dnipro
river, where they established a military Kish (Vasylkiv Sich) and the election of Sydir Bily as the Kosh ataman, which marked the formation of the Black Sea Host on the territories included in the dissertation work. The upper boundary is determined by the integration of Cossacks of the Black Sea Host who remained in the Bug-Dniester interfluve after the majority of Black Sea Cossacks resettled to Kuban, into urban and rural estates.
The territorial boundaries are determined by the land granted to the Black Sea Host in the Bug-Dniester interfluve and on the Kinburn side, covering the modern territory of Odesa (Bereziv, Bilhorod-Dnistrov, and Odesa districts),Mykolaiv
(Bashtan Voznesensk, and Mykolaiv districts), Kherson (Skadovsk and Kherson districts), Zaporizhzhia (Pologivsk district) regions, and part of Moldova (Left bank of the Dniester).
The scientific novelty of the obtained results is determined by the comprehensive study of the history of the Black Sea Host during its stay in the Bug-Dniester interfluve.
For the first time, documents from the State аrchives of Odesa and Kherson regions have been processed and published, which highlight the peculiarities of the formation of the Host of loyal cossacks (Black Sea Cossack Host) and the settlement of its cossacks in the Bug-Dniester interfluve; the reasons for changes in the numerical strength of the irregular formation, its sources of replenishment have been considered; the duties of the senior corps of the Black Sea Host have been clarified; based on archival materials and historical literature of the XIX century, a
list of Cossack settlements that existed within the military territory in 1790-1792s has been compiled, the location of settlements and the occupations of the Black Sea Cossacks living in them have been described; a map of Cossack settlements by palankas has been created and their placement on the map of Ukraine has been identified.
