Who were the Polovtsians, about whom Putin said: Enemies, neighbors or insidious allies of the ancient Russian princes

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The Cumans first appeared at the Russian borders in 1055. Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich was returning from a campaign to the Torks and met an unknown nomadic people led by Khan Bolush. The acquaintance took place in a friendly atmosphere - the future neighbors exchanged gifts and parted. This is how the mysterious nomads calling themselves Kypchaks got their old Russian name - "Polovtsy". In the future, they will attack on the territory of Russia, cooperate with the princes in internecine wars, give their daughters to them and build trade relations.

Where did the Polovtsians come from

Since 1064, in Byzantine and Hungarian sources, there are some Cumans and Kuns, previously unknown in Europe, but similar in description to the Polovtsy and Kipchaks.

The official version says that all the listed tribes represent a single Turkic people, and in different countries they are called differently. Their ancestors - the Sars - lived in the lands of Altai and the eastern Tien Shan, but in 630 their state was defeated by the Chinese. The surviving tribes moved to the Kazakh steppes, where they were assigned a self-name - "Kypchaks" (or Kipchaks). In the Byzantine, Russian and Hungarian chronicles, people with such a name are not mentioned, and tribes similar in description are called Cumans, Kuns and Polovtsians. The last word, according to one of the theories, comes from the Old Russian "sexual", which means "yellowish", but the exact etymology is still unknown.

The traditional version, which attributes the Kuns, Cumans, Kipchaks and Polovtsians to a single people, has weaknesses. For example, she cannot explain why the Kipchaks were not known either in Byzantium, or in Russia, or in Hungary. And in the Islamic states, on the contrary, they have never heard of the Cumans and Polovtsians. The main heritage of the Polovtsian culture is the stone women, which were built on the mounds in honor of the fallen soldiers. Such traces were characteristic only of the Kipchaks and Polovtsians, the Kumans and Kuns did not leave such monuments after themselves. This argument casts doubt on the official version, which studies all four peoples as representatives of the same ethnic group.

Cruel mercenaries in internecine wars

At the time of the first meeting with Vsevolod Yaroslavich, the Polovtsy were not yet going to confront the Russian principalities. They were faced with another task - to fight on their territories with representatives of local steppe peoples. But in the second half of the 11th century, the situation changed. The Kipchaks no longer intended to remain "good neighbors" and more and more often made sudden raids on southern Russia. They devastated the land, took prisoners with them, took away livestock and property from the inhabitants.

The main strength of the Polovtsians consisted in shock cavalry and the use of the latest equipment. For example, in their arsenal there was a "liquid flame", which they most likely borrowed from the Chinese during their habitation in Altai.

While centralized power remained in Russia, the raids were seasonal, and a fragile neutrality was maintained between the princes and steppe dwellers. Neighbors maintained trade ties, residents of border areas communicated with each other, marriages of Russian rulers with the daughters of Polovtsian khans were popular.

In 1073, the union of the three sons of Yaroslav the Wise broke up - Svyatoslav and Vsevolod suspected Izyaslav of a conspiracy and desire for "autocracy", which was the beginning of a long turmoil in Russia. This situation played in favor of the Kipchaks. They did not take sides, but willingly cooperated with those who offered them favorable terms. At first, the Polovtsians simply watched the "pulling" of power, continuing to make one-time raids. Then the Russian princes began to attract the Kipchaks as military support in internecine wars.

Prince Oleg Svyatoslavich was the first to bring the militant steppe dwellers to Russian territories in order to use them in civil strife. Later on, such cooperation became a popular practice.

Oleg Svyatoslavich allowed the Polovtsians to burn the captured cities, taking all the loot for himself, for which he received the nickname - Gorislavich. With the help of the nomads, he expelled Vladimir Monomakh from Chernigov and captured Murom, overthrowing Izyaslav Vladimirovich from there. The Russian princes faced a real threat of losing their own territories.

How Vladimir Monomakh defeated the militant nomads

The first attempt to unite the forces of the Russian lands against the Polovtsians was made by Vladimir Monomakh. At the same time, he himself was the son of a Polovtsian woman who was married to the Kiev prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich. In 1103, on his initiative, the Dolob congress of Russian princes took place, where it was urgently necessary to decide how to defeat the Polovtsians, stop the fratricidal war and "create peace" in Russia.

Vladimir Monomakh proposed a grandiose but risky plan - to go to the steppe himself and strike a blow to the nomads in the depths of their territory. It was decided to go on a campaign in the spring, when the horses of the steppe inhabitants were exhausted from the meager winter diet.

Unlike the Polovtsi, who succeeded in surprise attacks, the Russian troops had the advantage in open battles. Vladimir Monomakh used his favorite tactic - he allowed the enemy to attack first, thereby exhausting him even more than during defense. During the battle, 20 Polovtsian khans were killed and the numerous Lukomorian horde was destroyed.

Later, several more such campaigns were made, which forced the steppe inhabitants to migrate away from the Russian lands.

Where did the Polovtsians disappear

After the death of Vladimir Monomakh, the Russian princes again began to attract the Kipchaks for military support in internecine wars. In the second half of the 12th century, at the suggestion of Khan Konchak, the confrontation between the Russians and the Polovtsy resumed. It was he who, in 1185, captured Igor Svyatoslavich, the main character of The Lay of Igor's Regiment.

The last round of relations between the Russians and the Kipchaks is associated with the legendary battle on the Kalka River in 1223. This time, the neighbors united in the fight against a common enemy - the Mongol-Tatar horde, but were defeated. A decade and a half later, the Golden Horde ravaged Russia and put it in tributary dependence - the era of the Tatar-Mongol yoke began.

After the defeat by the Mongols, some of the Kipchaks fled in different directions - the Balkans, Transcaucasia, Russia and even Egypt. The overwhelming majority of the steppe inhabitants nevertheless remained in their place and were assimilated. The Polovtsy could not survive as a nation, but they did not disappear without a trace. Linguists claim that the Kipchaks influenced the formation of the Bashkir, Tatar, Kumyk and many other languages.

Modern scientists are sure that descendants of the fierce Polovtsians among us live today. Who they are and how you can find them out - in our review.