The 16th century, the time when the Cossacks were taking shape on the Don. The plot’s intrigue, the beautiful setting, horse races, battles, rituals, songs, and the love between the young military ataman Danila and Aigül, the daughter of a Nogai murza, which transcends class and religious differences — all of this unfolds against the backdrop of the Cossacks’ historical choice to side with the Muscovite State in the struggle against the remnants of the Golden Horde.