Nagaika
The nagaika,[1] sometimes nagyka (Russian: нага́йка, pronounced [nɐˈɡajkə]) is a short, thick whip with round cross-section used by Cossacks, borrowed from the Nogai people, hence the original name "nogaika", or "Nogai's whip".[2] It is also called камча, kamcha from the Turkic word "kamci" for "whip". The latter word is also used for short whips of Central Asian origin.
Description
[edit]The nagaika was made out of leather strips by braiding. It was possible to have a piece of metal at the tip of the whip. A short loop is attached to the handle so that the nagayka would hang from the arm when the grip is released or lost.
The main purpose of a nagaika was to urge a horse to move forward or to gallop. A metal piece was traditionally used as a defense against wolves. According to Vladimir Dahl's "Explanatory Dictionary of the Live Great Russian language", this nagayka was called volkoboy (волкобой, "wolf-slayer").
In modern times the descriptions of the military use of nagaika tend to be mythologized. As in the past, the prime and predominant use was to control or drive a horse.[3] At the same time the nagaika was known to be used against unarmed people, e.g. for corporal punishment or to disperse public disorders[4] (e.g., during Russian Revolutions),[5] so that a mounted cossack using a nagayka against worker or student demonstrators become a symbol of tsarist oppression.
In 2005 the Cossacks were reformed and armed with nagaikas in addition to other traditional weapons.[citation needed]
In 2014, members of Pussy Riot were attacked by Cossacks wielding nagaikas and pepper spray while protesting.[6]
Russian Imperial Army nagaika
[edit]Below is an official regulation of the Imperial Russian Army for the nagaikas of the Cossack troops from a 1911 book.[7]
The nagaika (whip) for all Cossack troops, except for the Caucasian ones, consists of: a) a braid, b) a wooden handle, c) a strap braided around the handle, d) a loop for putting on the hand.
The braid is made from two rawhide belts, about 1/2 vershok (22 mm) wide, cut into narrow strips, braiding them together to form a braid 1/4 vershok (11 mm) in diameter. The uncut ends of these belts, folded together, serve to attach the braid to the handle with a rawhide strap, about 1/8 vershok (5.5 mm) thick and of such a length that, having tied the braid to the handle with 9 turns, it would have a free end sufficient for winding the entire handle up to the loop put on the hand. The handle is birch, or some other hard wood, is made ¼ vershok thick and about 10 vershok (44 cm) long. At the opposite end of the handle, at 11/2 vershok, (66 mm) from the end, a rawhide strap, about 1/8 versh. (5-6 mm) wide and about 8 versh. (35-36 cm) long, is passed through a hole drilled in the wood, the ends of which are tied and form a loop for putting on the rider's arm. A rawhide shoulder strap, about 2 arshins 8 versh. (178 cm) long and 3/16-1/4 versh. (8-11 mm) wide, is fastened at one end, by means of a cut made in it, to the loop put on the arm; the other end of the strap is folded in half and tied to the strap with a flat knot, at a distance of 6 versh. (26 cm), from the other end tied to the handle, thus forming a loop about 1 arshin (71 cm) long, which is put on the rider's shoulder.
Gallery
[edit]-
Orenburg Cossack with a whip in his hand -
Ural Cossacks on the march. Some riders have nagaikas visible -
Kalmyk lashes "malia" and "tashmg" -
A kind of Kalmyk nagaika with a uniformly tightly woven, almost unbending leather whip without tapering to the tip -
Nagaika of the Kuban and Terek Cossacks
References
[edit]- ^ "Nagaika". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. "Nagaika". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: . Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). 1906.
- ^ "О современной нагайке и ее истории" "About the modern nagaika and its history"
- ^ Hingley, R. (1994). Joseph Stalin: Man and Legend. Smithmark. p. 27 ("nagayka"). ISBN 9780831758691. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
- ^ The Living Age, July 26, 1902, "The Russian Awakening"
- ^ Lally, Kathy (19 February 2014). "Whip-wielding Russian Cossacks attack Pussy Riot members near Sochi Olympics". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
Members of the performance-art group Pussy Riot were attacked on a public plaza Wednesday by Cossacks brandishing whips and discharging pepper spray, a day after police picked them up and held them for nearly four hours without charges.
- ^ Руководство к постройке обмундирования и снаряжения для нижних чинов всех казачьих войск, 1911, Russian State Library
See also
[edit]External links
[edit]- "Nagayka", construction and technique (an excerpt from the book Г. Э. Адамович, Р. И. Федин "Владение холодным оружием (казачьи техники)") (in Russian)
- "Вольная станица" design and kinds (in Russian)
