Editing Cossacks (section)

===Yaik Cossacks===
{{Main|Ural Cossacks}}
[[File:Battle Cossacks with Kyrgyz 1826.JPG|thumb|left|Ural Cossacks skirmish with [[Kazakhs]] (the Russians originally called the Kazakhs 'Kirgiz')]]
[[File:DedPogadaev.jpg|thumb|Yaik (Orenburg) Cossacks from Sakmara settlement; Alexander Mertemianovich Pogadaev standing at left, 1912]]
[[File:Russian-Cossacks-on-March.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.15|Ural Cossacks, {{circa|1799}}]]
The [[Ural Cossack]] Host was formed from the Ural Cossacks, who had settled along the [[Ural River]]. Their alternative name, Yaik Cossacks, comes from the river's former name, changed by the government after [[Pugachev's Rebellion]] of 1773–1775. The Ural Cossacks spoke Russian, and identified as having primarily Russian ancestry, but also incorporated many [[Tatars]] into their ranks.<ref>{{cite book|last1 = Wixman|first1 = Ronald|title = The peoples of the USSR: an ethnographic handbook| page = 51|publisher = M.E. Sharpe|date = 1984|isbn = 978-0-87332-203-4}}</ref> In 1577, twenty years after Moscow had conquered the Volga from Kazan to [[Astrakhan]],<ref name="Donnelly1968">{{cite book |last1=Donnelly |first1=Alton S. |title=The Russian Conquest of Bashkiria 1552–1740 |year=1968 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-00430-4}}</ref> the government sent troops to disperse pirates and raiders along the Volga. Among them was [[Yermak Timofeyevich]]. Some escaped to flee southeast to the Ural River, where they joined the Yaik Cossacks. In 1580, they captured [[Saraichik]]. By 1591, they were fighting on behalf of the government in Moscow. Over the next century, they were officially recognized by the imperial government.