Ugandi is the land of south-eastern Estonia, roughly modern Tartu County south of the Emajõgi with Põlva, Võru and the east of Valga, and the Setu country west of Pechory.
It has two centres: Otepää, the strongest fortress of south-eastern Estonia, which the Rus' call Bear's Head (Medvezhya Golova), and Tarbatu (Tartu) on the Emajõgi, where a fort stood on Toome Hill from about the 7th century and which the Rus' remember as their Yuryev. Novgorod and Pskov raided Ugandi often in the 12th century but never subdued it (en.wikipedia); the last campaign burned Tartu in the winter of 1191-1192 and Otepää in the summer of 1192, and no Rus' garrison, fighting or peace is recorded afterwards. The Ugaunians trade with the Rus' and with the German merchants of the Daugava, and they feud with the Latgalians of Tālava to the south.
On 1 January 1200 both strongholds are in Ugaunian hands and the land is free and pagan.
Who holds it
- Name
- None named for 1200
- Title
- The elders of Ugandi's parishes and of its two strongholds
- Since
- not applicable
- Born
- not applicable
- Family
- No ruling family; no elder named for these years.
- Confidence
- low
en.wikipedia (Ugandi County; History of Tartu).
Overlord
None in fact. Novgorod and Pskov claim the Ugaunians as tributaries: the Rus' took tribute from them after Yaroslav the Wise built Yuryev at Tartu in 1030, possibly until the Sosols burned it in 1061; later Rus' campaigns took Otepää (1116) and Tartu (1133 or 1134); in the winter of 1191-1192 Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich of Novgorod took and burned Tartu, and in the summer of 1192 his retinue with the Pskovians burned Otepää. No tribute is known to be paid in 1200 (not pinned).
What it holds
How things stand that morning
Free and pagan; both strongholds held by the Ugaunians.
Wealth
Grain and cattle; furs, wax and honey; the river trade of the Emajõgi between Lake Peipus and Võrtsjärv; trade with Pskov and with the Germans.
Military
Parish levies; Otepää's ramparts, strengthened in the late Iron Age. No numbers.
Threats
- Novgorod and Pskov, who claim tribute and campaign in winter
- The Latgalians of Tālava (open war in the 1210s)
- The Germans from 1208 (later)
Parishes
Not listed for 1200.
Hillforts
Assembly
None named.
Neighbours
Sakala to the west across the Väike Emajõgi and Võrtsjärv, Nurmekund and Vaiga across the Emajõgi to the north, Lake Peipus and the land of Pskov with Izborsk to the east, the Latgalians of Tālava to the south.
Tributes
Claimed by Novgorod and Pskov; none known to be paid in 1200.
Law and courts
Elders of parishes and 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.
In 1200
- During 1200 (nothing dated)No Rus' campaign into Ugandi is recorded for 1200.Depends on: not applicable Stopped by: not applicable
Later, on the likely course
- 1207 (after this year)The Germans send the priest Alabrand to demand compensation for an old robbery of German merchants; no answer.Depends on: German trade with Ugandi Stopped by: not applicable
- 1208 (after this year)The Germans and Latgalians open war on Ugandi and burn Otepää.Depends on: Riga's growth Stopped by: not applicable
- 1210 (after this year)Mstislav Mstislavich of Novgorod besieges Otepää for eight days; the Ugaunians accept Orthodox baptism and tribute.Depends on: Novgorod's claim to Ugandi Stopped by: not applicable
Places of note
- Otepää: Hillfort.
- Tarbatu (Toome Hill): Hillfort and trading place.
Where the sources disagree
- Otepää: the Novgorod research (nov) reads the chronicle as burning it in the summer of 1192; en.wikipedia (Ugandi County) dates its capture to 1193.
Evidence: The Rus' campaigns come from the Novgorod chronicle as read in the Novgorod research and summarised in en.wikipedia; nothing is recorded for 1200.
On the map: The eastern line leaves Pechory and Izborsk to Pskov; the Setu country between is a frontier. The southern line follows the northern edges drawn by the Livonian research for Tālava and Atzele, near the upper Gauja.
Primary sources for The Estonians
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 Chronicle of Novgorod (kept year by year; the Synodal manuscript written in the 13th and 14th centuries). Novgorod's own record, kept at St Sophia. Read online
- The Livonian Chronicle of Henry, Henry of Livonia (1225 to 1227). The chief source for the Baltic mission. Read online
- The birch-bark letters (11th to 15th centuries). Excavated letters and notes on birch bark, dated by the layer they lie in. Read online
- The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
- Charter book of Livonia, Estonia and Courland, volume 1, 1093 to 1300 (documents of 1093 to 1300, edited 1853). The documents of the Livonian mission: Innocent III's bull of 5 October 1199 calling for a crusade to protect the Livonian church, the privileges for Bishop Albert, Archbishop Hartwig of Bremen's acts for the see of Üxküll, and the later charters that settle who held what on the Düna.
- The law of the Gotlanders; The saga of the Gotlanders (Guta lag about 1220, Guta saga about 1220 to 1275; manuscript of about 1350). The law and the short history of the self-governing island. Read online
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia: Ugandi County
- Wikipedia: History of Tartu
- Wikipedia: Chuds
- Novgorod First Chronicle, as reported in Wikipedia (Ugandi County; History of Tartu)
- Henry of Livonia, Chronicon Livoniae (written about 1225-1227), as reported in the Wikipedia articles listed
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.