The term "Polovtsian steppe" was used in the Middle Ages to refer to the vast Eurasian steppe region in which the Polovtsians lived. First, this name was fixed in Persia, then it became common in other countries, including Russia. The Arabs also used the term "Kypchak steppe", because the Polovtsy were known to them as the Kypchaks. These tribes ruled in this region in the XI-XIII centuries. The Mongol invasion put an end to their dominion.
Looking for a new home
Geographically, the Polovtsian steppe covered vast expanses. It began on the left bank of the Danube, on the territory of modern Romania. Nomads occupied the lands of present-day Moldova, Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. Lake Balkhash can be called the extreme eastern point. In the south, the border of the steppes was the Black Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, the Caspian Sea and the semi-deserts of Central Asia. In the north, there was a natural boundary in the form of forests in the upper reaches of the Dnieper, the lands of North-Eastern Russia, the Volga Bulgaria, the Kama and the Irtysh. The Polovtsian steppe was also divided into western (from the Danube to the Caspian) andeastern (from the Caspian Sea to Altai).
Until the 11th century, the Kypchaks lived on the banks of the Irtysh. But around 1030 they migrated to the west, ending up in Eastern Europe. The resettlement was not peaceful. Moving west, the Polovtsy expelled the Pechenegs and Hungarians from their homes. It was the capture of new pastures. The nomads hardly knew exactly who they would meet in the distant western lands. But the fact remains that not a single steppe tribe in Eastern Europe could hold back their onslaught.
Polovtsian neighbors
At the beginning of the 11th century, the Polovtsian steppe acquired new owners who lived according to the harsh rules of military democracy. Invasions (and hence the resettlement of the entire people) were led by talented commanders who sought recognition on the battlefield. For nomads, such a device of power was ubiquitous. Most of all, uninvited guests were interested in the region to the north of which Rus began. The Polovtsian steppe covered here the most fertile lands, in addition, the most suitable for grazing cattle and horses, without which the steppe people could not imagine their life. These were the Azov and Lower Don lands. Also, the current Donetsk region of Ukraine can be attributed to this series (today there is a landscape park "Polovtsian steppe" there).
Before, Pechenegs and Bulgarians lived in these places. The neighboring upper reaches of the Northern Donets were inaccessible and remote places, where it was quite difficult for the nomad cavalry to reach. The Alans remained there - the remnants of the former owners of these forest-steppes. Also in the lower reaches of the Volga, there used to be the Khazar Khaganate,destroyed by the Slavic army of Svyatoslav of Kyiv. The population of these lands gradually mixed with the Polovtsy and, in the process of assimilation, somewhat changed their appearance.
Ethnic Cauldron
Settling in new places, the Kypchaks became neighbors of the Guz and Pecheneg hordes. These nomads played a significant role in the formation of the new Polovtsian community. The influence of the Guzes and Pechenegs affected the burial customs of the new owners of the steppes. Living on the banks of the Irtysh, the Polovtsy built stone mounds. The body of the deceased was laid with the head to the east. A carcass of a horse was necessarily placed nearby, in which the legs were cut off. At the same time, the Polovtsy had an unusual feature for the steppe dwellers. They buried both men and women with equal honors.
At the new place of residence, these rituals began to blur against the background of the customs of the former local residents. Stone embankments were replaced by simple earthen ones. Instead of a horse, they began to bury his stuffed animal. The body was now laid with its head to the west. Changes in the funeral rite are the best way to characterize the constant ethnic changes that the Polovtsian steppe experienced. The population of this region has always been heterogeneous. The Polovtsy were not even excessively numerous in comparison with their neighbors. But it was they who played the first violin in the region for two centuries, as among them were the most active and powerful military leaders who pacified opponents and competitors.
Finding a homeland
Modernarchaeologists easily determine the territory that the Polovtsy occupied in the Middle Ages, thanks to the characteristic stone sculptures. The first such statues appeared on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov and in the lower reaches of the Seversky Donets. These are flat and stele-like sculptures depicting faces and some details of a human figure (arms, chest). Such drawings are either drawn or made in the form of low reliefs.
Even the Mongol invasion of the Polovtsian steppe did not destroy these curious monuments of the era. The statues depicted both men and women, and were obligatory attributes of the sanctuaries of the pagans, which, in turn, were built already at the second stage of nomadism. After the first stage (the actual invasion and resettlement), the Polovtsian society stabilized. Nomadic routes have been streamlined. They acquired permanent winter and summer camps. Erecting religious statues, the steppe dwellers emphasized that they would stay in their new home for a long time.
Polovtsy and Rus
The first evidence of foreigners about the Polovtsy dates back to 1030, when they began to organize the first campaigns against their neighbors for the purpose of robbery. The settled inhabitants of Christian countries were little interested in what was happening in the wild and distant steppe. Therefore, for the first time they started talking about the Polovtsy exactly at the moment when they invaded their home.
The closest neighbor of the new nomads (as in the case of the Pechenegs) was Russia. For the first time, the Cumans tried to plunder in the rich East Slavic lands in 1060. Then an army came out to meet the uninvited guestsPrince of Chernigov Svyatoslav Yaroslavovich. It was four times smaller than the horde of the steppes, but this did not prevent the Russian squad from defeating the enemy. That year, many nomads were killed and drowned in the waters of the Snovi River. However, this meeting only foreshadowed further troubles that were already ready to fall on Russia.
Long standoff
Until 1060, in the lands of the Eastern Slavs, no one really knew what the Polovtsian steppe was. With the appearance on the border of wild and ferocious nomads, who were much more terrible than the Pechenegs, the inhabitants of Russia involuntarily had to get used to the new unpleasant neighborhood. For almost two more centuries, the Cumans constantly invaded their lands.
For Russia, this confrontation was even more dangerous and difficult, due to the fact that it was in the XI century that the previously unified state entered the stage of political fragmentation. The previously existing monolithic Kievan state could fight on an equal footing with the threats that the Polovtsian steppe exuded. The peculiarities of the division of Russia led to the fact that several independent principalities appeared on its territory. Often they not only joined forces in the fight against the steppes, but also fought against each other.
A new threat
Polovtsi often used internecine strife in order to rob and enslave the civilian population of defenseless southern settlements with impunity. Moreover, nomads began to be hired into the service of some princes when they fought with theirrelatives from neighboring provinces. So the Polovtsy freely penetrated deep into Russia and committed bloodshed there.
Polovtsian dominion in the steppes of Eastern Europe disappeared after another wave of nomads came from Asia. These were the Mongols. They were distinguished by even greater numbers, ferocity and ruthlessness. For two centuries on the outskirts of Europe, the Polovtsians in a certain sense have become closer to civilization. The customs of the Mongols were much tougher and more warlike.
Disappearance of the Cumans
For the first time a new horde invaded the lands of the Cumans in 1220. The latter united with the Russian princes, but suffered a crushing defeat in the battle on the Kalka River. No one expected such a terrible threat that the Mongols represented. In the Polovtsian steppes, everything was approaching major changes. After the first raid, the Mongols suddenly turned back. However, in 1236 they returned. In a few years, they conquered the entire Polovtsian steppe up to the borders with Hungary. Moreover, they imposed a tribute to Russia.
The Polovtsians did not disappear from the face of the earth, but they began to live in a servitude. Gradually, these people mixed with the Mongol hordes. Tatars, Bashkirs, etc., originated from this assimilation. Thus, in the 13th century, the term "Polovtsian steppe" became archaic.
