arshba.ru

12th century

Polovtsians (Kipchaks, Cumans) — a nomadic people of Turkic origin. At the beginning of the 11th century, they advanced from the Volga region into the Black Sea steppes, displacing the Pechenegs and Torques from there. The Great Steppe from the Danube to the Irtysh, which from this time in Eastern sources came to be called Desht-i-Kipchak or, in Russian sources, the Polovtsian Field. With the formation of the Golden Horde (mid-13th century), the Polovtsians assimilated the Mongol conquerors and passed on their language to them. Later, the Kipchak language formed the basis of Tatar, Bashkir, Karachay-Balkar, Nogai, Kazakh, Karakalpak, Kumyk, and some other languages.

There is an opinion that David IV the Builder, in his struggle against the Turkic Oghuz of the Seljuk Empire, invited and settled in Borchali and adjacent regions a Kipchak horde numbering 40,000 warriors, which together with their family members totaled about 200,000 people. It is worth noting that at the same time, King David IV became related to the Kipchaks by taking the daughter of Khan Gurandukht as his wife. After the defeats suffered from the Russians in 1111, the horde of Atrak and Syrchan retreated to the Lower Don and North Caucasian steppes, replenishing their ranks with detachments from other scattered Polovtsian hordes. The horde of Atrak became allies of the Donetsk Alans opposing the Russians.

With the arrival of the Kipchaks in the North Caucasus in 1117, they destroyed Sarkel (Belaya Vezha), forcing the inhabitants of the city, as well as the Pecheneg and Tork tribes, to go to Rus.

In the North Caucasus, the Polovtsians pushed back the Alans, Adyghe, and Vainakhs, but by the beginning of the 12th century, the borders between them stabilized along the Kuban River, the Lower Malka, and the Terek. The reconciliation between the Alans and Kipchaks was facilitated by King David IV the Builder. In 1118, David IV concluded an alliance with the Kipchaks due to the fear of a Seljuk invasion. Therefore, even earlier, King David had married Gurandukht, the daughter of the Kipchak leader Atrak. David sent envoys to the Kipchaks to invite his father-in-law with his army to Transcaucasia to participate in the war against the Seljuks. Consent was obtained from the Kipchaks. The Kipchaks of Atrak who came to David numbered 40,000 warriors, not counting women. In addition, 5,000 select warriors entered the royal guard. The horde of Khan Syrchan remained to roam on the Don.

After Atrak's departure to David, the Russians in 1116-1117 liquidated the Alan principality on the Seversky Donets. After the death of Vladimir Monomakh in 1125, Atrak and part of his horde, at the invitation of Khan Syrchan, returned to the Don, but many remained with David.

Life of the King of Kings David, p. 189, 25: "Therefore, he, the second Alexander, conceived — for there was no other way — [to summon the Kipchaks], as he knew well their multitude, bravery in battles, swiftness in campaigns, fury in attack, easy controllability, and readiness to obey his will in everything; at the same time, they were easy to summon both because of their proximity and their poverty, and also because many years before he had brought from there the worthy, everywhere known for her virtue Gurandukht, the daughter of the Kipchak leader Atrak, son of Sharagan; she became his lawful wife and queen of all Georgia. Therefore, having sent trusted people, he summoned the Kipchaks and his father-in-law. They accepted the offer with joy, but asked that they be given the opportunity to pass through the Ovs [Ossetians] in peace. Therefore, the king was forced to go to Ossetia. Having given the order, he immediately set out, taking with him George of Chkondidi, his mtsignobartukhutsesi, a man possessing all spiritual and physical perfections, filled with wisdom and understanding, judicious, fortunate, and prudent. Brought up with the patrons, he himself was the tutor of the patron and his companion in all his affairs, labors, and the one who paved with him all his paths."

VARIANT NAMES: Russian. Polovtsy, Polovchane, Kypchaks, Kipchaks, Cumans, Azerbaijani. qıpçaq, Bashkir. ҡыпсаҡ, Kazakh. қыпшақ, Tatar. кыпчак, Uzbek. qipchoq.


Sources:

Ethnogenesis of the Abkhazians. D.A. Arshba, 2015