Who are the Polovtsians, how did they appear in Rus'? The defeat of the Polovtsians by Vladimir Monomakh. Who are the Cumans? The Cumans were defeated in what year
The Polovtsy remained in the history of Rus' the worst enemies of Vladimir Monomakh and cruel mercenaries during the internecine wars. Tribes who worshiped the sky terrorized the Old Russian state for almost two centuries.
"Cumans"
In 1055, Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich of Pereyaslavl, returning from a campaign against the Torks, met a detachment of new, previously unknown in Rus', nomads led by Khan Bolush. The meeting was peaceful, the new “acquaintances” received the Russian name “Polovtsy” and the future neighbors went their separate ways.
Since 1064, Byzantine and since 1068 in Hungarian sources mention the Cumans and Kuns, also previously unknown in Europe.
They were to play a significant role in the history of Eastern Europe, turning into formidable enemies and treacherous allies of the ancient Russian princes, becoming mercenaries in fratricidal civil strife. The presence of the Polovtsians, Cumans, and Kuns, who appeared and disappeared at the same time, did not go unnoticed, and the questions of who they were and where they came from still concern historians to this day.
According to the traditional version, all four of the above-mentioned peoples were a single Turkic-speaking people, which were called differently in different parts of the world.
Their ancestors - the Sars - lived in the territory of Altai and the eastern Tien Shan, but the state they formed was defeated by the Chinese in 630.
The survivors headed to the steppes of eastern Kazakhstan, where they received a new name “Kipchaks”, which, according to legend, means “ill-fated” and as evidenced by medieval Arab-Persian sources. However, in both Russian and Byzantine sources, Kipchaks are not found at all, and people similar in description are called “Cumans”, “Kuns” or “Polovtsians”. Moreover, the etymology of the latter remains unclear. Perhaps the word comes from the Old Russian “polov”, which means “yellow”. According to scientists, this may indicate that these people had light hair color and belonged to the western branch of the Kipchaks - “Sary-Kipchaks” (Kuns and Cumans belonged to the east and had a Mongoloid appearance). According to another version, the term “Polovtsy” could come from the familiar word “field”, and designate all the inhabitants of the fields, regardless of their tribal affiliation.
The official version has many weaknesses.
If all nationalities initially represented a single people - the Kipchaks, then how can we explain that this toponym was unknown to Byzantium, Rus', and Europe? In the countries of Islam, where the Kipchaks were known firsthand, on the contrary, they had not heard at all about the Polovtsians or Cumans.
Archeology comes to the aid of the unofficial version, according to which the main archaeological finds of the Polovtsian culture - stone women erected on mounds in honor of soldiers killed in battle, were characteristic only of the Polovtsians and Kipchaks. The Cumans, despite their worship of the sky and the cult of the mother goddess, did not leave such monuments.
All these arguments “against” allow many modern researchers to move away from the canon of studying the Cumans, Cumans and Kuns as the same tribe. According to Candidate of Sciences Yuri Evstigneev, the Polovtsy-Sarys are the Turgesh, who for some reason fled from their territories to Semirechye.
Weapons of civil strife
The Polovtsians had no intention of remaining a “good neighbor” of Kievan Rus. As befits nomads, they soon mastered the tactics of surprise raids: they set up ambushes, attacked by surprise, and swept away an unprepared enemy on their way. Armed with bows and arrows, sabers and short spears, the Polovtsian warriors rushed into battle, pelting the enemy with a bunch of arrows as they galloped. They raided cities, robbing and killing people, taking them captive.
In addition to the shock cavalry, their strength also lay in the developed strategy, as well as in technologies that were new for that time, such as heavy crossbows and “liquid fire,” which they apparently borrowed from China since their time in Altai.
However, as long as centralized power remained in Rus', thanks to the order of succession to the throne established under Yaroslav the Wise, their raids remained only a seasonal disaster, and certain diplomatic relations even began between Russia and the nomads. There was brisk trade and the population communicated widely in the border areas. Dynastic marriages with the daughters of Polovtsian khans became popular among Russian princes. The two cultures coexisted in a fragile neutrality that could not last long.
In 1073, the triumvirate of the three sons of Yaroslav the Wise: Izyaslav, Svyatoslav, Vsevolod, to whom he bequeathed Kievan Rus, fell apart. Svyatoslav and Vsevolod accused their older brother of conspiring against them and striving to become an “autocrat” like their father. This was the birth of a great and long unrest in Rus', which the Polovtsians took advantage of. Without completely taking sides, they willingly sided with the man who promised them big “profits.” Thus, the first prince who resorted to their help, Oleg Svyatoslavich (who was disinherited by his uncles), allowed the Polovtsians to plunder and burn Russian cities, for which he was nicknamed Oleg Gorislavich.
Subsequently, calling the Cumans as allies in internecine struggles became a common practice. In alliance with the nomads, Yaroslav's grandson, Oleg Gorislavich, expelled Vladimir Monomakh from Chernigov, and he took Murom, driving out Vladimir's son Izyaslav from there. As a result, the warring princes faced a real danger of losing their own territories.
In 1097, on the initiative of Vladimir Monomakh, then still the Prince of Pereslavl, the Lyubech Congress was convened, which was supposed to end the internecine war. The princes agreed that from now on everyone should own their own “fatherland”. Even the Kiev prince, who formally remained the head of state, could not violate the borders. Thus, fragmentation was officially consolidated in Rus' with good intentions. The only thing that united the Russian lands even then was a common fear of Polovtsian invasions.
Monomakh's War
The most ardent enemy of the Polovtsians among the Russian princes was Vladimir Monomakh, under whose great reign the practice of using Polovtsian troops for the purpose of fratricide temporarily ceased. Chronicles, which, however, were actively copied during his time, talk about Vladimir Monomakh as the most influential prince in Rus', who was known as a patriot who spared neither his strength nor his life for the defense of Russian lands. Having suffered defeats from the Polovtsians, in alliance with whom his brother and his worst enemy, Oleg Svyatoslavich, stood, he developed a completely new strategy in the fight against the nomads - to fight on their own territory.
Unlike the Polovtsian detachments, which were strong in sudden raids, Russian squads gained an advantage in open battle. The Polovtsian “lava” crashed against the long spears and shields of Russian foot soldiers, and the Russian cavalry, surrounding the steppe inhabitants, did not allow them to escape on their famous light-winged horses. Even the timing of the campaign was thought out: until early spring, when the Russian horses, which were fed with hay and grain, were stronger than the Polovtsian horses, which were emaciated on pasture.
Monomakh’s favorite tactics also provided an advantage: he provided the enemy with the opportunity to attack first, preferring defense through foot soldiers, since by attacking, the enemy exhausted himself much more than the defending Russian warrior. During one of these attacks, when the infantry took the brunt of the attack, the Russian cavalry went around the flanks and struck in the rear. This decided the outcome of the battle.
For Vladimir Monomakh, just a few trips to the Polovtsian lands were enough to rid Rus' of the Polovtsian threat for a long time. In the last years of his life, Monomakh sent his son Yaropolk with an army beyond the Don on a campaign against the nomads, but he did not find them there. The Polovtsians migrated away from the borders of Rus', to the Caucasian foothills.
On guard of the dead and the living
The Polovtsians, like many other peoples, have sunk into the oblivion of history, leaving behind the “Polovtsian stone women” who still guard the souls of their ancestors. Once upon a time they were placed in the steppe to “guard” the dead and protect the living, and were also placed as landmarks and signs for fords.
Obviously, they brought this custom with them from their original homeland - Altai, spreading it along the Danube.
“Polovtsian Women” is far from the only example of such monuments. Long before the appearance of the Polovtsians, in the 4th-2nd millennium BC, such idols were erected on the territory of present-day Russia and Ukraine by the descendants of the Indo-Iranians, and a couple of thousand years after them - by the Scythians.
“Polovtsian women,” like other stone women, are not necessarily images of women; among them there are many men’s faces. Even the etymology of the word “baba” comes from the Turkic “balbal”, which means “ancestor”, “grandfather-father”, and is associated with the cult of veneration of ancestors, and not at all with female creatures.
Although, according to another version, the stone women are traces of a bygone matriarchy, as well as the cult of veneration of the mother goddess among the Polovtsians (Umai), who personified the earthly principle. The only obligatory attribute is the hands folded on the stomach, holding the sacrificial bowl, and the chest, which is also found in men and is obviously associated with feeding the clan.
According to the beliefs of the Cumans, who professed shamanism and Tengrism (worship of the sky), the dead were endowed with special powers that allowed them to help their descendants. Therefore, a Cuman passing by had to offer a sacrifice to the statue (judging by the finds, these were usually rams) in order to gain its support. This is how the 12th century Azerbaijani poet Nizami, whose wife was a Polovtsian, describes this ritual:
“And the Kipchak’s back bends before the idol. The rider hesitates before him, and, holding his horse, He bends down and thrusts an arrow between the grasses. Every shepherd driving away a flock knows that it is necessary to leave the sheep in front of the idol.”
In the 10th century Polovtsians (Kimaks, Kipchaks, Cumans) wandered from the Irtysh to the Caspian Sea. With the beginning of the Seljuk movement, their hordes moved, following the Guz-Torks, to the west. In the 11th century in the Black Sea region, the Polovtsians consolidated the hordes of Bulgarians who had left the Volga, the Pechenegs and Torques into unions subject to them, and developed the lands that became the Polovtsian steppe - Dasht-i-Kipchak.
The Polovtsy who lived along the Dnieper are usually divided into two associations - the left bank and the right bank. Both of them consisted of scattered independent hordes that had their own nomadic territory. At the head of the horde was the ruling clan - the kuren. The family of the main khan (kosh) stood out in the clan. Their greatest influence and power were enjoyed by strong khans - military leaders, for example Bonyak or Sharukan. The Polovtsians raided their neighbors: Rus', Bulgaria, Byzantium. They took part in the civil strife of Russian princes.
The Polovtsian army had the traditional tactics of warfare for nomads - horse attacks with “lavas”, deliberate flight to lure the enemy into attack from an ambush, and in case of defeat they “scattered” across the steppe. Polovtsian troops successfully fought at night (1061, 1171, 1185, 1215). The Polovtsian army, as a rule, consisted of light and heavy cavalry.
Rus''s first acquaintance with the Polovtsians occurred in 1055 in the political field. The reason is the creation of the Pereyaslav principality in 1054 and an attempt to armedly expel the Torci from its territory. The Polovtsians, who were interested in settling the Torci, came to Rus' in peace and solved the problem of their resettlement through diplomatic means.
In 1061, the Polovtsians made their first invasion of Rus' and defeated Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich of Pereyaslavl. The invasion was caused by a new offensive of Rus' against the Pereyaslav Torci, which violated the Russian-Polovtsian peace treaty.
As part of the Russian army, the armed formations of the Polovtsians took part both as allies (XI-XIII centuries) and as “federates” (XII-XIII centuries), that is, living on the territory of the principality and subject to the current laws of this principality. The Polovtsy, Torques and other “pacified” Turks settled on the territory of Rus' were called “black hoods”. The onslaught of the Polovtsians on Rus' intensified with the change of princely power. Rus' was forced to strengthen the southern border with fortresses in Porosye, Posemye and other regions. Russian-Polovtsian relations were also strengthened by dynastic marriages. Many Russian princes took as wives the daughters of Polovtsian khans. However, the threat of Polovtsian raids on Rus' was constant.
Rus' responded to the raids with campaigns in the Polovtsian steppe. The most effective campaigns of the Russian army were in 1103, 1107, 1111, 1128, 1152, 1170, 1184–1187, 1190, 1192, 1202. More than once the Polovtsians came to Rus' to support one of the disgruntled Russian princes. In alliance with the Russian army, in 1223, the Cumans were defeated by the Mongol-Tatars (Kalka). As an independent political force (Polovtsian steppe), the Polovtsians last attacked Rus': in the east - in 1219 (Ryazan Principality), and in the west - in 1228 and 1235. (Galician Principality). After the Mongol-Tatar conquests of the 13th century. Some of the Polovtsians joined the Mongol-Tatar hordes, others settled in Rus', and others went to the Danube region, Hungary, Lithuania, Transcaucasia and the Middle East.
Campaign of the Russian army against the Polovtsians (1103)
In 1103, the Cumans once again violated the peace. Grand Duke Svyatopolk II Izyaslavich of Kiev (8.9.1050–16.4.1113) and Prince of Pereyaslav Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh (1053–19.5.1125) with their senior squads gathered in Dolobsk for a princely congress - to hold advice on a campaign against the Polovtsians. By the will of the senior princes in Rus', in order to solve a number of foreign policy and internal problems, the druzhina troops of individual lands united under the leadership of the Grand Duke of Rus' and formed an all-Russian druzhina army. At the Dolob Congress it was decided to go to the Polovtsian steppe. The troops of the Chernigov-Seversk land of Oleg (?–18.8.1115) and Davyd (?–1123) Svyatoslavich were invited to the campaign. Vladimir Monomakh left the congress and went to Pereyaslavl to gather his army. Svyatopolk II, taking a retinue army from Kyiv, followed him. In addition to the above-mentioned princes, in the campaign against the Polovtsians, they attracted the squadron troops of Prince Davyd Svyatoslavich of Novgorod-Seversky, as well as princes of the 8th generation: Davyd Vseslavich of Polotsk (?–1129), Vyacheslav Yaropolchich of Vladimir-Volynsky (?–13.4.1105), Yaropolk Vladimirovich of Smolensk (?–18.2.1133) and Mstislav Vsevolodich Gorodetsky (?–1114). Citing illness, only Prince Oleg Svyatoslavich did not go on the campaign. Thus, the all-Russian army in the campaign of 1103 was formed from seven princely troops from various regions of Rus'. And the Russian army went on a campaign. Having passed the boats below the rapids, the troops went ashore near the island of Khortitsa. Then, on horseback and on foot, we went across the field. Four days later they approached Suteni. The Polovtsians knew about the Russian campaign and gathered an army. They decided to kill the Russian princes and take possession of their cities. Only the oldest, Urusoba, was against fighting Russia.
Moving towards the Russian troops, the Polovtsians sent Khan Altunopa at the head of the vanguard. However, the Russian vanguard ambushed Altunopa’s detachment and, surrounding it, killed all the soldiers. Altunopa himself died in the battle. This allowed the Russian regiments to suddenly stand in the way of the Polovtsians on April 4 at Suteni. In the face of the Russian warriors, the Polovtsians “became confused, and fear attacked them, and they themselves became numb, and their horses had no speed in their legs.” As the chronicler writes, “the Russian army attacked the enemy with joy on horseback and on foot.” The Polovtsians could not withstand the onslaught and fled. In battle and pursuit, the Russians killed 20 Polotsk princes: Urusoba, Kochia, Yaroslanopa, Kitanopa, Kunama, Asup, Kurtyk, Chenegrepa, Surbar and others, and captured Beldyuz. After the victory, Beldyuz was brought to Svyatopolk. Svyatopolk did not take the ransom in gold, silver, horses and cattle, but handed the khan over to Vladimir for trial. For breaking the oath, Monomakh ordered the khan to be killed, and he was cut into pieces. Then the prince-brothers gathered, took Polovtsian cattle, sheep, horses, camels, vezhs with booty and servants, captured the Pechenegs and Torques with their vezhs, “and returned to Rus' with glory and great victory.”
Campaign of the Russian army against the Polovtsians (1111)
After the successful campaign of Rus' against the Polovtsians in 1103, the Polovtsians did not abandon raids on the Russian principalities and continued to torment the Russian lands with their devastating raids both in 1106 in the Kiev region near Zarechsk, and in 1107 near Pereyaslavl and Lubna (Polovtsian khans Bonyak, Sharukan in Posulye). In 1107, in the Pereyaslavl principality near Lubno, the troops of the Russian princes of Kyiv, Pereyaslavl, Chernigov, Smolensk and Novgorod principalities gave a worthy rebuff to the enemy on August 19, when at six o’clock in the afternoon they crossed the river. Sulu and attacked the Cumans. The sudden attack of the Russians terrified the Polovtsians and they “could not set up the banner for fear and ran: some clutching their horses, others on foot... chased them to Khorol. They killed Taz, Bonyakov's brother, captured Sugr and his brother, and Sharukan barely escaped. The Polovtsians abandoned their convoy, which was captured by Russian soldiers...” However, the raids continued.
In 1111, “Having thought, the princes of Russia went to Polovets,” i.e. The Russian princes again had a military council and decided to organize a new campaign against the Polovtsians. The united Russian army this time already consisted of 11 squadron troops of the Russian princes Svyatopolk II, Yaroslav, Vladimir, Svyatoslav, Yaropolk and Mstislav Vladimirovich, Davyd Svyatoslavich, Rostislav Davydovich, Davyd Igorevich, Vsevolod Olgovich, Yaroslav Svyatopolchich, i.e. The military power of the Kyiv, Pereyaslavl, Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversky, Novgorod, Smolensk, Vladimir-Volyn and Buzh Russian principalities moved to the Polovtsian steppe. The commanders of the Russian army in this campaign were: Svyatopolk Izyaslavich (Grand Duke of Kiev); Vladimir Vsevoldovich (Prince of Pereyaslavl); Davyd Svyatoslavich (prince of Chernigov) with his son Rostislav Davydovich (appanage prince of Chernigov); Davyd Igorevich (Prince of Buzh, Ostrog, Chertory and Dorogobuzh); Vsevolod Olgovich (Vsevolod-Kirill Olgovich Prince of Chernigov); Svyatoslav Olgovich (appanage prince of Chernigov); Yaroslav Svyatopolchich (Yaroslav (Yaroslavets) - Ivan Svyatopolkovich, Prince of Vladimir-Volynsky); Mstislav Vladimirovich (Prince of Novgorod); Yaropolk Vladimirovich (Prince of Smolensk).
The united Russian army, as a rule, on the battlefield before the battle by the senior commander - the Grand Duke, was divided into three parts: a large regiment - the center, a regiment of the right hand and a regiment of the left hand - the flanks. The balance of forces in the campaign against the Polovtsians was as follows: the eldest among equals in Rus', Prince Svyatopolk II led the regiments of a large regiment, and Vladimir and Davyd, respectively, led the regiments of the right and left hands. In terms of subordination, the subordination of the princes' troops is as follows.
Svyatopolk's army consisted of three regiments, which were headed by: Svyatopolk Izyaslavich (Grand Duke of Kiev); Yaroslav Svyatopolchich; Davyd Igorevich.
Vladimir's army consisted of three regiments, which were headed by: Vladimir Vsevoldovich (Prince of Pereyaslavl); Mstislav Vladimirovich; Yaropolk Vladimirovich.
Davyd's army consisted of three regiments, which were headed by: Davyd Svyatoslavich (Prince of Chernigov) with his son Rostislav; Vsevolod Olgovich; Svyatoslav Olgovich.
In the second week of Lent, the Russian army set out on a campaign against the Polovtsians. In the fifth week of Lent it came to Don. On Tuesday, March 21, having donned protective weapons (armor) and dispatched the regiments, the troops went to the city of Sharuknya, whose residents hospitably greeted them. On the morning of the next day (March 22), the troops moved to the city of Sugrob, the inhabitants of which did not want to submit to their will, and the city was burned.
The Polovtsy gathered an army and, having dispatched their regiments, went out to battle. The battle took place on March 24 on the Degeya stream (“on the Salne Retse field” - in the Salsky steppes). And Rus' won. The chronicle testifies that after the victory on the Degeya stream, the next week - March 27, the Polovtsians with an army of “a thousand thousand” surrounded the Russian troops and began a fierce battle. The picture of the battle is drawn as follows. The large regiment of Svyatoslav II, consisting of several regiments, was the first to engage in battle with the Polovtsian army. And when there were already many killed on both sides, the Russian army appeared before the enemy in full glory - the combined regiments of Prince Vladimir and the regiments of Prince Davyd hit the Polovtsians on the flanks. It should be noted that Russian troops, in the fight against the Polovtsians, usually fight near rivers. This is due to the fact that the nomads used methods specific to them to fight the enemy. Being, by the type of weapons and way of life, light cavalry, their warriors tried to surround the enemy’s army in the steppe and, at full gallop, fired at the enemy in a circular manner from bows, finishing the job they started with sabers, pikes, and whips. By placing regiments near rivers, Russian commanders, using the natural river barrier, deprived the nomads of maneuver, and heavy defensive weapons and the possibility of flanking attacks on the enemy from left- and right-handed regiments already qualitatively changed the picture of the battle.
As a result of the campaign, the Russian soldiers “... and took all their wealth, and killed many with their hands... on Monday of Holy Week, and many of them were beaten.” The battle on the Salnitsa River ended with the complete defeat of the Polovtsian army, which crowned the half-century struggle of Rus' with the Polovtsians with a military triumph, and until 1128 the Polovtsians did not make major raids.
In the year 6619 (1111) ... And on Sunday, when they kissed the cross, they came to Psel, and from there they reached the Golta River. Here they waited for the soldiers, and from there they moved to Vorskla, and there the next day, Wednesday, they kissed the cross and placed all their hope on the cross, shedding copious tears. And from there they crossed many rivers and came to the Don on Tuesday of the sixth week of Lent. And they put on armor, built regiments, and moved towards the city of Sharukan. And Prince Vladimir ordered the priests, riding in front of the army, to sing troparia and kontakion in honor of the Holy Cross and the canon of the Holy Mother of God. And in the evening they drove up to the city, and on Sunday people came out of the city with bows to the Russian princes and brought out fish and wine. And they spent the night there. And the next day, Wednesday, they went to Sugrov and, having started, lit it, and on Thursday they moved from the Don; on Friday, the next day, March 24th, the Polovtsians gathered, built their regiments and went into battle. Our princes, placing their hope in God, said: “Death is here for us, so let us stand strong.” And they said goodbye to each other and, raising their eyes to heaven, called on the Most High God. And when both sides came together and a fierce battle ensued, God on High turned his gaze, filled with anger, on the foreigners, and they fell before the Christians. And so the foreigners were defeated, and many of our enemies, adversaries, fell before the Russian princes and warriors on the Degei stream. And God helped the Russian princes. And they gave praise to God that day. And the next morning, when Saturday came, they celebrated the resurrection of Lazarus, the day of the Annunciation, and, having given praise to God, spent Saturday and waited for Sunday. On Monday of Holy Week, the foreigners again gathered many of their regiments and moved, like a huge forest, in thousands of thousands. And the Russian regiments surrounded. And the Lord God sent an angel to help the Russian princes. And the Polovtsian regiments and the Russian regiments moved, and the regiments came together in the first battle, and the roar was like thunder. And a fierce battle ensued between them, and people fell on both sides. And Vladimir with his regiments and Davyd began to advance, and, seeing this, the Polovtsians fled. And the Polovtsians fell in front of Vladimirov’s regiment, invisibly killed by an angel, which many people saw, and their heads, invisibly<кем>cut, fell to the ground. And they defeated them on Monday of Holy Week, the month of March on the 27th. Many foreigners were killed on the Salnitsa River. And God saved his people. Svyatopolk, and Vladimir and Davyd glorified God, who had given them such a victory over the filthy, and they took a lot of cattle, and horses, and sheep, and many captives they grabbed with their hands. And they asked the captives, saying: “How did this happen: you were so strong and so numerous, but you could not resist and soon fled?” They answered, saying: “How can we fight with you, when some others rode over you in bright and terrible weapons and helped you?” These could only be angels sent by God to help Christians. It was the angel who gave Vladimir Monomakh the idea to call his brothers, the Russian princes, against the foreigners...
So now, with God’s help, through the prayers of the Holy Mother of God and the holy angels, the Russian princes returned home to their people with glory, which reached all distant countries - to the Greeks, to the Hungarians, Poles and Czechs, even to Rome it reached the glory To God always, now and forever, amen.
MAIN CHARACTER - MONOMACH
Salnitsa (Russian-Polovtsian wars, XI-XIII centuries). A river in the Don steppes, in the area of which on March 26, 1111, a battle took place between the united army of Russian princes under the command of Prince Vladimir Monomakh (up to 30 thousand people) and the Polovtsian army. The outcome of this bloody and desperate, according to the chronicle, battle was decided by the timely strike of the regiments under the command of princes Vladimir Monomakh and Davyd Svyatoslavich. The Polovtsian cavalry tried to cut off the Russian army's path home, but during the battle they suffered a crushing defeat. According to legend, heavenly angels helped Russian soldiers defeat their enemies. The Battle of Salnitsa was the largest Russian victory over the Cumans. Never since the campaigns of Svyatoslav (10th century) have Russian warriors gone so far into the eastern steppe regions. This victory contributed to the growing popularity of Vladimir Monomakh, the main hero of the campaign, the news of which reached “even Rome.”
CRUSADE IN THE STEPPE OF 1111
This trip started out unusual. When the army prepared to leave Pereyaslavl at the end of February, the bishop and priests stepped in front of them and carried out a large cross while singing. It was erected not far from the city gates, and all the soldiers, including the princes, driving and passing by the cross received the blessing of the bishop. And then, at a distance of 11 miles, representatives of the clergy moved ahead of the Russian army. Subsequently, they walked in the army train, where all the church utensils were located, inspiring Russian soldiers to feats of arms.
Monomakh, who was the inspirer of this war, gave it the character of a crusade modeled on the crusades of Western rulers against the Muslims of the East. The initiator of these campaigns was Pope Urban II. And in 1096, the first crusade of the Western knights began, which ended with the capture of Jerusalem and the creation of the knightly Kingdom of Jerusalem. The sacred idea of liberating the “Holy Sepulcher” in Jerusalem from the hands of infidels became the ideological basis of this and subsequent campaigns of Western knights to the East.
Information about the crusade and the liberation of Jerusalem quickly spread throughout the Christian world. It was known that Count Hugo Vermendois, brother of the French king Philip I, son of Anna Yaroslavna, cousin of Monomakh, Svyatopolk and Oleg, took part in the second crusade. One of those who brought this information to Rus' was Abbot Daniel, who visited at the beginning of the 12th century. in Jerusalem, and then left a description of his journey about his stay in the crusader kingdom. Daniel was later one of Monomakh’s associates. Perhaps it was his idea to give the campaign of Rus' against the “filthy” the character of a crusade invasion. This explains the role assigned to the clergy in this campaign.
Svyatopolk, Monomakh, Davyd Svyatoslavich and their sons went on a campaign. With Monomakh were his four sons - Vyacheslav, Yaropolk, Yuri and nine-year-old Andrei.…
On March 27, the main forces of the parties converged on the Solnitsa River, a tributary of the Don. According to the chronicler, the Polovtsians “set out like a boar (forest) of greatness and darkness,” they surrounded the Russian army from all sides. Monomakh did not, as usual, stand still, waiting for the onslaught of the Polovtsian horsemen, but led the army towards them. The warriors engaged in hand-to-hand combat. The Polovtsian cavalry in this crowd lost its maneuver, and the Russians began to prevail in hand-to-hand combat. At the height of the battle, a thunderstorm began, the wind increased, and heavy rain began to fall. The Rus rearranged their ranks in such a way that the wind and rain hit the Cumans in the face. But they fought courageously and pushed back the chela (center) of the Russian army, where the Kievans were fighting. Monomakh came to their aid, leaving his “right-hand regiment” to his son Yaropolk. The appearance of Monomakh's banner in the center of the battle inspired the Russians, and they managed to overcome the panic that had begun. Finally, the Polovtsians could not stand the fierce battle and rushed to the Don ford. They were pursued and cut down; No prisoners were taken here either. About ten thousand Polovtsians died on the battlefield, the rest threw down their weapons, asking for their lives. Only a small part, led by Sharukan, went to the steppe. Others went to Georgia, where David IV took them into the service.
The news of the Russian crusade in the steppe was delivered to Byzantium, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Rome. Thus, Rus' at the beginning of the 12th century. became the left flank of Europe's general offensive to the East.
THE ELUSIVE OIL
Salnitsa is mentioned in the chronicle... in connection with the famous campaign of Vladimir Monomakh in 1111, when Konchak’s grandfather, the Polovtsian Khan Sharukan, was killed. This campaign was analyzed by many researchers, but no unanimous opinion was developed on the issue of localizing Salnitsa.
The name of the river is also found in some lists of the “Book of the Big Drawing”: “And below Izyum the Salnitsa River fell into Donetsk on the right side. And below that is Raisin.” Based on these data, V.M. made the first attempt to localize the river mentioned in connection with the campaign of Monomakh in 1111. Tatishchev: “it flows into the Donets from the right side below Izyum.”
In connection with the events of 1185, a similar attempt was made by N.M. Karamzin: “Here the Sal River, which flows into the Don near the Semikarakorsk village, is called Salnitsa.”
In the famous article by P.G. Butkov, where, for the first time, significant attention was paid to many aspects of the geography of Igor Svyatoslavich’s campaign, Salnitsa is identified with the river. Butt. M.Ya. Aristov identified Salnitsa, mentioned in connection with the events of 1111 and 1185, with Thor. Later this opinion was joined by D.I. Bagalei, V.G. Lyaskoronsky. V.A. Afanasiev. M.P. believed approximately the same. Barsov, localizing Salnitsa “not far from the mouth of Oskol.”
K.V. Kudryashov localized the river. Salnitsa in the Izyum region. V.M. Glukhov rightly noted that the mention in the Ipatiev Chronicle (“poidosha to Salnitsa”) could not relate to a small river and the chronicler “could not take it as a geographical landmark.” Famous expert on antiquities of the Podontsov region B.A. Shramko believed that we were talking about two different rivers. V.G. Fedorov, on the contrary, identifies according to V.M. Tatishchev both Salnitsa.
Having analyzed the main hypotheses in detail and put forward additional arguments, M.F. The Hetman clarified that Salnitsa is the old name of the river. Sukhoi Izyumets, flowing into the Seversky Donets opposite the Izyumsky mound.
L.E. Makhnovets distinguishes two Salnitsa rivers: the one mentioned in the description of Monomakh’s campaign in 1111, the scientist with the reservation “obviously” identifies with the river. Solona - the right tributary of the Popilnyushka (the right tributary of the Bereka), and the Salnitsa, associated with Igor’s campaign, traditionally - with the nameless river near Izyum.
In the latest research by Lugansk historian V.I. Podov substantiates the so-called southern version of the location of the theater of military operations. Having identified both Salnitsa, the researcher now localizes one river in the Dnieper basin, believing that this is the modern river. Solona is the right tributary of the river. Volchya flowing into Samara...
It seems to us that the sought-after Salnitsa could be the tributary of the Tor Krivoy Torets. Its upper reaches and the upper reaches of Kalmius are very close, starting from the same hill - the watershed of the Dnieper and Don basins, along which the Muravsky Way passed. Kalmius or one of its tributaries should then be identified with Kayala.
The Polovtsians belonged to the nomadic tribes. According to various sources, they also had other names: Kipchaks and Komans. The Polovtsian people belonged to the Turkic-speaking tribes. At the beginning of the 11th century, they expelled the Pechenegs and Torques from the Black Sea steppes. Then they headed to the Dnieper, and upon reaching the Danube they became the owners of the steppe, which became known as the Polovtsian steppe. The religion of the Polovtsians was Tengriism. This religion is based on the cult of Tengri Khan (the eternal sunshine of the sky).
The daily life of the Polovtsians was practically no different from other tribal peoples. Their main occupation was cattle breeding. By the end of the 11th century, the type of Polovtsian nomadism changed from camp to more modern. Each individual part of the tribe was assigned plots of land for pastures.
Kievan Rus and the Cumans
Starting from 1061 and up to 1210, the Polovtsians made constant raids on Russian lands. The struggle between Rus' and the Polovtsians lasted quite a long time. There were about 46 major raids on Rus', and this does not take into account smaller ones.
The first battle of Rus' with the Cumans was on February 2, 1061 near Pereyaslavl, they burned the surrounding area and robbed the nearest villages. In 1068, the Cumans defeated the troops of the Yaroslavichs, in 1078 Izyaslav Yaroslavich died in a battle with them, in 1093 the Cumans defeated the troops of 3 princes: Svyatopolk, Vladimir Monomakh and Rostislav, and in 1094 they forced Vladimir Monomakh to leave Chernigov. Subsequently, several retaliatory campaigns were made. In 1096, the Polovtsians suffered their first defeat in the fight against Russia. In 1103 they were defeated by Svyatopolk and Vladimir Monomakh, then they served King David the Builder in the Caucasus.
The final defeat of the Polovtsians by Vladimir Monomakh and a Russian army of many thousands occurred as a result of the crusade in 1111. To avoid final destruction, the Polovtsians changed their place of nomadism, moving across the Danube, and most of their troops, along with their families, went to Georgia. All these “all-Russian” campaigns against the Polovtsians were led by Vladimir Monomakh. After his death in 1125, the Cumans took an active part in the internecine wars of the Russian princes, participating in the defeat of Kyiv as allies in 1169 and 1203.
The next campaign against the Polovtsy, also referred to as the massacre of Igor Svyatoslavovich with the Polovtsy, described in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” took place in 1185. This campaign of Igor Svyatoslavovich was an example of one of the unsuccessful ones. After some time, some of the Polovtsians converted to Christianity, and a period of calm began in the Polovtsian raids.
The Polovtsians ceased to exist as an independent, politically developed people after the European campaigns of Batu (1236 - 1242) and made up the majority of the population of the Golden Horde, passing on to them their language, which formed the basis for the formation of other languages (Tatar, Bashkir, Nogai, Kazakh, Karakalpak , Kumyk and others).
The “Great War” on the steppe border continued. In 1096, Khan Bonyak ravaged the outskirts of Kyiv and burned the princely court in Berestov, and the khans Kurya and Tugorkan approached Pereyaslavl. Bonyak was driven away, and then the united army of Svyatopolk of Kyiv and Vladimir Monomakh attacked Tugorkan.
The “Great War” on the steppe border continued. In 1096, Khan Bonyak ravaged the outskirts of Kyiv and burned the princely court in Berestov, and the khans Kurya and Tugorkan approached Pereyaslavl. Bonyak was driven away, and then the united army of Svyatopolk of Kyiv and Vladimir Monomakh attacked Tugorkan. The Polovtsians, who stood near Pereyaslavl on the banks of the Trubezh, did not expect an attack and were defeated. Tugorkan himself and his son died in the battle.
But dangerous enemies, the khans Bonyak and Sharukan, retained their strength. The war was not over yet. It won't be long before Bonyak's horde appears again near Kiev...
It was in this alarming situation that the princely congress met in Lyubech. The voice of Vladimir Monomakh sounded loudly and authoritatively on it - the second most important prince of Rus' (Pereyaslavl followed the capital Kiev in the hierarchy of Russian cities), who became famous as a skillful and successful commander who had never suffered defeat. It was he who played the role of the actual organizer of the defense of the steppe border (the first blows of the Polovtsians invariably fell on the border Pereyaslavl principality). Vladimir Monomakh convinced the princes: “Why are we destroying the Russian land, causing it to ourselves (discord, strife), and the Polovtsians are carrying our land separately and rejoice when an army arises between us. Let us be united in heart and respect the Russian land!”
The princes did not immediately or easily agree to the proclaimed principle “everyone holds his fatherland,” because this principle rejected old claims to other people’s possessions, ambitious hopes for the seizure of new lands and princely tables, because everyone who now dares to raise a sword against his relatives , will meet with a general rebuff from the princes: “If now someone encroaches on someone, everyone will be against him and the honorable cross!” The Polovtsian army was too dangerous, it threatened everyone, and the princes took oaths of allegiance: “To create peace and goodness in the Russian land and to fight with the filthy.”
Oaths were taken, but the strife did not immediately subside. For another two years, fires of fratricidal wars broke out here and there, until, finally, in 1100, a princely congress in the city of Vitichev put an end to them. A real opportunity arose for an all-Russian struggle against the Polovtsians.
The very first news of the unification of the Russian princes made a sobering impression on the Polovtsian khans. In 1101, according to the chronicler, “the Polovtsians sent their ambassadors and asked for peace,” and the Russian princes “made peace with the Polovtsians.” The Polovtsy swore that they would keep peace forever, not violate Russian borders, and stop extorting gifts. But already in the fall of 1102, Khan Bonyak, breaking his oaths, attacked the Pereyaslav lands and left with the booty before the Russian squads arrived. No, one could not rely on the oaths of the Polovtsian khans; the security of the southern border could only be ensured by military means.
On the initiative of Prince Vladimir Monomakh, Russian princes again gathered at Dolobskoye Lake. It was about a big campaign in the Polovtsian steppes. Vladimir Monomakh proposed starting the campaign in the spring of 1103, when the Polovtsians did not expect an attack, when their horses were exhausted after a hungry winter. He also had opponents who said: “It’s not good, prince, to go on a campaign in the spring, we’ll destroy the smerds, and the horses, and their arable land.” The annals preserve the angry rebuke of Prince Vladimir Monomakh: “I am amazed, squad, that you feel sorry for the horses you use to plow. Why don’t you think that the stink will start plowing and, upon arrival, the Polovtsian will shoot him with a bow? Will his horse take him, and when he arrives in his village, will he take his wife and all his property? So you feel sorry for the horse, but don’t you feel sorry for the stink itself?”
Vladimir Monomakh managed to convince the princes. It was decided that in March the armies would gather in Pereyaslavl for a joint campaign in the Polovtsian steppe. For the first time, an all-Russian army gathered at the frontier (only Prince Oleg Svyatoslavich of Novgorod-Seversky, a longtime enemy of the Yaroslavichs, refused to send a squad), for the first time Vladimir Monomakh could wage a war according to his plan, since he was the actual leader of the army (his older brother Svyatopolk of Kiev was not distinguished by military abilities and only formally led the army). The prince had to realize his long-standing plans for a war with the elusive Polovtsian cavalry, a war the likes of which had never been waged by any of the Russian princes. Perhaps the prince-knight Svyatoslav, but for him the raid on the Pecheneg steppes was nothing more than an episode among grandiose campaigns...
Vladimir Monomakh long ago realized that in a war with the eternal enemies of Rus' - the nomads, one cannot adhere to defensive tactics, one cannot sit behind ramparts and abatis, behind the walls of fortresses, dooming the army to passivity and thereby giving the Polovtsians the opportunity to determine the direction of attacks, to create where it is profitable for them , a huge superiority of forces. And the squad cavalry, the best army in the world, was also forced to follow the paths laid out for it by the Polovtsians: cavalry squads went out only in pursuit of the Polovtsian horde, trying to recapture the prey and captives after the raid. It was necessary not to pursue the retreating enemy, satiated with blood and spoils, but to warn him, to smash him far from Russian lands, to deprive him of the opportunity to attack, to organize campaigns with significant forces far into the depths of the steppes, powerful attacks on the centers of nomads, on the Polovtsian towns, which they would be forced to defend , because in the towns there are their families and looted loot. And you won’t have to look for the flying squads of the Polovtsians in the vastness of the steppe; they themselves will gather together to block the road to their vezhas. It is then that the outcome of the entire war can be decided in large battles, in “direct combat,” which the steppe people do not like, but to which the enemy’s military art will force them. To impose his will on the Polovtsian khans, to force them to fight there and in a way that was beneficial to the Russian soldiers - this is what Vladimir Monomakh saw as the key to success. But while these were only thoughts about war, they had to be turned into deeds, and this was what the prince was going to do in the upcoming campaign.
And Vladimir Monomakh prepared another surprise for his enemies. Previously, mainly horse squads took part in field battles with the Polovtsians; the Polovtsians were accustomed to fighting with them, they knew how to break up the ranks, killing horses with arrows, attacking heavily armed horsemen with a wedge. Polovtsian attacks prince; decided to oppose a deep formation of foot soldiers, covered with large shields, armed with long spears. The close formation of foot soldiers, bristling with spears, will stop the furious attacks of the Polovtsian riders, and the cavalry will complete the rout. This is exactly what Prince Svyatoslav once did, preparing for the destructive attacks of steel Byzantine cataphracts, and achieved what he wanted. The military experience of our ancestors is the property of our descendants!
The army set out on a campaign when the Dnieper was cleared of ice. Pedestrians sailed south in boats along the full-flowing spring river, and horse squads walked along the banks level with them. Guard patrols ran far ahead to warn of danger in time. Nevertheless, Vladimir Monomakh ordered all the soldiers to put on armor and not let go of swords and spears: the Polovtsians are treacherous, surprise attacks from ambush are their favorite military trick.
Somewhere near the island of Khortitsa, near the rapids, the foot soldiers left the ships on the shore and united with the horse squads. The campaign began across the steppes to the Molochnaya River, which flowed into the Sea of Azov. There were centers of Polovtsian nomads; the Polovtsians went there with the onset of autumn to spend the winter in warm regions, and in late spring, when the steppe was covered with grass, to return to the Russian borders.
The first skirmish was won by the Russian guard regiment, which moved carefully, along ravines and ravines, behind hills and mounds. The advance detachment of Khan Altunopa was surrounded by Russian foot soldiers and almost all of them were killed, and the few Polovtsians who survived the battle, who broke through the ring of foot soldiers, were overtaken by fresh Russian cavalry and hacked to death. Altunopa himself also died. There was no one to even warn about the dangerous advance of the Russian army.
The success inspired the Russian princes, and they willingly agreed with the proposal of Vladimir Monomakh to speed up the movement, try to impose a general battle on the main Polovtsian forces, and if the Polovtsians do not accept the battle, destroy their vezhi all the way to the Don, until the khans come forward to save their wealth and relatives .
The Polovtsians decided to take the fight. At dawn on April 4, the two armies approached each other. The chronicler described the beginning of the battle as follows: “And the Polovtsian regiments moved like a forest, there was no end in sight for them; and Rus' went to meet them.” The Russian regiments managed to adopt a battle formation carefully thought out by Vladimir Monomakh. In the center stood a strong army on foot: in a single closed formation stood the people of Kiev and Chernigov, Smolensk and Rostov, Pereyaslavl and Polotsk. On the wings are princely equestrian squads.
The Polovtsian attack was divided, as it were, into several successive blows, each of which could break the spirit of the army and crush it. I could have, but I couldn't...
Waves of Polovtsian horse archers rolled into the Russian formation, and countless arrows rained down like a slanting rain. But the pawns, covering themselves with large shields bound in iron, survived. The archers were replaced by heavily armed warriors in armor, with striking curved sabers. With their mass they wanted to break the Russian system. But the foot soldiers took them on their spears, smashed the horses and riders, and knocked over the brave men who were the first to rush into the Russian formation. And when the Polovtsians broke through the first line of spearmen in several places, the rear ranks took them with axes and daggers.
The Polovtsian horsemen fell into the steppe grass, but the Russian formation did not back down, continued to stand, and the Polovtsian reserve detachments huddled in front of the crowd of fighters, not knowing what to do - the slaughter could absorb them, dissolve them in itself, each new detachment would only increase the crowd. The khans were perplexed: where to direct the next blows?
And then, at a signal from Monomakh, horse squads entered the battle, striking from the flanks. The Polovtsians trembled and ran, they were pursued by Russian warriors on fresh horses, not tired of battle. Not many managed to escape. Twenty Polovtsian khans were killed in the battle and during the persecution: Urussoba, Kchiya, Arslanopa, Kitanopa, Kuman, Asupa, Kurtkh, Chenegrepa, Surban and others, less known. It was a victory!
After a short rest, the Russian army moved on to the defenseless Polovtsian camps. Huge booty was captured: tents and property, herds, herds of horses. But the main thing was the release of many Russian captives, whom the Polovtsians had not yet managed to send to the slave markets of the Crimea, to Sudak and Chersonesus.
Pereyaslavl, the patrimony of Prince Vladimir Monomakh, solemnly greeted the winners. The joy of the princes was great, but Vladimir Monomakh warned against premature calm. The most dangerous enemies of Rus', the khans Sharukan and Bonyak, still retained their thousands of horsemen; it is not even known where they roam. There are still difficult campaigns ahead for the borders of Rus' to become truly safe. The Polovtsians received a cruel lesson - nothing more.
The lesson was truly harsh. The Donetsk Polovtsians, defeated by Vladimir Monomakh, became silent. There were no invasions on their part either the next year or the year after. But Khan Bonyak continued his raids, albeit without the same scope, and cautiously. In the late autumn of 1105, he suddenly appeared at the Zarubinsky Ford, not far from Pereyaslavl, plundered the Dnieper villages and villages and quickly retreated. The princes did not even have time to gather the chase. In the next 1106, the Polovtsians attacked Rus' three times already, but the raids were unsuccessful and did not bring any booty to the steppe inhabitants. First they approached the town of Zarechsk, but were driven away by the Kyiv squads. According to the chronicler, Russian soldiers drove the Polovtsians “to the Danube” and “took away everything.” Then Bonyak “fought” near Pereyaslavl and hastily retreated. Finally, according to the chronicler, “Bonyak and Sharukan the Old and many other princes came and stood near Lubn.” The Russian army moved towards them, but the Polovtsians, not accepting the fight, “ran, grabbing their horses.”
These raids did not pose a serious danger to Rus'; they were easily repelled by the princely squads, but the Polovtsian activity could not be underestimated. The Polovtsy began to recover from the recent defeat, and it was necessary to prepare a new big campaign in the steppe. Or, if Bonyak and Sharukan get ahead, we will meet them with dignity at the borders of Russian soil.
In August 1107, a large Polovtsian army besieged Luben, Sharukan brought with him the surviving Don Polovtsians, Khan Bonyak brought the Dnieper Polovtsians, and they were joined by the khans of other Polovtsian hordes. But since the summer, in the Pereyaslav fortress there were squads of many Russian princes who gathered at the call of Vladimir Monomakh. They rushed to the aid of the besieged city, crossed the Sulu River on the move and suddenly struck the Polovtsians. Those, without even displaying their battle banners, rushed in all directions: some did not have time to take their horses and fled to the steppe on foot, abandoning their full and looted booty. Monomakh ordered the cavalry to relentlessly pursue them so that there would be no one to attack Rus' again. Bonyak and Sharukan barely escaped. The pursuit continued to the Khorol River, through which Sharukan managed to cross, sacrificing the soldiers covering his flight. The spoils of the winners were many horses, which would serve the Russian soldiers well in future campaigns in the steppe.
The political significance of this victory was great. In January 1108, the khans of Aepa’s large horde, wandering not far from the borders of Kievan Rus, proposed concluding a treaty of peace and love. The treaty was accepted by the Russian princes. As a result, the unity of the khans disintegrated, and conditions were created for the final defeat of Sharukan and his allies. But preparing a new all-Russian campaign in the steppes required considerable time, and Sharukan could not be given a break. And in the winter of 1109, Vladimir Monomakh sent his governor Dmitry Ivorovich to the Donets with the Pereyaslav cavalry squad and foot soldiers on sleighs. He was ordered to find out exactly where the Polovtsian camps were located in winter, whether they were ready for summer campaigns against Rus', and whether Sharukan had many warriors and horses left. The Russian army had to devastate the Polovtsian vezhi, so that Sharukan would know: even in winter there would be no rest for him while he was at enmity with Russia.
Voivode Dmitry fulfilled the prince's instructions. Footmen in sleighs and warriors on horseback quickly passed through the steppes and in early January were already on the Donets. There they were met by the Polovtsian army. The governor put up a proven close formation of foot soldiers against the Polovtsian cavalry, against which the attack of the archers was broken, and the defeat was again completed by the flank attacks of the mounted warriors. The Polovtsians fled, abandoning their tents and property. Thousands of tents and many prisoners and livestock became the prey of Russian soldiers. No less valuable was the information brought by the governor from the Polovtsian steppes. It turned out that Sharukan was standing on the Don and gathering forces for a new campaign against Rus', exchanging messengers with Khan Bonyak, who was also preparing for war on the Dnieper.
In the spring of 1110, the united squads of princes Svyatopolk, Vladimir Monomakh and David advanced to the steppe border and stood near the city of Voinya. The Polovtsy went there from the steppe, but, unexpectedly meeting a Russian army ready for battle, they turned back and got lost in the steppes. The Polovtsian invasion did not take place.
The new campaign in the steppe was prepared for a long time and in detail. The Russian princes met again on Lake Dolobsky to discuss the plan for the campaign. The opinions of the governors were divided: some suggested waiting until next spring to move to the Donets in boats and on horses, others - repeating the winter sleigh ride of the governor Dmitry, so that the Polovtsians could not migrate south and fatten their horses, weakened during the winter lack of food, on spring pastures. The latter were supported by Vladimir Monomakh and his word turned out to be decisive. The start of the hike was scheduled for the very end of winter, when the frosts would subside, but there would still be an easy sleigh path.
At the end of February, armies from Kyiv, Smolensk, Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversky and other cities met in Pereyaslavl. The great Kiev prince Svyatopolk with his son Yaroslav, the sons of Vladimir Monomakh - Vyacheslav, Yaropolk, Yuri and Andrey, David Svyatoslavich of Chernigov with his sons Svyatoslav, Vsevolod, Rostislav, the sons of Prince Oleg - Vsevolod, Igor, Svyatoslav arrived. It has been a long time since so many Russian princes gathered for a joint war. Again, numerous armies of foot soldiers, who had proven themselves so well in previous campaigns against the Polovtsians, joined the princely equestrian squads.
On February 26, 1111, the army set out on a campaign. The princes stopped on the Alta River, waiting for the late squads. On March 3, the army reached the Suda River, having covered about one hundred and forty miles in five days. Considering that foot soldiers and large sleigh convoys with weapons and supplies were moving along with the mounted squads, such pace of the march should be considered very significant - thirty miles per day's march!
It was hard to walk. The thaw began, the snow was quickly melting, the horses had difficulty pulling the loaded sleigh. And yet the speed of the march almost did not decrease. Only a well-trained and resilient army was capable of such transitions.
On the Khorol River, Vladimir Monomakh ordered the sleigh train to be left and weapons and supplies to be loaded into packs. Then we walked lightly. The Wild Field began - the Polovtsian steppe, where there were no Russian settlements. The army covered the thirty-eight-mile journey from Khorol to the Psel River in one day's march. Ahead lay the Vorskla River, on which the Russian governors knew convenient fords - this was very important, since the deep spring rivers posed a serious obstacle. Horse guards rode far ahead of the main forces to prevent a surprise attack by the Polovtsians. On March 7, the Russian army reached the shores of Vorskla. On March 14, the army reached the Donets, repeating the winter campaign of the governor Dmitry. Beyond lay the “unknown land” - the Russian squads had never gone that far. The Polovtsian horse patrols flashed ahead - the horde of Khan Sharukan was somewhere close. The Russian soldiers put on their armor and assumed a battle formation: “brow”, regiments of the right and left hands, and a guard regiment. So they moved on, in battle formation, ready to meet the Polovtsian attack at any moment. The Donets remained behind, and Sharukan appeared - a steppe city consisting of hundreds of tents, tents, and low adobe houses. For the first time, the Polovtsian capital saw enemy banners under its walls. Sharukan was clearly not prepared for defense. The rampart around the city was low, easily surmountable - apparently, the Polovtsians considered themselves completely safe, hoping that they were reliably protected by the expanses of the Wild Field... Residents sent ambassadors with gifts and requests not to destroy the city, but to accept the ransom that the Russian princes would appoint.
Vladimir Monomakh ordered the Polovtsians to surrender all weapons, release prisoners, and return property looted in previous raids. Russian squads entered Sharukan. This happened on March 19, 1111.
The Russian army stood in Sharukan for only one night, and in the morning it moved on to the Don, to the next Polovtsian town - Sugrov. Its residents decided to defend themselves by taking to the earthen rampart with weapons. Russian regiments surrounded Sugrov on all sides and bombarded him with arrows and burning tarred tow. Fires started in the city. The distraught Polovtsians rushed through the burning streets, trying to cope with the fire. Then the attack began. Russian soldiers used heavy timber rams to break through the city gates and entered the city. Sugrov fell. The robber's nest, from which in previous years dashing bands of Polovtsian horsemen flew out for the next raid, ceased to exist.
There was only half a day's march left to the Don River... Meanwhile, the patrol patrols discovered a large concentration of Polovtsians on the Solnitsa River (Tor River), a tributary of the Don. A decisive battle was approaching, the result of which could only be victory or death: the Russian army had gone so far into the Wild Field that it was impossible to escape from the fast Polovtsian cavalry in the event of a retreat.
The day arrived on March 24, 1111. Dense crowds of Polovtsians appeared on the horizon, throwing forward the tentacles of light-horse patrols. The Russian army adopted a battle formation: in the “brow” - Grand Duke Svyatopolk with his Kyivians; on the right wing - Vladimir Monomakh and his sons with Pereyaslavl, Rostov, Suzdal, Belozerst, Smolyans; on the left wing are the Chernigov princes. The proven Russian battle formation with an indestructible phalanx of infantry in the center and fast cavalry squads on the flanks...
This is how Vladimir Monomakh fought in 1076 with knightly cavalry in the Czech Republic - pawn-spearmen in the center and cavalry on the flanks - and won. This is how he built his army in the last big campaign against the Polovtsians and also gained the upper hand. This is how, many years later, another glorious knight of the “Yaroslav family” - Alexander Nevsky - will arrange his regiments, when he leads his warriors onto the ice of Lake Peipus to push back the German dog knights...
Only at the end of the day the Polovtsians gathered for an attack and rushed into the Russian formation in huge crowds. The experienced Sharukan abandoned the usual Polovtsian tactics - striking the forehead with a horse wedge - and advanced along the entire front so that the horse squads of the princes could not help the footmen with flank attacks. The brutal slaughter began immediately both in the “forehead” and on the wings. Russian warriors had difficulty holding back the Polovtsian onslaught.
Probably, the khan was mistaken in building the battle this way. His warriors, many of whom did not have armor, were not accustomed to “direct combat”, to close hand-to-hand combat and suffered huge losses. The Russians held out and began to slowly move forward. It was getting dark quickly. The Polovtsians, realizing that they could not crush the Russian army with a frantic onslaught, turned their horses and galloped off into the steppe. This was a success for the Russian princes, but it was not yet a victory: many Polovtsian horsemen were saved and could continue the war. This is how Vladimir Monomakh assessed the situation, sending a guard regiment after the Polovtsians. Sharukan will gather his steppe army somewhere, we need to find out where...
The Russian regiments stood on the battlefield for only one day. Sentry patrols reported that the Polovtsians were again gathering in crowds near the mouth of Solnitsa. The Russian regiments set out on a campaign and marched all night. The fires of a huge Polovtsian camp were already flickering ahead.
The morning of March 27, 1111 arrived. Both troops again faced each other. This time Sharukan did not seek luck in the terrible “direct battle”, in which the Russians turned out to be invincible, but tried to surround the regiments of the princes from all sides in order to shoot the warriors from afar with bows, taking advantage of the speed of the Polovtsian horses and enormous numerical superiority. But Vladimir Monomakh did not allow his army to be encircled and he himself decisively moved forward. This was a surprise for the Polovtsian military leaders: usually the Russians waited to be attacked, and only after repelling the blow did they launch counterattacks. The Polovtsians were forced to take “direct battle” again. The leader of the Russian army imposed his will on the enemy. Once again the Polovtsian cavalry attacked the center of the Russian formation, and again the pawn-spearmen held out, giving the cavalry squads the opportunity to strike on the flanks. The Pereyaslav squad under the banner of Vladimir Monomakh fought in decisive sectors of the battle, instilling fear in the enemies. The horse squads of other princes broke into the Polovtsian ranks and tore the Polovtsian system to pieces. The khans and thousands rushed about in vain, trying to establish control of the battle. The Polovtsians huddled together in discordant crowds, moved randomly across the field, beaten by Russian warriors who were invulnerable in their armor. And the spirit of the Polovtsian army broke, it rolled back, towards the Don Ford. Frightened by this spectacle, thousands of fresh Polovtsians stopped on the other side of the Don. Horse squads relentlessly pursued the retreating Polovtsians, mercilessly cutting them down with long swords. Ten thousand warriors of Khan Sharukan found their deaths on the Don shore, and many were captured. The defeat was complete. There is no time for raids on Rus' now for the khan...
News of the victory of the Russian princes on the Don thundered across the Polovtsian steppes. Khan Bonyak was afraid, took his Dnieper Polovtsians away from the Russian borders, and in Rus' it was not even known where he was and what he was doing. The remnants of the Don Polovtsians migrated to the Caspian Sea, and some even further - beyond the “Iron Gates” (Derbent). Great silence fell on the steppe border of Rus', and this was the main result of the campaign. Rus' received a long-awaited respite.
