The Hetmanate or officially Viysko Zaporozke was the Ukrainian Cossack state in the central and north-eastern regions of Ukraine between 1649 and 1775. It began with the Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1648, and the first leader was Bohdan Khmelnytsky, who ruled from 1648–57.
The Hetmanate lost independence as a result of the misinterpretation of the Treaty of Pereyaslav (Pereyaslavska Rada) of 1654. The Treaty of Andrusovo (Andrusiv) of 1667 divided the state between Russia and Poland. This division caused the civil war Ukraine between various parties of Ukrainian Cossacks that lasted till the end of the 17th century. In the 18th century the territory of the Hetmanate was limited to left-bank Ukraine. In 1764 the autonomy of the Cossack state and the post of hetman were abolished by Catherine II of Russia.
Its capital was at Chyhyryn, and later at Baturyn and Hlukhiv.
The Hetmanate state consisted of most of what is now central Ukraine and a small part of today's Russia. Specifically, its territory included what is now the oblasts (provinces) of Chernihiv, Poltava, and Sumy (without the southeastern portion), the left-bank territories of Kiev and Cherkasy, as well as the western portion of Bryansk Oblast of Russia.