The Cumans

Who rules

Name

No khan rules all the Cumans. The great khan of the last generation is Konchak of the Don (last securely mentioned in 1187; alive on 1 January 1200 not pinned). No khan is named for 1198-1200 in the sources reached.

Title

no single ruler: each horde follows its own khan and his kin

Since

not applicable

Born

not applicable

Family

The Rus' chronicles name the hordes by clan: the Hypatian chronicle's account of 1185 lists the Toksobichi, Kolobichi, Etebichi and Tertrobichi beside the hordes of Konchak and Gza (Gzak) Burnovich; under 1193 it names the Lukomorian Cumans (khans Itogly and Akush) and the Burchevichi (khans Osoluk and Izai). The same account says Igor was taken by Chilbuk of the Targolove, his brother Vsevolod by Roman Kzich (Gza's son), Sviatoslav Olgovich by Eldechuk of the Voburtsevichi and Igor's son Vladimir by Kopti of the Ulashevichi. The Encyclopedia of Ukraine adds the Yeltunovichi. Konchak's line: his grandfather Sharukan, his father Otrok (Atrak), his son Yuri Konchakovich (attested from about 1205). Kotian Sutoevich and his brother Somogur appear in a Galician entry dated 1202 that belongs to about 1205.

Confidence

medium

en.wikipedia (Konchak, Cumans, Köten); de.wikipedia (Kumanen); Encyclopedia of Ukraine (Cumans, Konchak). The chronicle details are given from the standard accounts of the Hypatian and Laurentian chronicles; their texts could not be loaded in this run.

Overlord

None. No prince, emperor or khan is overlord of the hordes. Several are tied by marriage and alliance to Rus' princes; the Cumans west of the Dniester ride with Kaloyan of Bulgaria.

What the realm holds

• The Don and Donets steppe: Konchak's horde (Konchak's horde (the Don Cumans))
• The Dnieper left bank, the Samara and the Orel: the Burchevichi (The Burchevichi)
• The lower Dnieper and the shore of the Azov Sea: the Lukomorian Cumans (The Lukomorians)
• The seashore steppe between the Dniester and the Dnieper (Cumans of the Bug and the Dniester)
• The steppe Crimea (Cumans of the Crimea)
• The Kuban plain and the steppe north of the Caucasus (Cumans of the Kuban)
• The lower Volga and the Volga-Don steppe, with Saksin (Cumans of the lower Volga)
• Overlordship of Sugdaea (Sudak) (Sugdaea under the Cumans, Sudak)
• The Brodniki of the Don live among them (The Brodniki)
• Old towns of the Donets, deserted or decayed: Sharukan, Sugrov, Balin; the ruin of Belaya Vezha on the Don

The realm that morning

No horde is at war with a Rus' prince on record that morning; the last fighting recorded on the Rus' side is Vsevolod III's campaign to the Don in 1198. The Cumans hold the open steppe from the Dniester to the Volga: the seashore steppe between the Dniester and the Dnieper (no khan named), the lower Dnieper and the Azov shore (the Lukomorians), the Dnieper's left bank (the Burchevichi), the Donets and the Don (Konchak's horde), the steppe Crimea, the Kuban plain and the lower Volga (no khans named). Sugdaea (Sudak) is under Cuman overlordship.

Cherson and Gothia in the south-west Crimea are Byzantine, and the ports on the Kerch strait (Korchev and Matarkha) are Byzantine-claimed (thin). Oleshye at the Dnieper mouth is a Rus' trading station. Across the borders: west of the Dniester, the Cumans and Brodniki of Moldavia and the Danube (Byzantium sheet, dnb); north-west, Galicia's Ponyzia (hal); north, Kiev's Porosye on the Ros with the Black Hoods and Pereyaslavl on the Sula (kie), the Olgovichi's Seversk land on the Seim and the upper Donets with the fort of Donets by Kharkiv (che); north-east, Ryazan's steppe frontier on the Voronezh and the Burtas on the Volga (rya); east, beyond the Volga, the Kipchaks of the Yaik and Aral steppes (outside); south, the Alans and the mountain peoples of the north Caucasus and the Zikhs of the coast (outside; Anatolia sheet, geo).

Wealth

Horses, cattle and sheep. Captives sold through Sudak: Ibn al-Athir (writing of 1223) says ships bring cloth to Sudak and the Kipchaks buy it and sell slaves, Burtas furs, beaver and squirrel. Ransom of captives (Igor's son Vladimir spent two years among them, 1185-1187). Tribute from the Crimean towns. Gifts and tolls from the merchants on the Dnieper road, the Salt road to the Crimean salt lakes and the Zaloznyi road (the Kievan chronicle names these roads under 1168; Encyclopedia of Ukraine).

Pay and plunder as allies of Rus' princes, of Kaloyan of Bulgaria and of the Georgian kings.

Military

Mounted archers with lance and sabre; each horde raises its own host under its khan. Raids strike in spring or at harvest; when a Rus' coalition comes, the hordes fall back on their winter quarters and the sea, as they did before Vsevolod in 1198. Rus' armies strike the camps in winter and early spring when the horses are weak (Roman's campaigns of 1201-1202 and later). No numbers for 1200 in the sources.

Threats

• Roman Mstislavich of Galicia and Volhynia: raids into the steppe from 1201 (later)
• Rus' coalitions from Kiev and Vladimir: Vsevolod III marched to the Don in 1198
• Feuds between the hordes and between rival Rus' patrons
• Byzantine reprisals for the raids on Thrace (the western Cumans)
• The Mongols: the defeat of the Alans and Cumans in 1222 and the Kalka in 1223 (later)

Trade routes

The Dnieper road (the Greek road) from Kiev past Kanev, the rapids and the Khortytsia crossing to Oleshye and by sea to Constantinople; the Salt road from Kiev to the Crimean salt lakes by Perekop; the Zaloznyi road across the steppe toward the Azov Sea (route disputed); these three are the roads the Kievan chronicle says the Cumans threatened in 1168. The Crimean ports: Sugdaea (Sudak) under the Cumans, Cherson for the Byzantines, Korchev and Matarkha on the strait. The Volga road from Bulgar past Saksin to the Caspian, Derbent and Khwarazm.

The Cumans tax, protect or rob these roads as each khan chooses.

Religion

Pagan: Tengri the sky, the earth and the ancestors, whose stone images stand on the mounds; shamans serve them. Some khans' kin are baptised through Rus' marriages (Konchak's daughter in Rus'; Yuri Konchakovich and Danila Kobyakovich bear Christian names later). The townsfolk of Saksin are Muslim; Sudak, Cherson and Gothia are Greek Orthodox.

Relations

Rus': the Olgovichi (Igor, senior prince of Chernigov since 1198) are Konchak's in-laws; Rurik of Kiev and his son Rostislav fought the hordes in the early 1190s (Rostislav raided their camps after the failed peace of 1193), but Rurik will bring them to Kiev in 1203; Vsevolod III attacked the Don in 1198 and will marry his son Yaroslav to Yuri Konchakovich's daughter about 1205; Roman of Galicia is their coming enemy. Bulgaria: the Asen brothers' rising of 1185-1186 was carried by Cuman help; Kaloyan's wife is a Cuman. Byzantium: raided in 1199; holds Cherson and Gothia beside the Cuman Crimea.

Georgia: Kipchaks have served the Georgian kings since David IV (1118), whose second wife was Otrok's daughter, Konchak's sister; the deposed Yury Bogolyubsky, Tamar's first husband, took refuge among the Kipchaks of the north Caucasus. Volga Bulgaria: the Cumans of the Volga (the Yemyak or Yemek Cumans) fought beside the Bulgars against Vsevolod in 1183-1184 (thin).

Belts note

No belt is drawn. No Cuman raid on the Ros, the Sula, the Seim, the Donets or the Voronezh and no Rus' raid into the steppe is recorded for the winter of 1199-1200. The latest clash on this front is Vsevolod III's campaign to the Don in 1198; Roman's winter raids are 1201-1202 and later. The forest-steppe between the Rus' forts and the summer pastures is still a thinly peopled no man's land, but nothing shows active raiding that winter.

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

1. During 1200 (nothing dated)The hordes move north to their summer pastures; trade runs through Sudak, Oleshye and Saksin. No raid on the Rus' is recorded for 1200.Depends on: peace on the Rus' frontier Stopped by: a Rus' prince calling Cumans into his war, or a Rus' campaign into the steppe
2. 1200 (month not pinned)Vsevolod III sends his son Yaroslav to rule the southern Pereyaslavl on the steppe frontier (en.wikipedia, Yaroslav II, gives 1200; other accounts 1201).Depends on: Vsevolod's agreement with Rurik Stopped by: Rurik or the Olgovichi refusing

Later, on the likely course

1. 1201 (after this year)Kaloyan with Cuman allies attacks Byzantine Thrace in March 1201, destroys Constantia and takes Varna; Roman of Galicia invades the Cumans' lands and forces them home (Fine; Madgearu). Kaloyan makes peace with Alexios III in late 1201 or 1202.Depends on: Kaloyan's war with Byzantium; Roman's hostility to the Cumans Stopped by: peace between Kaloyan and Alexios III, or Roman tied down at home
2. 1202, in winter (after this year)Roman leads a winter campaign into the steppe, takes the Cuman camps and frees Christian captives (Laurentian chronicle; Encyclopedia of Ukraine gives 1202 and 1204).Depends on: Roman holding Kiev and Galich Stopped by: war with Rurik or the Olgovichi
3. 2 January 1203 (after this year)Rurik with the Olgovichi and "all the Polovtsian land" takes and sacks Kiev (Laurentian chronicle).Depends on: Rurik losing Kiev to Roman (1201) and recruiting the hordes Stopped by: Roman keeping Rurik and the Olgovichi apart
4. Winter 1203-1204 (after this year)Roman, Rurik and other princes campaign together against the Cumans; at Trepol Roman seizes Rurik and has him tonsured.Depends on: a truce between Roman and Rurik Stopped by: renewed war between them
5. About 1205 (after this year)Yaroslav Vsevolodovich marries the daughter of Yuri Konchakovich (en.wikipedia, Yaroslav II); Kotian and Somogur appear supporting Rurik.Depends on: peace between Vsevolod and Konchak's house Stopped by: war on the Don
6. 1222-1223 (after this year)The Mongols break the Alan and Cuman alliance in the north Caucasus, kill Yuri Konchakovich and Danila Kobyakovich, and destroy the Rus' and Cuman host on the Kalka (31 May 1223).Depends on: the Mongol advance from Transcaucasia Stopped by: nothing in the Cumans' power

Where the sources disagree

• Konchak's death: en.wikipedia (Konchak) says "died in 1187"; de.wikipedia (Kumanen) gives him about 1172-1201. Neither is a recorded death: 1187 is the year the Hypatian chronicle brings Vladimir Igorevich home with Konchak's daughter, and the Galician-Volhynian chronicle tells the legend of Otrok and Konchak under 1201 as past history. On 1 January 1200 his life is not pinned.
• Yuri Konchakovich's death: the Encyclopedia of Ukraine says he and Danila Kobyakovich fell in 1220 in the north Caucasus; the usual date of that Mongol attack is 1222 (Ibn al-Athir; the Laurentian chronicle under 1223). en.wikipedia (Konchak) has Yuri take Kiev for Rurik in 1203; the chronicle names only "all the Polovtsian land".
• Kobiak's capture: en.wikipedia (Cumans) gives 1183; the Encyclopedia of Ukraine (Konchak) puts Konchak and Kobiak defeated together on the Khorol in 1184. The usual reckoning has Kobiak taken on the Orel (30 July 1183) and Konchak beaten on the Khorol (1 March 1185).
• Vladimir Igorevich's marriage: en.wikipedia (Konchak) gives 1188 and names the bride Svoboda; the Hypatian chronicle puts the couple's return to Rus' with a child under 1187 (married during the captivity of 1185-1187).
• Vsevolod III's campaign to the Don is given as 1198 (Laurentian chronicle under 6706, March year); the text could not be checked in this run and some summaries give 1199. Either way it is before 1 January 1200.
• Kotian's first appearance: a Galician-Volhynian entry under 1202 that belongs to about 1205 (en.wikipedia, Köten). He is not attested on 1 January 1200.

Evidence: The Kievan (Hypatian) chronicle ends with 1199 and names no khan after 1193; the Laurentian is brief; Choniates, Ibn al-Athir and al-Gharnati add a little. The hordes' ranges are modern reconstructions (Pletneva). In this run the Russian and Ukrainian Wikipedias and the chronicle texts could not be loaded: the chronicle details for 1185 (the clan names), 1193 and 1198 come from the standard accounts of those texts and are marked medium confidence.

On the map: The hordes moved with the seasons; the outline is the steppe they used, not a border. Inner divisions follow modern reconstructions and are not pinned.

Primary sources for this realm

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