The Left-bank Ukraine, also known as Livoberezhzhia, is a historic region in north-central and central Ukraine. It is located on the left (east) bank of the Dnieper River, comprising the modern-day oblasts of Chernihiv and Poltava, as well as the eastern parts of Kyiv and Cherkasy, and the western part of Sumy.
Up until the mid-17th century, the area had belonged to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. During the period of Polish rule, the region of modern-day Left-bank Ukraine was known as Zadniprovia ("Trans-Dnieper") and was centered around Lubny, the residence of the Wiśniowiecki family, which was acquired by Aleksander Wiśniowiecki from Cherkasy nobleman Mykhailo Baybuza in 1589.
By the 1640s, Aleksander's grandson Yarema controlled over 50 cities and towns in the area, and mass settlement increased the local population to around 250,000 people. During that period, the discovery of saltpeter sources near Myrhorod, Khorol and Hadiach led to a conflict as a result of the crown's attempt to realize its monopoly on those goods. During the Khmelnytsky Uprising, in summer 1648 Wiśniowiecki lost his possessions to the rebels, and they were incorporated by the Cossack Hetmanate.
Under Russian rule, the left-bank Ukraine initially enjoyed a degree of autonomy within the Tsardom (from 1721, Imperial Russia) as the Cossack Hetmanate, which was slowly withdrawn throughout the eighteenth century when the Zaporizhian Sich was destroyed.
Ukraine
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