 The origins of the Cossacks are disputed.Originally the term referred to semi-independent Tatar groups ("qazaq" or "free men") who inhabited the "Wild Fields", or steppes, north of the Black Sea near the Dnieper River.By the end of the 15th century, the term was also applied to peasants who had fled to the devastated regions along the Dnieper and Don rivers, where they established their self-governing communities.