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S.A.Pletneva

KIPCHAKS

ISBN 5-02-009542-7 © Publishing house " Science ", 1990

 

Contents this page
Chapter 5 Black Kalpaks and "Wild Kipchaks"
Chapter 6 Hordes in the steppes

   
  S.A. Pletneva Kipchaks - Contents Chapter 3 => Chapter 5 =>

Links

 

Foreword to the Selected Quotations

See Chapter 1
 Non-author's comments and illustrations are noted in blue. Substantial comments are in blue boxes. Page numbers are shown in blue at the beginning of the page.

Mini Glossary

ail = village, extended family

Chapter 5.
Black Kalpaks and "Wild Kipchaks

In the Chapter 1 the history of Badjanaks' and Oguzes' life in the Eastern European steppes was interrupted at the time of the arrival of the first Kipchak's groups. With the arrival of the Kipchaks began a new period in the life of these two ethnoses in the N.Pontic and more western (Danube) steppes.
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A part of them joined the Kipchak's (Kumanian) clan unions and initially continued to coach in the former lands. However, the fate of these "federates" in the Kipchak's associations was apparently not easy. Kipchaks drove them to the campaigns, took away the best pastures, demanded absolute submission and abandonment of their own name and, possibly, the language. All this taken together forced a significant part of Türkic (Oguz) and Badjanak's clans to began breaking away from the Kipchaks and migrate to the borders of the settled states under their protection and defense, offering in exchange first of all the border military service (The Kipchak-Badjanak symbiosis dates at least back to Kimak Kaganate times, when Kipchaks invited themselves to winter to the Badjanak N.Caspian and Aral pastures. The Kangar Badjanaks were members of the Kimak Kaganate from its first days. It would be incredulous if the Badjanaks did not include Kipchaks in their westward advance across Yaik and Itil, and likewise would be incredible if the Kipchaks did not include Badjanaks in  their westward expansion. The names Badjanaks and Kipchaks must have reflected the main component, and the affiliation of the leadership, rather then denote ethnically "pure" confederations).

The tradition of creation such "barriers" by nomads from the nomads emerged in antiquity. In the early Middle Ages epoch are well-known mercenary groups of "southern Huns", and later of the Türks (Tu-Gü) along the northern borders of China, Türkic multi-ethnic groups at the borders of Persia, Hunnish and Avarian on the northern fringes of Byzantium, etc.

In the beginning of the 11th century the Byzantian empire accepted and resettled tribes of Badjanaks in the free lands of the northern provinces. However, the Badjanaks were not satisfied and consequently moved in mass to the south, to the main territory of the empire. As a result a huge number of them was destroyed. Only an insignificant part was settled in the Western Bulgaria (i.e. in present Bosnia, which received its name from its Besenyos, Lat. for Badjanaks).

A different fate had the Badjanaks who turned to the Hungarian kingdom. Their active penetration into Hungary began in the first half of the 10th century during the king Zoltan (907 – ca. 947, Dulo dynasty, Arbat line), who settled them in the northwest border zone and married his son prince Taksony (his name implied that the Hungarian prince Taksony was related, probably by maternal line, to a Toks=Tuks=Tocharian tribe or clan) to a noble Badjanak. After becoming a king, Taksony (ca.955–ca.971) continued the Badjanak-phile policy of his father. He took to his court Khan Tonuzoba (his name implied that he was from a clan or tribe Tonuz, "oba" means native land, akin to English "habitat" or Russian "obitel"), who brought to his service a whole (must be Tonuz) horde, which was given pastures along the northern border of the country, along the Tisza (aka Tissa) river. Besides, the Hungarian sources mention two more Khans - Bila and Baksu, who switched to the service of Taksony. He gave them the city of Pesht in possession. During the reign of the Taksony's son in the end of the 10th century more Badjanak's Khans came to the Hungary with their hordes. In the result not only the boundary, but also the central areas of the kingdom were populated by Badjanaks, who very quickly begun merging with the Magyars, accepted Catholicism together with them, and by the end of the 11th century neither in culture, nor in language were not distinguished from the main population of the country (Rasovsky D.A., 1933, Badjanaks, Türks and Berendeys in Rus and in Ugria // SK. VI. Prague).
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Thus, besides the Badjanaks who remained with the Kipchaks, a huge number of them moved to the Danube area and to the Balkan peninsula. And only a small part of them shared the fate of the Türks (Oguzes). The Oguz Türks were extremely weakened and demoralized after their defeat in the 1066 by Vsevolod Yaroslavich with his brothers and, probably, subsequent constant wars with the Kipchaks, who tried to get for themselves as much as possible of the pasture land. Approximately in the end of the 1070es - the beginning of the 1080es their constant browsing in the steppes at last forced them to ask the Kyiv prince (Izyaslav I, 1077-1078, or Vsevolod I, ca.1078-1093) for borderlands for settlement and pastures.

The (Rus) annals did not record that event. Probably because the penetration of Türks and Badjanaks into the borderlands was not an one time event, but was happening gradually, with conclusion of minor individual agreements between the Rus Princes with separate families (ails) or kurens (association of several related clans). This process was not going peacefully, but was repeatedly breaking down, first of all because the discontent of the nomads pretending, probably, on large territories and demanding unreasonable conditions from the Princes. One of such skirmishes is mentioned by the chronicler under the year 1080. The message tells about an attempt of a part of the Türks to fight with the Kyiv Prince, and also about existence of the Pereyaslavl Türks.

The author here, and throughout the work, follows the abominable Russian version of the history: the territories taken from the indigenous people during continuous princely encroaching instantaneously become inviolable Rus territories, and any attempts by the robbed populace to recapture their lands are unprovoked aggressions against peaceful settlers. Thus, instead of the various princes laying their hands on the neighboring ranges, the annalistic notion written for and on behalf of the Rus princes "allows" the indigenous nomads to remain in their land, but pretending them to be in a vassalage capacity, an attempt to denigrate the Türkic freemen into the near-slave status of their Slavic subjects. The Pereyaslavl forepost was a fort built by the Rus prince Vladimir/Budimir in the Badjinak land after a 992 skirmish with Badjinaks in their land. That land was settled before and after 992 by the same people, who in the 1080 in the Rus annals happened to be called Türks (Slavic distortion "Torks"), and in the 1990 it surprises the author, conditioned by the Russian historical dogmas, with the presence of the native populace in the same place after the 992.

It is clear, that they settled widely in all southern Rus borderlands: in addition to the Pereyaslavl, were also other Türks, which undoubtedly follows from the message of the annals under the year 1093 about the existence on the right bank of the Dnieper, in the river Ros area, of the city Torchesk. The presence of a town already shows the Türks' tendency to the settled way of life, they came to the Ros area at least 10-15 years before the establishment of their own fortified settlement.

That Badjinaks had their own cities the author knows well from her expansive citation of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, and they were no more "sedentary advanced" then the Oguzes, so why baselessly speculate about "Türks' tendency to the settled way of life" when one complements the other, without contradicting it. The Oguzes displaced a part of the Badjinaks, combined with other part, and needed to use the cities for the same reasons that Badjinaks did, their cattle-breeding economy was exactly the same, and they needed exactly the same types of manufacture and winter kishlaks. "At least 10-15 years" is a myopic distortion of the situation. The name of the city itself is a Slavic contraption, the Türkic inhabitants would not name it in Slavic language.

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In the Rus annals the Ros is a parcel of forest-steppe limited from the south by the right tributary of Dnieper, a small river Ros, from the north by the river Stuga. In the 10th c. this century this area (approximately 80x150 km) was a neutral strip between the Rus lands and Badjanaks' pastures. Yaroslav (in the 1032 he started building fortifications in the "neutral territory") annexed the Ros area to Rus (i.e he subjugated the Ros population to himself). This river was for the nomads even without fortifications a strong obstacle, but even greater "barrier" for the Ros area from the steppe were the surrounding it from the south, southwest and north large forests, which the cavalry could cross only by established roads and glades. The territory of the Ros area was crossed by a network of small rivulets, comprising a huge pasture with a nice grass and excellent watering holes.

At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century in the Ros area the kurgans and kurgan burials were literally totally excavated. General N.E.Brandenburg was a main "researcher". In the overwhelming majority the kurgans belonged to the nomads (the author for some reasons implies a non-nomadic component). These were burials of the Türks (Oguzes) and Badjanaks, dated by the 12th - beginning of the 13th century. A mapping of the kurgans allowed to delineate the territory occupied mainly by the Badjanaks (along r. Rossava), and the (Rus) annals allowed to also place in the Ros area the other ethnoses mentioned in the annals (see below) (the Ros area was a main domain of the Türkic inhabitants from the Hunnic times, and must have had kurgans dating back to the Pit Grave time starting from 3,600 BC, with later kurgans and subsequent Pit-grave burials or indeed burials from later periods extending all the way to the Middle Ages. The cited dating was by the archeologyzing artillery general, who poorly understood the context of the finds and had a limited general knowledge of what he was doing. Brandenburg carried out the archeological excavations in 1878-1902. The eminent archeologist S.A.Pletneva tells us that after 1902, all kurgans in the Ros area were wiped out with the help of the brave general, eradicating five and a half millennia of the archeological history).

On steppe borders of the Pereyaslavl and Chernihiv princedoms also settled the nomadic clans who switched to the side of the Rus Princes, but no nomadic burials (like those in the Ros area), or even separate kurgans there were found. However the researchers of the old Rus border zone in a number of cases very convincingly link some areas with the locations of the nomadic settlements. So, on the right bank of Suda, in its middle course, in the territory town-fortresses of the annals Varin, Piryatin, Konyatin (these all sound like slightly distorted Türkic words: Baryn (clan), Buri (clan), Kon (gelding)) are pasture sites covered with characteristic for horse and sheep grazing salt reed medowgrass vegetation. Still in the 17th century one of such sites on a rivulet Sulitsa was called "Choban land", and in the first half of the19th century there was located a horse-breeding centre famous in all Russia. Apparently, on these pastures Pereyaslavl Türks also grazed their cattle. They lived, like in the Ros area, in nearby small towns. Where their cemeteries were is not known now. Identical pastures with lightly salted soils were also found by the Chernihiv border near the small towns Vsevoloj, Unenej, Bohmach and Belaveja (these also sound Türkic: Unenej, Bohmach and translation from Sary Kel); there also, probably, lived the nomadic federates of the petty princedoms.

Chernihiv (Sl. Black Head) is a translation of the Türkic name Karadjar into Slavic, we know that in the 859 the (pre-Itil) Bulgarian Kaan Shilki (Djilki) had his center in the city Karadjar (future Chernihiv), but in the 969 commander Pretich was already stationed in Chernihiv and reported to Rus. The "Tale about Igor's Campaign" (1180) remind that all Chernihiv nobility consisted entirely of the noble Bulgarian clans: Mogutov (Masgutov, Masautov), Tatranov, Shelbirov (Chelbirov), Topchakov (Tubdjakov), Revugov (Arbugintsev), Olberov (Elbirov), etc.

Karadjar/Chernihiv maintained its independence as a Great Principality of Suvar/Sever and included distinct districts with historically Suvar Bulgarian population, i. e. the later Chernihaw and Hursa (Sl. Kursk), the Kursk regions and a part of the Orel region. It also contained a southern part of the Mahilew region. Toward the end of the 12th century, the Shamlyn (future Smolensk) and Sever principalities captured Kyiv and kept it until the Mongol time.

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The first records of (Rus) annals mention the main ethnic components of the nomadic federates were the Türks (Torks) who lived on the right and left banks of the Dnieper on the Rus fringes. From the 1080 to the 1146, when the Ros' nomadic union of the Kara Kalpaks (Black Kalpaks, Sl. Cherny Klobuk) was first mentioned, eight records of the Ipatiev annals mention the Türks (Torks).

S.A. Pletneva somewhat uncritically follows consensus that the Rus' annalistic Torks are generic Oguz Türks. But the established Russian academic consensus has a proven record of being at times false and dogmatic, and beyond repair even with a tradition of re-writing history every two decades. There is an alternate opinion, by O.Suleymenov, that the Rus' annalistic Torks come from the Türkic word "torkin" with a meaning "tribe of the wife". O.Suleymenov also states that the "tribe of the wife" were Oguzes. Unlike Bulgars and Khazars, the Oguzes were outsiders and tie-breakers in the eastern Europe. They were called in ca. 660 by the Khazars to help to take over from the Bulgars the hegemony in the Eastern Europe, and by the Bulgars and Rus to defeat the Khazars in 965, and by the Rus to fight the Bulgars in 985, and then against Badjanaks, and then against Kipchaks. Every one of the hundreds Rus princes had an Oguz father-in-law, or a daughter-in-law, or both, to secure the "torkin" support in fighting off other pretenders for his possessions. The Oguz grandfathers traditionally were bringing up their grandsons. In Türkic traditions, all these Rus princes were members of the (Türkic) family on a junior, vassalage level. Under these conditions, the pretense about the Rus princes allowing Oguzes to settle on the fringes of their puny domains is a severe stretch of patriotic imagination.

The Badjanaks, whom the chronicler placed only in the Ros area, are mentioned in seven records. The third component described in the (Rus) annals only 4 times were Berendeys. About the origin of the Türks (Torks) and Badjanaks the chronicler gives very detailed information, but on Berendeys till the 1097, when they are mentioned in the annals only in passing, alongside two other ethnoses, nothing is written. Whence they arrive in the Ros area almost simultaneously with and Türks (Torks)?

S.A. Pletneva seems to confuse the history of the people with the history of the Rus annals. The Oguz Türks did not appear in the Eastern Europe together with Berendeys and Badjanaks, there is a 300 years space between the Oguzes and Badjanaks in Eastern Europe, way more than between Columbus and a steam engine. O.Suleymenov suggests that Berendeys is a codename for the Suvarian clan Baryn, Türkic "Baryndy" being akin to "Barynians", literally "belonging to Baryn (clan, tribe)". We know Suvars from the Ptolemaic times (before 148 AD), they occupied territory of the present Chernihiv Province in the Ukraine, called Karadjar in Bulgarian, where "Kara" was translated to Slavic as "Chern", i.e "Black", and "djar" was translated to Slavic as "glav" > now "gov", i.e. "head".

Because the annals retell the story about blinding of prince Vasilek, a leading role in which played Torchin (i.e. "from the wife's tribe", vs "the Türk) by the name Berendya, the (Russian) scientists repeatedly, referring to it, were coming to a conclusion that Berendeys were a Türkic (Torks) clan (kuren). It is very possible, because among the Oguz clans the Arabic sources also list a clan Bayandur ( Bayan Ashide of the Chinese annals, Ashide being a co-ruling clan with the Kok-Türkic better known clan Ashina. Tribe Boyan/Bayan is known from Eastern Hun's time, 3-2 c. BC. Tonyukuk was a prince from Ashide clan). Though, by other eastern sources, Bayandur was a Kipchak clan (clan Ashide was a ruling clan/tribe of Yuezhi-Tocharians, who were known in the Rus annals under a name Toksoba/Toksobiches, and as a royal clan they led and could be found among many different constituents of the Hunnish/Türkic Kaganates). Anyway, the Berendeys spread widely across the Rus. In addition to the Ros area (which, in S.A.Pletneva's descriptions, was a royal domain of the Türkic states), they even settled one of the areas in the Vladimir-Suzdal land, evidenced by the toponymic names: Berendeev settlement, station Berendeevo, Berendeevo bog. Apparently, they got there during Yury Dolgoruky and Andrey Bogolübsky's wars for a seat in Kyiv, i.e. significantly later after the first decades of their stay on the lands "bestowed" to them by Rus Princes.

S.A. Pletneva book was printed in 120,000 copies, and at least dozens of thousands were read and absorbed. In contrast, the O.Suleymenov book was confiscated as soon as it hit the bookstores, and briskly converted to freshly recycled paper. You be the judge on whose side the truth is. Click here about Berendeys by O.Suleymenov for that "given to them by Rus Princes".

In the formation of a nomadic barrier a big role played the same active, clever and far-sighted Rus Prince Vladimir Vsevolodich Monomah. In any case, all first references to these nomads are connected with his name. The beginning of of the formation of a barrier belongs to the end of the 1070es, and it lasted for a long time; for several decades the Rus border zone was being replenished with new kurens, who migrated here from the Kipchak steppe (i.e. who continued to use their hereditary pastures suddenly predatory clamed by aggressive and greedy newcomers).

The alternate view is given by O.Suleymenov: The (Rus) Prince, as a rule, is a patriot of only his possessions. The great, glorious, adored by chroniclers and academies, a doer for Rus Vladimir Monomakh (1113-1125) was the first who brought Kipchaks to the Rus lands, to capture the Polotsk principality. Just one Monomakh brought them 19 times, and all the Olgovitches, including grandfather and the grand son, did it 151 times. Now you can tell me again with a straight face about him setting up the border guards.

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In the 1103 after a victory of Rus troops over Kipchaks at the river Sutin, on a return way, Vladimir, in addition to the captured Kipchak, took in the steppe and brought to the Rus "Badjanaks and Türks with forts". The same, apparently, also took place in the 1117 after the departure of "White Forters" (i.e. Sarkel people) from the Don to the Rus. The Sarkel people established a fortress town in the Chernihiv border zone, surrounding it by their former allies, Badjanaks and Türks, defeated by the Kipchaks at the old Sarkel in the 1116. Apparently the nomads, resettling in the "boundary" lands, could not only to coach the year around in the small territory allocated to them, but also had to use their routes from the winter quarters to the summer quarters, i.e, as though coaching by a second form of coaching. However, they already mostly lead a settled way of life and a shepherd economy, with primary businesses of horse and sheep breeding. And in those conditions, developed in the border zone, they would hardly be inclined to engage in agriculture. Because there, they lived intermixed with Rus agricultural population brought (like chattel) by Vladimir Svyatoslavich while constructing fortifications along the rivers Ustrie, Trubej, Sula and Stugna, who populated them with "the best men" from Slovenes, Kriviches, Vyatiches and even Chud (i.e. Slavs, Lithuanians, Finnish Udmurts, and even Finnish Veps ["Chud" Sl. "Stranger", Slavic moniker for the Finnish Veps]. The same also did Yaroslav, putting fortresses on r. Ros. N.E.Brandenburg and other archeologists, in addition to the nomadic kurgans, found and excavated kurgans belonging to the Slavic population (they must have personally interviewed the deceased to determine that they are Slavs). The economic symbiosis of this population that, certainly, engaged in agriculture around the towns they populated, with the recent nomads, the skilful cattlemen, was a distinctive feature of the economy in the southern border areas.

With the Princes "giving" the lands to the Türks, Badjanaks and Berendeys, in the first decades of populating these lands (by a mix of multi-ethnic subjugated slaves they indiscriminately called Slavs), the relations were very uneven. The nomads, naturally, wanted a confederacy, a status of independence and actual equality with Rus princedoms. The Princes, and first of all Vladimir Monomah, did not want to allow that in any form. Being still a young princeling, he on behalf of his father drove to obedience the rebelling Türks, and that was also repeated in the 1121, when he again has banished the nomads from the Rus: "booted out ... Berendeys ... and Türks and Badjanaks run away". Evidently, the Vladimir's actions were very severe if the nomads, without pressing, left from the frantic prince (with their herds, which needed to be continuously fed in an orderly manner).
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The only form of mutual relations which the Rus Princes demanded was a vassalage. Apparently, anyway, a part of nomads was accepting these conditions for the (pasture) land: they became vassals of the suzerains, the Kyiv, Pereyaslavl and Chernihiv princedoms. In the 1126, when Vladimir died, Kipchaks campaigned against the Pereyaslavl land with an intent to capture the Türkic forts. From that follows that in the 1121 not all Türks "fled away" from Vladimir. The message is also interesting because it points the exact site of the Türkic forts: at the town Baruch approximately 20 kms north of Pereyaslavl, and also because during the attack the Türks together with Ruses hid behind the walls of the town.

The above patriotic panegyric projects the imperial power of Moscow, appointed a Grand Principality by the Kipchak Kanaate Khan ... into the .... past time more than 300 years, into a completely different psychology, environment, and country. Who were these Ruses: Dane Vikings ruling the local multi-ethnic population, or the Bulgarian Türks from the Dulo clan continuing in a splinter statelet the legacy of the Hunnish empire? What were the "Rus regiments" colonizing the cities and countryside? A blend of subsistence Slovene peasants and Udmurt and Veps subsistence hunters facing the professional Türkic armies, or the local Türkic armies facing the other invading Türkic armies?

The official version is so self-contradictory that it continues eliciting objections even from its most ardent partisans, and S.A.Pletneva's work is a nice example, with its multitude foresights and reinterpretations. You do not need to open a can of worms here to have a can of worms; the worms jump out at you as soon as the official line is elucidated, with every fact reputedly proving the doctrine doing more to disprove it.

Drumbeat, invincible...

The most powerful of the Suvarian clans, the clan Baryn, suddenly becomes invaders in their own land, and the colonizer, reportedly brought in to be hired as to maintain peace and provide impartial adjudication for the infighting tribes' population, instead mans with their bodies a conquest for his private family affairs, subjugating his neighbors that never needed this middleman pacifier.

The principle of federalism is consensus and "live yourself and let others to live", while what S.A.Pletneva calls "Rus" and "knyaz" is instead driven to enslave and turn people to vassalage.

Then, during a quarter of a century, these settling nomadic groups almost do not appear in the pages of the main Rus annalistic collections. An exception is a brief mentioning of Badjanaks, when in the 1142 during the conflict of Vsevolod Olgovich with his brothers that prince used them as an additional force.

From the 1146 begun almost annual records about the actions of the Ros area vassals of the Kyiv Princes, united, as recorded in that year, in a new formation called by the chronicler "Kara Kalpaks" (Black Kalpaks, Black Hats, Sl. "Cherny Klobuks", where "Klobuks" is a Türkic term for a "hood" hat). The record is especially interesting because the Kara Kalpaks are already vassals of Izyaslav, who was then reigning in the Kyiv seat (and these so called "vassals" decide who is to be the Prince). The role of the Kyiv prince as Kara Kalpaks suzerain was emphasized in the laconic message of the chronicler about the death of the prince Izyaslav Mstislavich in the 1154.

So, for the lands given to them in the Ros area, the Kara Kalpaks were obliged to the Kyiv prince with a military service (and what's the difference with the Türkic Kaganates?). In the years of the subsequent half century they loyally served him. The Kyiv prince had wars with Kipchaks who were pressing the southern borders of his princedom, and with all princes pretending to Kyiv and to the "great seat". They were swearing an oath not with an abstract "Kyiv prince", but to the specific persons occupying the Kyiv seat. Especial popularity had Izyaslav.

Reading between S.A.Pletneva's lines, Izyaslav was among favorite son-in-laws, and Kara Kalpak rulers were protecting their grandkids and their property. Each of the other "pretenders" was also a son-in-law of some Türkic clan advancing his interests.

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In fights against Yury Dolgoruky, Izyaslav lost the Kyiv more than once, but the Black Kalpaks as a rule remained loyal to him (vassals). Though, Yuryevich, arriving to Yury in Suzdal in the 1149, was asking him to set out against Izyaslav, motivating that "I've heard esm, all the Rus land wants you, and Black Kalpaks" (PSRL, II, p. 373). But these were only the rumors amplified by the Rostislav's intrigues (a polite way to say that Rostislav lied, and annals reported the lie, but historians take it for real). In practice in the 1050 to Izyaslav "came.. all Black Kalpaks with pleasure with all their army" (PSRL, II, p. 396). During all this intense struggle the Black Kalpaks only once really abandoned Izyaslav: mindful of Yury, they suggested: "Prince! His forces are great, and you have few men... Do not ruin us, and yourself don't be ruined, but you are our prince, when you are strong, we are with you, but nowadays is not your time, go away... " (PSRL, II, p. 401). Izyaslav retreated, but in the same year he attempted again to seize Kyiv. With their support and, certainly, with the help of the Kyivans Izyaslav gained a victory (in the 1151) over Yury and settled in the Kyiv seat. After the death of Izyaslav, prince Rostislav took over the vacant seat, and the chronicler specifically notes: " ...everybody was greeting him, the all the Rus land and all the Black Kalpaks were glad" (PSRL, II, p. 470). Probably, that meant that this time they swore to Rostislav (from a less imperial point, that means that they accepted Rostislav over other pretenders). And they again truly served their Kyiv suzerain. Only a most numerous of the Black Kalpaks hordes of the federation, the Berendeys (clan Baryn, the previous sovereigns and rightful rules of the Karadjar principality) sometimes started independent "political games", trying to serve first of all their interests. So, already during the time of the Rostislav's successor prince Mstislav, to whom they also swore allegiance, his brother Vladimir tried to fight against him. The mercenaries refused to support Vladimir's claims, and he turned to Berendeys, when he met their caravan "below Rostovets" (in the area of Ros' sources). Berendeys initially agreed to help the prince, for a decent pay, but after a musing refused, saying: "You came alone and without your people (without an army - S.P.), and аrå seducing us, and for us is better to lose other's heads then ours" (PSRL, II, p. 536), i.e. let the others perish in fights, instead of the Berendeys. Then they started shooting at prince and even wounded him with two arrows, after which the angry Vladimir complained: "... God forbid to believe these nasty pagans, and I already risked the soul and life" (PSRL, II, p. 537).
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The chronicler testified that Kalpaks were trustworthy, they were considerably more honest vassals, than the Rus feudal lords, who immediately after "kissing the cross" began hatching intrigues and sending to the Rus land the horde armies of allied Kipchaks. So, in the second half of the 12th century the Kyiv princes used the Ros area as one of the most loyal possessions whose population was always ready for campaigns and defense.

It is fascinating that her analysis, just like the Russian officialdom, totally ignores the people in the territories, and addresses only in terms of the land territory. The honest, and loyal Kara Kalpaks, who were risking their lives for their forked-tongue allies, and whose history S.A.Pletneva is telling, would see that history totally differently.

In spite of that since the 1140es all nomads living in the Ros confederated into a union, i.e. made a first step toward forming a new ethnic nationality (or, better, a political federation of Turkic people), actually they during their whole life in the Ros area clearly remembered what ethnic group each clan belonged originally. Moreover, the number of the ethnic names in the Kara Kalpak union gradually grew; and grew the nomadic vassal population living on the fringes of the Pereyaslavl and Chernihiv princedoms. Besides the (Oguz) Türks and the Berendeys, frequently mentioned in the Ipatiev annals as independent, separate associations even after creation of the union, the chronicler also named Badjanaks (in the 1151 and 1162), Kouys (in the 1151, 1162, 1170, 1185), Turpeys (1150), Kaeps (1160), Basts (1170es). The last name is especially interesting, because consecutive annalistic records about them allowed to track the process of forming that ethnic group. So, the first records mention separating from the Berendey (Suvar-Bulgarian clan Baryn) clan of the "Basty people", i.e. a big ail (village, extended family) of a rich Bay or even a Khan Basty. Later the chronicler simply calls them "Bastyes". This process of separating from a big mass of a new small ethnic formation receiving a name from the head of the family or kuren, was, probably, characteristic for steppe-dwellers. Through this process went on the formation of many steppe groupings arising unexpectedly on the pages of the medieval chronicles. Seems very probably that this is how the Berendeys separated from the Oguz (Tork) hordes. In the 1097 the annals mention an Oguz (Tork) Berendya. It is clear that not this Berendya was a founder of many thousands-strong Berendey horde, because he was only as a "sheep-watcher" for prince Svyatopolk, but the fact of existence of that name between the (Oguz) Türks is established, and it can't be excluded that an ail of some rich and noble Berendi became a nucleus for a numerous strong and extremely politically active Berendeys (the reality is much simpler, any emigre from the Baryn clan would be a "Berendya" in foreign ethnic environment, whether Oguz Türks, Kipchaks, or Badjanaks).
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 After their expulsion by Vladimir Monomah in the 1121 from their boundary (for Vladimir) lands they appear again in the annalistic pages only 18 years later: the chronicler wrote, that in internecine war of Yaropolk (Yaropolk is a bilingual construction from Türk. "yar"="glory, adore, revere," and Slavic "polk"="militia, army", i.e. it is a Slavicized translation of the Türkic title-name Yarsub="Glorious Commander". "Yar" is a popular component for Türkic toponyms so remote from the Eastern Europe and so widespread that a suggestion of a Slavic borrowing into Türkic would be unrealistic. At the same time the presence of the word "yar" in all Slavic languages, and the richness of its derivatives complemented with its apparent absence from the other Baltic languages points that this word was introduced during the Attila times as a part of military-religious lexicon that distinguished the Slavic branch from the unimpacted Baltic peoples) with Vsevolod Olgovich to the Yaropolk aid came 30 thousand Berendeys sent by the Hungarian king (Béla II, 1131-1141). It is quite possible that it was the same grown up on the Danube pastures horde. The Kyiv prince in need for aid gave again them the pasture land in the Ros area, and since then the Berendeys became a most active part of the Rus vassal nomads. The 1139 message about Berendeys is one of the few messages in the Rus annals to have quantitative characteristics of the nomads participating in the campaigns. Usually the chronicler used emotional definitions: "multitude", "many" and "like hogs". Clear, that naming such a significant figure the chronicler meant not the number of soldiers, but the number of the whole Berendey population (somewhat dubious presumption). Demographic calculations have shown that the approximate ratio of fighters to the other population during the Middle Age epoch was 1 : 5. Accepting that from the Hungary came 30 thousand soldiers, this leads to the assumption that all Berendeys had not less than 150 thousand people. But it is hardly possible: the territories in the Pannonia and in the Ros area were very small and such a large number of population could not be placed there, remembering that they were accompanied by the herds without which the nomads could not exist (An assessment of the trajectory and demography of the Baryn ind its allied tribesdoes not exist yet).

Anna Comnenus wrote about 30 thousand Badjanaks (with children, women, old men), taken into captivity by the emperor Alexius Comnenus after his victory. Expecting that the majority of the Badjanak's fighters perished in battle, Badjanaks had no more than 35 thousand. Probably, we can confidently state that 30-40 thousands was an average size of any nomadic horde.

This is a good demographic start, dropped right away. From other sources we know that ail was a family group of 8-10 families coaching together along their annual route. A family had 5-6 people. To support one family, they needed 30-60 heads of live inventory.

One ail thus would have something like 40 to 60 people, 30-40 carts, 10-15 yurts, 300 to 600 heads of live inventory, and need from 15 km2 to 30 km2, or 5x3 km to 5x6 km pasture for each season, and allowing for 5 seasonal posts, a total of 75 to 150 km2.

A 30,000-strong horde would consist of 600 ±150 ails with 25,000 ±10,000 carts, 8,000 ±2,000 yurts, equipped with 300,000 ±150,000 heads of live inventory, and need 300x300 ±30% km space for pastures, not including non-productive territories, i.e a hypothetical meridional strip of 100km wide and 1,000 km long.

With a lifespan of 50 years, this horde would produce around 600 burials a year, with a half probably concentrated in the winter stans, a quarter in the summer posts, and the rest along the route.

These numbers should also reflect the burden of maintenance this wheeled legion, the wheel makers that had to produce 30,000 wheels a year, lumber suppliers, smiths, arms production etc.

The Ipatiev annals recorded twice more the Berendeys participating in the military campaigns: in the 1172 1,500 soldiers, in the 1184 2,100. These are quite real figures corresponding to the number of Berendeys living in the Ros area, because it is obvious that in both cases (individual raids against Kipchaks) the Berendeys provided not all of their military contingent which probably had 5,000-6,000 men.
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In the Ros area Berendeys occupied relatively huge territories. The annals tell that they settled down in upper course of Ros, around Rus city of Rostovets. There were their forts and even small small towns, probably not too strongly fortified, since in the 1177 six "Berendich cities" were easily taken by Kipchaks who were taking cities very seldom, though they frequently besieged them. Besides, Berendeys are mentioned in the 1105, in the description of a Kipchak's campaign on Zarub. i.e. before their expulsion by Vladimir: "... Bonyak came in the winter to Zarub and Oguz Türks and Berendeys won". Their forts stood intermixed in the Dnieper valley along the travel road to Zarub. Bonyak took them on his way.

The Badjanaks settled in the lands in upper course of Rossava (left tributary of Ros). The Oguz Türks possessions were in the central areas of the Ros course. Already at the end of the 11th century there was a city of Torchesk on the site of the ancient Scythian fortress. The nomads in general, when settling, liked to use the ancient fortifications for their settlements. Usually they only rebuilt them a little, and on the ancient bulwark raised wooden palings covered with clay. So also did the Oguz Türks. The Scythian fortresses usually were very big. Torchesk occupied the whole area of the ancient fortress and certainly was a large medieval settlement, however it was populated sparesly, the buildings were light, above the surface, most likely they were felt yurts. In the city they were arranged not by streets, but by "nests" (yards). Every "nest" probably belonged to one extended family, an ail. One yard was separated from another by sometimes a large space free from the buildings, because it is known that cattlemen prefer to keep most valuable cattle (thoroughbred horses) and youngsters near their dwellings. Probably, each yard belonged to a large family, called by the chroniclers "fort" ("veja"). No forts in the city or in the steppes were specially fortified with solid constructions, but typical for them was the arrangement of the yurts along the perimeter of a circle, in the center of which was the yurt of a head of a family. Along the external perimeter of the circle in the steppe were assembled the carts tied to each other, and in the city, probably, were installed wattle fences similar to the wattle fences around the Cossacks' court yards. Thus, Ruses called ail yards forts, i.e. fortifications, not without a reason. Probably, to get inside the fort-yard was very difficult.
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The Oguz Türk forts were also scattered outside the Oguz Türks' fortifications, because pasturing cattle in a very small territory, the cattlemen had to be constantly with the herds, both in the summer and in the winter, driving them from place to place so that the grass in the pastures was not nipped off and completely trodden, and the pastures were able to restore.

Kouys were the fourth in size (and importance) ethnic group in the Kara Kalpak union. The site of their forts and pastures in the 1150-1170 of the 12th century is established only indirectly. The matter is that they constantly act together with Türks, Berendeys and Badjanaks in the Kara Kalpak framework. As this union was formed and located in the territory of the Ros area, it is logical to assume that Kouys lived in the same place, where also were other ethnic groups of this union. However, under 1185 the chronicler repeatedly mentions the special group of this ethnos naming it "Chernihiv Kouys". Hence, besides the Ros area, Kouys have in that decade stretched their forts and pastures also in the Chernihiv princedom: on its borders, and, probably, even in part in the vicinities of the Chernihiv, on the wide Desna river valley.

As to turpeev and kaepichej both these small ethnos lived, probably, on perejaSlavsko-cheriigovskom a border zone as are mentioned in the annals in connection with the military actions conducted by Princes against each other in territory of these princedoms. Other, more weighty proofs about a place of their dwelling at us are not present.
It is necessary to tell, that, besides these ethnic groups listed in the Ipatiev annals, vassal Rus, we can count after large Soviet Türkologist P.A.Baskakovym any formed connections listed in "the Word about regiment Igoreve" mogutov, tatranov, shelbirov, topchakov, to a roar - gov and olberov. Baskakov fairly assumes, that it were names bolynesemejnyh collectives (ails), same what was Basteeva chad (Baskakov, 1985, p. 128-137). Under 1159 in the annals upomipaetsja Olb-
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er (Ľ*íóÓ?) SHeroshevot (druodshsht kejazja Motosdava). It shdodervdae? shjutezu Ng 4* ü*ßÞÞ«óá that in "Having handed over" dejstovtedsh) aerechiejaeay droizvodvsh t a neck own jaazvashgja separate vavsajanyh ails. From Them przh favorable circumstances could elojattsja and larger obedvjaeshsh. Listed and "Szhovv" families belonged, it is probable » the richest of vaeea-llamas Chernigov zhnjazja ^ already begun{started} to be allocated from © ˆ shch§j weights vassal pograndaiyh cattlemen » quite probably - jv environments of Kouys » jurkov.
Taknn in the image, slezshy process etnoobraaovanija constantly proceeded excited jae only free wall © vedzhavshja » mo already poluosvvnshh wait even completely osetshzhzh for nomads. It is typical, that otot process for » shshtashet ae only in merge of fine groups, but in allocation mz the old for a long time developed *Ô¡«ßá of small groupings » veredho pererastavshih in new ztno-ei « Przh it cultural tradshchjazh, cult obrjadi, § {shchshja bit culture varied rather неаначительно* In essence in the Ros area » where it has been dug out much kochev-ietvokizh barrows, we could reveal only two ceremonies; Badjanak's in Turkic, majao otjapchavshzhesja from each other (Pletnev, 1973). Both peoples buried the pokojnzhzhov heads on zshad, stack them on epinu I accompanying simultaneously vahoronennshch a scarecrow of a horse, from votorogo sozhrazhjajuteja I am usual vznuzdannyj a skull, kostzh the legs{foots} which have been cut off more often on pjastnyj su-staa, prints storm with tail pozvonkami. This obrzhd testifies about polzhem preservation kultivirovanii in Dorosje vsadnicheskih traditions. Those insignificant differences which, obviously, were and in ritual, sh to a life razinzh chernokdobutskih ethnoses » In everyone shute sink in them, arzheologacheesh them ujaovzht sh udaatsja.
All etshcheenzhe processes protekalsh in tesnejshej вдаи-мо0 « jazzh with economic raavzhtzhvm social ieme » nennjamn. We un « spoke, that with simyzh the first years of occurrence of hordes of Torks shch sh limits of Russian nogranichja nomads have been compelled to change Badjank sharply stand economy, actually perejdja from a coaching to settled pastushestvu. However as in military orgaazhaa-tsizh the horseshoes (horsemen, luchniki and so forth), trjzh and in economy and a bat the former traditions of a nomadism produced by centuries were kept. Under 1155 g, in the story jaetodshshcha in struggle Ishcheaasha JUrsh for Kyiv chervoklobushchshe voshchin shchshchajaja to worry about 6*á « jaaezhshshch ostav-zhnnazh them on Rosi families and tshtshu © a hedgehog » externally eogjaapshjao сл0ШИ1ь heads for EDjaelava in « about rodiju » have resolutely declared all, that wish to take away « to a fort evoe, I wives the, children the herds the and vig © the the expert - go, popdem to Kyiv » (PSRL, II, with, 427), i.e. under protection and under protection of Russian armies and cities. And it is valid, there has come to vicinities of Kyiv « with forts sh with stady and cattles zhh much mjaozheotvo, p a landmark » a dirty trick stvorjala... manastyri otorgosha and seda shzhi> « sha and kitchen gardens of forts posekosha » (PSRL, 11 » with. 428), unfortunately, ve © it was inevitable - family should live, zhech fires, the main thing, flocks cattle, 0то has finished city with a distress, but Izjasdav due to a congestion ravtooIraajayh numerous armies around of city has won Jury, privedshi »! To Kyiv Kipchaks who even « on edrezhe © have let » I ran in the hotel » As far as I » was known to the annals, in spite of ga the doubtless help black kjaobukov to the sjuzerenu » more such expensive for Kyivljan mistakes Kyiv the Prince not dovgusmajaja, obvious » 1 szhu-chshe danger " black Kalpaks poetushzhzh obshjazho so, ka « in 1150, namely « wives the and children the in cities shut on Porosji, and iriehasha to êá*ß½áóÒ veema by own strength » (PORL "II" e, 400).
Both atzh messages are interesting to that they testify, in - aervmh » about sohrajaeshsh pervzhchjayzh household forms of existence (in forts with herds) and, second, © sheoshshvvsh occurrence azhtzhviom zhepdlzovanshsh osedzhyh ukreplfnnyzh settlements (small towns), t. In, about daivavshi kazhoj settled way of life, every year all bojave and more krepdshch zhzh svjazzh with rusekshi boundary naee put, In Poroev notal endadyvatjeja bsht, are characteristic! Subsequently for cossacks » Men byzhzh always gvtovm h voejaiym dozheshcham, pa women faktvcheoki the economy kept veja, and children (malyshki) shvmshjetva voshiuyvshchshe in spirit udalstva and leadvicheett, were expressed Communication{Connection} with Russian population first of all in obivav by the products received from the basic branch to economy (cattle changed on zhdaeb), Erom © that, on Russian cities in forts shish some subjects rvmvedavzhogo pretivod-F » and, osob§javo it is often © gozhchariogo, In Badjanak's and torchv-« and! Burials Poroeja quite often come across obkganye rusezhiv a pot. Veeusjashno, besides áÓ*ñ¼ « « mothers - alshoL kudturm, "eksportnrovjdos" in the Ros area and hri-
 

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stianstvo, however here, among rallied in the uniform union strong connected by traditions, it filtered thin strujkami. Steadily Tengrian (pagan) funeral ceremony which adhered Ros area shepherds down to mongolo-tatar invasion testifies to it.

It was different with the boundary population of the Chernihiv and Pereyaslavl princedoms. The nomads much more dissolved in the surrounding Rus population: pinpointing them archeologically is impossible. Apparently, the overwhelming majority of the Oguz Türks and Kouys accepted Christianity and their burials do not differ from the Rus' burials, and were in the common cemeteries. This is the case, for example, with the Sarkel (White Fort on Don) cemetery where the nomad burials are between the Sarkel Christians and were also Christian (otherwise they would not be allowed to be in the Christian cemetery ). Probably just in case, in one of the tombs was laid as stirrup, in another (in the fill) a head of a horse, in a third the horse legs and some objects, etc. Probably on the other borders of Rus the recent nomads, burying their relatives, did the same, but the Christian cemeteries are not usually excavated, and consequently the archeologists cannot find similar traces of a Tengrian (pagan)ism in the Christian ritual.

The mindset of the narrator and her interpretations are mind-boggling.

First, a bland interchangeability of the political term Rus with the ethnic constituency and religious affiliation. The native population, that might or might not had even included some Slavic migrants, is classed as "Rus", i.e. "Christian Slavs", in opposition to the "nomads", the "Oguz Türks and Kouys". As she says, there is no way to tell the difference, certainly not without a use of some science like DNA and blood groups and forensic anthropology. Without scientific backing, these inferences are only pseudo-scientific chauvinistic speculations.

Secondly, the native population already contained a well-documented notable presence of ethnically diverse Christians centuries before the "coming of Rus" and Kyiv Prince Vladimir's state baptism of the Rus in 998.

Thirdly, Vladimir could have had baptized only the non-Christian population, and not the Türkic or Viking inhabitants. Thus, Vladimir started the roll in the Kyiv principality under his direct control, leaving any other Slavs in their pristine state. Any immigrant Slavs who reached Karadjar (Chernihiv) and Pereyaslavl (which was a military forepost in the natives' territory, peopled with a mixture of Finnish and Baltic peoples), would not be detectable at all if the y continued their previous undetectable funeral customs.

Thus, aside from the historical pretensions, the only conclusion that can be made is that the indigenous populace of the Karadjar - Chernihiv ulus 150 km NE of Kyiv, and of the Pereyaslavl ulus (nowadays Pereyaslav-Khmelnitskyi) 70 km SE of Kyiv, were already Christian independent of the religious affairs taking place in Kyiv.

Connected by strong vassal relations with the feudal state, the Kara Kalpaks were fast feudalizing. The backbone of their society was an ail (a big family). Its members included servants from other impoverished families and even domestic slaves. Rich families reached very big sizes and were becoming new ethnic units. Ail was not only a social form of existence, but also in a greater degree a major economic unit, because for a big collective to run a shepherd economy was more favorable. The necessity of such unions was made more important because all young men of each family had always been obliged to participate in any war of the suzerain, i.e. they did not have an opportunity to constantly participate in the economic activities of family. Undoubtedly, existed a strong economic stratification inside the Kara Kalpak union. It comes to light clearly when archeologists analyze the inventory found in the burials together with diseased. First of all is evident the difference between burials with the remains of a horse and without them.
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Both types of the burials are synchronous and made under kurgans, i.e. in the Tengrian (pagan) rite, therefore the difference in the ceremony can be confidently explained by the wealth inequality of the diseased. The burials without remains of horses certainly belonged to the poorest part of the population. Many of them are accompanied by a small knife, a pot and a flintstone with a flintflake. Sometimes instead of horse parts (effigy) was thrown a bridle of which remained the iron bits. Such burials in the Ros area represent about 25 % of the total number of the excavated complexes.

The burials with horse effigys are far from being identical in the amount, variety and wealth of accompanying inventory. Usually the finds are very limited: except for saddled and bridled effigy of a horse, with men were laid the same knives, flintstone, grindstones, and with women were laid earrings, mirrors, individual beads and so forth. The burials of the soldiers belong to another category, with remains of bows and quivers with arrows. The third category of burials is represented by man's burials with a full set of weaponry, i.e., except for a bow and arrows, there were laid spears and most expensive weapon ordinarily passed on to descendents, the saber. The richest (individual) burials are marked not only by rich decoration of the weapons and harness (usually silver embossment or carved bone), but also by defensive armor: iron helmets, sometimes complex visors in a shape of nicely forged masks, chain armors, and also silver and gold ornaments and vessels.

Thus, the structure and quality of finds allow us to speak about very clear stratification of the Kara Kalpak society into a few economic and apparently social categories: horseless poor men (shepherds), bowmen soldiers, heavy cavalry soldiers, and, at last, soldiers belonging to the top Kara Kalpak aristocracy. Almost all categories of the Kara Kalpak society and army are reflected in the annalistic records. Bowmen are called "youth". Usually they were really young shooters whose duty in fight was a first barrage on the enemy and luring him in ambushes under a false retreat. The heavily armored soldiers were called the "best men", a part of them anyway was from the most noble families related to that part of the society.
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The aristocrats, like the Kipchak's Khans, were called (by the Rus annals) Princes. However, the annals have not preserved almost any data on them. Besides, the chronicler generally prefers to not name the names of the Kara Kalpak warriors. Exceptions are rare: these are three Berendeys - Tudor Satmazovich, Karakoz Mnüzovich, Karas Kokay (1159), then Bastiy (1170), Küldürey, Churnay and Kuntuvdey (1183, 1190, 1192).

About Kuntuvdey, definitely called "Oguz Türkic Prince", the annals retained some biographic data. In the 1190 on false report the Kyiv Grand Duke Svyatoslav (Barys Lachini 945-972, also titled Rus Kagan modestly not mentioned by the author who replaced his title with the Russified one) seized and incarcerated him in "cellar". The co-ruler of Svyatoslav, Rürik (Lachyn, actually his father, 855-882), released the Türkic prince, because "this man is brave and needed to the Rus". Kuntuvdey could not endure the "shame" and fled to the steppe to the Kipchak's Khan Togly. "Kipchaks were glad and started planning with him, where to attack the Rus land" (PSRL, II, pp. 668-669). The first campaign of Kuntuvdey with Kipchaks was directed on the small town Churnaev (Slavic rendition of possessive case, akin to Churnay's, where Churnay is a Türkic proper name) in the Ros area, which was taken and burnt, and two wives of Churnay and his household were captured, then they went to Borovoy (Slavic translation of the Türkic name Shushma or Dokh), but, learning that in Torchesk (i.e. "Türchesk" from the Slav pronunciation of the Türk as Tork) is Rürik 's son Rostislav (its original Türkic form was close to Rusiyar, Rus reflecting the clan's name, and "yar"=Slav. "slav", i.e. "glory") they turned back into the steppe. Judging from the direction of this campaign, where actually suffered only Churnay, it is possible to think that exactly this prince, or "best man", had slandered Kuntuvdey and because of him started this quarrel of the suzerain with his vassal.

In the winter Khan Togliy (Itogdy) with Akush and Kuntuvdey again fell upon the Ros area. The Kipchaks headed by Togliy unexpectedly from a caught captive found out that Svyatoslav with an army stays in a small town Kuldeyurev (again, a Slavic rendition of possessive case, akin to Kuldey's, where Kuldey is a Türkic proper name, the proprietor of the town disfigured into the name of a town that made to sound Slavic), and rushed to flee, and the Kipchaks that went with Kuntuvdey reached the Tovariy (another Slavic rendition of a Türkic name, "tovar"="goods, wealth, mostly cattle", i.e. the town was an established fairgrounds, this word in the townname takes a prominent place in the today's Russian vocabulary), but also had to retreat, but the ice on the river Ros gave way, and many perished and were taken prisoner, but "Kuntuvdey escaped", the concludes chronicler. In the 1192 all summer long the Kyiv princes stood with troops at Kanev (Türkic "Kan's/Khan's/Kagan's", evidently a seasonal camp or a demesne, called in Rus annals "fort", of the Kan, who could be the a newly established Rus Kagan, or his ancestry Kagans before the split, ~100 km downstream from Kyiv), guarding the lands. Evidently, Kuntuvdey did not leave them alone not for a month. Therefore in the winter of that year Rürik sent for Kuntuvdey to the Kipchaks. The Khan came with a big Kipchak entourage. The diplomatic Rürik did not allow himself to be angry with Kuntuvdey's mistrust of his word, he "presented Kipchaks with many gifts... and let them go back, and left Kuntuvdey with himself and gave him a town on river Ros Dveren, dividing the Rus land" (PSRL, II, p. 674). So the conflict was ended. This story is interesting because it repeatedly points not only to the existence of small towns, but also to their belonging to their certain (Türkic) persons: Küldurey, Churnay, and finally to the hero of the narration Kuntuvdey, who received in possession a fine Rus fort. Thus it is obvious that the rich Kara Kalpak aristocrats already preferred to settle in "small towns", apparently some feudal castles which, judging by Churnay, were occupied by one ail (family) of a Khan or a "best man".
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This story contains much more meat that the daring S.A.Pletneva spins out, and way more than the Russian standard historiographic version would allow to be spread. None of the story participants are Slavic: neither the heads of the clans, nor the ruler "Rürik" with shaved head with one lock hanging on both sides to signify his noble origin (like father, like son). The "vassalage" is a funny one: you do not force it, you buy it. Sounds more like a confederation, a typical Türkic confederation. And if you try to force, you will have to spend a fortune keeping a mercenary army for a year to guard your back, until you come to a reason. The father was a smart one, he was buried with his skull intact, but the son was infantile, and had his skull framed into a wine goblet. The "Rus cities" are really fortified households of the Türkic clans. To pacify me you need to give me a "town" to tax and space to pasture. And don't bother to try to tax me, its not in our books (see J Blum Lord and Peasant in Russia, 1961). Is the archeologist S.A.Pletneva inventing the vassalage story? No, she just blindly repeats the Russian official fairy tale.

So, at the Kara Kalpaks is clearly traced a social hierarchy coinciding with military in their militarized society. At the top were large aristocrats directly under a prince of the main city of a princedom where were such vassals. For example, in the 1185, preparing for a campaign against Konchak, Igor Novgorod-Seversky asked for the help to his suzerain, the Karadjar (Chernihiv) prince, and that gave him "Chernihiv Kouys". The Igor's authority did not allow him to take them into his army. After a multi-ethnic Kara Kalpak union consolidated, in the Ros area probably was a tense situation. The Khans of the three main hordes, the Oguz Türks, Badjanaks and (the Bulgarian/Suvarian) Berendeys had inevitably struggled for the leadership in the union. We already saw that each group wanted to act independently. Such instability was very handy for the Kyiv prince, because united under a power of a strong Khan the Kara Kalpaks at once would become a real danger for Rus. Therefore some disunity the Princes not only entertained, but also supported. However with increasing frequency, especially in a struggle against the Kipchak's threat, the joint forces of the Kara Kalpaks were needed. In the record of 1151 it is stated that Kara Kalpaks wanted to unite, and not directly under the authority of the Kyiv Prince, who at that time had to organize a defense of the Kyiv, but under the authority of his brother Vladimir. So for the first time appeared for the Kara Kalpaks their Rus prince, who was always in vassalage to the Kyiv Princes. Üury Dolgoruky, who seized Kyiv fir a few years, appointed prince Vasilko in the Ros area. The Ros area possessions were not hereditary. There were sent the most loyal to the Kyiv Boyars and young Princes, for one or several campaigns (for a few years), as a rule. The Black Kalpaks preferred these young, vigorous and mobile leaders.
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In the 1172 they told the Grand Duke: "Prince, do not come, it is proper for you to go with a great regiment... now send your brother that we like and a few Berendeys..." (PSRL, II, pp. 556 - 557). Gleb after that sent against Kipchaks his brother Mihalko with one hundred Pereyaslavls and 300 Berendeys. In the 1185 Svyatoslav and Rürik sent as a commander to the Kara Kalpaks for campaigns against Kipchaks a boyar Roman Nezdilovich, and in the 1190es a prince for the Kara Kalpaks was appointed a son of Rürik Rostislav (the first part of the name indicate a land lease property, for which an annual rent is paid, Slav. "rost"="interest", so Rostislav must have been a prince of a leased land, called "Rostov"s in Slavic, obligated to collect taxes from the indigenous settled population and render a portion of it to the landowner, Khazarian or Bulgarian Kagan, or maybe Kara Kalpak Grand Prince). He apparently already settled firmly in the Ros area: Torchesk became his permanent residence. The mother of Rostislav was a Kipchak, a daughter of Khan Veglük, who married Rürik in the 1163, therefore the propensity of this prince to live in the Ros area, where the life of the population retained nomadic traditions was natural (likely, Rostislav was brought up by his Kipchak maternal (katun) grandfather "baba" or "babay", Khan Veglük, who in the Türkic tradition had a right to bring up his grandson. The paternal grandfather had a different social role, and a different name, "ata"). The Ros area, with its original militarized life, an opportunity to distinguish in battle, to gain reliable allies-befrats among Kara Kalpak people, attracted the Rus warriors of all ranks. In this respect one richest Ros area kurgan burial near a village Tagancha (Türkic "taganchi"="cab-makers") is very interesting. It contained a man head to the West, together with him was laid a complete carcass of a horse. The inventory of the burial is very rich and various: remains of a bridle and a saddle, a saber, a spear, remains of a shield, a mace (Türkic bulava), chain armor, helmet, silver overlays and a silver bowl. The burial is dated by end of the 11th-12th century (1080-1200 AD). The funeral is clearly Tengrian (pagan), despite finding in the tomb of a medallion with Christ image.

However we cannot classify this burial as belonging to a rich Türkic warrior, because the measurements of his skull showed that it is Europoid, dolichocephalic, with traits of the "Mediterranean type". The characteristics of the skull allows class the diseased as belonging to the Rus princely family (evidenced by both Scandinavian dolichocrania, and the Greek Mediterranean admixture) (Pletneva, 1958, p. 185). Some specifics of the inventory confirm his difference from the nomadic (read: Türkic) burials. The nomads, including the Kara Kalpaks, did not use shields which remains were found with the soldier from Taganchi, they also did not use maces. Certainly also unusual was a find of Christian medallion, and moreover an early one, belonging to the 10th century, which, probably, meant a hereditary possession of this object for several generations.
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That burial raised umpteen hypotheses. Especially unusual seemed a Tengrian (pagan) rite for the burial of the Rus prince in the 12th century. Now it does not seem so improbable, because archeologists found a whole network of the Tengrian (pagan) sanctuaries dated from the 11th till the 13th centuries in the Carpathians foothills.

This is a most important evidence of the extreme stability of the Tengrian (pagan) traditions in the Rus in all layers of the society. Falling in the environment of the Tengrians (pagans), even the Rus Princes, judging by the Taganche burial, easily turned again to the Tengrianism (paganism), and consequently their Kara Kalpak mates (and possibly, also the wives?) buried them according to their Tengrian (pagan) religion. Thus, if this burial di not belong to Rostislav Rürikovich, then anyway to a likewise valiant prince who took on the difficult duties of the "middle vassal" of the Kyiv Prince in his relations with the Kara Kalpak nobles and warriors.

One burial does not reflect a true picture, but the description of the burial gives some indications:

1. Tengrianism was alive and robust in the N.Pontic till the 13th century.

2. Scandinavians held a patent for dolichocrania, and the Rus princes held a patent for Greek Mediterranean admixture.

3. Türkic nomadic society was multi-ethnic, multi-confessional, and genetically mixed.

4. Preconceived notions tend to nullify the value of the research.

The Ros area nomads were participants in the overwhelming majority of the Kyiv Princes military actions. In the 1140es-1150es these were the internecine fights in which Kipchaks as a rule participated on the side of the enemies of the Kyiv prince, and already by then the Kara Kalpak warriors not only acquired infuriated enemies in the steppes, but also learned to not be afraid to fight them. In the 1180es-1190es the Rus Princes constantly organized campaigns against the steppe-dwellers (i.e. primary Kipchaks, but also the Bulgarian, Suvarian and Alanian population that remained in their ancestral lands and became a victim of the aggressive expansion) and their reliable hands in these campaigns were Kara Kalpaks. The chronicler knows only two instances when those did not want to fight with Kipchaks. First it took place in the 1187, when Kara Kalpak warriors warned Kipchaks about the campaign of Svyatoslav and Rürik: "... they sent a message to their in-laws between the Kipchaks". The campaign failed. A second time the Kara Kalpaks in the 1192 simply refused to go against Kipchaks "saying that on the other side of the Dnieper live their in-laws". In both cases the motivation was the same: in the Kipchak horde on which the campaign was aimed the Kara Kalpaks had relatives - "in-laws", i.e. it is abundantly clear that they were taking Kipchak wives.

The archeological finds confirm that: among the excavated Badjanak tombs are female burials apparently belonging to the Kipchaks. Besides, there are also found male burials with a whole carcass of a horse (about 15 %), which is typical for the Kipchaks, and consequently, they belonged to the Kipchaks who joined the multi-ethnic Kara Kalpak union.
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However, the Rus Princes were gaining vassals among the Kipchaks not only between the Kara Kalpaks. Approximately in the same 1140es of the 12th century, when in the Ros area organized the Kara Kalpak union, in different areas of the Rus border zone were forming small associations (hordes?) which the Rus chronicler named "wild, Kipchaks". Academician B.A.Rybakov offered a convincing hypothesis about the origin of these new groupings. He counted the "Wild Kipchaks" the remains of the Kipchak's hordes defeated by Rus in the beginning of the century; and therefore they were called "wild", i.e. not belonging to any known large Kipchak federation in the steppes. In their character these new formations were similar to the Kara Kalpak union because they consisted of the ails (families) from various hordes and were not connected with each other by blood relations.

This self-serving hypothesis of the hurray-patriot and therefore academician B.A.Rybakov, as usual, draws a perverted picture: the invaders that occupy ingenuous territories and proclaim new "borders" for themselves are looked upon as a stationary force, and the natives all of a sudden become encroachers and assailants. On this background an academician can build plenty of patriotic scenarios, all with an equal value, a summary of which is then reprinted in a history textbook studied from Poland to Pacific.

In reality, all nomadic groups were united in a loose federation that they needed to resolve problems and provide mutual assistance and defence. These Kuman-Kipchak-Bulgar groups were voluntary associates of the union that provided them the best benefits for the least obligations. As described elsewhere in this book, these groups were more loyal than the ethics of the invader Rus force, but could switch sides if the demands of their superior ruler exceeded their fair obligations, they could engage in "de-electing" the rulers, or their loyalty could be bought by a competing ruler, including the Rus Kagan.

Unfortunately, the illustrious academicians rely on annalistic records not only for annalistic facts, but also for analytic evaluations, for which academically the literate monks were not properly trained.

The annals indicate that existed two groups of the "Wild Kipchaks". The first group probably occupied lands somewhere in a Don area steppe (between Oskol and Don or right along the Don). That group was politically connected with the princes of the Chernihiv Princedom and with Yury Dolgoruky. Among them were uncles of the prince Svyatoslav Olgovich: Tüprak and Kamosa Osolukoviches (i.e. Tüprak and Kamosa sons of Soluk, all Türks). This link was not only by relatedness, but also traditional, because in the 1128 the annals mention Khan Seluk (probably, their father), who come at a request of Vsevolod Olgovich to Vyrya, i.e. to the southeast border of the Chernihiv princedom. This indirectly confirms the fact of the location of Seluk and his sons' pastures in the basin of Don. In the 1149 Yury, crossing the lands of the Vyats, came to the old Sarkel, i. e, to the Lower Don. From there, without waiting for Kipchaks, Yury set out to the Rus border (again the southeast), and already there the "Wild Kipchaks" joined him. Two years later Yury was supported again in his fight with Izyaslav by the "Wild Kipchaks", and they met with the Rus troops on the left bank of Dnieper, on the southern border of the Pereyaslavl princedom. Among those Kipchaks, probably, one of military leaders was a son of the well-known Bonyak, Sevey, who fell during a siege of the Kyiv. Bonyak was a fervent (jar, from Türkic "yar") enemy of the Rus princes (both Monomakhoviches and Olgoviches), but his son probably separated for some reasons from the horde of his father, and joined with the "Wild Kipchaks", unobtrusively plundering the Kyiv princedom jointly with Olgoviches and Yury.
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Besides mentions of "Wild Kipchaks", connected apparently to the southeast border zone of Rus, in the annals much more clearly comes to light a group participating as allies of the Rus Princes in the "western" campaigns. So, in the 1146 (the usurper) Vsevolod Olegovich (originally from Karadjar/Chernihiv) allied with close relatives and Boleslav Lyadekim (i.e. Boleslav IV of Poland, "Lyakh" in Slavic) and also with the "Wild Kipchaks", and raided Galich. They managed to kindle the "palisade", but in an open battle Vsevolod was defeated, returned to Kyiv where he soon died. It is possible these "Wild Kipchaks" lived nearby Chernihiv and were drawn by the Olgovich in this campaign because of many friends, including Khan Seluk. However then Vsevolod was a Kyiv Prince, and the subsequent annals messages point to the "western" interests of the "Wild Kipchaks", which allows to believe that this group lived somewhere west from the Kyiv princedom. In the 1151 annals write that some "Wild Kipchaks" together with Hungarians (Ugr) helped the Kyiv prince Izyaslav to fight against Yury and Olgoviches. Also, they in the 1159 had to participate in a campaign planned by the Kyiv Prince (Rostislav I) against Ivan Berladnik, whose lands were in Prut-Dniestr interfluvial. Prince waited for them on the western border near small town Munarev. Clear that not the Don "Wild Kipchaks" were the participants of these events.

Under the 1162 the annals tell a story about a large joint campaign of the Princes of the western princedoms (in particular, Galich) and the Kara Kalpaks to Kyiv, against one of the Olgovnches who seized the Kyiv seat after the death of Yury. The "Wild Kipchaks" in this campaign were on the side of Olgovich, they "were on guard for armies", and warned prince about the approaching danger. Apparently, to find out about this campaign the "Wild Kipchaks" could only if they occupied lands in the way or nearby of the route of the assembling troops.
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Probably, these lands were in the interfluvial of the upper courses of Bug and Dniestr on southern fringes of the Galich-Volyn princedom. The Kamensk cemetery excavated by N.E.Brandenburg could belong to them, the funeral ceremony found there testifies to a strong ethnic intermixture of the population that buried their relatives.

The prevalence of apparently Kipchak (i.e. generic Kipchaks, apparently archeolog S.A.Pletneva can't discriminate between Kuman and Kipchak burials) features in the funeral ceremony (stones in embankments, eastern orientation, burial of whole horse carcasses) indicates the prevalence in this group of the Kipchak ethnic element. The finds in the territory occupied by the nomads of the burials is one of the major attributes confirming even a relatively settled way of life. Probably, their way of life, economy and social relations were very close to the Kara Kalpaks. The "Wild Kipchaks" did not become vassals of the Rus Princes, they did not settle in the Rus (i.e. Rus-claimed) lands, and only were coaching not far from them both in the east and in the west. However in the middle of the 12th century for approximately 20 years they were allies of the Rus Princes in their internecine fights, and as a rule, on side of the Olgoviches. They never fought against Kipchaks. After the 1162 the "Wild Kipchaks" were not mentioned by the chronicler for 33 years even though, judging by the Kamensk cemetery belonging to the second half of the12th century, they continued to live in the lands occupied earlier. They "were thought of" only in the 1195, when prince Rürik came to power in Kyiv. He began his reign with peacemaking: he reconciled all Princes and then "dismissed the cohort, brothers, and his children: and sent off the Wild Kipchaks to their forts, presenting them with many gifts" (PSRL, II, pp. 690). The next year the peace ended, Rürik began collecting forces to fight with Olgoviches, and involved the Wild Kipchaks. Probably, in these events participated the western group. And it was the last time.

Reading between the lines about the fate of Olgoviches, it becomes clear that the Karadjar/Chernihiv ulus remained basically Türkic until (and beyond) the Mongolian time. Karadjar was historically a Bulgarian capital, it participated in all disturbances of the pre-Khazarian and pre-Rus time, and retained its character of an independent mini-state until the Mongols. The Olgoviches were a dynasty much more Türkic than Slavic, and it remained a center for a mini-federation of the surrounding Türkic population.

Whether the Kipchaks living in the Bug and Dniestr interfluvial were members of the Chernihiv federation, or of the Ros federation, and whether they really participated in the western adventures of the Kyiv seat maybe can't be conclusively stated, but they definitely can't be blaimed in the Chernihiv Olgoviches fights with other pretenders to the Kyiv seat.

 

Chapter 5. (continued)

Brodniks

In conclusion of this chapter we shall address the one steppe name which appeared in the annals pages simultaneously with the Kara Kalpaks and "Wild Kipchaks". They are Brodniks (Brodniki), groups free Rus steppe settlers, similar to the cossacks which arose in the steppes 500 years later. The name "Brodniks" comes from the word "roam", close in the sense to the Türkic root "kaz" (to coach), from which the word "Cossacks" was formed.
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Only indirect data is in our disposal tо localize the Brodnik's settlements in the steppes. As a rule, the Brodniks are mentioned together with the Kipchaks related to the Chernihiv princedom (with Olgoviches). From that possible to conclude that they lived somewhere near those Kipchaks who coached in the basin of Don. In the archeological investigations, which our group conducted in the Middle Don (in the Voronej area), were found remains (more like traces) of several short-term small settlements (almost pastures), with fragments of typical old Rus pots of the 12th century. It can't be excluded that these settlements, located in the estuaries of small right tributaries of Don, in hidden from the enemies and winds flood gullies, belonged to the natives of Rus, who fled from the oppression of the nobility and Princes, i.e. Brodniks.

Without explicitly stating it, S.A.Pletneva introduces a political spin, by using dubious language like "natives of Rus", which in the officialdom lingo means "us-Slavs" vs "not-us-not-Slavs". This implies a whole slew of other associations: where the oppressed Merya would flee to? And oppressed Vyats? And oppressed Ests? And etc. Why would all these different oppressed nations flee to the Türkic Kipchaks? Would not be more logical to suggest that Finns run to Finlandia, and Ests to Estonia? And then would not be more logical to expect that the robbed and impoverished Türks of various sub-ethnoses would flee to under the wing of the Kipchaks?

Possibly their separate groups were not only in the Middle Don, but also in other areas of steppe remote from the Don. Probably, Brodniks found other settlements which remains were found on the Lower Dnieper and accompanied by extensive Christian cemeteries, characterized by finds of fragments of typical Rus' vessels. For the last time in the annals they were mentioned in the bloody 1223 as participants in the fight at Kalka.

This is another indicator that the Brodniks had nothing to do with the Slavs. The run-away Slavs could not be mobilized for a war, they were not warriors to begin with, and as run-aways they would avoid the Rus' wars as a plague. Only the Türks, who volunterily joined the Kipchak confederation, would be loyal enough to fight for the cause of the confederation.

It is significant that Brodniks together with Kipchaks were the first to blink and started retreating under the pressure of the enemy. They were much closer to the nomads than to the Rus warriors . Probably, by that time (three generations after a first mentioning) the Brodniks mostly merged with the Kipchaks. It is natural: to the steppe from the Rus fled the men, they were taking wives not from the remote motherland, but from the nearest clans, and consequently their majority in the beginning of the 13th century were Rusian only by one quarter. However, by then in the Kipchaks clans were plenty of the likewise "quarters": the marriages between representatives of the two worlds, the Rus and the (Türkic) steppe were constant.

We learned about two kinds of nomads' submission in the Rus. One of them was a vassalage, widely spread in all Rus princedoms bordering on the steppe. The "Wild Kipchaks" maintained allied, like "federal" relations with the same princedoms, and sometimes Brodniks also did it. The annals preserved infomation about one more form of utilizing nomadic soldiers by the Rus Princes.
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 The majority of the last was occurring mainly from the low-rank captives. In the Rus they turned to princely servants. Under the year 1015 the annals note about a cook of prince Gleb by the "name Torchin" (i.e. Türk) who slaughtered the young prince under an order of the "damned Goresar". Wuth similar "dirty affairs" was also charged Baidük, the Vladimir Monomah's "younker", who invited Khan Itlar to the bath, where the Khan was killed (1095), and the sheepman "Torchin by the name Berendi", who pricked out the eyes of the prince Vasilek (1097) under an order of the Prince. All of them probably belonged to the poorest part of the captured soldiers or even to the ordinary shepherds seized together with the forts. In the Rus they acted as servants of the lowest categories: cooks, sheepmen, saddlemaker. A youngest Among them was also a "younker", i.e. the lowest, but still a retinue's rank. Were also captured "koshcheys" (from Türkic "kosh", akin to "coach", an extended family cell or a clan), the heads of the families (ails, koshes) taken in the battle-field, for some reasons not able to be redeemed from captivity. Those did not betray their folks. For example, in the 1170 a koshchey Islavich (must be a nickname given by his captors) attempted to warn (though late!) about approaching against them forces of nine Rusian Princes. Such "koshcheys" could be used only in the internecine wars. There, like the poorest captives, they did not spare Ruses (neither their "masters", nor others). Sometimes the annals list the names of the Türkic-speaking soldiers who, probably switched to the Princes' service: "Kipchak by the name Kuman" (1096), Kulmey (1097), Gorepa and Sudimir Kuchebich (1147) (must be a translation "Sudimir "=?, Kuchebich is akin to Kucheb's), Olbyr Sheroshevich (1159) (Sheroshevich is akin to Sherosh's), etc. All these are not not captives, who were contemptuously called by a common nickname "koshchei", but the courtiers and armymen, whom the Princes sent to each other as ambassadors, who were in charge of a part of the army. But even these loyal and tested courtiers were usually involved only in the inter-princely conflicts. They were not taken to the steppes.

From the middle of the 12th century the annalistic records do not have Türkic names for the courtiers, servants and warriors. Probably, it can be explained by finally setting vassalage relations with the Kara Kalpaks and other nomadic groups on the borders of the Chernihiv and Pereyaslavl princedoms (S.A. Pletneva elsewhere stated that Pereyaslavl ulus population had remained Türkic during the whole period covered in the Rus annals). The use of the captives lost its urgency, because close at hand always were skilled and bound by vassalage groups of brave horsemen, always ready to any campaign: against the neighboring princedoms and against the remote steppe pastures of the Kipchaks. It was especially important for the Rus Princes because the second half of the 12th century saw a gradual increase in the power of the Kipchak hordes, an expansion of their coaching territory, and a rebound of their power after the crushing blows of Vladimir and his son Mstislav.
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