Sotnik

(1) An officer’s rank in the cossack hosts of prerevolutionary Russia, the equivalent of the rank of lieutenant in the regular army.

(2) The head of a sotnia, an administrative-territorial unit in the Ukraine in the period from the 16th to 18th centuries. The sotnik had broad military, administrative, judicial, and financial powers. Originally, he was elected by the cossacks; subsequently, however, he was appointed by the hetmán or by the colonels of the starshina (elders). The sotnik’s subordinates were the pisar’ (clerk), sotnia ataman, esaul, and khorunzhii (cornet).