Türkiyede Polonya

Czaykowski was brought up in a family that maintained the traditions of the Cossack nobles in the city of Berdychiv, currently situated in Ukraine and the environment that he has gone through and brought up affected his vision and imagination and in the meantime, his works and political activities as well. Czaykowski took part in the mutiny of November 1830 against Russia as a commander in a Cossack unit at the Karol Różycki regiment. Following the failure of the mutiny, he was exiled, the same as numerous Polish people, to France.  He started to write romans there. He praised the Cossacks in his works and expressed his nostalgia at his wordings and pieces of works, and since the Middle East was interested in to a great extent at that period, Czaykowski gained popularity and his novels were translated into some languages. According to a prophecy, his novel, titled as Wernyhora, occupies a special place among his works since he popularized the discourse indicating that Poland would be independent when a Muslim soldier offered water to his horse from the River Vistula. Czaykowski, when he was in Paris, took part in a political organization having gathered the Polish nationals, who were in exile in France and titled as Hôtel Lambert. The Prince Adam Czartoryski, who led the organization, sent Czaykowski to Istanbul in the year of 1841 as his representative any appointed him as the first director of the Oriental Polish Agency. One of the main objectives of the said Agency was to diminish the influence of Russia among the Slavic people living in the Ottoman Empire.

When Czaykowski was in Istanbul, his life partner and most important consultant was Ludwika Śniadecka. Their house was converted into a basic base of the Polish Oriental Agency during the years and became the political centre of the political immigrants of the Poles at Pera.

Numerous Hungarian and Polish soldiers, who took part in the Hungarian revolution having taken place in 1848, took refuge in the Ottoman Empire, and Austria-Russia ask for the return of those exiles. As a result of that consequence, Czaykowski played a key role in the refugee problem having occurred in 1849. Then, the Russian Embassy asked for the extradition of Czaykowski as a result of the rising influence of Czaykowski within the Ottoman Empire. Afterwards, Czaykowski embraced the Islam in the month of December of 1850 and was named as Mehmed Sadık in order to stay in Istanbul and continue to its activities there. Notwithstanding that he waived from his duty at the Oriental Agency, Czaykowski continued its collaboration with Hotel Lambert and the official of the Ottoman Empire continued to regard him as the political representative of the Polish nationals. Sadık Pasha, who was promoted to an Ottoman General rank when the Crimean War broke out (1853-56), set up a Cossack Cavalry Regiment having consisted of the Slavic volunteers under the commandership of the Polish officers. After the completion of the war, Sadık Pasha was rewarded with the Medjidie Order. The Cossack Regiment, however, was then, sent to Bulgaria, Thesselia and Lebanon.

The behaviour or role of Czaykowski in the rebellion, taken place in January of 1863, caused an entire disagreement among the Polish citizens living in the Ottoman Empire. Notwithstanding that he did not raise difficulties to his soldiers, who wanted to take part in the national struggle of the Polish people and resigned from the Cossack unit, did not give support either to the rebellion in Poland since he regarded himself as an Ottoman soldier before all else. 

Czaykowski was so exhausted spiritually as a result of the death of Ludwika Śniadecka in 1866 and put an end to the Ottoman-Cossack military activities and works. Sadık Pasha, who felt to have sustained a defeat in front of the Russian Pan-Slavism that he fought against during his entire life, started to make an approach to this movement from intellectual point of view. Two years later, he resigned from the Ottoman army in 1870 and made peace with the Russian Tsar and went to Russia. This step, taken by him was severely criticised both by the Polish people and Ottomans. Czaykowski – Mehmed Sadık Pasha committed suicide in 1866.  

The son of Czaykowski, named as Władysław – Muzaffer Pasha (1843 – 1907), came to Istanbul during the Crimean War upon the call of his father and joined the Cossack Cavalry Regiment, and served the Ottoman army for years in the subsequent period, and was appointed as the governor of Lebanon in 1901.