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World of the Great Steppe The earliest runic inscriptions found in Europe and attributed to Gothic: a spearhead from Ovel (Volyn, 4th century) and a gold ring from Pietroassa, dating back to 375. An attempt to read them in ancient Turkic shows a very specific: “Win,

The influence of Jews on the history of the Khazar Kaganate. Features of the life of the Pechenegs after the conclusion of the Russian-Byzantine peace in 971. The main periods in the development of Russian-Polovtsian relations. Building an approximate model of the relationship between Rus' and the steppe.

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St. Petersburg state academy veterinary medicine

Department of Organization, Economics and Management of Veterinary Affairs

ABSTRACT

By discipline:Story

Subject: Rus' and the steppe (IX- first thirdXIIIcenturies)

Performed:

Sergeeva D. A.

Checked:

Igumnov E.V.

St. Petersburg 2016

INTRODUCTION

1. PEOPLES OF THE STEPPE

1.1 Khazars

1.2 Pechenegs

1.3 Cumans

CHAPTER 2. Rus' AND THE STEPPE. RELATIONSHIP PROBLEM

2.1 Favorable aspects of relationships

2.2 Conflicts and enmity between Rus' and the steppe

2.3 The influence of centuries-old neighborhood

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

History is written and rewritten every day. Every person tries to interpret any of the events that have ever happened “for themselves,” according to their feelings and attitude. Therefore, over many centuries, libraries have accumulated a huge amount of scientific, artistic, and journalistic literature. Often authors contradict each other, expressing polar opinions on the same issue.

The theme “Rus and the steppe” is not entirely new. Although the events discussed below relate to a period of time quite distant from the 21st century, their relevance does not disappear, and a lot of controversial facts and opinions have already accumulated about them. Sometimes authors manage to contradict not only themselves, but also common sense in their search for questions of truth. How, for example, is it even possible to answer unambiguously one of the main questions - “Rus and the steppe - friends or enemies?” In the research work carried out, outlined below, the problem of the relationship between Rus' and the steppe from the 9th to the beginning of the 13th centuries was considered. The goal was not to answer the question “friends or enemies?” in format subjective opinion, but rather, try to find arguments “for and against” to both positions, adhering to neutrality, and also to capture not only the designated historical framework, but also to trace the sequence of the most important events that occurred before the specified period. This, however, does not mean that the work is focused on all the peoples of the steppe who were in contact with the Slavs. During the period of interest, the most significant steppe neighbors were the Khazars, Pechenegs and Cumans. They will be discussed below.

For this purpose, specific tasks were formulated, namely:

1. Studying the history of the most remarkable peoples of the steppe of the 9th - 13th centuries (Khazar, Pechenegs, Polovtsians)

2. Construction of an approximate model of the relationship between Rus' and the steppe

1. PEOPLES OF THE STEPPE

1.1 Xazars

Among all the peoples who inhabited the steppe in the 9th century, it is especially necessary to highlight the Khazar. The incredible history of the Khazars, who managed to rise from the position of one of the numerous nomadic tribes of the Ogur group to the influential Khazar Khaganate, is certainly interesting and deserves special attention.

The emergence of a strong and influential Khazar Khaganate was a slow process. The first settlements of the Khazars were located in the lower reaches of the Terek and along the shores of the Caspian Sea. At that time, the water level in the sea was much lower than today, therefore the territory of the Volga delta extended much more extensively and reached the Buzachi Peninsula (a continuation of Mangyshlak). The region, rich in fish, forests and green meadows, was an incredibly wonderful find for the Khazars, who migrated to these places from the territory of modern Dagestan. The Khazars brought with them to their new homeland and sowed Dagestan grapes, which still remains one of the few evidence of their resettlement to these lands1.

Relations with the Turks are closely connected with the process of the rise of the Khazars. In the middle of the 7th century. The state of the Khazar Kaganate arises, headed by the Kagan (Khakan) and the governor Bek. Warlike Turkic khans and beks led Khazaria, becoming a kind of stronghold of defense (in the 7th - 8th centuries, the Khazars were forced to go to war with the Arabs advancing through the Caucasus). The onslaught of southern enemies ultimately had a significant impact on
geopolitical history of Khazaria - its population moved to safer areas of the Don and Volga regions. The emergence of the new Khazar capital Itil, located in the lower reaches of the Volga, marks the beginning of the so-called “reorientation to the north.”

1- Gumilyov L.N. From Rus' to Russia. - St. Petersburg: Lenizdat, 2008, p. 31-33

The influence of the Jews greatly affects the history of the Khazar Kaganate. State policy is changing, now all efforts are focused on active international trade. The beneficial relationship with China is under the close attention and direct control of the Jews. Caravans traveling from China to the West most often belonged to this enterprising people, so that untold wealth, silks, and slaves accumulated in the Volga region. S.F. Platonov wrote: “Itil and Sarkel (on the Don) were huge markets where Asian merchants traded with European ones and at the same time Mohammedans, Jews, pagans and Christians converged.”

By the 9th century, the Jews had long ago gotten rid of the Turkic military nobility and used the military services of Gurgan. Al-Mas "udi in his work “The Book of Warning and Revision” (“Kitab at-tanbih wa-l-ishraf”) reports that in the service of the Khazar king in Itil there were Rus and Slavs, who also formed part of the Khazar army2 The conditions for all mercenaries were the same and very simple: high pay and mandatory victories. However, this glorious time of service for the Rus ends incredibly sadly - with the death of the entire army in the campaign against the Daylemites in 913. But a little earlier, a threat was brewing from the north. consideration of the most important events of the 9th century - the confrontation between the Old Russian state and the Khazars.

The Khazars spread their power to the west, conquered the Volga Bulgars and conquered Crimea and Kyiv after the events of the 7th-8th centuries, and for some time the Slavic tribes of the Polyans, Northerners, Radimichi and Vyatichi paid tribute to the Khazar Kagan. In The Tale of Bygone Years this event is noted in very vivid terms: “the clearing, having consulted, gave away a sword from the smoke. And the Khazars took them to their prince and to their elders and said to them: “Behold,

2- Melnikova E.A. Ancient Rus' in the light of foreign sources. - M.: Logos, 1999, p. 221-222 we captured the new tribute.” They asked them: “Where from?” They answered: “In the forest on the mountains above the Dnieper River.” They said again: “What did they give?” They showed the sword. And the Khazar elders said: “This is not a good tribute, prince: we sought it with weapons that are sharp only on one side, that is, sabers, but these have double-edged weapons, that is, swords: they will someday collect tribute from both us and from other lands."

Knyazky I.O., that “the Khazar yoke was not particularly difficult and not scary for the Dnieper Slavs. On the contrary, by depriving the Eastern Slavs of external independence, it brought them great economic benefits.”3 Well, it’s really hard to disagree with this. As mentioned above, the Khazars actively established trade, and by the 9th century they had long ceased to be the Turkic tribe that they were at the very beginning of their journey. The nomadic way of life gave way to a sedentary one, life and trades changed. Therefore, the Slavs only nominally lost due to their submission to the Khazars, but in reality the Russians were drawn into an environment so favorable for their own development that it is very difficult to deny the undoubted advantages of such interaction.

The Slavs were also not affected by either the attacks of the Arabs or the campaigns of the Persians. Khazaria served as a powerful shield against these threats for its northern neighbors. So the relationship between the Slavs and the Khazars can hardly be called unfavorable for both sides, especially since in the 9th - 10th centuries. Khazaria was one of the richest countries in Europe. But the power of the Khazar Kaganate gradually weakened due to complicated relations with Byzantium, where the adoption of Judaism by the Khazar elite was very coldly received, and then also due to the continuous struggle with the nomadic hordes of the Magyars and Pechenegs, and the threat from the south did not disappear. Part of Khazaria even went to the Arabs, and soon an even more serious conflict was brewing with the strengthened Kievan Rus.

Summarizing subsequent events, it should be noted that Kyiv after the death of 3-Knyazky I.O. Rus' and the steppe. - M.: 1996, p. 17-18

Igor, who collected tribute for the Khazars in the Drevlyan land, was most concerned not with the war with Byzantium, which Khazaria was diligently fomenting, but with opposition to the Kaganate itself. Princess Olga even went to Constantinople to acquire a strong ally in the Greeks. There she was baptized in 955 (according to other sources - in 946). And it was her son Svyatoslav who managed to inflict such a blow on the Khazar Kaganate from which it was no longer destined to recover. What is noteworthy is that the allies of Kyiv in the campaign of 964-965. Pechenegs and Guzes perform. A young strong prince reaches the capital of Khazaria along the Oka and Volga, cutting off all routes from Itil. It is important to note that the Khazar population itself fled much earlier to the Volga delta, which was impassable for any non-indigenous resident, and left its Jewish exploiters to certain death. Thus, several centuries of oppression of the Khazars, the adoption of new religion and excessive confidence in the complete inviolability of Jewish power.

On the Terek River, Svyatoslav takes another Khazar city - Semender, which was not saved even with the presence of a citadel. And the grandiose campaign against Khazaria ends with the capture of Sarkel. Of course, not all of the Jewish-Khazar population were destroyed: in the Kuban, northern Crimea and Tmutarakan they still retained dominant positions and financial influence. But the main thing for Kievan Rus was the return of independence, which the state gained after this glorious campaign. But only after freeing itself from one enemy did Rus' find another. This time, another Turkic people - the Pechenegs - begin to threaten the steppe borders.

1.2 PYechenegs

In the 8th - 9th centuries, an alliance of nomadic tribes - the Pechenegs - formed on the territory of Northern Asia. Although in other countries they are called differently: in Europe and Greece - “patsinaki” or “pachinakit”, the Arabs say “bejnak” and “bajana”, the name “Pecheneg” could have originated, according to S.A. Pletneva, on behalf of the hypothetical leader of the tribal union - Beche4.

But the Pechenegs were not destined to live in Asia for long; already at the end of the 9th century they were forced out of their native places as climate change, as well as the neighboring tribes of Kimaks and Oghuzs. However, for the hardy Pechenegs, conquering the lands of Eastern Europe does not pose any particular difficulties. The nomads, constantly in search of new places for pasture, engaged in cattle breeding and capable of riding their strong horses day and night, pushed aside the Hungarians and occupied the territory from the Danube to the Volga, becoming forever neighbors of Rus', Byzantium and Bulgaria. The Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus writes in great detail about their settlement and customs.

In the X - XI centuries. The Pechenegs were at the “camp” stage of nomadism, i.e. moved from place to place in large groups - clans. Managed
such groups of tribal nobility, headed by an “archon” (leader, khan). Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus wrote: “After the death of these<архонтов>power was inherited by their cousins, for they had a law and an ancient custom, according to which they did not have to pass on dignity to their children or their brothers; It was enough for those who owned it that they ruled during their lives.” Summarizing the above, it can be noted that Pecheneg society had a patriarchal-tribal structure5.

The appearance of such a strong alliance of nomads nearby greatly excited nearby states. But it was not only their raids that the rulers feared; temporary alliances with other neighbors were more terrifying. So both Byzantium and Rus' tried to keep on their side an unreliable, but powerful ally in the person of the Pechenegs. The latter constantly rushed from one side to the other: so in 968 they unsuccessfully besieged Kyiv, and already in 970 they took part in the battle of Arcadiopolis on the side

4- Pletneva S.A. Pechenegs, Torci and Cumans in the South Russian steppes. - MIA, No. 62. M.-L., 1958, p.226

5- Knyazky I.O. Rus' and the steppe. - M.: 1996, p. 40-57

Svyatoslav Igorevich. After the conclusion of the Russian-Byzantine peace in 971, the Pechenegs again took a hostile side towards Rus', and in 972 they even killed Svyatoslav Igorevich at the Dnieper rapids. The Tale of Bygone Years reports: “And Kurya, the prince of the Pechenegs, attacked him, and they killed Svyatoslav, and took his head, and made a cup from the skull, bound it, and drank from it.”

During the short reign of Yaropolk (972-980), Russian-Pecheneg clashes did not occur, which, however, more than paid off under the next prince, Vladimir the Saint. First, against the backdrop of the strengthening of the borders of the empire in the Lower Danube (through the efforts of John Tzimiskes, and then Vasily II the Bulgarian-Slayers), then the final formation of the Hungarian Kingdom beyond the Carpathians in the Middle Danube, the Pecheneg campaigns were very complicated. But Rus', even though it had strengthened its military strength, was its closest neighbor, which made it the most accessible state for attack. The Kiev prince fought with them in 993, 995, and 997. This truly “heroic” period in the history of Rus' left behind many tales, epic heroes and various legends. But the Pecheneg raids were so frequent that, trying to strengthen the borders of Rus', Vladimir had to act quickly and thoughtfully. N.M. Karamzin wrote about this: “Wanting to more conveniently educate the people and protect southern Russia from the robbery of the Pechenegs, the Grand Duke founded new cities along the rivers Desna, Oster, Trubezh, Sula, Sterne and populated them with Novgorod Slavs, Krivichi, Chudya, Vyatichi.

During civil strife in Rus', the Pechenegs sided with Svyatopolk the Accursed, and then only once more (in 1036) they approached Kyiv during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, but suffered a crushing defeat. It should be noted that in 1038, most of the Pecheneg tribes were forced to move beyond the Danube into the Byzantine Empire under the pressure of the torks (ties), who for a short time became the strongest nomads, until the new tribe of the Polovtsians displaces them too, taking dominion over the vast expanses of the steppe territories for a long time. Khazar Khaganate Polovtsian steppe

1.3 Ptins

From the middle of the 9th century until the Mongol invasion, the Polovtsy ruled the steppe. These people left behind few material objects. Except that the stately stone idols (either idols, or tombstones, or simply milestones on the road), made by the steppe inhabitants very carefully and in detail, remind of those times when nomadic tribe could grow overnight, become powerful, disintegrate, and then disappear forever6. But the Polovtsian people had a colossal influence on neighboring states. Russian history, the history of the Hungarian Kingdom, Byzantium, the Second Bulgarian Empire, the Latin Crusader Empire, Georgia and even Mameluke Egypt will find many important events associated with this tribe.

It is difficult to clearly and clearly answer the question of where, how and why this tribe came from. Knyazky I.O. comments on this: “The Polovtsian people were the western branch of the Kipchaks, from the middle of the 11th century. occupying vast spaces of the Eurasian steppes. Since that time, the steppe space from the Lower Danube to the Irtysh has been called Desht-i-Kipchak - Kipchak steppe. The question of the origin of the Cumans is one of the most complex problems in the history of the Turkic nomadic peoples.”7 It is interesting that the close connection between the Cumans and the Turks resulted in a mixture of customs and legends, and in general endowed the former with much of the cultural heritage that developed during the time of the Khazar Kaganate.

Researchers even argue about what the Cumans looked like. The fact is that the eastern branch of the Polovtsians was called “Kuns,” which means “light,” and the western branch was called “Sary,” and this word has a similar meaning in the Turkic language.

6 - Pletneva S.A. Polovtsian stone sculptures. M., 1974, pp. 17,18,21

7 - Knyazky I.O. Rus' and the steppe. - M.: 1996, p. 40-41

But their customs and rituals were different. Was it just some Caucasian fair-haired people? Or are they also characterized by the appearance of the Mongoloid race? It is quite possible that one branch of the Cumans, like other nomads, changed the basic phenotype of their appearance while moving across the steppe, combining many features. Or maybe the name “light, yellow” was given for completely different reasons.

One way or another, crowding out other peoples, two branches of the Polovtsian people alternately come to the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region. Here, the Polovtsian land was subsequently divided into White Kumania (western Polovtsy-Sary) and Black Kumania (eastern Polovtsy-Kun). By the way, the distribution of stone statues, which have already been reported above, coincides precisely with the borders of Black Cumania. “Wild Cumans” roamed in the steppes between the Bug and the Dniester, and in the territory of the Lower Danube an association of Danube Cumans formed. However, neither the first nor the last became states.

In Russian chronicles the fact of the arrival of nomads did not go undescribed. The first appearance of the Polovtsians on the borders with the steppe dates back to 1055. Then peace was concluded between Vsevolod and the nomads, but just a few years later, in 1061, the Polovtsians again came to Rus', this time with a raid, but were defeated.

A successful campaign was first carried out by the Polovtsian-Kuns, who came later than their fellow Sars, under the leadership of Sokal (Iskal). At this time, in the Polovtsian land, certain military-political alliances were actively concluded among the tribal nobility. At the time of the campaigns against Rus', they were already quite strong and reliable, the Polovtsians were actively moving to the form of early feudal relations. S.A. Pletneva identifies four main periods in the development of Russian-Polovtsian relations: the mid-11th - early 12th centuries; 20s - 60s XII century; second half of the 12th century; end of the 12th - first decades of the 13th centuries. (before the Mongol invasion) 8.

At first, the Polovtsy were lucky in their offensives, which they actively took advantage of. Only the campaigns of Vladimir Monomakh were able to put an end to this period, and Rus' itself went on the offensive, greatly succeeding. In the second period, the Polovtsians stopped developing the southern Russian steppes and occupied certain territories no longer as nomads, but on a permanent basis. Relations between the Russian population and the Polovtsians are becoming closer, the steppe people are participating in internecine struggles in Rus', and marriage alliances are being concluded between Russian princes and Polovtsian princesses. Conflicts break out less and less often, and during the fourth period, wars and skirmishes cease altogether. During the first Mongol campaign in Eastern Europe at the Battle of Kalka, the Russians and Cumans even fought on the same side, although they were defeated.

CHAPTER 2. Rus' AND THE STEPPE. RELATIONSHIP PROBLEM

2.1 Bfavorable aspects of relationships

It is certainly useful (although not always pleasant) for any people to encounter completely different customs and culture. Even before the formation of Ancient Rus', some of the Eastern Slavs experienced the influence of the steppes. Among the positive aspects of the relationship, it is necessary to highlight the economic benefits that became available to part of the Slavic tribes after falling under the rule of the Khazar Kaganate. The tribute was not burdensome, but access to the Asian market allowed the Slavs to develop trade relations much faster and more active than before.

But it was not only in peaceful life that peoples collided. As part of the Khazar troops, one could often meet Slavic mercenaries, to whom, subject to success in military campaigns, such a life brought fame and money. Later, when Kievan Rus strengthened, it was possible to get rid of the influence of the Khazar Kaganate almost immediately, which once again confirms the not very strong power of the Khazars over their northern neighbors.

The Pechenegs, who came after the Khazars, were a much more terrible force. But if you managed to attract them to your side, as the princes in Rus' regularly tried to do, then they became powerful, although not very loyal, support in various raids and confrontations. And also regular raids by nomads forced the princes to build new cities and strengthen existing ones, which, albeit slightly, contributed to the strengthening of Kievan Rus.

It’s worth saying something special about the Polovtsians. When the first years of raids ended, kinship and military-political alliances between Russia and the Polovtsian land became something commonplace. Both peoples, especially on the borders with each other, changed greatly both externally and internally. Knowledge, customs, and sometimes religion - all this the inhabitants of Rus' and the Polovtsians adopted from each other. And such relationships most often lead to favorable consequences: each developed to the extent that the culture of the other allowed it, while bringing something of their own.

It is worth noting, however, that for the Russians the Polovtsians most often remained steppe pagans, “filthy” and “cursed.” The status of Russian princes was higher; noble princesses from Rus' never left for the steppe and did not become wives of Polovtsian khans (with some exceptions). Relatively peaceful relations helped to avoid raids and robbery, but did not make the Cumans and Russians friends for a century.

The same can be said about all steppe people in general. Full trust was hardly possible in conditions of frequent conflicts or routine raids, so it is fair that Rus' was in contact with the Steppe, but never stopped looking out for its neighbors.

2.2 TOconflicts and enmityRWusi and the steppes

Although it was mentioned above that the tribute to the Khazar Kaganate was not burdensome, nevertheless, the Slavs did not want to be under the rule of another people. And when, already during the times of Kievan Rus, it was possible to get rid of the oppression of the Khazars, the Pechenegs who replaced them caused greater concern and caused greater damage to the Old Russian land. Constant skirmishes with the Pechenegs could not help but exhaust physical strength people, as they could not help but make them morally weaker. Not every time the Kyiv princes managed to attract the steppe inhabitants to their side, so Rus' was in constant state tense anticipation of which side the Pechenegs will be on this time.

Robberies, burning of villages, captivity - all this undoubtedly terrified the neighbors of the Pechenegs, and also forced the rulers to try to solve this problem. And the strengthening of the borders of Rus' nevertheless contributed to the fact that the Pechenegs were less and less able to win big victories, more and more switching to small skirmishes, until the developing state became too strong an adversary for them.

The Polovtsians showed another wave of fears on the part of Rus', and subsequently did not become a completely friendly people. At first, their raids greatly ravaged the borders of Kievan Rus, but then they succeeded, first almost completely, and then finally stopped. But all alliances were concluded only out of a desire not to give the Polovtsians a chance to renew hostility. The Kyiv princes were in no way guided by benevolence, but only by the need to maintain peace. The constant fear of an attack from the steppe made the Russian people intolerant of strangers, and also of pagans. It is unlikely that even several centuries of peace could correct ingrained concepts and stereotypes.

2.3 INinfluence of centuries-old neighborhood

The proximity to the steppe brought a lot of joy and sorrow to Rus'. Constant conflicts weakened the state, but on the other hand they made it more resilient, forcing the princes to become more far-sighted in political terms, and the common people wiser in everyday matters, because some skills could be learned from the steppe inhabitants. And trading with them became a common practice, and in general, soon the Russian people could hardly imagine themselves without this dangerous but profitable neighborhood.

It is impossible to exclude a certain influence of the steppe on both cultural, economic, political characteristics, and, for example, phenotypic ones. Over many years of close contacts, peoples have changed so much both internally and externally that this stage of history has become quite important. Rus' was at enmity with the steppe and traded with it, peoples killed each other and entered into marriages. The multifaceted nature of the relationship is so obvious that it would be strange to evaluate it unambiguously. At all times, everything is measured by profit. When it was convenient, Rus' and the steppe became friends, and when the importance of the world disappeared and an opportunity arose to betray such a “friend,” the opponent, without hesitation, “stuck” a knife in his back.

The survival of peoples was much more important than morality, or rather, modern ideas about it. We must not forget that in those days a lot could depend on whether one hundred or two hundred Pechenegs would come to the rescue, who the Kiev prince would take as his wife, etc. And the means always justified the ends. The goal is to keep power in your hands, the ground under your feet and your head on your shoulders while fighting a multifaceted enemy.

CONCLUSION

The considered history of the Khazars, Pechenegs, and Polovtsians only brings modern man closer to understanding some historical processes. We see the result, which was, moreover, described by the winners and passed on to one of the interested parties. The evidence is sparse or completely ambiguous, so to attempt to interpret it would be to ruin any possibility of correct interpretation.

Analyzing the problem of relationships, it would be most correct to say: each did what was most beneficial for him in the presence of the other, until a better opportunity presented itself. Rus' sought to weaken the enemy, make peace with him, or attack and destroy him herself. The steppe acted more bloodthirsty, but, in essence, almost the same.

Long-term proximity changed both sides. Not for the better or for the worse, but simply changed, forcing you to adapt to an hourly changing friend, enemy, neighbor or simply - the world. Sometimes the gains were incredibly huge and good, and the losses so terrible that identifying the greater evil or benefit would be too difficult a task.

One thing is clear for sure - without the influence of the steppe, Rus' would never have become the state that it was at the beginning of the 13th century. Many of its own problems, of course, could bring it closer to such a state, but the steppe people made such a significant contribution to the development and certain fall of their neighbor that it is unacceptable to belittle their influence.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Knyazky I.O. Rus' and the steppe. - M.: 1996

2. Pletneva S.A. Khazars. - M.: Science, 1986

3. Pletneva S.A. Pechenegs, Torci and Cumans in the South Russian steppes. - MIA, No. 62. M.-L., 1958

4. Gumilyov L.N. From Rus' to Russia. - St. Petersburg: Lenizdat, 2008

5. Melnikova E.A. Ancient Rus' in the light of foreign sources. - M.: Logos, 1999

6. Pletneva S.A. Polovtsian stone sculptures. M., 1974

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One of the significant factors in the historical development of the southern Russian principalities of the 11th - early 13th centuries. was their border position. To the south and southeast of them lies the Polovtsian steppe. For almost two centuries, nomadic Turkic-speaking tribes of the Polovtsians lived here, entering into various relations with Russia. Sometimes they were peaceful, accompanied by marriages and military alliances, but more often, as discussed above, they were hostile. It is no coincidence that Russia was so acutely faced with the task of strengthening its southern and southeastern borders. The famous call of the author of “The Lay of Igor’s Campaign” - “Block the gates of the field”, addressed to the Russian princes in 1185, was topical throughout the entire history of Russian-Polovtsian relations. So that the reader can more clearly imagine what kind of enemy she stood “face to face” with. Southern Rus' in XI - early XIII c., it is advisable to give at least short essay history of the Polovtsians. The Russians first encountered the Cumans in 1055, when the horde of Khan Balush approached the southern borders of Rus'. By this time, the Polovtsians occupied the entire space of the steppes, displacing the Pechenegs, Torks, and Berendeys from there. The Polovtsian land did not have stable borders. The nomadic way of life forced the Polovtsians to occupy all the lands convenient for nomads, invade the borders of neighboring states and seize (even temporarily) their outlying territories. To a greater extent, the southern Russian border suffered from the Polovtsians, but their predatory campaigns also reached the northern borders of the Byzantine Empire. Like their predecessors, the Cumans were divided into separate khanates or associations, each of which occupied “its own” territory. The northern border of the “Polovtsian Field” ran on the Left Bank - in the interfluve of Vorskla and Orel, on the Right Bank - in the interfluve of Rosi and Tyasmin, the western - but by the Ingulets line. In the south it included the North Caucasus, Azov and Crimean steppes. Ethnically, this huge country was not only Polovtsian. Other peoples lived here: Alans, Yasses, Khazars, Guzes, Kosogi. They were probably the main population of the cities of Sharukan, Sugrov, Balina on the Donets, Saksin on the Volga, Korsun and Surozh in the Crimea, and Tmutarakan on Taman. In various written sources, these centers are called Polovtsian, or Kipchak, but this is not because they were inhabited by the Polovtsians, but because they were located within the Polovtsian land or were in tributary dependence on the Polovtsians. Some of the previously existing cities (for example, Belaya Vezha) were destroyed and turned into Polovtsian winter camps. The history of the Polovtsians after they settled the Eastern European steppes is divided by researchers into four periods. The first - the middle of the 11th - the beginning of the 12th century, the second - the 20-60s of the 12th century, the third - the second half of the 12th century, the fourth - the end of the 12th - the first decades of the 13th century. Each of these periods has its own characteristics both in the field of internal development of the Polovtsians and in the field of their relationships with Russians and other neighbors. In general, the first period is characterized by the extraordinary aggressiveness of the Polovtsians. They rushed to the borders of rich agricultural countries, invaded their borders, and robbed the local population. The passion for profit pushed individual representatives of the Polovtsian elite to participate in the wars of the Russian princes with each other or with their western neighbors. For this help they received a double price: rich gifts from the allies and indemnities from the vanquished. During this period of their history, the Polovtsians were at the initial, camp stage of nomadism, characterized by the constant movement of their hordes across the steppe. This circumstance made it difficult to organize serious military expeditions of Russian military squads against them. Beginning of the 12th century was marked by significant changes in the life of the Polovtsians. By this time, the entire steppe space was divided between separate hordes, and each of them roamed within a very specific territory. Now the Polovtsians, who turned out to be immediate neighbors of Rus', could not invade its borders with impunity. They were expecting retaliatory strikes. During the first two decades, the combined forces of the southern Russian principalities inflicted several serious defeats on the Cumans. In 1103 they were defeated in the area of ​​the river. Molochnaya, flowing into the Sea of ​​Azov, in 1109, 1111 and 1116. the same fate befell the Donetsk Polovtsians. During these campaigns, Russian squads captured the cities of Sharukan, Sugrov and Balin. The chronicle reports that the Polovtsians, as a result of Russian military campaigns in the Steppe, were driven “beyond the Don, beyond the Volga, beyond the Yaik.” It was then, as researchers believe, that Khan Otrok left with his horde from the Seversky Donets region “to Obezy” - to the Caucasus. The second period of Polovtsian history coincided in time with the initial stage feudal fragmentation in Rus', which was marked by aggravation of inter-princely relations, frequent internecine wars, and rivalry between contenders for the grand-ducal table. Under these conditions, the fight against the Polovtsians faded into the background. Individual campaigns of a few Russian squads in the steppe could not achieve tangible victories. The princes, especially representatives of the Chernigov Olgovichi, thought more about how to use the Polovtsians in the fight for Kyiv than about border security. The establishment of allied relations with the Cumans (wild) and their involvement in solving the internal affairs of Rus' contributed to the relatively rapid revival of the power of the nomads. At this time they are experiencing the highest stage of their development. The transition to the second method of nomadism was completed, characterized by the appearance of stable boundaries of each horde and the presence of permanent winter quarters. Instead of large but unstable associations, small hordes appeared, consisting of both consanguineous and non-consanguineous families and clans. In Polovtsian society, military-democratic relations were replaced by early feudal ones. The third period of Polovtsian history is marked, on the one hand, by the increased pressure of nomads on the southern Russian borderland, and on the other, by the consolidation of Russian forces for retaliatory anti-Polovtsian campaigns. Most often, Russian squads were sent to the Dnieper region, where the Dnieper and Lukomor Polovtsian hordes ruled, threatening the security of the Dnieper (Greek) trade route, especially its southern section. Of course, this path was not, as is sometimes claimed, in the hands of the Dnieper Polovtsians, but in order for it to fulfill its purpose, it required constant guarding, sending Russian troops to the most dangerous areas (Kanev, the region of the rapids). The chronicle speaks of such campaigns in 1167, 1168, 1169 and other years. Russian princes also went to the interior regions of the Polovtsian nomads. In 1184, the regiments of princes Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich and Rurik Rostislavich defeated the Polovtsians at the mouth of the Orel. Almost the entire Polovtsian elite was captured: Kobyak Karenevich with his sons, Izay Bilyukovich, Tovly, Osoluk and others. Russian regiments carried out a similar campaign in 1187, as a result of which the Polovtsian winter camps on the river were destroyed. Samara. Unlike the Dnieper Polovtsians, who did not represent in the second half of the 12th century. any significant threat to Rus', the Don, led by the energetic Khan Konchak, constantly invaded Russian lands and robbed the population. Russian chroniclers speak of Konchak, the son of Khan Otrok and the Georgian princess Gurandukht, either as a mighty hero “who brought down the Court,” or as a cursed and godless destroyer of Rus'. The defeat of the Russian regiments of Igor Svyatoslavich in 1185 showed that the forces of one principality were not enough to successfully fight the “Don Union” of Konchak. The defeat at Kayal “opened” the southeastern border of Rus' with the Steppe. The Don Polovtsy were able not only to plunder the border areas of the Novgorod-Seversky and Pereyaslavl principalities with impunity, but also to invade the Kyiv land. The fourth period of Polovtsian history is characterized by some improvement in Russian-Polovtsian relations. Chronicles note for this time mainly the participation of the Polovtsians in princely civil strife, the main theater of which was Galicia and Volyn principality. Of course, this does not mean that the Cumans completely abandoned their traditional policy of robbery. Even after their defeat in two battles with the Mongol-Tatars (in 1222 and 1223), the Polovtsians carried out attacks on Russian lands. In 1234 they ravaged Porosye and the outskirts of Kyiv. This was their last action. The power of the Polovtsians in the southern Russian steppes came to an end. Sources indicate that in the 30s - early 40s the Polovtsians led stubborn struggle with the Mongol-Tatars, but were conquered by them and became part of the Golden Horde. Thus, the Polovtsians, who occupied vast areas of the southern Russian steppes, over the 200 years of their history went from camp nomads to the creation of a nomadic state association in the socio-economic field and from military democracy to feudalism in the field of social relations. A huge role in this belongs to the Old Russian state, which was at an immeasurably higher (compared to the Polovtsians) stage of its historical development.

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On the topic: “Ancient Rus' and the Great Steppe.
Relationship problems."

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first year student
group GRM-12
Shipulina Anastasia.

Ancient Rus' and the Great Steppe. Interaction problems.
Description of the Khazar country. Landscapes, like ethnic groups, have their own history. Volga Delta until the 3rd century. was not like the one that exists today. At that time, the clear waters of the Volga flowed across the dry steppe among the high Baer hillocks, flowing into the Caspian Sea much further south than later. The Volga was then still shallow, flowing not along the modern channel, but to the east: through Akhtuba and Buzan and, possibly, flowed into the Ural depression, connected to the Caspian Sea by a narrow channel. Monuments of the Sarmatian-Alan culture, that is, the Turans, remained from this period. The Khazars then still huddled in the lower reaches of the Terek. The Volga carried all these muddy waters, but its channel in the lower reaches turned out to be narrow for such flows. Then a delta of the modern type was formed, extending south almost to the Buzachi Peninsula (north of Mangyshlak). The desalinated shallow waters began to feed huge schools of fish. The banks of the channels are overgrown with dense forest, and the valleys between the hillocks have turned into green meadows. The steppe grasses, remaining only on the tops of the hillocks (vertical zoning), retreated to the west and east (where the Bakh-Temir and Kigach channels are now), and in the core of the emerging azonal landscape, a lotus bloomed, frogs began to sing, and herons and gulls began to nest. The country has changed its face.
Then the ethnic group that inhabited it also changed. The Sarmatian steppe dwellers left the banks of the canals, where mosquitoes haunted livestock, and wet grasses were unusual and even harmful for them. But the Khazars spread along the then coastline, now located 6 m below the level of the Caspian Sea. They found rich fishing grounds, places for hunting waterfowl and pastures for horses on the slopes of the Baer hillocks. The Khazars brought grape cuttings with them and bred them in their new homeland, which they got without bloodshed, by the random grace of nature. In very harsh winters, the grapes died, but were replenished again and again with Dagestan varieties, because the connection between the Terek and Volga Khazaria was not interrupted. The warlike Alans and Huns, who dominated the Caspian steppes, were not dangerous to the Khazars. Life in the delta is concentrated around the channels, and they are a labyrinth in which any stranger can get lost. The current in the channels is fast, along the banks there are dense thickets of reeds, and it is not possible to get out onto land everywhere. Any cavalry attempting to penetrate Khazaria would not be able to quickly cross the channels surrounded by thickets. Thus, the cavalry was deprived of its main advantage - maneuverability, while local residents, who knew how to understand the labyrinth of channels, could easily seize the initiative and inflict unexpected blows on their enemies, being themselves elusive.
It was even more difficult in winter. The ice on fast rivers is thin and rarely, in very cold winters, can support a horse and a man-at-arms. And falling through the ice in winter, even in a shallow place, meant freezing in the wind. If the detachment stops and lights a fire to dry out, then the pursued enemy manages to hide and strike the pursuer again. Khazaria was a natural fortress, but, alas, surrounded by enemies. Strong at home, the Khazars did not risk going out into the steppe, which would have been very useful to them. The more diverse the landscapes of the territory on which the economic system is created, the greater the prospects for economic development. The Volga Delta is by no means monotonous, but it is not suitable for nomadic cattle breeding, although the latter, as a form of extensive farming, is very beneficial to people, because it is not labor-intensive, and to nature, because the number of livestock is limited by the amount of grass. Nomadic life is harmless to nature.
The Khazars did not live in the steppes and, therefore, were not nomads. But they also took only excess from nature. The larger the target, the easier it is to hit.
Therefore, let us frame our story - the tragedy of the Khazar ethnic group - within the framework of the history of neighboring countries. Of course, this story will be presented “summarized”, because for our topic it has only auxiliary significance. But on the other hand, it will be possible to trace the global international connections that permeated small Khazaria through and through, and to catch the rhythm of the natural phenomena of the biosphere, the ever-changing foremother of all living things. Then the history of culture will sparkle with all its colors. Russian Kaganate. At the turn of the 8th and 9th centuries. The Khazars stopped on the border of the Rus' land, the center of which was in the Crimea. The Rus at this time showed significant activity, making sea raids on the shores of the Black Sea. Around 790 they attacked the fortified city of Surozh (Sudak), and then spread to the southern coast and in 840 they took and plundered Amastris, a rich trading city in Paphlagonia (Asia Minor). But in 842, the Rus, by agreement, returned part of the booty and freed all the prisoners. “Everything lying on the shores of the Euxine (Black Sea) and its coast was ravaged and devastated in raids by the Russian fleet (the people “Ros” are Scythian, living near the Northern Taurus, rude and wild). And so he exposed the capital itself to terrible danger.” In 852 the Rus took the Slavic city of Kyiv.
On June 18, 860, the Russians besieged Constantinople with 360 ships, but on June 25 they lifted the siege and went home. There was no more successful campaign of the Rus against Byzantium; all the later ones ended in defeats (with the exception of the campaign of 907, which the Greeks themselves did not know about). This suggests that it was then that a trade agreement was concluded, which was later attributed to Oleg by the chronicler. But this is only an assumption, the verification of which is not our task. Further events did not turn out in favor of the Russians. Soon after 860, apparently, a not very successful war took place with the Pechenegs, who this year could only act as mercenaries of the Khazar king. In Kyiv “there was famine and great mourning,” and in 867 Orthodox missionaries sent by Patriarch Photius converted some of the Kiev residents to Christianity. This meant peace and alliance with Byzantium, but complete conversion did not materialize due to the resistance of renewed paganism and aggressive Judaism. However, the Kyiv Christian colony survived. For one hundred and twenty years she grew and became stronger, so that at the right moment she could say the decisive word, which she uttered in 988.
In the 9th century. The Russian state had few friends and many enemies. You should not think that your most dangerous enemies are necessarily your neighbors. Quite the contrary: constant small skirmishes, vendettas, mutual raids for the purpose of robbery, of course, cause a lot of trouble for individual people, but, as a rule, do not lead to wars of extermination, because both sides see people in their opponents. But foreigners, representatives of other super-ethnic groups, view their opponents as an object of direct action. So, in the 19th century, Americans paid a premium for the scalp of an Indian. And in the X century. super-ethnic differences were not tempered even by the touch of humanity that took place in the 19th century. Therefore, wars between super-ethnic entities, adorning themselves with pompous confessional labels, were waged mercilessly. Muslims declared “jihad” against sins and slaughtered men in the captured cities, and sold women and children in slave markets. The Saxon and Danish knights completely exterminated the Luticians and Bodriches, and the Anglo-Saxons also dealt with the Celts. But the conquerors could not expect mercy if military fortune turned away from them. At first, Rus' was relatively lucky. For three quarters of the 9th century, precisely when the activity of the Western European superethnos was growing, the Bulgarians held back the Greeks, the Avars - the Germans, and the Bodrichi - the Danes. The Norwegian Vikings rushed to the west, because the routes “from the Varangians to the Greeks” and “from the Varangians to the Khazars” passed through the narrow Lovat or Mologa rivers, through watersheds where the boats had to be dragged manually - “dragged”, while being completely separated from homeland - Norway. The conditions for war with the local population were extremely unfavorable.

In the current balance of political forces, the Khazar Jews won. They made peace with the Magyars, directing their warlike energy against the peoples of Western Europe, where the last Carolingians were least concerned about the safety of their peasants and feudal lords, who were usually dissatisfied with the imperial regime. The Khazar government managed to make the Tiverts and Ulichens its allies, thereby securing an important trade route for Jewish merchants from Itil to Spain. Finally, in 913, the Khazars, with the help of the Guz, defeated those Pechenegs who lived on Yaik and Emba and controlled a section of the caravan route from Itil to China. The last unresolved task for the Khazar government was the Russian Kaganate, centered in Kyiv. War with the Russians was inevitable, and complete victory promised innumerable benefits for the Itil merchant organization, but, of course, not for the enslaved Khazars, who did not take part in this activity. The rulers kept them firmly in subjection with the help of mercenary troops from Gurgan and forced them to pay huge taxes. Thus, they constantly expanded the exploited territory, increasing their incomes and increasingly breaking away from the peoples subject to them. Of course, relations between this merchant octopus and Russia could not be cloudless. Hints of clashes began in the 9th century, when the Khazarian government built the Sarkel fortress against Western enemies.
In 947, Olga went north and imposed tribute on the churchyards in Meta and Luga. But the left bank of the Dnieper remained independent from Kyiv and, apparently, in alliance with the Khazar government. It is unlikely that the Khazar king Joseph was pleased with the transfer of power in Kyiv from the hands of the Varangian king to the Russian prince, but he did not repeat the Passover campaign. The Khazar king Joseph considered it best to refrain from going to Rus', but the delay did not do him any good. Olga went to Constantinople and was baptized there on September 9, 957, which meant the conclusion of a close alliance with Byzantium, the natural enemy of the Jewish Khazaria. An attempt to win Olga over to Catholicism, that is, to the side of Germany, undertaken by Bishop Adalbert, who arrived in Kyiv on the instructions of Emperor Otgon in 961, was unsuccessful. From that moment on, Tsar Joseph lost hope for peace with Russia, and this was natural. The war apparently began immediately after Olga’s baptism.
Supporters of the Khazar king at this time were the Yasses (Ossetians) and Kasogs (Circassians), who occupied in the 10th century. steppes of the North Caucasus. However, their loyalty to the Jewish government was doubtful, and their zeal was approaching zero. During the war they behaved very sluggishly. The Vyatichi, tributaries of the Khazars, behaved in approximately the same way, and the Bulgarians generally refused to help the Khazars and were friends with the Guz, the enemies of the Khazar king. The latter could only hope for the help of Central Asian Muslims.
The year 964 found Svyatoslav on the Oka River, in the land of the Vyatichi. The war between the Rus and the Khazar Jews was already in full swing, but the Kiev prince did not dare to conduct an offensive through the Don steppes, controlled by the Khazar cavalry. The power of the Rus in the 10th century. was in boats, and the Volga was wide. Without unnecessary clashes with the Vyatichi, the Russians cut down and repaired the boats, and in the spring of 965 they descended along the Oka and Volga to Itil, to the rear of the Khazar regular troops, who were awaiting the enemy between the Don and the Dnieper. The trip was thought out impeccably. The Rus, choosing a convenient moment, went ashore, replenished food supplies, not disdaining robbery, returned to their boats and sailed along the Volga, without fear of a sudden attack by the Bulgarians, Burtases and Khazars. One can only guess what happened next.

At the confluence of the river. The Sargsu Volga forms two channels: the western one - the Volga itself and the eastern one - Akhtuba. Between them lies the green island on which Itil stood, the heart of Jewish Khazaria. The right bank of the Volga is a loamy plain; perhaps the Pechenegs came there. The left bank of the Akhtuba is sand dunes, where the Guzes were the owners. If some of the Russian boats descended along the Volga and Akhtuba below Itil, then the capital of Khazaria turned into a trap for the defenders without hope of salvation. The advance of the Rus down the Volga was by self-rafting. And therefore so slowly that the local residents (Khazars) had time to escape into the impenetrable thickets of the delta, where the Russians could not find them, even if they decided to look. But the descendants of the Jews and Turks showed ancient courage.
The resistance to the Russians was led not by Tsar Joseph, but by the nameless Kagan. The chronicler is laconic: “And having fought, overcome Svyatoslav with a goat and take their city.” It is unlikely that any of the vanquished survived. It is unknown where the Jewish king and his fellow tribesmen fled to. This victory decided the fate of the war and the fate of Khazaria. The center of the complex system disappeared and the system disintegrated. Numerous Khazars did not put their heads under Russian swords. They didn't need this at all. They knew that the Russians had nothing to do in the Volga delta, and they were only pleased that the Russians had saved them from oppressive power. Therefore, Svyatoslav’s further campaign - along the well-worn road of the annual migrations of the Turkic-Khazar khan, through the “black lands” to the middle Terek, i.e. to Semender, then through the Kuban steppes to the Don and, after the capture of Sarkel, to Kyiv - went unhindered. The Khazar Jews who survived in 965 scattered throughout the outskirts of their former state. Some of them settled in Dagestan (Mountain Jews), others - in Crimea (Karaites). Having lost contact with the leading community, these small ethnic groups turned into relics that got along with numerous neighbors. The collapse of the Judeo-Khazar chimera brought them, like the Khazars, peace. But besides them, there were Jews who had not lost the will to fight and win and who found shelter in Western Europe.
The friendship between Kyiv and Constantinople established by Princess Olga was useful for both sides. Back in 949, 600 Russian soldiers took part in the landing on Crete, and in 962 the Rus fought with the Greek troops in Syria against the Arabs. There Kalokir, who served in the troops of his country, became friends with them; and there he learned Russian from his comrades.
Residents of Chersonesus have long been famous for their love of freedom, which was expressed in eternal quarrels with their superiors. Scolding the government of Constantinople was a sign of good form among them and, perhaps, became a stereotype of behavior. But neither Chersonese could live without the metropolis, nor Constantinople - without its Crimean outpost, from where grain, dried fish, honey, wax and other colonial goods were brought to the capital. Residents of both cities got used to each other and did not pay attention to the little things. Therefore, when Nikifor Phokas needed an intelligent diplomat with knowledge of the Russian language, he gave Kalokir the dignity of a patrician and sent him to Kyiv. This need arose due to the fact that in 966 Nicephorus Phocas decided to stop paying tribute to the Bulgarians, which Byzantium had agreed to pay under the treaty of 927, and instead demanded that the Bulgarians not allow the Hungarians to cross the Danube to plunder the provinces of the empire. The Bulgarian Tsar Peter objected that he had made peace with the Hungarians and could not break it. Nikephoros considered this a challenge and sent “Yalokir to Kyiv, giving him 15 centinarii of gold, so that he would encourage the Rus to raid Bulgaria and thereby force it to yield.” In Kyiv, the offer could not have come at a more opportune time. Svyatoslav and his pagan companions had just returned from a campaign against the Vyatichi. Here again the opportunity arose to fuse it for a while. Olga's government was delighted.
Prince Svyatoslav was also pleased, because in power in Kyiv there were Christians who were not at all sympathetic to him. He felt much better during the hike. Therefore, in the spring of 968, Russian boats sailed to the mouth of the Danube and defeated the Bulgarians, who were not expecting an attack. There were few Russian soldiers - about 8-10 thousand, but the Pecheneg cavalry came to their aid. In August of the same year, the Rus defeated the Bulgarians near Dorostol. Tsar Peter died, and Svyatoslav occupied Bulgaria all the way to Philippolis. This happened with the full approval of the Greeks who traded with Russia. Back in July 968, Russian ships were in the harbor of Constantinople.
During the winter of 968-969 everything changed. Kalokir persuaded Svyatoslav, who settled in Pereyaslavets, or Malaya Preslav, on the banks of the river. Varna, place him on the throne of Byzantium. There were chances for this: Nikifor Phokas was not loved, the Russians were brave, and the main forces of the regular army were located far away, in Syria, and were tied up in an intense war with the Arabs. After all, the Bulgarians managed to bring the noseless Justinian into the Blachernae palace in 705 in a less favorable situation! So why not take the risk? And Svyatoslav thought about the pointlessness of returning to Kyiv, where his Christian enemies, at best, would have sent him somewhere else. Bulgaria adjoined the Russian land - the territory of the streets. The annexation of Eastern Bulgaria, which overlooked the Black Sea, to Russia gave the pagan prince a territory where he could be independent of his mother and her advisers.
In the spring of 969, the left-bank Pechenegs besieged Kyiv. For Olga and the people of Kiev this was completely unexpected, because the reason for breaking the peace was unknown to them. Kyiv found itself in a desperate situation, and the troops that Governor Pretich brought along the left bank to the rescue of the elderly princess were clearly not enough to repel the enemy. But when the Pecheneg leader entered into negotiations with Pretich, it turned out that the war was based on a misunderstanding. The princess’s party did not even think about war with Byzantium, and “retreated from the city,” otherwise they could not even water the horses in the Lybedp River. However, Svyatoslav was uncomfortable in Kyiv. Nestor attributes this to his quarrelsome character, but one must think that the situation was much more tragic. On July 11, Olga died and was buried according to the Orthodox rite, and her grave was not marked, although “... all the people cried with great tears.” In other words, Olga behaved like a secret Christian, and in Kyiv there were many Christians and pagans. Passions were running high. What Svyatoslav did after the death of his mother, the chronicle does not report, or rather, is silent. But from subsequent events it is obvious that Svyatoslav not only left Kyiv, but was forced to leave it and join the Danube occupation army, commanded by his faithful associates:
Olga's grandchildren were seated on the princely tables: Yaropolk - in Kyiv, Oleg - in the Drevlyansk land, and Vladimir, the son of the housekeeper Malusha, captured during the conquest of the Drevlyans. - in Novgorod, because no one wanted to go there because of the violent temper of the Novgorodians. But there was no place for Svyatoslav himself in his native land. This is not speculation. If Svyatoslav had intended to fight the Greeks in July 969, he would not have lost momentum. If he had felt solid ground under his feet, he would have returned the army from Bulgaria. But he did neither... and a losing streak began.
The Great Schism of the Churches of 1054 isolated Russian Westerners from Catholic countries, for the transition to Latinism began to be viewed in Kyiv as apostasy. But Yaroslav, his son Izyaslav and grandson Svyatopolk, needing money, patronized the Kyiv colony of German Jews, who maintained the connection between the Kyiv princes and Catholic Europe. The Jews received the money that ended up in the princely treasury from the local population, who grieved that the Jews “took away all the trades of Christians and under Svyatopolk had great freedom and power, through which many merchants and artisans went bankrupt”2. The same source reports that the Jews “deceived many into their law,” 3 but how to interpret this information is unclear. Most likely this is a slander, but the very fact of the existence of religious disputes and discrediting of Orthodoxy is confirmed by another author - Theodosius of Pechersk, who used to argue with Jews in private conversations, “since he wanted to be killed for confessing Christ” 4. That his hopes were not unfounded, we will see later, but his role in supporting Izyaslav and the respect of the people saved Theodosius from the crown of martyrdom. This entire split into several parties, under which subethnic differences were hidden, deserves attention, because only under Vladimir Monomakh did the triumph of Orthodoxy come in Rus'. Orthodoxy united the ethnic groups of Eastern Europe, although this spiritual unity was accompanied by political disunity, which will be discussed below. Yaroslav the Wise died in 1054 as the Kagan of Kyiv - the conqueror of the Poles, Yatvingians, Chuds and Pechenegs, a legislator, educator and liberator of the Russian Church from Greek dominance, but he did not leave peace for the country. On the contrary, both on the borders and inside the Russian land, events flowed along completely unforeseen channels. What was unexpected was that, despite the grandeur of the territory subordinate to Kyiv, Yaroslav could not defeat the small Principality of Polotsk. On the contrary, he ceded Vitebsk and Usvyat to the Polotsk prince Bryachislav, the grandson of Vladimir, which did not give him the desired peace. Only in 1066, the children of Yaroslav - Izyaslav and his brothers - defeated Vseslav Bryachislavich of Polotsk on the Nemiga River, and then, inviting him to negotiations in Smolensk, they captured him and imprisoned him in a log house (a log house without a door, i.e. a prison) in Kyiv. Liberated by the rebels of Kiev on September 15, 1068, Vseslav reigned in Kyiv for seven months, and then, under pressure from the superior forces of the Polish king Boleslav, he returned to Polotsk and, after several failures, defended the independence of his hometown. Equally unexpected was the appearance on the southern border of Rus' in 1049. Guz, or Torks, former allies of Svyatoslav, now enemies. The war with the Torci dragged on until 1060, when they were defeated by a coalition of Russian princes and driven to the Danube. In 1064, the Torci tried to cross the Danube and gain a foothold in Thrace, but widespread illness and the rivalry of their sworn enemies, the Pechenegs, forced the Torci to return and seek refuge with the Kyiv prince. Settled along the southern border of Rus', on the right bank of the Dnieper, the Torci became loyal allies of the Volyn princes against the third nomadic ethnic group that came in their wake - the Polovtsians. We need to say more about these, but for now let’s look at the internal political situation in Rus'.
The government of Olga, Vladimir and Yaroslav, relying on the Slavic-Russian subethnic group - the descendants of the Polyans - brought together a huge territory - from the Carpathians to the Upper Volga and from Ladoga to the Black Sea, subjugating all the ethnic groups living there. With the death of Yaroslav the Wise, it turned out that the Kiev ruling handful could no longer rule individually and was forced to switch to the principle of federation, although power remained the privilege of the Rurik princes at home. The heir princes settled in cities according to seniority: Izyaslav - in Kyiv and Novgorod, Svyatoslav - in Chernigov and Seversk land, Vsevolod - in Pereyaslavl with an “appendage” from the Rostov-Suzdal land, Vyacheslav - in Smolensk, Igor - in Vladimir-Volynsky. The chronicle, conveying the public opinion of contemporaries about the captivity of Vseslav, condemns Izyaslav for betrayal and considers the alliance with the Poles as treason to the homeland called “Yaroslavl Row”, the succession to the throne went from the eldest brother to the next, and after the death of all the brothers, to the eldest nephew. The appearance of the Polovtsians. All Turkic ethnic groups of the 11th century. were "old people". They appeared together with the Huns and Sarmatians in the 3rd century. BC. went through all phases of ethnogenesis and turned into homeostatic relics. It would seem that they were doomed, but the opposite happened. The Persian historian Ravandi wrote to the Seljuk Sultan Kai-Khusrau in 1192-1196: “... in the lands of the Arabs, Persians, Byzantines and Rus, the word (in the sense of “predominance” belongs to the Turks, the fear of whose swords firmly lives in the hearts” of neighboring peoples And so it was. Back in the middle of the century, the former Ghaznavid official Ibn Hassul, in his treatise against the Daylemites, lists the “lion-like” qualities of the Turks: courage, loyalty, endurance, lack of hypocrisy, dislike of intrigue, immunity to flattery, and passion for robbery. violence, pride, freedom from unnatural vices, refusal to perform household manual labor (which was not always observed) and desire for command positions.”
All this was highly valued by the settled neighbors of the nomads, because among the listed qualities there were not those associated with increased passionarity: ambition, sacrificial patriotism, initiative, missionary work, upholding identity, creative imagination, desire to restructure the world. All these qualities remained in the past, with the Xiongnu and Turkic ancestors, and the descendants became flexible and therefore desirable in states that were exhausted from the atrocities of their own subpassionaries. The moderate passionarity of the Turks seemed to the Arabs, Persians, Georgians, and Greeks a panacea. But the Turkic ethnic groups did not get along with each other at all. The steppe vendetta carried away the heroes without bringing victory, because matured youths stood up in place of the dead. Passionate ethnic groups could have won and maintained success, but centuries passed, and they were not there and were not expected. But the situation on the western outskirts of the Great Steppe was completely different, for the Russians in the 11th century. were in the inertial phase of ethnogenesis, that is, they were more passionate than the Turkic nomads, who were striving to the banks of the Don, Dnieper, Bug and Danube from the steppe, which had been drying out throughout the 10th century.
As already noted, the steppe between Altai and the Caspian Sea was a field of constant clashes between three ethnic groups: Guz (Torks), Kangls (Pechenegs) and Cumans (Cumans). Until the 10th century the forces were equal, and all rivals held their territories. When in the 10th century. Since a severe centuries-long drought struck the steppe zone, the Guz and Kangly, who lived in the dry steppes near the Urals, suffered from it much more than the Cumans, who lived in the foothills of the Altai and on the banks of the high-water Irtysh. Streams falling from the mountains and the Irtysh allowed them to maintain livestock and horses, i.e. the foundation military power nomadic society. When at the beginning of the century. steppe vegetation (and pine forests) again began to spread to the south and southwest, the Cumans moved after it, easily breaking the resistance of the Guz and Pechenegs, exhausted by drought. Their path to the south was blocked by the Betpak-Dala desert, and in the west the road to Doi and the Dnieper, where cereal steppes are located, exactly the same as in their native Baraba, opened up for them. By 1055, the victorious Cumans reached the borders of Rus'. At first, the Cumans entered into an alliance with Vsevolod Yaroslavich, since they had a common enemy - the Torci (1055). But after the victory over the Torques, the allies quarreled, and in 1061 the Polovtsian prince Iskal defeated Vsevolod. Presumably, both sides viewed the conflict as a border skirmish, but nevertheless, the steppe roads became unsafe, communication between Tmutarakan and Russia became difficult, and this entailed a number of important events. Not all Polovtsians moved to the west. Their main settlements remained in Siberia and Kazakhstan, to the shores of lakes Zaysan and Tengiz. But as always happens, the most active part of the population left, which, after victories over the Guz and Pechenegs, faced Russia. Mongols and Tatars in the 12th century. The northeastern part of Mongolia and the adjacent areas of the steppe Transbaikalia were divided between the Tatars and Mongols. To understand the history of the Mongols, one should firmly remember that in Central Asia an ethnic name has a double meaning: 1) the direct name of an ethnic group (tribe or people) and 2) a collective name for a group of tribes that make up a certain cultural or political complex, even if the tribes included in it of different origins. This was noted by Rashid ad-Din: “Many clans achieved greatness and dignity in the fact that they classified themselves as Tatars and became known under their name, just like the Naimans, Jalairs, Onguts, Ke-raits and other tribes that each had their specific name, called themselves Mongols out of a desire to transfer the glory of the latter to themselves; the descendants of these clans imagined themselves bearing this name from ancient times, which in reality was not the case.” Based on the collective meaning of the term “Tatar,” medieval historians considered the Mongols as part of the Tatars, since before the 12th century. hegemony among the tribes of Eastern Mongolia belonged to the latter. In the The Tatars began to be considered as part of the Mongols in the same broad sense of the word, and the name “Tatars” disappeared in Asia, but the Volga Turks, subjects of the Golden Horde, began to call themselves that. At the beginning of the century the names “Tatars” and “Mongol” were synonymous because, firstly, the name “Tatars” was familiar and well-known, and the word “Mongol” was new, and secondly, because numerous Tatars (in the narrow sense of the word) They formed the vanguard of the Mongol army, since they were not spared and were placed in the most dangerous places. There their opponents encountered them and got confused in their names: for example, Armenian historians called them Mungal-Tatars, and the Novgorod chronicler of 1234. writes: “That same summer, because of our sins, we came to a language unknown to us, and no one knows their good: who they are, and the origin of the body, and what their language is, and what tribe they are, and what their faith is: and my name is Tatars... "It was the Mongol army.
There is an opinion, apparently correct, that in a military conflict the strongest wins if there are no additional circumstances. It is permissible to make an adjustment for the randomness of military happiness, but only within the limits of one battle or skirmish; for a big war this is not significant, because the zigzags on the long road cancel each other out.
But what about the Mongol conquests? The numerical superiority, the level of military equipment, the habit of local natural conditions, the enthusiasm of the troops were often higher among the opponents of the Mongols than among the Mongol troops themselves, and in courage the Jurchens, Chinese, Khorezmians, Cumans and Russians were not inferior to the Mongols, but one swallow does not make spring. In addition, the few Mongol troops simultaneously fought on three fronts - Chinese, Iranian and Polovtsian, which in 1241 became Western European. How could they win victories in the century? and why did they begin to suffer defeats in the 14th century? There are various assumptions and considerations on this matter, but the main reasons were considered to be some kind of special viciousness of the Mongols and their exaggerated inclination towards robbery.
The accusation is banal and, moreover, clearly tendentious, because it is brought against different peoples at different times. And not only ordinary people, but also some historians are guilty of this. As you know, we live in a changing world. The natural conditions of the regions of the earth's land are unstable. Sometimes the habitat of an ethnic group suffers a centuries-long drought, sometimes a flood, even more destructive. Then the biocenosis of the host region either dies or changes, adapting to new conditions. But people are the top link of the biocenosis. This means that everything noted applies to them. But this is not enough. Historical time in which we live, act, love, hate, differs from linear, astronomical time in that we discover its existence due to the presence of events connected in cause-and-effect chains. These chains are well known to everyone; they are called traditions. They arise in various regions of the planet, expand their ranges and break off, leaving monuments for their descendants, thanks to which these logoms learn about the extraordinary, “strange” people who lived before them.
Turning epochs. The methodology we have adopted for distinguishing between levels of research allows us to make an important observation: ethnic history moves unevenly. In it, along with the smooth entropic processes of rise, prosperity and gradual aging, moments of radical restructuring are revealed, the breaking of old traditions, suddenly something new, unexpected appears, as if a powerful shock shook the usual set of relationships and mixed everything up, like a deck of cards. And after that everything settles down and goes on as usual for a thousand years.
If the course of action is described in too much detail
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