Why did the Russian Cossacks wear oblong shaggy hats?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Surely many have seen the strange furry elongated headdresses of the Russian Cossacks. At the same time, not everyone knows where the mysterious fur hat came from, what it is called and what it is needed for. In fact, with this hat, not everything is as simple as it might seem at first glance. It's time to learn more about one of the brightest attributes of Russian cavalrymen.

The "shaggy" cylindrical fur hat, which can be seen on Russian Cossacks, is called a papakha. As you might guess, it is not a primordially Russian headdress. The wardrobe item was borrowed from the peoples of the Caucasus and Central Asia, where the Russian Empire had been expanding for several centuries. Papakha is one of the most striking borrowings of successful inventions by alien peoples, from indigenous peoples.

It is believed that Russian soldiers began to wear hats while serving in the Caucasus and Central Asia from about 1817. This headpiece quickly gained popularity due to its outstanding performance and, above all, its convenience. However, then the official concept of a hat as an item of military equipment was not discussed. This happened only in 1855. Then the hat was officially installed in the Russian army, and only in the Cossack units.

At the same time, the hats in the Russian imperial army were very different. The appearance of the papahs could vary greatly depending on the region of service of a particular unit. Most of the Cossack popes were tall, with short fur and black. At the same time, the Ural, Trans-Baikal, Amur and Ussuri divisions wore hats with long fur. In Siberian Cossack formations, they already wore cropped hats, with short fur and black. Representatives of His Majesty's retinue and bodyguards wore (as a rule) high white hats with short fur.

This headdress in the Russian army became a uniform item of clothing and, in fact, performed two functions. First, it reflected the cavalryman's belonging to the Cossack formation. Secondly, it was just a comfortable winter headdress. Suffice it to say that the papakha turned out to be such a comfortable hat that it was able to survive in the imperial army.

In 1913, a regulation was adopted in the Russian Empire, which established a hat as a headdress for all the land forces of the country. True, it did not have time to get really widespread. Firstly, because a new hat was already being prepared, which was later named "Budenovka". Secondly, because in 1917 there was a revolution. By the way, the revolutionaries also loved the hat, as a mark of distinction they sewed a red ribbon to it. During the Civil War, hats were used by literally everyone: red, white, green. They wore both imperial hats of the 1910 model and traditional Caucasian headdresses.

In 1922, in Soviet Russia, the hat was officially withdrawn from mass use. However, already in 1936, by order of the NKO of the USSR No. 67 of April 23, the famous headdress returned again. According to the order, fighters of the Cossack formations in the Red Army could use the hat as an output form of clothing. Thus, the Caucasian Cossacks wore Ossetian hats (“Kubanks”), and the Don Cossacks preferred the traditional high hats. 4 years later, in 1940, a new order was issued, which allowed the use of a hat as a winter headdress for generals and marshals of the Soviet Union. And after some time, the cap was allowed to be worn by colonels of all branches of the military, instead of a cap with earflaps.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1995, the hat fell. By a new order, the headdress was banned for use in the army. Nevertheless, 10 years later, in 2005, by the decree of the President of the Russian Federation of 08.05.2005, No. 531, the Caucasian headdress was once again returned to the troops. Today it is relied on to generals and colonels, as in the days of the USSR.