Pechenegs, Cumans and Mongols. Cumans

25. GARDIZI. PECHENEGS Arab geographer Abu-Said Abd-al Khayyab. Zohaka Gar-dizi wrote in the middle of the 11th century, but often drew his information from earlier geographers of the 8th, 9th, and 10th centuries. The excerpt about the Pechenegs is taken from Gardizi’s book “Decoration of News” translated by V.V. Bartold. V. Bartold,

In the 7th – 10th centuries. Numerous nomadic Turkic-speaking peoples lived in the distant Volga steppes. In the 9th century. searching for new pastures; they begin to move west and reach the borders of Eastern Europe. The first significant people to come were the Pechenegs. Their blow was felt primarily by the Khazars. At the end of the 9th century. The Pechenegs destroyed the Khazar fortresses on the Middle Don and broke through into the European steppes.

Pechenegs

The Pechenegs were at that level of formation of the early forms of the state when the most energetic stood out from the mass of ordinary community members and became heads of clans and military leaders. Tribal leaders were chosen from among the clan nobility. Usually a tribe included several clans. Contemporaries of the Pechenegs, the Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus and the Persian geographer Gardizi, wrote in their treatises that the Pecheneg union consisted of eight tribes and numbered about 40 clans. The Pechenegs were in constant motion and moved across the steppe with their herds. The basis of the herd was horses and sheep. They did not have long-term camps; light yurts served as their homes. A yurt is a round dwelling made of felt and animal skins on a frame of wooden poles. There was always an open fireplace in the center of the yurt.

Predatory wars were an important way to enrich the tribal elite. The Pechenegs constantly attacked their neighbors, captured people for ransom, and stole livestock. Neighboring states sought to make peace with them and pay off with tribute.

The Khazar Kaganate was unable to protect its possessions from the invasion of the steppes. The Pechenegs captured the entire Don region and Kuban and advanced to the Black Sea region. In 892 they defeated the steppe Ugrians (Hungarians) here and reached the mouth of the Danube. The Pechenegs first appeared on the borders of the Russian principalities in 915. Prince Igor immediately concluded a peace treaty with them. Konstantin Porphyrogenitus wrote that the Russians strive to be at peace with the Pechenegs, since they can neither trade, nor fight, nor live in peace if they are in a hostile relationship with this people. However, soon Byzantine diplomats bribed the Pechenegs and persuaded them to attack Rus'. The Pechenegs staged terrible pogroms in the principalities bordering the steppe. Rus' began to wage a long and grueling struggle with them.

The Alan-Bulgarian population of the Khazar Kaganate suffered cruelly from the Pechenegs. Some settlements burned down and ceased to exist. The population of the Don region and Podontsov region suffered especially hard. There were no pogroms in the Azov region. Many Alans and Bulgarians (Russian chronicles call them Black Bulgarians) entered the tribal union of the Pechenegs and began to roam with them. A significant part of the settled population remained in their places.

Only in 1036 did Yaroslav the Wise manage to defeat a large Pecheneg army near Kiev and put an end to their raids.

Soon the Pechenegs began to be pushed out from the east by their kindred nomadic tribes, the Torks. The Torchesk union also included the Berendeys, one of the groups of the Trans-Volga Pechenegs, the Boats and other tribes. Under the blows of the Russians and the pressure of the Torques, the Pechenegs scattered in the steppe, partially migrated to the Danube, partially went into border service with the Russian princes and settled on the Ros River on the right bank of the Dnieper.

Torquay

The dominance of the Torcs in Eastern Europe was short-lived. Already in 1060, the united army of the Russians defeated them completely. Like the Pechenegs, the remaining Torci settled in small groups on the borders of Rus', or migrated to Byzantium. Before the defeat, the main nomadic camps of the Torks were located in the Donetsk region in the Kazenny Torets River basin. From them comes a whole series of hydronyms (names of rivers) and toponyms (names of localities): Sukhoi, Krivoy, Kazenny Torets, Bolshoi Tor, Toretskoye ancient settlement and the city of Tor (modern Slavyansk), the villages of Toretskoye and Torskoye in the Konstantinovsky and Krasnolimansky districts, Kramatorovka (modern Kramatorsk) on Kazenny Torets.

It was in this steppe microdistrict that a few Torque burials were discovered: near the village of Torskoye in the Krasnolimansky district and the city of Yasinovataya in the Donetsk region. In many ways they are similar to the Pecheneg ones. The Torques, like the Pechenegs, buried their relatives in mounds in pits with wooden flooring. The head and legs of the horse were placed on top of the flooring. The horse itself was eaten by relatives during the funeral feast (funeral funeral). A horse was an obligatory element of burial. Nomads believed that the deceased rode into heaven on horseback. The Arab writer and historian of the 10th century, Ibn Fadlan, describes in detail the burial of a deceased tork: the deceased, dressed in a jacket, with a belt and a bow, with a bowl in his hands, is placed in a large pit; then the relatives kill the horses and eat their meat, except for the head, legs, skin and tail, which are placed on a wooden floor.

In the middle of the 11th century. The place of the Pechenegs and Torks in the steppe was taken by the Polovtsians. However, small groups of them still wandered between the Dnieper and Don. At the beginning of the 12th century. Vladimir Monomakh, during one of his campaigns against the Polovtsians, met a horde of Pechenegs and Torks in the lower reaches of the Dnieper and took them with him.

Cumans

Russian chronicles first mention the Polovtsians in 1054. European chroniclers call the Polovtsians Komans (or Cumans), while the eastern ones call them Kipchaks (or Kipchaks). The entire Polovtsian land was named Desht-i-Kipchak. This name took shape in the 12th century, when the Polovtsy firmly established themselves in Europe. The possessions of the Polovtsians extended from the right bank of the Dnieper to the Trans-Volga steppes and covered the North Caucasus. They completely mastered the steppe in this space.

The Polovtsians' attraction to open steppe spaces is explained by their nomadic way of life. The Kipchaks were typical nomadic pastoralists. They bred horses, camels, goats and sheep, buffaloes and cows; in the warm season, the Cumans roamed the steppe. In cold times, unlike the Pechenegs and Torques, they set up winter huts. Such winter camps (seasonal villages) were called vezhas in Russian chronicles. They consisted of yurts and tents. In winter, cattle grazed freely around the camps. A small part of the Polovtsians settled on the land and engaged in primitive agriculture. This mainly occurred around pre-existing cities or large local towns. The main food products were animal meat and cow's milk, kumiss (processed horse milk), millet and wheat porridge.

The life of the Polovtsians, like all nomads, was inextricably linked with the horse. Everyone, young and old, were excellent riders. The horse accompanied the Polovtsians and after death, as a rule, a whole horse, a bridle set, stirrups, and sometimes a saddle were placed in the graves of men and women. The dead were buried in pre-existing mounds or a new earthen mound was built over their graves. Men were given a large curved iron saber, a bow and several arrows, and women were given inexpensive jewelry. In the rich burials are found gold and silver twisted bracelets and hryvnias, round mirrors, earrings, kolta (large ring-shaped temple pendants with a hollow figured bead) of ancient Russian origin, copper cauldrons, expensive dishes, the remains of expensive clothing with gold embroidery and sewn-on gold-woven ribbons. Rich female burials with gold objects were found in mounds near the village of Novoivanovka in the Amvrosievsky district, near Yasinovataya.

The clothing was well suited for riding. The Polovtsians wore tight trousers, boots with narrow tops up to the knees, shirts, short caftans without a collar, and bashlyks (pointed hats). The women's costumes were similar, but differed in rich decoration. Married Polovtsian women wore complex and beautiful headdresses and jewelry. It was the custom of men to grow long hair at the back of their heads (the forehead and crown were shaved) and braid them into two or three braids. This custom is generally characteristic of many Turkic peoples; from the Turks it passed into medieval China. Polovtsian clothing and decoration are well known from descriptions of Eastern and European travelers, finds in burials and stone sculptures.

These sculptures were called “stone women”. “Baba” is a distorted version of “balbal”, “babai” (in Turkic - strong, respected, warrior-hero). Even before penetrating Europe, the Kipchaks developed the custom of installing stone (very rarely wooden) images of deceased ancestors on mounds and high places. The veneration of ancestors was central to their special sanctuaries. One of these sanctuaries was excavated by archaeologists near Donetsk. Gifts were brought to the stone “women” and they were asked for protection and patronage. This custom was briefly and accurately described by the ambassador of the French king, William de Rubruk, who met the Cumans on the way to the Mongol Khan in 1253. He wrote that “the Komans (i.e., Polovtsians) build a large hill over the deceased and erect a statue of him, facing the east and holding a cup in his hand in front of his navel.” Of the many hundreds of Polovtsian sculptures, only a few dozen have survived in the museums of the Donetsk region.

The Cumans of Eastern Europe were part of the vast Kipchak world, but historically they found themselves firmly connected with European peoples, primarily with the Slavs.

Even before the arrival of the Polovtsians, difficult relations had developed between the ancient Russian state and the steppe nomads. Like all medieval nomads, the Polovtsians attacked the settled Slavic population, robbed and took people captive. Already in 1068, the Tale of Bygone Years notes the first Polovtsian raid on Rus'. The raids continued until the beginning of the 13th century. and caused retaliatory campaigns by Russian squads. Chronicles mention about 40 successful and unsuccessful attacks by steppe inhabitants and Russians. The Polovtsian policy of Vladimir Monomakh was particularly active. At the beginning of the 12th century. he attacked the Cumans several times (1103, 1109, 1111, 1116) and inflicted great damage on them. The Russian people encountered, first of all, the border Polovtsians who roamed the Dnieper region and the Don. In the Middle Ages the Seversky Donets was called Don. It was here that Russian troops first went. Only once did Vladimir Monomakh send his squads to the Azov region. Chronicles distinguish the Polovtsians from the Don (i.e. from the Seversky Donets), the Sea (Azov) and from the Dnieper. In these three areas there were the three largest Polovtsian tribal associations in Eastern Europe.

The center of the Polovtsian land was in the Northern Azov region. Russian chronicles call these lands Lukomorye. The highest concentration of stone sculptures (i.e., sanctuaries next to traditional winter huts) occurs in the southern regions of Donetsk and Zaporozhye regions. With the exception of one time (1103), the Azov region was beyond the reach of Russian squads. The earliest Polovtsian sculptures of the 11th century were noted in the Azov region, i.e. The settlement of the Polovtsians in the Dnieper and Don region occurred precisely from here.

The major center of the Polovtsians from the Don were fortified settlements on the Seversky Donets near the villages of Bogorodichnoye, Sidorovo and Mayaki in the Slavyansk region of the Donetsk region, discovered in the 20s by N.V. Sibilev. They arose back in Khazar times. Together with the Polovtsians, the remaining settled Alan-Bulgarian population lived here. Perhaps these are the chronicle cities of Sharukan, Sugrov and Balin, which Vladimir Monomakh went to conquer in 1116. In one of the cities Monomakh was met by Christians.

Not far from the indicated settlements, in the upper reaches of the Tor (Kazenny Torets) River, the headquarters of the powerful Khan Konchak (somewhere in the Slavyansk region) was located. In the 70-80s. Khan Konchak (grandson of Khan Sharukan, who first attacked Rus') repeatedly attacked the Russian principalities (1174, 1178, 1183, 1185). He concentrated great power in his hands and tried to create a unified Polovtsian state. The Donetsk association of nomadic hordes headed by Konchak was one of the largest in the Polovtsian land. Khan Konchak pursued a cautious and subtle policy towards his powerful neighbor - Rus'. His traditional allies were the Chernigov princes - the Olgovichi. The khan married one of the captured princes, Vladimir Igorevich (a representative of the Olgovich family), to his daughter and sent him home with the child a year later.

In the spring of 1185, Prince Igor of Novgorod-Seversk undertook a military campaign against the lands of Konchak. In the famous medieval Russian poem “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” the prince speaks about the goals of the campaign: “I want to nail the edge of the Polovtsian field with a spear!” Together with the squads of four princes, Igor crossed the Seversky Donets in the Izyum region, captured the first booty and began to prepare for the decisive battle. It occurred on the Kayala River (apparently the Makatykha River in the Slavyansky region). At dawn on May 11, Saturday, the Polovtsians, under the command of the khans Konchak and Gzak, surrounded the Russians from all sides. At noon on May 12, the battle ended with the complete defeat of the Russians and the capture of Igor himself. “He lost his squad in the field. Drowned our glory in Kayal. He moved from the golden saddle to the saddle of bondage!” (“A word to Igor’s campaign”). The day after the battle, Konchak sent the wounded Igor to his headquarters, and he and his army moved to Pereyaslavl. Gzak went to Putivl. Igor, however, did not remain in captivity for long: even before Konchak returned, he managed to escape.

Unifying tendencies in Polovtsian society especially noticeably intensified under Konchak’s son, Yuri Konchakovich. Russian chronicles call him “the greatest of all Polovtsians” - i.e. the largest (noble) Polovtsian. Khan Yuri led a large Polovtsian detachment in one of the first battles with the Mongol-Tatars in 1223. However, the further unification of the Polovtsian lands under the rule of one clan was prevented by attacks from Russian squads in the early 90s of the 12th century. Polovtsian raids on Rus' ceased.

At the end of the 12th century. – beginning of the 13th century. In Polovtsian society, the processes of feudalization and property stratification intensified. More and more nomads settled on the earth. All these processes were interrupted by the terrible disaster of the 13th century. - Mongol-Tatar invasion.

2. The Dontsovo and Azov regions during the Horde period (XIII - first half of the XV centuries.

Plan

1. Great Steppe: Pechenegs, Cumans and Mongols.

Mongol invasion.

Ulus Jochi.

Rus' and the Horde.

Foreign policy of Russian princes.

Let us recall the main semantic block of the previous lecture:

As we can see, Yaroslav Vladimirovich showed his main interest in foreign policy in Western countries and Byzantium. After the Grand Duke of Kiev defeated the Pechenegs near Kiev in 1036, he paid little attention to the Steppe and the eastern direction. The Tale of Bygone Years states: “Odva overcame Yaroslav in the evening. And I ran in different ways, and I didn’t know where to run, and I drowned in Setomli, and in other rivers, but I ran through them to this day.” Some of the Pechenegs went west to the borders of Byzantium, and some went east, to the Don, where they became dependent on stronger tribes and were then absorbed by the Polovtsians.

His descendants did the same. Their contacts with the Steppe were episodic and situational. And the Steppe took revenge.

Before you begin to study the history of the formation and development of the Old Russian state in the 13th – 16th centuries, it is necessary to understand the Steppe.

So, who are the Pechenegs, Cumans and Mongols? And what influence did they have on Rus'?

Pechenegs, Cumans and Mongols.

Before starting to study this topic, it is necessary to get acquainted with one historical scientist.

Georgy Vladimirovich Vernadsky , or George Vernadsky, George Vernadsky (1887 - 1973).

Russian and American Eurasian historian, son of V.I. Vernadsky. During the Civil War (1917 - 1920) Vernadsky taught in Perm, Kyiv and Simferopol. Since September 1917 - privat-docent, since January 1918 - ordinary professor of the Department of Russian History, Faculty of History and Philology, Perm University. In 1918, he participated in the development of the draft charter of Perm University. He taught a general course on Russian history of the 18th century, and led the seminar “Noble orders to the Catherine Commission of 1767.” Having emigrated from Russia in 1920, he lived and worked in Constantinople, Athens and then in Prague, where he taught at the Russian Faculty of Law of Charles University, together with N.S. Trubetskoy and P.N. Savitsky developed the theory Eurasianism.

Since 1927, he was a research fellow at Yale University in Russian history. In 1946 he received the title of professor of Russian history at the same university, and retired in 1956.

Vernadsky had a complex national identity, considering himself "Ukrainian and Russian at the same time." Vernadsky’s one-volume textbook “Russian History” on the history of Russia (1929) in the West and today considered a classic. (See: Vernadsky G.V. Russian history. - / G.V. Vernadsky. - M.: Agraf, 1997. - 542 pp. - ISBN 5-7784-0023-3).

We are interested in his work: Vernadsky G.V. "Mongols and Russia" ( Mongols and Rus') – Translation from English by E.P. Berenshtein, B.L. Gubman, O. V. Stroganova. / G.V. Vernadsky. – Tver: LEAN, 1997. – 476 p. – ISBN 5-85929-004-6.

In particular, the statement that “the expansion of the Mongols was the last great wave of Western emigration of Eurasian nomads. The Mongols followed the path of the Scythians, Sarmatians, and Huns; they were preceded in the Pontic steppes by the Pechenegs and Cumans. The Arab expansion of the 7th century was a parallel onslaught of another group of nomads.

Taking into account the scale of the territory conquered by the Mongols, we can say that the Mongol phase of nomadic expansion constituted the culmination of these onslaughts. However, the original Mongol tribes, united Temuchin (Genghis Khan), were numerically no stronger than the Pechenegs and Polovtsians.”

So, G.V. Vernadsky proposes the following algorithm for the influence of the Steppe on Rus', and through it, on the whole of Europe:

Expansion into the lands of Rus' Pechenegs,

Expansion into the lands of Rus' Polovtsians

- expansion into the lands of Rus' Mongols.

The historical wave brings them all:

- in the 10th century Pechenegs, who displace the Khazars and extend their power to the Northern Black Sea region, the Azov region and Crimea;

- in the 11th century Polovtsians, who partially assimilate, partially destroy and displace the Pechenegs and take their place;

- in the 13th century Mongols, which partially destroy, partially displace the Polovtsians and have a strong influence on the ruling Russian elite until the end of the 15th century,

Pechenegs. From previous lectures we know that Pechenegs(Old Slavic pechenzi, ancient Greek πατζινάκοι, pachinakia) is a union of tribes formed in the Trans-Volga steppes as a result of the mixing of nomadic Turks with Sarmatian and Finno-Ugric tribes. Ethnically they represented Caucasians with a slight admixture of Mongoloidity. The Pecheneg language is classified as a Turkic language. Once upon a time, the Pechenegs roamed the steppes of Central Asia and formed one people with the Torks and Cumans. Russian, Arab, Byzantine, and Western writers testify to the kinship of these three peoples and their common Turkic origin. It is not known exactly when the Pechenegs moved from Asia to Europe. In the 8th – 9th centuries they lived between the Volga and the Urals, from where they left to the west under the pressure of the Oguzes, Kipchaks and Khazars. Having defeated the Hungarians who wandered there in the Black Sea steppes in the 9th century, the Pechenegs occupied a vast territory from the lower Volga to the mouth of the Danube.

Kievan Rus was subjected to Pecheneg invasions in 915, 920, 968. In 944 and 971, the Kyiv princes Igor and Svyatoslav Igorevich led detachments of Pechenegs on campaigns against Byzantium and Danube Bulgaria. In 972, the Pecheneg troops, led by Khan Kurei, at the instigation of the Byzantines, destroyed the squad of Svyatoslav Igorevich at the Dnieper rapids. For more than half a century, the struggle of Rus' with the Pechenegs was incessant. Rus' tried to protect itself from them with fortifications and cities. Vladimir built fortifications along the Stugna River, Yaroslav the Wise along the Ros River.

Around 1010, an internecine war arose among the Pechenegs: some of the tribes converted to Islam, and the other two, switching to Byzantine territories, converted to Christianity. In 1036, Yaroslav the Wise inflicted defeat on the Muslim Pechenegs near Kiev and put an end to their raids on Rus'.

Remember the picture of the internal and foreign political processes of Rus' at the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries in lecture No. 4. A picture that is characterized by one concept - "Specific Rus'".

Kievan Rus 1054 – 1132

In connection with it, it must be said that, like Western Europe, Rus', despite political and territorial-economic strife among the princes, achieved gradual economic and cultural conquests.

Moreover, its political institutions ensured a unique position between eastern monarchies and western feudal states. But the internal struggle of the princes and the growing danger of a crusade from the West seriously jeopardized Rus''s chances of averting the danger of invasion from the East.

The historical picture of a double threat - from the west the swordsmen and crusaders, from the east - the Mongols, was quite adequately described by another Eurasian scholar - Lev Nikolaevich Gumilev.

Lev Nikolaevich Gumilev (1912 – 1992), Soviet historian-ethnologist, archaeologist, orientalist, writer, translator. The son of famous poets Anna Akhmatova and Nikolai Gumilyov. In the 1930s - 1940s, he composed poetry and prose; at the turn of the 1950s - 1960s, he translated poetry from Persian. Since 1931, he actively participated in geological and archaeological expeditions. In total, until 1967, he took part in 21 expedition seasons. In 1934 he entered Leningrad State University at the newly restored history department.

L.N. Gumilev in 1934

Arrested four times. In 1938, after his third arrest, he received five years in the camps; he served his sentence in Norilsk. In 1944, of his own free will, he joined the Red Army and took part in the Berlin operation. After demobilization, he graduated from the Faculty of History as an external student, and in 1948 defended his dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Historical Sciences. In 1949 he was arrested again, the charges were borrowed from the 1935 investigative case. Sentenced to 10 years in the camps, he served his sentence in Kazakhstan, Altai and Siberia. In 1956, after the 20th Congress of the CPSU, he was released and rehabilitated. He worked at the Hermitage for several years.

From 1962 until his retirement in 1987, he was on the staff of the research institute at the Faculty of Geography of Leningrad State University. Since the 1960s, he began developing his own passionary theory of ethnogenesis, with the help of which he tried to explain the laws of the historical process. Gumilev’s major contribution to science is considered to be the theory of periodic moistening of central Eurasia and the popularization of the history of nomads. In historical research L.N. Gumilyov adhered to ideas close to Eurasianism.

Monograph “Ancient Rus' and the Great Steppe”.

Gumilyov L. N. Ancient Rus' and the Great Steppe / L.N. Gumilev. – M.: Mysl, 1993. – 782 p. – ISBN 5-244-00338-0.

In the introduction with the peculiar title “Justification of the Book” L.N. Gumilyov formulates the purpose of his work: “Even in the first year of the history department, the author came up with the idea of ​​filling the gap in World History by writing the history of peoples who lived between cultural regions: Western Europe, the Levant (Middle East) and China (Far East). The task turned out to be extremely difficult; it could not be solved without the help of geography, because the borders of regions moved repeatedly during the historical period, the ethnic content of the Great Steppe and the countries adjacent to it often changed as a result of the processes of ethnogenesis, and because of the constant migration of ethnic groups and the displacement of some worldviews by others. The physical and geographical situation did not remain stable. In place of forests, steppes and deserts arose, both due to climatic fluctuations and due to the predatory impact of humans on the natural environment. As a result, people had to change systems of economic activity, which in turn influenced the nature of social relationships and cultures. And cultural ties brought diversity to the worldview of the population of the Eurasian continent, something specific in each era.”

Tracing the cause-and-effect relationships of the formation of Russian statehood, L.N. Gumilev focuses on the following:

- At the beginning of the 13th century In the Eastern European area of ​​Eurasia, not one, but three events took place that determined the fate of ancient Russian statehood.

- In 1202 Riga Archbishop Albert establishes a knightly-monastic Order of the Sword, who was the vanguard of the crusade to the east declared by Pope Celestine III.

- In April 1204 English, French and Apennine crusaders break into the besieged Constantinople, and the world center of Orthodoxy ceases to exist.

https://youtu.be/aQwD3fdpNWE. Fourth Crusade. 09.42.

- In 1206 at the Great Kurultai of the Mongolian tribes was proclaimed Yasa, and the Khan of Chinggis Ulus Temujin was declared Chinggis Khan of the Great Steppe.

Related information.

Material from Uncyclopedia

Turkic-speaking nomadic peoples, southern neighbors of Rus' in the 9th-13th centuries. The Pechenegs, pressed from the east by the Guz, at the end of the 9th century. migrated from the Aral Sea region and the Syr Darya basin to Eastern Europe. They expelled the Hungarians from the area between the Dnieper and Siret rivers, and by the beginning of the 10th century. became masters of the Black Sea steppe from the Don to the Lower Danube. The Pechenegs played a significant role in the history of the peoples of Eastern and Central Europe, the Balkans and Byzantium. They acted either as allies of Byzantium against the Bulgarians or Russians, or as supporters of Rus' in the fight against Byzantium, Khazaria and Bulgaria. The first appearance of the Pechenegs on the borders of Rus' in 915 ended with the conclusion of peace with Prince Igor. And in the future, the ancient Russian princes sought to maintain allied relations with the Pechenegs. In 944, the Pechenegs, together with Russian squads, made a campaign against Byzantium, and in 965 - against Khazaria. Byzantium tried to weaken Rus' with their help. Beginning in 968, the Pechenegs devastated the southern Russian lands with their raids. In 972, the troops of Khan Kuri defeated the squad of Prince Svyatoslav at the Dnieper rapids. In 1036, the Pechenegs suffered a crushing defeat near Kiev from Yaroslav the Wise, which put an end to their raids on Rus'. The Guzes (torks in ancient Russian chronicles) advancing from the east drove the Pechenegs out of their camps in the Black Sea steppes. Some of the Pechenegs went into the service of the Kyiv princes and remained in Porosye, forming in the middle of the 12th century. together with the Torks, Berendeys, Turpeis and other nomads, the vassal alliance of the Black Klobuks, which defended the southern borders of Rus'. Another part of the Pechenegs moved to the borders of Byzantium and at the end of the 11th century. was exterminated by the Byzantines and their allies the Cumans.

Polovtsy (aka Kipchaks among Eastern authors and Cumans among Western European and Byzantine writers), who wandered in the 9th-10th centuries. in the Irtysh region and Eastern Kazakhstan, at the beginning of the 11th century. appeared in the Volga region, and by the middle of the same century they began to dominate the steppes of the Black Sea region. In their campaigns, the Polovtsians advanced to Bulgaria, Hungary and Byzantium. But the main object of their numerous raids from the middle of the 11th century. became border Russian principalities - Kiev, Chernigov, Pereyaslavl. Polovtsian military leaders took part in the civil strife of the Russian princes, supporting one side or the other. Often Polovtsian khans became related to Russian princes, marrying off their daughters to them. By the end of the 11th century. the Polovtsians formed several associations - hordes that owned certain territories: the Dnieper, Lukomorskoe, Don, etc. They stood at the head of the Dnieper horde in the 11th-12th centuries. Khans Bonyak and Tugorkan, as well as Sharukan from the Don region, entered Russian folklore, symbolizing the sworn enemies of Rus' (Bunyak Sheludivy, Tugarin Zmeevich, Kudrevanko the Tsar, Shark the Giant). At the beginning of the 12th century. The Russians made several victorious campaigns against the Polovtsians, as a result of which the Polovtsians temporarily migrated beyond the Don and Volga, to the Caucasian steppes (Khan Atrak), as well as to Bulgaria, Hungary, and Byzantium.

During the 12th century. Russian princes continued to attract the Polovtsians to participate in princely feuds, went on campaigns against the Polovtsians and repelled their attacks. The image of an outstanding Polovtsian military leader of the second half of the 12th century. - Khan Konchak - captured in the poem “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” and Russian chronicles.

The Polovtsian steppe was multi-ethnic in its composition: along with the Polovtsians, scattered groups of other nomadic peoples continued to live there - Alans, Bulgarians, Pechenegs, and Guzes. Their main occupation was nomadic cattle breeding. The religion of the nomadic peoples of the Black Sea region was paganism, from the 11th century. Islam and Christianity began to spread among them.

The Cumans were defeated by the Mongols, who came to the Eastern European steppes in the 20s. XIII century The bulk of the Polovtsians fell under the rule of the Mongol khans, and individual detachments went to Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, and Transcaucasia.

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1. About the Russian campaign against the Polovtsians

2. Pechenegs and Rus'

1 . About the Russian campaign against the Polovtsians

Russian chronicles, as well as old Russian historians like Karamzin or Solovyov, describing clashes between Russians and the Polovtsians, usually called the desire to take revenge for the harm and insults inflicted by the Polovtsians as the reason for the campaigns of Russian troops in the Polovtsian lands. The Russians in these episodes usually appear as the side that suffered previously and is trying to take revenge on their enemies. But recently, the works of Russian scientists have cast doubt on this picture. Russian campaigns on the Polovtsian lands look like ordinary raids for booty and slaves, and clashes with the Polovtsians were often less fierce than the strife between Russians.

Almost annual internecine wars between Russian princes allow the Polovtsians to make frequent raids on Rus'. But the first signs of a future rapprochement between the Russians and the Polovtsians are already appearing. This is still a long way off, but Svyatopolk set an example for other Russian princes by marrying the daughter of Khan Tugorkan. The Polovtsians, for now, are already participating in the Russian unrest as mercenaries. And in 1097, the famous Khan Bonyak, together with David Svyatoslavich, fought against the Hungarians. These were positive moments in Russian-Polovtsian relations. But there were still many more negative ones. Kyiv Polovtsy Pecheneg

1095 Vladimir Monomakh reigns in Pereyaslavl. In previous years, the Polovtsians made many raids on the Pereyaslavl land and thoroughly devastated it, but Monomakh once managed to defeat the Polovtsian army and take many prisoners. At the end of February, two Polovtsian khans, Kitan and Itlar, with their army approached the city and began to bargain with Monomakh: how much he was willing to pay for peace. During the negotiations, Itlar with the best part of his squad settled down in the city, and Kitan with the rest of the squad settled down between the ramparts. For the safety of Itlar, who lived in the house of the boyar Ratibor, Monomakh sent his son Svyatoslav to Kitana. At this time, the boyar Slavat arrived from Kyiv from Svyatopolk. He immediately began to persuade Ratibor and the warriors, and then Vladimir, to kill Itlar. Vladimir answered them:

"How can I do this by swearing an oath to them?"

In response, the squad said to Vladimir:

“Prince! There is no sin for you: after all, they always, having given you an oath, destroy the Russian land and shed Christian blood incessantly.”

Oaths were regularly broken by both sides. Vladimir allowed himself to be persuaded and on Saturday night sent a detachment consisting of warriors and torks to the ramparts. It was a treacherous night attack. The detachment managed to remove the patrolmen, who were quite careless and felt completely safe, and kidnap Svyatoslav. And then the massacre began! After all, an attack on sleeping people can hardly be called a battle. Many Polovtsy did not even have time to wake up. Kitan was killed, and his entire squad was exterminated to a single person. Itlar knew nothing about this on Sunday morning. All the Polovtsians were lured into the hut at the invitation of Monomakh and locked in it. Then they dismantled the roof, and Ratibor’s son, Oleg, killed Itlar with the first shot from a bow. Then his entire detachment was killed. This episode in Russian history is known as the murder of Itlar.

After this event, Vladimir and Svyatopolk decided to go on a joint campaign against the Polovtsians and invited the Chernigov prince Oleg Svyatoslavich to participate in the campaign. But after the murder of Itlar, Oleg stopped trusting his cousins. He agreed to participate in the raid on the Polovtsians as a separate detachment, but never went on the campaign. Svyatopolk and Vladimir made a campaign against the Polovtsians, who did not expect this (after all, there were peace negotiations!), took their vezhi and plundered a lot of different livestock and captured many slaves. Returning from the campaign, Vladimir and Svyatoslav were very angry with Oleg and sent him the following message:

“You didn’t go with us against the filthy ones who devastated the Russian land, but you keep Itlarevich with you - either kill him or give him to us. He is our enemy and the Russian land.”

Oleg did not want to become an oathbreaker and did not hand over his son Itlar to his cousins. So the distrust between the cousins ​​grew into hatred, which resulted in further internecine wars.

But in the same 1095, the Polovtsy gathered their forces and besieged the city of Yuryev on the border of the steppe and Rus'. They besieged the city for a long time and almost took it. Svyatopolk paid the Polovtsians for peace, but they did not leave the Russian land. The residents of Yuryev were tired of living in fear of constant attack by the steppe inhabitants and left the city for Kyiv. Svyatopolk ordered to build a new city for them 56 versts from Kyiv on Vitichevsky Hill near the Dnieper. Due to the favorable location of this place, people from surrounding areas began to flock to the new city. And the deserted Yuryev was burned by the Polovtsians.

The next year, 1096, Svyatopolk and Monomakh went north to sort out relations with the Svyatoslavichs (the murder of Itlar and its consequences were added to the old claims). Taking advantage of the absence of princely squads, the Polovtsy began to make numerous raids on Russian lands, but were no longer limited to devastation of only border lands and towns. Khan Bonyak devastated the outskirts of Kyiv and burned the princely country house in Berestov. Another khan, Kurya, devastated the outskirts of Pereyaslavl. Seeing such successes of the Polovtsian troops, even Svyatopolk’s father-in-law, Tugorkan, could not resist the temptation and besieged Pereyaslavl. But he was out of luck here. The Russian princes had already returned from the northern campaign. They quietly approached the city and attacked the Polovtsians besieging Pereyaslavl. The townspeople hit them in the back, and the Cumans fled, suffering heavy losses. Tugorkan and his son and several other khans died in the battle. Svyatopolk treated his deceased father-in-law with care and buried Tugorkan in the village of Berestovo.

But while the Russian princes were fighting on the eastern bank of the Dnieper, Khan Bonyak (the chronicle calls him a “mangy predator”) again came to Kyiv. His attack, according to the chronicler, was so unexpected that the Polovtsians almost managed to break into the city. But Bonyak approached Kyiv at 1 o’clock in the afternoon, so judge for yourself the quality of the security. The Polovtsians did not enter the city, but they burned many surrounding villages and several monasteries, including the Pechersky Monastery.

Several monks were killed in this attack.

Small attacks by the Polovtsians continued annually, until in 1101, at the Vitichevsky Congress, the princes decided to put an end to the strife. Now the Russian princes decided to conduct offensive actions, getting rid of internecine clashes for a while. Svyatopolk, Vladimir and three Svyatoslavichs, Oleg, Davyd and Yaroslav, gathered with their squads on the Zolotche River, on the right bank of the Dnieper, to go on a campaign against the Polovtsians. But the Polovtsians heard about this campaign in advance and sent envoys to ask for peace. The Russian princes told them:

“If you want peace, let’s gather at Sakov.”

Polovtsian representatives appeared at the appointed place, and peace was concluded. Moreover, hostages were taken from both sides.

Peace was concluded, but the Russian princes did not stop thinking about a large-scale campaign against the Polovtsians. Moreover, chroniclers often called the preparation for campaigns against the Polovtsians a good thought or an inspiration from God. In 1103, Svyatopolk and Vladimir gathered with their squads in Dolobsk, which was located above Kyiv on the left bank of the Dnieper, and the chronicler names Vladimir as the initiator of the campaign. Svyatoslav’s squad refused the offer to go on a campaign, citing the following reason:

“It’s no good now, in the spring, to go on a campaign, we’ll destroy the smerds and their arable land.”

And Vladimir’s squad was not inclined to go on a campaign. The chronicler put a speech into Vladimir’s mouth, with which he managed to convince the warriors to change their views:

“I’m amazed, squad, that you feel sorry for the horses you use to plow! Why don’t you think about the fact that the stinker will start plowing and, when he arrives, the Polovtsy will shoot him with a bow, and he will take his horse, and when he arrives in his village, he will take his wife and his children and all his property? So you feel sorry for the horse, but don’t you feel sorry for the stinker himself?”

This speech convinced both squads, and it was decided to go on a campaign. Invitations were also sent to the Svyatoslavichs, but only Davyd agreed to participate in the campaign, and Oleg replied that he was unwell. Four young princes also joined the campaign: Davyd Vseslavich of Polotsk, Mstislav of Volyn, Vyacheslav Yaropolchich and Yaropolk Vladimirovich, son of Monomakh. The combined army moved in two columns: the infantry was mounted on boats, and the cavalry walked along the shore. After passing the rapids, near the island of Khortitsa, the boats were pulled ashore, and the entire army set off across the steppe, and the transition took four days. Polovtsian intelligence, of course, did not sleep, and the campaign became known. The Polovtsian khans met in council to discuss the situation. The old khans were of the opinion that peace should be made with Russia. Their position was expressed by Khan Urusoba:

“Let us ask for peace from Rus', since they will fight us hard, because we have caused a lot of evil to the Russian land.”

But the young khans were determined and did not want to hear about peace. Urusoba was given the answer:

“If you are afraid of Rus', then we are not afraid. Having killed these, we will go into their land and take possession of their cities, and who will deliver them from us?”

It was decided to fight, and a guard detachment was sent forward under the command of Khan Altunopa, who was famous among the Polovtsians for his courage. This detachment was unlucky: it was intercepted by the advanced detachments of the Russians and completely exterminated. After some time, a collision occurred between the main forces. The chronicler does not provide details about this battle. He says that the Polovtsian regiments were as numerous as a forest, but God instilled fear in the Polovtsians before the Russians, and they fled. The Russians pursued them, cutting down the stragglers. 20 Polovtsian khans were killed, and Khan Beldyuz was captured.

When the Russian army settled down to rest, the captive Beldyuzya was brought to Svyatopolk, who, as was customary in those days, began to offer a ransom for himself: gold, silver, horses or cattle. But Svyatopolk did not enter into negotiations with him, but sent him to Vladimir. This story is not entirely clear. Probably Vladimir had his own claims against Beldyuse, which we do not know about. In any case, Vladimir acted contrary to the norms of his time: do not kill noble captives. Vladimir ordered Beldyuzya to be killed, and his corpse was dismembered. The chronicler attributed a speech to Vladimir, which did not contain the reasons for such a cruel and vile murder:

“It was the oath that overcame you! For how many times, having made an oath, did you still fight the Russian land? Why didn’t you instruct your sons and your family not to break the oath, but did you shed Christian blood? Let your blood be now on your head! "

It is clear that one must be very careful in trusting the chroniclers’ reports, and especially their interpretation of events. In this campaign, the Russians captured a huge amount of booty and slaves, and also resettled the Pechenegs and Torques, who lived under the rule of the Polovtsians, to their lands. The Russians thought that the steppe had been pacified for a long time, and in August of the same year Svyatopolk ordered the rebuilding of the city of Yuryev, which had previously been burned by the Polovtsians.

But there was no peace on the Polovtsian border. Already in 1105, and then in 1107, the “terrible” Bonyak raided Rus'. The chronicler reports clashes in 1106, 1109 and 1110. I will only note that amid these wars with the Polovtsians, in 1107, Vladimir Monomakh, as well as Davyd and Oleg Svyatoslavich, married their sons to the daughters of the Polovtsian khans. We became related, and now we’ll fight again!

In addition, this was the deepest penetration of Russian troops into the steppe in the last several decades. The description of this campaign is very similar to the description of the campaign from 1103. Again Svyatopolk, Vladimir and Davyd take part in the campaign, however, they tried to make a raid in 1110, but failed due to severe cold and a large loss of horses. Again the squads gathered in Dolobsk. Again, the warriors do not want to go on a campaign, and Vladimir, with the same words, convinces the warriors to go against the Polovtsians. That is, when reading the chronicle, you will not immediately understand what kind of campaign we are talking about, the description of these events coincides so literally. The differences begin only when describing the campaign itself, which began in the second week of Lent. The army left the sleigh at Khorol and reached the Don in the sixth week of Lent, on Tuesday. From here, in battle formation, the army approached the Polovtsian city of Sharukan, whose inhabitants came out to meet the Russian army with gifts. The city was spared. The Russians spent the night there, and the next day they approached the city of Sugrov, whose inhabitants turned out to be not so accommodating. I had to set the city on fire.

On Friday there was a clash between the Russian regiments and the main forces of the Polovtsians. The chronicler reports that with God's help the Russians defeated and killed a great many enemies. But either the victory was not so decisive, or these were not the main forces, but on Monday a new battle took place with the Polovtsians. Svyatopolk and his squad withstood the main blow of the Polovtsians, and then Vladimir and Davyd with their squads entered the battle, attacked the Polovtsians from the flanks and they fled. The victory was complete and, as is usually reported in the chronicles, many prisoners, property, cattle, horses, etc. were captured. But this seemed to the chronicler not enough to glorify the victory of the Russian army. We had to show that God is with us! And it is said that many Polovtsians were struck by an invisible force, so that their heads flew off and slowly sank to the ground, and God saved the Russians with his own hand.

By this time, the princely and khan's elite had already become noticeably closer and became related, but mutual clashes continued almost every year. Chroniclers report clashes and mutual raids in 1162, 1165 and 1166. But in the same year, 1166, something new appeared: the Polovtsians settled at the Dnieper rapids and began to rob merchants, and not only Russians, who were trading along the Dnieper with Byzantium. The well-being of both the prince of Kyiv and the entire city depended on this trade, since it was the main source of income. Upon receiving news of these attacks, Prince Rostislav reacted instantly: an advance detachment under the command of the boyar Vladislav Lyakh was sent to the rapids, and the prince sent an order to his sons and brothers to gather with their regiments at Kanev to guard merchant ships and caravans. The troops dispersed only after all the merchant ships had passed.

Raids to capture booty and slaves are one thing. That's what everyone does! But when the Polovtsians encroached on trade... The reaction of the Russian princes followed very quickly. In 1167, Rostislav's heir Mstislav Izyaslavich gathered the princes to punish the Polovtsians for their insolence. At least ten more princes, whom I will not list, gathered with their squads.

The army set off along the Kanev road. But on the ninth day, trouble happened: a certain Gavrilka Islavich ran over to the Polovtsians and informed them about the Russian attack. Apparently, not only the princes had close and family relations with the Polovtsians at this time. The Polovtsy simply did not have time to organize any resistance to the large Russian army. They abandoned most of their goods and livestock and tried to take refuge in the Black Forest, but did not have time, as they were overtaken by Russian cavalry. The real beating of the Polovtsians began. It was truly a beating, since the Russians lost only two people in this “battle.” Soon, the massacre stopped, and the Polovtsians began to be taken prisoner. It is known that all Russian soldiers had rich booty in slaves, women, horses, cattle and other goods. Christians who were captured by the Polovtsians were released.

2 . Pechenegs and Rus'

For more than a century, the immediate southern neighbors of Rus' were a nomadic people, called the Pechenegs in the Russian chronicle. In Byzantine and Latin traditions it is known as patsinaki or pachinakit, and in Arabic as badjnaki.

Konstantin Porphyrogenitus called the three Pecheneg tribes by the common name “Kangar”, however, he clarified that they were called that way before.

The etymology of the Russian term does not have a single explanation. Some researchers associate it with the name of the first Pecheneg leader Beche (from him - “Bechenegs” - “Pechenegs”), others see in this word the meaning of “brother-in-law” or “brother-in-law” and believe that this name reflected the fact of the special status of the Pechenegs - as a privileged part of the nomadic association of Oghuzs. This etymology is also supported by the fact that the word “kangar” also meant “noble”, “noble”.

The Pechenegs began their journey to the west from the Caspian steppes and the Lower Urals. Ethnically they did not represent a monolithic and pure people. In addition to the Turkish-speaking hordes, their union also included some Ugric associations. In the Trans-Volga period of history, the Pechenegs were in the sphere of political influence of the Khazar Kaganate, but they were not particularly obedient and caused the Khazars a lot of trouble.

In order to protect their country from restless neighbors, Khazaria entered into an alliance with the Guz. The latter defeated the Pechenegs and forced them to leave their original habitat. According to Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the Guzes, “having entered into an agreement with the Khazars and went to war against the Pachinakites, defeated them and expelled them from their own country. The Pachinakites, having taken flight, wandered around, looking for a place for their settlement. Having reached the land that they still possess, having discovered the Turks on it, defeating them in war and displacing them, they expelled them, settled here and own this country.”

Probably already in the 9th century. The Pechenegs occupied the steppe region between the Don and Dnieper rivers. Experiencing pressure from the east, they, as already discussed, won living space for themselves in the west at the expense of the Hungarians. The latter were expelled by the Pechenegs, first from Levedia, and then from Atelkuza. By the end of the 9th century. The Pechenegs took possession of the Black Sea steppes (sources report their appearance in the Black Sea region around 889) and became a noticeable political force in the Danube region. In 896, in alliance with the Bulgarians, they inflicted a severe defeat on Byzantium and expanded their possessions to the Siret River. According to Constantine Porphyrogenitus, by the middle of the 10th century. The area of ​​settlement of the Pechenegs extended from the Don to the Carpathians. In this area of ​​settlement he names such rivers as the Dnieper, Southern Bug, Dniester, Prut, Siret.

All of Pechenegia consisted of eight themes (areas of settlement of individual hordes), of which four were located on the left bank of the Dnieper, and four on the right bank. “You should know that four genera of Pachinakites, namely the Kuartsitsur theme, the Sirukalpei theme, the Vorotalmat theme and the Vulapopon theme, are located on the other side of the Dnieper River towards the more eastern and northern edges, opposite Uzia, Khazarin, Achania, Kherson and other climates . The remaining four clans are located on this side of the Dnieper River, towards the more western and northern edges, namely: the Giazichopon theme is adjacent to Bulgaria, the Lower Gila theme is adjacent to Turkey, the Haravoi theme is adjacent to Russia, and the Iavdiertim theme is adjacent to the payable country of Russia. localities, with Ultins (Ulitches), Derevlenins (Drevlyans), Lenzanins (Lendzians) and other Slavs.”

Continuing the story about the country of the Pachinakites, Konstantin Porphyrogenitus notes that it is one day’s journey from Rus'. Despite this proximity, Russian written sources do not contain news of the Pechenegs until the beginning of the 10th century. This is apparently explained by the fact that during the period of development of the southern Russian steppes they did not disturb their northern neighbors. The Pechenegs had enough trouble with the Hungarians, Bulgarians, Byzantium in the west, Khazaria and the Guzes in the east.

The Pechenegs were not distinguished by the constancy of their political orientation. Seeing the interest in them from Byzantium, Rus', Bulgaria and Khazaria, the Pechenegs tried to make the most of this situation. They alternately act as allies of each of the named countries, receiving rich gifts from them for this.

Under 930, the chronicle reports a violation of the Russian-Pecheneg peace treaty of 915. In the Russian-Byzantine conflict of the 40s of the 10th century. The Pechenegs side with Rus'. The Tale of Bygone Years reports that the Pechenegs also took part in Igor’s second campaign against Constantinople, which took place in 944. Their forces in the allied army were apparently very significant, if the Korsuns and Bulgarians considered it necessary to specifically warn the Byzantines about this. When studying Russian-Pecheneg relations, it must be borne in mind that they were determined not only in Kiev or the Pecheneg camp, but also in Constantinople . And often the position of Byzantium turned out to be decisive. In modern diplomatic language, for the empire, Russian-Pecheneg relations were one of its strategic priorities.

This is clearly evident from the work of Constantine Porphyrogenitus “On the Administration of the Empire,” which contains a lesson to his son and heir Roman II (953-963). Noting the interest of Byzantium in peace with the Pechenegs and indicating the ways to achieve it, Constantine VII particularly dwells on Pecheneg-Russian relations: “Know that the Pachinakites have become neighboring and adjacent to the Dews, and often, when they do not have peace with each other, they rob Russia , cause significant harm and damage to it. Know that the Dews are also concerned about having peace with the Pachinakites. Therefore, the dews always take special care so as not to suffer harm from them, for this people is strong.”

Further, Konstantin explains what, in fact, is the benefit of Byzantium when the Russians and the Pechenegs are at war. “Know that in this royal city of the Romans, if the dews are not at peace with the Pachinakites, they cannot appear either for the sake of war or for the sake of trade, for when the dews with boats come to the river rapids and cannot pass them otherwise than by pulling out having crossed their boats from the river, carrying them on their shoulders, the people of this Pachinakit people then attack them.”

Having outlined the political situation that developed as a result of the appearance of the Pechenegs near the northern borders of Byzantium, Constantine VII outlined to his son a kind of instruction - how to turn it to the benefit of the empire. To do this, you must always seek peace with the Pechenegs.

Constantine VII repeatedly emphasizes that peace must be bought from the Pechenegs. “I believe it is always very useful for Basileus of Rome to wish peace with the people of the Pachinakites, to conclude friendly agreements and treaties with them, to send from here to them every year an apocrisiary (ambassador) with appropriate and suitable gifts.” In another place in his work, Constantine VII notes that “being free and, as it were, independent, these same Pachinakites never perform any service without payment.”

Receiving rich gifts from Byzantium every year, the Pechenegs earned them by attacking its neighbors, including Rus'. The latter became the object of the main attack of the Pechenegs during the reign of Svyatoslav (964-972). To be fair, it should be noted that a significant share of the blame for this lies with Svyatoslav himself. His foreign policy actions, accompanied by military campaigns, were not always determined by the vital interests of Rus'. Having started a war on two fronts - against Khazaria and Byzantium, Svyatoslav did not calculate its consequences and did not take into account the possible participation of a third force in this confrontation - the Pechenegs. The war with Khazaria was successful for Svyatoslav, but it also turned out to be beneficial for the Pechenegs, since it eliminated their strong enemy in the east. Now the left-bank Pechenegs, without fear for their rear, could take more active actions against Rus'.

The Right Bank Pechenegs generally took the side of Byzantium and were one of the significant reasons for the defeat of Svyatoslav in the Balkans. In light of what we now know about Byzantine-Pecheneg relations from Constantine Porphyrogenitus, there cannot be the slightest doubt that Byzantium and the Pechenegs clearly coordinated their actions against Rus'.

As soon as Svyatoslav departed with his army for the Danube in 969, the Pechenegs appeared at the walls of Kyiv. The scale of the Pecheneg invasion was so significant that the threat of the fall of the capital of Rus' was real. Here is what the Russian chronicle writes about this:

The drama of the situation lay in the fact that there was no one to defend Kyiv. The situation was saved by the Chernigov governor Pretich, who approached with his squad from the left bank. The available forces were clearly not enough to force the Pechenegs to lift the siege of Kyiv, and therefore Pretich developed only a plan to save Princess Olga and her grandchildren; unexpectedly, a local action turned out to be decisive in the liberation of all of Kyiv. As soon as a battle cry was heard on the left bank and the boats with soldiers rushed towards the city, the Pechenegs were seized by an unimaginable panic. Believing that this was the squad of Svyatoslav, who had returned from the Balkans, they hastily lifted the siege and retreated from Kyiv to the Lybid line. Following this, negotiations took place between Pretich and the Pecheneg Khan. Pretich accepted the offer, securing it with a handshake. The parties also exchanged gifts. “After returning from the Balkan campaign, Svyatoslav, as the chronicle testifies, carried out a campaign against the Pechenegs, drove them into the field and made peace. From this brief news it does not follow that Svyatoslav defeated the Pechenegs. Most likely, the Pechenegs went to the steppe without accepting the battle. It was not easy to fight them at this time. Having no permanent settlements or winter huts, they roamed the steppe all year round in carts and on horses. Looking for them in the steppe, where they were sovereign masters, is a hopeless task. The camp stage of the Pecheneg nomadism practically excluded retaliatory targeted strikes by Russian squads.

Having arranged, as it seemed to him, affairs in Kyiv and in Rus', Svyatoslav, prompted by Byzantine diplomacy, again set out on a campaign to the Balkans.

By defeating the Bulgarians and trying to gain a foothold in this region, he displeased the Byzantines. From their ally, Svyatoslav overnight turned into an enemy who had to be forced to return to Rus'. To this end, Emperor John Tzimiskes unleashed a huge army on the Russians, led by the experienced military leader Varda Skleros. This time luck left Svyatoslav. First, the Pecheneg troops were surrounded and destroyed, and then Svyatoslav began to suffer defeat. His army was finally defeated near Dorostol.

After the conclusion of peace, as Leo the Deacon testifies, the Russian prince allegedly asked John Tzimiskes to send an embassy to the Pechenegs with an offer to become friends and allies of the empire, not to cross the Danube and not devastate Bulgaria, and “also to freely allow the Russians to pass through their land and return home.” . Theophilus, Bishop of Euchaitis, was to carry out this ambassadorial commission.

Here, as in subsequent events, there is much that is unclear. It is not clear why Svyatoslav needed to ask the Byzantines for intercession before the Pechenegs, if they had just acted in alliance with the Russians against the empire. Knowing the result of the Byzantine embassy to the Pechenegs, it is difficult to rid ourselves of the idea that Theophilus also had a secret assignment to convince the Pechenegs to deal with Svyatoslav.

Leo the Deacon notes that And not a word about whether the Byzantines informed the Russians about the bad intentions of the Pechenegs. According to the Tale of Bygone Years, Svyatoslav learned about the impending attack of the Pechenegs on the rapids from the governor Sveneld, but did not listen to his advice to go to Rus' on horseback and, apparently, by a different route. The chronicle further explains that the Pereyaslavl residents became informants for the Pechenegs about the time of Svyatoslav’s return. Thus, having reliable information about the time of Svyatoslav’s return and route to Rus', the Pechenegs prepared an ambush in the area of ​​the Dnieper rapids. Svyatoslav did not dare to enter into battle with a superior enemy and turned to the mouth of the Dnieper, to the area of ​​​​the so-called Beloberezhye, in order to spend the winter there. By early spring, famine began in the Russian camp, and Svyatoslav decides to return to Rus'. In the area of ​​the Dnieper rapids, the Russians had an unequal battle with the Pechenegs and almost all were exterminated. Svyatoslav also died here.

Leo the Deacon explains the cruel intransigence of the Pechenegs by the fact that they were irritated by Svyatoslav’s conclusion of peace with the Romans. This explanation is unlikely to be convincing. In this case, their own behavior is unclear. If they hated the Romans so much, then why did they themselves enter into an agreement with them? It is unlikely that the Pechenegs had any reason to see Svyatoslav as a threat to their own interests and therefore seek his death. He practically did not fight with the Pechenegs, and his campaigns in the Balkans were rather beneficial to them, since they provided the opportunity to profit from the rich Byzantine provinces and Bulgaria.

The only country whose interests were threatened by Svyatoslav was Byzantium, and, apparently, it was from it that the initiative for his physical elimination came. The Pechenegs played the role of hired killers.

In a chronicle article from 972, telling about the tragic death of Svyatoslav, it is reported that the Pechenezh khan Kurya made himself a drinking cup from his skull. Making bowls from the heads of defeated enemies is a custom widespread among Turkish-speaking peoples. The nomads believed that in this way the strength and courage of their enemies would be transferred to them. Tradition says that Kurya and his wife drank from this ritual cup in the hope that they would have a son similar to the famous Russian prince.

In spirit, Svyatoslav was akin to the same Pechenegs, since he led an essentially nomadic lifestyle. The chronicle notes that he walked easily, like a pardus, did not take a cart or a boiler with him, ate horse meat roasted over coals, and slept not in a tent, but in the open air, with a saddle under his head. Such were the chronicler and all his brave warriors.

Researchers believe that the chronicle description of Svyatoslav was borrowed from a song composed in the steppes. It glorifies a nomadic warrior - unpretentious, hardy and decisive.

Being a nomadic prince, and also overwhelmed by the unrealistic idea of ​​moving the capital of Rus' to Pereyaslavets on the Danube, Svyatoslav did practically nothing to protect the country from nomadic invasions. If he had not been looking for someone else's land, for which the people of Kiev reproached him, but had taken up the development of his own, the situation in the south of Rus' would not have developed so dramatically. The death of Svyatoslav and his squad on the Dnieper rapids was the sad result of his unsuccessful reign.

The period of the reign of Vladimir Svyatoslavich was characterized by a special confrontation between the Pechenegs and Rus'. After the stabilization of the situation in the Balkans and Danube region, caused by the strengthening of the positions of Byzantium and Hungary, the Pechenegs rushed to the borders of Rus'. Their raids on Russian cities and villages were accompanied by robberies of civilians, the capture of prisoners and their deportation into slavery, and fires. Despite the fact that the northern borders of the Pecheneg land were one day's travel from the Russian borders, the Pechenegs ruled the southern Russian borderland with almost impunity, often reaching the Kyiv suburbs.

In 992 they approached Sula and Trubezh. Vladimir Svyatoslavich and his squad came out to meet them from Kyiv. The warring parties met on the Trubezh River, where Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky is now located. According to the chronicle version, neither side dared to leave their positions and strike the enemy. And then, at the suggestion of the Pecheneg Khan, it was decided to determine the outcome of the confrontation in a duel between the two strongest warriors. At the same time, the khan promised, in the event of his husband’s defeat, not to fight with Russia for three years. The fighters converged on the neutral zone between the two regiments. This first victory of Vladimir over the Pechenegs was greeted with jubilation in Rus'. Three years later, the Pechenegs again invaded Rus'. This time they approached Vasiliev. Vladimir, having underestimated the enemy, came out against him, as the chronicle notes, “with a small squad.” The battle ended in defeat for the Russians. Vladimir himself miraculously escaped death by hiding under the city bridge.

In 997, having learned that Vladimir had gone to Novgorod, the Pechenegs approached Belgorod and besieged it. The chronicler notes a large number of Pecheneg warriors, with whom, after the princely squad left to the north, there was no one to fight. Famine began in the city. At the meeting, Belgorod residents decide to surrender the city. But then a certain old man intervened in the course of events, suggesting that the besieged dig two wells, put wooden cadies in them, fill them with honey and jelly, and then show them to the Pecheneg ambassadors. The old man’s trick allegedly succeeded. Seeing all this and deciding that the Belgorodians were fed by the land itself, the Pechenegs lifted the siege of the city and went to the steppe.

The fabulous stories of the chronicle about the miraculous rescue of Vladimir and the Belgorod residents, about the bloodless victory of the Russians at Trubezh should not be misleading. In real life, everything was much worse and more dramatic. The Pecheneg invasions had a disastrous effect on the life of the southern lands of Rus'. Without radical measures to protect them, there was no point in thinking about successfully repelling the Pechenegs.

Fortunately for Rus', Vladimir Svyatoslavich adequately assessed the Pecheneg danger. It is he who owns the large-scale program to strengthen the capital of Rus' and its southern borders.

Realizing that in the south of Rus' there were not enough forces to carry out such a grandiose task, Vladimir attracted the human reserves of the entire country for this purpose. At this time, dozens of fortresses were founded, as well as a number of large urban centers, such as Pereyaslavl, Belgorod, Oster, Novgorod-Seversky, etc.

The fight against the Pechenegs was positively perceived by the population of Kievan Rus. People composed songs about the exploits of Vladimir Krasnoe Solnyshko, Ilya Muromets and Dobrynya Nikitich. The heroic epic (epics) reflected the life of cities that were called upon to protect Rus' from nomads.

An important role in the defense system of Rus' was played by earthen ramparts, popularly known as “Serpents”. A vague mention of them is contained in the records of Bishop Bruno, who visited Kyiv on his way to the land of the Pechenegs in 1106. He reports that the Russian sovereign accompanied him for two days to the last borders of his state, “which, for safety from the enemy, over a very large area are surrounded on all sides by the most rubble.”

After many years of focused research, M.P. It became clear to Kuchera that Bruno’s “ruins” were earthen ramparts in the south of Rus', most of which were erected during the reign of Vladimir Svyatoslavich. There is no doubt that this gigantic work on the scale of the Middle Ages was carried out simultaneously with the construction of military fortresses.

In historical literature, apparently, both the design of this defensive structure and its main purpose are incorrectly interpreted. M.P. Kuchera and other researchers believe that these ramparts resembled city walls with high wooden fences. In reality this could not have happened. Stretching for hundreds of kilometers, such walls would require a permanent military garrison for protection, and for this, of course, Rus' would not have enough “good fellows.” In addition, enormous efforts would be required to periodically restore the fences, each time burned by the Pechenegs. It is difficult to imagine that the ancient Russian fortifiers did not understand this. Bruno also indirectly testifies to the absence of fences on the ramparts of southern Rus', calling these structures not walls, but rubble.

Now about the purpose of the shafts. Their task was not only to block the path of the Pecheneg cavalry detachments to Rus'. This goal was obviously pursued, but, as the chronicle shows, it turned out to be unattainable. The main task of the so-called “Snake” shafts was to prevent a long-term seizure of Russian lands, to prevent their inclusion in the system of nomadic grazing lands. This task was completed completely.

From the sources it follows that Vladimir tried to establish peaceful relations with the Pechenegs not only through force, but also through diplomacy. Taking advantage of the favorable opportunity, he asked Bruno to be a mediator in his relations with the Pechenegs. To confirm his goodwill, he sent his son along with Bruno to them. Apparently, it was Svyatopolk, who later, in the struggle for the grand ducal table, would repeatedly use the services of the Pechenegs.

Bibliography

1. Golubovsky Pyotr Vasilievich-Pechenegs, Torques and Polovtsians before the Tatar invasion. History of the southern Russian steppes IX-XIII centuries, 1884, 262 p.

2. Fedorov-Davydov G.A. Nomads of Eastern Europe..., p. 191, note 38.

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