Sotnia

(hundred). (1) A military unit in the army of Old Russia. Sotni existed in the 16th and 17th centuries in regiments of strel’tsy (musketeers).

(2) A military subunit in cossack units in prerevolutionary Russia; the sotnia was the equivalent of a troop in the regular cavalry.

(3) A military and administrative-territorial unit in the Ukraine from the 16th to 18th centuries. The sotnia emerged as the host of registered cossacks took form; it constituted part of a regiment. During the War of Liberation of the Ukrainian People of 1648–54, the regimental and sotnia structure was extended to the entire Ukraine. The sotnia was named for the locality in which its institutions were headquartered. From seven to 20 sotni of varying strength—from several dozen to several hundred men—were in a regiment. The sotnia was headed by a sotnik.

(4) Russian medieval soslovie-corporate organizations of the period from the 11th to 18th centuries (see, and ).