The direction of the raids on the Russian lands of the Polovtsian nomads. What peoples are the descendants of the Polovtsians & nbsp. Two thousand stone idols and a minimum of writing

Many historians studying the history of Russia often write about the internecine wars of the princes and their relations with the Polovtsy, a people with many ethnonyms: Kipchaks, Kipchaks, Polovtsians, Cumans. More often it is told about the cruelty of that time, but very rarely the question of the origin of the Polovtsians is raised.

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

In the VIII century, practically during the existence of the Great Turkic Kaganate (Great El) in the Central and Eastern parts of modern Kazakhstan, a new ethnos was formed - the Kypchaks. The Kypchaks who came from the homeland of all the Turks - from the western slopes of Altai - united the Karluks, Kyrgyz, and Kimaks under their rule. All of them received the ethnonym of their new masters. In the XI century, the Kypchaks gradually moved towards the Syr Darya, where the Oguzes roam. Fleeing from the warlike Kypchaks, they migrate to the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region. Almost the entire territory of modern Kazakhstan becomes the domain of the Kipchaks' possessions, which is called the Kypchak Steppe (Desht-i-Kipchak).

The Kypchaks began to move to the West, practically for the same reason as the Huns once did, who began to suffer defeat from the Chinese and Xianbei only for the reason that a terrible drought began in the eastern steppe, disrupting the favorable development of the Hunnu state, created by the great Shanyu Mode ... The resettlement to the western steppes turned out to be not so easy, as there were constant clashes with the Oguzes and Pechenegs (Kangls). However, the resettlement of the Kipchaks was favorably influenced by the fact that the Khazar Kaganate, as such, no longer existed, because before that, the rise in the Caspian Sea level flooded many Khazar settlements who settled on the shores of the Caspian Sea, which clearly worn out their economy. The end of this state was the defeat of the cavalry prince Svyatoslav Igorevich... The Kypchaks crossed the Volga and advanced to the mouth of the Danube. It was at this time that such ethnonyms as the Cumans and Polovtsy appeared among the Kipchaks. The Byzantines called them Kumans. And Cumans, Kypchaks began to be called in Russia.

Let's consider the ethnonym "Polovtsy", because it is around this name of the ethnos (ethnonym) that there are so many disputes, since there are a lot of versions. We will highlight the main ones:

So the first version. The ethnonym "Polovtsy" according to nomads, came from "sex", that is, it is straw. Modern historians judge by this name that the Kipchaks were fair-haired, and maybe even blue-eyed. Probably, the Polovtsians were Caucasians and it was not for nothing that our Russian princes, who came to the Polovtsian kurens, often admired the beauty of the Polovtsian girls, calling them "red Polovtsian girls." But there is one more statement according to which it can be said that the Kypchaks were a Europeoid ethnos. I appeal to Lev Gumilyov: “Our ancestors were friends with the Polovtsian khans, married“ red Polovtsian girls, (there are suggestions that Alexander Nevskiywas the son of a Polovtsian woman), accepted the baptized Polovtsians into their midst, and the descendants of the latter became Zaporozhye and Sloboda Cossacks, replacing the traditional Slavic suffix "ov" (Ivanov) with the Turkic "enko" (Ivanenko) ".

The next version is somewhat similar to the version mentioned above. The Kypchaks were the descendants of the Sary-Kypchaks, that is, the very Kypchaks that formed in Altai. And "sary" is translated from ancient Turkic as "yellow". In Old Russian, "half" means "yellow". It can be from a horse suit. The Polovtsi could be called so because they rode sex horses. The versions, as you can see, diverge.

The first mention of the Polovtsy in Russian chronicles is reduced to 1055. Historians such as N. M. Karmzin, S. M. Soloviev, V.O. Klyuchevsky, N.I. Kostomarov considered the Kypchaks to be terrible terrible barbarians who badly battered Russia. But as Gumilyov said about Kostomarov, that: "It's more pleasant to blame your neighbor for your own troubles than to blame yourself".

Russian princes often fought among themselves with such cruelty that one could take them for yard dogs who did not share a piece of meat. Moreover, these bloody feuds took place very often and they were more terrible than some small attacks of nomads, for example, on the Pereyaslavl principality. And here everything is not as simple as it seems. After all, the princes used the Polovtsians as mercenaries in wars among themselves. Then our historians began to talk about the fact that Russia allegedly endured the struggle against the Polovtsian hordes and defended Europe like a shield from a formidable saber. In short, our compatriots had plenty of fantasies, but they never came to the heart of the matter.

It is interesting that Russia defended the Europeans from the "evil barbarian nomads", and after that Lithuania, Poland, Swabian Germany, Hungary began to move to the East, that is, to Russia, to their "defenders". It was painful for us to protect the Europeans, and there was no protection whatsoever. Russia, despite its fragmentation, was much stronger than the Polovtsians, and the opinions of the historians listed above are unfounded. So we did not protect anyone from the nomads and have never been a "shield of Europe", but rather were even a "shield from Europe".

Let's go back to the relations between Russia and the Polovtsy. We know that the two dynasties, the Ol'govichi and the Monomashichi, have become irreconcilable enemies, and the chroniclers, in particular, tend to side with the Monomashichi as heroes of the struggle against the steppe inhabitants. However, let's take an objective look at this problem. As we know, Vladimir Monomakh concluded with the Polovtsy "19 worlds", although you can not call him a "peacemaker prince". In 1095, he treacherously killed the Polovtsian khans, who agreed to end the war - Itlar and Kitana... Then the prince of Kiev demanded that the prince of Chernigov Oleg Svyatoslavich either he gave his son Itlar, or he himself would have killed him. But Oleg, a future good friend of the Polovtsi, refused Vladimir.

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

Vladimir Monomakh was able to make a number of campaigns on the Polovtsian nomad camps and drove part of the Kipchaks beyond the Don. This part began to serve the Georgian king. Kypchaks have not lost their Turkic valor. They stopped the onslaught of the Seljuk Turks at Kawakaz. By the way, when the Seljuks captured the Polovtsian kurens, they took physically developed boys, and then sold them to the Egyptian sultan, who raised them to the elite fighters of the caliphate - the Mamluks. In addition to the descendants of the Kipchaks, the descendants of the Circassians, who were also Mamluks, served the Sultan in the Egyptian Caliphate. However, these were completely different units. Polovtsian Mamluks were named al-Bahr or bakhrit, and the Circassian Mamluks al-Burj... Later, these Mamluks, namely the Bahrit (the descendants of the Polovtsians), would seize power in Egypt under the leadership of Baybars and Kutuza, and then they will be able to repel the attacks of the Mongols of Kitbugi-noyon (Hulaguid state)

We return to those Polovtsians who were still able to stay in the North Caucasian steppes, in the northern Black Sea region. In the 1190s, the Polovtsian nobility partly adopted Christianity. In 1223, the commanders of the Mongol army in two tumens (20 thousand people), Jebe and Subadey, made a sudden raid to the rear of the Polovtsy, bypassing the Caucasian ridge. In this regard, the Polovtsi asked for help in Russia, and the princes decided to help them. It is interesting that, according to many historians who had a negative attitude towards the steppe people, if the Polovtsians are the eternal enemies of Russia, then how will they explain such a quick, almost allied, help from the Russian princes? However, as you know, the joint troops of the Russians and the Polovtsians were defeated, and not because of, say, the superiority of the enemy, which did not exist, but because of their disorganization (there were 80 thousand Russians with the Polovtsians, and only 20 thousand Mongols. people). Then followed the complete defeat of the Polovtsy from the Batu... After that, the Kypchaks scattered and practically ceased to be considered an ethnic group. Some of them dissolved in the Golden Horde, some adopted Christianity and later entered the Moscow principality, some, as we said, began to rule in Mamluk Egypt, and some went to Europe (Hungary, Bulgaria, Byzantium). This is where the history of the Kypchaks ends. It remains only to describe the social structure and culture of this ethnic group.

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

Khan occupied the highest position in the horde, and the word "kan" was traditionally added to the names of the Polovtsy who held this position. After him came the aristocrats who disposed of the community members. Then the chapters who headed the rank and file soldiers. The lowest social position was occupied by women - servants and prisoners - prisoners of war who performed the functions of slaves. As it was written above, the horde consisted of a certain number of kurens, which consisted of aul families. To own the kuren was appointed koshevoy (Turkic “kosh”, “koshu” - nomadic, nomadic).

“The main occupation of the Polovtsians was cattle breeding. The main food of ordinary nomads was meat, milk and millet, their favorite drink was koumiss. The Polovtsians sewed their clothes according to their own steppe patterns. Shirts, caftans and leather trousers served as everyday clothes for the Polovtsians. Household chores reportedly Plano Carpini and Rubruka, usually women were engaged. The position of women among the Polovtsians was quite high. Polovtsian norms of behavior were governed by "common law". Blood feud took an important place in the system of Polovtsian customs.

For the most part, if we exclude the aristocracy, which began to accept Christianity, then the Polovtsians professed tengrianism ... Just like the Türkuts, the Polovtsians revered wolf ... Of course, shamans called "bashams" also served in their society, who communicated with spirits and treated the sick. In principle, they were no different from the shamans of other nomadic peoples. The Cumans had a developed funeral cult, as well as the cult of ancestors, which gradually grew into the cult of "heroic leaders." Over the ashes of their dead, they poured mounds and erected the famous Kipchak balbals ("stone women"), erected, as in the Türkic Kaganate, in honor of the soldiers who fell in the struggle for their land. These are wonderful monuments of material culture, reflecting the rich spiritual world of their creators.

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

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

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

Alexander Belyaev, MGIMO Eurasian Integration Club (U).

List of references:

1. 1. Gumilyov L. N. "Ancient Russia and the Great Steppe". Moscow. 2010
2. 2. Gumilyov L. N. "Millennium around the Caspian Sea". Moscow. 2009 year
3. 3. Karamzin N. M. "History of the Russian State". St. Petersburg. 2008 r.
4. 4. Popov A. I. "Kypchaks and Russia". Leningrad. 1949 g.
5. 5. M. Grushevsky "Essay on the history of the Kiev land from the death of Yaroslav toXIV century ". Kiev. 1891 g.
6. 6. Pletneva S. A. "Polovtsy". Moscow. 1990 year
7. 7. P.V. Golubovsky « Pechenegs, Torks and Polovtsians before the invasion of the Tatars ”. Kiev. 1884 g.
8. 8. Plano Carpini J. "The history of the Mongols, whom we call Tatars." 2009 //
9. 9. Rubruk G. "Travel to the Eastern Countries." 2011 //

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, an ancient nomadic state that 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 absorbed them. 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 subject 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 among the 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, of course, were 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 died;
• In 1093, the army, gathered by the three princes, was destroyed to fight the enemy.

These were difficult 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 the military force of the princes.

Hike of the Seversky Prince Igor

Sometimes the Kiev princes went with an offensive war on the enemy. Such events usually ended in victory and inflicted great damage on the Kipchaks, cooling their ardor for a short time and allowing the border villages to recover their strength and life.

But there were also unsuccessful campaigns. An example of this is the campaign of Igor Svyatoslavovich in 1185.

Then he, having united with other princes, went out with an army to the right tributary of the Don. Here they clashed with 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 rode 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 defeat the 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:

1. Crimean Tatars;
2. Bashkir;
3. Kazakhs;
4. Nogaytsev;
5. Balkars;
6. Altaians;
7. Hungarians;
8. Bulgarians;
9. Polyakov;
10. 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 on 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:

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 the Old Russian language indicates that the Slavs called so people either who came from the steppes (from the word "field"), or 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 number 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 aggregate 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 on high sections of the steppe, on watersheds in special sanctuaries. At the same time, direct burials were not always nearby. In the Polovtsian graves, the burial of the deceased, 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. To date, about 2,000 stone "women" (from "balbal" - "ancestor") have survived on the territory of modern Russia, which are still considered to have the power to increase the fertility of the earth and restore nature. These monuments 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 on the fly 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 become part of 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. They brought looted goods and captives from the raids, 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 out by the Russians to the Georgian lands, where they mixed with 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 the 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? From ancient history, we can conclude that this people, despite some primitiveness, played an important role in the formation of the political map of the world of that time and in the formation of various nationalities, including modern ones.

In the X century. the Polovtsians (Kimaks, Kipchaks, Kumans) roamed from the Irtysh to the Caspian Sea. With the beginning of the Seljuk movement, their hordes moved, following the Guz-Torks, to the west. In the XI century. In the Black Sea region, the Polovtsians consolidated the hordes of the Bulgarians who left the Volga, the Pechenegs and the Torks into unions subject to them, and mastered the lands that became the Polovtsian steppe - Desht-i-Kipchak.

The Polovtsians who lived along the Dnieper are usually divided into two associations - the left bank and the right bank. Both of them consisted of scattered independent hordes that had their own nomadic territory. At the head of the horde was the ruling clan - kuren. The family of the chief khan (kosh) stood out in the family. Strong khans - military leaders, for example Bonyak or Sharukan - enjoyed the greatest influence and power among them. The Polovtsi raided their neighbors: Russia, Bulgaria, Byzantium. They took part in the civil strife of the Russian princes.

The Polovtsian army possessed the tactics of warfare traditional for the nomads - horse strikes with "lavas", deliberate flight to lure the enemy into attack from an ambush, and when defeated, they "scattered" across the steppe. Polovtsian detachments successfully fought at night (1061, 1171, 1185, 1215). The Polovtsian army, as a rule, consisted of light and heavy cavalry.

The acquaintance of Russia with the Polovtsy first occurred in 1055 in the political arena. The reason is the creation in 1054 of the Pereyaslavl principality and an attempt at the armed expulsion of the Torks from its territory. Interested in the arrangement of the Torks, the Polovtsians came to Russia in peace and solved the problem of their resettlement by diplomatic means.

In 1061 the Polovtsy made the first invasion of Russia and defeated Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich Pereyaslavsky. The invasion was caused by a new offensive of Rus on the Pereyaslavl Torks, which violated the Russian-Polovtsian peace treaty.

As part of the Russian army, the armed formations of the Polovtsians took part both as allies (XI-XIII centuries) and as "federates" (XII-XIII centuries), that is, living on the territory of the principality and obeying the current laws of this principality. The Polovtsy, Torks and other “pacified” Turks settled on the territory of Russia were called “black hoods”. The onslaught of the Polovtsians on Russia intensified with the change of princely power. Rus was forced to strengthen the southern borderlands with fortresses in Porosye, Posemye and other regions. Russian-Polovtsian relations were also strengthened by dynastic marriages. Many Russian princes married the daughters of the Polovtsian khans. However, the threat of Polovtsian raids on Russia was constant.

Rus responded to the raids with campaigns in the Polovtsian steppe. The most effective were the campaigns of the Russian army in 1103, 1107, 1111, 1128, 1152, 1170, 1184–1187, 1190, 1192, 1202. More than once the Polovtsians came to Russia to support one of the dissatisfied Russian princes. In an alliance with the Russian army, in 1223, the Polovtsians were defeated by the Mongol-Tatars (Kalka). As an independent political force (Polovtsian steppe), the Polovtsians attacked Russia for the last time: in the east - in 1219 (Ryazan principality), and in the west - in 1228 and 1235. (Galician principality). After the Mongol-Tatar conquests of the XIII century. some of the Polovtsians joined the Mongol-Tatar hordes, others settled in Russia, and the rest went to the Danube, Hungary, Lithuania, Transcaucasia and the Middle East.

The campaign of the Russian troops against the Polovtsy (1103)

In 1103 the Cumans once again violated the peace. Grand Duke Svyatopolk II Izyaslavich of Kiev (8.9.1050–16.4.1113) and Prince Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh (1053–19.5.1125) of Pereyaslavl (1053–19.5.1125) with their senior squads gathered in Dolobsk for a princely congress to hold advice on the campaign against the Polovtsians. At the will of the senior princes in Russia, in order to solve a number of foreign policy and internal tasks, the squad troops of individual lands united under the command of the Grand Duke of Rus and formed an all-Russian squad army. At the Dolob Congress, it was decided to go to the Polovtsian steppe. The troops of the Chernigov-Seversk land of Oleg (? –18.8.1115) and David (? –1123) Svyatoslavichs were invited to the campaign. Vladimir Monomakh from the congress went to Pereyaslavl to collect his army. Svyatopolk II, having taken a retinue army from Kiev, followed him. In addition to these princes, they attracted the troops of Prince Davyd Svyatoslavich of Novgorod-Seversky in the campaign against the Polovtsy, as well as the princes of the 8th generation: Davyd Vseslavich of Polotsk (? –1129), Vyacheslav Yaropolchich of the specific Vladimir-Volynsky (? –13.4.1105), Yaropolk Vladimirovich Smolensky (? –18.2.1133) and Mstislav Vsevolodich Gorodetsky (? –1114). Citing illness, only Prince Oleg Svyatoslavich did not go on a campaign. Thus, the all-Russian army in the campaign of 1103 was formed from seven princely troops from different regions of Russia. And the Russian army went on a campaign. Having passed the boats below the rapids, the troops went ashore near the island of Khortitsa. Further, on horseback and on foot, they went over the field. Four days later, we approached Suteni. The Polovtsians knew about the campaign of Rus and gathered an army. They decided to kill the Russian princes and take possession of their cities. Only the oldest, Urusoba, was against the battle with Russia.

Moving towards the Russian troops, the Polovtsy sent Altunopa Khan at the head of the vanguard. However, the Russian vanguard lay in wait for Altunopa's detachment and, having surrounded, killed all the soldiers. Altunopa himself was killed in the battle. This allowed the Russian regiments on April 4 to suddenly stand in the way of the Polovtsians on Suteni. In the face of the Russian soldiers, the Polovtsians "were confused, and fear attacked them, and they themselves were numb, and their horses did not have speed at their feet." As the chronicler writes, "the Russian army fell with glee on horses and on foot against the enemy." The Polovtsi could not withstand the onslaught and fled. In battle and in pursuit, the Russians killed 20 Polotsk princes: Urusoba, Kochiya, Yaroslanopa, Kitanopa, Kunam, Asup, Kurtyk, Chenegrepa, Surbar and others, and captured Belduz. After the victory, Belduz was brought to Svyatopolk. Svyatopolk did not take the ransom in gold, silver, horses and cattle, but handed over the khan to the court of Vladimir. For breaking the oath, Monomakh ordered to kill the khan, and they cut him to pieces. Then the princes-brothers gathered, took the Polovtsian cattle, sheep, horses, camels, vezha with booty and servants, captured the Pechenegs and Torks with their vezhes, "and returned to Russia with glory and great victory."

The campaign of the Russian troops against the Polovtsians (1111)

After the successful campaign of Rus against the Polovtsy in 1103, the Polovtsians did not abandon their raids on the Russian principalities and continued to torment the Russian lands with their devastating raids both in 1106 in the Kiev region near Zarechsk, and in 1107 near Pereyaslavl and Lubna (Polovtsian khans Bonyak, Sharukan in Posul). In 1107, in the Pereyaslavl principality near Lubno, the troops of the Russian princes of Kiev, Pereyaslavl, Chernigov, Smolensk and Novgorod principalities gave a fitting rebuff to the enemy on August 19, when at six o'clock in the afternoon they crossed the river. Sulu and attacked the Polovtsians. The sudden attack of the Russians horrified the Polovtsians and they “could not, for fear, put up a banner and ran: some grabbing their horses, others on foot ... chased them to Khorol. They killed Taz, Bonyakov's brother, captured Sugra and his brother, and Sharukan barely escaped. The Polovtsi abandoned their wagon train, which was captured by the Russian soldiers ... ". However, the raids continued.

In 1111, “Having thought of the princes of Russia, they went to Polovets,” that is, Russian princes again had a council of war and decided to organize a new campaign against the Polovtsians. The united Russian army this time already consisted of 11 retinue troops of the Russian princes Svyatopolk II, Yaroslav, Vladimir, Svyatoslav, Yaropolk and Mstislav Vladimirovich, Davyd Svyatoslavich, Rostislav Davydovich, Davyd Igorevich, Vsevolod Olgovich, Yaroslav Svyatopolchich, i.e. the military might of the Kiev, Pereyaslavl, Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversk, Novgorod, Smolensk, Volodymyr-Volynsk and Buzhsk Russian principalities moved to the Polovtsian steppe. The commanders of the Russian army in this campaign were: Svyatopolk Izyaslavich (Grand Duke of Kiev); Vladimir Vsevoldovich (Prince of Pereyaslavl); Davyd Svyatoslavich (prince of Chernigov) with his son Rostislav Davydovich (appanage prince of Chernigov); Davyd Igorevich (Prince of Buzh, Ostrozh, Chertoriy and Dorogobuzh); Vsevolod Olgovich (Vsevolod-Kirill Olgovich, Prince of Chernigov); Svyatoslav Olgovich (prince of specific Chernigov); Yaroslav Svyatopolchich (Yaroslav (Yaroslavets) - Ivan Svyatopolkovich, Prince of Vladimir-Volyn); Mstislav Vladimirovich (Prince of Novgorod); Yaropolk Vladimirovich (Prince of Smolensk).

The united Russian army, as a rule, on the battlefield before the battle by the senior commander - the grand duke, was divided into three parts: the large regiment - the center, the regiment of the right hand and the regiment of the left hand - the flanks. The alignment of forces in the campaign against the Polovtsians was as follows: the eldest among equals in Russia, Prince Svyatopolk II led the regiments of a large regiment, and Vladimir and Davyd, respectively, the regiments of the right and left hand. In terms of subordination, the subordination of the troops of the princes is as follows.

The army of Svyatopolk consisted of three regiments, which were headed by: Svyatopolk Izyaslavich (Grand Duke of Kiev); Yaroslav Svyatopolchich; Davyd Igorevich.

The army of Vladimir consisted of three regiments, which were led by: Vladimir Vsevoldovich (Prince of Pereyaslavl); Mstislav Vladimirovich; Yaropolk Vladimirovich.

Davyd's army consisted of three regiments, which were headed: Davyd Svyatoslavich (Prince of Chernigov) with his son Rostislav; Vsevolod Olgovich; Svyatoslav Olgovich.

In the second week of the fast, the Russian army set out on a campaign against the Polovtsians. In the fifth week of the fast, it came to Don. On Tuesday, March 21, putting on protective weapons (armor) and deploying regiments, the troops went to the city of Sharuknyu, whose residents welcomed them hospitably. On the morning of the next day (March 22), the troops moved to the city of Sugrob, whose inhabitants did not want to obey their will, and the city was burned.

The Polovtsi gathered an army and, having assembled their regiments, went out to battle. The battle took place on March 24 on the Degeya stream (“on the salne rece field” - in the Salsk steppes). And Russia won. The chronicle testifies that after the victory on the Degei stream, the next week - on March 27, the Polovtsy surrounded the Russian troops with an army of "one thousand thousand" and started a fierce battle. The battle pattern is drawn as follows. The large regiment of Svyatoslav II, consisting of several regiments, was the first to engage in battle with the Polovtsian army. And when on both sides there were already many killed, the Russian army appeared before the enemy in full glory - the combined regiments of Prince Vladimir and the regiments of Prince Davyd hit the flanks of the Polovtsy. It should be noted that Russian troops in the fight against the Polovtsy, as a rule, are fighting near rivers. This is due to the fact that the nomads used specific methods of fighting the enemy. Being light cavalry by the type of weaponry and way of life, their warriors tried to surround the enemy army in the steppe and at full gallop they fired at the enemy from bows at full gallop, completing the work begun with sabers, lances, whips. Placing regiments near rivers, the Russian governors, using a natural river barrier, deprived the nomads of maneuver, and heavy defensive weapons and the possibility of flanking attacks on the enemy from the left and right regiments already qualitatively changed the picture of the battle.

As a result of the campaign, the Russian soldiers "... and taking all their wealth, and many of them with the hands of Yasha ... on Monday of Holy Week, and many of them were beaten." The battle on the Salnitsa River ended with the complete defeat of the Polovtsian army, which crowned the half-century of Rus' struggle with the Polovtsians with a military triumph, and up to 1128 the Polovtsians did not make major raids.