Sharukan is one of the Cuman towns on the Donets, settlements where, besides Cumans, other peoples lived (the Encyclopedia of Ukraine; Alans among them).
Vladimir Monomakh's campaign of 1111 took Sharukan, which surrendered, and burned Sugrov; in 1116 his son Yaropolk took Sugrov, Sharukan and Balin and brought home a captive Alan princess as his wife. They are not heard of again: by 1185, when Igor crossed the Donets, the chronicle no longer names them, and the Rus' fort of Donets by Kharkiv stood on the upper river. Their state on 1 January 1200 is not pinned; most likely deserted or used as winter camps.
Proposed sites include Kharkiv, Chuhuiv and Zmiiv on the Donets; the point here is conventional (Chuhuiv).
Who holds it
- Name
- not pinned: deserted or reduced to a camp of Konchak's horde
- Title
- not pinned
- Since
- not applicable
- Born
- not applicable
- Family
- not applicable
- Confidence
- low
Encyclopedia of Ukraine (Cumans); de.wikipedia (Kumanen); the chronicle entries of 1111 and 1116 from the standard accounts.
Lord in 1200
Not pinned: within the range of Konchak's horde (Konchak's horde (the Don Cumans)).
How things stand that morning
Not pinned; probably deserted.
Communities
Cumans and Alans in 1111-1116; not known for 1200.
Walls and castle
Earth and timber ramparts in 1111 (sites not identified).
Trade and crafts
Not known for 1200.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Two chronicle entries of 1111 and 1116; sites disputed.
On the map: Conventional point; the site is not identified.
Primary sources for The Cumans
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 Hypatian Chronicle (the Kievan Chronicle compiled about 1200 at the Vydubichi monastery; the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle in the 13th century). The southern record. Read online
- 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
- History of Niketas Choniates, Niketas Choniates (about 1185 to 1217, in stages, with a final revision in exile at Nicaea after 1204). The central narrative for the Byzantine Empire under Alexios III Angelos: the Bulgarian and Vlach war under Kaloyan, the breakaway of Ivanko in the Rhodopes and his capture by treachery in 1200, Dobromir Chrysos at Prosek and Strumica and the emperor's campaign and settlement with him, the Cuman raids into Thrace, John Komnenos the Fat's one-day revolt at Constantinople on 31 July 1200, the loosening of imperial control in the provinces and the rise of Leo Sgouros, and the court's fiscal abuses. Read online
- The Deeds of the Hungarians, by the Anonymous Notary of King Béla, Anonymus (P. magister) (about 1200 to 1210, the date disputed). Not a record of events but a picture of the kingdom's nobility and geography as a courtier of about 1200 wished to see it: the clans and their lands, the castles and counties, the Vlachs, Cumans and other peoples of the Carpathian basin, all projected back onto the conquest. Read online
- The Georgian Chronicles: the Histories and Eulogies of the Sovereigns, and the Life of Queen Tamar, Anonymous, attributed to the chancellor Theodore of Chqondidi and to Basili, master of the court (about 1210 to 1225). Two court histories of Queen Tamar written within a generation. Read online
- The Tale of Igor's Campaign (about 1187 to 1200 (disputed)). A poem on Igor Sviatoslavich's defeat by the Polovtsians in 1185 that addresses the princes of the day by name: Vsevolod of Vladimir, Rurik and David Rostislavich, Yaroslav of Galich, Roman of Volhynia and the Olgovichi of Chernigov, of whom Igor himself was prince from 1198. Read online
Sources and studies
- Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Cumans
- Wikipedia (de): Kumanen
- P. V. Golubovsky, Pechenegi, torki i polovtsy do nashestviya tatar (Kiev 1884) (Internet Archive)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.