Cumans
Cumans, also called Polovtsy, Polovtsians, or the Anglicized Polovetsian , is a
Western European exonym for the western
Kipchaks, a
nomadic,
West Turkic tribe who inhabited a shifting area north of the
Black Sea, along the
Volga River known as Cumania.
Encyclopedia
Cumans, also called
Polovtsy,
Polovtsians, or the Anglicized
Polovetsian , is a
Western European exonym for the western
Kipchaks, a
nomadic,
West Turkic tribe who inhabited a shifting area north of the
Black Sea, along the
Volga River known as Cumania.
History
The Cumans entered the lands of present-day southern
Ukraine, as well as historic
Moldavia,
Wallachia, and part of
Transylvania, in the
11th century. Having conquered the area, they continued their assaults by attacking and plundering the
Byzantine Empire, the
Kingdom of Hungary, and the principality of
Kievan Rus'.
In 1089, they were defeated by
Ladislaus I of Hungary. In alliance with the
Vlachs and the
Bulgarians during the Vlach-Bulgar 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 . The Cumans suffered a severe defeat by Great Prince
Vladimir Monomakh of Kievan Rus in the
12th century and were crushed by the
Mongols in 1238, after which most of them fled Wallachia and Moldova 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. Later, however, a large segment of them were re-invited back to Hungary. The Cumans who remained scattered in the steppe of what is now Russia joined the
Golden Horde khanate.
In the
13th century, the Western Cumans adopted
Roman Catholicism, while the Eastern Cumans converted to
Islam. The Catholic
Diocese of the Cumania 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 .
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".
Cuman influence also persisted in the Kingdom of Hungary with the Cuman language and customs persisting in autonomous Cuman territories until the
17th century.
It is generally believed that the Bulgarian media?val dynasties Asen, Shishman and Terter had some Cumans' roots.
Legacy
While the Cumans in Europe have been assimilated into other population groups, their name can still be encountered in placenames as far as the city of
Kumanovo in the Northeastern part of the
Republic of Macedonia, Comanesti in
Romania and Comana in
Dobruja. The Cumans settled in Hungary had their own self-government there in a territory that bore their name, Kunság, that survived until the
19th century. There, the name of the Cumans is still preserved in county names such as
Bács-Kiskun and
Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok and town names such as
Kiskunhalas and Kiskunszentmiklós.
Also, toponyms of Cuman language origin can be found especially in the Romanian counties of Vaslui and Galati, including the names of both counties.
In the countries where the Cumans were assimilated, family surnames derived from the words for "Cuman" are not uncommon. Among the people that have such a name are Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, Romanian poet Otilia Coman and Romanian football player
Gigel Coman. Traces of the Cumans are also the Bulgarian surname Kumanov , its Macedonian variant Kumanovski and the widespread Hungarian surname Kun.
The Cumans appear in Russian culture in the
The Tale of Igor's Campaign is an anonymous masterpiece of East Slavic [i] literature ...
and a set of "Polovtsian Dances" in
Alexander Borodin's
opera Prince Igor is an opera [i] in four acts with a prologue by Alexander Borodin [i]. ...
.
Further reading
- Vasary, Istvan "Cumans and Tatars", Cambridge University Press.
See also
External links
