Polovtsians who they are and who their descendants are. We know nothing about whether the Polovtsians had a written language. Attitude towards women

Many historians studying the history of Russia often write about the internecine wars of the princes and their relations with the Cumans, a people who have many ethnonyms: Kipchaks, Kypchaks, Polovtsians, Cumans. More often they talk about the cruelty of that time, but very rarely the question of the origin of the Cumans is touched upon.

It would be very interesting to know and answer questions such as: where did they come from?; how did they interact with other tribes?; what kind of life did they lead?; what was the reason for their migration to the West and was it related to natural conditions?; how did they coexist with the Russian princes?; why did historians write so negatively about them?; how did they disperse?; Are there any descendants of this interesting people among us? The works of orientalists, historians of Russia, and ethnographers should certainly help us answer these questions, on which we will rely.

In the 8th century, almost during the existence of the Great Turkic Khaganate (Great El), a new ethnic group emerged in the Central and Eastern parts of modern Kazakhstan - the Kipchaks. The Kipchaks, who came from the homeland of all Turks - from the western slopes of Altai - united the Karluks, Kyrgyz, and Kimaks under their rule. All of them received the ethnonym of their new owners. In the 11th century, the Kipchaks gradually moved towards the Syr Darya, where the Oguzes roamed. Fleeing from the warlike Kipchaks, they moved to the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region. Almost the entire territory of modern Kazakhstan becomes the domain of the Kypchak people, which is called the Kypchak Steppe (Dasht-i-Kipchak).

The Kipchaks began to move to the West, for almost the same reason as once the Huns, who began to suffer defeats from the Chinese and Xianbeans only for the reason that a terrible drought began in the eastern steppe, which disrupted the favorable development of the Xiongnu power, created by the great Shanyu Mode . The resettlement to the western steppes turned out to be not so easy, since clashes constantly occurred with the Oguzes and Pechenegs (Kangls). However, the resettlement of the Kipchaks was favorably influenced by the fact that the Khazar Kaganate, as such, no longer existed, because before that, the rise in the level of the Caspian Sea flooded many settlements of the Khazars who settled on the shores of the Caspian Sea, which clearly damaged their economy. The end of this state was defeat from the cavalry Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich. The Kipchaks crossed the Volga and advanced to the mouth of the Danube. It was at this time that the Kipchaks acquired such ethnonyms as Cumans and Polovtsians. The Byzantines called them Cumans. And Polovtsy, Kipchaks began to be called in Rus'.

Let's look at the ethnonym “Polovtsy”, because it is around this name of the ethnic group (ethnonym) that there are so many disputes, since there are a lot of versions. We will highlight the main ones:

So, the first version. The ethnonym “Polovtsy,” according to nomadic scholars, comes from “polov,” that is, straw. Modern historians judge from this name that the Kipchaks were fair-haired, and maybe even blue-eyed. Probably, the Polovtsians were Caucasoid and it was not for nothing that our Russian princes, who came to the Polovtsian kurens, often admired the beauty of the Polovtsian girls, calling them “red Polovtsian girls.” But there is another statement by which we can say that the Kipchaks were a European ethnic group. I appeal to Lev Gumilyov: “Our ancestors were friends with the Polovtsian khans, married “red Polovtsian girls,” (there are suggestions that Alexander Nevskiy was the son of a Polovtsian woman), accepted the baptized Polovtsians into their midst, and the descendants of the latter became Zaporozhye and Sloboda Cossacks, replacing the traditional Slavic suffix “ov” (Ivanov) with the Turkic “enko” (Ivanenko).”

The next version is also somewhat reminiscent of the version mentioned above. The Kipchaks were the descendants of the Sary-Kipchaks, that is, those same Kipchaks who formed in Altai. And “sary” is translated from ancient Turkic as “yellow”. In Old Russian, “polov” means “yellow”. It could be from horse color. The Polovtsians could be called that because they rode poultry horses. The versions, as you can see, diverge.

The first mention of the Polovtsians in Russian chronicles comes down to 1055. Historians like N. M. Karmzin, S. M. Solovyov, V. O. Klyuchevsky, N. I. Kostomarov The Kipchaks were considered terrible, terrible barbarians who had badly battered Rus'. But as Gumilyov said about Kostomarov, that: “It’s more pleasant to blame your neighbor for your own troubles than yourself”.

Russian princes often fought among themselves with such cruelty that one could mistake them for yard dogs that had not shared a piece of meat. Moreover, these bloody civil strife occurred very often and they were more terrible than some small attacks of nomads, say, on the Principality of Pereyaslavl. And here, not everything is as simple as it seems. After all, the princes used the Polovtsy as mercenaries in wars among themselves. Then our historians began to talk about how Rus' allegedly endured the fight against the Polovtsian hordes and defended Europe like a shield from a formidable saber. In short, our compatriots had plenty of fantasies, but they never came to the essence of the matter.

It is interesting that Rus' protected Europeans from the “evil barbarian nomads,” and after that Lithuania, Poland, Swabian Germany, and Hungary began to move to the East, that is, to Rus', to their “defenders.” We really needed to protect the Europeans, but there was no protection at all. Rus', despite its fragmentation, was much stronger than the Polovtsians and those opinions of the historians listed above are unfounded. So we did not protect anyone from nomads and were never the “shield of Europe”, but rather were even a “shield from Europe”.

Let's return to the relationship between Rus' and the Polovtsians. We know that the two dynasties - the Olgovichi and the Monomashichs - became irreconcilable enemies, and the chroniclers, in particular, lean towards the Monomashichs as heroes of the fight against the steppes. However, let's look at this problem objectively. As we know, Vladimir Monomakh concluded “19 peaces” with the Polovtsians, although he cannot be called a “prince peacemaker”. In 1095, he treacherously killed the Polovtsian khans, who agreed to end the war - Itlarya And Kitana. Then the Prince of Kyiv demanded that the Prince of Chernigov Oleg Svyatoslavich either he would have given up his son Itlar, or he would have killed him himself. But Oleg, who would become a good friend of the Polovtsians, refused Vladimir.

Of course, Oleg had enough sins, but still, what could be more disgusting than betrayal? It was from this moment that the confrontation between these two dynasties began - the Olgovichi and Monomashichi.

Vladimir Monomakh was able to carry out a series of campaigns against the Polovtsian nomads and ousted some of the Kipchaks beyond the Don. This part began to serve the Georgian king. The Kipchaks did not lose their Turkic valor. They stopped the onslaught of the Seljuk Turks in Kavakaz. By the way, when the Seljuks captured the Polovtsian kurens, they took physically developed boys and then sold them to the Egyptian Sultan, who raised them to become elite fighters of the caliphate - the Mamluks. In addition to the descendants of the Kipchaks, the descendants of the Circassians, who were also Mamluks, served the Sultan in the Egyptian Caliphate. However, these were completely different units. The Polovtsian Mamluks were called al-Bahr or Bakhrits, and Circassian Mamluks al-Burj. Later, these Mamluks, namely the Bahrits (descendants of the Cumans), would seize power in Egypt under the leadership of Baybars and Kutuza, and then they will be able to repel the attacks of the Mongols of Kitbugi Noyon (Hulaguid state)

Let us return to those Polovtsians who were still able to remain in the North Caucasus steppes, in the northern Black Sea region. In the 1190s, some of the Polovtsian nobility adopted Christianity. In 1223, the commanders of the Mongol army of two tumens (20 thousand people), Jabe And Subadei, made a sudden raid into the rear of the Polovtsians, bypassing the Caucasus ridge. In this regard, the Polovtsians asked for help in Rus', and the princes decided to help them. It is interesting that, according to many historians who had a negative attitude towards the steppe inhabitants, if the Polovtsians are eternal enemies of Rus', then how will they explain such quick, almost allied, help from the Russian princes? However, as you know, the joint troops of the Russians and the Polovtsians were defeated, and not because of, say, the superiority of the enemy, which was not there, but because of their disorganization (the Russians and the Polovtsians numbered 80 thousand people, and the Mongols were only 20 thousand. people). Then followed the complete defeat of the Polovtsians from the temnik Batu. After this, the Kipchaks dispersed and practically ceased to be considered an ethnic group. Some of them dissolved in the Golden Horde, some converted to Christianity and later entered the Principality of Moscow, some, as we said, began to rule in Mamluk Egypt, and some went to Europe (Hungary, Bulgaria, Byzantium). This is where the history of the Kipchaks ends. All that remains is to describe the social system and culture of this ethnic group.

The Polovtsians had a military-democratic system, practically like many other nomadic peoples. Their only problem was that they never submitted to centralized authority. Their kurens were separate, so if they gathered a common army, it happened rarely. Often several kurens united into a small horde, the leader of which was the khan. When some khans united, the kagan was at the head.

Khan occupied the highest position in the horde, and the word “kan” was traditionally added to the names of the Cumans who held this position. After him came the aristocrats who gave orders to the community members. Then the heads who led the ordinary warriors. The lowest social position was occupied by women - servants and convicts - prisoners of war who performed the functions of slaves. As was written above, the horde included a certain number of kurens, which consisted of aul families. A koshevoy was appointed to own the kuren (Turkic “kosh”, “koshu” - nomad, to roam).

“The main occupation of the Cumans was cattle breeding. The main food of simple nomads was meat, milk and millet, and their favorite drink was kumiss. The Polovtsians sewed clothes according to their own steppe patterns. The everyday clothing of the Polovtsians were shirts, caftans and leather pants. Household chores, reportedly Plano Carpini And Rubruk, usually done by women. The position of women among the Polovtsians was quite high. The norms of behavior of the Cumans were regulated by “customary law.” Blood feud occupied an important place in the system of Polovtsian customs.

For the most part, if we exclude the aristocracy, which began to accept Christianity, the Polovtsians professed Tengrism . Just like the Turkuts, the Polovtsians revered wolf . Of course, shamans called “bashams” also served in their society, who communicated with spirits and treated the sick. In principle, they were no different from the shamans of other nomadic peoples. The Polovtsians developed a funeral cult, as well as a cult of ancestors, which gradually grew into the cult of “hero leaders.” They built mounds over the ashes of their dead and erected the famous Kipchak balbals (“stone women”), erected, as in the Turkic Kaganate, in honor of the warriors who died in the fight for their land. These are wonderful monuments of material culture, reflecting the rich spiritual world of their creators.

The Polovtsians often fought, and military affairs came first for them. In addition to excellent bows and sabers, they also had darts and spears. Most of the troops were light cavalry, consisting of horse archers. Also, the army had heavily armed cavalry, whose warriors wore lamellar armor, plate armor, chain mail, and helmets. In their free time, warriors hunted to hone their skills.

Again, stepophobic historians argued that the Polovtsians did not build cities, but in their lands the cities of Sharukan, Sugrov, Cheshuev, founded by the Polovtsians, are mentioned. In addition, Sharukan (now the city of Kharkov) was the capital of the Western Cumans. According to the historian-traveler Rubruk, the Polovtsians owned Tmutarakan for a long time (according to another version, at that time it belonged to Byzantium). They were probably paid tribute by the Greek Crimean colonies.

Our story about the Polovtsians ends, however, despite the fact that this article does not have enough data about this interesting ethnic group and therefore needs to be supplemented.

Alexander Belyaev, Eurasian Integration Club MGIMO (U).

Bibliography:

1. 1. Gumilyov L.N. “Ancient Rus' and the Great Steppe.” Moscow. 2010
2. 2. Gumilyov L.N. “A millennium around the Caspian Sea.” Moscow. 2009
3. 3. Karamzin N. M. “History of the Russian State.” Saint Petersburg. 2008
4. 4. Popov A.I. “Kypchaks and Rus'.” Leningrad. 1949
5. 5. Grushevsky M. S. “Essay on the history of the Kyiv land from the death of Yaroslav toXIVcenturies." Kyiv. 1891
6. 6. Pletnyova S. A. “Polovtsy.” Moscow. 1990
7. 7. Golubovsky P.V. « Pechenegs, Torques and Cumans before the Tatar invasion.” Kyiv. 1884
8. 8. Plano Carpini J. “History of the Mongols, whom we call Tatars.” 2009 //
9. 9. Rubruk G. “Travel to Eastern Countries.” 2011 //

The Polovtsians are one of the most mysterious steppe peoples, who entered Russian history thanks to raids on principalities and repeated attempts by the rulers of the Russian lands, if not to defeat the steppe inhabitants, then at least to come to an agreement with them. The Polovtsians themselves were defeated by the Mongols and settled throughout a large part of Europe and Asia. Now there is no people who could directly trace their ancestry to the Polovtsians. And yet they certainly have descendants.

In the steppe (Deshti-Kipchak - Kipchak, or Polovtsian steppe) lived not only the Cumans, but also other peoples, who were either united with the Cumans or considered independent: for example, the Cumans and Kuns. Most likely, the Polovtsians were not a “monolithic” ethnic group, but were divided into tribes. Arab historians of the early Middle Ages identify 11 tribes, Russian chronicles also indicate that different tribes of the Polovtsians lived west and east of the Dnieper, east of the Volga, near the Seversky Donets.

The descendants of the Polovtsians were many Russian princes - their fathers often took noble Polovtsian girls as wives. Not long ago, a dispute arose about what Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky actually looked like. According to the reconstruction of Mikhail Gerasimov, his appearance combined Mongoloid features with Caucasoid ones. However, some modern researchers, for example, Vladimir Zvyagin, believe that there were no Mongoloid features in the appearance of the prince at all.

What did the Polovtsy themselves look like?

There is no consensus among researchers on this matter. In sources from the 11th-12th centuries, the Polovtsians are often called “yellows”. The Russian word also probably comes from the word “polovy”, that is, yellow, straw.

Some historians believe that among the ancestors of the Cumans were the “Dinlins” described by the Chinese: people who lived in southern Siberia and were blond. But authoritative Polovtsian researcher Svetlana Pletneva, who has repeatedly worked with materials from mounds, does not agree with the hypothesis about the “blond hair” of the Polovtsian ethnic group. “Yellow” can be a self-name of a part of a nationality in order to distinguish itself and contrast it with others (in the same period, for example, there were “black” Bulgarians).

According to Pletneva, the bulk of the Polovtsians were brown-eyed and dark-haired - they were Turks with an admixture of Mongoloidity. It is quite possible that among them there were people of different types of appearance - the Polovtsians willingly took Slavic women as wives and concubines, although not from princely families. The princes never gave their daughters and sisters to the steppe people. In the Polovtsian nomads there were also Russians who were captured in battle, as well as slaves.

Hungarian king from the Cumans and the “Cuman Hungarians”

Part of the history of Hungary is directly connected with the Cumans. Several Polovtsian families settled on its territory already in 1091. In 1238, pressed by the Mongols, the Cumans under the leadership of Khan Kotyan settled there with the permission of King Bela IV, who needed allies.
In Hungary, as in some other European countries, the Cumans were called “Cumans”. The lands on which they began to live were called Kunság (Kunshag, Cumania). In total, up to 40 thousand people arrived at the new place of residence.

Khan Kotyan even gave his daughter to Bela's son Istvan. He and the Cuman Irzhebet (Ershebet) had a boy, Laszlo. Because of his origin, he was nicknamed “Kun.”

According to his images, he did not look at all like a Caucasian without an admixture of Mongoloid features. Rather, these portraits remind us of reconstructions of the external appearance of steppe people familiar from history textbooks.

Laszlo's personal guard consisted of his fellow tribesmen; he valued the customs and traditions of his mother's people. Despite the fact that he was officially a Christian, he and other Cumans even prayed in Cuman (Cuman).

The Cuman Polovtsians gradually assimilated. For some time, until the end of the 14th century, they wore national clothes and lived in yurts, but gradually adopted the culture of the Hungarians. The Cuman language was replaced by Hungarian, communal lands became the property of the nobility, who also wanted to look “more Hungarian.” The Kunsag region was subordinated to the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. As a result of the wars, up to half of the Cuman-Kipchaks died. A century later, the language completely disappeared.

Now the distant descendants of the steppe people are no different in appearance from the rest of the inhabitants of Hungary - they are Caucasians.

Cumans in Bulgaria

The Polovtsians arrived in Bulgaria for several centuries in a row. In the 12th century, the territory was under the rule of Byzantium, Polovtsian settlers were engaged in cattle breeding there and tried to enter the service.

In the 13th century, the number of steppe inhabitants who moved to Bulgaria increased. Some of them came from Hungary after the death of Khan Kotyan. But in Bulgaria they quickly mixed with the locals, adopted Christianity and lost their special ethnic features. Perhaps some Bulgarians now have Polovtsian blood flowing through them. Unfortunately, it is still difficult to accurately identify the genetic characteristics of the Cumans, because there are plenty of Turkic traits in the Bulgarian ethnos due to its origin. Bulgarians also have a Caucasian appearance.

Polovtsian blood in the Kazakhs, Bashkirs, Uzbeks and Tatars

Many Cumans did not migrate - they mixed with the Tatar-Mongols. The Arab historian Al-Omari (Shihabuddin al-Umari) wrote that, having joined the Golden Horde, the Cumans moved to the position of subjects. The Tatar-Mongols who settled on the territory of the Polovtsian steppe gradually mixed with the Polovtsians. Al-Omari concludes that after several generations the Tatars began to look like the Cumans: “as if from the same (their) family,” because they began to live on their lands.

Subsequently, these peoples settled in different territories and took part in the ethnogenesis of many modern nations, including the Kazakhs, Bashkirs, Kyrgyz and other Turkic-speaking peoples. The types of appearance of each of these (and those listed in the section title) nations are different, but each has a share of Polovtsian blood.

The Cumans are also among the ancestors of the Crimean Tatars. The steppe dialect of the Crimean Tatar language belongs to the Kipchak group of Turkic languages, and Kipchak is a descendant of Polovtsian. The Polovtsians mixed with the descendants of the Huns, Pechenegs, and Khazars. Now the majority of Crimean Tatars are Caucasians (80%), the steppe Crimean Tatars have a Caucasian-Mongoloid appearance.

Cumans, Komans (Western Europe and Byzantium), Kipchaks (Persian and Arab), Tsin-cha (Chinese).

Lifetime

If we take Chinese chronicles as a basis, then the Kipchaks were known from the 3rd-2nd centuries. BC. And until the 13th century, when many Kipchaks were destroyed by the Mongols. But to one degree or another, the Kipchaks became part of the Bashkir, Kazakh and other ethnic groups.

Historiography

Research begins in the 50s. XIX century, the result was the book by P.V. Golubovsky “Pechenegs, Torques and Cumans before the Tatar Invasion” (1883). At the beginning of the 20th century. Marquart's book “Uber das Volkstum der Komanen” was published, which still has a certain scientific significance to this day. In the 30s In the 20th century, D.A. Rasovsky studied the history of the Polovtsians, who wrote a monograph and several articles. In 1948, a book by V.K. Kudryashov’s “Polovtsian Steppe”, which gave a little scientifically. Starting from the 50-60s. S.A. was closely involved in the history of nomads. Pletnev and G.A. Fedorov-Davydov, with the inclusion of a large number of archaeological sites, which meant the transition of research to a new, higher quality level. In 1972, an extremely useful and informative book by B. E. Kumekov “The State of the Kimaks of the 9th-11th centuries” was published. according to Arabic sources."

Story

We learn about the early history of the Kimaks mainly from Arab, Persian and Central Asian authors.

Ibn Khordadbeh (second half of the 9th century), Al-Masudi (10th century), Abu-Dulaf (10th century), Gardizi (11th century), al-Idrisi (12th century). In the Persian geographical treatise “Hudud al-Alam” (“Borders of the World”), written in 982, entire chapters are devoted to the Kimaks and Kipchaks, and the great Central Asian writer al-Biruni mentioned them in several of his works.

VII century The Kimaks roam north of Altai, in the Irtysh region and are part of first the Western Turkic Kaganate and then the Uyghur Kaganate.

This is how it is described in the legend: “The leader of the Tatars died and left two sons; the eldest son took possession of the kingdom, the youngest became jealous of his brother; the youngest's name was Shad. He made an attempt on the life of his older brother, but was unsuccessful; fearing for himself, he, taking his slave-mistress with him, ran away from his brother and arrived at a place where there was a large river, many trees and an abundance of game; There he pitched a tent and settled down. Every day this man and the slave went out hunting, ate meat and made clothes from the fur of sables, squirrels and ermines. After that, seven people from relatives of the Tatars came to them: the first Imi, the second Imak, the third Tatar, the fourth Bayandur, the fifth Kipchak, the sixth Lanikaz, the seventh Ajlad. These people tended the herds of their masters; in those places where (formerly) there were herds, there are no pastures left; Looking for herbs, they came to the direction where Shad was. Seeing them, the slave said: “Irtysh,” i.e. stop; hence the river received the name Irtysh. Having recognized that slave, the Kimakis and the Kipchaks all stopped and pitched their tents. Shad, returning, brought with him a large booty from the hunt and treated them; they stayed there until winter. When the snow fell, they could not go back; there is a lot of grass there, and they spent the whole winter there. When the earth was painted and the snow melted, they sent one man to the Tatar camp to bring news about that tribe. When he arrived there, he saw that the entire area was devastated and deprived of population: the enemy came, robbed and killed all the people. The remnants of the tribe went down to that man from the mountains, he told his friends about the situation of Shad; they all headed towards the Irtysh. Arriving there, everyone greeted Shad as their boss and began to honor him. Other people, having heard this news, also began to come (here); 700 people gathered. For a long time they remained in the service of Shad; then, when they multiplied, they settled in the mountains and formed seven tribes named after the seven people named” (Kumekov, 1972, pp. 35-36).

Thus a union of tribes was formed, headed by the Kimaks. The Kipchaks occupied a special position in this union and had their own nomadic territory to the west of the other tribes - in the southeastern part of the Southern Urals.

IX-X centuries The Kimak Kaganate and its territory were finally formed - from the Irtysh to the Caspian Sea, from the taiga to the Kazakh semi-deserts. The political center of the Kaganate was in the eastern part, closer to the Irtysh in the city of Imakia. At the same time, the process of nomads settling on the earth took place. There is a development of fundamental construction, agriculture and crafts. But again, this process was typical for the eastern regions of the Kaganate, and in the west, where the Kipchaks roamed, this process did not receive any widespread development.

Turn of the X-XI centuries. Centrifugal movements begin in the Kimak state and the Kipchaks actually become independent.

Beginning of the 11th century Extensive movements begin throughout the steppe space of Eurasia; the Kipchaks, as well as some Kimak tribes - the Kais and Kuns - are included in this movement. The latter crowd on their way the Kipchaks, named in the sources as balls (yellow or “red-haired”). And the Kipchaks, in turn, pushed aside the Guz and.

30s XI century The Kipchaks occupy spaces that previously belonged to the Guzes in the Aral steppes and on the border of Khorezm, and begin to penetrate beyond the Volga into the southern Russian steppes.

Mid-11th century A new people is being formed, called the Russian Polovtsians.

• According to one of the hypotheses (Pletnev), the Polovtsians are a complex array of tribes and peoples, headed by the Shari tribes - the “yellow” Kipchaks, and which united disparate tribes living on the territory of the Black Sea region - the Pechenegs, Guz, the remnants of the Bulgarian and Alan population, living along the banks of rivers.
• There is another hypothesis according to which two ethnic massifs emerged - the Kumans-Kumans, led by one or more Kipchak hordes, and the Polovtsians, united around the Shary-Kipchak hordes. The Cumans roamed west of the Polovtsians, whose territory was localized along the Seversky Donets and in the Northern Azov region.

1055 The Polovtsians approached the borders of Rus' for the first time and made peace with Vsevolod.

1060 The first attempt of the Cumans to raid Russian lands. The blow came from the southeast. Svyatoslav Yaroslavich Chernigovsky and his squad were able to defeat four times the Polovtsian army. Many Polovtsian warriors were killed and drowned in the Snovi River.

1061 A new attempt by the Polovtsians, led by Prince Sokal (Iskal), to plunder Russian lands was successful.

1068 Another raid by nomads. This time, on the Alta River (in the Pereyaslav Principality), the combined forces of the “triumvirate” - the regiments of Izyaslav, Svyatoslav and Vsevolod Yaroslavich - met with the Polovtsians. However, they too were defeated by the Polovtsians.

1071 The Polovtsians attack from the right bank of the Dnieper, from the southwest in the Porosye region.

1078 Oleg Svyatoslavovich leads the Polovtsians to Russian lands, and they defeat the regiments of Vsevolod Yaroslavich.

1088 The Polovtsy, at the invitation of the Pechenegs, take part in the campaign against Byzantium. But when dividing the spoils, a quarrel broke out between them, which led to the defeat of the Pechenegs.

1090-1167 The reign of Khan Bonyak.

1091 The Battle of Lubern, in which 40 thousand Polovtsians (under the leadership of the khans Bonyak and Tugorkan) acted on the side of the Byzantines (Emperor Alexei Komnenos) against the Pechenegs. For the latter, the battle ended in tears - they were defeated, and at night all the captured Pechenegs with their wives and children were exterminated by the Byzantines. Seeing this, the Polovtsians, taking the booty, left the camp. However, returning home, they were defeated on the Danube by the Hungarians under the leadership of King Laszlo I.

1092 During the difficult dry summer for Rus', “the army was great from the Polovtsians from everywhere,” and it is specifically stated that the western Poros towns of Priluk and Posechen were taken.

1093 The Polovtsians wanted to make peace after the death of Vsevolod Yaroslavovich, but the new Kiev prince Svyatopolk Izyaslavovich decided to give battle to the Polovtsians. He persuaded princes Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh and Rostislav Vsevolodovich to join the campaign. The Russians advanced to the Strugna River, where they suffered a severe defeat. Then Svyatopolk once again fought with the Polovtsians at Zhelani and was again defeated. The Polovtsy took Torchesk from this field and ravaged all of Porosye. Later that year there was another Battle of Aleppo. Its outcome is unknown.

1094 After a series of defeats, Svyatopolk had to make peace with the Polovtsians and marry the daughter of Khan Tugorkan.

1095 The Polovtsian campaign against Byzantium. The reason was the claim of the impostor Romanos-Diogenes to the Byzantine throne. More than half of the soldiers died on the campaign, and the booty was taken away by the Byzantines on the way back.

While Bonyak and Tugorkan were on a campaign, the Pereyaslavl prince Vladimir Vsevolodovich killed the ambassadors who came to him and then struck at their territory, capturing a large number of Polovtsians.

1096 Khan Bonyak with many Polovtsians attacked the lands around Kyiv and burned the princely court in Berestov, Kurya burned the Ustye on the left bank of the Dnieper, then Tugorkan besieged Pereyaslavl on May 30. Only in the summer did princes Svyatopolk and Vladimir manage to repel the attack, and in the Battle of Trubezh, Khan Tugorkan was killed along with many other Polovtsian khans. In response to this, Khan Bonyak again approached Kyiv and plundered the Stefanov, Germanov and Pechora monasteries and went to the steppe.

1097 Khan Bonyak took revenge on the Hungarians by defeating their detachment, which sided with the Kyiv prince Svyatopolk.

End of the 11th century The process of forming the Polovtsian hordes ended. Each horde was assigned territories and a specific nomadic route. During this period, they developed meridional nomadism. They spent the winter on the seashore, in the valleys of various rivers, where livestock could easily obtain food. In the spring, the period of migration began up the rivers, to the river valleys rich in grass. During the summer, the Polovtsians stayed at summer camps. In the fall, they returned to their winter quarters along the same route. At the same time, the Polovtsians began to appear fortified settlements - towns.

1103 The Dolobsky Congress took place, at which the Russian princes, at the instigation of Vladimir Monomakh, decided to strike a blow to the Polovtsians deep in their territory. Vladimir accurately calculated the time of the campaign - in the spring, when the Polovtsian cattle were weakened by meager winter nutrition and calving and it was actually impossible to hastily drive them to a place inaccessible to enemies. In addition, he, of course, thought through the direction of the attack: first in the “protolchi” (the wide right-bank valley of the middle Dnieper), expecting to capture the late winter roads of the Polovtsians there, and in case of failure to follow the route of this group, already known in Rus', to the spring pastures on seashore.

The Polovtsians wanted to avoid battle, but the young khans insisted on it and the Russians defeated the nomads on the Sutin (Milk) River. 20 Polovtsian “princes” were killed - Urusoba, Kochiy, Yaroslanopa, Kitanopa, Kunam, Asup, Kurtyk, Chenegrepa, Surbar “and their other princes.” As a result, a fairly large Polovtsian horde (Lukomorskaya) was completely destroyed.

1105 Khan Bonyak's raid on Zarub in Porosye.

1106 Another Polovtsian raid, this time unsuccessful.

1107 The combined forces of the Polovtsians (Bonyak attracted the eastern Polovtsians, led by Sharukan, to the campaign) approached the city of Lubny. The regiments of Svyatopolk and Vladimir came out to meet them and with a powerful blow, crossing the Sula River, they defeated the nomads. Bonyak's brother Taaz was killed and Khan Sugr and his brothers were captured.

Vladimir married the son of the future Yuri Dolgoruky to a Polovtsian woman, and Prince Oleg also took a Polovtsian woman as his wife.

1111 At the Dolb Congress, Vladimir again persuaded the princes to go on a campaign to the steppe. The combined forces of the Russian princes reached the “Don” (modern Seversky Donets) and entered the “city of Sharukan” - apparently a small town located on the territory of Khan Sharukan and paying tribute to him. Next, another fortification was captured - the “city” of Sugrov. Then two battles took place “on the Degaya channel” and on the Salnitsa River. In both cases, the Russians won and, “having taken a lot of booty,” returned to Rus'.

Map of the location of the Polovtsian hordes at the beginning of the 12th century, according to Pletneva S.A.

1113 The Polovtsians attempted to take revenge, but the Russians, coming out to meet the Polovtsians, forced them to retreat.

1116 The Russians again advanced into the steppe and again captured the towns of Sharukan and Sugrov, as well as a third city, Balin.

In the same year, a two-day battle took place between the Cumans, on the one hand, and the Torci and Pechenegs on the other. The Polovtsy won.

1117 The defeated horde of Torks and Pechenegs came to Prince Vladimir under his protection. There is an assumption (Pletnev) that this horde once guarded the town of Belaya Vezha on the Don. But, as written above, the Russians drove out the Polovtsians, taking their towns twice (1107 and 1116), and they, in turn, migrated to the Don and drove out the Pechenegs and Torks from there. Archeology also speaks about this; it was at this time that the desolation of the Belaya Vezha occurred.

Peace was concluded with the relatives of Tugorkan - Andrei, the son of Vladimir, married the granddaughter of Tugorkan.

1118 Part of the Polovtsy, under the leadership of Khan Syrchan (son of Sharukan), remains on the southern tributaries of the Seversky Donets. Several Polovtsian hordes (numbering about 230-240 thousand people) under the leadership of Khan Atrak (son of Sharukan) settled in the Cis-Caucasian steppes. Also, at the invitation of the Georgian king David the Builder, several thousand Polovtsy, under the leadership of the same Atrak, moved to Georgia (Kartli region). Atrak becomes the king's favorite.

1122 The Western Cumans destroyed the city of Garvan, which was located on the left bank of the Danube.

1125 Another Polovtsian campaign against Rus', repelled by Russian troops.

1128 Vsevolod Olgovich, in order to fight the sons of Monomakh Mstislav and Yaropolk, asked for help from Khan Seluk, who did not hesitate to come with seven thousand soldiers to the Chernigov border.

Late 20s XII century Atrak with a small part of the horde returned to the Donets, but most of his Polovtsians remained in Georgia.

1135 Vsevolod Olgovich called his brothers and Polovtsians for help and led them to the Pereyaslavl principality (the ancestral patrimony of the Monomakhovichs), “the villages and cities are at war,” “people are cruel, and others are cruel.” So they reached almost Kyiv, took and burned Gorodets.

1136 The Olgovichi and the Polovtsians crossed the ice in winter to the right bank of the Dnieper near Trepol, bypassing the Chernoklobutsky Porosye, and headed to Krasn, Vasilev, Belgorod. Then they walked along the outskirts of Kyiv to Vyshgorod, firing at the Kievites through Lybid. Yaropolk hastened to make peace with the Olgovichi, fulfilling all their demands. The Principality of Kiev was thoroughly devastated, the surroundings of all the listed towns were robbed and burned.

1139 Vsevolod Olgovich again brought the Polovtsians, and the Pereyaslav borderland - Posulye - was plundered and several small towns were taken. Yaropolk responded by gathering 30 thousand Berendeys and forcing Vsevolod to make peace.

30s of the 12th century. Early associations were loose, often disintegrated, and were re-formed with a new composition and in a different territory. These circumstances do not give us the opportunity to accurately determine the location of the possessions of each great khan, and even more so of each horde. At the same time, the formation of more or less strong associations of hordes and the appearance of “great khans” in the steppes - the heads of these associations.

1146 Vsevolod Olgovich goes to Galich and attracts the Polovtsians.

1147 Svyatoslav Olgovich and the Polovtsy plundered Posemye, but upon learning that Izyaslav was coming against them, the Polovtsy went to the steppe.

40-60s XII century Small associations are formed in the steppe, called by the chronicler “wild Polovtsy”. These are nomads who did not belong to one of the known hordes, but were, most likely, the remnants of hordes defeated by the Russians, or those that broke away from related hordes. The principle of their formation was not consanguineous, but “neighborly.” They always acted in internecine struggles, on the side of some prince, but never opposed the Polovtsians.

Two such associations were formed - the western, allied with the Galician princes, and the eastern, allies of the Chernigov and Pereyaslavl princes. The first may have wandered in the area between the upper Bug and Dniester rivers on the southern outskirts of the Galicia-Volyn principality. And the second, perhaps, in the steppe Podolia (between Oskol and the Don or on the Don itself).

1153 Independent campaign of the Polovtsians against Posulye.

1155 The Polovtsian campaign against Porosye, which was repelled by the Berendeys led by the young prince Vasilko Yuryevich, the son of Yuri Dolgoruky.

50s XII century In the Polovtsian environment, 12-15 hordes emerged, which had their own nomadic territory, equal to approximately 70-100 thousand square meters. km., within which they had their own migration routes. At the same time, almost the entire steppe from the Volga to Ingulets belonged to them.

1163 Prince Rostislav Mstislavich made peace with Khan Beglyuk (Beluk) and took his daughter for his son Rurik.

1167 Prince Oleg Svyatoslavich made a campaign against the Polovtsy, apparently, then Khan Bonyak was killed.

1168 Oleg and Yaroslav Olgovich went against the Polovtsians to the vezhi with the khans of Kozl and Beglyuk.

1172 The Polovtsians approached the borders of Rus' from both banks of the Dnieper and asked for peace from the Kyiv prince Gleb Yuryevich. He initially decided to make peace first with those Polovtsians who came from the right bank, and went to them. The Polovtsy did not like this, they came from the left bank, and they attacked the outskirts of Kyiv. Having taken the full, they turned into the steppe, but were overtaken and defeated by Gleb’s brother, Mikhail, with the Berendeys.

1170 The great campaign of 14 Russian princes to the Polovtsian steppe. The vezhi were taken between Sula and Worksla, then the vezhi on Orel and Samara. All this time the Polovtsians were retreating, and the battle took place near the Black Forest (the right bank of the Donets, opposite the mouth of Oskol). The Polovtsians were defeated and scattered. This campaign put an end to the robberies of trade caravans.

1174 Konchak, the khan of the Don Polovtsy, and Kobyak, the khan of the “Lukomorsky” Polovtsy, made a joint campaign against Pereyaslavl. Having plundered the surrounding area, they turned into the steppe, but Igor Svyatoslavich caught up with them, and a skirmish occurred, which resulted in the flight of the Polovtsians.

1179 Konchak plundered the Pereyaslavl principality and, dodging the Russians, went into the steppe with rich booty.

1180 The Polovtsy Konchak and Kobyak entered into an agreement with the Olgovichs - Svyatoslav Vsevolovich and Igor Svyatoslavich against Rurik Rostislavich. A joint campaign was organized, which ended disastrously for the allies. In the battle on the Chertorye River, they were defeated by Rurik, as a result, many noble Polovtsians fell - “And then they killed the Polovtsian prince Kozl Sotanovich, and Eltuk, Konchak’s brother, and two Konchakovich boxes, and Totur, and Byakoba, and Kuniachyuk the rich, and Chugai ... " Khan Konchak himself fled with Igor Svyatoslavich.

1183 Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich and Rurik Rostislavich - the Grand Dukes of Kyiv - organized a campaign against the Polovtsians. Initially, the Polovtsy avoided the battle, but then, under the leadership of Kobiak Krlyevich, on the Oreli River, they attacked the Russians, but were defeated. At the same time, many khans were captured, and Khan Kobyak was executed.

1184 Konchak attempted to organize a large campaign against Russian lands, but Svyatoslav and Rurik defeated the Polovtsians on the Khorol River with an unexpected blow, Konchak managed to escape.

1185 The Kyiv princes began to prepare a big campaign against Konchak’s nomadic camps. But all plans are thwarted by the Chernigov princes, who decided to organize their campaign in the steppe independently of Kyiv.

The famous campaign of Igor Svyatoslavich to the steppe, described in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.” In addition to Igor and Olstin, brother Vsevolod Trubchevsky, nephew Svyatoslav Olgovich Rylsky, and Igor’s twelve-year-old son Vladimir Putivlsky joined the campaign. They went to Konchak's vezhi. The Russians captured defenseless vezhi, drank the night away, and in the morning found themselves surrounded by the Polovtsians, and even in a place inconvenient for defense. As a result, they suffered a crushing defeat, many of them were taken prisoner.

Later, Igor managed to escape, but his son remained with Konchak and was married to Konchak’s daughter, Konchakovna. Three years later he returned home with his wife and child.

After this victory, Gzak (Koza Burnovich) and Konchak directed attacks on the Chernigov and Pereyaslav principalities. Both trips turned out to be successful.

1187 The campaign of several Russian princes to the steppe. They reached the confluence of the Samara and Volchaya rivers, into the very center of the Burchevich horde and caused complete defeat there. At this time, apparently, the Polovtsians of this horde went on a predatory raid on the Danube.

Konchak's campaign in Porosye and Chernigov region.

1187-1197 Two brothers Asen I and Peter IV came to power in Bulgaria - according to one version, Polovtsian princes. Even if this is not the case, they quite often attracted the Cumans to fight against Byzantium.

1190 The Polovtsian Khan Torgliy and the Toric prince Kuntuvdey organized a winter campaign against Rus'. The Russians and the black hoods, led by Rostislav Rurikovich, made a return campaign in the same year, and reached the Polovtsian vezhs near the island of Khortitsa, captured the booty and went back. The Polovtsians caught up with them at the Ivli (Ingultsa) river and a battle took place, in which the Russians with black hoods won.

1191 Igor Svyatoslavich raided the steppe, but to no avail.

1192 Russian raid, when Polovtsian warriors from the Dnieper went on a campaign to the Danube.

1193 An attempt by Svyatoslav and Rurik to make peace with two Polovtsian associations with the “Onion Thieves” and the Burcheviches. The attempt was unsuccessful.

Beginning of the 13th century Relative calm is established between the Russians and the Polovtsians. Mutual attacks on each other stop. But the Western Cumans are becoming more active, entering into confrontation with the Galicia-Volyn principality. Khan Konchak dies and is replaced by his son Yuri Konchakovich.

Map of the location of the Polovtsian hordes at the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th centuries, according to Pletneva S.A.

1197-1207 The reign of Tsar Kaloyan in Bulgaria, the younger brother of Asen and Peter and, according to one version, he was also of Polovtsian descent. Continuing the policy of his brothers, he attracted the Cumans to the fight against the Byzantines and the Latin Empire (1199, 1205, 1206).

1202 Campaign against Galich by Rurik, the Grand Duke of Kyiv. He brought with him the Polovtsians, led by Kotyan and Samogur Setovich.

1207-1217 Boril's reign in Bulgaria. He himself may have come from a Polovtsian background and, as was customary at that time, he often recruited them as mercenaries.

1217

1218-1241 Reign of Asen II in Bulgaria. The flow of Polovtsians from Hungary and those fleeing from the Mongols from the Black Sea region intensified. This is evidenced by the appearance of stone statues, characteristic only of the Eastern Polovtsians. But at the same time, under pressure from the Bulgarian population, the Polovtsy are beginning to accept Orthodoxy.

1219 Campaign against the Galicia-Volyn principality with the Polovtsians.

1222-1223 The first blow of the Mongols against the Polovtsians. The campaign was led by Jebe and Subedei. They appeared here from the south, passing along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan, from there to Shirvan and further through the Shirvan Ugly to the North Caucasus and the Cis-Caucasian steppes. There a battle took place between the Mongols, on the one hand, and the Cumans and Alans on the other. No one could win, then the Mongols turned to the Polovtsians with a proposal - leave the Alans alone and we will bring you money and clothes, etc. The Polovtsians agreed and left their ally. Then the Mongols defeated the Alans, went out into the steppe and defeated the Cumans, who were sure that they had made peace with the Mongols.

1224 The Polovtsians were seized with panic, they began to look for allies, and found them in Kyiv. A large campaign was organized for the united regiments in the steppe. The first skirmish brought victory to the allies, and they rushed to pursue the Mongols, but after 12 days of pursuit, the allies stumbled upon superior Mongol forces. Then the famous battle on the Kalka River took place, which lasted several days and led to the defeat of the Russians and Polovtsians. To be fair, it must be said that the Polovtsy left the battlefield, unable to withstand the onslaught of the Mongol troops, thereby leaving the Russian regiments to die.

After this battle, the Mongols plundered the Polovtsian vezhi, the Russian borderland and went to Volga Bulgaria, where they suffered a crushing defeat. After that they went back to the Mongolian steppes.

1226 Campaign against the Galicia-Volyn principality with the Polovtsians.

1228 Daniil Galitsky's attempts to establish relations with the Polovtsians fail.

1228-1229 Second strike of the Mongols. The order was given by Ogedei, a 30,000-strong detachment was headed by Subedei-Baghatur and Prince Kutai. Destination – Saksin on the Volga, Kipchaks, Volga Bulgarians. The eastern Polovtsians were mostly defeated; it was to this time that reports in sources date back to the Polovtsians who came to serve in Hungary and Lithuania; they also settled in the Rostov-Suzdal land. The Western Polovtsians remained relatively safe, as evidenced by the fact that Khan Kotyan continued to make campaigns against Galich.

1234 The campaign of Prince Izyaslav with the Polovtsy to Kyiv. Porosye is devastated.

1235-1242 The third Mongol campaign in Europe. The Mongol troops were led by 11 Genghisid princes, including Mengukhan and Batu, the founder of the Golden Horde. The troops were led by Subedei. Many Russian principalities and other European countries were devastated.

1237-1239 The conquest of the Kipchak-Polovtsians was taken into his own hands by Batu, who returned to the steppes after the devastation of the Russian lands; several Polovtsian military leaders (Ardzhumak, Kuranbas, Kaparan), sent to meet the Mongols by the Polovtsian khan Berkuti, were taken prisoner. After this, the Mongols began the systematic extermination of aristocrats and the best Polovtsian warriors. Other methods were also used to bring them to submission - the resettlement of the Polovtsian hordes, their inclusion in the army.

1237 Khan Kotyan turned to the Hungarian king Bela IV with a request to provide refuge to his 40,000-strong horde. The Hungarians agreed and settled the horde between the Danube and Tisza rivers. Batu demanded that the Cumans be handed over to him, but Bela refused to do so.

1241 Several Hungarian barons penetrated the Polovtsian camp and broke into the house where Khan Kotyan, his family and several noble princes lived. Kotyan killed his wives and himself, while the rest of the princes were killed in the battle. This infuriated the Polovtsians, they killed the militia gathered by Bishop Chanada to help the regular army, ravaged the nearest village and left for Bulgaria. The departure of the Cumans led to the defeat of the Hungarian king in the Battle of the Shayo River.

1242 The Hungarian king Bela IV returns the Cumans to their lands, which were pretty devastated.

1250 Power in Egypt is seized by the Mamluks - captive slaves in the service of the Sultan. The Mamluks are mainly Cumans and the peoples of Transcaucasia, who entered the slave markets in large numbers in the 12th-13th centuries. They managed to seize power and rise to prominence, which later allowed them to recruit their already free relatives from the Black Sea steppes into the army.

At the same time, it is worth highlighting the two most significant sultans of Egypt from among the Cumans - Baybars I al-Bundukdari (ruled 1260-1277) and Saifuddin Qalaun (ruled 1280-1290), who did a lot to strengthen the country and repelled the Mongol attack.

We learn about their ethnic origin from Arab sources.

• The 14th-century Egyptian historian al-Aini reports that “Baibars bin Abdullah, a Kipchak by nationality, belongs to the great Turkic tribe called Bursh (Bersh).”
• According to an-Nuwairi, Baybars was a Turk and came from the Elbarly tribe.
• Mamluk chronicler of the 14th century. al-Aini notes that Baybars and Qalaun come from the Turkic Burj tribe: “min Burj-ogly kabilatun at-Turk.”

According to Pletneva S.A. here we are talking about the Burchevich horde, which we wrote about above.

1253 The marriage of the Hungarian king Istvan (Stephen) V with the daughter of Kotyan, baptized Elizabeth, was concluded. His wife constantly intrigued against her husband, which ultimately led to the latter’s death.

1277 Laszlo IV Kun, the son of Polovtsian Elizabeth, ascended the Hungarian throne. He nominally united the country, winning several important victories relying on the Cumans-Polovtsians. Among other things, he was very close to them, which later led to tragic consequences.

1279 The papal legate Philip demanded from Laszlo IV that the Cumans accept Christianity and settle on the earth. The king was forced to agree; in response, the Polovtsians rebelled and ravaged part of the lands.

1282 The Polovtsians leave Hungary for Transnistria to join the Mongols. From there they marched on Hungary and ravaged the country. But a little later, Laszlo IV manages to defeat the Cumans, and some of them go to Bulgaria. At the same time, the king understands that he cannot maintain power and retires, leaving the country in the hands of struggling magnates.

1289 A new attempt by Laszlo IV to return to power, but unsuccessful. And a year later he is killed by his own noble Polovtsians. After this, the Cumans, although they play a significant role in Hungarian society, gradually merge into it and after about a hundred years, a complete merger occurs.

Second half of the 13th century. As we have seen, with the arrival of the Mongols, the steppe and surrounding countries were shaken by horrific events. But life did not stop. Fundamental changes took place in Polovtsian society - the Mongols destroyed those who disagreed or drove them to neighboring countries (Hungary, Bulgaria, Rus', Lithuania), the aristocracy was also either destroyed or tried to be removed from their native steppes. Their place at the head of the Polovtsian associations was taken by Mongolian aristocrats. But for the most part, the Polovtsy, as a people, remained in place, only changing their name to Tatars. As we know, the Tatars are a Mongol tribe that committed offenses before Genghis Khan and therefore, after their defeat, the remnants of the tribe were used as punishment in the most difficult and dangerous campaigns. And they were the first to appear in the Russian steppes and brought with them their name, which subsequently begins to apply to all nomadic, and not only, peoples.

The Mongols themselves were few in number, especially since most of them, after the campaigns, returned back to Mongolia. And those that remained literally two centuries later had already dissolved in the Polovtsian environment, giving them a new name, their own laws and customs.

Social structure

During the resettlement of the Polovtsians in the 11th century. in the Black Sea region, their main economic and social unit were the so-called kurens - connections of several, mostly patriarchal, related families, essentially close to the large-family communities of agricultural peoples. Russian chronicles call such kurens childbirth. The horde included many kurens, and they could belong to several ethnic groups: from Bulgarians to Kipchaks and Kimaks, although the Russians called them all together Polovtsians.

At the head of the horde was the khan. The khans also led the kurens, followed by the Polovtsian warriors (free), and starting from the 12th century. Two more categories of the population have been recorded – “servants” and “well-dwellers”. The first are free, but very poor members of the kurens, and the second are prisoners of war who were used as slaves.

In the 12th century, as Russian chronicles note, a social transformation took place. Nomadism by ancestral kurens was replaced by ail, i.e. family. True, the villages of the rich were sometimes as large as the earlier kurens, but the village did not consist of several more or less economically equal families, but of one family (two or three generations) and its numerous “servants,” which included poor relatives , and ruined fellow tribesmen, and prisoners of war - house slaves. In the Russian chronicles, such large families were called children, and the nomads themselves probably defined it with the word “kosh” - “koch” (nomadic camp). In the 12th century ail-"kosh" became the main unit of Polovtsian society. The ails were not equal in size, and their heads were not equal in rights. Depending on economic and non-economic reasons (in particular, families belonging to the family aristocracy), they all stood at different levels of the hierarchical ladder. One of the noticeable external attributes of the power of the Koshevoy in the family was the cauldron (cauldron).

But it should also be taken into account that, despite the feudal hierarchy, the concept of clan (kuren) did not disappear either from social institutions or from economic gradations. In nomadic societies of all times, the so-called veil of patriarchy was very strong, therefore kurens - clan organizations - were preserved as an anachronism in Polovtsian society. Koshevoy was the richest, and therefore influential, family and was the head of the clan, that is, several large families.

However, the clan-kuren was an “intermediate” unit; The unifying organization of the villages was the horde. The fact is that even a large kuren or ail could not roam the steppes in complete safety. Quite often ails clashed over pastures, and even more often livestock theft (baramta) occurred, or even the capture of horses and prisoners by daredevils eager for quick and easy enrichment. Some kind of regulatory power was needed. It was awarded electively at a congress of Koshevs to the head of the richest, strongest and most influential family (and also the kuren to which it belonged). This is how the ails united into hordes. Obviously, the head of the horde received the highest title - khan. In the Russian chronicles this corresponded to the title of prince.

From the 12th century There is also a process of organizing larger associations - unions of hordes, headed by “great princes” - khans of khans - kaans. They had virtually unlimited power, could declare war and make peace.

It can be assumed that some khans also performed the functions of priests. The chronicle speaks about this: before one of the battles, Khan Bonyak was engaged in rituals. But in Polovtsian society there was a special priestly stratum - shamans. The Polovtsians called the shaman “kam”, which is where the word “kamlanie” comes from. The main functions of shamans were fortune telling (predicting the future) and healing, based on direct communication with good and evil spirits.

It should be said that women in Polovtsian society enjoyed great freedom and were respected on an equal basis with men. Shrines were built for female ancestors. Many women were forced, in the absence of their husbands, who constantly went on long campaigns (and died there), to take care of the complex economy of the nomads and their defense. This is how the institution of “Amazons”, female warriors, arose in the steppes, first depicted in steppe epics, songs and fine arts, and from there passed into Russian folklore.

Burials

In most male burials, a horse with harness and weapons were placed with the dead. Usually only the metal parts of these objects reach us: iron bits and stirrups, girth buckles, iron arrowheads, saber blades. In addition, in almost every burial we find small iron knives and flint. All of these items are distinguished by extraordinary uniformity of size and shape. This standardization is characteristic of the nomads of the entire European steppe up to the Urals. In addition to iron objects, the remains of birch bark and leather quivers (the latter with iron “brackets”), bone loop linings for birch bark quivers, bone bow linings and bone “loops” for horse fetters are constantly found in steppe burials. Uniformity is also characteristic of all these things and individual details.

A wide variety of jewelry can be found in steppe women's burials. It is possible that some of them were brought from neighboring countries, but Polovtsian women wore a unique headdress, characteristic earrings and breast decorations. They are not known either in Rus', or in Georgia, or in Byzantium, or in the Crimean cities. Obviously, it should be recognized that they were made by steppe jewelers. The main part of the headdress were “horns” made of silver convex stamped half rings sewn onto felt rollers. The vast majority of stone female sculptures were depicted with just such “horns.” True, sometimes these horn-shaped “structures” were also used as chest decorations - a kind of “grown hryvnia”. In addition to them, Polovtsian women also wore more complex breast pendants, which possibly played the role of amulets. We can judge about them only by the images on female stone statues. Silver earrings with blown biconical or “horned” (with spikes) pendants, apparently very fashionable in the steppes, are particularly original. They were worn not only by Polovtsy women, but also by Chernoklobutsk women. Sometimes, obviously, together with women they penetrated from the steppe and into Rus' - the Polovtsian wife did not want to give up her favorite jewelry.

We all know from history that in ancient times Russians often fought with the Polovtsians. But who are these Polovtsians? After all, now there is no people in the world with that name. Meanwhile, their blood may even flow within ourselves...

"Unfortunate" people

It is not known exactly where the ethnonym “Polovtsy” came from. At one time there was a version that it was connected with the word “field”, because these peoples lived in the field, the steppe. Modern historians generally believe that the word “Polovtsian” comes from “sexual” - “yellow-white, yellowish, straw-colored.” Most likely, the hair of representatives of this people was light yellow, straw color. Although this is strange for the Turkic tribes. The Polovtsians themselves called themselves Kipchaks, Kimaks, Cumans...

It is interesting that the word “Kipchak” (or, as the speakers themselves pronounced it, “Kypchak”) in Turkic dialects means “ill-fated.” Most likely, the ancestors of the Kipchaks were the Sir tribes, who roamed the steppes between the Mongolian Altai and the eastern Tien Shan in the 4th-7th centuries. There is evidence that in 630 they formed a state called Kipchak, which was later destroyed by the Uyghurs and Chinese.

At the beginning of the 11th century, Polovtsian tribes came from the Volga region to the Black Sea steppes, then crossed the Dnieper and reached the lower reaches of the Danube. Thus, they managed to populate the entire territory from the Danube to the Irtysh, which was called the Great Steppe. Eastern sources even call it Desht-i-Kipchak (Kipchak steppe).

From raids to the Golden Horde

Starting from the second half of the 11th century, the Polovtsians continually raided Rus', devastating the lands, taking livestock and property, and taking local residents captive. The border principalities - Pereyaslavl, Seversky, Kiev, Ryazan - suffered most from the Polovtsian attacks.

At the beginning of the 12th century, the troops of princes Svyatopolk Izyaslavich and Vladimir Monomakh managed to oust the Polovtsians to the Caucasus, beyond the Volga and Don. Subsequently, they made up the majority of the population of the Golden Horde. It was from them, according to historians, that the Tatars, Kyrgyz, Gagauz, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Karakalpaks, Nogais, Kumyks, Bashkirs, Karachais, Balkars came.

Where to look for the descendants of the Polovtsians?

During the existence of the Golden Horde, Russian princes often took Polovtsian princesses as wives. The beginning of this tradition was laid by the son of Yaroslav the Wise, Prince Vsevolod, who in 1068 married Anna, the daughter of the Polovtsian khan, who went down in history as Anna of Polovets. His son Vladimir Monomakh also married a Polovtsian woman. The Kiev prince Svyatopolk Izyaslavich was married to the daughter of the Polovtsian Khan Tugorkan, Yuri Dolgoruky - to the daughter of Khan Aepa, Rurik, the son of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Rostislav Mstislavich - to the daughter of Khan Belok, the son of Novgorod-Seversk

oh Prince Igor Svyatoslavich, the hero of “The Lay of Igor’s Campaign” Vladimir - on the daughter of Khan Konchak, Prince Galitsky Mstislav Udatny - on the daughter of Khan Kotyan, who, by the way, became the grandmother of Alexander Nevsky!

So, mother Vladimiro-Suzdal

Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, son of Yuri Dolgoruky, was a Polovtsian. The study of his remains was supposed to serve as confirmation or refutation of the theory about the Caucasoid appearance of the Cumans. It turned out that there was nothing Mongoloid in the prince’s appearance. If you believe anthropologically

According to us, they were typical Europeans. All descriptions indicate that the “Kipchaks” had blond or reddish hair, gray or blue eyes... Another thing is that in the process of assimilation they could mix, for example, with the Mongols, and their descendants already acquired Mongoloid features.

Where did the Polovtsians get their Caucasian features from? One of the hypotheses says that they were descendants of the Dinlins, one of the oldest nations in Europe, who, as a result of migration processes, mixed with the Turks.

Today, among the Nogais, Kazakhs, Bashkirs, Tatars, and Kyrgyz, there are descendants of tribes with the generic names “Kipchak”, “Kypshak”, “Kypsak” with similar genetic haplogroups. Among the Bulgarians, Altaians, Nogais, Bashkirs, and Kyrgyz there are ethnic groups with the names “Cuman”, “Kuban”, “Kuba”, which some historians attribute to part of the Polovtsian tribes. The Hungarians, in turn, have the “Plavtsy” and “Kunok” ethnic groups, which are descendants of related tribes - the Cumans and the Kuns.

A number of researchers believe that distant descendants of the Cumans are also found among Ukrainians, Poles, Czechs, Bulgarians and even Germans.

Thus, the blood of the Polovtsians can flow in many peoples, not only in Asia, but also in Europe, and even Slavic ones, not excluding, of course, the Russians...