part of the Ottoman Empire, who allowed them to settle there. By 1778 they numbered 12 thousand men, and the Turkish Sultan decided that they would have much more use as a Cossack Host, and allocated them the land of Kuchungary (modern Transnistria) in the lower Dniester where they swore loyalty to the Ottoman Empire. However the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War divided the Cossacks. Some returned to Russia and joined the new Host of Loyal Zaporozhians (later the Black Sea Cossack Host) formed out of the Cossacks who chose to remain in Russia in 1775. After the Russo-Turkish War (1806–12), Bessarabia became part of Russia, and the Danubian Cossacks lost their allocated land. Rivalry with Nekrasovites Following Turkey's defeat, some Cossacks retreated with the Turkish Army across the Danube River, where the Sultan allowed them to build a Sich in the settlement of Katerlez in the Danube Delta right next to existing settlements of Nekrasov Cossacks and Lipovans. There was increasing friction between the two groups over land and fishing rights. In 1794, the Nekrasovites attacked and destroyed Katerlez. Afterwards the Turkish authorities re-located the Danubian Zaporozhians further up the Danube on the Great Brăila Island. The new location was much poorer for fishing and resulted in a group of 500 Cossacks, led by Kosh Pomelo to return to Russia. In 1800 the Balkan Peninsula erupted in uprisings led by Osman Pazvantoğlu who rebelled against the new Turkish Sultan Selim III. In order to gain support, Pazvantoğlu promised the Nekrasovites all the land on the lower Danube. Seeing an opportunity to settle the score with their rivals, the Danubian Zaporozhians sided with the Sultan. The resulting Civil War saw severe losses in both Cossack groups. In the end the rebellion was put down, the Zaprozhians where rewarded by the Brailov Nazir, who allowed then to return to Katerlez in 1803. However the Nekrasovites found their own protector, the commandant of Izmail Pekhlevanoğlu. With his aid, they attacked the Sich once again in 1805 and sacked it. The surviving Zaporozhians fled to Brailov (modern Brăila, Romania). The new Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812) caused further division among the Danubian Cossacks. After Russia overran the Danube, the Kosh Otaman Trofim Gaibadura and Ivan Guba offered their allegiance to Russia. They were permitted to settle in the Budjak region and by order of Alexander I and on 20 January 1807 formed the Lower-Danube Budjak