Polovtsy who they are who their descendants. The history of the Kipchaks, whom we call Polovtsy. Social structure and way of life

Polovtsian stone statue. Archaeological Museum-Reserve "Tanais", Myasnikovsky district, Nedvigovka farm. XI-XII centuries Alexander Polyakov / RIA Novosti

The formation of the Polovtsian ethnos took place according to the same patterns for all the peoples of the Middle Ages and antiquity. One of them is that the people that gave the name to the entire conglomerate are far from always the most numerous in it - due to objective or subjective factors, it is promoted to the leading place in the emerging ethnic array, becomes its core. Polovtsy did not come to an empty place. The first component that joined the new ethnic community here was the population that had previously been part of the Khazar Khaganate - the Bulgarians and Alans. The remnants of the Pecheneg and Guz hordes played a more significant role. This is confirmed by the fact that, firstly, according to anthropology, outwardly nomads of the 10th-13th centuries almost did not differ from the inhabitants of the steppes of the 8th - early 10th centuries, and secondly, an extraordinary variety of funeral rites is recorded in this territory. . A custom that came exclusively with the Polovtsy was the erection of sanctuaries dedicated to the cult of male or female ancestors. Thus, from the end of the 10th century, a mixture of three kindred peoples took place in this region, a single Turkic-speaking community was formed, but the process was interrupted by the Mongol invasion.

Polovtsy - nomads

The Polovtsians were a classic nomadic pastoral people. The herds included cattle, sheep, and even camels, but the main wealth of the nomad was the horse. Initially, they led a year-round so-called camp nomadism: finding a place rich in food for livestock, they located their dwellings there, and when the food was depleted, they went in search of new territory. At first, the steppe could painlessly provide for everyone. However, as a result of demographic growth, the transition to a more rational management of the economy - seasonal nomadism - has become an urgent task. It implies a clear division of pastures into winter and summer, folding territories and routes assigned to each group.

Polovtsian silver bowl with one handle. Kyiv, X-XIII centuries Dea / A. Dagli Orti / Getty Images

Dynastic marriages

Dynastic marriages have always been a tool of diplomacy. The Polovtsians were no exception here. However, relations were not based on parity - the Russian princes willingly married the daughters of the Polovtsian princes, but did not send their relatives in marriage. An unwritten medieval law worked here: representatives of the ruling dynasty could only be married to an equal. It is characteristic that the same Svyatopolk married the daughter of Tugorkan, having suffered a crushing defeat from him, that is, being in a deliberately weaker position. However, he did not give his daughter or sister, but he took the girl from the steppe. Thus, the Polovtsians were recognized as an influential, but not equal force.

But if the baptism of the future wife seemed even pleasing to God, then the “betrayal” of their faith was not possible, which is why the Polovtsian rulers failed to get the daughters of Russian princes married. Only one case is known when a Russian princess (the widowed mother of Svyatoslav Vladimirovich) married a Polovtsian prince - however, for this she had to run away from home.

Be that as it may, by the time of the Mongol invasion, the Russian and Polovtsian aristocracies were closely intertwined with family ties, the cultures of both peoples were mutually enriched.

The Polovtsians were a tool in internecine strife

The Polovtsians were not the first dangerous neighbor of Rus' - the threat from the steppe has always accompanied the life of the country. But unlike the Pechenegs, these nomads met not with a single state, but with a group of principalities at war with each other. At first, the Polovtsian hordes did not seek to conquer Rus', being satisfied with small raids. Only when in 1068 the combined forces of the three princes were defeated on the Lta (Alta) river, did the power of the new nomadic neighbor become apparent. But the danger was not realized by the rulers - the Polovtsy, always ready for war and robbery, began to be used in the fight against each other. Oleg Svyatoslavich was the first to do this in 1078, bringing the "nasty" to fight Vsevolod Yaroslavich. In the future, he repeatedly repeated this "reception" in the internecine struggle, for which he was named the author of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" Oleg Gorislavich.

But the contradictions between the Russian and Polovtsian princes did not always allow them to unite. Vladimir Monomakh fought especially actively with the established tradition. In 1103, the Dolobsky Congress took place, at which Vladimir managed to organize the first expedition to the territory of the enemy. The result was the defeat of the Polovtsian army, which lost not only ordinary soldiers, but also twenty representatives of the highest nobility. The continuation of this policy led to the fact that the Polovtsians were forced to migrate away from the borders of Rus'.

The soldiers of Prince Igor Svyatoslavich capture the Polovtsian towers. Miniature
from the Radziwill Chronicle. 15th century vk.com

After the death of Vladimir Monomakh, the princes again began to bring the Polovtsians to fight each other, weakening the military and economic potential of the country. In the second half of the century, there was another surge of active confrontation, which was led by Prince Konchak in the steppe. It was to him that Igor Svyatoslavich was captured in 1185, as described in the Tale of Igor's Campaign. In the 1190s, raids became less and less, and at the beginning of the 13th century, the military activity of the steppe neighbors also subsided.

Further development of relations was interrupted by the Mongols who came. The southern regions of Rus' were endlessly subjected not only to raids, but also to the "drives" of the Polovtsy, which devastated these lands. After all, even just the movement of the army of nomads (and there were cases when they went here with the whole economy) destroyed crops, the military threat forced merchants to choose other paths. Thus, this people contributed a lot to the shift of the center of the country's historical development.

Polovtsian anthropomorphic statue from the collection of the Dnepropetrovsk Historical Museum A female stele holds a vessel. Drawing by S. A. Pletneva "Polovtsian stone statues", 1974

The Polovtsy were friends not only with the Russians, but also with the Georgians

The Polovtsians were noted for their active participation in history not only in Rus'. Expelled by Vladimir Monomakh from the Seversky Donets, they partially migrated to Ciscaucasia under the leadership of Prince Atrak. Here, Georgia turned to them for help, constantly being raided from the mountainous regions of the Caucasus. Atrak willingly entered the service of King David and even intermarried with him, giving his daughter in marriage. He brought with him not the entire horde, but only part of it, which then remained in Georgia.

From the beginning of the XII century, the Polovtsy actively penetrated the territory of Bulgaria, which was then under the rule of Byzantium. Here they were engaged in cattle breeding or tried to enter the service of the empire. Apparently, they include Peter and Ivan Aseni, who raised an uprising against Constantinople. With the tangible support of the Cuman detachments, they managed to defeat Byzantium, in 1187 the Second Bulgarian Kingdom was founded, headed by Peter.

At the beginning of the 13th century, the influx of Polovtsy into the country intensified, and the eastern branch of the ethnic group already participated in it, bringing with it the tradition of stone sculptures. Here, however, they quickly became Christianized, and then disappeared among the local population. For Bulgaria, this was not the first experience of "digesting" the Turkic people. The Mongol invasion "pushed" the Polovtsians to the west, gradually, from 1228, they moved to Hungary. In 1237, the recently powerful prince Kotyan turned to the Hungarian king Bela IV. The Hungarian leadership agreed to provide the eastern outskirts of the state, knowing about the strength of the impending army of Batu.

The Polovtsy wandered in the territories allotted to them, causing discontent among the neighboring principalities, which were subjected to periodic robberies. Bela's heir, Stefan, married one of Kotyan's daughters, but then, under the pretext of treason, executed his father-in-law. This led to the first uprising of freedom-loving settlers. The next rebellion of the Polovtsians was caused by an attempt to force them to Christianize. Only in the 14th century did they completely settle down, became Catholics and began to dissolve, although they still retained their military specificity and even in the 19th century they still remembered the prayer “Our Father” in their native language.

We do not know anything about whether the Polovtsy had a written language

Our knowledge of the Polovtsy is rather limited due to the fact that this people has not created their own written sources. We can see a huge number of stone sculptures, but we will not find any inscriptions there. We draw information about this people from its neighbors. Standing apart is the 164-page notebook of a missionary-translator of the late 13th - early 14th century Alfabetum Persicum, Comanicum et Latinum Anonymi..., better known as the Codex Cumanicus. The time of the appearance of the monument is determined by the period from 1303 to 1362, the place of writing is the Crimean city of Kafu (Feodosia). By origin, content, graphic and linguistic features, the dictionary is divided into two parts, Italian and German. The first is written in three columns: Latin words, their translation into Persian and Polovtsian. The German part contains dictionaries, grammar notes, Polovtsian riddles and Christian texts. The Italian component is more significant for historians, since it reflected the economic needs of communication with the Polovtsy. In it we find such words as "bazaar", "merchant", "changer", "price", "coin", listing goods and crafts. In addition, it contains words that characterize a person, city, nature. The list of Polovtsian titles is of great importance.

Although, apparently, the manuscript was partially rewritten from an earlier original, was not created at once, which is why it is not a “cut” of reality, but still allows us to understand what the Polovtsy were doing, what goods they were interested in, we can see their borrowing of Old Russian words and, most importantly, to reconstruct the hierarchy of their society.

Polovtsian women

A specific feature of the Polovtsian culture was the stone statues of ancestors, which are called stone or Polovtsian women. This name appeared because of the underlined chest, always hanging on the stomach, which obviously carried a symbolic meaning - feeding the family. Moreover, a rather significant percentage of male statues was recorded, in which a mustache or even a beard is depicted, and at the same time there is a chest identical to that of a woman.

The 12th century is the period of the heyday of the Polovtsian culture and the mass production of stone statues, there are also faces in which there is a noticeable desire for portrait resemblance. The manufacture of idols from stone was expensive, and less wealthy representatives of society could only afford wooden figures, which, unfortunately, have not come down to us. They placed statues on the tops of mounds or hills in square or rectangular shrines made of flagstone. Most often they placed male and female statues - the ancestors of the kosh - facing east, but there were also sanctuaries with a cluster of figures. At their foot, archaeologists found the bones of rams, once they discovered the remains of a child. Obviously, the cult of ancestors played a significant role in the life of the Polovtsians. For us, the importance of this feature of their culture is that it allows us to clearly determine where the people roamed.

Earrings of the Polovtsian type. Yasinovataya, Donetsk region. Second half of the 12th - 13th century From the article by O. Ya. Privalova “Rich nomadic burials from the Donbass”. "Archaeological Almanac". No. 7, 1988

Attitude towards women

In Polovtsian society, women enjoyed considerable freedom, although they had a significant part of the household duties. There is a clear gender division of activities both in the craft and in cattle breeding: women were in charge of goats, sheep and cows, men were in charge of horses and camels. During military campaigns, all the worries for the defense and economic activities of nomads were thrown onto the shoulders of the weaker sex. Perhaps sometimes they had to become the head of the kosh. At least two female burials with wands made of precious metals have been found, former symbols leader of a larger or smaller association. At the same time, women did not remain aloof from military affairs. In the era of military democracy, girls took part in general campaigns, the defense of the nomad camp during the absence of her husband also assumed the presence of military skills. A stone statue of a heroic girl has come down to us. The size of the statue is one and a half to two times the common one, the chest is “tightened”, unlike the traditional image, it is covered with elements of armor. She is armed with a saber, a dagger, and a quiver for arrows; nevertheless, her headdress is undoubtedly feminine. This type of female warriors is reflected in Russian epics under the name of Polanits.

Where did the Polovtsy go?

No nation disappears without a trace. History knows no cases of complete physical extermination of the population by alien invaders. The Polovtsians have not gone anywhere either. Partly they went to the Danube and even ended up in Egypt, but the bulk of them remained in their native steppes. For at least a hundred years they retained their customs, albeit in a modified form. Apparently, the Mongols forbade the creation of new sanctuaries dedicated to the Polovtsian warriors, which led to the appearance of "pit" places of worship. In a hill or mound, recesses were dug, not visible from afar, inside which the pattern of placement of statues, traditional for the previous period, was repeated.

But even with the cessation of the existence of this custom, the Polovtsy did not disappear. The Mongols came to the Russian steppes with their families, and did not move as a whole tribe. And the same process took place with them as with the Polovtsians centuries earlier: after giving a name to the new people, they themselves dissolved in it, having adopted its language and culture. Thus, the Mongols became a bridge from the modern peoples of Russia to the Polovtsians of the summer.

Polovtsy, Komans (Western Europe and Byzantium), Kipchaks (Persian and Arabic), Qin-cha (Chinese).

Time of existence

If we take the Chinese chronicles as a basis, then the Kipchaks were known from the III-II centuries. BC. And until the XIII 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 1950s. XIX century, the result was the book by P. V. Golubovsky "Pechenegs, Torks and Polovtsy before the invasion of the Tatars" (1883). At the beginning of the XX century. Markwart's book "Uber das Volkstum der Komanen" was published, which to this day has a certain scientific value. In the 30s. In the 20th century, the history of the Polovtsy was studied by D.A. Rasovsky, who wrote a monograph and several articles. In 1948, a book by V.K. Kudryashov "Polovtsian steppe", which gave little in scientific terms. Starting from 50-60 years. the history of nomads was closely studied by S.A. Pletnev and G.A. Fedorov-Davydov, with the involvement 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 Kimak State of the 9th-11th centuries” was published. from Arabic sources.

Story

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

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

7th century Kimaks roam north of Altai, in the Irtysh region and are part of the first Western Turkic Khaganate and then the Uighur.

This is how it is described in the legend - “The head of the Tatars died and left two sons; the eldest son took possession of the kingdom, the younger became jealous of his brother; the name of the younger was Shad. He made an attempt on the life of his older brother, but failed; fearing for himself, he, taking with him a slave mistress, 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 his tent and encamped. Every day this man and the slave went hunting, eating meat and making 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 Kypchak, the sixth Lanikaz, the seventh Ajlad. These people pastured the herds of their masters; in those places where (before) there were herds, there were no pastures left; looking for herbs, they came to the direction where Shad was. Seeing them, the slave said: "Irtysh", i.e. stop; from here the river got the name Irtysh. Recognizing that slave Kimaki and the Kipchaks, everyone stopped and pitched their tents. Shad, returning, brought with him a large booty from the hunt and treated them; they stayed there until the 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 decorated and the snow melted, they sent one person to the Tatar camp to bring news of that tribe. When he arrived there, he saw that the whole area was devastated and devoid of population: an enemy came, robbed and killed all the people. The remnants of the tribe descended to that man from the mountains, he told his friends about the situation of Shad; they all went to 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, p. 35-36).

Thus, an alliance of tribes was formed, headed by the Kimaks. The Kipchaks, on the other hand, 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 Khaganate 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 Imakiya. At the same time, the process of settling of nomads on the ground takes place. There is a development of fundamental construction, agriculture and crafts. But again, this process was typical for eastern regions Kaganate, and in the west, where the Kipchaks roamed, this process did not receive any wide development.

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

Early 11th century Extensive movements begin throughout the steppe space of Eurasia, and the Kipchaks, as well as some tribes of the Kimaks - Kai and Kuns, are included in this movement. The latter crowd on their way the Kipchaks, named in the sources - balls (yellow or "red-haired"). And the Kipchaks, in turn, pushed back the Guz and.

30s 11th century The Kipchaks occupy the 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 Polovtsy.

• According to one of the hypotheses (Pletnev), the Polovtsians are a complex array of tribes and peoples, headed by the Shar tribes - the "yellow" Kipchaks, and which united the disparate tribes that lived in the Black Sea region - the Pechenegs, Guzes, the remnants of the Bulgarian and Alanian populations, living along the banks of the rivers.
• There is another hypothesis according to which two ethnic massifs were formed - the Kuns-Kumans, led by one or several Kipchak hordes, and the Polovtsy, united around the hordes of Shar-Kipchaks. The Cumans roamed west of the Polovtsy, whose territory is localized along the Seversky Donets and in the Northern Azov region.

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

1060 The first attempt of the Polovtsians to raid Russian lands. The blow came from the southeast. Svyatoslav Yaroslavich of Chernigov with his retinue was able to defeat four times the army of the Polovtsians. Many Polovtsian warriors were killed and sunk in the river Snovi.

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

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

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

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

1088 Polovtsy, at the invitation of the Pechenegs, participate in a campaign against Byzantium. But when the booty is divided between them, a quarrel breaks out, which led to the defeat of the Pechenegs.

1090-1167 The reign of Khan Bonyak.

1091 The Battle of Lubern, in which 40,000 Polovtsy (under the leadership of the khans Bonyak and Tugorkan) sided with the Byzantines (Emperor Alexei Komnenos) against the Pechenegs. For the latter, the battle ended in failure - they were defeated, and at night all the captured Pechenegs with their wives and children were exterminated by the Byzantines. Seeing this, the Polovtsy, taking the booty, left the camp. However, returning home, on the Danube they were defeated by the Hungarians under the leadership of King Laszlo I.

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

1093 The Polovtsy wanted to make peace after the death of Vsevolod Yaroslavovich, but the new Kiev prince Svyatopolk Izyaslavovich decided to give battle to the Polovtsy. 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 Zhelan and was again defeated. After that, the Polovtsy took Torchesk and ravaged the whole of Porosie. Later that year there was another Battle of Halep. Its outcome is unknown.

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

1095 Campaign of the Polovtsians to Byzantium. The reason was the claims of the impostor Roman-Diogenes to the Byzantine throne. More than half of the soldiers died on the campaign, and the booty was taken on the way back by the Byzantines.

While Bonyak and Tugorkan were on the campaign, Prince Vladimir Vsevolodovich of Pereyaslavl 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 Mouth on the left bank of the Dnieper, then Tugorkan besieged Pereyaslavl on May 30. Only in the summer the princes Svyatopolk and Vladimir managed to repulse 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 into the steppe.

1097 Khan Bonyak took revenge on the Hungarians, defeating their detachment, which came out on the side of the Kyiv prince Svyatopolk.

End of the 11th century The process of formation of the Polovtsian hordes was completed. Each horde was assigned territories and a certain nomadic route. During this period, they took shape meridional nomadism. They spent the winter on the seashore, in the valleys of various rivers, where cattle could easily get food. In the spring, the period of migration up the rivers began, to the river valleys rich in grass. For the summer period, the Polovtsy stopped at summer camps. In autumn, they returned to their winter quarters by the same route. At the same time, fortified settlements - small towns - began to appear among the Polovtsians.

1103 The Dolobsky congress took place, at which the Russian princes, at the suggestion of Vladimir Monomakh, decided to strike at the Polovtsy in the depths of their territory. Vladimir accurately calculated the time of the campaign - in the spring, when the Polovtsian cattle were exhausted by meager winter food and calving, and it was actually impossible to hastily drive them to a place inaccessible to enemies. In addition, he, of course, thought out the direction of the strike: first, into the “push” (the wide right-bank valley of the middle Dnieper), expecting to capture the late Polovtsian winter roads there, and in case of failure, go along the route of this group already known in Rus' to the spring pastures on seashore.

The Polovtsy wanted to avoid a 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 raid of the Polovtsians, 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 taken prisoner.

Vladimir married the son of the future Yuri Dolgoruky to a Polovtsy, and Prince Oleg also married a Polovtsy.

1111 Vladimir at the Dolby Congress 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) entered the "city of Sharukans" - apparently a small town located on the territory of Khan Sharukan and paying tribute to him. Then 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, "taking 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 An attempt by the Polovtsy to take revenge, but the Russians, coming out to meet the Polovtsy, forced them to retreat.

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

In the same year, a two-day battle took place between the Polovtsy, on the one hand, and the Torks 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 (by Pletnev) that this horde once guarded the town of Belaya Vezha on the Don. But, as it was 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. This is also evidenced by archeology, it was at this time that the desolation of Belaya Vezha falls.

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 Ciscaucasian 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 campaign of the Polovtsy 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 was not slow to come with seven thousand soldiers to the Chernigov border.

Late 1920s 12th century Atrak with a small part of the horde returned to the Donets, while most of his Polovtsy remained in Georgia.

1135 Vsevolod Olgovich called his brothers and Polovtsy for help and led them to the Principality of Pereyaslavl (the ancestral patrimony of the Monomakhoviches), “villages and cities fighting”, “people are stronger, and others are secutive”. So they reached almost to Kyiv, took and lit Gorodets.

1136 The Olgovichi and the Polovtsy crossed the ice to the right bank of the Dnieper near Trepol in winter, bypassing Chernoklobutsky Porosye, and headed for Krasn, Vasilev, and Belgorod. Then they went along the outskirts of Kyiv to Vyshgorod, firing at the people of Kiev through Lybid. Yaropolk hastened to make peace with the Olgoviches, having fulfilled all their demands. Kiev principality was thoroughly ruined, the surroundings of all the listed towns were robbed and burned.

1139 Vsevolod Olgovich again brought the Polovtsy, and the Pereyaslav borderland - Posulye was plundered and several small towns were taken. Yaropolk, in response, gathered 30 thousand Berendeys and forced Vsevolod to make peace.

30s of the XII century. Early associations were loose, often disintegrated, re-formed in a new composition and in a different territory. These circumstances do not allow us 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 in the steppes of "great khans" - the heads of these associations.

1146 Vsevolod Olgovich goes to Galich and attracts the Polovtsians.

1147 Svyatoslav Olgovich with the Polovtsy plundered the Family, but after learning that Izyaslav was going against them, the Polovtsy went to the steppe.

40-60s 12th century Small associations are formed in the steppe, called by the chronicler "wild Polovtsians". These are nomads who did not belong to any of the known hordes, but were, most likely, the remnants of the hordes defeated by the Russians, or who had broken away from related hordes. The principle of their formation was not consanguineous, but "neighborhood". They always acted in internecine struggle, on the side of some prince, but they never opposed the Polovtsy.

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

1153 Independent campaign of the Polovtsians on the Posulye.

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

50s 12th century In the Polovtsian environment, 12-15 hordes developed, 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 the 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 Olgovichi went against the Polovtsy on the vezhi as Khan Kozl and Beglyuk.

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

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

1174 Konchak - Khan of the Don Polovtsy and Kobyak - Khan of the "Lukomor" Polovtsy made a joint campaign against Pereyaslavl. Having plundered the surroundings, they turned into the steppe, but Igor Svyatoslavich caught up with them, and a skirmish ensued, the result of which was the flight of the Polovtsy.

1179 Konchak plundered the Principality of Pereyaslavl and, having dodged the Russians, went into the steppe with rich booty.

1180 The Polovtsy Konchak and Kobyak concluded an agreement with the Olgovichi - Svyatoslav Vsevolovich and Igor Svyatoslavich against Rurik Rostislavich. A joint campaign was organized, which ended in failure for the allies. In the battle on the Chertorye River, they were defeated by Rurik, as a result many noble Polovtsy fell - “And then they killed the Polovtsian prince Kozl Sotanovich, and Eltuk, Konchakov’s brother, and two Konchakovich boxes, and Totur, and Byakoba, and rich Kunyachyuk, and Chyugay ... ". 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 evaded the battle, but then themselves, under the leadership of Kobyak Krlyevich, attacked the Russians on the Orel River, but were defeated. At the same time, many khans were captured, and Khan Kobyak was executed.

1184 Konchak's attempt 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 Kyiv princes began to prepare a big campaign against Konchak's nomad camps. But all plans are thwarted Chernihiv princes who decided, independently of Kyiv, to organize their campaign in the steppe.

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

Later, Igor managed to escape, but his son stayed 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 sent blows to the Chernigov and Pereyaslav principalities. Both trips were successful.

1187 Campaign of several Russian princes in the steppe. They reached the confluence of the Samara and Volchya rivers, to the very center of the Burchevichi horde, and made a complete rout there. At this time, apparently, the Polovtsy of this horde went on a predatory raid on the Danube.

Konchak's campaign in Porosie and Chernihiv region.

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

1190 The Polovtsian Khan Torgliy and the merchant prince Kuntuvdey organized a winter campaign against Rus'. The Russians and black hoods, led by Rostislav Rurikovich, made a return campaign in the same year, and reached the Polovtsian towers near the island of Khortitsa, captured the booty and went back. The Polovtsy overtook them at the Ivly (Ingulets) river and a battle took place, in which the Russians with black hoods won.

1191 Foray into the steppe by Igor Svyatoslavich, but to no avail.

1192 The raid of the Russians, when the Dnieper Polovtsian soldiers went on a campaign to the Danube.

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

Early 13th century Relative calm is established between the Russians and the Polovtsians. Mutual trips to each other cease. But the Western Polovtsians are becoming more active, having entered into a 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, younger brother Asenya and Peter, and also, according to one version, he was of the Polovtsian family. Continuing the policy of the brothers, he attracted the Polovtsy to the struggle against the Byzantines and the Latin Empire (1199, 1205, 1206).

1202 Hike to Galich Rurik - the Grand Duke of Kyiv. He brought with him the Polovtsy, led by Kotyan and Samogur Setovich.

1207-1217 Boril rule in Bulgaria. He himself is possibly from the Polovtsian environment and, as was customary at that time, often attracted them as mercenaries.

1217

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

1219 Hike to Galicia-Volyn principality with Polovtsy.

1222-1223 The first blow of the Mongols to 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 gorge to the North Caucasus and the Ciscaucasian steppes. There was a battle between the Mongols, on the one hand, and the Polovtsians and Alans on the other. No one could win, then the Mongols turned to the Polovtsy with a proposal - leave the Alans alone and we will bring you money and clothes, etc. The Polovtsy agreed and left their ally. Then the Mongols defeated the Alans, went out into the steppe and defeated the Polovtsy, who were sure that they had made peace with the Mongols.

1224 The Polovtsians panicked, they began to look for allies, and found them in Kyiv. A large campaign to the steppe of the united regiments was organized. 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 the superior forces of the Mongols. Then the famous battle on the Kalka River took place, which lasted several days and led to the defeat of the Russians and Polovtsians. In fairness, it must be said that the Polovtsy left the battlefield, unable to withstand the onslaught Mongolian troops, thereby leaving the Russian regiments to perish.

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

1226 Hike to the Galicia-Volyn principality with the Polovtsy.

1228 Daniil Galitsky's attempts to improve relations with the Polovtsy fail.

1228-1229 The second blow of the Mongols. The order was given by Ogedei, the 30,000th detachment was headed by Subedei-Bagatur and Tsarevich Kutai. Direction - Saksin on the Volga, Kipchaks, Volga Bulgarians. The eastern Polovtsy were mostly defeated, it was at this time that the reports in the sources about the Polovtsy who came to serve in Hungary, Lithuania, they settled in the Rostov-Suzdal land. The Western Cumans remained in relative safety, this is evidenced at least by the fact that Khan Kotyan continued to make campaigns against Galich.

1234 Campaign of Prince Izyaslav with the Polovtsians to Kyiv. Piglet destroyed.

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

1237-1239 The subjugation of the Kipchak-Polovtsy was taken over by Batu, who returned to the steppes after the devastation of the Russian lands, several Polovtsian commanders (Ardzhumak, Kuranbas, Kaparan), sent to meet the Mongols by the Polovtsian Khan Berkuti, were taken prisoner. After that, the Mongols began the systematic extermination of aristocrats and the best Polovtsian warriors. Other methods were also used to bring them into 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 shelter to his 40,000th horde. The Hungarians agreed and settled the horde in the area between the Danube and the Tisza. Batu demanded that the Cumans be handed over to him, but Bela refused to do so.

1241 Several Hungarian barons infiltrated the Polovtsian camp and broke into the house where Khan Kotyan lived, his family and several noble princes. Kotyan killed his wives and himself, while the rest of the princes were killed in the fight. This infuriated the Polovtsy, they killed the militia assembled by Bishop Chanada to help the regular army, ravaged the nearest village and left for Bulgaria. The departure of the Polovtsy led to the defeat of the Hungarian king in the battle on the river Chaio.

1242 The Hungarian king Bela IV returns the Polovtsy to their lands, pretty devastated.

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

At the same time, it is worth highlighting the two most significant sultans of Egypt from among the Polovtsians - Baibars 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 Egyptian historian of the XIV century al-Aini reports that "Baybars bin Abdullah, by nationality Kipchak, belongs to the great Turkic tribe called Bursh (Bersh)".
• According to an-Nuwayri, Baibars 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 tribe Burj: "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 Stephen (Stefan) V with the daughter of Kotyan, in baptism Elizabeth, was concluded. His wife constantly intrigued against her husband, which eventually led the latter to death.

1277 Laszlo IV Kun, the son of the Polovtsy Elizabeth, ascended the Hungarian throne. He nominally united the country, having won 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 Polovtsians accept Christianity and settle on the ground. The king was forced to agree, in response, the Polovtsy rebelled and devastated part of the land.

1282 The Polovtsy 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 Polovtsy, and some of them go to Bulgaria. At the same time, the king understands that he will not be able to retain power and retires, leaving the country in the hands of the struggling magnates.

1289 A new attempt by Laszlo IV to return to power, but unsuccessful. And a year later, his own noble Polovtsians kill him. After that, although the Polovtsians play a significant role in Hungarian society, they 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 the surrounding countries were shaken by horrific events. But life didn't stop. Radical changes took place in the Polovtsian society - the Mongols destroyed the dissenters 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 Polovtsians, as a people, remained in place, only changed their name to Tatars. As we know, the Tatars are a Mongol tribe that were guilty before Genghis Khan, and therefore, after their defeat, the remnants of the tribe were used as a punishment in the most difficult and dangerous campaigns. And it was they who first appeared in the Russian steppes and brought with them their name, which subsequently begins to be applied to all nomadic, and not only, peoples.

The Mongols themselves were not numerous, especially since most of them, after the campaigns, returned back to Mongolia. And those that remained literally two centuries later have already dissolved in the Polovtsian environment, giving them a new name, their own laws and customs.

social organization

During the resettlement of the Polovtsy in the XI century. in the Black Sea region, their main economic and social unit was the so-called kurens - combinations of several, mostly patriarchal, kindred families, essentially close to large family communities of agricultural peoples. Russian chronicles call such kurens genera. 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 Polovtsy.

Khan was at the head of the horde. The khans also led the kurens, then the Polovtsian warriors (free) followed in the social, and starting from the 12th century. Two more categories of the population were recorded - “servants” and “kolodniks”. 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 XII century, as Russian chronicles note, a social transformation takes place. Nomadism by tribal kurens was replaced by ail, i.e., family. True, the villages of the rich were sometimes as large as the kurens before, 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 - domestic slaves. In the Russian chronicle, such large families were called children, and the nomads themselves probably defined it with the word "kosh" - "koch" (nomadic). In the XII century. ail-"kosh" became the main cell of the Polovtsian society. The villages were not equal in size, and their heads were not equal in rights. Depending on economic and non-economic reasons (in particular, the belonging of families to a tribal aristocracy), they all stood at different levels of the hierarchical ladder. One of the notable external attributes of the Koschevoi's power in the family was a cauldron (cauldron).

But it should also be borne in mind 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, so kurens - tribal organizations - were preserved as an anachronism in Polovtsian society. Koshevoi of the richest, and therefore influential family, was the head of the clan, that is, several large families.

However, the genus-kuren was an "intermediate" unit; The horde was the unifying organization of the villages. The fact is that even a large kuren or ail could not roam in the steppes in complete safety. Often villages clashed over pastures, even more often there was a theft of livestock (baramta), and even the capture of vezh and captives by those who were thirsty for quick and easy enrichment. Some sort of regulatory authority was needed. It was handed over by election to the head of the richest, strongest and most influential family (along with the kuren to which she belonged) at the congress of koschevoi. So the villages united into hordes. Obviously, the head of the horde received the highest title - Khan. In the Russian chronicle, 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. This is evidenced by the chronicle that before one of the battles, Khan Bonyak was engaged in shamanism. But in the Polovtsian society there was a special priestly layer - shamans. The Polovtsians called the shaman "kam", hence the word "kamlanie" came from. The main functions of shamans were divination (prediction of 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 revered on an equal basis with men. Sanctuaries were built for female ancestors. Many women were forced, in the absence of their husbands, who constantly went on distant campaigns (and died there), to take care of the complex economy of nomads and their defense. This is how the institute of “Amazons” arose in the steppes, female warriors, first depicted in the steppe epic, songs and fine arts, and from there they passed into Russian folklore.

Burials

In most male burials, a horse with a harness and weapons were placed along 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 steel. All of these objects are distinguished by an extraordinary uniformity of size and shape. This standardization is characteristic of the nomads throughout the European steppe up to the Urals. In addition to iron things, the remains of birch bark and leather quivers (the latter with iron “brackets”), bone linings for birch bark quivers, bone linings for bows and bone “loops” for horse fetters are constantly found in the burials of the steppes. For all these things and individual details, uniformity is also characteristic.

In the steppe women's burials, a wide variety of decorations come across. It is possible that some of them were brought from neighboring countries, but the Polovtsy women wore a kind of 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 master jewelers from the steppe. The main part of the headdress was the "horns" made of silver convex stamped half-rings sewn onto felt rollers. The vast majority of stone female statues were depicted with such "horns". True, sometimes these horn-shaped "structures" were also used as breast decorations - a kind of "hryvnia". In addition to them, Polovtsian women also wore more complex breast pendants, which, perhaps, played the role of amulets. We can judge them only by the images on female stone statues. Of particular originality are, apparently, very fashionable in the steppes silver earrings with exaggerated biconical or "horned" (with spikes) pendants. They were worn not only by Polovtsy women, but also by Chernoklobutsky women. Sometimes, obviously, together with women, they penetrated from the steppe to Rus' - the Polovtsian wife did not want to give up her favorite decoration.

The Polovtsians are one of the most mysterious steppe peoples, which entered Russian history thanks to raids on principalities and repeated attempts by the rulers of Russian lands, if not to defeat the steppe people, then at least to negotiate with them. The Polovtsy themselves were defeated by the Mongols and settled over a significant part of the territory 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 (Dashti-Kipchak - Kipchak, or Polovtsian steppe) lived not only the Polovtsy, but also other peoples, who are either united with the Polovtsians, 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 distinguish 11 tribes, Russian chronicles also indicate that different tribes of the Polovtsy lived west and east of the Dnieper, east of the Volga, near the Seversky Donets.

Many Russian princes were descendants of the Polovtsians - their fathers often married noble Polovtsian girls. Not so long ago, a dispute broke out about how Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky actually looked. According to the reconstruction of Mikhail Gerasimov, in his appearance Mongoloid features were combined 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 the sources of the XI-XII centuries, the Polovtsians are often called "yellow". Russian word also probably comes from the word "sexual", that is, yellow, straw.

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

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

The Hungarian king from the Polovtsians and the "Polovtsian 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 Polovtsy, led by Khan Kotyan, settled there with the permission of King Bela IV, who needed allies.
In Hungary, as in some other European countries, the Polovtsians were called "Kumans". The lands on which they began to live were called Kunság (Kunshag, Kumaniya). 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 Polovtsian Irzhebet (Ershebet) had a boy, Laszlo. For 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 those familiar from textbooks on the history of the reconstruction of the external appearance of the steppes.

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

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

Now the distant descendants of the steppes do not differ in appearance from the rest of the inhabitants of Hungary - they are Caucasians.

Cumans in Bulgaria

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

In the XIII century, the number of steppe dwellers 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. It is possible that Polovtsian blood flows in a certain number of Bulgarians now. Unfortunately, it is still difficult to accurately identify the genetic characteristics of the Polovtsy, because there are plenty of Turkic features in the Bulgarian ethnos due to its origin. Bulgarians also have a Caucasoid appearance.

Polovtsian blood in 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 Polovtsians switched to the position of subjects. Settled in the territory Polovtsian steppe Tatar-Mongols gradually mixed with the Polovtsians. Al-Omari concludes that after several generations the Tatars began to look like the Polovtsians: “as if from the same (with them) clan”, because they began to live on their lands.

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

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

Another mysterious ancient people who settled all over the world are gypsies. About that, you can find out in one of our previous reviews.

It has long been believed that the Polovtsian is the enemy of the Russian land, since representatives of this tribe were seen in repeated raids on the lands of our state. However, historians know episodes of the neighboring existence of the Polovtsian tribes and Slavs, as well as their joint campaigns against, for example, the Hungarians, the Volga Bulgars, the Mongols, etc. people.

Were the ancestors of the Polovtsy Chinese?

The meaning of the word "Polovtsian" in the Old Russian language indicates that the Slavs called people either who came from the steppes (from the word "field"), or who had a yellowish skin tone (from the word "polov" - "yellow").

Indeed, the ancestors of the Cumans were nomads living in the steppes between the Eastern Tien Shan and the Mongolian Altai, whom the Chinese called the Seyanto people. In that area there was an ancient state, formed in 630, which, however, was quickly destroyed by the Uighurs and the same Chinese. After that, the inhabitants of these places changed their family name "Syrs" to "Kipchaks", which meant "unfortunate, unfortunate", and went to the Irtysh and to the eastern steppes of Kazakhstan.

Interpretations of the nineteenth century and the opinion of D. Sakharov

The meaning and interpretation of the word "Polovtsian" is also interpreted by some experts as derived from the word "fishing", which means hunting (in the sense of property and people), as well as from the word "full" - captivity, where the representatives of the Slavs were taken away.

In the nineteenth century (in particular, E. Skrizhinskaya and A. Kunik) identified the name of these tribes with the root "pol", meaning half. As the above researchers suggested, the inhabitants of the Dnieper, located on the right bank, called the nomads who came from the other side of the river, "from this floor." The academician generally considered all the proposed versions unconvincing. He thought that the mystery of the origin of the name of this tribe would never be solved, since the Kipchaks-Polovtsy left minimal amount own written documents.

Polovtsy is not a separate tribe

Today it is believed that the Polovtsian is a representative of a conglomeration of nomadic tribes, and these data are based on the fact that in the eleventh century AD the Kipchak people were conquered by the Mongol-speaking tribes of the Kumosi-Kimaks, and then migrated to the west along with representatives of the Mongoloid tribes - the Kidans. By the end of the thirties of the eleventh century, this combination of peoples captured the steppes between the Volga and the Irtysh and approached the borders of the ancient Russian state.

"Yellow" people came to the borders of Rus'

About who the Polovtsy are from the point of view of documentary Russian history, she first gave explanations in 1055. According to this manuscript, “light, yellow” people came to the borders of the Pereslavl kingdom, which made it possible to assign the generalized name “Polovtsy” to the Kipchaks and Mongoloid tribes.

The newly arrived peoples settled in the Sea of ​​Azov, the course of the Lower and Northern Don, where stone "women" were found, which, as scientists believe, were installed by nomadic tribes in memory of their ancestors.

Who are the Polovtsy of those times in terms of religious teachings? It is believed that among this nomadic tribe, the cult of ancestors was originally practiced, which was realized through the installation of stone statues on high sections of the steppe, on watersheds in special sanctuaries. At the same time, direct burials were not always nearby. In the Polovtsian graves, the burial of the deceased was often common along with household items and the carcass (stuffed animal) of his war horse.

Two thousand stone idols and a minimum of writing

A mound was piled over the graves of people outstanding by the standards of the Polovtsy. In later periods, when the Kipchaks were conquered by the Muslims, some of the pagan monuments were destroyed. To date, in the territory modern Russia about 2,000 stone "women" (from "balbal" - "ancestor") have been preserved, which are still considered to have the power to increase the fertility of the earth, restore nature. These monuments survived many centuries, including the period of Christianization of the Polovtsians. Pagans, Muslims, Christians - that's who the Polovtsians are in different periods of development of this set of peoples.

They shot down birds with an arrow on the fly

After the appearance on the territory of the steppes of Eastern Europe in the XI century AD. The Polovtsy did not stop in this area and continued to settle further, since this was facilitated by the presence of such a powerful means of transportation of that time as a horse, and good weapons in the form of a bow.

The Polovtsian is first and foremost a warrior. From an early age, the children of these tribes were taught horseback riding and combat techniques, so that later they would join the koshun - a militia from the same clan. Dozens of people or three or four hundred could enter the koshun, who attacked the enemy like an avalanche, surrounded him with a ring and covered him with arrows. In addition to complex, technically advanced bows for that time, the Polovtsy possessed sabers, blades, and spears. They wore armor in the form of rectangular iron plates. Their military prowess was so high that a rider could shoot down any flying bird while galloping with a bow.

Camp kitchen... under the saddle

Who are the Polovtsy in terms of their way of life? These peoples were typical nomads, very unpretentious even by the standards of that time. Initially, they lived in covered wagons or felt yurts, fed on milk, cheese and raw meat, which was softened under the saddle of a horse. From raids they brought loot and captives, gradually adopting knowledge, habits and customs from other cultures. Despite the fact that the origin of the word has not been found an exact definition of what Polovtsian means, many peoples of that time felt for themselves.

The Polovtsians had someone to adopt cultural traditions from, since the nomadic tribes of the Kipchaks in the twelfth century reached the Ciscaucasian steppes (the headquarters of the Polovtsian khans was on the Sunzha River), visited Pomorie, Surozh and Korsun, Pomorie, Tmutarakan, made a total of about 46 raids to Rus', in which they often won, but were also defeated. In particular, around 1100 AD. about 45 thousand Kipchaks were forced out by the Rusichs to the Georgian lands, where they mixed with the local peoples.

The Polovtsian habits of grabbing everything and everyone who came to hand led to the fact that by a certain time, part of the nomadic peoples had learned to build dwellings for the winter, where even stoves were equipped in the likeness of Russian heating elements. Primitive leather garments were decorated with ribbons on the sleeves, like the Byzantine nobles, signs of organization appeared among the tribes.

Polovtsian kingdoms were no less than European

By the time of their conquest by the Mongol-Tatar troops in the XIII century, the Polovtsian hordes were associations, the strongest of which were the Don and Transnistrian. In those days, the Polovtsian was a representative of the people who lived in a territory that was not inferior in size to European kingdoms. These quasi-state formations prevented the passage of caravans on the way "from the Varangians to the Greeks", carried out independent raids on Rus' and were active until the 90s of the twelfth century, after which the Kipchaks fought mainly in Russian squads during the inter-princely strife of that time.

So how can you answer the question of who the Polovtsians are? From ancient history it can be concluded that this people, despite some primitiveness, played an important role in the formation political map the world of that time and in the formation of various nationalities, including modern ones.

The Kypchaks (they are Polovtsy) are a Turkic-speaking people who, through conquest, were able to occupy the territory of the Pechenegs, reach the Dnieper and the lower reaches of the Danube.

Name

There are several versions of the origin of the name. Moreover, it is important to note that the Kypchaks were called not only Polovtsy, but also Cumans (Byzantines). The very word "Polovtsy" is associated by a number of historians with the field. Supporters of the historian Arist Kunik believe that the name comes from the word "sexual". It means straw color.
If you translate Kypchak into Tatar, you get a chariot, and in translation from the ancient Turkic it means "lucky" (according to another version, "unfortunate").

Story

The ethnos of the Kypchaks developed in the 8th century AD. Under their auspices were Karluks, Kyrgyz and Kimaks. The conquests allowed them to occupy the territory that now belongs to Kazakhstan. From the 9th century, the Polovtsians began to move towards Southern Rus', devastating the lands and capturing people. In the 10th century, the Polovtsians were at first friendly towards Pereyaslavl, but after a short period of time they attempted to capture part of the territory. The attempt is crowned with success, the army, led by Khan Iskal, begins to devastate the Pereyaslav lands. From the middle to the end of the 11th century, the Polovtsy make regular raids on Russian lands.
The reason for the regular defeats of Russian soldiers was the fragmentation of Rus' as such. When the troops began to unite, they were much easier to fight. This led to an unchanging string of successes. The 12th century became fatal for the Polovtsy, they began to be pushed to the Don, and then to the Caucasus. However, in Georgia they were accepted into service, which helped the Georgian king David to get rid of the Seljuks. The Kypchak troops played a significant role in civil strife, helping the Suzdal and Seversk princes to fight against the Khvalyn ones.
The Polovtsy fought with the Pechenegs on the side of Byzantium, had a serious influence on the Bulgarians during the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, acting as its ally. They fought on the side of the Alans, speaking out against the Mongol army. Thus, the Kypchaks formed the image of mercenaries, acting under various banners, helping the princes to strengthen their power.

Life

The Kypchaks were good cattle breeders, they raised sheep, horses, camels. Their way of life was close to nomadic. Parking happened only in winter and summer periods. The main way to get money was robbery and ruin. Contemporaries claim that the Polovtsy managed to loot a lot of gold and silver, which they exchanged for the goods they needed. Almost no cities were built, preferring to capture settlements and use them for their own needs.
Capturing territories, the Polovtsians could collect tribute. The Kypchak population was divided mainly into warriors and artisans, khans, who led a luxurious lifestyle, stood separately. Women were engaged in all life, and in society they were valued very highly. It is known that blood feud was common among the Polovtsians.
Military science has become a key development factor in the life of the Polovtsy. The peoples they conquered noted high organization and excellent battle tactics. The main weapons used by the Kypchaks in battle were bows, darts and curved sabers. Warriors wore quivers closer to their sides so that they could quickly get arrows.
One warrior could have several horses with him, and the main force of the army was cavalry. In battle, the Polovtsy threw lassoes on the enemy soldiers, stabbed the enemies with spears.
The gradual development of military affairs led to the appearance of heavy warriors dressed in chain mail. To protect the body, the Polovtsians began to use shells and helmets. Heavy crossbows and a special type of weapon - Greek fire, which is a combustible mixture, became common weapons.
To improve their combat skills, the warriors not only trained, but also hunted. Hunting became one of the main occupations of the Polovtsy, helping to get food and furs from which fur coats were made. Women sewed outfits for warriors from sheep's wool, which helped to overcome long distances in the cold. Thus, many of the activities of the Kypchaks were somehow connected with military affairs.

Religion

Tengrianism became the religion of the Polovtsians. They worshiped the great Tengri, the lord of the sky. Totemism was widespread, in particular the worship of the spirit of the wolf. Like other pagans, the Kypchaks associated themselves with this predator, believing that it could give them strength. Women honored the goddess Umai, associated with the harvest and fertility. Religious representatives were shamans, who were called "kam". They performed rituals of divination, played the role of healers, communicated with spirits.

culture

The main cultural achievement of the Polovtsy was the statue of stone women. These figures symbolize ancestors and are a tribute to them. Stone statues were placed in high places in the steppe or at mounds where there were burials. The figures could be not only female, but also male. Their faces were always turned to the east. In one sanctuary there were several statues. There are several types of Polovtsian statues:

• men with mustaches and beards;
• armed men;
• women with children;
• women with bowls and goblets.

In the 12th century, the Polovtsy began to regularly order the production of statues. This allowed masons and sculptors to develop their activities. For some time, the statues had amazing detail, but by the end of the 12th century they became more primitive. Many faces have disappeared, which, however, indicates the emergence of a different way of decorating - the face of the statue was well polished in order to apply the image with paints.

dwelling

The Kypchaks called their dwelling "vezha". It was folded from branches of a cylindrical shape. The walls were wicker, the roof had a conical shape and was made up of poles. The circle in the center served as a hole for the exit of smoke. Such houses could be put on wagons and transported over long distances. Vezha was easily strengthened in the ground, which was necessary for winter parking.

Appearance

Cloth

The nomadic life of the Polovtsy contributed to the creation of clothing that was necessary for every nomad. Therefore, women's and men's costumes did not differ much from each other. The Kypchaks wore caftans, shirts, pants and boots. Women focused on jewelry, while men sought to get reliable armor. However, some of them were decorated with exquisite ornaments. An obligatory element of the costume of the Polovtsy was a belt.
On it, men fixed weapons and armchairs, and women carried handbags, a mirror and other items with them. A big difference existed in the headdresses. The men's headdress was a hat-cap; on the battlefield, men put on a helmet. Women, on the other hand, used headdresses that differed in variety. They also sought to embellish the skirts worn over the caftan.

Famous people

Among the Kipchaks there are many famous people. Atrak became one of the most famous khans. His military strength was so great that he was even mentioned in Russian epics. Another famous khan was Tugorkan, who was also honored with a mention in folklore. The Russians considered him the worst enemy, in the epics he was called Tugarin and associated with the serpent. The khan became famous for his ferocity during the battles with the army of Svyatopolk Izyaslavich.

Food

The Polovtsians, like any other nomadic people, ate hearty food and drank koumiss, which helped them to stay strong on a long journey.

1. The main types of meat were beef, horse meat, lamb and camel meat.
2. Poultry was rarely eaten, as they did not have the opportunity to breed it.
3. The Polovtsy ate a lot of flour, because it was pastries that helped to gain enough calories.
4. In addition to koumiss, they used cow and goat milk.
5. They used lagman from soups, made sausages, kazy (some kind of sausages).

The traditional Cuman cuisine has had a great influence on modern Kazakh cuisine. It was the Kipchaks who were among the first to use the koktal maker, which is still used to prepare fish dishes.

The Kypchaks were known as glorious mercenaries, they were called the most dangerous enemies of Rus', but they must be given their due. This people was able to create an army, the equal of which was hard to find. It was the Kypchaks who influenced the development of the peoples of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. They created sculptures that surprise even today with their attention to detail. Their life was built on constant preparation for battle, and for this, even in Russian epics, they were portrayed as strong warriors.

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