Bashkir-Meshcheriak Host

Bashkir-Meshcheriak Host

 

an irregular army formed by the Russian government in 1798 on the model of cossack hosts in the territory of Orenburg, Samara, and Viatka provinces with the aim of providing military support of the Orenburg borderline. The army was subordinated to the commander of the Separate Orenburg Corps. The territory of the host was divided into 12 cantons, which enjoyed self-government. In the beginning the Bashkir-Meshcheriak Host had from 5,000 to 5,500 men. It participated in the Patriotic War of 1812 and the foreign campaigns of 1813–14 (20 regiments), in the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–29 (two regiments), in the Khiva campaign of 1839, and in the Crimean War of 1853–56 (two regiments). It was abolished in 1865.