It has long been believed that the Polovtsian is an enemy of the Russian land, since representatives of this tribe were seen in multiple raids on the lands of our state. However, historians are aware of 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, and others. There is little material evidence that reveals the secrets of the tribe, but it is possible to trace the peculiar history of the Polovtsian people.
The ancestors of the Polovtsians were Chinese?
The meaning of the word "Polovtsian" in old Russian language indicates that the Slavs called so people either who came from the steppes (from the word "field"), or who had a yellowish skin tone (from the word "floor" - "yellow").
Indeed, the ancestors of the Polovtsians 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 that, the inhabitants of these places changed the generic name "sira" to "Kipchaks", which meant "unhappy, unfortunate", and left for the Irtysh and the eastern steppes of Kazakhstan.
Nineteenth century interpretations and the opinion of D. Sakharov
The meaning and interpretation of the word "Polovtsian" is also interpreted by some specialists 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 representative of the Slavs were taken.
In the nineteenth century (in particular E. Skryzhinskaya and A. Kunik) identified the name of these tribes with the root "pol", meaning half. As suggested by the above researchers, 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 secret of the origin of the name of this tribe would never be solved, since the Kipchaks-Polovtsy left a minimum amount of their own written documents.
Cumans are 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 Kumosi-Kimak tribes, and then migrated to the west along with representatives of Mongoloid tribes - the Kidans. By the end of the thirties of the eleventh century, this set of peoples captured the steppes between the Volga and Irtysh and came to the borders of the ancient Russian state.
"Yellow" people came to the borders of Russia
About who the Polovtsians are from the point of view of documentary Russian history, she 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 a generalized name “Polovtsy”.
The newly arrived peoples settled in the Azov region, the course of the Lower and Northern Don, where stone "women" were discovered, which, as scientists believe, were installed by nomadic tribes in memory of their ancestors.
Who are the Polovtsians of those times from the point of view of religious teachings? It is believed that the cult of ancestors was initially practiced among this nomadic tribe, which was realized through the installation of stone statues in 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, along with household items and the carcass (stuffed) of his war horse, was often common.
Two thousand stone idols and a minimum of writing
A mound was poured over the graves of outstanding people by the standards of the Polovtsians. In later periods, when the Kipchaks were conquered by the Muslims, some of the pagan monuments were destroyed. So far on the territory modern Russia about 2000 stone "women" (from "balbal" - "ancestor") have survived, which are still considered to have the power to increase the fertility of the earth, restore nature. These monuments have survived for many centuries, including the period of Christianization of the Polovtsians. Pagans, Muslims, Christians - these are the Polovtsians in different periods of the development of this aggregate of peoples.
They shot down birds in flight with an arrow
After the appearance on the territory of the steppes of Eastern Europe in the XI century A.D. the Polovtsians did not stop in this area and continued to settle further, the benefit of this was the presence of such a powerful vehicle of that time as a horse, and good weapons in the form of a bow.
A Polovtsian is, first of all, a warrior. From an early age, the children of these tribes were taught horseback riding and fighting techniques, so that later they would join the koshun - the 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 bombarded him with arrows. In addition to complex, technically advanced bows for that time, the Cumans possessed sabers, blades, and spears. They wore armor in the form of rectangular plates of iron. Their martial prowess was so high that at a gallop from a bow, a rider could shoot down any flying bird.
Camping kitchen ... under the saddle
Who are the Polovtsians from the point of view of their life? These nationalities were typical nomads, very unpretentious even by the standards of that time. Initially, they lived in covered carts or felt yurts, and ate milk, cheese, and raw meat, which they softened under the saddle of a horse. From raids they brought looted goods and prisoners, gradually adopting knowledge, habits and customs from other cultures. Despite the fact that the origin of the word was not found an exact definition of what the Polovtsian means, many peoples of that time felt on themselves.
There was someone from whom the Polovtsians could adopt the cultural traditions of the Polovtsy, since the nomadic tribes of the Kipchaks in the twelfth century reached the Ciscaucasian steppes (on the Sunzha River there was the headquarters of the Polovtsian khans), visited Pomorie, Surozh and Korsun, Pomorie, Tmutarakan, made a total of about 46 raids to Russia, in which they often won, but were also defeated. In particular, around 1100 A.D. about 45 thousand Kipchaks were driven by the Russians 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 learned to build dwellings for the winter, where even stoves were equipped in the likeness of Russian heating elements. The 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 13th century, the Polovtsian hordes were associations, the most powerful of which were the Don and the Dniester. In those days, the Polovtsian is a representative of a people who lived in a territory that was not inferior in size to European kingdoms. These quasi-state formations impeded the passage of caravans on the way "from the Varangians to the Greeks", carried out independent raids on Russia 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? Of ancient history it can be concluded 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 Polovtsi remained in the history of Russia the worst enemies of Vladimir Monomakh and cruel mercenaries during the internecine wars. The tribes who worshiped the sky terrorized the Old Russian state for almost two centuries.
In 1055, the Pereyaslavl prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich, returning from a campaign to the Torks, met a detachment of new, previously unknown in Russia, nomads led by Khan Bolush. The meeting passed peacefully, new "acquaintances" were given the Russian name "Polovtsy" and the future neighbors dispersed.
Since 1064 in the Byzantine and since 1068 in the Hungarian sources, the Cumans and Coons, also previously unknown in Europe, are mentioned. They were to play a significant role in the history of Eastern Europe, becoming formidable enemies and insidious allies ancient Russian princesby becoming mercenaries in a fratricidal feud. The presence of the Polovtsians, Cumans, Coons, who appeared and disappeared at the same time, did not go unnoticed, and the questions of who they were and where they came from are of concern to historians to this day.
According to the traditional version, all four of the aforementioned peoples were a single Turkic-speaking people, which were called differently in different parts of the world. Their ancestors - the Sars - lived on the territory of Altai and the eastern Tien Shan, but the state they formed was defeated by the Chinese in 630. The survivors went to the steppes of eastern Kazakhstan, where they received a new name "Kipchaks", which, according to legend, means "unfortunate" and as evidenced by medieval Arab-Persian sources.
However, in both Russian and Byzantine sources, the Kipchaks are not found at all, and a people similar in description is called "Kumans", "Kuns" or "Polovtsy". Moreover, the etymology of the latter remains unclear. Perhaps the word comes from the Old Russian "floor", which means "yellow". According to scientists, this may indicate that this people had a light hair color and belonged to the western branch of the Kipchaks - “Sary-Kipchaks” (the Kuns and Cumans belonged to the eastern and had a Mongoloid appearance). According to another version, the term "Polovtsy" could come from the familiar word "field" and denote all inhabitants of the fields, regardless of their tribal affiliation.
The official version has many weaknesses.
If all nationalities initially represented a single people - the Kipchaks, then how to explain that neither Byzantium, nor Russia, nor Europe, this toponym was unknown? In the countries of Islam, where they knew about the Kipchaks firsthand, on the contrary, they did not hear about the Polovtsy or the Cumans at all.
Archeology comes to the aid of the unofficial version, according to which, the main archaeological finds of the Polovtsian culture - stone women, erected on the mounds in honor of the soldiers who died in the battle, were characteristic only of the Polovtsians and Kipchaks. The Cumans, despite their worship of heaven and the cult of the mother goddess, did not leave such monuments.
All these arguments "against" allow many modern researchers to deviate from the canon of studying the Polovtsians, Cumans and Kuns as one and the same tribe. According to the candidate of sciences Yuri Yevstigneev, the Polovtsy-Sars are Turgesh, who for some reason fled from their territories to the Semirechye.
Weapon of civil strife
The Polovtsi had no intention of remaining a "good neighbor" of Kievan Rus. As befits nomads, they soon mastered the tactics of sudden raids: they set up ambushes, attacked by surprise, swept away an unprepared enemy on their way. Armed with bows and arrows, sabers and short spears, the Polovtsian warriors rushed into battle, at a gallop filling the enemy with a bunch of arrows. They went "roundup" through the cities, robbing and killing people, driving them into captivity.
In addition to shock cavalry, their strength was also in the developed strategy, as well as in technologies new for that time, such as heavy crossbows and "liquid fire", which they apparently borrowed from China since the time of their life in Altai.
However, as long as centralized power was held in Russia, thanks to the order of succession to the throne established under Yaroslav the Wise, their raids remained only a seasonal disaster, and certain diplomatic relations even began between Russia and the nomads. There was a lively trade, the population communicated widely in the border areas. Dynastic marriages with the daughters of the Polovtsian khans became popular among Russian princes. The two cultures coexisted in a fragile neutrality that could not last long.
In 1073, the triumvirate of the three sons of Yaroslav the Wise: Izyaslav, Svyatoslav, Vsevolod, to whom he bequeathed Kievan Rus, broke up. Svyatoslav and Vsevolod accused their elder brother of conspiring against them and striving to become an "autocrat" like their father. This was the birth of a great and long turmoil in Russia, which the Polovtsians took advantage of. Not taking the side of anyone to the end, they willingly took the side of the man who promised them big "profits". So, the first prince who resorted to their help, Oleg Svyatoslavich (who was deprived of the inheritance by his uncle), allowed the Polovtsian to plunder and burn Russian cities, for which he was nicknamed Oleg Gorislavich.
Subsequently, the call of the Polovtsians as allies in the internecine struggle became a common practice. In alliance with the nomads, Yaroslav's grandson, Oleg Gorislavich, drove Vladimir Monomakh out of Chernigov, he also got Moore, driving out of there the son of Vladimir Izyaslav. As a result, the warring princes faced a real danger of losing their own territories.
In 1097, on the initiative of Vladimir Monomakh, then prince of Pereslavl, the Lyubech Congress was convened, which was supposed to end the internecine war. The princes agreed that from now on everyone had to own his own "fatherland". Even the Kiev prince, who formally remained the head of state, could not violate the borders. Thus, fragmentation was officially enshrined in Russia with good intentions. The only thing that even then united the Russian lands was a common fear of the Polovtsian invasions.
War of Monomakh
The most ardent enemy of the Polovtsians among the Russian princes was Vladimir Monomakh, during whose great reign the practice of using the Polovtsian troops for the purpose of fratricide temporarily ceased. The chronicles, which, however, were actively rewritten under him, tell about Vladimir Monomakh as the most influential prince in Russia, who was known as a patriot who spared neither strength nor life for the defense of the Russian lands. Having suffered defeats from the Polovtsians, in alliance with which his brother and his worst enemy Oleg Svyatoslavich stood, he developed a completely new strategy in the fight against nomads - to fight on their own territory.
Unlike the Polovtsian detachments, which were strong in sudden raids, the Russian squads received an advantage in open battle. The Polovtsian "lava" smashed against the long spears and shields of Russian foot soldiers, and the Russian cavalry, surrounding the steppe inhabitants, did not allow them to escape on their famous light-winged horses. Even the time of the campaign was thought out: until early spring, when the Russian horses, which were fed with hay and grain, were stronger than the Polovtsian horses that were emaciated on pasture.
Monomakh's favorite tactic also gave an advantage: he provided an opportunity for the enemy to attack first, preferring defense at the expense of footmen, since, in attacking, the enemy exhausted himself much more than the defending Russian warrior. During one of these attacks, when the infantry took the main blow, the Russian cavalry went around from the flanks and struck in the rear. This decided the outcome of the battle.
Vladimir Monomakh needed only a few trips to the Polovtsian lands to save Russia from the Polovtsian threat for a long time. IN last years Life Monomakh sent his son Yaropolk with an army across the Don, on a campaign against the nomads, but he did not find them there. The Polovtsi migrated away from the borders of Russia, to the Caucasian foothills.
Guarding the dead and the living
The Polovtsi, like many other peoples, have sunk into history, leaving behind the "Polovtsian stone women" who still guard the souls of their ancestors. Once they were placed in the steppe to “guard” the dead and protect the living, and were also placed as landmarks and signs for fords. Obviously, they brought this custom with them from the original homeland - Altai, spreading it along the Danube.
"Polovtsian women" is not the only example of such monuments. Long before the appearance of the Polovtsians, in the IV-II millennium BC, such idols on the territory of present-day Russia and Ukraine were erected by the descendants of the Indo-Iranians, and a couple of thousand years after them - by the Scythians.
“Polovtsian women”, like other stone women, are not necessarily images of women; there are many male faces among them. Even the very etymology of the word "baba" comes from the Turkic "balbal", which means "ancestor", "grandfather-father", and is associated with the cult of reverence for ancestors, and not at all with female creatures. Although, according to another version, stone women are traces of matriarchy that has gone into the past, as well as the worship of the mother goddess among the Polovtsians (Umai), who personified the earthly principle. The only obligatory attribute is the hands folded on the stomach, holding the bowl for sacrifices, and the breast, which is also found in men, and is obviously associated with the feeding of the genus.
According to the beliefs of the Polovtsians, who professed shamanism and Tengrianism (worship of the sky), the dead were endowed with special powers that allowed them to help their descendants. Therefore, a Polovtsian passing by had to bring a sacrifice to the statue (judging by the finds, these were usually rams) in order to enlist its support. This is how the Azerbaijani poet of the 12th century Nizami, whose wife was a Polovtsian, describes this rite:
“And the back of the Kipchaks bends before the idol.
The rider hesitates before him, and, holding his horse,
He bends an arrow into the grass,
Every shepherd who drives the flock knows
That it is necessary to leave the sheep before the idol ”.
The Mongol invasion for the Polovtsy and the Russians was unexpected. They united against a common enemy. A battle took place near the Kalka River in 1223, in which the army of the Russians and Polovtsians was defeated. Most of the Polovtsians were forced to leave the Polovtsian steppe and move to Hungary, Transcaucasia, the Balkans and Byzantium.
It is believed that the Cumans, who left for the North Caucasus, laid the foundation for the formation of the Karachai, Balkan and Kumyk ethnic groups. The Polovtsians who settled in Hungary completely assimilated. In Byzantium and Bulgaria, the Polovtsians were used as a military force.
The Horde who seized the Polovtsian steppe gradually merged with the remnants of the Polovtsians, and the Polovtsians, in turn, became part of the Golden Horde. Therefore, it can be considered that the Polovtsians participated in the ethnogenesis of such peoples known today as Tatars, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Bashkirs, Uzbeks, Gagauz and other Turkic-speaking peoples.
It should be recognized that the Polovtsians played an important role in the formation of the Russian state. And talk about them like enemies Ancient Rus it would be wrong. And today, the historical roots of many nationalities inhabiting Russia lead to the Polovtsian encampments.
During the formation of the Golden Horde (mid-XIII century), the Polovtsians assimilated the Mongol conquerors and passed on their language to them. Later, the Kipchak language formed the basis of the Tatar, Crimean Tatar, Bashkir, Karachai-Balkar, Nogai, Kazakh, Karakalpak, Kumyk and some other languages.
Polovtsi and the Second Bulgarian Kingdom
The Polovtsians had a significant impact on the Bulgarian kingdom and were a reliable ally of the Bulgarians during the formation of the second kingdom. The Polovtsi were participants in the most famous battles of the Bulgarian kings from the Asen dynasty, were allies in best years second kingdom of the Bulgarians and were one of the peoples assimilated by the Bulgarians in the Middle Ages.
The first mention of the Polovtsians in Bulgaria occurs in 1186, when Tsar Ivan Asen I suddenly crossed the Danube with a large auxiliary army of Polovtsians, which thwarted the suppression of the Bulgarian uprising by Emperor Isaac II Angel. In 1190, Isaac II Angel sent a special fleet, the purpose of which was to prevent the Polovtsy from coming to the aid of the besieged Bulgarians. However, the rumor that the blockade of the Danube had been broken and the Cumans crossed the Danube sowed panic among the Byzantines and contributed to the further defeat of the imperial troops. During the reign of the younger brother of the tsars Asen and Peter - Kaloyan, the Polovtsy, in addition to the allies, turned into subjects, occupied highest positions in the state, participated in the management. Kaloyan's wife was the daughter of the Polovtsian Khan, and her brother, Polovtsian Manastr, was a Bulgarian commander, one of Kaloyan's closest associates.
In 1204, the Hungarian king Imre complained to Pope Innocent III that Tsar Kaloyan had used a “pagan army” against him, meaning the Polovtsians.
The Polovtsi also took a decisive part in famous Battle near Adrianople, in which the troops of IV were defeated Crusade and the emperor of the Latin Empire was captured.
"Ioannis, the king of Blakia, went to the aid of those who were in Andrinopol, with a huge army: he brought with him blaks, and hillocks, and almost forty thousand cumenes, who were infidels ..."
In this battle, the Polovtsian cavalry played a decisive role: after making two luring maneuvers for two days in a row, the Polovtsians managed to summon the heavy cavalry of Count Louis de Blois to pursue, and after him all the knightly cavalry. The Polovtsi managed to lure them to the places where the Bulgarians were waiting for them in ambush. So the entire knightly army perished.
The Polovtsi managed at the last moment to reach the small army of Ivan Asen II in the Battle of Klokotnitsa, famous for the Bulgarians, in 1230. Thus, they once again entered their name into the hall of fame, since Ivan Asen II managed to defeat the Epirus army that was many times greater than the number of warriors and took prisoner the next emperor - the despot of Epirus, Theodore Comnenus with his entire family.
Content of the article:
The Polovtsy (Polovtsy) are a nomadic people who were once considered the most militant and powerful. The first time we hear about them is in history lessons at school. But the knowledge that a teacher can give within the program is not enough to understand who they are, these Polovtsians, where they came from and how they influenced the life of Ancient Russia. And meanwhile, for several centuries they did not give rest to the Kiev princes.
The history of the people, how it arose
Polovtsy (Polovtsy, Kipchaks, Kumans) are nomadic tribes, the first mention of which dates back to 744. Then the Kipchaks were part of the Kimak Kaganate, ancient state nomads, formed on the territory of modern Kazakhstan. The main inhabitants here were kimaks, who occupied the eastern lands. The lands near the Urals were occupied by the Polovtsians, who were considered relatives of the Kimaks.
By the middle of the 9th century, the Kipchaks had achieved superiority over the Kimaks, and by the middle of the 10th century they had swallowed them up. But the Polovtsians decided not to stop at this, and by the beginning of the 11th century, thanks to their belligerence, they came close to the borders of Khorezm (the historical region of the Republic of Uzbekistan).
At that time, the Oghuz (medieval Turkic tribes) lived here, who, due to the invasion, had to move to Central Asia.
By the middle of the 11th century, almost the entire territory of Kazakhstan was subordinated to the Kipchaks. The western limits of their possessions reached the Volga. Thus, thanks to an active nomadic life, raids and a desire to conquer new lands, the once small group of people occupied vast territories and became one of the strongest and richest among the tribes.
Lifestyle and social organization
Their socio-political organization was a typical military-democratic system. The entire people were divided into clans, the names of which were given by the names of their elders. Each clan owned land plots and summer nomadic routes. The heads were khans, who were also the heads of certain kurens (small divisions of the clan).
The wealth obtained during the campaigns was divided between representatives of the local elite participating in the campaign. Ordinary people, not being able to feed on their own, fell into dependence on the aristocrats. Poor men were engaged in cattle grazing, while women served at the local khans and their families.
There are still disputes about the appearance of the Polovtsians, and the study of the remains continues using modern capabilities. Today scientists have some portrait of these people. It is assumed that they did not belong to the Mongoloid race, but looked more like Europeans. The most characteristic feature is blondness and reddishness. Scientists from many countries agree on this.
Independent Chinese experts also describe the Kipchaks as people with blue eyes and "red" hair. Among them were, of course, dark-haired representatives.
War with the Cumans
In the 9th century, the Cumans were allies of the Russian princes. But soon everything changed, at the beginning of the 11th century, Polovtsian detachments began to regularly attack the southern regions of Kievan Rus. They ravaged houses, took away the prisoners, who were then sold into slavery, and took away livestock. Their incursions have always been sudden and violent.
In the middle of the 11th century, the Kipchaks stopped fighting the Russians, as they were busy with the war with the steppe tribes. But then they again took up their own:
- In 1061, the Pereyaslavl prince Vsevolod was defeated in a battle with them and Pereyaslavl was completely ruined by the nomads;
- After this, wars with the Polovtsy became regular. In one of the battles in 1078, the Russian prince Izyaslav was killed;
- In 1093, the army, gathered by the three princes, was destroyed to fight the enemy.
Those were hard times for Russia. Endless raids on villages ruined the peasants' already simple farming. Women were taken captive, and they became maids, children were sold into slavery.
In order to somehow protect the southern borders, the inhabitants began to arrange fortifications and settle the Turks there, who were military force princes.
Hike of the Seversky Prince Igor
Sometimes the princes of Kiev went with offensive war at the enemy. Such events usually ended in victory and inflicted great damage on the Kipchaks, cooling their ardor for a short time and giving the border villages an opportunity to restore their strength and life.
But there were also unsuccessful campaigns. An example of this is the campaign of Igor Svyatoslavovich in 1185.
Then he, united with other princes, went out with an army to the right tributary of the Don. Here they faced the main forces of the Polovtsi, a battle ensued. But the numerical superiority of the enemy was so palpable that the Russians were immediately surrounded. Retreating in this position, they came to the lake. From there Igor galloped to the aid of Prince Vsevolod, but could not carry out his plan, as he was captured, and many soldiers died.
It all ended with the fact that the Polovtsy were able to destroy the city of Rimov, one of the large ancient cities of the Kursk region and break russian army... Prince Igor managed to escape from captivity and returned home.
His son remained in captivity, who returned later, but in order to get freedom, he had to marry the daughter of a Polovtsian khan.
Polovtsi: who are they now?
At the moment, there is no unambiguous data on the genetic similarity of the Kipchaks with some peoples living now.
There are small ethnic groups considered to be the distant descendants of the Polovtsians. They are found among:
- Crimean Tatars;
- Bashkir;
- Kazakhs;
- Nogaytsev;
- Balkars;
- Altaians;
- Hungarians;
- Bulgarians;
- Polyakov;
- Ukraintsev (according to L. Gumilyov).
Thus, it becomes clear that the blood of the Polovtsians flows today in many nations. The Russians were no exception, given their rich joint history.
To tell about the life of the Kipchaks in more detail, it is necessary to write more than one book. We have touched upon its most striking and important pages. After reading them, you will better understand who they are - the Polovtsians, than they are known and where they came from.
Videos about nomadic peoples
In this video, the historian Andrei Prishvin will tell you how the Polovtsy arose on the territory of ancient Russia:
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Polovtsy Polovtsi (Kumans, Kipchaks) - people of the Turkic tribe, who once made one whole with the Pechenegs and Torks (when he lived in the steppes of Central Asia); in the papers of Petrarch, a dictionary of the Polovtsian language has been preserved, from which it is clear that their language is Türkic, the closest of all to the Quasto-Turkish. The P. came to the southern Russian steppes after the Pechenegs and the Itorcs and soon drove out both. From this time (2nd half of the 11th century) to the Mongol-Tatar invasion, they make constant attacks on Russia, especially southern - they devastate the land, rob livestock and property, take away a lot of prisoners, who are either kept as slaves or sold in slave markets Crimea and Central Asia... Our own attacks done quickly and suddenly; Russian princes tried to recapture their captives and cattle when they returned to their steppe. The border principality of Pereyaslavl, then Porosye, Severskaya, Kievskaya, suffered most from them. Ryazan region... Sometimes Russia ransomed her prisoners from P. For the defense of their southern borders Russia arranged fortifications and healed allied and peaceful Turks on the borderlands, known under the name of black hoods. The center of the Black-Klobutsk settlements was Porosye, on the southern border of the Kiev principality. Sometimes the Russians waged an invasive war with the Polovtsy, undertook campaigns deep into the Polovtsian land, one of such campaigns was the campaign of the hero of "The Lay of Igor's Campaign", Igor Svyatoslavich, in 1185; but they brought more glory than good. The Polovtsian people split into several tribes, bearing names after the names of their leaders. So, the chronicle mentions the Voburgevichs, Ulashevichs, Bostaeva, Chargova children. P. were excellent steppe riders and had their own military system. Their main occupation was cattle breeding (breeding of cattle, horses, camels), and therefore they moved from one place to another; their position was difficult in the harsh winters. They mined gold and silver partly by robbery and partly by trade. They did not build cities of Poland, although Sharukan, Sugrov, and Cheshuev are mentioned in their land and belonged to them in the 13th century. The city of Sudak. The Polovtsian khans had a magnificent life, but the people generally lived simply and unpretentious; his main food was meat. milk and millet, her favorite drink is koumiss. Gradually were exposed to the cultural influence of Russia, sometimes adopted Christianity; their khans received Christian names. Generally, however. P. were pagans. According to Rubrukvis, over the ashes of their dead, they poured kurgans and placed stone women on the last. In the middle of the XIII century. P. were subdued by the Mongol-Tatars. Some of them moved to Transcaucasia, some to Russia, some to the Balkan Peninsula (to Thrace, Macedonia) and to Asia Minor, some to Hungary; Hungarian king Bela IV received P., who came under the leadership of Khan Kotyan (father-in-law of Daniil Romanovich Galitsky); the heir to the Hungarian throne, Stephen V, married Kotyan's daughter, and in general P. occupied a prominent position in Hungary. Finally, a part of Poland fled to Egypt, where they also settled well in the army; some of the Egyptian sultans were of Polovtsian origin. See P. V. Golubovsky, "Pechenegs, Turks and Polovtsians before the Tatar invasion" (Kiev, 1884); article by prof. Aristov "On the Polovtsian Land" (in "Izv. Nezh. Ist. Phil. Institute"). D. Bug-y Snake (Eryx) is a genus of snakes from the subfamily Erycinae, fam. boas (Boidae), characterized by a very short, mobile and non-curling tail, dressed with small scales and not delimited from the body by a head with a rounded muzzle, with a distinct longitudinal groove on the chin and the absence of pits on all labial plates; the anterior jaw teeth are slightly longer than the posterior ones. From 5 - 6 species characteristic of the Palaearctic Imalai regions and: living in very dry sandy areas of the steppes and deserts. The most common species is the Turkish snake (Eryx jaculus s.turcicus), 66 - 77 cm long, bright yellowish-gray on top, on both sides of the head with an oblique black stripe; black checkers, located in four longitudinal rows along the entire length of the body, merge with each other; the underside is mostly monochrome straw-yellow. Balkan Peninsula to the Altai Mountains to the east and to Egypt and Algeria to the west. It burrows into the sand, trapping prey, consisting mainly of lizards, which, before swallowing, P. strangles. T. Ya.
Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron. - S.-Pb .: Brockhaus-Efron. 1890-1907 .
See what "Polovtsy" is in other dictionaries:
- (Kipchaks), a Turkic-speaking people, in the 11th century. in the southern Russian steppes. Nomadic cattle breeding, crafts. They raided Russia in 1055 at the beginning of the 13th century. Defeated and subjugated by the Mongol Tatars in the 13th century. (part moved to Hungary) ... Modern encyclopedia
- (Kipchaks) Turkic-speaking people, in the 11th century. in the southern Russian steppes. Nomadic cattle breeding, crafts. They raided Russia in 1055 beginning. 13th century The most dangerous attacks were in the end. 11th century They ceased after the defeats from the Russian princes in 1103 16. ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Polovtsy, Polovtsy, ed. Polovtsian, Polovtsian, husband. Türkic people, related to the Pechenegs, in the 11-12 centuries. AD repeatedly attacked Kievan Rus. Dictionary Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary
Polovtsy, ev, unit vets, vtsa, husband. A group of tribes of Turkic origin who roamed in the south-east of Europe in the 11th century. 13th century | wives Polovchanka, and. | adj. Polovtsian, oh, oh. Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary
- (Kipchaks), a Turkic-speaking people, in the 11th century. in the southern Russian steppes. Nomadic cattle breeding, crafts. They raided Russia in 1055 at the beginning of the 13th century. The most dangerous attacks were at the end of the 11th century; stopped after defeats from Russian princes in 1103 16; ... ... Russian history
Polovtsi - (Kipchaks), a Turkic-speaking people, in the 11th century. in the southern Russian steppes. Nomadic cattle breeding, crafts. They raided Russia in 1055 at the beginning of the 13th century. Defeated and subjugated by the Mongol Tatars in the 13th century. (some of them moved to Hungary). ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
It is proposed to combine this page with the Kipchaks. Explanation of reasons and discussion on Wikipedia: Towards Unification / 23 October 2011. Discussion lasts one week (or longer if it is slow). Date ... Wikipedia
Ev; pl. East An ancient people of the Turkic language group who roamed in the south-east of Europe at the end of the 11th and beginning of the 13th century representatives of this people. The fight against the Polovtsians. ◁ Polovets, vtsa; m. Polovchanka, and; pl. genus. nok, dates. nkam; g. Polovtsian, oh, oh. P.… … encyclopedic Dictionary
Kypchaks, Kumans, cf. century. Turkic people. groups. In the 10th century. occupied territory. North. Zap. Kazakhstan, bordering in the east with the Kimaks, in the south with the Oguzes, and in the west with the Khazars. They split into a number of tribes and led a nomadic lifestyle. All R. 10th century, following ... ... Soviet Historical Encyclopedia
Kipchaks, Kypchaks, Kumans, the Russian name for the mainly Mongoloid Turkic-speaking people, who came around the 11th century. from the Volga region to the Black Sea steppes. P.'s main occupation was nomadic herding. By the 12th century. P. starts to stand out ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Books
- Polovtsi in Hungary. Historical sketch, Pyotr Vasilievich Golubovsky. Brief research, which the author originally conceived as an appendix to his research "Pechenegs, Torks and Polovtsy before the invasion of the Tatars", 1884. The brochure contains rare ...
The Polovtsians are one of the most mysterious steppe peoples, which went down in Russian history thanks to the raids on the principalities and the repeated attempts of the rulers of the Russian lands, if not to defeat the steppe people, then at least to come to an agreement with them. The Cumans themselves were defeated by the Mongols and settled over a large part of Europe and Asia. Now there is no people who could directly trace their genealogy to the Polovtsians. And yet they certainly have descendants.
In the steppe (Deshti-Kipchak - Kipchak, or Polovtsian steppe) lived not only the Polovtsians, but also other peoples, who are sometimes united with the Polovtsians, sometimes 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 Polovtsian tribes lived west and east of the Dnieper, east of the Volga, near the Seversky Donets.
Many Russian princes were the 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 Polovtsians themselves look like?
There is no consensus among researchers on this score. 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 Polovtsians were the "dinlins" described by the Chinese: people who lived in southern Siberia and were blond. But the authoritative researcher of the Polovtsi Svetlana Pletneva, who has repeatedly worked with materials from the mounds, does not agree with the hypothesis about the "fair hair" of the Polovtsian ethnic group. “Yellow” can be the self-name of a part of a 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 Mongoloid. It is quite possible that among them there were people of different types of appearance - the Polovtsians willingly took as wives and concubines of Slavs, though not of princely families. The princes never gave their daughters and sisters to the steppe dwellers. In the Polovtsian nomad camps there were also Rusichi who were captured in the battle, as well as slaves.
Hungarian king of the Cumans and the "Cuman Hungarians"
Part of Hungary's history is directly related to the Polovtsians. Several Polovtsian clans settled on its territory already in 1091. In 1238, pressed by the Mongols, the Polovtsians 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 Polovtsians were called "Cumans". The lands on which they began to live were named Kunság (Kunsag, Kumania). 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 Polovtsian Irzhebet (Ershebet) had a boy Laszlo. For his origin he was nicknamed "Kun".
According to his images, he did not look like a Caucasian without an admixture of Mongoloid features. Rather, these portraits remind us of the reconstruction of the external appearance of the steppe inhabitants, familiar from history textbooks.
Laszlo's personal guard consisted of his fellow tribesmen, he appreciated 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, up to 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 Kipchak Polovtsians perished. A century later, the language completely disappeared.
Now the distant descendants of the steppe inhabitants do not differ in any way from the rest of the inhabitants of Hungary - they are Caucasians.
Polovtsi in Bulgaria
Polovtsi arrived in Bulgaria for several centuries. In the XII century, the territory was under the rule of Byzantium, the Polovtsian settlers were engaged in cattle breeding there, trying to enter the service.
In the 13th 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. Perhaps now a certain number of Bulgarians are flowing polovtsian blood... Unfortunately, it is still difficult to accurately identify the genetic characteristics of the Polovtsians, because there are plenty of Turkic features in the Bulgarian ethnic group due to its origin. Bulgarians also have a Caucasian appearance.
Polovtsian blood in Kazakhs, Bashkirs, Uzbeks and Tatars
Many Polovtsians 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. 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 Polovtsians: “as if from the same clan (with them),” 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 Kazakhs, Bashkirs, Kyrgyz and other Turkic-speaking peoples. The types of appearance of each of these (and those listed in the title of the section) nations are different, but each has a share of Polovtsian blood.
The Polovtsi are also among the ancestors of the Crimean Tatars. The steppe dialect of the Crimean Tatar language belongs to the Kypchak group of the Turkic languages, and the Kypchak is a descendant of the Polovtsian. The Polovtsians mixed with the descendants of the Huns, Pechenegs, and Khazars. Now the majority of Crimean Tatars are Caucasians (80%), steppe crimean Tatars have Caucasian-Mongoloid appearance.
Another mysterious ancient people who settled all over the world are the gypsies. You can find out about that in one of our previous reviews.