摘要
哥薩克(Cossack)一詞源自突厥語kazak，意爲「勇敢、自由的人」、「冒險者」、「輕騎兵」。他們主要分佈在裏海、黑海北岸的德聶伯河下游、頓河、伏爾加河下游、烏拉河一帶，夾處在波蘭王國、莫斯科公國、克里米亞汗國、土耳其帝國之間。「德聶伯河哥薩克」和「頓河哥薩克」約於十五世紀末十六世紀初形成，二者皆爲信奉東正教的俄羅斯人。「德聶伯河哥薩克」來自波蘭轄區，由於不願接受農奴化以及堅持自己的東正教信仰，紛紛逃往德聶伯河下游一帶：「頓河哥薩克」則來自莫斯科公國，隨著該公國中央集權的加強與賦稅的加重，於是逃往中央政府鞭長莫及的頓河一帶。他們均是爲追求自由、平等而遷移至荒涼的烏克蘭草原上，由於該地區是遊牧民族韃靼人經常出沒的危險地帶，於是有了軍事化的組織，形成哥薩克人具有勇敢與冒險精神的特質。因此，論哥薩克人的形成除了論及其何以遷徙至荒涼的邊區之外，亦須說明其半軍事化生活產生的背景。
並列摘要
'Cossack' is derived from the Turkish term 'kazak', which means 'brave', 'light cavalry', or 'a daring, free man'. The Cossacks originally lived in the steppes between .the lower Dnieper, the Don, the lower Volga rivers, bordered by Poland, Muscovy, Crimean Khanate and Ottoman Empire. Both the Dneiper Cossacks and the Don Cossacks took shape in the second half 15(superscript th) century and the first half of 16(superscript th) century; and both of them were orthodoxy in religion and Russians in ethnic identity. The Dnieper Cossacks emigrated from the Polish territory to the lower Dnieper region, due to their resistance to be enslaved by serfdom and their insistance in Orthodox belief. And the Don Cossacks moved to the Don region from Muscovy, owing to the growing centralization and the increasing taxation of the Muscovite government. Because they were after the ideal of freedom and equality, they left their native land and went into the wildness to embrace a life of liberty and autonomy. However, the new land where they were in was frequently invaded by the Tartars, they had to form their autonomous communities based on military regimentation, which also attributed to their character of bravery and spirit of adventure. Therefore, in the discussion of the formation of the Cossacks, it is necessary to inquire into the origins of their militarized way of living as well as the causes of their migration to the wilderness of the borderlands.