Ataman

Ataman (variants: otaman,[1] wataman, vataman; Russian: атаман; Ukrainian: отаман) was a title of Cossack and haidamak leaders of various kinds.

The Russian term ataman is probably connected to Old East Slavic vatamanŭ, and cognates with Turkic odoman (Ottoman Turks).

[2] Suggestions have been made that the word might be of Turkic origin, literally meaning 'father of horsemen'[3][4] or 'father of men', 'pure blooded father' or 'eldest man'.

The head of the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic, in particular, Symon Petliura, was called Supreme Otaman (головний отаман).

Russian-Azerbaijani MMA fighter Rafael Fiziev fights with the nickname "Ataman" as a homage to his mixed Central Asian heritage.

Ivan Matveevich Krasnoshchekov, Ataman of the Don Cossacks . Portrait is from 1761. The term Ataman is a theme of various Russian folk songs ( Watch Russian folk song where Ataman is the theme of the song on YouTube )