Erzya

Who holds it

Name

none named

Title

Erzya clans and their elders

Confidence

high

No Erzya leader is named before Purgas in the late 1220s (later). The Khazar letter of King Joseph (about 960) is the first to name the Erzya ('arisa'), en.wikipedia Mordvins.

Overlord

None. The Murom princes and Vladimir's men at Gorodets press on its western and northern edges, the Bulgars on its east; Markov (1914) found no evidence of Rus' rule over Mordvin land before the 13th century. Tribute relations in 1200 are not pinned.

How things stand that morning

Self-governing; no war recorded for 1199-1200. Across its borders: Murom to the west, Vladimir's Gorodets across the Volga to the north, the Mari across the Volga to the north-east, Volga Bulgaria's right-bank lands beyond the Sura, the Moksha to the south.

Wealth

Furs, honey, wax; forest farming and cattle.

Military

Clan levies; forest strongholds.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 1221 (after this year)Yuri II founds Nizhny Novgorod at the Oka mouth in Erzya land.

Places of note

• Arzamas country: the Tesha valley
• The Oka mouth: Volga right bank by the Oka mouth (no town yet)

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Archaeology and later chronicle notices only.

On the map: Edges against Murom, the Moksha and the Bulgar right bank are rough.

Primary sources for Mordvins

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Laurentian Chronicle (the Suzdal continuation kept in the late 12th and 13th centuries; manuscript 1377). The court record of Vsevolod III of Vladimir. Read online