Khotyn, Peace Treaty of

Khotyn, Peace Treaty of. An agreement concluded in October 1621 after the Battle of Khotyn, putting an end to the Polish-Turkish War of 1620–1. It designated the Dnister River as the border between Poland and Turkey. Turkey and the Crimean Khanate agreed to desist from raids on Ukraine and Poland in return for gifts of money and valuables; Poland undertook to return Khotyn to Moldavia, Turkey’s vassal, and to curtail Cossack raids on the Crimea and Turkey. The Cossacks, who had fought bravely on the Polish side, were not party to the treaty. Their rights curtailed and their efforts not suitably rewarded, they felt that they had been treated unfairly and continued their sea raids on Turkey.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 2 (1988).]