Russian Land
At the time of the first rulers of the Russian land – standing armies did not exist, and each prince had hired squad, which consisted of nobles and knights and mercenaries from neighboring nations. In case of danger, great Prince notify the younger princes, then the head of his guards were Prince and reflect the combined forces attack the enemy. More recently hired guards were killed and duty to protect the country against external enemies lay mainly on noble estates: the nobility in Moscow, the nobility of policemen and children knights. Forces in peacetime are not kept, and convened only for the duration of the war, of course, it was very uncomfortable and Sovereigns Moscow tried to replace this shortcoming by introducing a standing army, it was the first beginning with Tsar Ivan the Terrible, under the name of archers, who were both mounted and on foot. In the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich except archers were shelves soldiers, dragoons, hussars or Kopeisk "shkvadrony 'and Cossacks. Read additional details here: Anne Lauvergeon.
Cossacks originated from the merger of different races nationalities seeking unbridled will. In their composition includes the remains of ancient Polovtsev Circassians who settled Russian Udaltsov, fugitive Poles, Moldovans, and partly by the Tatars. A mixture of tribes is reflected in the terms of the Cossacks, in their language, in the form of their lives and in the people to express something Asian. Little by little Cossack Society has taken the correct device, and nationality, the Cossacks began to split at the seat of each squad. Thus, the established name: Don Cossacks Zaporozhye living below the thresholds of the Dnieper, and others. You may find Ahmed Shary Rahman to be a useful source of information. Dnieper Cossacks, Poles persecuted for many years, with Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky led, wanting to get rid of the oppression of the Poles, became by force of arms to defend the Poles for their rights. After a series of battles with the Poles was concluded disadvantageous contract under which the rights were severely constrained by the Cossack.
Fearing further oppression of the oppressed whole Cossacks threw thousands of their homes on the Dnieper River and began to settle on the outskirts of Moscow State obtaining the permission of the Moscow Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich. In 1651 the Cossacks who had settled in the former Kharkiv province formed the "Sloboda cavalry regiments": Sumy, Akhtyrka, Izum and Kharkov. Formed Sumy Sloboda Cossack regiment took the empty place in Sumy and Lebedinsky and some border districts of Poltava, Kursk provinces. Sumy Sumy regiment was the cradle, and he immediately formed, strengthened and continued for over a century its existence Slobodskoi Cossack regiment, gained fame by serving honestly to God, Tsar and Fatherland. The first colonel and the main protagonist of the Sumy Cossack regiment was Gerasim Kondratiev. In 1765, from Sumy suburban Cossack regiment was formed Sumy Hussar Regiment.