Palanka (administrative unit)

Palanka is a historical administrative and military unit of the Zaporozhian Sich. Each palanka region was centered around a settlement with a wooden fortifications that was also called palanka. They were largely populated by small Cossack settlements such as. Northern palankas, located close to the Cossack Hetmanate, had a large population, while the ones located on the southern borders of the Sich were sparsely populated.

History

In 1634, there were five customs checkpoints on the borders of the Zaporozhian Sich – Perevolochna, Bakhmut,, Perevizna, and – and the original palankas emerged around them. The system was fully established by the Nova Sich period in 1734–1775. While the exact number fluctuated from five to eleven, there were eight major palankas: Buh Hard, Kalmius, Kodak, Pereviz or Inhul, Oril, Prohnoi, Protovcha, and Samara. At the end of Nova Sich, two more palankas were created – Barvinkove and Lychkove – although they did not exist for long. At some point, also existed on the far eastern border of the Sich. Each palanka had its own badge, flag and seal, and was headed by a polkovnyk who received a pernach after being elected at the Rada, or later being appointed by the. The palanka system was abolished with the liquidation of the Zaporozhian Sich in 1775.