The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian

exonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group ...

), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the

Mongol invasion The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire: the Mongol Empire (1206-1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

(1237), many sought asylum in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coronation of the Hungarian monarch, c ...

, as many Cumans had settled in Hungary, the Second Bulgarian Empire playing an important role in the development of the state. Cumans played also an important role in (The

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

, the

Latin Empire The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byza ...

, and the Nicaea Empire)

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. Related to the Pecheneg, they inhabited a shifting area north of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

and along the

Volga River The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catch ...

known as Cumania, from which the Cuman–Kipchaks meddled in the politics of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historica ...

and the Khwarazmian Empire. The Cumans were fierce and formidable nomadic warriors of the

Eurasian Steppe The Eurasian Steppe, also simply called the Great Steppe or the steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Transnistr ...

who exerted an enduring influence on the medieval Balkans. They were numerous, culturally sophisticated, and militarily powerful. Many eventually settled west of the Black Sea, influencing the politics of

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas o ...

, the Galicia–Volhynia Principality, the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragmen ...

Khanate, the Second Bulgarian Empire, the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Краљевина Србија, Kraljevina Srbija) was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Prin ...

, the Kingdom of Hungary,

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

, the

Kingdom of Georgia The Kingdom of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამეფო, tr), also known as the Georgian Empire, was a medieval Eurasian monarchy that was founded in circa 1008 AD. It reached its Golden Age of political and economic ...

, the

Empire of Nicaea The Empire of Nicaea or the Nicene Empire is the conventional historiographic name for the largest of the three Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C. M. Woodhous ...

, the

and

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...

, with Cuman immigrants becoming integrated into each country's elite. The Cumans also played a prominent role in the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

and in the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire. Cuman and Kipchak tribes joined politically to create the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. The Cuman language is attested in some medieval documents and is the best-known of the early

Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia ( Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turki ...

. The '' Codex Cumanicus'' was a linguistic manual written to help Catholic missionaries communicate with the Cuman people.

Names and etymology

Cuman

''Cuman'' appears in ancient Roman texts as the name of a fortress or gate. The Roman natural philosopher

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

(who lived in the 1st century AD), mentions "a fortress, the name of which is Cumania, erected for the purpose of preventing the passage of the innumerable tribes that lay beyond" while describing the "Gates of Caucasus" (

Derbent Derbent (russian: Дербе́нт; lez, Кьвевар, Цал; az, Дәрбәнд, italic=no, Dərbənd; av, Дербенд; fa, دربند), formerly romanized as Derbend, is a city in Dagestan, Russia, located on the Caspian Sea. It ...

, or

Darial Gorge The Darial Gorge ( ka, დარიალის ხეობა, ''Darialis Kheoba''; russian: Дарьяльское ущелье; os, Арвыком, ''Arvykom''; inh, Даьра Аьле, ''Dära Äle''; Chechen: Теркан чӀаж, ''Te ...

),. The Greek philosopher

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...

(died 24 AD) refers to the

(also known as the Iberian Gates or the Caucasian Gates) as ''Porta Caucasica'' and ''Porta Cumana''. The original meaning of the

endonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...

Cuman is unknown. It is also often unclear whether a particular name refers to the Cumans alone, or to both the Cumans and the

Kipchaks The Kipchaks or Qipchaks, also known as Kipchak Turks or Polovtsians, were a Turkic nomadic people and confederation that existed in the Middle Ages, inhabiting parts of the Eurasian Steppe. First mentioned in the 8th century as part of the ...

, as the two tribes often lived side by side. Most other Turkish-speaking people (as well as most Muslim sources) called the Cumans some variant of "Qipchaqs", while Armenians called them "Xartesk'ns". Qumans were primarily used by Byzantine authors (and a few Arab sources), while the name used in Rus' tended to be "Polovtsian". In

''qu'', ''qun'', ''qūn'', ''quman'' or ''qoman'' means "pale, sallow, cream coloured", "pale yellow", or "yellowish grey". While it is normally assumed that the name referred to the Cumans' hair, Imre Baski – a prominent Turkologist – has suggested that it may have other origins, including: * the color of the Cumans' horses (i.e.

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

tones are found among Central Asian breeds such as the Akhal-Teke); * a traditional water vessel, known as a ''quman''; or * a Turkic word for "force" or "power".Imre Baski, "On the ethnic names of the Cumans of Hungary", ''Kinship in the Altaic World: Proceedings of the 48th Permanent International Altaistic Conference, Moscow 10–15 July 2005'' (eds Elena V. Boikova, Rosislav B. Rybakov) Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag, pp. 48, 52. Observing that the Hungarian exonym for Cumans – i.e. ''Kun'', ''Kunok'' – appeared as ''Cunus'', ''Cuni'' in the chronicles and was applied to earlier nomads such as

Pechenegs The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა� ...

or Oghuzes, György Györffy derived Kun from

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

, instead of ''Qun'', which he kept separate from ''Kun''. However, István Vásáry rejected Györffy's hypothesis and contended that "the Hungarian name of the Cumans must go back to one of their self-appellations, i.e. to ''Qun''.

Cumania

Even after the Cumans were no longer the dominant power in their territory, people still referred to the area as Cumania. The Moroccan traveler,

Ibn Battuta Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berber Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, largely in the Muslim ...

said of Cumania: "This wilderness is green and grassy with no trees, nor hills, high or low ... there is no means of travelling in this desert except in wagons." The Persian historian,

Hamdallah Mustawfi Hamdallah Mustawfi Qazvini ( fa, حمدالله مستوفى قزوینی, Ḥamdallāh Mustawfī Qazvīnī; 1281 – after 1339/40) was a Persian official, historian, geographer and poet. He lived during the last era of the Mongol Ilkhanate, a ...

(1281–1349), wrote that Cumania has a cold climate and that it has excellent pasturage and numerous cattle and horses. The 14th-century ''Travels'' of Sir John Mandeville, note that Cumania

Polovtsy

In East Slavic languages and Polish, they are known as the , derived from the Slavic root ''*polvъ'' "pale; light yellow; blonde". ''Polovtsy'' or ''Polovec'' is often said to be derived from the Old East Slavic ''polovŭ'' (половъ) "yellow; pale" by the Russians – all meaning "blond". The old Ukrainian word ''polovtsy'' (Пóловці), derived from ''polovo'' "straw" – means "blond, pale yellow". The western Cumans, or Polovtsy, were also called ''Sorochinetses'' by the Rus', – apparently derived from the Turkic ''sary chechle'' "yellow-haired". A similar etymology may have been at work in the name of the ''Śārī'', who also migrated westward ahead of the Qun. However, according to O. Suleymenov ''polovtsy'' may come from a Slavic word for "blue-eyed", i.e. the

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia an ...

''plȃv'' (пла̑в) means "blue", but this word also means "fair, blonde" and is in fact a cognate of the above; cf. Eastern Slavic ''polovŭ'', Russian ''polóvyj'' (поло́вый), Ukrainian ''polovýj'' (полови́й). Blonde individuals likely existed among the Kipchaks, yet anthropologically speaking the majority of Turkic peoples had East Asian admixture and generally Kimeks–Kipchaks were dark-haired and brown-eyed. An alternative etymology of is also possible: the Slavic root ''*pȍlje'' "field" (cf. Russian ''póle''), which would therefore imply that were "men of the field" or "men of the steppe" in contrast to the Lipovtsi.

Folban, Vallani, Valwe

Germanic languages The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, ...

, the Cumans were called ''Folban'', ''Vallani'' or ''Valwe'' – all derivatives of

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic br ...

root *''falwa-'' meaning "pale" (> English "fallow"). In the German account by

Adam of Bremen Adam of Bremen ( la, Adamus Bremensis; german: Adam von Bremen) (before 1050 – 12 October 1081/1085) was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. Adam is most famous for his chronicle ''Gest ...

, and in Matthaios of Edessa, the Cumans were referred to as the "Blond Ones".

Kipchak

As stated above, it is unknown whether the name Kipchak referred only to the Kipchaks proper, or to the Cumans as well. The two tribes eventually fused, lived together and probably exchanged weaponry, culture and languages; the Cumans encompassed the western half of the confederation, while the Kipchaks and (presumably) the Kangli/

Kankalis The Kangly (康曷利; pinyin: Kānghélì; Middle Chinese ( ZS): /kʰɑŋ-ɦɑt̚-liɪH/ or 康里 pinyin: ''Kānglĭ'' < MC-ZS: /kʰɑŋ-lɨ^X/; Pecheneg tribes known collectively as Kangars) encompassed the eastern half. This confederation and their living together may have made it difficult for historians to write exclusively about either nation. The Kipchaks' folk-etymology posited that their name meant 'hollow tree'; according to them, inside a hollow tree, their original human ancestress gave birth to her son. Németh points to the Siberian ''qıpčaq'' "angry, quick-tempered" attested only in the Siberian Sağay dialect. Klyashtorny links Kipchak to ''qovï'', ''qovuq'' "unfortunate, unlucky"; yet Golden sees a better match in ''qïv'' "good fortune" and adjectival suffix ''-čāq''. Regardless, Golden notes that the ethnonym's original form and etymology "remain a matter of contention and speculation".

Tribes

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

, Hungarian, and Chinese sources preserved the names of many Cuman-Kupchak tribal groupings: Altun-oba, Arslan-opa, Ay-opa, Badač, Barat ~ Beret ~ Baraq, Baya(w)ut, Burčoğli ( R. Burchebichi; Hg. Borcsol), B.zângî ~ B.zânrî (< ? *Buranlï "stormy"), Čağraq ~ Čoğraq ~ Čağraq, Čenegrepa (< Mong. ''čengkir'' "light blue, bluish"), Čitey(oğlï) (R. Chitѣyebichi), Čirtan ~ (*Ozur) Čortan (Hg. Csertan), Dorut ~ Dörüt ~ Dört, Enčoğlï ~ İlančuglï (Hg. Iloncsuk), İt-oba, Qitan-opa, Knn (?) (either corrupted from Köten, R. Kotianъ, Hg. Kötöny; or from Turkic tribal name Keyit, meaning "to irritate, to annoy"), Küčeba ~ Küčcöba (R. Kouchebichi), Küčet, Kor ~ Qor (H. Kór), Qara Börklü, Qay-opa (R. Kaepiči), Qol-oba ~ Qul-oba (R. Kolobichi ~ Kulobichi), Qmngû/Qumanlu, Qonğuroğlı (H. Kongur), Mekrüti ~ Bekrüti ~ Bekürte, Mingüzoğlı, Orunqu(t) (from Mong. oroŋğu "small, brown-colored gazelle"), Ölberli(ğ) ~ Ölperli(ğ) (Ar. al-b.rlū ~ al-b.rlī, R. Olperliu(ie)ve, Olbѣry, Olьbery, Ch. Yuliboli (玉里伯里), Lt. reges Uilperitorum, from Mg. ölöbür "ill, infirm" or Tk. *alp-erlü), Ören ~ Uran, Pečeneg, Shanmie gumali (苫滅古麻里), Tarğïl (R. Targolove), Tarew (R. Tarьevskyi), Terter ~ Teriter-oba (R. Terьterobichi), Toqsoba (R. Toksobichi), Tğ Yšqût (*Tağ Bašqurt?), Ulašoğlï (R. Ulashebichi; Hg. Olás), Urus-oba (R. Ourusoba; from endonym *''Aoruša'' of Turkicized Alans, compare Greek: Αορσοι), Yimek ~ Yemek (R. Polovtsi Yemiakove), Yete-oba (R. Yetebichi), Yuğur, Moguty, Tatrany, Revugy, Shelьbiry, Topchaki (whom, Baskakov thought, belonged to the

Chorni Klobuky Chorni Klobuky or Chornye Klobuki, meaning "black hats" (from russian: Чёрные клобуки, Chërnyye klobuki and uk, Чорні клобуки, Chorni klobuky) was a generic nameKotan, etc. Seven of these – Toqsoba (meaning either "plump leather bottle" or "nine clans", compare

Toquz Oghuz The Toquz Oghuz ( otk, 𐱃𐰸𐰆𐰔:𐰆𐰍𐰔, Toquz Oγuz; ; "Turks of Nine Bones") was a political alliance of nine Turkic-speaking Tiele tribes in Inner Asia, during the early Middle Ages. The Toquz Oghuz was consolidated and subordi ...

"nine tribes"), Borcsol ("Pepper Sons"), Csertan (" pike"), Olás ("union, federation"), Kór ~ Kól ("little, few"), Iloncsuk ("little snake"), and Koncsog ("leather trouser") – eventually settled in Hungary.

History

Origins

The original homeland of the Cumans is unknown before their eventual settlement in the Eurasian steppe's western part.

Qun

Chinese authors mentioned a Tiele tribe named 渾 ( Mand. ''Hún'' (< MC *''ɦuon''), possibly a transcription of underlying *''Qun'') located north of the Tuul River. The writings of al-Marwazi (c. 1120) state that a Turkic "Qun" people came from the northern Chinese borders – "the land of Qitay" (possibly during a part of a migration from further east). After leaving the lands of the Khitans (possibly due to the Khitans' expansion), the Qun entered the territory of the ''Śari'' people, whom the Quns expelled. Marwazi wrote that the Qun were Nestorian Christians. Golden surmised that these Quns might have sprung "from that same conglomeration of Mongolic peoples from which the Qitañ sprang"; however, Golden later suggested that the Quns were Turkic. Despite this, it is possible that certain tribes forming a part of the Cuman-Kipchak conglomerate were of Mongolic origin. Golden considers the Ölberli to have originally been Mongolic-speaking and argues that they were pushed westwards as a result of socio-political changes among the Khitans. The Syrian historian Yaqut (1179–1229) also mentions the Qun in ''The Dictionary of Countries'', where he notes that "(the sixth iqlim) begins where the meridian shadow of the equinox is seven, six-tenths, and one-sixth of one-tenth of a foot. Its end exceeds its beginning by only one foot. It begins in the homeland of the Qayi, Qun, Khirkhiz, Kimak, at- Tagazgaz, the lands of the Turkomans, Fārāb, and the country of the

Khazars The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...

." The Armenian historian, Matthew of Edessa (died 1144), also mentioned the Cumans, using the name ''χarteš'', meaning "blond", "pale", "fair".

Kipchak relationship

It cannot be established whether the Cumans conquered the

, if the Śari whom the Quns had defeated were to be identified as Kipchaks, or whether they simply represent the western mass of largely Kipchak-Turkic speaking tribes. The Quns and Śari (whom Czeglédy (1949:47-48,50) identifies with Yellow Uyghurs) were possibly induced into the Kimek union or took over said union and absorbed the Kimek. As a result, the Kipchaks presumably replaced the Kimeks as the union's dominant group, while the Quns gained ascendancy over the westernmost tribes and became Quman (though difficulties remain with the Qun-Cuman link and how Qun became Cuman, e.g. ''qun'' + ''man'' "the real Quns"? > *''qumman'' > ''quman''?). Kimeks were still represented amongst the Cuman–

as Yimek ~ Yemek. Potapov writes that:

Conquests

The Cumans entered the grasslands of the present-day southern Russian steppe in the 11th century AD and went on to assault the

, the

Principality of Pereyaslavl The Principality of Pereyaslavl ( uk, Переяславське князівство) was a regional principality of Kievan Rus' from the end of 9th century until 1323, based in the city of Pereyaslavl (now ''Pereiaslav'') on the Trubizh Riv ...

and

. The Cumans' entry into the area pressed the Oghuz Turks to shift west, which in turn caused the Pechenegs to move to the west of the

Dnieper River } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine an ...

. Cuman and Rus' attacks contributed to the departure of the Oghuz from the steppes north of the

. Mahmud al-Kashgari, writing in 1076, says that in the east Cuman territory bordered a town near Talas. The Cumans first entered the Bugeac (

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds o ...

) at some point around 1068–1078. They launched a joint expedition with the Pechenegs against Adrianople in 1078. During that same year the Cumans were also fighting the Rus'. The Russian '' Primary Chronicle'' mentions Yemek Cumans who were active in the region of

Volga Bulgaria Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria, was a historic Bulgar state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now European Russia. Volga Bulgaria was a multi-ethnic state ...

Political organization

The vast territory of the Cuman–Kipchak realm consisted of loosely connected tribal units that represented a dominant military force but were never politically united by a strong central power; the khans acted on their own initiative. The Cuman–Kipchaks never established a state, instead forming a Cuman–Kipchak confederation ( Cumania/Desht-i Qipchaq/Zemlja Poloveckaja (Polovcian Land)/Pole Poloveckoe (Polovcian Plain)), which stretched from the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

in the west to

Taraz Taraz ( kz, Тараз, تاراز, translit=Taraz ; known to Europeans as Talas) is a city and the administrative center of Jambyl Region in Kazakhstan, located on the Talas (Taraz) River in the south of the country near the border with Kyrgy ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

in the east. This was possibly due to their facing no prolonged threat before the Mongol invasion, and it may have either prolonged their existence or quickened their destruction. Robert Wolff states that it was discipline and cohesion that permitted the Cuman–Kipchaks to conquer such a vast territory. Al-Idrīsī states that Cumania got its name from the city of Cumania; he wrote, "From the city of Khazaria to the city of Kirait is 25 miles. From there to Cumanie, which has given its name to the Cumans, it is 25 miles; this city is called Black Cumania. From the city of Black Cumania to the city of

Tmutorakan Tmutarakan ( rus, Тмутарака́нь, p=tmʊtərɐˈkanʲ, ; uk, Тмуторокань, Tmutorokan) was a medieval Kievan Rus' principality and trading town that controlled the Cimmerian Bosporus, the passage from the Black Sea to the Se ...

(MaTlUqa), which is called White Cumania, it is 50 miles. White Cumania is a large inhabited city ... Indeed, in this fifth part of the seventh section there is the northern part of the land of Russia and the northern part of the land of Cumania ... In this sixth part there is a description of the land of Inner Cumania and parts of the land of Bulgaria." According to the 12th-century Jewish traveler

Petachiah of Regensburg Petachiah of Regensburg, also known as Petachiah ben Yakov, Moses Petachiah, and Petachiah of Ratisbon, was a German rabbi of the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries CE. At some point he left his place of birth, Regensburg in Bavaria, and settl ...

"they have no king, only princes and royal families". Cumans interacted with the Rus' principalities,

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, the

, and the Wallachian states in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

; with

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...

and the

(see Kipchaks in Georgia) in the

; and with the Khwarezm Empire in Central Asia. The Cumans-

constituted an important element and were closely associated with the Khwarazmian royal house via marital alliances. The Cumans were also active in commerce with traders from Central Asia to

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. The Cumans had a commercial interest in

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a p ...

, where they also took tribute from Crimean cities. A major area of commerce was the ancient city of Sudak, which Ibn al-Air viewed as the "city of the Qifjaq from which (flow) their material possessions. It is on the Khazar Sea. Ships come to it bearing clothes. The Qifjiqs buy from them and sell them slaves. Burtas furs, beaver, squirrels..." Due to their political dominance, the Cuman language became Crimea's ''lingua franca''. Thus the language was adopted by the Karaite Jewish and Crimean Armenian communities (who produced many documents written in Kipchak with the Armenian alphabet), where it was preserved for centuries up to the modern day.

Battles in Kievan Rus' and the Balkans

The Cumans first encountered the Rus' in 1055, when they advanced towards the Rus' Pereyaslavl principality, but Prince

Vsevolod Vsevolod or Wsewolod (russian: Все́волод ; uk, Все́волод ) is a Slavic male first name. Its etymology is from Slavic roots 'vse' (all) and 'volodeti' (to rule) and means 'lord-of-everything/everybody', (similar to another princ ...

reached an agreement with them thus avoiding a military confrontation. In 1061, however, the Cumans, under the chieftain Sokal, invaded and devastated the Pereyaslavl principality; this began a war that would go on for 175 years. In 1068 at the Battle of the Alta River, the Cumans defeated the armies of the three sons of Yaroslav the Wise, Grand Prince Iziaslav I of Kiev, Prince Sviatoslav of Chernigov, and Prince Vsevolod of Pereyaslavl. After the Cuman victory, they repeatedly invaded Kievan Rus', devastating the land and taking captives, who became either their slaves or were sold at markets in the south. The most vulnerable regions were the Principality of Pereyaslavl, the

Principality of Novgorod-Seversk The Principality of Novgorod-Seversk was a medieval Rus' principality centered on the town now called Novhorod-Siverskyi. The principality was aligned to the Principality of Chernigov. It may have been created in 1139, the date of one modern a ...

and the

Principality of Chernigov The Principality of Chernigov ( orv, Чєрниговскоє кънѧжьство; uk, Чернігівське князівство; russian: Черниговское княжество) was one of the largest and most powerful states within ...

. The Cumans initially managed to defeat the Grand Prince Vladimir II Monomakh of Kievan Rus' in 1093 at the Battle of the Stugna River, but they were defeated later by the combined forces of Rus principalities led by Monomakh and were forced out of the Rus' borders to the Caucasus. In these battles some Pecheneg and Oghuz groups were liberated from the Cumans and incorporated into the Rus' border-guard system. Khan Boniak launched invasions on Kiev in 1096, 1097, 1105, and 1107. In 1096, Boniak attacked Kiev and burned down the princely palace in Berestove; he also plundered the Kievan Cave Monastery. Boniak was defeated near Lubny in 1107 by the forces of the Kievan Rus' princes. The Cumans led by Boniak crushed the Hungarian army led by

Coloman Coloman, es, Colomán (german: Koloman (also Slovak, Czech, Croatian), it, Colomanno, ca, Colomà; hu, Kálmán) The Germanic origin name Coloman used by Germans since the 9th century. * Coloman, King of Hungary * Coloman of Galicia-Lodomeri ...

in 1099 and seized the royal treasury. In 1109, Monomakh launched another raid against the Cumans and captured "1000 tents". In 1111, 1113, and 1116, further raids were launched against the Cumans and resulted in the liberation and incorporation of more Pecheneg and Oghuz tribes. During this time, the Cumans raided the

and

. Volga Bulgaria was attacked again at a later stage, by Khan Ayepa, father-in-law of Grand Prince of Kiev

Yuri Dolgorukiy Yuri I Vladimirovich ( rus, Юрий Владимирович, Yuriy Vladimirovich), commonly known as Yuri Dolgorukiy or the Long Arm ( rus, Юрий Долгорукий, Yuriy Dolgorukiy, meaning "Far-Reaching", c. 109915 May 1157) was a Ru ...

, perhaps at his instigation. The Volga Bulgars in turn poisoned Ayepa "and the other princes; all of them died." In 1089, Ladislaus I of Hungary defeated the Cumans after they attacked the

. In 1091, the

, a semi-nomadic Turkic people of the prairies of southwestern

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelag ...

, were decisively defeated as an independent force at the Battle of Levounion by the combined forces of a Byzantine army under Emperor

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...

and a Cuman army under Togortok/Tugorkan and Boniak. Attacked again in 1094 by the Cumans, many Pechenegs were again slain. Some of the Pechenegs fled to Hungary, as the Cumans themselves would do a few decades later. In 1091/1092 the Cumans, under Kopulch, raided Transylvania and Hungary, moving to Bihor and getting as far as the

Tisza The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa, is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. Once, it was called "the most Hungarian river" because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national borders. The Tisza be ...

and Timiș rivers. Loaded with goods and prisoners they then split into three groups, after which they were attacked and defeated by King Ladislaus I. Hungary 11th cent

In 1092, the Cumans resumed their raids against the Rus' and also attacked the Kingdom of Poland: and reportedly reached northern cities located in

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. In 1094-1095 the Cumans, led by Tugorkan, in support of the exiled Byzantine pretender Constantine Diogenes (as a pretext to plundering), invaded the Balkans and conquered the Byzantine province of

Paristrion Paristrion ( el, Παρίστριον, lit=beside the Ister), or Paradounabon/Paradounabis (), which is preferred in official documents, was a Byzantine province covering the southern bank of the Lower Danube (Moesia Inferior) in the 11th and 12 ...

. The Cumans then advanced all the way to Adrianople and Anchialos but could not conquer them. In the following years, when knights of the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ...

were passing through the empire, Byzantium offered the Cumans prestige titles and gifts in order to appease them; subsequently good relations ensued. From 1097-1099, Sviatopolk II of Kiev requested help from the Cumans against Coloman, King of Hungary, who was involved in a feud with

Volodar of Peremyshl Volodar Rostyslavych, ''Volodar Rostislavich'' () (died 1124) was Prince of Zvenyhorod (1085–92) and Peremyshl' (1092–97). He actively was involved in the Polish internal affairs. Volodar also waged a war against the Grand Prince of Kiev ...

, Prince of

Przemyśl Przemyśl (; yi, פשעמישל, Pshemishl; uk, Перемишль, Peremyshl; german: Premissel) is a city in southeastern Poland with 58,721 inhabitants, as of December 2021. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was p ...

. King Coloman and his army crossed the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretche ...

and laid siege on Przemyśl, which prompted David Igorevich, an ally of Volodar Rostislavich, to persuade the Cumans, under Khan Boniak and Altunopa, to attack the Hungarians. The Hungarian army was soundly crushed by the Cumans; the ''Illuminated Chronicle'' mentions that "rarely did Hungarians suffer such slaughter as in this battle." In 1104 the Cumans were allied with Prince Volodar. In 1106, the Cumans advanced into the Principality of Volhynia, but were repelled by Sviatopolk II. In 1114, the Cumans launched an invasion, from the western Romanian Plain, into the Byzantine Balkans once more. This was followed up by another incursion in 1123/1124. In 1135, the Cumans again invaded the Kingdom of Poland. During the second and third crusades, in 1147 and 1189, crusaders were attacked by Cumans, who were allied to the Asen dynasty of the Second Bulgarian Empire, or who were in Byzantine service. Cumans at that time also resettled in the

and were Christianized. There they achieved prominent positions, helped Georgians to stop the advance of Seljuk Turks, and helped make Georgia the most powerful kingdom of the region (they were referred to as naqivchaqari). After the death of the warlike Monomakh in 1125, Cumans returned to the steppe along the Rus' borders. Fighting resumed in 1128; Rus' sources mention that Sevinch, son of Khan Boniak, expressed the desire to plant his sword "in the Golden gate of Kiev", as his father had done before him. Biliwar

On 20 March 1155, Prince Gleb Yuryevich took Kiev with the help of a Cuman army under the Cuman prince Chemgura. By 1160 Cuman raids into Rus' had become an annual event. These attacks put pressure on Rus' and affected trade routes to the

and

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, in turn leading Rus' to again attempt action. Offenses were halted during 1166–1169, when Grand prince

Andrey Bogolyubsky Andrew I (died 28 June 1174), his Russian name in full, Andrey Yuryevich Bogolyubsky "Andrew made Vladimir the centre of the grand principality and placed a series of his relatives on the now secondary princely throne of Kiev. Later he also com ...

, son of Khan Ayepa's daughter, took control of Kiev in 1169 and installed Gleb as his puppet. Gleb brought in "wild" Cumans as well as Oghuz and Berendei units. Later, the princes of the Principality of Chernigov attempted to use Khan Konchek's army against Kievan Rus' and

Suzdal Suzdal ( rus, Суздаль, p=ˈsuzdəlʲ) is a town that serves as the administrative center of Suzdalsky District in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, which is located on the Kamenka River, north of the city of Vladimir. Vladimir is the a ...

. This Chernigov-Cuman alliance suffered a disastrous defeat in 1180; Elrut, Konchek's brother died in battle. In 1177, a Cuman army that was allied with Ryazan sacked six cities that belonged to the Berendei and Torkil. In 1183, the Rus' defeated a large Cuman army and captured Khan Kobiak (Kobek) as well as his sons and other notables. Subsequently, Khan Konchek concluded negotiations. Like his son Khan Köten, preceding the Mongol invasion, Khan Konchek was successful in creating a more cohesive force out of the many Cuman groups – he united the western and eastern Cuman–Kipchak tribes. Khan Konchek also changed the old Cuman system of government whereby rulership went to the most senior tribal leader; he instead passed it on to his son Koten. Igor Svyatoslavich, prince of the Principality of Novgorod-Seversk, attacked the Cumans in the vicinity of the Kayala river in 1185 but was defeated; this battle was immortalized in the Rus' epic poem

The Tale of Igor's Campaign ''The Tale of Igor's Campaign'' ( orv, Слово о пълкѹ Игоревѣ, translit=Slovo o pŭlku Igorevě) is an anonymous epic poem written in the Old East Slavic language. The title is occasionally translated as ''The Tale of the Campai ...

, and Alexander Borodin's opera, '' Prince Igor''. The dynamic pattern of attacks and counterattacks between the Rus' and the Cumans indicates that both rarely, if ever, were able to attain the unity needed to deal a fatal blow. The Cuman attacks on the Rus' often had Caucasian and Danubian European implications. In the

, the Cumans were in contact with all the statal entities. They fought with the Kingdom of Hungary, allied with the

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely underst ...

of the Second Bulgarian Empire (they were the empire's most effective military component) and with the

Vlachs "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Easte ...

against the

. A variant of the oldest Turkic chronicle, Oghuzname (The Oghuz Khan's Tale), mentions the Cumans fighting the Magyars, Rus', Romanians (Ulak), and Bashkirs, who had refused to submit to their authority. Europe mediterranean 1190 cropped

In alliance with the

and

, the Cumans are believed to have played a significant role in the

uprising Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

led by brothers Asen and Peter of Tarnovo, resulting in victory over Byzantium and the restoration of Bulgaria's independence in 1185.In his ''History of the Byzantine Empire'' (, 1935), Russian historian A. A. Vasiliev concluded in this matter, "The liberating movement of the second half of the 12th century in the Balkans was originated and vigorously prosecuted by the Wallachians, ancestors of the Romanians of today; it was joined by the Bulgarians, and to some extent by the Cumans from beyond the Danube." István Vásáry states that without the active participation of the Cumans, the Vlakho-Bulgarian rebels could never have gained the upper hand over the Byzantines, and ultimately without the military support of the Cumans, the process of Bulgarian restoration could never have been realised. The Cuman participation in the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1185 and thereafter brought about basic changes in the political and ethnic sphere of Bulgaria and the Balkans. The Cumans were allies in the Bulgarian–Latin Wars with emperor Kaloyan of Bulgaria. In 1205, at the Battle of Adrianople (1205), 14,000 Cuman light cavalry contributed to Kaloyan's crushing victory over the Latin Crusaders. Cuman troops continued to be hired throughout the 13th and 14th century by both the Bulgarians and Byzantines. The Cumans who remained east and south of the

established a county named Cumania, which was a strong military base in an area consisting of parts of

and

. The Hungarian kings claimed supremacy over Cumania – among the nine titles of the Hungarian kings of the Árpád and

Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France *County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France **Duke ...

dynasties were ''rex Cumaniae'' – but few, if any, Cuman leaders recognized their overlordship, pointing to the fact that ''rex Cumaniae'' was an allegory title since the kings never fulfilled that role.

Mongol invasions

Like most other peoples of medieval Eastern Europe, the Cumans put up a resistance against the relentlessly advancing

Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...

led by

Jebe Jebe (or Jebei, mn, Зэв, ''Zev''; birth name: Jirqo'adai (Modern Mongolian: Zurgadai), mn, Зургаадай, ) (death: approximately 1224) was one of the most prominent Noyans (generals) of Genghis Khan. He belonged to the Besud clan, ...

and

Subutai Subutai (Classical Mongolian: ''Sübügätäi'' or ''Sübü'ätäi''; Modern Mongolian: Сүбээдэй, ''Sübeedei''. ; ; c. 1175–1248) was a Mongol general and the primary military strategist of Genghis Khan and Ögedei Khan. He directe ...

. The Mongols crossed the Caucasus mountains in pursuit of Muhammad II, the shah of the Khwarezmid Empire, and met and defeated the Cumans in Subcaucasia in 1220. The Cuman khans Danylo Kobiakovych and Yurii Konchakovych died in battle, while the other Cumans, commanded by Khan Köten, managed to get aid from the Rus' princes. As the Mongols were approaching Russia, Khan Köten fled to the court of his son-in-law, Prince Mstislav the Bold of Galich, where he gave "numerous presents: horses, camels, buffaloes and girls. And he presented these gifts to them, and said the following, 'Today the Mongols took away our land and tomorrow they will come and take away yours'." The Cumans were ignored for almost a year, however, as the Rus' had suffered from their raids for decades. But when news reached Kiev that the Mongols were marching along the Dniester River, the Rus' responded. Mstislav of Galich then arranged a council of war in Kiev, which was attended by Mstislav Romanovich, Prince Yuri II of Vladimir-Suzdal and Mstislav Svyatoslavich of Chernigov. The princes promised support to Khan Koten's Cumans and an alliance between the Rus' and Cumans was formed. It was decided that the Rus' and Cumans would move east to seek and destroy any Mongols they found. The Rus' princes then began mustering their armies and moved towards the rendezvous point. The army of the alliance of the Rus' and Cumans numbered around 80,000. When the alliance reached Pereyaslavl, they were met by a Mongol envoy that tried to persuade them not to fight. This as well as a second attempt by the Mongols failed; the alliance then crossed the Dnieper River and marched eastward for nine days pursuing a small Mongol contingent, unknowingly being led by a false retreat. The

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and for ...

took place near the

Kalka River Kalka is a town in the Panchkula district of Haryana, India. It is near Panchkula city. The name of the town is derived from the Hindu goddess Kali. It is situated in the foothills of the Himalayas and is a gateway to the neighbouring state o ...

in 1223. Due to confusion and mistakes, and the superb military tactics and fighting-qualities of the Mongols, the Rus' and Cumans were defeated. In the chaos the Cumans managed to retreat, but the Rus' failed to regroup and were crushed. The Cumans were allied at Kalka River with Wallach warriors named Brodnics, led by Ploscanea. Brodnics' territory was in the lower parts of the

Prut The Prut (also spelled in English as Pruth; , uk, Прут) is a long river in Eastern Europe. It is a left tributary of the Danube. In part of its course it forms Romania's border with Moldova and Ukraine. Characteristics The Prut originates ...

river in modern Romania and Moldova. During the second Mongol invasion of Eastern Europe in 1237–1240 the Cumans were defeated again; at this time groups of Cumans went to live with the Volga Bulgars, who had not been attacked yet. Istvan Vassary states that after the Mongol conquest, "A large-scale westward migration of the Cumans began." Certain Cumans also moved to Anatolia, Kazakhstan and

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the s ...

. In the summer of 1237 the first wave of this Cuman exodus appeared in Bulgaria. The Cumans crossed the Danube, and this time Tsar Ivan Asen II could not tame them, as he had often been able to do earlier; the only possibility left for him was to let them march through Bulgaria in a southerly direction. They proceeded through Thrace as far as Hadrianoupolis and Didymotoichon, plundering and pillaging the towns and the countryside, just as before. The whole of Thrace became, as Akropolites put it, a "Scythian desert." A direct attack on Cumania came only in 1238–1239, and encountered serious resistance by various Cuman khans. The final blow came in 1241, when Cuman control over the Pontic steppes ended and the Cuman–Kipchak confederation ceased to exist as a political entity, with the remaining Cuman tribes being dispersed, either becoming subjects and mixing with their Mongol conquerors, as part of what was to be known as the Golden Horde (Kipchak Khanate) and Nogai Horde, or fleeing to the west, to the Byzantine Empire, the Second Bulgarian Empire, and the

, where they integrated into the elite and became kings and nobles with many privileges. Other Cuman captives were sold as slaves, who would go on to become

s in Egypt, who would attain the rank of Sultan or hold regional power as

emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

s or beys. Some of these Mamluks led by Sultan Baibars would fight the Mongols again, defeating them at the Battle of Ain Jalut and the Battle of Elbistan. A group of Cumans under two leaders named

Jonas Jonas may refer to: Geography * Jonas, Netherlands, Netherlands * Jonas, Pennsylvania, United States * Jonas Ridge, North Carolina, United States People with the name * Jonas (name), people with the given name or surname Jonas * Jonas, one of ...

and Saronius, the former of whom was higher in rank, entered the Latin Empire of Constantinople as allies about 1240, probably fleeing the Mongols. The name Saronius (found in Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, who calls the leaders kings) is probably a corruption of the Cuman name Sïčgan, meaning "mouse". They assisted the Emperor Baldwin II in the capture of Tzurullon from the Nicaeans in that year. The following year the Christian daughters of Saronius married two of the leading noblemen of the empire,

Baldwin of Hainaut Baldwin of Hainaut (french: Baudouin de Hainaut, la, Balduinus de Hannonia or ''Haynaco'') was a knight and diplomat of the Latin Empire of Constantinople. He undertook important missions to the Cumans (1240) and the Mongols (1251–52). Baldwin ...

and William of Meri, while Jonas's daughter married Narjot III de Toucy, who had once served as regent of the empire in Baldwin's absence. When Narjot died in 1241, his wife became a nun. Jonas died that same year and was buried in a

tumulus A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or '' kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones ...

outside Constantinople in a pagan ceremony. According to Aubrey, eight volunteer warriors and twenty-six horses were sacrificed at the funeral.

Settlement on the Hungarian plain

King Andrew II of Hungary granted the Burzenland region to the

Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians o ...

in 1211, with the purpose of ensuring security of the southeastern borders of his kingdom against the Cumans. The Teutonic Knights campaigned against the Cumans, on behalf of King Andrew, during the years of 1221–1225. However, the Teutonic Knights failed to defeat the Cumans and began to establish a country independent of the King of Hungary. In 1238, after Mongol attacks on Cumania, King Béla IV of Hungary offered refuge to the remainder of the Cuman people under their leader Khan Köten, who in turn vowed to convert his 40,000 families to Christianity. King Béla hoped to use the new subjects as auxiliary troops against the Mongols, who were already threatening Hungary. The Cumans were joined by the Iranian Jasz people, who had been living with the Cumans.

Batu Khan Batu Khan ( – 1255),, ''Bat haan'', tt-Cyrl, Бату хан; ; russian: хан Баты́й was a Mongol ruler and founder of the Golden Horde, a constituent of the Mongol Empire. Batu was a son of Jochi, thus a grandson of Genghis K ...

of the Mongols then ordered Bela to stop giving refuge to the Cumans and made a particular point that if attacked the Cumans could easily run away, for they were skilled horseman, but not so for the Hungarians, who were a sedentary nation and had no such luxury. Bela rejected this ultimatum. Around December 1240, news came that the Mongols were advancing towards Hungary. King Bela then installed front line defenses at the Carpathian Mountains, after which he returned to Buda and called a council of war and ordered unity against the Mongols. The opposite happened, however, as many of the barons were hostile towards the Cumans. The Hungarian barons noted that there were Cumans in the Mongol armies, but they didn't realize that this was because they were conscripted into it and had no say in the matter. In particular the barons didn't trust Köten, despite the fact that the Mongols had attacked his people for nearly 20 years. This chaos pushed Bela into a corner; feeling he needed to show his strength and keep the rebellious barons on his side, he ordered Köten to be placed under house arrest. This did not placate the barons and had an opposite effect of erroneously seeming to admit that the King harboured doubts about Köten, too. This angered the Cumans, who were far from happy about the actions taken against them, and who had done nothing to invite such actions and hated the Mongols. News arrived on 10 March that the Mongols had attacked the Hungarian defenses at the Carpathian passes. This prompted Bela to send a letter to Duke Frederick of Austria asking for help. Frederick had previously wanted Bela's throne, but Bela responded by amassing a vast army and marching to the gates of Vienna, which forced Frederick to step back. On 14 March, news had arrived that the Carpathian defense forces were defeated by the Mongols. Ironically, given the suspicion of the Cumans, they were the only ones who seemed willing to fight the Mongols, the memory of the fate that had befallen them on the steppes still being fresh in their minds. By this time Bela had lost control of his army and many towns were destroyed. Soon thereafter Frederick arrived, and, wishing to harm the country's defense (in revenge to Bela), he stirred up further feelings against the Cumans. After crushing defeats and facing complete collapse, the Hungarians engaged in a suicidal betrayal of the Cumans, the people that had done the most in repelling the Mongols. Some of the barons went to Köten's house with the intent of killing him as scapegoat or handing him over to the Mongols, possibly believing the Cuman–Kipchaks were Mongol spies. However, the barons had Köten assassinated in Pest on 17 March 1241. When news of this outrage reached the Cuman camp there was an eruption of "Vesuvian intensity". In revenge for this victimization they slaughtered a vast number of Hungarians. The Cumans then left for the Balkans and the Second Bulgarian Empire, going on a rampage of destruction through Hungary "equal to that which Europe had not experienced since the incursions of the Mongols". Coat of arms of Cumania

With this departure of its only ally and most efficient and reliable military force, Hungary was now further weakened to attack, and a month later it was destroyed by the Mongols. After the invasion, King Béla IV, now penniless and humiliated after the confiscation of his treasury and loss of three of his border areas, begged the Cumans to return to Hungary and help rebuild the country. In return for their military service, Béla invited the Cumans to settle in areas of the Great Plain between the Danube and the

rivers; this region had become almost uninhabited after the Mongol raids of 1241–1242.Horvath 2001 The Cuman tribes subsequently settled throughout the Great Hungarian Plain, creating two regions incorporating the name Cumania ('' Kunság'' in Hungarian):

Greater Cumania Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 *Greater Bank, an Australian ...

(''Nagykunság'') and

Little Cumania Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

(''Kiskunság''). Six of these tribes were the Borchol (Borscol), who settled in county of Temes (the Borchol clan was also active around Rus'; they were also a tribe of the Golden Horde mentioned as Burcoylu); Csertan, who settled in Little Cumania; Olas, who settled in Greater Cumania; Iloncsuk, who settled in Little Cumania; Kor, who settled in the county of Csanad and the sixth being, possibly, Koncsog. Ladislaus IV of Hungary

As the Cumans came into the kingdom, the Hungarian nobility suspected that the king intended to use the Cumans to strengthen his royal power at their expense. During the following centuries, the Cumans in Hungary were granted rights and privileges, the extent of which depended on the prevailing political situation. Some of these rights survived until the end of the 19th century, although the Cumans had long since assimilated with Hungarians. The Cumans were different in every way to the local population of Hungary – their appearance, attire, and hairstyle set them apart. In 1270, Elizabeth the Cuman, the daughter of a Cuman chieftain Seyhan, became queen of Hungary. Elizabeth ruled during the minority of her son (future king Ladislaus IV of Hungary) in the years of 1272–1277. A struggle took place between her and the noble opposition, which led to her imprisonment by the rebels; but supporters freed her in 1274. During her reign, gifts of precious clothes, land, and other objects were given to the Cumans with the intent to ensure their continued support, and in particular during the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

between King Béla IV and Stephen V of Hungary, when both sides tried to gain Cuman support. During this conflict, in 1264, Béla sent Cuman troops commanded by the chieftain Menk to fight his son Stephen. Elizabeth married Stephen V; they were parents of six children. Their son, Ladislaus IV became the king of Hungary while her other son, Andrew of Hungary, became Duke of

Slavonia Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Bar ...

. By 1262, Stephen V had taken the title of 'Dominus Cumanorum' and became the Cumans' highest judge. After his enthronement, the Cumans came directly under the power of the king of Hungary and the title of 'Dominus Cumanorum' (

judge of the Cumans The judge of the Cumans ( hu, kunok bírája or ''kunbíró''; la, iudex Cumanorum) was a short-lived legal office, then an ''ex officio'' title in the Hungarian royal court, existed since the second half of the 13th century. In 1270, the Palatine ...

) had passed to the count palatine, who was the highest official after the king. The Cumans had their own representatives and were exempt from the jurisdiction of county officials. Chronicon Pictum P129 IV

By the 15th century, the Cumans were permanently settled in Hungary, in villages whose structure corresponded to that of the local population, and they were Christianized. The Cumans did not always ally with the Hungarian kings – they assassinated Ladislaus IV; however, other sources suggest that certain Hungarian barons had a role in his murder, thus Ladislaus fell victim to his political enemies. The royal and ecclesiastical authorities incorporated, rather than excluded, the Cumans. The Cumans served as light cavalry in the royal army, an obligation since they were granted asylum. Being fierce and capable warriors (as noted by Istvan Vassary), they had an important role in the royal army. The king led them in numerous expeditions against neighbouring countries; most notably they played an important part in the Battle on the Marchfeld between Rudolf of Habsburg and

Ottokar II of Bohemia Ottokar II ( cs, Přemysl Otakar II.; , in Městec Králové, Bohemia – 26 August 1278, in Dürnkrut, Lower Austria), the Iron and Golden King, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until his dea ...

in 1278 – King Ladislaus IV and the Cumans (which numbered 16,000) were on Rudolf's side. Chronicon Pictum 125 (cropped) (cropped)

Hungarian kings relied on the Cumans to counterbalance the growing independent power of the nobility. Royal policy towards the Cumans was determined by their military and political importance. The Hungarian kings continuously hoped to use Cuman military support, the main reason for the invitation to settle and continued royal favors to them. The kings' main aim was to secure Cuman loyalty by various means, including intermarriage between the Cumans and the Hungarian royal family. Ladislaus IV "the Cuman" (whose mother was Queen Elizabeth the Cuman) was particularly fond of the Cumans and abandoned Hungarian culture and dress for Cuman culture, dress, and hairstyle; he lived with his Cuman entourage and concubines, who were Küpçeç, Mandola, and Ayduva. There were clashes between the Hungarians and Cumans in 1280 and 1282. The first involved the king convincing the Cumans not to leave the country, yet a small group still moved to Wallachia. The second was a battle between Cuman rebels and the king's forces. The Cumans initially lived in felt yurts, but as time went by they gradually gave up their nomadic way of life. The head of Cuman clans served the dual role of a military leader and a judge. The Cumans, having their own jurisdiction, were exempt from Hungarian jurisdiction and appealed to the king only in cases of unsettled disagreements. The Cumans paid 3000 gold bullions a year to the king, as well as other products and animals (since King Béla IV). They had own priests and they were not paying port and custom dues. Cuman villages did not have landlords and thus no manors were established; this meant that the people of these villages bought off statute labour. The royal guard of the Hungarian kings were Cumans, called ''nyoger''. From the 16th century onwards, the Cumans between the Danube and Tisza rivers were referred to as ''Kiskun'', while who lived to the east of the Tisza river were referred to as ''nagykun''. The majority of Cumans were exterminated during the

Great Turkish War The Great Turkish War (german: Großer Türkenkrieg), also called the Wars of the Holy League ( tr, Kutsal İttifak Savaşları), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Pola ...

Mária Terézia magyar királyi címere 1777

The Cumanians' settlements were destroyed during the Turkish wars in the 16th and 17th centuries; more Cumans than Hungarians were killed. Around 1702, Cuman and Jasz privileges were lost. The court sold all three districts to the Teutonic Knights, though the lordship of these three regions was returned to Hungary. In 1734, Karcag became a market town, due to the permission to organise fairs. During this time, it had bought off its borders as its own property for 43,200 Rhenish florins. On May 6, 1745, due to the cooperation between the Cumans and Jasz people, as well as their material strength of their communities, they were able to officially buy off their freedom by paying off more than 500,000 Rhenish florins and by arming and sending to camp 1000 cavalry. At the beginning of the 18th century the Cumanian territories were resettled by Hungarian-speaking descendants of the Cumans. In the middle of the 18th century they got their status by becoming free farmers and no longer serfs. Here, the Cumans maintained their autonomy, language, and some ethnic customs well into the modern era. According to Pálóczi's estimation, originally 70–80,000 Cumans settled in Hungary. Other estimations are 180–200,000.

Cuman involvement in Serbia

Cuman involvement in Serbia first occurred as a result of marital ties between Serbia and Hungary. King Stephen V of Hungary gave his daughter, Catherine (whose mother was Queen Elizabeth the Cuman, daughter of the Cuman chieftain Seyhan) in marriage to Stefan Dragutin, son of King Stefan Uroš I of Serbia. King Uroš had promised both his son and King Stephen that he would make Dragutin king during his own lifetime; but he later declined this. Dragutin, in disappointment, requested aid from King Stephen, who said he would lend his Hungarian and Cuman troops. Subsequently, Dragutin set out with his troops and marched on his father. King Uroš had declined once more, and in 1276 Dragutin clashed with his father's army in

Gacko Gacko ( sr-cyrl, Гацко) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the region of East Herzegovina. As of 2013, the town has a population of 5,784 inhabitants, while the m ...

, winning the battle. Afterwards, Dragutin took the throne and became king of Serbia. After King Stephen's death, his son, Ladislaus IV the Cuman, continued to support Dragutin, his brother-in-law. From 1270 onwards Cuman mercenaries and auxiliaries were present on both sides of the warring factions, sometimes ignoring the orders of the party they were fighting for, instead acting on their own and looting the countryside. The Cumans had also burned down Žiča, the former see of the archbishopric of the Serbian Church. By 1272, the region of Braničevo in Serbia had become a Hungarian banate, but soon afterwards, its rulers, Kudelin and Darman succeeded in making it an independent state. Kudelin and Darman were either Cuman warriors in Bulgarian service or Bulgarian nobles of Cuman origin. This move to independence had angered Ladislaus IV as well as Dragutin, who wanted to crush the rebellion. Darman and Kudelin were supported by the Tatars of the

(Kipchak Khanate) against the Hungarians and Serbs. Subsequently, Dragutin attacked the brothers but failed to defeat them. After this attack the brothers hired Cuman and Tatar mercenaries. Dragutin in turn went to his brother,

King Milutin Stefan Uroš II Milutin ( sr-cyr, Стефан Урош II Милутин, Stefan Uroš II Milutin; 1253 – 29 October 1321), known as Stefan Milutin ( sr-cyr, Стефан Милутин, Stefan Milutin), was the King of Serbia between 1282& ...

for help. Dragutin battled the brothers again, this time with King Milutin's help as well as support from King Ladislaus IV (Cuman troops), and defeated them. After this King Ladislaus continued negotiations with Darman and Kudelin, but this had failed so he sent Transylvanian and Cuman troops against them. The Cumans had fought on both the Bulgarian and Hungarian-Serbian sides. The Cumans were also involved with the semi-independent Bulgarian

Tsardom of Vidin The Tsardom of Vidin ( bg, Видинско Царство, translit=Vidinsko Tsarstvo) was a medieval Bulgarian state centred in the city of Vidin from 1356 to 1396. Early history In 1257, Rostislav Mikhailovich attacked the Bulgarian capital ...

between 1290 and 1300, which had become a target of Serbian expansion. In 1280 the Cuman noble, Shishman, became ruler of Vidin. He was perhaps granted the position of despot of Vidin soon after the accession of another Bulgarian noble of Cuman origin, Tsar George Terter I (r. 1280–1292), to the Bulgarian throne in 1280. Shishman was either a close relative or a brother of George Terter I. Shishman may have established his authority over the Vidin region as early as the 1270s, after the death of the previous ruler of that area, Jacob Svetoslav. Danilo, a Serbian archbishop, reported, "At that time in the land of the Bulgars a prince called Shishman emerged. He lived in the town of Vidin, and obtained the adjacent countries and much of the Bulgarian land." Some years after, Shishman invaded Serbia and got as far as Hvosno. After failing to capture Ždrelo, he returned to Vidin, which was subsequently attacked and devastated by King Milutin. However, Milutin replaced him on his throne on the basis that he would become Shishman's ally. In fact, the alliance was strengthened by Shishman marrying the daughter of the Serbian grand župan Dragos. Further security came about when Milutin later gave his daughter Anna as a wife to Shishman's son

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

, who in 1323 became Tsar of Bulgaria.

Golden Horde and Byzantine mercenaries

The Cumans who remained scattered in the prairie of what is now southwest Russia joined the Mongol

Khanate, and their descendants became assimilated with local populations including the Mongols (

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different Turki ...

). The cultural heritage of those Cuman–Kipchaks who remained was transferred to the Mongols, whose élite adopted many of the traits, customs, and language of the Cumans and Kipchaks; the Cumans, Kipchaks, and Mongols finally became assimilated through intermarriage and became the Golden Horde. Those Cumans, with the Turko-Mongols, adopted Islam in the second half of the 13th and the first half of the 14th century. In 1071, Cumans participated in the

Battle of Manzikert The Battle of Manzikert or Malazgirt was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire on 26 August 1071 near Manzikert, theme of Iberia (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army and ...

as mercenaries in the Byzantine army against the Seljuks. Emperor Romanus had sent the Cumans and

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools ...

to secure the fortress of

Ahlat Ahlat ( ku, Xelat, ) is a town and district in Turkey's Bitlis Province in Eastern Anatolia Region. From 1929 to 1936, it was a district of Van Province. The town of Ahlat is situated on the northwestern shore of Lake Van. The mayor is Abdulalim M ...

on the shore of

Lake Van Lake Van ( tr, Van Gölü; hy, Վանա լիճ, translit=Vana lič̣; ku, Gola Wanê) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the far east of Turkey, in the provinces of Van and Bitlis in the Armenian highlands. It is a saline soda lake ...

. The Cumans, who did not receive their pay, later defected to the Seljuks. In 1086 Cumans devastated Byzantine settlements in the Balkans. Later the Cumans joined the Pechenegs and the former Hungarian king, Salomon, in plundering the Byzantine Balkan provinces. Subsequent to this, the Cumans gave aid to Tatos, the chief of Distra. In 1091 there was a disagreement in plunder shares between the Cumans and Pechenegs, which resulted in a breach between the two peoples; this contributed to the Cumans (led by Togortok/Tugorkan and Boniak, who had repeatedly raided Kievan Rus') joining

against the Pechenegs in the Battle of Levounion. A couple of weeks afterwards the Cumans invaded the Balkans. After the Battle of Kalka River a large group of 10,000 Cumans invaded Thrace where they pillaged towns that had recently come under the control of the Nicaean Empire. This continued until 1242 when Nicaean emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes, in response to the situation, won their favour with "gifts and diplomacy". Thereafter he succeeded in settling most of them in

throughout the Meander valley and the region east of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

. Most of these Cumans enrolled in the army and soon afterwards were baptized. Vatatzes' policy towards the Cumans was distinguished by its enormous scale and relatively successful outcome. Cumans had served as mercenaries in the armies of the Byzantine Empire since the reign of

(1081–1118) and were one of the most important elements of the Byzantine army until the mid-14th century. They served as light cavalry (horse-archers) and as standing troops; those in the central army were collectively called ''Skythikoi/Skythikon''. Other Cumans lived a more dangerous life as highlanders on the fringes of the empire, possibly being involved in a mixture of agriculture and transhumance, acting as a buffer between Nicaean farmers and Turkic nomads. These Cumans were frequently mustered for Byzantine campaigns in Europe. In 1242 they were employed by Vatatzes in his siege of

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

. In 1256 emperor Theodore II Laskaris left a force of 300 Cumans with the Nicaean governor of Thessaloniki. In 1259, 2000 Cuman light cavalry fought for the Nicaean Empire at the

Battle of Pelagonia The Battle of Pelagonia or Battle of Kastoriae.g. ; . took place in early summer or autumn 1259, between the Empire of Nicaea and an anti-Nicaean alliance comprising Despotate of Epirus, Sicily and the Principality of Achaea. It was a decisive ev ...

. Cumans were again involved in 1261, where the majority of the 800 troops under Alexios Strategopoulos that retook Constantinople, were Cumans. Large Cuman contingents were also part of the Byzantine Emperor

Michael VIII Palaiologos Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Μιχαὴλ Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνὸς Παλαιολόγος, Mikhaēl Doukas Angelos Komnēnos Palaiologos; 1224 – 11 December 1282) reigned as the co-emperor of the Empire ...

' European campaigns of 1263–1264, 1270–1272 and 1275. Cumans were again employed by emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos in 1292, in his campaign against the

Despotate of Epirus The Despotate of Epirus ( gkm, Δεσποτᾶτον τῆς Ἠπείρου) was one of the Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire established in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204 by a branch of the Angelos dynasty. It clai ...

. The Cumans, together with Turk mercenaries, terminated the campaign by an unauthorized retreat. In contrast to their light cavalry counterparts, Cuman standing troops appear as a distinct group only once, albeit very significantly. During the election of Emperor

to the regency in 1258, after the consultation of Latin mercenaries, the Cumans present at the court offered their opinion on the matter in "good Greek". This is indicative of the Cumans spending considerable time in the company of Greek speakers. The importance of this Cuman group came from its tendency to foster assimilation (Hellenization) and, through time, the social advancement of its members. An example of this influential group was Sytzigan (known as Syrgiannes after baptism), who before 1290 became ''Megas Domestikos'' (Commander-in-Chief of the Army) under Emperor Andronikos II. His son, Syrgiannes Palaiologos, attained the title of Pinkernes and was a friend of

Andronikos III Palaiologos , image = Andronikos_III_Palaiologos.jpg , caption = 14th-century miniature.Stuttgart, Württembergische Landesbibliothek. , succession = Byzantine emperor , reign = 24 May 1328 – 15 June 1341 , coronation = ...

and John Kantakouzenos. An act from the archive of the Lavra of Athanasios mentions Cuman ''Stratioti'' (mercenaries from the Balkans) in the region of Almopia who received two ''douloparoikoi'' in ' pronoia' (a Byzantine form of feudalism based on government assignment of revenue-yielding property to prominent individuals in return for military service) some time before 1184.

Traces Of Cuman in Anatolia

The Cumans had been wandering and plundering Byzantine lands. Emperor Ioannes III wanted to prevent further damage and to take advantage of their military abilities, therefore he transferred some of these Cumans to the Byzantine Service, some in Thrace and Macedonia, and some in Anatolia to the Meander (Menderes) Basin (Meander (Menderes) river and its surroundings) and some to the Phrygian And Bithynia Field. They were settled in the modern regions of Ankara, Afyon, Eskişehir, Bolu, Düzce, Kastamonu, Sakarya and Zonguldak as farmers, and in the territories of the Nicene Empire and the Latin Empire, to be protected from the danger of Mongol and Seljuk invasion. When the Ottomans conquered the lands they lived in, these Cumans intermixed with the Turkmen and were assimilated among the Muslim Oghuz Turks.DOI: English version
/ref>

Culture

Horses were central to Cuman culture and way of life, and their main activity was animal husbandry. The knight Robert de Clari described the Cumans as nomadic warriors who raised horses, sheep, goats, camels, and cattle. They moved north with their herds in summer and returned south in winter. Some of the Cumans led a semi-settled life and took part in trading and farming, as well as blacksmithing, furriery, shoe making, saddle making, bow making, and clothes making. They mainly sold and exported animals, mostly horses, and animal products. They attached feeding sacks to the

bridle A bridle is a piece of equipment used to direct a horse. As defined in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', the "bridle" includes both the that holds a bit that goes in the mouth of a horse, and the reins that are attached to the bit. Headgea ...

s of their horses, allowing them to cover great distances. They could go on campaign with little baggage and carry everything they needed. They wore

sheepskin Sheepskin is the hide of a sheep, sometimes also called lambskin. Unlike common leather, sheepskin is tanned with the fleece intact, as in a pelt.Delbridge, Arthur, "The Macquarie Dictionary", 2nd ed., Macquarie Library, North Ryde, 1991 Uses ...

and were armed with composite bows and arrows. They prayed to the first animal they saw in the morning. Like the Bulgars, the Cumans were known to drink blood from their horse (they would cut a vein) when they ran out of water far from an available source. Their traditional diet consisted of soup with millet and meat and included beer, curdled mare's milk,

kumis ''Kumis'' (also spelled ''kumiss'' or ''koumiss'' or ''kumys'', see other transliterations and cognate words below under terminology and etymology – otk, airag kk, қымыз, ''qymyz'') mn, айраг, ''ääryg'') is a fermented dairy ...

, and bread (though bread could be rare depending on location). The fundamental unit of Cuman society was the family, made up of blood relatives. A group of families formed a clan, led by a chief; a group of clans formed a tribe, led by a khan. A typical Cuman clan was named after an object, animal, or a leader of the clan. The names of the leaders of clans or tribes sometimes ended in "apa/aba". Cuman names were descriptive and represented a personal trait or an idea. Clans lived together in movable settlements named 'Cuman towers' by Kievan Rus' chroniclers. The Cuman–Kipchak tribes formed sub-confederations governed by charismatic ruling houses – they acted independently of each other and had opposing policies. The territory controlled distinguished each Cuman tribe: the "seashore" Cuman tribes lived in the steppes between the mouths of the

Dnieper } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine an ...

and the

Dniester The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and t ...

; the "coastal" tribes lived on the coast of the Sea of Azov; the "Dnieper" tribes lived on both banks of the bend in the Dnieper Valley; and the "Don" Cumans lived in the Don River Valley. D. A. Rasovskii notes five separate independent Cuman groups: the central Asiatic, the Volga-Yayik (or Ural), the Donets-Don (between the Volga and the Dnieper), the lower course of the Dnieper, and the Danube. The Rus' grouped the Cuman–Kipchaks into two categories: the Non Wild Polvcians – 'civilised' Cumans of the western part of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation who had friendly relations with Kievan Rus' – and the Wild Polvcians – who formed the eastern part of the confederation and who had hostile relations with Kievan Rus'. As the Cuman–Kipchaks gained more territory, they drove off or dominated many tribes – such as the Oghuz, various Iranian and Finnic tribes, Pechenegs, and Slavs. They also raided the Byzantine Empire and a few times joined the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...

from southern Italy and the Hungarians in doing so. Over the course of time feudalism would take over the traditional social structure of the Cumans, and this led to the changing of identity from kinship to territory-based. Some of the Cumans eventually settled and led sedentary lives involved in agriculture and crafts such as leather and iron working and weapon making. Others became merchants and traded from their towns along the ancient trade routes to regions such as the Orient, Middle East, and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The Cumans also played the role of middlemen in trade between Byzantium and the East, which passed through the Cuman- controlled ports of Sudak (Surozh), Oziv, and Saksyn. Several land routes between Europe and the Near East ran through Cuman territories: the Zaloznyi, the Solianyi, and the Varangian. Cuman towns – Sharukan, Suhrov/Sugrov, and Balin – appeared in the

Donets The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, D ...

River Basin; they were also inhabitted by other peoples besides the Cumans. Due to the practice of Cuman towns being named after their khans, town names changed over time – the town of Sharukan appears as Osenev, Sharuk, and Cheshuev. Rock figures called stone babas, which are found throughout southern Ukraine and other areas on the steppes of Russia, were closely connected with the Cuman religious cult of shamanism. The Cumans tolerated all religions, and Islam and Christianity spread quickly among them. As they were close to the Kievan Rus' principalities, Cuman khans and important families began to slavicize their names – for example, Yaroslav Tomzakovych, Hlib Tyriievych, Yurii Konchakovych, and Danylo Kobiakovych. Ukrainian princely families were often connected by marriage with Cuman khans, lessening wars and conflicts. Sometimes the princes and khans waged joint campaigns; for example, in 1221 they attacked the trading town of Sudak on the Black Sea, which was held by the Seljuk Turks and which interfered with Rus'-Cuman trade. Farys

The Cumans were reported to be handsome people with blond hair, fair skin and blue eyes, and desirable women. Cuman women had a high reputation for their beauty amongst the Russian aristocracy. Robert de Clari reported that the Cumans often wore a sleeveless sheepskin vest, usually worn in conjunction with bracers. Underneath the vest was worn a short or long sleeved tunic/ tabard, extended to the mid calf, splitting in the front and back between the legs. Men wore trousers and a kaftan, each fastened by a belt, which was the traditional costume. The women also wore caftans, as well as pants, dresses, and tunics shorter than those worn by men, sometimes split along the front, back, and sides. Clothes were commonly coloured deep crimson for decoration. Cuman men wore distinguishing conical felt or leather hats, pointed at the top with a broad brim (if made of felt) or a fur trim around the base (if made of leather). The brim of the hat formed a sharp angle at the front and upturned on the rear and at the sides. Women wore a large variety of head dresses and also wore conical hats but with a felt top and a cloth veil extending down the back. This veil only covered the back neck and not the hair or face; another source states that it did cover the hair and that sometimes one or two braids were visible. Women wore a variety of jewellery, such as

torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of th ...

s, a type of neck ornament consisting of one or several metal strands attached to a ribbon or necklace and hung around the neck, and head dresses that were made of a series of silver rings on a solid, cylindrically shaped material that was fastened at the temples. The men shaved the top of their head, while the rest of the hair was plaited into several braids; they also had prominent moustaches. Other Cumans also wore their hair very long, without shaving the top. The women had their hair loose or braided with buns twisting at the side. Both men and women followed a tradition of braiding coloured ribbons into their hair. For footwear, Cuman men and women wore long leather or felt boots with support straps connected to their belt. Both men and women wore cloth or metal arm bands. Cuman warrior

When the Cuman–Kipchaks swore oaths, it was done with swords in the hands that touched the body of a dog cut in two. The Italian Franciscan friar, traveler, and historian, John of Plano Carpini, says that when the Hungarian prince married the Cuman princess, ten Cumans swore over a dog cut in half with a sword that they would defend the Kingdom of Hungary. The Christian writer and historian of the crusades, Jean de Joinville (c. 1224–c. 1317), mentions that when the Cumans and Byzantines made an alliance, the Cumans made a dog pass between both sides and cut it with a sword, obliging the Byzantines to do the same; the Cumans said that both they and the Byzantines should be cut in pieces if they failed each other. Joinville described a Cuman noble's funeral: he was buried seated on a chair whilst his best horse and best sergeant were placed beside him alive. Prior to this the sergeant was given a large sum of money by the Cuman leaders for the purpose of handing it back to them when they too would come into the afterlife. The Cuman khan also gave a letter of recommendation to the sergeant, which was addressed to the first king of the Cumans, in which the present king testified to the sergeant's good character. After these proceedings a huge mound was raised above the tomb. Cumans were buried in their warrior outfits. Wolves were greatly respected by the Cuman–Kipchaks, and they would sometimes howl along with them in commune. The personal bodyguard of the khan were called Bori (wolf in Turkic). Like other nomadic nations, the Cuman–Kipchaks initiated blood bonds (with the purpose of symbolically cementing a bond) by the drinking or mixing of each other's blood. Amongst the Cuman–Kipchaks ethnic names often became personal names – this was also practiced amongst the Mongols. This practice involved naming newborns after the names of conquered tribes and people. Names such as 'Baskord' (from the Bashkirs), 'Imek' (from the Kimeks), 'Kitan' (from the Mongol Khitan people), and 'Urus' were used by the Cumans. Friar William of Rubruck, a Franciscan traveler who visited the Mongols in 1253–55, provides another account of Cuman customs. He mentions that Cumans built statues for dead notables, facing east and holding a cup (these statues are not to be confused with the balbals, which represent the enemies that were killed by him). He also notes that for richer notables, the Cumans built tombs in the form of houses. Rubruk gives an eyewitness account of a man who had recently died: the Cumans had hung up sixteen horses' hides, in groups of four, between high poles, facing the four points of the compass. The mourners then also placed ''

'' for the dead man to consume. Other graves had plenty of stones statues placed around them (balbals), with four tall ones placed to face the points of the compass. Rubrick also wrote "Here the Cumans, who are called Chapchat ipchakused to pasture their flocks, but the Germans call them Valans and their province Valania, and Isidorus calls (the region stretching) from the river Don as far as the Azov Sea and the Danube, Alania. And this land stretches from the Danube as far as the Don, the borderline of Asia and Europe; one can reach there in two months with quick riding as the Tatars ride.... and this country which extends from the Danube to the Tanais onwas all inhabited by the Chapcat Comans, and even further from the Don to the Volga, which rivers are at a distance of ten days' journey...And in the territory between these two rivers .e. the Don and the Volgawhere we continued our way, the Cuman Kipchaks lived." For many years before the Mongol invasion, the Cuman–Kipchaks were in ambiguous relationships with their neighbours (often through marital and martial alliances), the Kwarizmians, Byzantines, Georgians, and the Rus'; at a given time they could be at peace with one, at war with another. The Byzantine Empire hesitated to go to war with the Cuman–Kipchaks north of the Danube River; instead, like the Hungarians, they chose to bribe them. Since Kwarizm had more important enemies, they hired the Cuman–Kipchaks for garrison duty. There were numerous ways the Cuman–Kipchaks could make a living as nomadic warriors. One could partake in questing and raiding with their tribe and subsequently keep the spoils. Another avenue was to seek employment as a mercenary in exchange for the guarantee of loot. One could serve in a garrison, although this caused those Cumans to eventually forget their light cavalry skills and become poor infantry. This was fully exploited when the Mongol army destroyed the Cuman–Kipchak garrison in

Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...

. Cuman–Kipchak women fought beside their fellow male warriors. Women were shown great respect and would often ride on a horse or wagon while the men walked. In their travels, the Cumans used wagons to transport supplies as well as weapons such as mangonels and ballistas. Light felt tents with a frame consisting of wooden laths could be carried on top of wagons and easily be placed on the ground. The windows of the tents were "grilled" in such a way that it was difficult to see in but easy to see out. As the Cumans became more settled, they constructed forts for defence and settlement purposes. The Cuman–Kipchaks used dung for fires when firewood was not available. The Cumans had very strict rules (taboos) against theft, and thus would, without prohibition, loosen their horses, camels, and livestock (sheep, oxen) without shepherds or guards when they were stationary. The law of blood vengeance was common among the Cuman–Kipchaks. The Cuman calendar was atypical, as it showed neither specific Christian influences nor any trace of the Chinese–Turkic twelve-year animal cycle; it appeared to be an archaic system.

Military tactics

Up until the late 11th and early 12th centuries, the Cumans fought mainly as light cavalry, later developing heavy cavalry. The main weapons of the Cumans were the recurved and, later, the composite bow (worn on the hip with the quiver), and the javelin, curved sword (a sabre less curved than a

scimitar A scimitar ( or ) is a single-edged sword with a convex curved blade associated with Middle Eastern, South Asian, or North African cultures. A European term, ''scimitar'' does not refer to one specific sword type, but an assortment of different ...

), mace, and heavy spear for lancing. Due to European influence, some of the later period Cumans wielded war hammers and axes. For defense they used a round or almond shaped shield, short sleeved mail armour, consisting of commonly alternating solid and riveted rows, Lamellar armour (iron or leather), leather cuirass, shoulder spaulders, conical or dome shaped iron helmet with a detachable iron or bronze anthropomorphic face plate (gold for princes and khans), and at times a camail suspended from the helmet, consisting of chain or leather. The armour was strengthened by leather or felt disks that were attached to the chest and back. The items suspended from the belts were a bow case with bow, a quiver, a knife and a comb. They also wore elaborate masks in battle, shaped like and worn over the face. The Cuman Mamluks in Egypt were, in general, more heavily armed than Mongol warriors, sometimes having body armour and carrying a bow and arrow, axe, club, sword, dagger, mace, shield, and a lance. The Cuman Mamluks rode on larger Arabian horses in comparison to steppe ones. The commonly employed Cuman battle tactic was repeated attacks by light cavalry archers, facing and shooting to the rear of the horse, then a feigned retreat and skilled ambush. To maintain this tactic to optimum efficiency, the Cumans kept a large number of reserve horses (10–12 remounts) to replace fatigued ones, so that a fresh horse was available at all times. The horsemen used oval shaped stirrups and employed a large bridle for their horses. Another important accessory was a small whip attached to the rider's wrist. Tribal banners were either made of cloth with tribal emblems or dyed horse hair – with more tails signifying greater importance of the warrior or group. Some of the Cumans who moved west were influenced by Western heraldry, and they eventually displayed hybridized European-Cuman heraldry.

Niketas Choniates Niketas or Nicetas Choniates ( el, Νικήτας Χωνιάτης; c. 1155 – 1217), whose actual surname was Akominatos (Ἀκομινάτος), was a Byzantine Greek government official and historian – like his brother Michael Akominatos, w ...

, while describing a

Battle of Beroia The Battle of Beroia (modern Stara Zagora) was fought in 1122 between the Pechenegs and the Byzantine Empire under Emperor John II Komnenos (r. 1118–1143) in what is now Bulgaria. The Byzantine army won the battle, resulting in the disappearan ...

in the late 12th century, gave an interesting description of the nomadic battle techniques of the Cumans:

They he Cumansfought in their habitual manner, learnt from their fathers. They would attack, shoot their arrows and begin to fight with spears. Before long they would turn their attack into flight and induce their enemy to pursue them. Then they would show their faces instead of their backs, like birds cutting through the air, and would fight face to face with their assailants and struggle even more bravely. This they would do several times, and when they gained the upper hand over the Romans yzantines they would stop turning back again. Then they would draw their swords, release an appalling roar, and fall upon the Romans quicker than a thought. They would seize and massacre those who fought bravely and those who behaved cowardly alike."

Robert de Clari gave another description:

Each one has at least ten or twelve horses, and they have them so well-trained that they follow them wherever they want to take them, and they mount first on one and then on another. When they are on a raid, each horse has a bag hung on his nose, in which his fodder is put, and he feeds as he follows his master, and they do not stop going by night or by day. And they ride so hard that they cover in one day and one night fully six days' journey or seven or eight. And while they are on the way they will not seize anything or carry it along, before their return, but when they are returning, then they seize plunder and make captives and take anything they can get. Nor do they go armed, except that they wear a garment of sheepskin and carry bows and arrows.

Religion

The Cuman people practiced the shamanistic religion of

Tengrism Tengrism (also known as Tengriism, Tengerism, or Tengrianism) is an ethnic and old state Turko- Mongolic religion originating in the Eurasian steppes, based on folk shamanism, animism and generally centered around the titular sky god Tengri. ...

. Their belief system had

animist Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things— animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems ...

ic and shamanistic elements; they celebrated their

ancestors An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from w ...

and provided the dead with objects whose lavishness was considered an indicator to the recipient's

social rank A social class is a grouping of people into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle and lower classes. Membership in a social class can for example be dependent on education, wealth, occupation, inc ...

. The Cumans referred to their shamans as Kam (female: kam katun); their activities were referred to as qamlyqet, meaning "to prophesy". The Cumans used

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

words to designate certain concepts: ''uchuchmak'' (a native Turkic word cognate with Turkish ''uçuşmak'') meaning "fly away, paradise" and ''keshene'' meaning "nest" (an Iranian borrowing; the concept was that the soul has the form of a bird). Funerals for important members involved firstly creating a

mound A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically highe ...

, then placing the dead inside, along with various items deemed useful in the afterlife, a horse (like the

Bulgars The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region during the 7th century. They became known as noma ...

), and sometimes a servant or slave. Cuman

divination Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout history ...

practices used animals, especially the wolf and dog. The dog "It/Kopec" was sacred to the Cuman–Kipchaks, to the extent that an individual,

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...

, or clan would be named after the dog or type of dog. Cumans had shamans who communicated with the spirit world; they were consulted for questions of outcomes. The Cumans in Christian territories were baptised in 1227 by

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...

Archbishop of Esztergom In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

, in a mass

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

on the orders of Bortz Khan, who swore allegiance to King Andrew II of Hungary.

Codex Cumanicus

The Codex Cumanicus, which was written by Italian merchants and German missionaries between 1294 and 1356, was a linguistic manual for the Turkic Cuman language of the Middle Ages, designed to help Catholic missionaries communicate with the Cumans. It consisted of a Latin–Persian–Cuman glossary, grammar observations, lists of consumer goods and Cuman riddles. The first copy was written in the monastery of St. John near Saray. A later copy (1330–1340) is thought to have been written in a Franciscan friary. Later, different sections of the codex, such as the Interpreter's Book (which was for commercial, merchant use) and the Missionaries' Book (which contains sermons, psalms and other religious texts along with Cuman riddles) were combined. The Interpreter's Book consists of 110 pages; pages 1–63 contain alphabetically arranged verbs in Latin, Persian and Cuman. The Missionaries' Book contains vocabulary listings, grammatical notes, Cuman riddles, religious texts and some Italian verses. The Cuman riddles are the oldest documented material of Turkic riddles and constitute Turkic folklore. Some of the riddles have almost identical modern equivalents (for example Kazakh). The Codex Cumanicus is composed of several Cuman–Kipchak dialects. The Cumans' language was a form of Kipchak Turkic and was, until the 14th century, a lingua franca over much of the Eurasian steppes. A number of Cuman–Kipchak–Arabic grammar glossaries appeared in Mamluk lands in the 14th and 15th centuries. It is supposed that the Cumans had their own writing system (mentioned by the historian Gyárfás), which could have been a runic script. The supposition that the Cumans had a runic script is also suggested by the academic Hakan Aydemir, who mentioned a buckle with runic writing from a Cuman grave There was also some Khazar Jewish linguistic influence upon the Cumans – the Cuman words ''shabat'' and ''shabat kun'' (meaning Saturday) are related to the Hebrew word ''Shabbat'' (meaning Sabbath). These Hebrew influences in the language may have resulted from contact or intermarriage between Khazars and some of the Cumans in the mid-11th century.

Cuman leaders

* Iskal or Eskel (compare OTrk 𐰔𐰏𐰠 ''Izgil'', the endonym of a Western Turkic

Nushibi Nushibi (Nu-shibi, ; Middle Chinese: *''nuoXɕiɪt̚piɪt̚'') was a Chinese collective name for five tribes of the right (western) wingYu. Zuev, ''"The Strongest tribe - Izgil"''//Historical And Cultural Relations Between Iran And Dasht-i Kipc ...

tribe who would later join and be assimilated into the

Volga Bulgars Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria, was a historic Bulgar state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now European Russia. Volga Bulgaria was a multi-ethnic state ...

) who were mentioned by

Ahmad ibn Fadlan Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān ibn al-ʿAbbās ibn Rāšid ibn Ḥammād, ( ar, أحمد بن فضلان بن العباس بن راشد بن حماد; ) commonly known as Ahmad ibn Fadlan, was a 10th-century Muslim traveler, famous for his account of hi ...

after visiting Volga region in 921–922. They also were mentioned by

Abu Saʿīd Gardēzī Abū Saʿīd ʿAbd-al-Ḥayy ibn Żaḥḥāk b. Maḥmūd Gardīzī ( fa, ابوسعید عبدالحی بن ضحاک بن محمود گردیزی), better known as Gardizi (), was an 11th-century Persian historian and official, who is notable for ...

in his ''Zayn al-Akhbār''. According to

Bernhard Karlgren Klas Bernhard Johannes Karlgren (; 15 October 1889 – 20 October 1978) was a Swedish sinologist and linguist who pioneered the study of Chinese historical phonology using modern comparative methods. In the early 20th century, Karlgren conducte ...

, Eskels became the

Hungarian people Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Ural ...

Székelys. Yury Zuev thought that ''Iskal'' who is mentioned in the

Laurentian Codex Laurentian Codex or Laurentian Letopis (russian: Лаврентьевский список, Лаврентьевская летопись) is a collection of chronicles that includes the oldest extant version of the '' Primary Chronicle'' and its ...

about the first military encounter of Cumans against the Ruthenians on February 2, 1061, is personification of a tribal name. * Sharukan/Sharagan (also known as Sharukan the Elder), grand father of Konchak. He was another Polovotsian khan who was victorious against the Ruthenian army of Yaroslavichi at the Alta river ( Battle of the Alta River). According to the Novgorod First Chronicle Sharukan was taken as prisoner by

Svyatoslav II of Kiev Sviatoslav II Iaroslavich or Sviatoslav II Yaroslavich ( orv, Ст҃ославь Ӕрославичь; Russian and Ukrainian: Святослав Ярославич; 1027 – 27 December 1076) was Grand Prince of Kiev between 1073 and 1076 ...

in 1068, while no such information is provided in the

. In May 1107 along with Bonyak, Sharukan raided a couple of Ruthenian cities ( Pereyaslav and Lubny), however already in August of the same year the collective Ruthenian army led by Svyatoslav carried out a devastating defeat to the Cuman Horde forcing Sharukan to flee. * Bonyak/ Maniak, Cuman khan who was actively involved in civil conflicts of

Ruthenia Ruthenia or , uk, Рутенія, translit=Rutenia or uk, Русь, translit=Rus, label=none, pl, Ruś, be, Рутэнія, Русь, russian: Рутения, Русь is an exonym, originally used in Medieval Latin as one of several terms ...

. He had a brother Taz who perished at the

on the

Sula River The Sula ( uk, Сула́; russian: Су́ла) is a left tributary of the Dnieper with a total length of 363 km and a drainage basin of 19,600 km². The river flows into the Dnieper through the Kremenchuk Reservoir, with which it form ...

in 1107. Bonyak was last mentioned in 1167 when he was defeated by Oleg of Siveria. Bonyak was a leader of the Cuman tribe Burchevichi that resided in steppes of the

East Ukraine Eastern Ukraine or east Ukraine ( uk, Східна Україна, Skhidna Ukrayina; russian: Восточная Украина, Vostochnaya Ukraina) is primarily the territory of Ukraine east of the Dnipro (or Dnieper) river, particularly Khar ...

between modern cities of Zaporizhia and

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: cities' alternative names), is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine loc ...

. * Tugorkan (1028–1096), was mentioned in essays of the Byzantine Princess Anna Komnene along with his compatriot Bonyak. He perished with his son at the battle on the

Trubizh River The Trubizh (, russian: Трубе́ж) is a river entirely located in Ukraine, a left tributary of Dnieper. It falls into the Dnieper's Kaniv Reservoir (named after Kaniv). It is long, and has a drainage basin of .Syrchan, a son of Sharukan. He was a leader of a Cuman tribe that lived on the right banks of Siversky Donets. Chronicles mentioned that after the death of Vladimir II Monomakh, grand prince of Kiev, Syrchan sent out an emissary and a singer Orev to Georgia after his brother Atrak/ Otrok (who, with 40,000 Cuman troops, was in Georgia at the time), urging him to return. Khan Otrok agreed (giving up the fame and security he had won in Georgia), after smelling ''eyevshan'', the grass of his native steppe. Syrchan was mentioned in the poem of Apollon Maykov (1821–1897) "Emshan". * Otrok/ Atrak, a son of Sharukan and a brother of Syrchan. In 1111 he, along with his brother, withdrew to the Lower Don region after losing a battle against the Ruthenians. There Atrak's horde joined the local Alans. In 1117 his army sacked

Sarkel Sarkel (or Šarkel, literally ''white house'' in the Khazar language was a large limestone-and-brick fortress in the present-day Rostov Oblast of Russia, on the left bank of the lower Don River. It was built by the Khazars with Byzantine as ...

and 5 other cities belonging to the Torkils and Berendei forcing the local

, Berendei and Torkils to flee to

. Around the same time Atrak invaded the

Northern Caucasus The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...

where he entered into conflict with local

Circassians The Circassians (also referred to as Cherkess or Adyghe; Adyghe and Kabardian: Адыгэхэр, romanized: ''Adıgəxər'') are an indigenous Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation native to the historical country-region of Circassia ...

pushing them beyond the Kuban River. The conflict was settled by a Georgian King David IV of Georgia who offered military service to Atrak against Seljuks in 1118. David also married the daughter of Atrak – Gurandukht. After withdrawal of Atrak away from the Don region, the Alan's duchy in

was liquidated in 1116–17. Atrak returned after the death of Vladimir Monomakh in 1125. * Khan Konchek/Konchak/Kumcheg (meaning 'trousers'), grandson of Sharukan, son of Khan Otrok. He united the tribes of the eastern Cumans in the later half of the 12th century, after which in the 1170s and 1180s he launched a number of particularly destructive attacks on the settlements in the Duchy of Kiev, the

and the

. Konchak gave aid to the princes of the

in their struggle for control with the other Rus' princes. Along with Khan Kobiak/Kobek, Khan Konchak was routed on the Khorol River in 1184 during an assault on Kyivan Rus'. In 1185, he defeated the army of Ihor Sviatoslavych, who was taken as a prisoner. Later, Konchak laid siege to Pereiaslav and ravaged the Chernihiv and Kyiv areas. His daughter married prince Vladimir Igorevich of Putivl (Igor's son). It is hypothesized that Konchek was with the Cumans who helped Riurik Rostislavovich seizure and sack of Kiev in 1202. Khan Konchek is credited with certain technological advancements, such as

Greek fire Greek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Eastern Roman Empire beginning . Used to set fire to enemy ships, it consisted of a combustible compound emitted by a flame-throwing weapon. Some historians believe it could be ignited on contact w ...

and a special bow that needed 50 men to operate. Konchek was noted by the Rus' to be "greater than all the Cumans". He died in a skirmish that preceded the Battle of Kalka River. The struggle to repel Khan Konchak and his army by Ihor Sviatoslavych and the Rus' princes is immortalized in the epic

("Slovo o polku Ihorevi)." * Syrgiannés/Sıçğan It is seen that some of the Cumans, who were on the way to prevent the Seljuk Turks expansion and were taken into

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

service after a second Mongolian invasion, also served in the imperial palace and rose to high positions in time. As a matter of fact, Syrgiannés (Sytzigan: Sıçğan: Rat), who was the son of one of the Cuman begs, was baptized and married a woman from the Palaiologos family, and later received the title of Megas Domestic. The presence of his descendants in the

continued for nearly 100 years. The last representative of this The Cuman Family, which was later assimilated into Byzantine Culture was also named Syrgiannés, just like the first member of the family. Syrgiannés, who was the governor of Macedonia and

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

, was the elder emperor II. After participating in the struggles between Andronikos and his grandson that started in 1320, he fell out of favor and led a dull life until he was killed by the emperor's men in 1334.

Appearance

The looks of a typical Cuman are a matter of sensationalist debates. This is because in spite of their Eastern origins, several sources point at them being white, blue-eyed, and blond. It is important to elaborate, however, that the full range of available data sketches a more complex picture. While the written sources predominantly emphasize a fair complexion (e.g. Adam of Bremen referring to them as "the blond ones") the craniometric and genetic data, as well as contemporary art, support the image of a highly heterogenous in appearance people. Skulls with East Asian features are often found in burials associated with the Cumans and Pechenegs in Europe. The genetic material is mixed, albeit that European matrilineal DNA predominates (see also below). Unlike the written sources, paintings and miniatures from between the 12th and 14th century (close in time to the settlement of Cumans to Central Europe) tend to support the picture of a mixed population that is suggested by the craniometric and genetic analyses. In the

Anjou Legendarium The Anjou Legendarium is a Gothic illuminated manuscript of a collection of stories from the life of saints important to the House of Anjou of Hungary. It was made on the occasion of the journey of Charles I of Hungary and his son Prince Andrew ...

Cumans are depicted with East Asian features and dark hair, while a fresco in the Kraskovo church in Slovakia confirms the stereotype of the blond Cuman. There are also depictions of Cumans with Caucasian features, but dark complexion (e.g. in the Képes Krónika Pictum). Notably, all of these phenotypes can be traced to groups described in Chinese and Arab sources, that are assumed to have later merged in the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. Fair complexion, e.g. red hair and blue or green eyes, were already noted by the Chinese among the Qincha (Kipchak), while the Tiele (to whom the Qun belonged) were not described as foreign looking, i.e. they were likely East Asian in appearance. A dark complexion was attributed to the Pechenegs by

Ibn Fadlan Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān ibn al-ʿAbbās ibn Rāšid ibn Ḥammād, ( ar, أحمد بن فضلان بن العباس بن راشد بن حماد; ) commonly known as Ahmad ibn Fadlan, was a 10th-century Muslim traveler, famous for his account of his ...

, who did not specify, however, if their features are European or Asian. The Kipchak, Qun and Pechenegs all assimilated into the Cuman-Kipchak confederation, eventually. Integrating evidence from texts, art, craniometric and genetic analyses ultimately supports the hypothesis of a diverse in appearance population. The presence of blond Cumans was likely noted by contemporary writers, because it was unexpected given how similar the Cumans were in culture and customs to the Mongols and Pechenegs.

Legacy

Bulgarian Asen dynasty monument Veliko Tarnovo Klearchos

As the Cumans ceased to have a state of their own, they were gradually absorbed into Eurasian populations (certain families in Hungary, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Turkey, Romania, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tatars in Crimea). The Cumans in Dobruja were assimilated into Bulgarian and Romanian people. Traces of the Cumans can still be found in placenames stretching from China to the Balkans, such as: * the city of

Kumanovo Kumanovo ( mk, Куманово ; also known by other alternative names) is a city in North Macedonia and the seat of Kumanovo Municipality, the largest municipality in the country. Kumanovo lies above sea level and is surrounded by the Kar ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

; * a Slavic village named Kumanichevo in the Kastoria region of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

(renamed to ''Lithia'' in 1928); * a Slavic village named Kumanich in the

Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

region of

(renamed to ''Dasoto'' in 1927); * Comăneşti in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

; * Kuman, a city in

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwes ...

, China; * Polovtsy, a town in Smolensk Oblast, Russia; * Polovtsy in

Mogilev Region Mogilev Region or Mogilev Oblast or Mahiliow Voblasts ( be, link=no, Магілёўская вобласць; ''Mahiloŭskaja voblasć''; russian: link=no, Могилёвская область; ''Mogilyovskaya Oblast''), is a region ('' oblast' ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

; * the steppes north of the Caucasus Mountains, referred to as Kuban as well as the Kuban River; * the village of Kumane in

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

; * the subdivision of Kumanitsa in the municipality of Ivanjica, Serbia; * the municipality of Kuman in the Fier District, Fier County, southwestern

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...

; * Küman, a village and municipality in the

Lerik Rayon Lerik District ( az, Lerik rayonu, tly, Lik rəyon, script=Latn) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the south-east of the country and belongs to the Lankaran-Astara Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Y ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

; * the town and district of Ulaş in the

Sivas Province Sivas Province ( tr, ) is a province of Turkey. It is largely located at the eastern part of the Central Anatolia region of Turkey; it is the second largest province in Turkey by territory. Its adjacent provinces are Yozgat to the west, Kays ...

of Turkey; * Comana in

Northern Dobruja Northern Dobruja ( ro, Dobrogea de Nord or simply ; bg, Северна Добруджа, ''Severna Dobrudzha'') is the part of Dobruja within the borders of Romania. It lies between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, bordered in the south ...

(also Romania); * the small village of Kumanite in Bulgaria; * Kuman, a town in Qashqadaryo,

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

; * the town of Kumanlar in Ordu, Turkey;

Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and ...

in Hungary; * the village of

Bugac Bugac is a village in Bács-Kiskun county, in the Southern Great Plain region of southern Hungary. It covers an area of and has a population of 2889 people (2010). The surrounding area, ''Bugac puszta'' is the largest of seven disjoint u ...

in Hungary, * the counties of Bács-Kiskun and Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok as well as the cities

Kiskunhalas Kiskunhalas (; german: Hallasch) is a city in the county of Bács-Kiskun, Hungary. Railroad The city is an important railway junction. It crosses the Budapest-Subotica-Belgrade railway line. The Kiskunfélegyháza railway ends in Kiskunhalas. ...

and

Kunszentmiklós Kunszentmiklós (german: Sankt Niklas) is a town in Bács-Kiskun county, Hungary. The name is derived from the Cumans (Kun in Hungarian). Twin cities * Cristuru Secuiesc * Blumberg * Skorenovac * Karcag * St. Julian's * Chepa See ...

in Hungary, * the village of Kunmadaras in Greater Cumania, Hungary; * and the town of Kumanov in

Khmelnytskyi Oblast Khmelnytskyi Oblast ( uk, Хмельни́цька о́бласть, translit=Khmelnytska oblast; also referred to as Khmelnychchyna — uk, Хмельни́ччина) is an oblast (province) of western Ukraine covering portions of the histo ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

. The flower, ''Kumoniga'' (melilot), is also a relic of the Cumans. The Gagauz people are believed by some historians to be descendants of the Cumans; the name Qipcakli occurs as a modern Gagauz surname. The etymology of the Sea of Azov is popularly said to derive from a certain Cuman prince named Azum or Asuf, who was killed defending a town in this region in 1067. As the Mongols pushed westward and devastated their state, most of the Cumans fled to Hungary, as well as the Second Bulgarian Empire since they were major military allies. The Cuman participation in the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1185 and thereafter brought about basic changes in the political and ethnic sphere of Bulgaria and the Balkans. Bulgarian Tsar Ivan-Asen II was descended from Cumans and settled them in the southern parts of the country, bordering the Latin Empire and the Despotate of Thessalonica. Those territories are in present-day Turkish Europe, Bulgaria, and North Macedonia. The Cumans who settled in Hungary had their own self-government in a territory that bore their name, Kunság, that survived until the 19th century. Two regions – Little Cumania and Greater Cumania – exist in Hungary. The name of the Cumans (''Kun'') is preserved in county names such as Bács-Kiskun, Kunbaja and Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok. The Cumans were organized into four tribes in Hungary: Kolbasz/Olas in upper Cumania around Karcag and the other three in lower Cumania. COA Cumania (SK-KE)

The Cuman language disappeared from Hungary in the 17th or 18th century, possibly following the Turkish occupation. The last person who was able to speak some Cumanian on a decaying level was István Varró from Karcag, who died in 1770. During the 1740s, when Cuman was no longer spoken, a Cuman version of the Lord's Prayer suddenly surfaced. It was taught in schools in Greater Cumania and Little Cumania until the mid-20th century, in turn becoming a cornerstone of Cuman identity. In the 20th century enthusiastic self-styled Cumans collected 'Cuman folklore', which consisted of elements such as a traditional Cuman dance, Cuman characteristics such as pride and staunch

Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...

. (By religion, as may be seen by figures for

religion in Hungary Religion in Hungary has been dominated by forms of Christianity for centuries. According to the 2011 census, 54.2% of the Hungarians declared to believe in Christianity, of whom 38.9% were Catholics (for the majority following the Roman rite, an ...

, the Kiskunság is almost entirely Roman Catholic, whereas in Nagykunság, Protestants do outnumber Catholics, but only narrowly.) This ethnic consciousness was linked to the legal privileges attached to the Cumans' territory. Their 19th-century biographer, Gyárfás István, in 1870 was of the opinion that they originally spoke Hungarian, together with the

Iazyges The Iazyges (), singular Ἰάζυξ. were an ancient Sarmatian tribe that traveled westward in BC from Central Asia to the steppes of modern Ukraine. In BC, they moved into modern-day Hungary and Serbia near the Dacian steppe between t ...

population. Despite this mistake, he has the best overview on the subject concerning details of material used. Cuman influence is also present in the modern Hungarian language in the form of loanwords, particularly in the areas of horse-breeding, eating, hunting and fighting. In 1918, after World War I, the Cuman National Council was formed in Hungary, which was an attempt to separate the Kunság region (

and

) from the Hungarian state, with the aim of forming a new independent Cuman state in Europe. The Cuman National Council declared the independence of Kunság, and elected its president Count Gedeon Ráday on December 18. However the council's efforts remained unsuccessful. In 1939, Cuman descendants organized celebrations for the 700th anniversary of their arrival in Hungary, where they emphasized their separate ethnic existence and identity with ceremonial speeches. In 1995, The Cuman Memorial Site was inaugurated as a tribute to the Cuman ancestors and the redemption of the former Nagykun District. In 2009, and subsequently 2012, a World Meeting of the Cumans was held in Karcag. During the first meeting, which lasted two weeks, academic conferences, historical exhibitions, publications, presentations of traditional and cultural festivals and lectures in relation to the Cumans were held. In the 2012 meeting, the minister for rural development, Sándor Fazekas, mentioned how Cuman traditions are still kept alive, such as costumes, folk songs, and food. Toponyms of the Cuman language origin can be found in some Romanian counties of

Galați Galați (, , ; also known by other alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the Danube River. It has been the only port for the most pa ...

, Teleorman and Vaslui, including the names of those three counties. When some of the Cumans moved to Hungary, they brought with them their Komondor dogs. The Komondor breed has been declared one of Hungary's national treasures, to be preserved and protected from modification. The name Komondor derives from Koman-dor, meaning "Cuman dog". In the countries where the Cumans were assimilated, family surnames derived from the words for "Cuman" (such as ''coman'' or ''kun'', "kuman") are not uncommon. Traces of the Cumans are the Bulgarian surnames Kunev or Kumanov (feminine Kuneva, Kumanova) and Asenov, its variants in North Macedonia Kunevski, Kumanovski (feminine Kumanovska); the Kazakh surname Kumanov; the widespread Hungarian surname Kun; the Hungarian surnames of Csertan, Csoreg, Kokscor, Karacs, Kekcse; the Hungarian surname of Kangur – a byname of one of the families of Karcag (the words Kangur and Karcag derive from Qongur and Qarsaq respectively, and occur as modern day clan names of the Kazakhs – the Kipchak tribes Qongur and Qarsaq, as well as names used by the Kirgyz in the Manas epic – mentioned as Kongur-bay, lord of the Mongol Kalmyk people and the warrior Kongrolu); the Hungarian surname of Kapscog (from "Kipchak")- Kapsog Tojasos Kovacs, a byname of Kovacs family, as well as the name of Eszenyi Kopscog of Hungary; and the Greek surname Asan. The names "Coman" in Romania and its derivatives, however, do not appear to have any connection to the medieval Cumans, as it was unrecorded until very recent times and the places with the highest frequency of such names has not produced any archaeological evidence of Cuman settlement.Spinei, Victor. The Cuman Bishopric – Genesis and Evolution. in ''The Other Europe: Avars, Bulgars, Khazars and Cumans''. Edited by Florin Curta and Roman Kovalev. Brill Publishing. 2008. p. 64 Over time, Cuman culture exerted an influence on the Ceangăi/Hungarian Csangos and Romanian culture in Moldavia, due to the Hungarians in Moldavia socializing and mingling with the Cumans between the 14th and 15th centuries. Hakan Aydemir, a Turkic linguist, states that the 'ir' of the Ceangăi/ Csangos and Székelys dialect, which means 'carve', 'notch', as well as the words 'urk/uruk' (meaning 'lasso', 'noose'), 'dszepu (meaning 'wool') and 'korhany' (meaning 'small mountain', 'hill') are of Cuman–Kipchak origin. Additionally, the Cumans could have also had some connection with Székelys runes. Several Romanian as well as Hungarian academics believe that a significant Cuman population lived in

in the 15th century; these Cumans later assimilated into the Romanian population. People in Hungary with the surname

Palóc The Palóc are a subgroup of Hungarians in Northern Hungary and southern Slovakia. While the Palóc have retained distinctive traditions, including a very apparent dialect of Hungarian, the Palóc are also ethnic Hungarians by general consensus. ...

are descended from the Cumans (and possibly Kabars and Pechenegs) – ''Palóc'' origintates from the Slavic word ''Polovets''/''Polovtsy''. Although the Palócs were similar to the Hungarians in origins and culture, they were considered distinct groups by the Turks. The first written record of the word "palóc" as the name of a people appears in the Mezőkövesd register in 1784. Some scholars believe there is also no connection between the Cumans and the Dutch surnames Kooman(s), Koman(s), Koeman(s), (De) Cooman(s) and Coman(s), used particularly in the Flemish area and the Dutch county of Zeeland. They believe these surnames are medieval and were used in the meaning of 'merchant'. However, other scholars believe the Coumans surname found in the Low Countries and France has its origins in the Cumans. The Cumans appear in Rus' culture in the Rus' epic poem ''

'' and are the military enemies of the Rus' in Alexander Borodin's

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

'' Prince Igor'', which features a set of Polovtsian Dances. The name Cuman is the name of several villages in Turkey, such as Kumanlar, including the Black Sea region. The indigenous people in the

Altai Republic The Altai Republic (; russian: Респу́блика Алта́й, Respublika Altay, ; Altai: , ''Altay Respublika''), also known as Gorno-Altai Republic, and colloquially, and primarily referred to in Russian to distinguish from the neighbour ...

, Kumandins (Kumandy), are descended from the Cumans. By the 17th century, the Kumandins lived along the river Charysh, near its confluence with the river Ob. A subsequent relocation to the Altai was driven by their unwillingness to pay '' yasak'' (financial tribute) to the Russian sovereign. N. Aristov linked the Kumandins – and the

Chelkans The Chelkans (native name—''Chalkandu, Shalkandu'') are a small group of Turkic indigenous people of Siberia. They speak the Northern Altai Chelkan language. Those residing in Altai Republic are sometimes grouped together with the Altai ethnic ...

– to the ancient Turks, "who in the 6th-8th CC. CE created in

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...

a powerful nomadic state, which received ... the name Turkic Kaganate". Persons of Cuman/Kipchak origin also became Mamluk leaders: a prominent Cuman Sultan of the Egyptian Mamluk Sultanate, Sultan Baibars (reigned 1260–1277), defeated King

Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the d ...

, and resisted the Mongol invasion, defeating the Mongol army at the Battle of Ain Jalut (1260) and the Battle of Elbistan (1277) (by using the feigned-retreat tactic). Mamluks in the empire retained a particularly strong sense of Cuman identity, to the degree that the biography of Sultan Baibars, as reflected by Ibn Shaddad, focused on his birth and early years in Desht-i-Kipchak ("Steppe of the Kipchaks"/Cumania), as well as enslavement and subsequent travels to Bulgaria and the Near East. The historian Dimitri Korobeinikov relates how Baibars' story sums up the tragic fate of many Cumans after the Battle of the Kalka River (1223) and the Mongol invasion of Europe (1223–1242). Roman Kovalev states that this story can further be seen as a mechanism for the preservation of a collective memory broadly reflecting a sense of Cuman identity in the Mamluk Sultanate. In the latter part of the 1260s the Mamluks were allied with the Golden Horde against the

Ilkhanate The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm ...

. The creation of this specific warrior class, described as the "mamluk phenomenon" by

David Ayalon David Ayalon (1914 – 25 June 1998) was an Israeli historian of Islam and the Middle East, specializing in the Mamluk dynasties of Egypt. Within Israel he was best known for the Arabic-Hebrew dictionary he co-compiled in 1947. Life Born David ...

, was of great political importance. In the Hungarian village of Csengele, on the borders of what is still called Kiskunsag ("Little Cumania"), an archeological excavation in 1975 revealed the ruins of a medieval church with 38 burials. Several burials had all the characteristics of a Cumanian group: richly jeweled, non-Hungarian, and definitely Cumanian-type costumes; the 12-spiked mace as a weapon; bone girdles; and associated pig bones. In view of the cultural objects and the historical data, the archeologists concluded that the burials were indeed Cumanian from the mid-13th century; hence some of the early settlers in Hungary were from that ethnic group. In 1999 the grave of a high-status Cumanian from the same period was discovered about 50 meters from the church of Csengele; this was the first anthropologically authenticated grave of a Cumanian chieftain in Hungary, and the contents are consistent with the ethnic identity of the excavated remains from the church burials. A separated area of the chieftain grave contained a complete skeleton of a horse.

Genetics

The ethnic origins of the Cumans are uncertain. The Cumans were reported to have had blond hair, fair skin and blue eyes (which set them apart from other groups and later puzzled historians), although they were often distinguished by their Altaic-

Mongoloid Mongoloid () is an obsolete racial grouping of various peoples indigenous to large parts of Asia, the Americas, and some regions in Europe and Oceania. The term is derived from a now-disproven theory of biological race. In the past, other terms ...

features. A genetic study done on Cuman burials in Hungary determined that they had substantially more western Eurasian

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...

(mtDNA) lineages. In a 2005 study by Erika Bogacsi-Szabo ''et al.'' of the mtDNA of the Cuman nomad population that migrated into the Carpathian basin during the 13th century, six

haplogroups A haplotype is a group of alleles in an organism that are inherited together from a single parent, and a haplogroup (haploid from the el, ἁπλοῦς, ''haploûs'', "onefold, simple" and en, group) is a group of similar haplotypes that share ...

were revealed.

One of these haplogroups belongs to the M lineage (haplogroup D) and is characteristic of Eastern Asia, but this is the second most frequent haplogroup in southern Siberia too. All the other haplogroups (H, V, U, U3, and JT) are West Eurasian, belonging to the N macrohaplogroup. Out of the eleven remains, four samples belonged to haplogroup H, two to haplogroup U, two to haplogroup V, and one each to the JT, U3, and D haplogroups. In comparison to the Cumans, modern Hungarian samples represent 15 haplogroups. All but one is a West Eurasian haplogroup he remaining one is East Asian (haplogroup F) but all belong to the N lineage. Four haplogroups (H, V, U*, JT), present in the ancient samples, can also be found in the modern Hungarians, but only for haplogroups H and V were identical haplotypes found. Haplogroups U3 and D occur exclusively in the ancient group, and 11 haplogroups (HV, U4, U5, K, J, J1a, T, T1, T2, W, and F) occur only in the modern Hungarian population. Haplogroup frequency in the modern Hungarian population is similar to other European populations, although haplogroup F is almost absent in continental Europe; therefore the presence of this haplogroup in the modern Hungarian population can reflect some past contribution. "The results suggested that the Cumanians, as seen in the excavation at Csengele, were far from genetic homogeneity. Nevertheless, the grave artifacts are typical of the Cumanian steppe culture; and five of the six skeletons that were complete enough for anthropometric analysis appeared Asian rather than European (Horváth 1978, 2001), including two from the mitochondrial haplogroup H, which is typically European. It is interesting that the only skeleton for which anthropological examination indicated a partly European ancestry was that of the chieftain, whose haplotype is most frequently found in the Balkans."

The study concluded that the mitochondrial motifs of Cumans from Csengele show the genetic admixtures with other populations rather than the ultimate genetic origins of the founders of Cuman culture. The study further mentioned, "This may be the result of the habits of the Cumanian nomads. Horsemen of the steppes formed a political unit that was independent from their maternal descent or their language and became members of a tribal confederation. According to legends, Cumanians frequently carried off women from raided territories. So the maternal lineages of a large part of the group would reflect the maternal lineage of those populations that had geographic connection with Cumanians during their migrations. Nevertheless, the Asian mitochondrial haplotype in sample Cu26 may still reflect the Asian origins of the Cumanians of Csengele. However, by the time the Cumanians left the Trans-Carpathian steppes and settled in Hungary, they had acquired several more westerly genetic elements, probably from the Slavic, Ugric, and Turkic-speaking peoples who inhabited the regions north of the Black and Caspian Seas." The results from the Cuman samples were plotted on a graph with other Eurasian populations, showing the genetic distances between them. The Eurasian populations were divided into two distinct clusters. One cluster contained all the Eastern and Central Asian populations and can be divided into two subclusters; one subcluster includes mainly Eastern Asian populations (Buryat, Korean and Kirghiz Lowland populations), and the other subcluster harbors mainly Central Asian populations (Mongolian, Kazakh, Kirghiz Highland and Uyghur populations). The second cluster contained the European populations. Inside the second cluster, based on HVS I motifs, a clear structure was not detectable, but almost all European populations, including the modern Hungarians, assembled in one section with small distances between each other. Cumans were outside this section; they were found to be above the abscissa of the graph – this is the population from the second cluster, which is closest to the East-Central Asian cluster. The modern Cumans of Csengele, Hungary are genetically nearest to the Finnish, Komi and Turkish populations. The modern day Cuman descendants in Hungary are differentiated genetically from the Hungarians and other European populations. In relation to the Kumandins, Pankratov regarded the Kumandins as being related anthropologically to the Urals, and suggested that they were less

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

n than the Altaians proper. A majority of

lines belonged to the

North East Asia Northeast Asia or Northeastern Asia is a geographical subregion of Asia; its northeastern landmass and islands are bounded by the Pacific Ocean. The term Northeast Asia was popularized during the 1930s by American historian and political scienti ...

n haplogroups C or D with also a large minority of west Eurasian lineages such as U.

In popular culture

Cumans appear as one of the civilizations that players can play as in the 2019 strategy game Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. In addition, players can play a campaign which tells the story of their flight westwards as they retreat from the Mongols. Cumans appear as antagonists in the 2018 role-playing game Kingdom Come: Deliverance.

Gallery

File:Polovtsi statue in Nieborów, Poland.JPG, Cuman statue "Baba" in Nieborów, Poland File:Baba 030.jpg, "Baba" 11th century, Luhansk File:Baba 27.jpg, "Baba" 11th century, Luhansk File:Baba 0084.JPG, "Baba" 11th century, Luhansk File:Baba 15.jpg, "Baba" 11th century, Luhansk File:Baba 31.jpg, "Baba" 11th century, Luhansk File:Baba 061.jpg, Cuman statue File:Baba 13.jpg, Cuman statue File:Kamennaya baba.JPG, Cuman sculpture File:Polovtsy stone baba in Stadnitsja Kiev c. 12th c. AD.JPG, Cuman statue in Stadnitsja Kiev c. 12th century File:0925 Kipchak style helmet 13th c.JPG, Cuman battle mask File:Donetsk kipchak baba.jpg, Cuman statue at the Donetsk local history museum File:Kunhegyes szobor (cropped).jpg, Equestrian statue of a Cuman warrior, Kunhegyes, Hungary File:Statua polovesiana del figlio di kipchak, XII sec.JPG, Cuman, 12th century, Hermitage Museum File:Kipchap art in Karla Marksa Prospect 25dec09 3017.JPG, Cuman statues near the museum on Akademik Yavornitskyi Prospekt, Dnipro File:Половецкий воин (Заповедный).jpg, Cuman statue File:Prelesne 0007.jpg, "Baba" at the Open Air Museum, Prelesne File:Kipchak baba 001.jpg, Chormukhinsk Madonna, Luhansk File:Baba 18.jpg, Cuman Stone statue "baba" File:Kipchap art 25dec09 3030.JPG, Cuman Stone statue "baba" File:Kuman Hlava.png, Ladislas IV "The Cuman" of Hungary, 14th century File:Kunlaszlo.jpg, Ladislaus IV of Hungary "the Cuman" File:Samuel of Hungary (Chronicon Pictum 048).jpg,

Samuel Aba Samuel Aba ( hu, Aba Sámuel; before 990 or 1009 – 5 July 1044) reigned as King of Hungary between 1041 and 1044. He was born to a prominent family with extensive domains in the region of the Mátra Hills. Based on reports in the ''Gesta ...

king of Hungary File:AlzbetaKumanska kralovna.jpg, Elizabeth the Cuman mediaeval seal File:Kunkereszt Belez.JPG, Kunkereszt ("Cuman cross") in Belez, periphery of

Magyarcsanád Magyarcsanád ( ro, Cenadul Unguresc; sr, Чанад, Čanad) is a multi-ethnic village located in Csongrád-Csanád County, southeastern Hungary, near the Mureș () River. The Maros is a border-river here between southern Hungary and northern ...

, Hungary File:Polovets baba GIM.jpg, Cuman stone statues "babas" File:Cuman statues from Ukraine in Neues Museum, Berlin.jpg, Cuman statues from Ukraine in Neues Museum, Berlin File:Chainmail polovcy GIM.jpg, Cuman chain mail File:Stone_image_LGPU_16.jpg, Cuman statue File:Polovtsy.jpg, Cuman prairie art, as exhibited in

Dnipro Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

File:MongolsInHungary1285.jpg, Cumans in Hungary File:Kunhalom Fülöpszállás.jpg, Cuman burial mound in Hungary File:2014-09-22. Донецкий краеведческий музей 010.jpg, Cuman stone statues in

damaged in fighting (22 September 2014) File:Kraskovo21FotoThalerTamas.JPG, Pursuit of Cuman horsemen (right) by the Hungarian King Ladislaus I (left), church of

Kraskovo, Slovakia Kraskovo ( hu, Karaszkó) is a village and municipality in the Rimavská Sobota District of the Banská Bystrica Region of southern Slovakia. Notable attractions include a late gothic evangelical church containing renaissance paintings and fea ...

, 14th century

References

Footnotes

Citations

Sources

External links

Mitochondrial DNA of ancient Cumanians: culturally Asian steppe nomadic immigrants with substantially more western Eurasian mitochondrial DNA lineages

Cuman Royal House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuman Invasions of Europe History of Kievan Rus' Medieval Kingdom of Hungary Medieval Ukraine Moldova in the Early Middle Ages Nomadic groups in Eurasia Romania in the Early Middle Ages Turkic peoples of Europe Medieval Russia Extinct Turkic peoples

Names and etymology

Cuman

Cumania

Polovtsy

Folban, Vallani, Valwe

Kipchak

Tribes

History

Origins

Qun

Kipchak relationship

Conquests

Political organization

Battles in Kievan Rus' and the Balkans

Mongol invasions

Settlement on the Hungarian plain

Cuman involvement in Serbia

Golden Horde and Byzantine mercenaries

Traces Of Cuman in Anatolia

Culture

Military tactics

Religion

Codex Cumanicus

Cuman leaders

Appearance

Legacy

Genetics

In popular culture

Gallery

See also

References

Footnotes

Citations

Sources

Further reading

External links