View source for Bohdan Khmelnytsky

{{Short description|Hetman of Zaporozhian Cossacks}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2019}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Bohdan Khmelnytsky
| native_name         = {{Nobold|{{lang|uk|Зіновій-Богдан Михайлович Хмельницький}}}}<br/>{{lang|pl|Zenobi Bohdan Chmielnicki}}<br/>{{Nobold|Богданъ Хмелницкии}}
| birth_name          = Bohdan Zynovii Mykhailovych Khmelnytskyi
| image               = Bohdan Khmelnytsky (Portrait, sec. half 17th century, Chernihiv Historical Museum) (cropped).jpg
| caption             = Portrait of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, second half of the 17th century
| order               = [[Hetman of Zaporizhian Host]]
| term_start          = 30 January 1648
| term_end            = 6 August 1657
| predecessor         = position created
| successor           = [[Yurii Khmelnytsky]]
| birth_date          = {{circa}} 1595
| birth_place         = [[Subotiv]], [[Kiev Voivodeship]], [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
| death_date          = 6 August {{death year and age|1657|1595}}
| death_place         = [[Chyhyryn]], [[Cossack Hetmanate]]
| resting_place       = Illinska Church in [[Subotiv]]
| spouse              = {{ubl|Hanna Somko|[[Helena Czaplińska]]|[[Hanna Zolotarenko]]}}
| children            = [[Tymofiy Khmelnytsky|Tymish]], [[Yurii Khmelnytsky|Yurii]], Hryhorii, Ostap, {{ill|Kateryna Khmelnytska|uk|Катерина Хмельницька|lt=Kateryna}}, Stepanyda, {{ill|Olena Khmelnytska|uk|Олена Хмельницька (донька Богдана Хмельницького)|lt=Olena}}, Maria
| nationality         = [[Ruthenians|Ruthenian]]
| signature           = Історія України-Русі. 1912. Власноручний підпис Богдана Хмельницького.png
| battles             = {{collapsible list|title = {{nobold|''See list''}}|{{tree list}}
*[[Polish–Russian War (1609–1618)]]
*[[Polish–Ottoman War (1620–1621)]]
**[[Battle of Cecora (1620)|Battle of Cecora]]{{POW}}
*[[Cossack raids]]
**[[Cossack raid on Istanbul (1629)]]
*'''[[Khmelnytsky Uprising]]'''
**[[Khmelnytsky's campaign of 1648|'''Khmelnytsky's campaign''']]
***[[Battle of Zhovti Vody]]
***[[Battle of Korsuń]]
***[[Battle of Pyliavtsi]]
**[[Siege of Zbarazh]]
**[[Battle of Zboriv (1649)]]
**[[Moldavian campaign of Bohdan Khmelnytsky (1650)|Moldavian Campaign (1650)]]
**[[Battle of Berestechko]]
**[[Battle of Bila Tserkva (1651)]]
**[[Battle of Batih]]
**[[Siege of Zhvanets]]
*[[Polish–Russian War (1654–1667)]]
**[[Battle of Okhmativ (1655)]]
**[[Battle of Horodok (1655)]]
**[[Battle of Ozerna]]
{{tree list/end}}
}}
}}

'''Zynoviy Bohdan Mykhailovych Khmelnytsky''' of the [[Abdank coat of arms]]{{efn|[[Ruthenian language|Ruthenian]]: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи (Хмелницкии,  Хмелницкій, Хмелнѣцкій, Хмелъницкий);<ref>See, for example, the title of [[Samiylo Velychko|Samuil Velichko]]'s 1720 chronicle.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Універсали Івана Мазепи (1687-1709)|date=2006|publisher=[[Shevchenko Scientific Society|НТШ]]|volume=2|page=421-425|isbn=966023872X}}</ref> modern {{langx|uk|Зиновій-Богдан Михайлович Хмельницький гербу Абданк}}, [[Polish language|Polish]]: {{lang|pl|Zenobi Bohdan Chmielnicki herbu Abdank}}}} (1595{{snd}}6 August 1657) was a [[Ruthenian nobility|Ruthenian nobleman]] and military commander of [[Zaporozhian Cossacks]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=smGyDgAAQBAJ|title=Lost Kingdom by Serhii Plokhy|isbn=978-0-465-09739-5|last1=Plokhy|first1=Serhii|date=10 October 2017|publisher=Basic Books }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Stories of Khmelnytsky; Competing Literary Legacies of the 1648 Ukrainian Cossack Uprising|isbn = 978-0-8047-9496-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iycoCgAAQBAJ|last1 = Glaser|first1 = Amelia M.|date = 19 August 2015| publisher=Stanford University Press }}</ref> as [[Hetman of Zaporizhian Host|Hetman]] of the [[Zaporozhian Host]], which was then under the [[suzerainty]] of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. He led the Cossacks to victory in a [[Khmelnytsky Uprising|successful uprising]] against the Commonwealth and its [[magnate]]s (1648–1654) that resulted in the creation of an independent [[Cossack Hetmanate|Cossack state]] in Ukraine. 

In 1648–1649, the Cossacks under Khmelnytskyi's leadership massacred tens of thousands of [[Polish people|Poles]] and [[Jews]], with more handed over as ''[[Black Sea slave trade#Crimean slave trade (15th–18th_centuries)|yasir]]'' ([[Slavery|slaves]]) to his [[Crimean Khanate|Crimean Tatar]] allies, one of the most traumatic events in [[History of Poland#Decline (1648–1764)|Polish]] and [[History of the Jews in Ukraine#17-18th centuries|Jewish history]].<ref name="Chmielnicki-Massacres">{{cite book |author-last=Batista |author-first=Jakub |year=2014 |chapter=Chmielnicki Massacres (1648–1649) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jVqqAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA100 |editor-last=Mikaberidze |editor-first=Alexander |title=Atrocities, Massacres, and War Crimes: An Encyclopedia |location=[[Santa Barbara, California]] |publisher=[[ABC-Clio]] |volume=1 |pages=100–101 |isbn=978-1-59884-926-4}}</ref> Under his rule of the [[Treaty of Zboriv|newly-established]] Cossack state, the massacres continued until [[Batih massacre|at least 1652]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shelton |first=Dinah |title=Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4c1BzgEACAAJ |year=2005 |publisher=Macmillan Reference |pages=176-177|isbn=0028658477}}</ref> In 1654, Khmelnytsky concluded the [[Treaty of Pereiaslav]] with the Russian [[Tsar]] and allied the Cossack Hetmanate with [[Tsardom of Russia]], thus placing Ukraine under Russian protection.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pereiaslav Treaty of 1654|url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CP%5CE%5CPereiaslavTreatyof1654.htm|access-date=2021-02-18|website=www.encyclopediaofukraine.com}}</ref>

Khmelnytsky's uprising permanently changed the [[balance of powers]] in Europe and would play a significant role in the development of [[Ukrainian nationalism]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kossov |first=Igor |title=Russia’s centuries-long quest to conquer Ukraine |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/russia-centuries-long-quest-conquer-152706861.html |website=www.yahoo.com|quote=Khmelnytsky led the Cossacks to victory against the Polish forces, establishing the Cossack Hetmanate, a Ukrainian Cossack state in the area of what is today central Ukraine.|date=26 April 2023|access-date=3 November 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hambly |first=Gavin R. G. |title=Bohdan Khmelnytsky |url=https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/bohdan-khmelnytsky |website=www.ebsco.com|year=2022|access-date=3 November 2025|quote=Between 1648 and 1654, Khmelnytsky led the Zaporozhian (Dnieper) Cossacks in a successful uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, permanently changing the balance among Eastern European powers and advancing the cause of Ukrainian nationalism.}}</ref>{{better source|date=November 2025}} Among [[Ukrainians]] Khmelnytsky has been lauded as a folk hero and defender of the [[Eastern Orthodox|Orthodox]] faith, as well as a fighter for Ukrainian independence and founder of the first Ukrainian state; [[Russian Empire|Russian imperial]] and [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] propaganda meanwhile promoted him as a "unifier" of Ukraine with Russia. However, even among his compatriots Khmelnytskyi's image remained controversial due to his questionable alliances and harsh policies, which caused the death and enslavement of numerous people.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Богдан Хмельницький у фольклорі: герой, зрадник, "купець християн" [Bohdan Khmelnytskyi in folklore: hero, traitor, "a merchant of Christians"]|date=2025-11-03|url=https://localhistory.org.ua/texts/statti/bogdan-khmelnitskii-u-folklori-geroi-zradnik-kupets-khristiian/|access-date=2025-11-19|lang=uk}}</ref>

== Early life ==
{{Infobox noble|type
| name                 = 
|title=Hetman of the Zaporizhian Host| CoA                  = [[File:Chmelnitskyi (Alex K).svg|140px]]
|tenure=|predecessor=|successor=| more                 = no
| noble family         = [[Khmelnytsky family]]
| house-type           = 
}}
[[File:Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 1635.svg|thumb|240px|[[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] during the reign of [[Władysław IV Vasa|Władysław IV]], c. 1635]]
Although there is no definite proof of the date of Khmelnytsky's birth, Ukrainian-born historian [[Mykhailo Maksymovych]] suggests that it is likely 27 December 1595 Julian ([[St. Theodore (died 820)|St. Theodore]]'s<ref>"Житие и страдание святого преподобномученика и исповедника Феодора и брата его преподобного Феофана1 начертанных" [https://web.archive.org/web/20071219202936/http://www.pravoslavie.uz/Jitiya/12/27FeodorNachertanniy.htm pravoslavie.uz] and [http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=736 catholic.org]</ref> day). As was the custom in the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Church]], he was baptized with one of his middle names, [[Theodore (given name)|Theodore]], translated into Ukrainian as [[Bogdan|Bohdan]]. A biography of Khmelnytsky by Smoliy and Stepankov, however, suggests that it is more likely he was born on 9 November (feast day of St Zenoby,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://monar.ru/index.php?download/saints/Oct/30/life01.html|script-title=ru:Страдание святого священномученика Зиновия епископа Эгейского, и сестры его Зиновии|trans-title=The suffering of the Holy Martyr St. Zinovy the Bishop of the Aegean, and his sister Zenova|language=ru|publisher=monar.ru|access-date=10 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406134427/http://monar.ru/index.php?download%2Fsaints%2FOct%2F30%2Flife01.html|archive-date=6 April 2016}}</ref> 30 October in [[Julian calendar]]) and was baptized on 11 November (feast day of St. Theodore in the Catholic Church).<ref>Смолій В.А., Степанков В.С. "Богдан Хмельницький", Альтернативи, {{ISBN|966-7217-76-0}}, 2003</ref> In the work of [[Paul of Aleppo]], "the Travels of Macarius: Patriarch of Antioch", Khmelnytsky is called as the Khatman Zenobius Akhmil.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/travelsmacarius01pauluoft/page/n106/mode/1up?q=Khatman+Zenobius+Akhmil The travels of Macarius: Patriarch of Antioch]. (English translation by F.C. Belfour and A.M. Oxon)</ref>

Khmelnytsky was probably born in the village of [[Subotiv]], near [[Chyhyryn]] in the [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland]] at the estate of his father [[Mykhailo Khmelnytsky]].<ref>While Subotiv or Chyhyryn are most commonly identified as alternative places for his birth, historian [[Stanisław Barącz]] believes that he was born in [[Zhovkva]] (''Żółkiew'').</ref> He was born into Ukrainian lesser nobility.<ref name="Bohdan Khmelnytsky Article">{{Cite web |title=Khmelnytsky, Bohdan |url=https://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CK%5CH%5CKhmelnytskyBohdan.htm |website=www.encyclopediaofukraine.com}}</ref> His father was a [[courtier]] of [[Great Crown Hetman]] [[Stanisław Żółkiewski]], but later joined the court of his son-in-law [[Jan Daniłowicz]], who in 1597 became [[starosta]] of Korsuń and Chyhyryn and appointed [[Mykhailo]] as his deputy in Chyhyryn ([[pidstarosta]]). For his service, he was granted a strip of land near the town, where Mykhailo set up a [[khutor]] Subotiv.

There has been controversy as to whether Bohdan and his father belonged to the [[Szlachta]] (Polish term for noblemen).<ref>Whether Khmelnytsky was or was not a noble is still uncertain. He claimed nobility when it suited him, and it was not often disputed by his contemporaries. Khmelnytsky/Chmielnicki once wrote in a letter to King [[Jan Kazimierz]] that he was "born Chmielnicki;" however, that surname was never associated with the [[Abdank coat of arms]] hesed. His father, a noble, was married to a [[Cossack]] woman and, according to the [[Polish Statute of 1505]], his mother's status might have prevented Bohdan from being considered a nobleman. Other historians' theories suggest that his father or grandfather was stripped of noble status. Most controversially, 19th-century Polish-Russian historian [[Tomasz Padura]] claimed (allegedly citing a letter of [[Vasily Borisovich Sheremetev]] to tzar [[Alexis of Russia|Alexis]]) that Khmelnytsky's father was butcher's son and a Jewish convert to [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]] (and therefore not of the nobility).</ref> Some sources state that in 1590, his father, Mykhailo, was appointed as a [[sotnyk]] for the Korsun-Chyhyryn starosta [[Jan Mikołaj Daniłowicz|Jan Daniłowicz]], who continued to colonize the new Ukrainian lands near the [[Dnieper]] river.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-07-27|title=Краєвид :: Богдан Зиновий Хмельницкий [Львов]|url=http://kraevid.org/lviv/history/personalities/hetmans/bohdan_khmelnytsky/ru/|access-date=2020-08-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727000659/http://kraevid.org/lviv/history/personalities/hetmans/bohdan_khmelnytsky/ru/|archive-date=27 July 2011}}</ref>

== Registered Cossack ==
{{Cossacks}}
Upon completion of his studies in 1617, Khmelnytsky entered into service with the Cossacks. As early as 1619, he was sent together with his father to [[Moldavia]], when the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth entered into war against the [[Ottoman Empire]]. During the [[Battle of Cecora (1620)|battle of Cecora]] (Țuțora) on 17 September 1620, his father was killed, and young Khmelnytsky, among many others including future hetman [[Stanisław Koniecpolski]], was captured by the Turks. He spent the next two years in captivity in [[Constantinople]] as a prisoner of an [[Ottoman Turks|Ottoman]] [[Kapudan Pasha]] (presumably [[Parlak Mustafa Pasha]]).<ref name="SS51">Smoliy, Stepankov 1995, p. 51</ref> Other sources claim that he spent his slavery in [[Ottoman Navy]] on [[galley]]s as an [[oarsman]], where he picked up a knowledge of [[Turkic languages]].<ref name="Bohdan Khmelnytsky">{{Cite web|url=http://kraevid.org/lviv/history/personalities/hetmans/bohdan_khmelnytsky/ru/|title=Краєвид :: Богдан Зиновий Хмельницкий [Львов]|date=27 July 2011|access-date=28 March 2017|archive-date=27 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727000659/http://kraevid.org/lviv/history/personalities/hetmans/bohdan_khmelnytsky/ru/}}</ref>

While there is no concrete evidence as to his return to Ukraine, most historians believe Khmelnytsky either escaped or was ransomed. Sources vary as to his benefactor – his mother, friends, the Polish king – but perhaps by [[Krzysztof Zbaraski]], ambassador of the Commonwealth to the Ottomans. In 1622 he paid 30,000 [[thaler]]s in ransom for all [[prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] captured at the Battle of Cecora. Upon return to Subotiv, Khmelnytsky took over operating his father's estate and became a [[Registered Cossacks|registered Cossack]] in the [[Chyhyryn Regiment]].

Some historians suggest he took part in the [[Pavliuk uprising]].{{Sfn|Палій|2017|page=317}} Others believe he most likely did not take part in any of the Cossack uprisings that broke out in Ukraine at that time. His loyal service earned him the rank of military clerk (''pisarz wojskowy'') of the registered Cossacks in 1637. It happened after the capitulation of the Pavliuk uprising in the town Borowica on 24 December 1637, when field hetman [[Mikołaj Potocki]] appointed new Cossack eldership. He had to do it because some of the elders either joined Pavliuk or were killed by him (like former military clerk, Teodor Onuszkowicz).<ref>Serczyk 2009, p. 49; Serczyk 2008, p. 345</ref> Because of his new position Khmelnytsky was the one who prepared and signed an act of capitulation.<ref>Serczyk 2008, p. 345</ref> Fighting didn't stop in Borowica, rebel Cossacks rose up again under the new command of [[Ostryanyn uprising|Ostryanyn and Hunia]] in the spring next year. Mikołaj Potocki was successful again and after a six week long siege, the rebel Cossacks were forced to capitulate on 3 August 1638. Like the year before, some registered Cossacks joined the rebels, while some of them remained loyal. Unlike the last time, Potocki decided not to punish the rebel Cossacks, but forced all of them to swear loyalty to the king and the state and swear not to seek revenge against each other. The Hetman also agreed to their request to send emissaries to the king to seek royal grace and preserve Cossack rights. They were elected on a council on 9 September 1638 in Kiev. Bohdan Khmelnytsky was one of them; the other three were Iwan Bojaryn, colonel of Kaniów, Roman Połowiec and Jan Wołczenko.<ref>Serczyk 2008, p. 351</ref> 

The emissaries didn't achieve much, mostly because all decisions were already made by the Sejm earlier this year, when deputies accepted the project presented by the grand Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski.<ref>Serczyk 2008, p. 346</ref> Cossacks were forced to accept harsh new terms at the next council in Masłowy Staw, at the [[Ros river]]. According to one of the articles of the ''Ordynacya Woyska Zaporowskiego'' ("Ordinance of the Zaporozhian Army"), registered Cossacks lost the right to elect their own officers and a commander, called elder (''starszy'') or commissar. From now on, the elder was to be nominated by the Sejm, from the Grand Hetman's recommendation. The Grand Hetman also got the right to appoint all officers. Commissars, colonels, and [[osaul]]s had to be noblemen, while [[sotnik]]s and [[ataman]]s had to be Cossacks, who were "distinguished in a service for Us and the Commonwealth".<ref>Volumina Legum, vol. 3, Sankt Petersburg 1859, p. 440</ref> Khmelnytsky became one of the sotniks of the Chyhryn regiment.

In 1663 in Paris, Pierre Chevalier published a book about Cossack uprising called ''Histoire de la guerre des Cosaques contre la Pologne'', which he dedicated to Nicolas Léonor de Flesselles, count de Brégy, who was an ambassador to Poland in 1645.<ref>Roger Ariew and others, ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20200727013950/https://books.google.pl/books?id=zj99CAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA56&ots=Cw1NfwJSre&dq=Nicolas%20L%C3%A9onor%20de%20Flesselles&pg=PA56#v=onepage&q=Nicolas%20L%C3%A9onor%20de%20Flesselles&f=false Historical Dictionary of Descartes and Cartesian Philosophy]'', New York 2015, p. 56-57</ref> In the dedication he described the meeting de Brégy had with Khmelnytsky in France, and group of Cossacks he brought to France to fight against Spain in Flanders.<ref>''Kmielniski estant passé du fonds de la Russie en France, a esté conseillé, pour s'y faire connoistre, de  s'addresser à vous, Monsieur, qui pouvez rendre  un  témoignage d'autant plus certain de sa valeur et de  celle de ses Cosaques, que vous en avez esté le témoin presque oculaire, pendant vostre Ambassade de Pologne; dans laquelle, vos belles qualitez, autant  que le caractère de cet illustre employ, vous  ayant  acquis les bonnes graces et la confidence  particulière  du feu  Roy Vladislas, vous vistes naistre leur guerre  et  en  scentes  tous  les  motifs  et  le  secret. Vous engageastes aussi, Monsieur, nombre  de ces aventuriers, à servir dans l'infanterie, que ous  levastes pour le service du Roy en Pologne et que vous  fistes passer en Flandre, où leur faux ont souvent moissonné plusieurs de ces ennemies, l'air des Armées  Francoises, n'ayant pas peu servir, à fortifier leur bravoure naturelle'', quoted from: Wójcik 1973, p. 575</ref> Chevalier also claimed that he himself commanded Cossacks in Flanders.<ref>Wójcik 1973, p. 575</ref> Although in distant parts of the book Chevalier doesn't mention either Cossacks or Khmelnytsky even once. In his other writing, ''Relation des Cosaques (avec la vie de Kmielniski, tirée d'un Manuscrit)'', published the same year, which also contains a biography of Khmelnytsky, there is no mention about his or any other Cossacks' stay in France or Flanders.<ref>Wójcik 1973, p. 579</ref> Moreover, first Chevalier book is the only source that mention such an event, there is not trace of it even in correspondence of count de Brègy.<ref>Wójcik 1973, p. 581</ref> Although it is true that he was conducting a recruitment of soldiers in Poland for French army in years 1646–1648. In fact he succeeded and about 3,000 of them travelled via Gdańsk to Flanders and took part in fights around Dunkirk. French sources describe them as ''infanterie tout Poulonnois qu'Allemand''.<ref>Wójcik 1973, p. 580</ref> They were commanded by colonels Krzysztof Przyjemski, Andrzej Przyjemski and Georges Cabray. The second recruitment that shipped off in 1647 were commanded by Jan Pleitner, Dutch military engineer in service of Władysław IV and Jan Denhoff, colonel of Royal Guard.<ref>Wójcik 1973, p. 580-582</ref> 17th century French historian Jean-François Sarasіn in his ''Histoire de siège de Dunkerque'' when describing participation of Polish mercenaries in fights over Dunkirk, notes that they were commanded by some "Sirot".<ref>''Ces Estrangues faisoient dix-sept  cens hommes et estoient nouvellement venus en France sous la conduit de Sirot'', quoted from: Wójcik 1973, p. 582-583</ref> Some historians identify him as [[Ivan Sirko]], legenary Cossack [[Kosh Otaman]].

Some Ukrainian historians support claims that Khmelnytsky and Cossacks were actually in France, while others and mostly Polish scholarship finds it unlikely.<ref name="SS70">Smoliy, Stepankov 1995, p. 70</ref>

== Czapliński Affair ==
Upon the death of magnate [[Stanisław Koniecpolski]] (March 1646), his successor, [[Aleksander Koniecpolski (1620–1659)|Aleksander]], redrew the maps of his possessions. He laid claim to Khmelnytsky's estate, claiming it as his. Trying to find protection from this grab by the powerful magnate, Khmelnytsky wrote numerous appeals and letters to different representatives of the Polish crown, but to no avail. At the end of 1645, the Chyhyryn [[starosta]] [[Daniel Czapliński]] officially received authority from Koniecpolski to seize Khmelnytsky's Subotiv estate.

[[File:Anonymous Bohdan Khmelnytsky.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait of Bohdan Khmelnytsky (c. 1650) in the District Museum in [[Tarnów]]. Khmelnytsky obtained ready-made garments from the East.<ref name=Biedronska>{{cite book|last=Biedrońska-Słotowa|first=Beata|title=Polski ubiór narodowy zwany kontuszowym: dzieje i przemiany opracowane na podstawie zachowanych ubiorów zabytkowych i ich części oraz w świetle źródeł ikonograficznych i literackich|language=pl|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3RWCAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA76|year=2005|publisher=Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie|isbn=978-83-89424-28-0|page=76}}</ref> According to a 1651 message, Sultan [[Mehmed IV]] sent to him "a [[samite]] [[Kaftan|caftan]], one of his honorable royal caftans."<ref name=Biedronska/>]]

In the summer of 1646, Khmelnytsky arranged an audience with King Władysław IV to plead his case, as he had a favourable standing at the court. Władysław, who wanted Cossacks on his side in the wars he planned, gave Khmelnytsky a royal charter, protecting his rights to the Subotiv estate. But, because of the structure of the Commonwealth at that time and the lawlessness of Ukraine, even the King was not able to prevent a confrontation with local magnates. At the beginning of 1647, Daniel Czapliński started to harass Khmelnytsky in order to force him off the land. On two occasions the magnate had Subotiv raided: considerable property damage was done and Khmelnytsky's son Yuriy was badly beaten. Finally, in April 1647, Czapliński succeeded in evicting Khmelnytsky from the land, and he was forced to move with his large family to a relative's house in Chyhyryn.

In May 1647, Khmelnytsky arranged a second audience with the king to plead his case, but found him unwilling to confront a powerful magnate. In addition to losing the estate, Khmelnytsky suffered the loss of his wife Hanna, and he was left alone with their children. During that time, he planned to marry Motrona ([[Helena Czaplińska|Helena]]), the so-called "[[Helen of Troy|Helen]] of the steppe", reportedly an orphan from a Polish noble family who found refuge at Khmelnytsky's estate. However, in the same year Motrona was abducted and forcibly married to Czapliński during a raid on Khmelnytsky's property. Khmelnytsky was unable to regain the land and property of his estate or financial compensation for it. During this time, he met several higher Polish officials to discuss the Cossacks' war with the Tatars, and used this occasion again to plead his case with Czapliński, still unsuccessfully.

While Khmelnytsky found no support from the Polish officials, he found it in his Cossack friends and subordinates. His Chyhyryn regiment and others were on his side. All through the autumn of 1647 Khmelnytsky travelled from one regiment to another, and had numerous consultations with Cossack leaders throughout Ukraine. His activity raised suspicion among the local Polish authorities, already used to Cossack revolts; he was promptly arrested. Koniecpolski issued an order for his execution, but the Chyhyryn Cossack [[polkovnyk]], who held Khmelnytsky, was persuaded to release him. Not willing to tempt fate any further, Khmelnytsky headed for the [[Zaporozhian Sich]] with a group of his supporters.

== Uprising ==
{{Main|Khmelnytsky Uprising}}
[[File:Matejko Khmelnytsky with Tugay Bey.jpg|thumb|Bohdan Khmelnytsky (''left'') with [[Tugay Bey]] (''right'') at [[Lviv]], oil on canvas by [[Jan Matejko]], 1885, [[National Museum, Warsaw|National Museum]] in [[Warsaw]]]]
While the Czapliński Affair is generally regarded as the immediate cause of the uprising, it was primarily a catalyst for actions representing rising popular discontent.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Clarence Manning |date=1947 |title=The Story of the Ukraine |chapter=Bohdan Khmelnitsky |publisher=Philosophical Library |type=Transcription |chapter-url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Ukraine/_Topics/history/_Texts/MANSOU/6*.html |access-date=2024-05-30 |via=University of Chicago}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://andrikyrychok.wordpress.com/tag/chyhyryn-starosta-daniel-czaplinski/|title=Chyhyryn starosta Daniel Czapliński {{!}} Looking Through The Lens|date=2 May 2012 |language=en|access-date=19 March 2019}}</ref> Religion, ethnicity, and economics factored into this discontent. While the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] remained [[Union of Lublin|a union]] of nations, a sizable population of Orthodox [[Ruthenians]] was ignored. Oppressed by the Polish magnates, they took their wrath out on Poles, as well as the Jews, who often managed the estates of Polish nobles. The advent of the [[Counter-Reformation]] worsened relations between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. Many Orthodox Ukrainians considered the [[Union of Brest]] as a threat to their Orthodox faith.

=== Initial success ===
At the end of January 1648, a [[Cossack Rada]] was called, and Khmelnytsky was unanimously elected a [[hetman]]. A period of feverish activity followed. Cossacks were sent with hetman's letters to many regions of Ukraine calling on Cossacks and Orthodox peasants to join the rebellion, [[Khortytsia]] was fortified, efforts were made to acquire and make weapons and ammunition, and emissaries were sent to the [[Khan of Crimea]], [[İslâm III Giray]].
[[File:Envoy Jakub Śmiarowski to Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 1648 (unknown author, 17th century)-alternative version.jpg|thumb|Meeting of Khmelnytsky with the Polish envoy, 1648 (unknown author, 17th century)]]
Initially, Polish authorities took the news of Khmelnytsky's arrival at the Sich and reports about the rebellion lightly. The two sides exchanged lists of demands: the Poles asked the Cossacks to surrender the mutinous leader and disband, while Khmelnytsky and the Rada demanded that the Commonwealth restore the Cossacks' ancient rights, stop the advance of the [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church]], yield the right to appoint Orthodox leaders of the Sich and of the Registered Cossack regiments, and to remove Commonwealth troops from Ukraine.<ref>V. A. Smoliy, V. S. Stepankov. Bohdan Khmelnytsky. ''Sotsialno-politychnyi portret''. page 91, Lebid, Kyiv. 1995</ref> The Polish magnates considered the demands an affront, and an army headed by Stefan Potocki moved in the direction of the Sich.

Had the Cossacks stayed at Khortytsia, they might have been defeated, as in many other rebellions. However, Khmelnytsky marched against the Poles. The two armies met on 16 May 1648 at [[Battle of Zhovti Vody|Zhovti Vody]], where, aided by the Tatars of [[Tugay Bey]], the Cossacks inflicted their first crushing defeat on the Commonwealth. It was repeated soon afterwards, with the same success, at the [[Battle of Korsuń]] on 26 May 1648. Khmelnytsky used his diplomatic and military skills: under his leadership, the Cossack army moved to battle positions following his plans, Cossacks were proactive and decisive in their manoeuvrers and attacks, and most importantly, he gained the support of both large contingents of registered Cossacks and the [[Giray dynasty|Crimean Khan]], his crucial ally for the many battles to come.

=== Establishment of Cossack Hetmanate ===
[[File:Herb Viyska Zaporozkogo (Alex K).svg|thumb|upright|Coat of arms of the [[Cossack Hetmanate]]]]
The [[Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem|Patriarch of Jerusalem]] Paiseus, who was visiting Kiev at this time, referred to Khmelnytsky as the Prince of Rus. In February 1649, during negotiations in [[Pereiaslav]] with a Polish delegation headed by Senator [[Adam Kysil]], Khmelnytsky declared that he was "the sole autocrat of Rus" and that he had "enough power in Ukraine, [[Podilia]], and [[Volhynia]]... in his land and principality stretching as far as Lviv, Kholm (modern [[Chełm]]), and [[Halych]]."<ref>V. A. Smoliy, V. S. Stepankov. Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Sotsialno-politychnyi portret, p. 203, Lebid, Kyiv. 1995</ref>

{{blockquote|I already did more than was thinking before, now I will obtain what I revised recently. I will liberate out of the Polish woe all of the Ruthenian people! Before I was fighting for the insults and injustice caused to me, now I will fight for our Orthodox faith. And all people will help me in that all the way to Lublin and Krakow, and I won't back off from the people as they are our right hand. And for the purpose lest you won't attack cossacks by conquering peasants, I will have two, three hundred thousands of them.|''(Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the Prince of Ruthenia)''<ref name="Hrushevsky,M 2003">[[Mykhailo Hrushevsky|Hrushevsky,M.]] ''History of Ukraine-Rus''. New ed. Bao. Donetsk, 2003.</ref>}}

After the period of initial military successes, the [[state-building]] process began. His leadership was demonstrated in all areas of state-building: military, administration, finance, economics and culture. Khmelnytsky made the [[Zaporozhian Host]] the supreme power in the new Ukrainian state and unified all the spheres of Ukrainian society under his authority. Khmelnytsky built a new government system and developed military and civilian administration.

A new generation of statesmen and military leaders came to the forefront: [[Ivan Vyhovsky]], [[Pavlo Teteria]], [[Danylo Nechai]] and [[Ivan Nechai]], [[Ivan Bohun]], [[Hryhoriy Hulyanytsky]]. From Cossack polkovnyks, officers, and military commanders, a new elite within the Cossack Hetman state was born. Throughout the years, the elite preserved and maintained the autonomy of the [[Cossack Hetmanate]] in the face of Russia's attempt to curb it. It was also instrumental in the onset of the period of [[Ruin (period of history)|Ruin]] that followed, eventually destroying most of the achievements of the Khmelnytsky era.

=== Complications ===
[[File:Bohdan-banner.jpg|thumb|Bohdan Khmelnytsky's banner that was taken at the [[battle of Berestechko]]. It was later taken by the Swedes in Warsaw 1655 and is now to be seen at Armémuseum, Stockholm, Sweden.]]
Khmelnytsky's initial successes were followed by a series of setbacks as neither Khmelnytsky nor the Commonwealth had enough strength to stabilise the situation or to inflict a defeat on the enemy. What followed was a period of intermittent warfare and several peace treaties, which were seldom upheld. From spring 1649 onward, the situation turned for the worse for the Cossacks; as Polish attacks increased in frequency, they became more successful. The resulting [[Treaty of Zboriv]] on 18 August 1649 was unfavourable for the Cossacks. It was followed by another defeat at the [[battle of Berestechko]] on 18 June 1651 in which the Tatars betrayed Khmelnytsky and held the hetman captive. The Cossacks suffered a crushing defeat, with an estimated 30,000 casualties. They were forced to sign the [[Treaty of Bila Tserkva]], which favoured the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Warfare broke open again and, in the years that followed, the two sides were almost perpetually at war. Now, the [[Crimean Tatars]] played a decisive role and did not allow either side to prevail. It was in their interests to keep both Ukraine and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from getting too strong and becoming an effective power in the region.<ref name = "Subtelny">[[Orest Subtelny]]. ''Ukraine. A history.'' University of Toronto Press, p. 133. 1994. {{ISBN|0-8020-0591-8}}.</ref>

Khmelnytsky started looking for another foreign ally. Although the Cossacks had established their ''[[de facto]]'' independence from Poland, the new state needed legitimacy, which could be provided by a foreign monarch. In search of a protectorate, Khmelnytsky approached the [[Ottoman sultan]] in 1651, and formal embassies were exchanged. The Turks offered vassalship, like their other arrangements with contemporary [[Khanate of Crimea|Crimea]], [[Moldavia]] and [[Wallachia]]. However, the idea of a union with the Muslim monarch was not acceptable to the general populace and most Cossacks.

The other possible ally was the [[Tsardom of Russia]]. However, despite appeals for help from Khmelnytsky in the name of the shared Orthodox faith, the tsar preferred to wait, until the threat of a Cossack-Ottoman union in 1653 finally forced him to action.<ref name = "Subtelny" /> The idea that the tsar might be favourable to taking Ukraine under his hand was communicated to the hetman and so diplomatic activity intensified.

== Treaty with the tsar ==
{{Main|Treaty of Pereiaslav}}
[[File:Alex K Bohdan Chmelnickyi prapor.svg|thumb|150px|Flag of Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Inspection: Bohdan (Б) Khmelnytsky (Х), [[Hetman of Zaporizhian Host|hetman (Г) of Host (В) of Zaporozhia (З)]] and of his (Е) king's (К) majesty (МЛС) of Rzecz Pospolita.]]
After a series of negotiations, it was agreed that the Cossacks would accept overlordship by the Tsar [[Alexei Mikhailovich]]. To finalize the treaty, a Russian embassy led by [[boyar]] [[Vasily Buturlin]] came to [[Pereiaslav]], where, on 18 January 1654, the Cossack Rada was called and the treaty concluded. Historians have not come to a consensus in interpreting the intentions of the tsar and Khmelnytsky in signing this agreement. The treaty legitimized Russian claims to the capital of [[Kievan Rus']] and strengthened the tsar's influence in the region. Khmelnytsky needed the treaty to gain a legitimate monarch's protection and support from a friendly Orthodox power.

Historians have differed in their reading of Khmelnytsky's goal with the union: whether it was to be a military union, a [[suzerainty]], or a complete incorporation of Ukraine into the [[Tsardom of Russia]].<ref>[http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?AddButton=pages\P\E\PereiaslavTreatyof1654.htm "Treaty of 1654"], ''Encyclopedia of Ukraine''</ref>

The differences were expressed during the ceremony of the oath of allegiance to the tsar: the Russian envoy refused to reciprocate with an oath from the ruler to his subjects, as the Cossacks and Ruthenians expected, since it was the custom of the Polish king.

Khmelnytsky stormed out of the church and threatened to cancel the entire treaty. The Cossacks decided to rescind the demand and abide by the treaty.

== Final years ==
As a result of the 1654 [[Treaty of Pereiaslav]], the geopolitical map of the region changed. Russia entered the scene, and the Cossacks' former allies, the Tatars, had switched sides and gone over to the Polish side, initiating warfare against Khmelnytsky and his forces. [[Tatar invasions|Tatar raids]] depopulated whole areas of Sich. Cossacks, aided by the Tsar's army, took revenge on Polish possessions in [[Belarus]], and in the spring of 1654, the Cossacks drove the Poles from much of the country. Sweden entered the mêlée. Old adversaries of both Poland and Russia, they occupied a share of Lithuania before the Russians could get there.

The occupation displeased Russia because the tsar sought to take over the Swedish Baltic provinces. In 1656, with the Commonwealth increasingly war-torn but also increasingly hostile and successful against the Swedes, the ruler of [[Transylvania]], [[George II Rákóczi]], also joined in. [[Charles X of Sweden]] had solicited his help because of the massive Polish popular opposition and resistance against the Swedes. Under blows from all sides, the Commonwealth barely survived.

[[File:Subotiv Ukraine.png|thumb|left|Church of [[Subotiv]], [[Ukraine]], where Khmelnytsky was buried]]
Russia attacked Sweden in July 1656, while its forces were deeply involved in Poland. That war ended in status quo two years later, but it complicated matters for Khmelnytsky, as his ally was now fighting his overlord. In addition to diplomatic tensions between the tsar and Khmelnytsky, a number of other disagreements between the two surfaced. In particular, they concerned Russian officials' interference in the finances of the [[Cossack Hetmanate]] and in the newly captured Belarus. The tsar concluded a separate treaty with the Poles in [[Vilnius]] in 1656. The Hetman's emissaries were not even allowed to attend the negotiations.

Khmelnytsky wrote an irate letter to the tsar accusing him of breaking the Pereiaslav agreement. He compared the Swedes to the tsar and said that the former were more honourable and trustworthy than the Russians.<ref name = "Subtelny" />

In Poland, the Cossack army and Transylvanian allies suffered a number of setbacks. As a result, Khmelnytsky had to deal with a Cossack rebellion on the home front. Troubling news also came from Crimea, as Tatars, in alliance with Poland, were preparing for a new [[invasion]] of Ukraine. Though already ill, Khmelnytsky continued to conduct diplomatic activity, at one point even receiving the tsar's envoys from his bed.<ref name="SS591">V. A. Smoliy, V. S. Stepankov. ''Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Sotsialno-politychnyi portret.'' page 591. Lebid. Kyiv. 1995.</ref>
[[File:Death of Bohdan. Taras Shevchenko.jpg|thumb|''Death of Bohdan [Khmelnytsky]'', an 1836-1837 painting by Taras Shevchenko]]
On 22 July, he suffered a [[cerebral hemorrhage]] and became paralysed after his audience with the Kiev Colonel Zhdanovich. His expedition to [[Halychyna]] had failed because of mutiny within his army.<ref>[[Mykhailo Hrushevsky|Hrushevsky, M.]] ''Illustrated History of Ukraine''. "BAO". Donetsk, 2003. {{ISBN|966-548-571-7}} page 330</ref> Less than a week later, Bohdan Khmelnytsky died at 5 a.m. on 27 July 1657. His funeral was held on 23 August, and his body was taken from his capital, Chyhyryn, to his estate, at Subotiv, for burial in his ancestral church. In 1664 a Polish hetman [[Stefan Czarniecki]] recaptured Subotiv and, according to some Ukrainian historians, ordered the bodies of the hetman and his son, [[Tymofiy Khmelnytsky|Tymish]], to be exhumed and desecrated, while others claim that is not the case.<ref>Some Ukrainian historians dispute that his grave was desecrated. In 1973, an expedition investigated the site of the church and discovered remains of people, not found before.</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:Chyhyryn3.jpg|thumb|Hetman's residence in Chyhyryn (modern reconstruction)]]
[[Syria]]n traveller [[Paul of Aleppo]], who met Khmelnytskyi on his way to Moscow in 1654, described the hetman as a very austere personality: unlike contemporary monarchs, he didn't allow himself to be served during banquets, used ordinary plates and drank from simple cups, although many of his subordinates could afford themselves silver and golden tableware. Khmelnytskyi was an avid drinker of [[coffee]], a habit he may have learnt during his years in Turkish captivity, and took pleasure in smoking [[tobacco]] from a [[smoking pipe|pipe]]. The floor of Khmelnytskyi's bedroom in his residence at Chyhyryn was adorned with a [[carpet]], and its walls were decorated with a bow and arrows, hinting at the hetman's reputation as a masterful shooter.<ref name=tyzh>{{Cite web|title=«Кавування» з Богданом на Софійській площі|date=2025-08-21|url=https://tyzhden.ua/kavuvannia-z-bohdanom-na-sofijskij-ploshchi/|access-date=2025-08-21|website=[[The Ukrainian Week|Український тиждень]]}}</ref>

===Religion===
According to Ottoman historian [[Mustafa Naima]], during his captivity in Constantinople after the Battle of Cecora, Khmelnytskyi either secretly converted to [[Islam]], or at least seriously contemplated becoming a Muslim.<ref name=tyzh/> During a meeting with Crimean khan Islam III Giray, he reportedly performed [[salah|namaz]] in order to prove the ruler his allegiance to the Muslim faith. Ottoman sources also mention that the hetman suited a [[sharia]] court after the murder of his friend, [[Janissary]] leader Bektas-aga. Khmelnytskyi's alleged connections to Islam were later used by his political opponents in Poland and Ukraine, including [[Sylvester Kosiv]], [[List of metropolitans and patriarchs of Kyiv|Metropolitan of Kyiv]]. 

Some modern authors argue, that the supposed "conversion" to Islam by Khmelnytskyi was likely a part of his political game aimed to create a Cossack state. According to [[Samiilo Velychko]], the hetman used rumours about his Muslim sympathies in order to blackmail Warsaw and Moscow, threatening to become a vassal of the Ottomans.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Аллагу Акбар, козаченьки! Хроніки 17 століття відповідають, чи був Хмельницький мусульманином|url=https://was.media/microformats/hmelnickij-prijnjav-islam/|access-date=2025-08-21}}</ref> Other sources, such as the aforementioned memoirs of Paul of Aleppo, describe him as a devout Orthodox Christian.<ref name=tyzh/>
[[File:Hanna Zolotarenko.jpg|thumb|A likely portrait of Khmelnytskyi's third wife Hanna Zolotarenko]]
=== Marriage and family ===
Khmelnytsky married Hanna Somkivna, a sister of a rich [[Pereyaslav]] Cossack; the couple settled in [[Subotiv]]. By the second half of the 1620s, they had three daughters: Stepanyda, Olena, and Kateryna. His first son [[Tymofiy Khmelnytsky|Tymish (Tymofiy)]] was born in 1632, and another son [[Yuriy Khmelnytsky|Yuriy]] was born in 1640.

After the death of Hanna and the beginning of the uprising in 1648, Khmelnytsky married [[Helena Czaplińska|Helena]], the former wife of his archenemy Daniel Czapliński. Their union received a blessing of the [[Patriarch of Constantinople]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://who-is-who.com.ua/bookmaket/ukrfamily2006/1/14.html|title=Родина Богдана Хмельницького //  Українська родина 2006.|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108001536/http://who-is-who.com.ua/bookmaket/ukrfamily2006/1/14.html |archivedate=8 January 2009|language=uk}}</ref>

After Helena's execution on allegations of treason and infidelity by Khmelnytskyi's eldest son Tymish in 1651, the hetman married for a third time with Hanna Zolotarenko, the sister of [[Nizhyn Regiment|Nizhyn colonel]] [[Vasyl Zolotarenko]]. Upon Khmelnytskyi's death in 1657, she entered a [[nunnery]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Zolotarenko|date=1993|website=[[Encyclopedia of Ukraine]]|url=https://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CZ%5CO%5CZolotarenko.htm|access-date=2025-08-21}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
Khmelnytsky had a crucial influence on the history of Ukraine. He not only shaped the future of Ukraine but affected the [[balance of power in international relations|balance of power]] in Europe, as the weakening of Poland-Lithuania was exploited by Austria, Saxony, Prussia, and Russia. His actions and role in events were viewed differently by different contemporaries, and even now there are greatly differing perspectives on his legacy.

=== Ukrainian assessment ===
[[File:5 hryvnia 2005 front.jpg|thumb|A five [[Ukrainian hryvnia]] [[banknote]] depicting Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky]]
[[File:Kiev khmelnitsky.jpg|thumb|The [[Bohdan Khmelnytsky Monument, Kyiv|Khmelnytsky Monument in Kiev]] in 1905]]
In Ukraine, Khmelnytsky is generally regarded as a national hero.<ref name="Dalton2000">{{cite book|last=Dalton|first=Meredith|title=Culture Shock!: Ukraine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KGhaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA56|year=2000|publisher=Graphics Arts Center|isbn=978-1-55868-420-1|page=56}}</ref><ref name="Steinlauf1997">{{cite book|last=Steinlauf|first=Michael C.|author-link=Michael C. Steinlauf|title=Bondage to the Dead: Poland and the Memory of the Holocaust|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PbKbXvQDYQMC&pg=PA148|year=1997|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=978-0-8156-0403-7|page=148}}</ref><ref name="StrmiskaStrmiska2005">{{cite book|last=Strmiska|first=Michael F.|title=Modern Paganism in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qx7Tvd99xVAC&pg=PA228|year=2005|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-608-4|page=228}}</ref> A [[Khmelnytskyi|city]]<ref>{{cite web |first=Halyna |last=Hlushko |url=http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/index2.php?param=pgs20073/28 |title=Pereyaslav Khmelnytsky – a town of museums |publisher=Wumag.kiev.ua |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613175702/http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/index2.php?param=pgs20073%2F28 |archive-date=13 June 2008 }}</ref> and a [[Khmelnytskyi Oblast|region]] of the country bear his name. His image is prominently displayed on Ukrainian [[banknote]]s and his [[Bohdan Khmelnytsky Monument, Kiev|monument]] in the centre of Kyiv is a focal point of the Ukrainian capital. There have also been several issues of the [[Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky]] – one of the highest decorations in Ukraine and in the former Soviet Union.

However, with all this positive appreciation of his legacy, even in [[Ukraine]] it is far from being unanimous. He is criticised for his union with Russia, which in the view of some, proved to be disastrous for the future of the country. Prominent Ukrainian poet, [[Taras Shevchenko]], was one of Khmelnytsky's very vocal and harsh critics.<ref>{{cite web|last=Konoval|first=Oleksiy|url=http://universum.lviv.ua/previous-site/archive/journal/2002/konovo_7.html|script-title=uk:Чи варто відзначати річницю Переяславського договору?|trans-title=Is it worth celebrating the anniversary of the Treaty of Pereyaslav?|language=uk|publisher=universum.lviv.ua|date=2002|access-date=3 August 2017}}</ref> Others criticize him for his alliance with the Crimean Tatars, which permitted the latter to take a large number of Ukrainian peasants as slaves, as the Cossacks as a military caste did not protect the ''[[kholop]]y'', the lowest stratum of the Ukrainian people. In 1649 alone, Crimean Tatars plundered up to 70 Ukrainian towns and hundreds of villages, taking as many as 40,000 inhabitants as slaves. Contemporary witnesses claim, that members of [[Cossack starshyna]] directly oversaw that process, acting on hetman's orders. In 1653 the events repeated on an even bigger scale, with the khan receiving permission to take 100,000 captives in exchange for peace with Polish authorities. Folk songs gathered by 19th-century Ukrainian author [[Panteleimon Kulish]] in Khmelnytskyi's native region of [[Cherkasy]] cursed the hetman, depicting him as an ally of the Turks, who facilitated the enslavement of local inhabitants.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Козаки-работорговці. Як Хмельницький українцями торгував|date=2019-07-23|url=https://was.media/2019-07-23-kozaki-rabotorgovci/|access-date=2025-08-21}}</ref>

On the balance, the view of his legacy in present-day Ukraine is more positive than negative, with some critics acknowledging that the union with Russia was dictated by necessity and an attempt to survive in those difficult times.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Krasnikov |first1=Denis |title=Honest History 10: How one treaty made Ukraine vassal of Russia for 337 years |url=https://www.kyivpost.com/post/7118?utm_source=chatgpt.com |website=www.kyivpost.com/ |publisher=Kyiv Post |access-date=11 September 2025}}</ref> In a 2018 Ukraine's [[Sociological group "RATING"|Rating Sociological Group]] poll, 73% of Ukrainian respondents had a positive attitude to Khmelnytsky.<ref>{{cite news |title=Survey shows Ukrainians most negatively regard Stalin, Lenin and Gorbachev |url=https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/survey-shows-ukrainians-most-negatively-regard-stalin-lenin-and-gorbachev.html |work=Kyiv Post |date=20 November 2018}}</ref>

=== Polish assessment ===
Poles called Khmelnytsky "The Whip of God" (also called "The Scourge of God"), which was a name previously given to [[Atilla]] of the [[Huns]] who terrorised [[Eastern Roman Empire|Eastern]] and [[Western Roman Empire]]s.{{Sfn|Палій|2017|page=317}} Khmelnytsky's role in the history of the Polish State has been viewed mostly in a negative light. The rebellion of 1648 proved to be the end of the [[Polish Golden Age|Golden Age]] of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Commonwealth]] and the beginning of its demise. Although it survived the rebellion and the following war, within less than two hundred years it was divided amongst [[Russian Empire|Russia]], [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]], and [[Habsburg monarchy|Austria]] in the [[partitions of Poland]]. Many Poles blamed Khmelnytsky for the decline of the Commonwealth.<ref>{{cite book|first=Володимир|last=Голобуцький|url=http://litopys.org.ua/holob/hol13.htm|script-title=uk:Запорозьке Козацтво – Розділ XI. Хмельниччина і Запорозьке Козацтво|trans-title=Zaporozhian Cossackdom – Section XI. Khmelnychchyna and Zaporozhian Cossackdom|language=uk|publisher=Litopys|date=1994|access-date=11 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610054540/http://litopys.org.ua/holob/hol13.htm|archive-date=10 June 2016}}</ref>

Khmelnytsky has been a subject to several works of fiction in the 19th century Polish literature, but the most notable treatment of him in [[Polish literature]] is found in [[Henryk Sienkiewicz]]'s ''[[With Fire and Sword]]''.<ref name="Glaser2015-110">{{cite book|first=Roman|last=Koropeckyj|chapter=The Image of Bohdan Khmelnytsky in Polish Romanticism and Its Post-Romantic Reflex|editor=Amelia Glaser|title=Stories of Khmelnytsky: Competing Literary Legacies of the 1648 Ukrainian Cossack Uprising|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=onsxCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA110|date=19 August 2015|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-9382-7|pages=110–111}}</ref> The rather critical portrayal of him by Sienkiewicz has been moderated in the [[With Fire and Sword (film)|1999 movie adaptation]] by [[Jerzy Hoffman]].<ref name="Glaser2015-208">{{cite book|first1=Izabela|last1=Kalinowska|first2=Marta|last2=Kondratyuk|chapter=Khmelnytsky in Motion: The Case of Soviet, Polish, and Ukrainian film|editor=Amelia Glaser|title=Stories of Khmelnytsky: Competing Literary Legacies of the 1648 Ukrainian Cossack Uprising|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=onsxCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA208|date=19 August 2015|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-9382-7|page=208}}</ref><ref name="Scott2007">{{cite book|last=Scott|first=Douglas D.|author-link=Douglas D. Scott|title=Fields of Conflict: Battlefield Archaeology from the Roman Empire to the Korean War. Searching for war in the ancient and early modern world|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nDQqAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA194|year=2007|publisher=Praeger Security International|isbn=978-0-275-99316-0|page=194}}</ref>

=== Russian and Soviet history ===
[[File:Орден Богдана Хмельницкого I степени.jpg|thumb|[[Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (Soviet Union)|Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky]], introduced by the [[Soviet Union]] during the [[Second World War]]]]
The official Russian [[historiography]] stressed the fact that Khmelnytsky entered into union with Moscow's Tsar [[Alexei Mikhailovich]] with an expressed desire to "re-unify" Ukraine with Russia. This view corresponded with the official theory of Moscow as an heir of the [[Kievan Rus']], which appropriately gathered its former territories.<ref name="HeroRosSov">{{cite book|editor1=Georgiy Kasianov|editor2=Philipp Ther|title=A Laboratory of Transnational History: Ukraine and Recent Ukrainian Historiography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HjFjTRL5O_4C&pg=PA54|year=2009|publisher=Central European University Press|isbn=978-963-9776-26-5|pages=54–55}}</ref>

Khmelnytsky was viewed as a national hero of Russia for bringing Ukraine into the "eternal union" of all the Russias – Great (Russia), Little (Ukraine) and White (Belarus) Russia. As such, he was much respected and venerated during the existence of the Russian Empire. His role was presented as a model for all Ukrainians to follow: to aspire for closer ties with Great Russia. This view was expressed in a monument commissioned by the [[Russian nationalism|Russian nationalist]] [[Mikhail Yuzefovich]], which was installed in the centre of [[Kiev]] in 1888.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CE%5CM%5CEmsUkase.htm|title=Ems Ukase|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Ukraine|access-date=11 June 2016}}</ref><ref>Mikhail Yuzefovich was also known for his contribution to the [[Ems Ukase]], which restricted the use of Ukrainian in [[Ukraine]].</ref>

Russian authorities decided the original version of the monument (created by Russian sculptor [[Mikhail Mikeshin]]) was too [[xenophobic]]; it was to depict a vanquished Pole noble, Jewish land administrator and a Catholic priest under the hooves of the horse. The inscription on the monument (since then removed) read: "To Bohdan Khmelnytsky from one and indivisible Russia."<ref>{{cite web|first=Viktor|last=Kyrkevych|url=http://www.oldkiev.info/pamyatniki_kieva/pamyatnik_Bogdanu_Xmelnickomu.html|script-title=ru:Памятник Богдану Хмельницкому|trans-title=Monument to Bohdan Khmelnytsky|language=ru|publisher=oldkiev.info|access-date=11 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416002235/http://www.oldkiev.info/pamyatniki_kieva/pamyatnik_Bogdanu_Xmelnickomu.html|archive-date=16 April 2016}}</ref> Mikeshin also created the Monument to the [[Millennium of Russia]] in [[Novgorod]], which has Khmelnytsky shown as one of Russia's prominent figures.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.novgorod.ru/english/read/information/architecture/millennium-russia/|title=The Monument to the Millennium of Russia|publisher=novgorod.ru|date=2007|access-date=11 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092045/http://www.novgorod.ru/english/read/information/architecture/millennium-russia/|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref>

[[Soviet historiography]] followed in many ways the Imperial Russian theory of re-unification while adding the [[class struggle]] dimension to the story.<ref name="HeroRosSov"/> Khmelnytsky was praised not only for re-unifying Ukraine with Russia, but also for organizing the class struggle of oppressed Ukrainian peasants against Polish exploiters.

=== Jewish history ===
{{Main|Khmelnytsky uprising|Yeven Mezulah}}
{{History of Ukraine}}
[[Jews]] compared Khmelnytsky to [[Haman]] and later to [[Adolf Hitler]].<ref name="Glaser2015-4">{{Cite book |last1=Glaser |first1=Amelia M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iycoCgAAQBAJ |title=Stories of Khmelnytsky; Competing Literary Legacies of the 1648 Ukrainian Cossack Uprising |date=19 August 2015 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-9496-1 |page=4}}</ref> The assessment of Khmelnytsky in [[Jewish history]] is overwhelmingly negative because he used Jews as scapegoats and sought to eradicate Jews from Ukraine. The [[Khmelnytsky Uprising]] led to the deaths of an estimated 18,000–100,000 Jews. These estimates include deaths from starvation and disease. Jews were among those who were sold to the [[Crimean Khanate|Crimean Tatars]], as slaves, in exchange for their cooperation with the Cossacks.<ref name="Stampfer">{{cite journal|last=Stampfer|first=Shaul|author-link=Shaul Stampfer|title=What Actually Happened to the Jews of Ukraine in 1648?|journal=Jewish History|publisher=Springer Nature|volume=17|issue=2|date=May 2003|issn=0334-701X|doi=10.1023/a:1022330717763|pages=207–227|s2cid=159092052}}</ref><ref>Sources estimating 100,000 Jews killed:
*"Bogdan Chmelnitzki leads Cossack uprising against Polish rule; 100,000 Jews are killed and hundreds of Jewish communities are destroyed." [http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/religion/judaism/timeline.html Judaism Timeline 1618–1770], ''[[CBS News]]''. Accessed 13 May 2007.
*"The peasants of Ukraine rose up in 1648 under a petty aristocrat, Bogdan Chmielnicki. ... It is estimated that 100,000 Jews were massacred and 300 of their communities destroyed". Oscar Reiss. ''The Jews in Colonial America'', McFarland & Company, 2004, {{ISBN|0-7864-1730-7}}, pp. 98–99.
*"Moreover, Poles must have been keenly aware of the massacre of Jews in 1768 and even more so as the result of the much more widespread massacres (approximately 100,000 dead) of the earlier Chmielnicki pogroms during the preceding century." Manus I. Midlarsky. ''The Killing Trap: genocide in the twentieth century'', Cambridge University Press, 2005,{{ISBN|0-521-81545-2}}, p. 352.
*"... as many as 100,000 Jews were murdered throughout the Ukraine by Bogdan Chmielnicki's Cossack soldiers on the rampage." [[Martin Gilbert]]. ''Holocaust Journey: Traveling in Search of the Past'', Columbia University Press, 1999, {{ISBN|0-231-10965-2}}, p. 219.
*"A series of massacres perpetrated by the Ukrainian Cossacks under the leadership of Bogdan Chmielnicki saw the death of up to 100,000 Jews and the destruction of perhaps 700 communities between 1648 and 1654 ..." Samuel Totten. ''Teaching About Genocide: Issues, Approaches, and Resources'', Information Age Publishing, 2004, {{ISBN|1-59311-074-X}}, p. 25.
*"In response to Poland having taken control of much of the Ukraine in the early seventeenth century, Ukrainian peasants mobilized as groups of cavalry, and these "cossacks" in the Chmielnicki uprising of 1648 killed an estimated 100,000 Jews." Cara Camcastle. ''The More Moderate Side of Joseph De Maistre: Views on Political Liberty And Political Economy'', McGill-Queen's Press, 2005, {{ISBN|0-7735-2976-4}}, p. 26
*"Is there not a difference in nature between Hitler's extermination of three million Polish Jews between 1939 and 1945 because he wanted every Jew dead and the mass murder [in] 1648–49 of 100,000 Polish Jews by General Bogdan Chmielnicki because he wanted to end Polish rule in the Ukraine and was prepared to use Cossack terrorism to kill Jews in the process?" Colin Martin Tatz. ''With Intent to Destroy: Reflections on Genocide'', Verso, 2003, {{ISBN|1-85984-550-9}}, p. 146.
*"... massacring an estimated one hundred thousand Jews as the Ukrainian Bogdan Chmielnicki had done nearly three centuries earlier." Mosheh Weiss. ''A Brief History of the Jewish People'', Rowman & Littlefield, 2004, {{ISBN|0-7425-4402-8}}, p. 193.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Chanes|first=Jerome A.|title=Antisemitism: A Reference Handbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ju7U83nRDt8C&pg=PA56|year=2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-209-7|page=56}}</ref> Atrocity stories about massacre victims who had been buried alive, cut to pieces or forced to kill one another spread throughout Europe and beyond. The pogroms contributed to a revival of the ideas of [[Isaac Luria]], who revered the [[Kabbalah]], and the identification of [[Sabbatai Zevi]] as the Messiah.<ref>Karen Armstrong, [[The Battle for God]]: ''A History of Fundamentalism'', Random House, 2001, p25-28.</ref> [[Orest Subtelny]] writes:
<blockquote>Between 1648 and 1656, tens of thousands of Jews—given the lack of reliable data, it is impossible to establish more accurate figures—were killed by the rebels, and to this day the Khmelnytsky uprising is considered by Jews to be one of the most traumatic events in their history.<ref name="Ukraine 1988, pp. 127-128">[[Orest Subtelny]], ''[[Ukraine: A History]]'', 1988, pp. 127–128.</ref></blockquote>

== Commemoration ==

*The Ukrainian city of [[Khmelnytskyi]] is named after Khmelnytsky.
*In most [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] cities there are streets named after Bohdan Khmelnytskyi. There is also Bohdan Khmelnytskyi Avenue in the city of [[Dnipro]].
*There are monuments to Khmelnytsky in [[Kyiv]], [[Chyhyryn]], [[Chernihiv]], Khmelnytskyi, [[Cherkasy]], [[Nikopol, Ukraine|Nikopol]], [[Kropyvnytskyi]], [[Zaporizhzhia]], and [[Subotiv]].
*The [[Separate Presidential Brigade|Separate Presidential Brigade "Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytskyi"]], a unit of the [[Armed Forces of Ukraine]] tasked with protecting the [[president of Ukraine]], is named in honor of Khmelnytsky.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Axe |first=David |date=25 Nov 2022 |title=Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's Personal Brigade Is Fighting One Of the Ukraine War's Hardest Battles |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2022/11/25/ukrainian-president-volodymyr-zelenskys-personal-brigade-is-fighting-one-of-the-ukraine-wars-hardest-battles/ |access-date=2023-02-17 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref>
*The [[Bohdan Khmelnytskyi National Academy of the State Border Service of Ukraine|National Academy of the State Border Service of Ukraine]] is named after Khmelnytsky.
*The [[Bohdan Khmelnytsky Battalion]], a [[Armed Forces of Russia|Russian]] battalion allegedly formed from Ukrainian [[Prisoner of war|POWs]] is named in honor of Khmelnytsky.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://kyivindependent.com/russian-state-media-ukrainian-pows-will-fight-for-russia-in-ukraine/ | title=Russian state media: Ukrainian POWs will fight for Russia in Ukraine | date=28 October 2023 }}</ref>

== See also ==
* {{ship|Soviet cruiser|Chervona Ukraina}}, known as ''Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky'' 1918–1922
*[[Krasnoluzhsky Bridge|Bohdan Khmelnytsky Bridge]] in Moscow
*[[Hetman of Zaporizhian Cossacks]]
*[[Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky]], a state military award in Ukraine
*[[Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (Soviet Union)]]
*''[[With Fire and Sword]]'' (1884), a historical novel by Polish author [[Henryk Sienkiewicz]] about these events.

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{notelist}}

== Further reading ==
<!--Put and keep in alphabetical order by author's surname-->
* [[Władysław Andrzej Serczyk]], ''Na dalekiej Ukrainie. Dzieje Kozaczyzny do 1648 roku'', Kraków 2008.
* [[Władysław Andrzej Serczyk]], ''Na płonącej Ukrainie. Dzieje Kozaczyzny 1648–1651'', Kraków 2009.
* [[Valeriy Smoliy]], [[Valeriy Stepankov]], ''Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Sotsialno-politychnyi portret'' Second Edition. Lebid, Kyiv. 1995. {{ISBN|5-325-00721-1}}.
* [[Orest Subtelny]]. ''Ukraine. A history.'' University of Toronto press. 1994. {{ISBN|0-8020-0591-8}}.
* Zbigniew Wójcik, ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20200606012701/http://bazhum.muzhp.pl/media/files/Przeglad_Historyczny/Przeglad_Historyczny-r1973-t64-n3/Przeglad_Historyczny-r1973-t64-n3-s575-585/Przeglad_Historyczny-r1973-t64-n3-s575-585.pdf Czy Kozacy Zaporoscy byli na służbie Mazarina?]'', "Przegląd Historyczny", vol. 64/3 (1973).
* Stephen Velychenko, [http://aleph.ukma.kiev.ua/e-lib/V/Velychenko_The%20Influence.pdf ''The influence of historical, political and social ideas on the politics of Bohdan Khmelnytsky and the Cossack officers between 1648 and 1657'']{{dead link|date=June 2016}}, Ph.D. dissertation, University of London, 1981.
*[[Mykhailo Hrushevsky]]. [https://ciuspress.com/product/history-of-ukraine-rus-volume-8/?v=3e8d115eb4b3 ''History of Ukraine-Rus''. Volume 8, "The Cossack Age, 1626 to 1650"]: trans. Marta Daria Olynyk, ed. [[Frank Sysyn]], with Myroslav Yurkevich. 2002.
*[[Mykhailo Hrushevsky]]. [https://ciuspress.com/product/history-of-ukraine-rus-volume-9-book-1/?v=3e8d115eb4b3 ''History of Ukraine-Rus''. Volume 9-1, "The Khmelnytsky Era, 1651 to 1653"]: trans. Bohdan Strumiński, ed. [[Serhii Plokhy]] and [[Frank E. Sysyn]], with Uliana M. Pasicznyk. 2005.
*[[Mykhailo Hrushevsky]]. [https://ciuspress.com/product/history-of-ukraine-rus-volume-9-book-2-part-1/?v=3e8d115eb4b3 ''History of Ukraine-Rus''. Volume 9-2, "The Khmelnytsky Era, 1654 to 1657"], part 1: trans. Marta Daria Olynyk, ed. [[Serhii Plokhy]] and Frank E. Sysyn, with Myroslav Yurkevich. 2008.
*[[Mykhailo Hrushevsky]]. [https://ciuspress.com/product/history-of-ukraine-rus-volume-9-book-2-part-2/?v=3e8d115eb4b3 ''History of Ukraine-Rus''. Volume 9-2, "The Khmelnytsky Era, 1654 to 1657"], part 2: trans. Marta Daria Olynyk, ed. Yaroslav Fedoruk and Frank E. Sysyn, with Myroslav Yurkevich. 2010.
*{{Cite book |first=Олександр |last=Палій |title=Історія України |trans-title=A History of Ukraine |volume=3 |year=2017 |location=[[Kyiv]] |publisher=К.І.С |isbn=978-617-684-166-1|language=uk}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links|voy=Bohdan Khmelnytsky}}
{{Wiktionary|Khmelnytsky}}
{{Wikidata|label|Q203808}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Chmielnicki, Bogdan | volume= 6 |last= Bain |first= Robert Nisbet |author-link= Robert Nisbet Bain| pages = 257–258 |short= 1}}
*[[Oleksander Ohloblyn]], [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CK%5CH%5CKhmelnytskyBohdan.htm Khmelnytsky, Bohdan, article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 2 (1989).]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041124052838/http://sumy.net.ua/History/map/12!.php Cossack State after 1649 (map)]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111127044252/http://www.lvivbest.com/en/people/bohdan-khmelnytsky Biography of Bohdan Khmelnytsky]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29GwAWO8t9k Mykola Mashchenko, Film about Khmelnytsky (2008)], Dovzhenko Film Studios
*[https://jewishhistorylectures.org/2013/02/19/nathan-of-hanover-and-the-ukrainian-revolution-of-1648-1649/ Dr. Henry Abramson, Video on ''Nathan of Hanover and the Ukrainian Revolution of 1648–1649''], 19 February 2013, ''Jewish Biography as History,'' Jewish History lectures, Henry Abramson website

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Khmelnytsky, Bohdan}}
[[Category:1590s births]]
[[Category:1657 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Antisemitism in Ukraine]]
[[Category:Ukrainian military leaders]]
[[Category:17th-century Ukrainian people]]
[[Category:17th-century generals]]
[[Category:17th-century military officers]]
[[Category:17th-century military personnel]]
[[Category:17th-century diplomats]]
[[Category:17th-century monarchs]]
[[Category:Founding monarchs in Europe]]
[[Category:National founders]]
[[Category:Ukrainian mass murderers]]
[[Category:Hetmans of Zaporizhian Host]]
[[Category:Ruthenian nobility]]
[[Category:People from Cherkasy Oblast]]
[[Category:Genocide perpetrators]]
[[Category:Ukrainian nationalism]]
[[Category:Russian nationalism]]
[[Category:People of the Khmelnytsky Uprising]]