In the middle of the 11th century, Kievan Rus faced a serious threat from the Polovtsians. These nomads came from the Asian steppes and captured the Black Sea region. The Polovtsians (or Cumans) ousted their predecessors, the Pechenegs, from these places. The new steppe inhabitants were not much different from the old ones. They lived by robberies and invasions of neighboring countries where settled populations lived.
New threat
The appearance of nomads coincided with the beginning of the process of political collapse of Rus'. The East Slavic state was united until the 11th century, when its territory was divided into several small principalities. Each of them was ruled by an independent native. The struggle of the Russian princes with the Polovtsians was complicated by this fragmentation.
The rulers often quarreled among themselves, organized internecine wars and made their own country vulnerable to the steppe inhabitants. In addition, some princes began to hire nomads for money. Having your own small horde in the army became an important advantage on the battlefield. All these factors together led to the fact that Rus' was in a state of constant conflict with the Polovtsians for almost two centuries.
First Blood
Nomads first invaded the territory of Rus' in 1054. Their appearance coincided with the death of Yaroslav the Wise. Today he is considered the last Kyiv prince who ruled all of Russia. After him, the throne passed to his eldest son Izyaslav. However, Yaroslav had several more offspring. Each of them received an inheritance (part of the state), although formally they were subordinate to Izyaslav. Yaroslav's second son, Svyatoslav, ruled in Chernigov, and the third, Vsevolod Yaroslavich, received Pereyaslavl. This city was located just east of Kyiv and was closest to the steppe. That is why the Polovtsy often attacked the Pereyaslav Principality in the first place.
When the nomads found themselves on Russian soil for the first time, Vsevolod managed to come to an agreement with them by sending an embassy with gifts to the uninvited guests. Peace was concluded between the parties. However, it could not be durable, since the steppe inhabitants lived by robbing their neighbors.
The Horde invaded again in 1061. This time, many peaceful, defenseless villages were plundered and destroyed. Nomads never stayed in Rus' for long. Their horses were afraid of winter, and besides, the animals needed to be fed. Therefore, the raids were carried out in the spring or summer. After a break for autumn and winter, the southern guests returned.
Defeat of the Yaroslavichs
The armed struggle of the Russian princes with the Polovtsians was initially unsystematic. The rulers of the destinies could not fight the huge hordes alone. This state of affairs made an alliance between the Russian princes vitally necessary. The sons of Yaroslav the Wise knew how to negotiate with each other, so in their era there were no problems with coordinating actions.
In 1068, the united squad of the Yaroslavichs met with the steppe army, led by Sharukan. The site of the battle was the bank of the Alta River near Pereyaslavl. The princes were defeated and had to flee the battlefield in a hurry. After the battle, Izyaslav and Vsevolod returned to Kyiv. They had neither the strength nor the means to organize a new campaign against the Polovtsians. The apathy of the princes led to an uprising of the population, tired of the constant raids of the steppes and seeing the inability of their rulers to do anything to counter this terrible threat. The people of Kiev convened a people's meeting. City residents demanded that the authorities arm ordinary citizens. When this ultimatum was ignored, the dissatisfied destroyed the governor’s home. Prince Izyaslav had to hide with the Polish king.
Meanwhile, the Polovtsian raids on Rus' continued. In the absence of Izyaslav, his younger brother Svyatoslav, in the same year 1068, defeated the steppe inhabitants in the battle on the Snova River. Sharukan was captured. This first victory allowed the nomads to be temporarily paralyzed.
Polovtsy in the service of princes
Although the Polovtsian raids stopped, steppe inhabitants continued to appear on Russian soil. The reason for this was that Russian princes, who fought with each other in internecine conflicts, began to hire nomads. The first such case took place in 1076. The son of Vsevolod Yaroslavovich, Vladimir Monomakh, together with the Polovtsians, devastated the lands of the Polotsk prince Vseslav.
In the same year, Svyatoslav, who had previously occupied Kyiv, died. His death allowed Izyaslav to return to the capital and become a prince again. Chernigov (the hereditary inheritance of Svyatoslav) was occupied by Vsevolod. Thus, the brothers left their nephews Roman and Oleg without the lands that they should have received from their father. Svyatoslav's children did not have their own squad. But the Polovtsy went to fight with them. Often nomads went to war at the call of the princes, without even asking for a reward, since they received rewards during the robberies of peaceful villages and cities.
However, such an alliance was dangerous. Although in 1078 the Svyatoslavichs defeated Izyaslav in the battle on Nezhatina Niva (the Kiev ruler died in battle), very soon Prince Roman himself was killed by the Polovtsians, whom he called after him.
Fight on Stugna
At the end of the 11th - beginning of the 12th centuries. Vladimir Monomakh became the main fighter against the steppe threat. The Polovtsians decided to reassert themselves in 1092, when Vsevolod, who then ruled in Kyiv, fell seriously ill. Nomads often attacked Rus' when the country found itself without power or when it was weakened. This time the Polovtsians decided that Vsevolod’s illness would not allow the Kievans to gather their strength and repel the attack.
The first invasion went unpunished. The Cumans, having met no resistance, calmly returned to their winter nomadic places. The campaigns were then led by Khan Tugorkan and Khan Bonyak. A powerful onslaught of the steppe inhabitants after a long break became possible after the hordes that had been scattered for several years united around these two leaders.
Everything favored the Polovtsians. In 1093, Vsevolod Yaroslavich died. The inexperienced nephew of the deceased, Svyatopolk Yaroslavovich, began to rule in Kyiv. Tugorkan, together with his horde, besieged Torchesk, an important city in Porosye on the southern borders of Rus'. Soon the defenders learned of approaching help. The Russian princes temporarily forgot about mutual claims against each other and gathered their squads for a campaign in the steppe. This army included the regiments of Svyatopolk Izyaslavovich, Vladimir Monomakh and his younger brother Rostislav Vsevolodovich.
The united squad was defeated in the Battle of the Stugna River, which took place on May 26, 1093. The first blow of the Polovtsians fell on the Kievites, who wavered and fled from the battlefield. Behind them the Chernigovites were defeated. The army found itself pressed against the river. The warriors had to hastily swim across the river in their armor. Many of them simply drowned, including Rostislav Vsevolodovich. Vladimir Monomakh tried to save his brother, but could not help him get out of the seething stream of Stugna. After the victory, the Polovtsians returned to Torchesk and finally took the city. The defenders of the fortress surrendered. They were taken captive, and the city was set on fire. The history of Kievan Rus was darkened by one of the most devastating and terrible defeats.
Stab in the back
Despite heavy losses, the struggle of the Russian princes with the Polovtsians continued. In 1094, Oleg Svyatoslavovich, who continued to fight for his father’s inheritance, besieged Monomakh in Chernigov. Vladimir Vsevolodovich left the city, after which it was given over to the nomads for plunder. After the concession of Chernigov, the conflict with Oleg was settled. However, the Polovtsians soon besieged Pereyaslavl and appeared under the walls of Kyiv. The steppe inhabitants took advantage of the absence of strong squads in the south of the country, who went north to participate in the next civil strife on Rostov soil. In that war, the son of Vladimir Monomakh, the Murom prince Izyaslav, died. Meanwhile, Tugorkan was already close to starving Pereyaslavl.
At the very last moment, a squad returning from the north came to the city’s rescue. It was led by Vladimir Monomakh and Svyatopolk Izyaslavovich. The decisive battle took place on July 19, 1096. The Russian princes finally defeated the Polovtsians. This was the first major success of Slavic weapons in the confrontation with the steppes in the last 30 years. Under a powerful blow, the Polovtsy scattered. In this pursuit, Tugorkan died along with his son. The next year after the victory at Trubezh, the Russian princes gathered at the famous congress in Lyubech. At this meeting, the Rurikovichs regulated their own relations. The hereditary inheritance of the late Svyatoslav finally returned to his children. Now the princes could come to grips with the problem of the Polovtsians, which was what Svyatopolk Izyaslavovich insisted on, who formally continued to be considered the eldest.
Hiking in the steppe
At first, the struggle of the Russian princes with the Polovtsians did not go beyond the borders of Rus'. The squads gathered only if nomads threatened Slavic cities and villages. This tactic was ineffective. Even if the Polovtsians were defeated, they returned to their own steppes, regained strength, and after some time crossed the border again.
Monomakh understood that a fundamentally new strategy was needed against the nomads. In 1103, the Rurikovichs met at the next congress on the shores of Lake Dolob. At the meeting, a general decision was made to march with the army into the steppe, into the lair of the enemy. Thus began the military campaigns of the Russian princes to the nomadic places of the Polovtsians. Svyatopolk of Kiev, Davyd Svyatoslavovich of Chernigov, Vladimir Monomakh, Davyd Vseslavovich of Polotsk and Monomakh’s heir Yaropolk Vladimirovich took part in the campaign. After a general gathering in Pereyaslavl, the Russian army set off for the steppe in the early spring of 1103. The princes were in a hurry, hoping to overtake the enemy as quickly as possible. Polovtsian horses needed a long rest after previous campaigns. In March, they were still not strong, which should have been to the advantage of the Slavic squad.
The history of Kievan Rus has never known such a military campaign. Not only cavalry, but also a large foot army marched south. The princes counted on him in case the cavalry became too tired after a long journey. The Polovtsians, having learned about the unexpected approach of the enemy, began to hastily assemble a united army. It was headed by Khan Urusoba. Another 20 steppe princes brought their troops. The decisive battle took place on April 4, 1103 on the banks of the Suteni River. The Polovtsians were defeated. Many of their princelings were killed or captured. Urusoba also died. The victory allowed Svyatopolk to rebuild the city of Yuryev on the Ros River, which was burned back in 1095 and was empty for many years without inhabitants.
In the spring of 1097, the Polovtsians again went on the offensive. Khan Bonyak led the siege of the city of Lubena, which belonged to the Pereyaslavl principality. Svyatopolk and Monomakh together defeated his army, meeting him on the Sula River. Bonyak ran. Still, the peace was fragile. Subsequently, the military campaigns of the Russian princes were repeated (three times in 1109 - 1111). All of them were successful. The Polovtsians had to migrate away from the Russian borders. Some of them even moved to the North Caucasus. For two decades, Rus' forgot about the threat of the Polovtsians. It is interesting that in 1111 Vladimir Monomakh organized a campaign similar to the Catholic Crusade in Palestine. The struggle between the Eastern Slavs and the Polovtsians was also religious. The nomads were pagans (in the chronicles they were called “filthy”). In the same year 1111, the Russian army reached the Don. This river became her last frontier. The Polovtsian cities of Sugrov and Sharukan, in which the nomads usually spent the winter, were captured and plundered.
Long Neighborhood
Vladimir Monomakh became the prince of Kyiv. Under him and his son Mstislav (until 1132), Rus' was for the last time a single and cohesive state. The Polovtsians did not bother Kyiv, Pereyaslavl, or any other East Slavic cities. However, after the death of Mstislav Vladimirovich, disputes began between numerous Russian princes over the rights to the throne. Some wanted to get Kyiv, others fought for independence in other provinces. In wars among themselves, the Rurikovichs again began to hire Polovtsians.
For example, the ruler of Rostov, together with nomads, besieged the “mother of Russian cities” five times. The Polovtsians were actively involved in internecine wars in the Galicia-Volyn principality. In 1203, under the command of Rurik Rostislavovich, they captured and plundered Kyiv. Then Prince Roman Mstislavovich Galitsky ruled in the ancient capital.
Trade protection
In the XI-XII centuries. The Polovtsians did not always invade Rus' at the call of one of the princes. During periods when there were no other ways to rob and kill, nomads arbitrarily attacked Slavic settlements and cities. Under the Kiev prince Mstislav Izyaslavovich (reigned 1167-1169), for the first time in a long time, a campaign in the steppe was organized and carried out. The squads were sent to nomadic places not only to secure border settlements, but also to preserve Dnieper trade. For many centuries, merchants used the Route from the Varangians to the Greeks, along which Byzantine goods were delivered. In addition, Russian merchants sold northern wealth in Constantinople, which brought great profits to the princes. Hordes of robbers were a constant threat to this important exchange of goods. Therefore, the frequent Russian-Polovtsian wars were also determined by the economic interests of the Kyiv rulers.
In 1185, the prince of Novgorod-Seversky undertook another campaign in the steppe. The day before there was a solar eclipse, which contemporaries regarded as a bad sign. Despite this, the squad still went to the Polovtsian lair. This army was defeated, and the prince was captured. The events of the campaign formed the basis of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.” This text is today considered the most significant monument of ancient Russian literature.
The emergence of the Mongols
Relations between the Slavs and the Polovtsians for almost two centuries fit into a system of regular alternation of war and peace. However, in the 13th century, the established order collapsed. In 1222, the Mongols first appeared in Eastern Europe. Hordes of these ferocious nomads had already conquered China and were now moving west.
Campaign 1222-1223 was a trial and was actually a reconnaissance mission. However, even then both the Polovtsians and the Russians felt their helplessness in front of the new enemy. These two peoples had previously constantly fought with each other, but this time they decided to act together against an unexpected enemy. In the Battle of Kalka, the Polovtsian-Russian army suffered a crushing defeat. Thousands of warriors died. However, after the victory, the Mongols suddenly turned back and went to their native lands.
It seemed that the storm had passed. Everyone began to live as before: the princes fought with each other, the Polovtsians plundered border settlements. A few years later, the unreasonable relaxation of the Polovtsians and Russians was punished. In 1236, the Mongols, led by Genghis Khan's grandson Batu, began their great western campaign. This time they went to distant countries in order to conquer them. First the Polovtsians were defeated, then the Mongols plundered Rus'. The Horde reached the Balkans and only turned back there. New nomads settled in the former Gradually the two peoples assimilated. However, as an independent force, the Cumans disappeared precisely in the 1230-1240s. Now Rus' had to deal with a much more terrible enemy.
In the history of Russia there are also peoples about whom we know only from chronicles and legends. They once inhabited our lands for a very long time, fought or were friends with Russia (which, however, in other times was not much different), competed with it or joined it with their culture and traditions, remaining in our historical memory and ethnogenesis. Today we are talking about one of these peoples.
...Arabic and Persian-speaking authors called them Kipchaks. Byzantine and Magyar sources called them Komans, Cumans and Kuns. In Russian sources this people are known as Cumans. And everyone who is at least superficially familiar with “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” knows this name.
Actually, this is what the “well-known” ideas about the Polovtsy - by the way, to a certain extent our ancestors - are limited to. And, frankly, scientific knowledge doesn’t spoil us much with details either.
Who are they and where did they come from?
It is almost universally accepted that the Cumans are Turkic tribes. Historians believe that this conglomerate of tribes, which cannot be called an ethnic group, initially contains Turkic and Mongolian ethnocultural components.
The first information about the Kipchaks dates back to the 40s of the 8th century, when the Turkic (so-called Second Turkic) Kaganate finally collapsed in the Central Asian region. Being descendants of the Sirs, defeated by the Uyghurs, the Kipchaks became part of the Kimak Khaganate, in which they were located in the 9th - early 11th centuries. By the way, “Kipchak” was originally a contemptuous nickname given by the Uighurs to the defeated Turks, meaning “losers”, “fugitives”.
By the beginning of the 11th century. The Kipchaks managed to completely free themselves from the tutelage of the Kimaks and began to lay claim to hegemony in the Central Asian and Kazakh steppes. It was during this period that the word “Kipchak” itself acquired a new meaning: now it is “an empty, hollow tree.” The collapse of the Kimak Khaganate, caused by external pressure (a new wave of nomadic expansion led by Mongol tribes) and internal contradictions, released active Kipchak tribes, which moved westward.
The penetration of the Kipchaks into the steppes of Eastern Europe was a widespread migration of loosely connected politically Turkic-speaking tribes. Migration developed in two directions. In the first, the southern one, on the Syr Darya, the Kipchak element predominated, so it was the Kipchaks who were encountered in the Arab world. The Kimak tribes dominated in the second - western direction (in the Volga region). This explains the spread of the names “Cumans” and “Polovtsy” in Byzantium, Rus' and Eastern Europe. Thus, the Turkic tribes received the familiar name “Polovtsians” after moving into the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region.
In Russian science, the opinion has become established that the name “Polovtsy” comes from the Old Slavic “plava” (straw), which denoted the appearance of the new nomads. From this, some researchers conclude that, in addition to the Turkic and Mongolian components, the Caucasoid component was also included somewhere, or even prevailed. However, the thesis about “Caucasoid predominance” is not confirmed by anthropological analysis of the majority of Polovtsian burials. In this regard, E.Ch. Skrzhinskaya drew attention to the geographical tradition of Russian chronicles: in her version, the word “Polovtsian” did not denote an ethnic characteristic, but the habitat of nomads - the “that” (“on the floor”) side of the Dnieper region.
In the middle of the 11th century. The nomadic area of the Kipchaks (Kimaks) extended from the Irtysh in the east to the Volga in the west. Contemporaries called this vast territory Desht-i-Kipchak (Polovtsian steppe).
Having displaced the Guz, who in turn replaced the Pechenegs, the Polovtsians became the final masters in the south of Eastern Europe, coming very close to the borders of the Old Russian state. In modern historiography, the prevailing opinion is that the Polovtsians had a huge influence on all aspects of the economic, socio-political and cultural life of Rus' during the period of feudal fragmentation.
Restless neighbors and “multi-vector” in Russian
The first chronicle mention of the appearance of the Polovtsians at the borders of Rus' dates back to 1055 and is contained in one of the lists of the Tale of Bygone Years. The text states: “In this year Bolush came from the Polovtsians, and Vsevolod made peace with them, and when the Polovtsians returned, they came from nowhere.” Despite the absence of any indications in the source of the warlike behavior of the Polovtsians, in domestic historiography since the 19th century. the perception of nomads as a hostile “Asian” force, hindering the economic and political development of Rus', became established.
Modern Russian historian Alexander Inkov believes that the negative assessment of the first contacts between Rus' and the Polovtsians, established in Russian historical literature, is purely speculative and is not confirmed by sources. He also notes that the first meeting did not mark the beginning of regular relations between Rus' and the Cumans, since it was fleeting, local and went virtually unnoticed in the Russian lands.
It is known, however, that since the beginning of the 60s. XI century relations with the Polovtsians become regular and thoughtful: that is, the nomads begin to attack the Russian principalities. “For the first time the Polovtsians came to the Russian land in war; Vsevolod came out against them in the month of February on the 2nd day. And in the battle they defeated Vsevolod and, having conquered the land, left. That was the first evil from filthy and godless enemies. The prince was looking for them.” From that time until the Mongol invasion, the Polovtsians became the main foreign policy factor in the development of Rus'.
At the same time, we must remember that the weakening of central power under the sons of Yaroslav the Wise did not allow building a single line of relations with the nomads. Therefore, the “sovereign” Yaroslavichs built the Polovtsian policy at their best. Nevertheless, Izyaslav, Svyatoslav and Vsevolod in 1068 undertook a joint campaign against the Polovtsians, which ended in the complete defeat of the Russians. The princely army was defeated by nomads in the battle on the river. Alte. Subsequently, contradictions between the brothers led to the collapse of the triune political system in Rus', which emerged after the death of Yaroslav. The Polovtsians, who with their invasion aggravated the brewing contradictions between the brothers, accelerated its collapse.
The weakening of the power of the Grand Duke of Kyiv, the growth of pretenders to the Grand Duke's throne and the deepening of civil strife contributed to the intensification of Polovtsian raids on Russian borders. The initiators were both the nomads themselves, who were looking for profit, and the Russian princes, who used the Polovtsians as a military force in internecine confrontations. Thus, the relatively peaceful relations of the Chernigov principality with the Polovtsians were determined not so much by a geographical factor (Chernigov’s protection from the Steppe by forests) as by the struggle of the Chernigov princes for political dominance in the south of Rus'. Chronicles indicate that in 1073, 1078 and 1079, Polovtsian detachments supported the Svyatoslavichs in confrontation with the Yaroslavichs.
As noted by the author of the first and largest work on Russian-Polovtsian relations P.V. Golubovsky, the Polovtsians acted as a kind of regulator of the political balance in Rus': supporting one or the other princes in strife, they did not allow anyone to become strong enough to subjugate the rest. However, what attracted the nomads, of course, was not the “influence on political processes,” but the banal opportunity to plunder Russian lands without any restrictions. For the same reasons, the Polovtsians often helped the Russian princes in armed conflicts with “third parties” - Poles, Bulgars...
Sounding damask steel and male family authority
By 1093-1094. the need to join forces to contain the Cumans becomes obvious. However, it took the princes almost ten years to regulate their relationships with each other. At the beginning of the 12th century. The military tactics of the Russian princes are also changing, and they are switching to an active offensive. The campaigns in the Polovtsian steppe of 1103 and 1106 ended with convincing victories. And the most successful and most famous was the one organized by Vladimir Monomakh: the defeat of the Polovtsians in the Battle of Salnitsa, the capture of the largest camps of Sharukan and Sugrov.
At the same time, the Russian princes did not limit themselves exclusively to military actions in relations with the Polovtsians, often resorting to “marriage” diplomacy. In 1107, Vladimir Monomakh married his son Yuri to the daughter of the Polovtsian Khan Aepa, and in 1117, another son of the Grand Duke of Kyiv, Andrei Vladimirovich, married the granddaughter of Tugorkan. Also, Svyatopolk II and Svyatoslav Olgovich tied the knot with the Polovtsian clans.
As a result, thanks to diplomacy and successful military campaigns, it was possible to oust the Polovtsian hordes beyond the Don and Volga, the Monomakhovich possessions expanded, and relative calm was established on the southern and southeastern borders of the Russian principalities.
The victories over the Polovtsians, however, also played a cruel joke on Russia. On the one hand, the Grand Duke, being confident in eliminating the Polovtsian threat, abandoned allied relations with other nomadic tribes - the Torks and Pechenegs, who contributed to maintaining security on the steppe borders. On the other hand, the weakening of the general Polovtsian threat gave the princes courage in fragmenting Rus'. If Monomakh's son Mstislav managed to maintain the supremacy of the Monomakhovichs in relation to all branches of the Rurik dynasty, then after his death in 1132 the Kyiv princes lost control over Polotsk and Smolensk, which marked the beginning of the final collapse of the Old Russian state.
Under these conditions, the Polovtsians were not only able to recover from the defeats of the early 12th century, but from the 40s they began to regularly invade Russian lands both to participate in the confrontation between Russian princes and for the sake of booty.
Polovtsian onslaught at the end of the 12th century. associated with the formation of a large nomadic association around the horde of Khan Konchak. Historian G.A. Fedorov-Davydov wrote: “Tendencies towards the complete unification of the Polovtsians under a single khan’s rule can be traced only at the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th centuries. and are associated with the activities of the Khan of the Don and Donetsk Polovtsians Konchak, who in 1185 declared his claims to the Dnieper unification of the Polovtsians. However, Konchak’s activities were not crowned with success.” The latter was explained primarily by the fierce struggle for power, which negatively affected the combat effectiveness of the Polovtsian troops.
As a result, the overwhelming majority of raids in the second half of the 12th century. was successfully repelled by the forces of the border principalities, so the Polovtsians appeared in the Russian principalities mainly as mercenaries of local princes who were at enmity with each other. However, the attempts of the Russian princes to repeat the successful campaign of Monomakh in the Polovtsian steppe turned out to be unsuccessful - the “Tale of Igor’s Campaign” tells about one such embarrassment of Igor Svyatoslavich Seversky in 1185.
Where did they go and what did they leave for us?
The Mongol invasion found the Polovtsian steppe incapable of united resistance to the conquerors. After an unsuccessful attempt, together with the Russian princes, to stop the Mongols at the river. Kalki in 1223, the Polovtsians were forced to either leave the Polovtsian steppe or die.
The Mongol invasion of the Black Sea steppes forced the Cumans to move to the Balkans, Hungary, Byzantium and Transcaucasia. Some of the Kipchaks went to the North Caucasus, giving rise to the formation of the Kumyk, Karachay and Balkar ethnic groups. The Polovtsians who moved to Hungary (accounting for up to 8% of the total population there) by the 14th century. were completely assimilated. In Bulgaria and Byzantium, the Cumans began to be used as a military force. Finally, some of the Polovtsians fled to the Russian principalities.
The Horde who came to the Polovtsian steppe gradually began to assimilate with the Polovtsians. This process was reflected in the work of the Arab author al-Omari: “In ancient times, this state (meaning the Golden Horde) was the country of the Kipchaks, but when the Tatars took possession of it, the Kipchaks became their subjects. Then they (the Tatars) mixed and became related to them (the Kipchaks), and the earth prevailed over the natural and racial qualities of them (the Tatars), and they all became like Kipchaks, as if from the same (with them) family, because the Mongols (and Tatars) settled on the land of the Kipchaks, married them and remained to live on their (Kypchaks) land.”
Thus, having become part of the Golden Horde, the Polovtsians took an active part in the ethnogenesis of such peoples as the Kazakhs, Tatars, Bashkirs, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks and other Turkic-speaking peoples.
Literature:
Gurkin S.V. Polovtsians of the Eurasian steppes (problems of ethnopolitical history of the 7th - first third of the 12th centuries) // Diss... candidate of history. Sci. Rostov-on-Don, 2000.
Inkov A.A. Ancient Rus' and the nomads of the southern Russian steppes in the X-XIII centuries. (Rus and the Polovtsians). M., 2007.
Pletneva S.A. Polovtsy. M., 1990.
Talashov M.V. Dynamics of Russian-Polovtsian relations in the second half of the 11th-12th centuries. // Yaroslavl Pedagogical Bulletin. 2014. T. 1. No. 3.
Fedorov-Davydov G.A. Nomads of Eastern Europe under the rule of the Golden Horde khans. M., 1966.
In the 10th century Polovtsians (Kimaks, Kipchaks, Cumans) wandered from the Irtysh to the Caspian Sea. With the beginning of the Seljuk movement, their hordes moved, following the Guz-Torks, to the west. In the 11th century in the Black Sea region, the Polovtsians consolidated the hordes of Bulgarians who had left the Volga, the Pechenegs and Torques into unions subject to them, and developed the lands that became the Polovtsian steppe - Dasht-i-Kipchak.
The Polovtsy who lived along the Dnieper are usually divided into two associations - the left bank and the right bank. Both of them consisted of scattered independent hordes that had their own nomadic territory. At the head of the horde was the ruling clan - the kuren. The family of the main khan (kosh) stood out in the clan. Their greatest influence and power were enjoyed by strong khans - military leaders, for example Bonyak or Sharukan. The Polovtsians raided their neighbors: Rus', Bulgaria, Byzantium. They took part in the civil strife of Russian princes.
The Polovtsian army had the traditional tactics of warfare for nomads - horse attacks with “lavas”, deliberate flight to lure the enemy into attack from an ambush, and in case of defeat they “scattered” across the steppe. Polovtsian troops successfully fought at night (1061, 1171, 1185, 1215). The Polovtsian army, as a rule, consisted of light and heavy cavalry.
Rus''s first acquaintance with the Polovtsians occurred in 1055 in the political field. The reason is the creation of the Pereyaslav principality in 1054 and an attempt to armedly expel the Torci from its territory. The Polovtsians, who were interested in settling the Torci, came to Rus' in peace and solved the problem of their resettlement through diplomatic means.
In 1061, the Polovtsians made their first invasion of Rus' and defeated Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich of Pereyaslavl. The invasion was caused by a new offensive of Rus' against the Pereyaslav Torci, which violated the Russian-Polovtsian peace treaty.
As part of the Russian army, the armed formations of the Polovtsians took part both as allies (XI-XIII centuries) and as “federates” (XII-XIII centuries), that is, living on the territory of the principality and subject to the current laws of this principality. The Polovtsy, Torques and other “pacified” Turks settled on the territory of Rus' were called “black hoods”. The onslaught of the Polovtsians on Rus' intensified with the change of princely power. Rus' was forced to strengthen the southern border with fortresses in Porosye, Posemye and other regions. Russian-Polovtsian relations were also strengthened by dynastic marriages. Many Russian princes took as wives the daughters of Polovtsian khans. However, the threat of Polovtsian raids on Rus' was constant.
Rus' responded to the raids with campaigns in the Polovtsian steppe. The most effective campaigns of the Russian army were in 1103, 1107, 1111, 1128, 1152, 1170, 1184–1187, 1190, 1192, 1202. More than once the Polovtsians came to Rus' to support one of the disgruntled Russian princes. In alliance with the Russian army, in 1223, the Cumans were defeated by the Mongol-Tatars (Kalka). As an independent political force (Polovtsian steppe), the Polovtsians last attacked Rus': in the east - in 1219 (Ryazan Principality), and in the west - in 1228 and 1235. (Principality of Galicia). After the Mongol-Tatar conquests of the 13th century. Some of the Polovtsians joined the Mongol-Tatar hordes, others settled in Rus', and others went to the Danube region, Hungary, Lithuania, Transcaucasia and the Middle East.
Campaign of the Russian army against the Polovtsians (1103)
In 1103, the Cumans once again violated the peace. Grand Duke Svyatopolk II Izyaslavich of Kiev (8.9.1050–16.4.1113) and Prince of Pereyaslav Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh (1053–19.5.1125) with their senior squads gathered in Dolobsk for a princely congress - to hold advice on a campaign against the Polovtsians. By the will of the senior princes in Rus', in order to solve a number of foreign policy and internal problems, the druzhina troops of individual lands united under the leadership of the Grand Duke of Rus' and formed an all-Russian druzhina army. At the Dolob Congress it was decided to go to the Polovtsian steppe. The troops of the Chernigov-Seversk land of Oleg (?–18.8.1115) and Davyd (?–1123) Svyatoslavich were invited to the campaign. Vladimir Monomakh left the congress and went to Pereyaslavl to gather his army. Svyatopolk II, taking a retinue army from Kyiv, followed him. In addition to the above-mentioned princes, in the campaign against the Polovtsians, they attracted the squadron troops of Prince Davyd Svyatoslavich of Novgorod-Seversky, as well as princes of the 8th generation: Davyd Vseslavich of Polotsk (?–1129), Vyacheslav Yaropolchich of Vladimir-Volynsky (?–13.4.1105), Yaropolk Vladimirovich of Smolensk (?–18.2.1133) and Mstislav Vsevolodich Gorodetsky (?–1114). Citing illness, only Prince Oleg Svyatoslavich did not go on the campaign. Thus, the all-Russian army in the campaign of 1103 was formed from seven princely troops from various regions of Rus'. And the Russian army went on a campaign. Having passed the boats below the rapids, the troops went ashore near the island of Khortitsa. Then they went across the field on horseback and on foot. Four days later they approached Suteni. The Polovtsians knew about the Russian campaign and gathered an army. They decided to kill the Russian princes and take possession of their cities. Only the oldest, Urusoba, was against fighting Russia.
Moving towards the Russian troops, the Polovtsians sent Khan Altunopa at the head of the vanguard. However, the Russian vanguard ambushed Altunopa’s detachment and, surrounding it, killed all the soldiers. Altunopa himself died in the battle. This allowed the Russian regiments to suddenly stand in the way of the Polovtsians on April 4 at Suteni. In the face of the Russian warriors, the Polovtsians “became confused, and fear attacked them, and they themselves became numb, and their horses had no speed in their legs.” As the chronicler writes, “the Russian army attacked the enemy with joy on horseback and on foot.” The Polovtsians could not withstand the onslaught and fled. In battle and pursuit, the Russians killed 20 Polotsk princes: Urusoba, Kochia, Yaroslanopa, Kitanopa, Kunama, Asup, Kurtyk, Chenegrepa, Surbar and others, and captured Beldyuz. After the victory, Beldyuz was brought to Svyatopolk. Svyatopolk did not take the ransom in gold, silver, horses and cattle, but handed the khan over to Vladimir for trial. For breaking the oath, Monomakh ordered the khan to be killed, and he was cut into pieces. Then the prince-brothers gathered, took Polovtsian cattle, sheep, horses, camels, vezhs with booty and servants, captured the Pechenegs and Torques with their vezhs, “and returned to Rus' with glory and great victory.”
Campaign of the Russian army against the Polovtsians (1111)
After the successful campaign of Rus' against the Polovtsians in 1103, the Polovtsians did not abandon raids on the Russian principalities and continued to torment the Russian lands with their devastating raids both in 1106 in the Kiev region near Zarechsk, and in 1107 near Pereyaslavl and Lubna (Polovtsian khans Bonyak, Sharukan in Posulye). In 1107, in the Pereyaslavl principality near Lubno, the troops of the Russian princes of Kyiv, Pereyaslavl, Chernigov, Smolensk and Novgorod principalities gave a worthy rebuff to the enemy on August 19, when at six o’clock in the afternoon they crossed the river. Sulu and attacked the Cumans. The sudden attack of the Russians terrified the Polovtsians and they “could not set up the banner for fear and ran: some clutching their horses, others on foot... chased them to Khorol. They killed Taz, Bonyakov's brother, captured Sugr and his brother, and Sharukan barely escaped. The Polovtsians abandoned their convoy, which was captured by Russian soldiers...” However, the raids continued.
In 1111, “Having thought, the princes of Russia went to Polovets,” i.e. The Russian princes again had a military council and decided to organize a new campaign against the Polovtsians. The united Russian army this time already consisted of 11 squadron troops of the Russian princes Svyatopolk II, Yaroslav, Vladimir, Svyatoslav, Yaropolk and Mstislav Vladimirovich, Davyd Svyatoslavich, Rostislav Davydovich, Davyd Igorevich, Vsevolod Olgovich, Yaroslav Svyatopolchich, i.e. The military power of the Kyiv, Pereyaslavl, Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversky, Novgorod, Smolensk, Vladimir-Volyn and Buzh Russian principalities moved to the Polovtsian steppe. The commanders of the Russian army in this campaign were: Svyatopolk Izyaslavich (Grand Duke of Kiev); Vladimir Vsevoldovich (Prince of Pereyaslavl); Davyd Svyatoslavich (prince of Chernigov) with his son Rostislav Davydovich (appanage prince of Chernigov); Davyd Igorevich (Prince of Buzh, Ostrog, Chertory and Dorogobuzh); Vsevolod Olgovich (Vsevolod-Kirill Olgovich Prince of Chernigov); Svyatoslav Olgovich (appanage prince of Chernigov); Yaroslav Svyatopolchich (Yaroslav (Yaroslavets) - Ivan Svyatopolkovich, Prince of Vladimir-Volynsky); Mstislav Vladimirovich (Prince of Novgorod); Yaropolk Vladimirovich (Prince of Smolensk).
The united Russian army, as a rule, on the battlefield before the battle by the senior commander - the Grand Duke, was divided into three parts: a large regiment - the center, a regiment of the right hand and a regiment of the left hand - the flanks. The balance of forces in the campaign against the Polovtsians was as follows: the eldest among equals in Rus', Prince Svyatopolk II led the regiments of a large regiment, and Vladimir and Davyd, respectively, led the regiments of the right and left hands. In terms of subordination, the subordination of the princes' troops is as follows.
Svyatopolk's army consisted of three regiments, which were headed by: Svyatopolk Izyaslavich (Grand Duke of Kiev); Yaroslav Svyatopolchich; Davyd Igorevich.
Vladimir's army consisted of three regiments, which were headed by: Vladimir Vsevoldovich (Prince of Pereyaslavl); Mstislav Vladimirovich; Yaropolk Vladimirovich.
Davyd's army consisted of three regiments, which were headed by: Davyd Svyatoslavich (Prince of Chernigov) with his son Rostislav; Vsevolod Olgovich; Svyatoslav Olgovich.
In the second week of Lent, the Russian army set out on a campaign against the Polovtsians. In the fifth week of Lent it came to Don. On Tuesday, March 21, having donned protective weapons (armor) and dispatched the regiments, the troops went to the city of Sharuknya, whose residents hospitably greeted them. On the morning of the next day (March 22), the troops moved to the city of Sugrob, the inhabitants of which did not want to submit to their will, and the city was burned.
The Polovtsy gathered an army and, having dispatched their regiments, went out to battle. The battle took place on March 24 on the Degeya stream (“on the Salne Retse field” - in the Salsky steppes). And Rus' won. The chronicle testifies that after the victory on the Degeya stream, the next week - March 27, the Polovtsians with an army of “a thousand thousand” surrounded the Russian troops and began a fierce battle. The picture of the battle is drawn as follows. The large regiment of Svyatoslav II, consisting of several regiments, was the first to engage in battle with the Polovtsian army. And when there were already many killed on both sides, the Russian army appeared before the enemy in full glory - the combined regiments of Prince Vladimir and the regiments of Prince Davyd hit the Polovtsians on the flanks. It should be noted that Russian troops, in the fight against the Polovtsians, usually fight near rivers. This is due to the fact that the nomads used methods specific to them to fight the enemy. Being, by the type of weapons and way of life, light cavalry, their warriors tried to surround the enemy’s army in the steppe and, at full gallop, fired at the enemy in a circular manner from bows, finishing the job they started with sabers, pikes, and whips. By placing regiments near rivers, Russian commanders, using the natural river barrier, deprived the nomads of maneuver, and heavy defensive weapons and the possibility of flanking attacks on the enemy from left- and right-handed regiments already qualitatively changed the picture of the battle.
As a result of the campaign, the Russian soldiers “... and took all their wealth, and killed many with their hands... on Monday of Holy Week, and many of them were beaten.” The battle on the Salnitsa River ended with the complete defeat of the Polovtsian army, which crowned the half-century struggle of Rus' with the Polovtsians with a military triumph, and until 1128 the Polovtsians did not make major raids.
It has long been believed that the Polovtsian is an 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, Volga Bulgars, Mongols, etc. There is quite a bit of material evidence that reveals the secrets of the tribe, but from them one can trace the unique history of the Polovtsian people.
Were the ancestors of the Cumans Chinese?
The meaning of the word “Polovtsian” in the Old Russian language indicates that the Slavs called this people either those 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 who lived 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 this, the residents of these places changed their family name “Sira” to “Kipchaks,” which meant “unlucky, ill-fated,” and went to the Irtysh and 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 coming from the word “lov”, which means hunting (in the sense of property and people), as well as from the word “full” - captivity, where representatives of the Slavs were taken.
In the nineteenth century (in particular E. Skrizhinskaya and A. Kunik) the name of these tribes was identified with the root “pol”, meaning half. As the above-mentioned researchers assumed, the residents of the right bank of the Dnieper 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 Kipchak-Cumans left a minimal amount of their own written documents.
Cumans are not a separate tribe
Today it is believed that the Cumans are a representative of a conglomeration of nomadic tribes, and this data is based on the fact that in the eleventh century AD the Kipchak people were conquered by the Mongol-speaking Kumoshi-Kimaki tribes, and then migrated to the west along with representatives of the Mongoloid tribes - the Khitans. By the end of the thirties of the eleventh century, this set of peoples captured the steppes between the Volga and Irtysh and approached the borders of the ancient Russian state.
"Yellow" people came to the borders of Rus'
Who the Polovtsians are from the point of view of documentary Russian history was first explained in 1055. According to this manuscript, “light, yellow” people came to the borders of the Pereslavl kingdom, which allowed the Kipchaks and Mongoloid tribes to assign the general name “Polovtsy.”
Newly arrived peoples settled in the Azov region, the Lower and Northern Don, where stone “babas” were discovered, which, as scientists believe, were installed by nomadic tribes in memory of their ancestors.
Who were the Cumans of those times from the point of view of religious teachings? It is believed that among this nomadic tribe, the cult of ancestors was initially practiced, which was realized through the installation of stone sculptures in high areas of the steppe, on watersheds in special sanctuaries. At the same time, direct burials were not always nearby. In Polovtsian graves, it was often common to bury the deceased along with household items and the carcass (stuffed) of his war horse.
Two thousand stone idols and a minimum of writing
A mound was poured over the grave of outstanding people by the standards of the Polovtsians. In later periods, when the Kipchaks were conquered by Muslims, part of the pagan monuments was destroyed. To date, about 2,000 stone “babas” (from “balbal” - “ancestor”) have been preserved on the territory of modern Russia, which are still considered to have the power to increase the fertility of the earth and restore nature. These monuments survived many centuries, including the period of Christianization of the Polovtsians. Pagans, Muslims, Christians - that’s who the Polovtsians were in different periods of the development of this set of peoples.
They shot down birds in flight with an arrow
After appearing on the territory of the steppes of Eastern Europe in the 11th century AD. The Polovtsians did not stop in this area and continued to settle further, fortunately 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.
A Polovtsian is first and foremost a warrior. The children of these tribes were taught horse riding and fighting techniques from an early age, so that they would later join the koshun - a militia from one clan. The koshun could include dozens of people or three or four hundred, who attacked the enemy like an avalanche, surrounded him with a ring and bombarded 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 skill was so high that while galloping, a rider could shoot down any flying bird with a bow.
Camping kitchen...under saddle
Who are the Polovtsians 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 and ate milk, cheese and raw meat, which was softened under the saddle of a horse. From raids they brought back stolen goods and captives, gradually adopting knowledge, habits and customs from other cultures. Despite the fact that no exact definition has been found for the origin of the word, what Polovtsian means was felt by many peoples of that time.
The Polovtsians had someone to adopt cultural traditions from, since the nomadic Kipchak tribes in the twelfth century reached the Cis-Caucasian steppes (on the Sunzha River there was a headquarters of the Polovtsian khans), visited Pomorie, Surozh and Korsun, Pomorie, Tmutarakan, and made a total of about 46 raids to Rus', in which they often won, but were also defeated. Specifically, around 1100 AD. about 45 thousand Kipchaks were forced out by the Russians into Georgian lands, where they mixed with local peoples.
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 learned to build dwellings for the winter, where they even equipped stoves in the likeness of Russian heating elements. Primitive leather clothes were decorated with ribbons on the sleeves, like Byzantine nobles, and signs of organization appeared among the tribes.
The Polovtsian kingdoms were no less than European ones
By the time of their conquest by Mongol-Tatar troops in the 13th century, the Polovtsian hordes were associations, the strongest of which were the Don and Transnistrian ones. In those days, a Polovtsian was a representative of a people who lived on a territory not inferior in size to European kingdoms. These quasi-state formations prevented the passage of caravans along the route “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 we can conclude that this people, despite some primitiveness, played an important role in the formation of the political map of the world of that time and in the formation of various nationalities, including modern ones.
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 of 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 the 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.
Another mysterious ancient people who settled all over the world are the gypsies. You can find out about this in one of our previous reviews.
