Cumans
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The Cumans, also called the Polovtsy (Russian Половцы), was the European name for the Western Kipchaks, a nomadic West Turkic tribe living on the north of the Black Sea along the Volga.
They spoke the Cuman language, a now extinct language documented in the Codex Cumanicus, a linguistic manual used by Catholic missionaries.
History
The Cumans invaded southern Ukraine, Moldavia, Wallachia and part of Transylvania in the 11th century, and then continued their attacks by plundering the Byzantine Empire, Hungary and Kievan Rus'.
In 1089, they were defeated by Ladislaus I of Hungary. In 1091 they allied with Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos against the Pechenegs at the Battle of Levounion, in which the Pechenegs were annihilated.
In alliance with the Vlachs and the Bulgarians during the Vlach-Bulgarian Rebellion by brothers Asen and Peter of Tarnovo, the Cumans are believed to have played a significant role in the rebellion's final victory over Byzantium and the restoration of Bulgaria's independence (1185). It is believed that the brothers, the founders of the Asen dynasty, may have themselves been entirely or partially of Cuman ancestry. Two later dynasties of the Second Bulgarian Empire, the Terter and Shishman dynasty, were also partially Cuman.
The Cumans suffered a severe defeat by Great Prince Vladimir Monomakh of Kievan Rus in the 12th century and were crushed by the Tatars in 1238, after which most of them fled Wallachia and Moldavia and took refuge in Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Byzantine Empire. After many clashes with the Hungarians, the Cumans were eventually evicted from Hungary to join their kin who lived in Bulgaria. However, a large segment of them were later invited back to Hungary. The Cumans who remained scattered in the steppes of what is now Ukraine and Russia joined the khanate of the Golden Horde.
In the 13th century, the Western Cumans adopted Roman Catholicism, while the Eastern Cumans converted to Islam. The Catholic "Diocese of the Cumans" founded in Milcov in 1227 and including what is now Romania and Moldova, retained its title until 1523.
The Cuman influence in the region of Wallachia and Moldavia was so strong that the earliest Wallachian rulers bore Cuman names (some believe that whether they were ethnic Vlachs/Romanians, Slavs or Cumans is irrelevant to prove). Basarab I, son of the Wallachian prince Tihomir of Wallachia obtained independence from Hungary at the beginning of the 14th century. The name Basarab is considered as being of Cuman origin, meaning "Father King".
Legacy
While the Cumans were gradually assimilated into eastern European populations, their trace can still be found in placenames as widespread as the city of Kumanovo in the Northeastern part of the Republic of Macedonia, Comăneşti in Romania and Comana in Dobruja.
The Cumans also settled in Hungary and were allowed to govern themselves. In Hungarian, their name is usually rendered Kun - from the general tribal designation Qun - and is preserved in county names such as Bács-Kiskun and Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok and town names like Kiskunhalas and Kiskunszentmiklós.
Toponyms of Cumanian origin can be found especially in the Romanian counties of Vaslui and Galaţi, including the names of both counties.
In Bulgaria, placenames referring to Cumans can be found in several villages, for example Kumanite in Gabrovo Province and Kumanovo in Varna Province.
In countries where the Cumans were assimilated, family surnames deriving from the local words for "Cuman" (such as Coman, Kun or "Kuman") are not uncommon. Among famous people with such names are Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci, Romanian poet Otilia Coman (Ana Blandiana) and Romanian football player Gigel Coman. Their name is also preserved in the Bulgarian surname Kumanov (feminine Kumanova), its Macedonian variant Kumanovski (feminine Kumanovska) and the widespread Hungarian surname Kun/Kún.
For the Russian relations with the Cumans (in Russian: Polovtsy), see the Battle of the Stugna River, the Battle of the Kalka River, and the Tale of Igor's Campaign. A set of Polovtsian Dances occurs in Alexander Borodin's opera Prince Igor.
Further reading
- Vasary, Istvan (2005) "Cumans and Tatars", Cambridge University Press
See also
External links
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