Teleorman County ( Romanian pronunciation: [ˈtele.orman] ) is a county ( județ ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria , in the historical region Muntenia , with its capital city at Alexandria .
110-563: The name Teleorman is of Cumanic ( Turkic ) origin. It literally means wild/crazy forest ( modern Turkish , Deli orman) and, by extension, "thick and shadowy forest" in the Cuman language . It can be encountered in other toponyms, such as the Turkish name of the Ludogorie Plateau in northeastern Bulgaria, Deliorman . In 2021, the county had a population of 323,544 and the population density
220-835: A Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language . They are referred to as Polovtsy in Rus', Cumans in Western and Kipchaks in Eastern sources. Related to the Pecheneg , they inhabited a shifting area north of the Black Sea and along the Volga River known as Cumania , from which the Cuman–Kipchaks meddled in
330-668: 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
440-649: 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 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. In 1092,
550-603: A combined Byzantine and Cuman army under Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos . Alexios I recruited the defeated Pechenegs, whom he settled in the district of Moglena (today in Macedonia ) into a tagma "of the Moglena Pechenegs". Attacked again in 1094 by the Cumans, many Pechenegs were slain or absorbed. The Byzantines defeated the Pechenegs again at the Battle of Beroia in 1122, on the territory of modern-day Bulgaria. With time
660-524: 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
770-400: A few Arab sources), while the name used in Rus' tended to be "Polovtsian". In Turkic languages 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: Observing that
880-515: 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 . 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
990-566: A resistance against the relentlessly advancing Mongols led by Jebe and Subutai . 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
1100-610: 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 took place near the Kalka River in 1223. Pecheneg ( Tokhara Yabghus , Turk Shahis ) The Pechenegs ( / ˈ p ɛ tʃ ə n ɛ ɡ / ) or Patzinaks were a semi-nomadic Oghuz Turkic people from Central Asia who spoke
1210-456: 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 in the west to Taraz , Kazakhstan in the east. This was possibly due to their facing no prolonged threat before
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#17328552455531320-574: 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
1430-542: 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
1540-676: 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 "they have no king, only princes and royal families". Cumans interacted with the Rus' principalities, Bulgaria , the Byzantine Empire , and the Wallachian states in the Balkans ; with Armenia and the Kingdom of Georgia (see Kipchaks in Georgia ) in
1650-447: Is attested in some medieval documents and is the best-known of the early Turkic languages . The Codex Cumanicus was a linguistic manual written to help Catholic missionaries communicate with the Cuman people. Cuman appears in ancient Roman texts as the name of a fortress or gate. The Roman natural philosopher Pliny the Elder (who lived in the 1st century AD), mentions "a fortress,
1760-400: 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 (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 is one of the great kingdoms in
1870-627: Is hinted at in the remark of al-Biruni regarding a people that "are of the race of al-Lān and that of al-Ās and their language is a mixture of the languages of Khwarazmians and the Badjanak.". If the latter assumption is valid, the Kangars' ethnonym suggests that (East) Iranian elements contributed to the formation of the Pecheneg people but Spinei concedes that Pechenegs were of "a predominantly Turkic character... beyond any doubt". This may be mirrored in
1980-529: Is uncertain whether this group's formation is connected to the Pechenegs' first or second migration (as it is proposed by Pritsak and Golden, respectively). According to Mahmud al-Kashgari, one of the Üçok clans of the Oghuz Turks was still formed by Pechenegs in the 1060s. In the 9th century, the Byzantines allied with the Pechenegs, using them to fend off other, more dangerous tribes such as Kievan Rus' and
2090-621: The Polovtsy , 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
2200-564: The Asen dynasty of the Second Bulgarian Empire, or who were in Byzantine service. Cumans at that time also resettled in the Kingdom of Georgia 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
2310-780: The Balkans , the Cumans were in contact with all the statal entities. They fought with the Kingdom of Hungary, allied with the Bulgarians of the Second Bulgarian Empire (they were the empire's most effective military component) and with the Vlachs against the Byzantine Empire . 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. In alliance with
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#17328552455532420-541: The Black Sea and Constantinople , in turn leading Rus' to again attempt action. Offenses were halted during 1166–1169, when Grand prince Andrey Bogolyubsky , 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 . This Chernigov-Cuman alliance suffered
2530-542: The Bulgarians and Vlachs , the Cumans are believed to have played a significant role in the uprising led by brothers Asen and Peter of Tarnovo , resulting in victory over Byzantium and the restoration of Bulgaria's independence in 1185. 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
2640-607: The Carpathian Mountains 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,
2750-680: The Caucasus ; and with the Khwarezm Empire in Central Asia. The Cumans– Kipchaks 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 . The Cumans had a commercial interest in Crimea , where they also took tribute from Crimean cities. A major area of commerce
2860-700: The Chagatai word gang ("chariot"), semantically related to the Turkic Gaoche . Omeljan Pritsak proposed that the name had initially been a composite term (Kängär As , mentioned in Old Turkic texts) deriving from the Tocharian word for stone (kank) and the ethnonym As , suggesting that they were Tocharian-speaking or at least formed a confederation consisting of Tocharian, Eastern Iranian and Bulgaric Turkic elements. Their connection with Eastern Iranian elements
2970-599: The Golden Horde Khanate, the Second Bulgarian Empire , the Kingdom of Serbia , the Kingdom of Hungary , Moldavia , the Kingdom of Georgia , the Byzantine Empire , the Empire of Nicaea , the Latin Empire , and Wallachia , with Cuman immigrants becoming integrated into each country's elite. The Cumans played a role in the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire. Cuman and Kipchak tribes joined politically to create
3080-572: The Hypatian Codex , a certain individual is called Kuman , while in the parallel account of the Laurentian Codex he is called Kun (" Polovčinu menem Kunui" , Vásáry considers this a corruption of Kunu , Russian dative of Kun ). 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 (1304 – c. 1369), said of Cumania: "This wilderness
3190-648: The Kangly ; however, Wang Pu 's institutional historical work Tang Huiyao apparently distinguishes the Kang(ju) from the Kangheli (aka Kangly ). Menges saw in Kang-ar-as the plural-suffix -as , and Klyashtorny the Turkic numerus collectivus -ar- , -er- . Mahmud al-Kashgari , an 11th-century man of letters who specialized in Turkic dialects argued that the language spoken by
3300-520: 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 Carpathian Mountains established a county named Cumania, which was a strong military base in an area consisting of parts of Moldavia and Wallachia . Like most other peoples of medieval Eastern Europe, the Cumans put up
3410-574: The Magyars (Hungarians). The Uzes, another Turkic steppe people, eventually expelled the Pechenegs from their homeland; in the process, they also seized most of their livestock and other goods. An alliance of Oghuz , Kimeks , and Karluks was also pressing the Pechenegs, but another group, the Samanids , defeated that alliance. Driven further west by the Khazars and Cumans by 889, the Pechenegs in turn drove
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3520-680: The Norman king of Sicily , William the Bad . A group of Pechenegs was present at the Battle of Andria in 1155. The Pechenegs as a group were last mentioned in 1168 as members of Turkic tribes known in the chronicles as the " Chorni Klobuky (Black Hats)". It is likely that the Pecheneg population of Hungary was decimated by the Mongol invasion of Hungary , but names of Pecheneg origin continue to be reported in official documents. The title of "Comes Bissenorum" (Count of
3630-587: The Old Rus translation of Josephus Flavius (ed. Meshcherskiy, 454) which adds "the Yas , as is known, descended from the Pecheneg tribe." On the basis of their fragmentary linguistic remains, scholars view them as Common Turkic -speakers, most probably Kipchak ( Németh , followed by Ligeti ) or Oguz ( Baskakov ). Hammer-Purgstall classifies the Chinese Kangju and Byzantine Kangar as purely Turkic name variants of
3740-848: The Pecheneg language . In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Pechenegs controlled much of the steppes of southeast Europe and the Crimean Peninsula . In the 9th century the Pechenegs began a period of wars against Kievan Rus' , and for more than two centuries launched raids into the lands of Rus', which sometimes escalated into full-scale wars. The Pechenegs were mentioned as Bjnak , Bjanak or Bajanak in medieval Arabic and Persian texts, as Be-ča-nag in Classical Tibetan documents, and as Pačanak-i in works written in Georgian . Anna Komnene and other Byzantine authors referred to them as Patzinakoi or Patzinakitai . In medieval Latin texts,
3850-410: 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 plȃv (пла̑в) means "blue", but this word also means "fair, blonde" and is a cognate of
3960-517: 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". Kievan Rus' , Mamluk , Hungarian , and Chinese sources preserved the names of many Cuman-Kupchak tribal groupings: Seven Cuman tribes eventually settled in Hungary, namely: Baskakov thought that
4070-426: The Temes river. King Ladislaus offered the Christianity for the Cuman survivors, the majority of them accepted, thus the king settled them in Jászság . The rumor of the losing battle reached the Cuman camp, the Cumans threatened King Ladislaus with revenge and demanded to free the Cuman prisoners. King Ladislaus marched to the Hungarian border to prevent the next invasion. The two armies clashed near Severin ,
4180-408: The endonym 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 , as the two tribes often lived side by side. Most other Turkic-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
4290-445: The " Torkmens , Pechenegs, Torks , and Polovcians " descended from "the godless sons of Ishmael , who had been sent as a chastisement to the Christians". The Turkic Khaganate collapsed in 744 which gave rise to a series of intertribal confrontations in the Eurasian steppes . The Karluks attacked the Oghuz Turks , forcing them to launch a westward migration towards the Pechenegs' lands. The Uighur envoy's report testifies that
4400-417: The Armenian alphabet ), where it was preserved for centuries up to the modern day. The Cumans first encountered the Rus' in 1055, when they advanced towards the Rus' Pereyaslavl principality , but Prince Vsevolod 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
4510-422: The Chazars and the so-called Uzes. But fifty years ago the so-called Uzes made common cause with the Chazars and joined battle with the Pechenegs and prevailed over them and expelled them from their country, which the so-called Uzes have occupied till this day. [...] At the time when the Pechenegs were expelled from their country, some of them of their own will and personal decision stayed behind there and united with
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4620-430: 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
4730-433: 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 in 1099 and seized
4840-469: The Cumans resumed their raids against the Rus' and also attacked the Kingdom of Poland : and reportedly reached northern cities located in 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 . The Cumans then advanced all the way to Adrianople and Anchialos but could not conquer them. In
4950-485: The Cumans were referred to as the "Blond Ones". 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 (possibly connected to three Pecheneg tribes known collectively as Kangars) encompassed
5060-406: The Cumans, it is 25 miles; this city is called Black Cumania. From the city of Black Cumania to the city of Tmutorakan (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
5170-425: The Cumans, using the name χarteš , meaning "blond", "pale", "fair". It cannot be established whether the Cumans conquered the Kipchaks , 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
5280-413: The Cuman– Kipchaks as Yimek ~ Yemek. Potapov writes that: ... during the period from the end of the 800s to 1230 AD [the Cumans] spread their political influence in the broad steppes from Altai to Crimea and Danube . Irtysh with its adjoining steppes (at least below the lake Zaisan ) was in the sphere of that confederation. Members of the confederation undoubtedly also were the ancestors of
5390-438: The Cuman–Kipchak confederation. ( Tokhara Yabghus , Turk Shahis ) After the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' in 1237, many Cumans sought asylum in the Kingdom of Hungary , as many of them had already settled there in the previous decades. The Cumans also played an important role in the Second Bulgarian Empire , the Byzantine Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Nicaea Empire 's Anatolia . The Cuman language
5500-462: The Derbend. The other way is for to go from the city of Turkestan by Persia, and by that way be many journeys by desert. And the third way is that cometh from Comania and then to go by the Great Sea and by the kingdom of Abchaz ... After that, the Comanians that were in servage in Egypt, felt themselves that they were of great power, they chose them a soldan [sultan] amongst them, the which made him to be clept Melechsalan. And in his time entered into
5610-446: The Hungarian army was victorious, King Ladislaus killed Ákos, the Cuman chieftain. 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
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#17328552455535720-433: 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 or Oghuzes , György Györffy derived Kun from Huns , 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 ." In
5830-414: The Kangars received this denomination because "they are more valiant and noble than the rest" of the people "and that is what the title Kangar signifies". Because no Turkic word with a similar meaning is known, Ármin Vámbéry connected the ethnonym to the Kyrgyz words kangir ("agile"), kangirmak ("to go out riding") and kani-kara ("black-blooded"), while Carlile Aylmer Macartney associated it with
5940-449: The Kayala river in 1185 but was defeated; this battle was immortalized in the Rus' epic poem The Tale of Igor's Campaign , 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
6050-417: The Khazars supremacy. In addition to these two branches, a third group of Pechenegs existed in this period: Constantine Porphyrogenitus and Ibn Fadlan mention that those who decided not to leave their homeland were incorporated into the Oghuz federation of Turkic tribes. Originally, the Pechenegs had their dwelling on the river Atil (Volga), and likewise on the river Geïch , having common frontiers with
6160-412: 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
6270-409: The Magyars west of the Dnieper River by 892. Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria employed the Pechenegs to help fend off the Magyars. The Pechenegs were so successful that they drove out the Magyars remaining in Etelköz and the Pontic steppes , forcing them westward towards the Pannonian plain , where they later founded the Hungarian state . By the 9th and 10th centuries, Pechenegs controlled much of
6380-428: The Moguty, Tatrany, Revugy, Shelьbiry, and Topchaki belonged to the Chorni Klobuky . The original homeland of the Cumans is unknown before their eventual settlement in the Eurasian steppe's western part. 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
6490-422: 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
6600-431: The Oghuz and Pecheneg waged war against each other already in the 8th century, most probably for the control of the trade routes. The Oghuz made an alliance with the Karluks and Kimaks and defeated the Pechenegs and their allies in a battle near the Lake Aral before 850, according to the 10th-century scholar, Al-Masudi . Most Pechenegs launched a new migration towards the Volga River , but some groups were forced to join
6710-465: The Oghuz. The latter formed the 19th tribe of the Oghuz tribal federation in the 11th century. The Pechenegs who left their homeland settled between the Ural and Volga rivers. According to Gardizi and other Muslim scholars who based their works on 9th-century sources, the Pechenegs' new territory was quite large, with a 30-day-walk extension, and were bordered by the Cumans , Khazars , Oghuz Turks and Slavs . The same sources also narrate that
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#17328552455536820-421: The Pecheneg Horde moved towards the Danube , crossed the river, and disappeared out of the Pontic steppes . Pecheneg mercenaries served under the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert . After centuries of fighting involving all their neighbours—the Byzantine Empire, Bulgaria , Kievan Rus', Khazaria, and the Magyars—the Pechenegs were annihilated as an independent force in 1091 at the Battle of Levounion by
6930-400: The Pecheneg realm, stretched west as far as the Siret River (or even the Eastern Carpathian Mountains ), and was four days distant from "Tourkias" (i.e. Hungary ). The whole of Patzinakia is divided into eight provinces with the same number of great princes. The provinces are these: the name of the first province is Irtim; of the second, Tzour; of the third, Gyla; of the fourth, Koulpeï; of
7040-419: The Pechenegs attacked and besieged Kiev ; some joined the Prince of Kiev, Sviatoslav I , in his Byzantine campaign of 970–971, though eventually they ambushed and killed the Kievan prince in 972. According to the Primary Chronicle , the Pecheneg Khan Kurya made a chalice from Sviatoslav's skull, in accordance with the custom of steppe nomads. The fortunes of the Rus'-Pecheneg confrontation swung during
7150-399: The Pechenegs made regular raids against their neighbors, in particular against the Khazars and the latter's vassals, the Burtas , and sold their captives. The Khazars made an alliance with the Ouzes against the Pechenegs and attacked them from two directions. Outnumbered by the enemy, the Pechenegs were forced into a new westward migration. They marched across the Khazar Khaganate, invaded
7260-405: The Pechenegs south of the Danube lost their national identity and became fully assimilated, mostly with Romanians and Bulgarians . Significant communities settled in the Hungarian kingdom , around 150 villages. In the 12th century, according to Byzantine historian John Kinnamos , the Pechenegs fought as mercenaries for the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos in southern Italy against
7370-514: The Pechenegs spoke a Turkic language. The Pechenegs are thought to have belonged to the Oghuz branch of the Turkic family , but their language is poorly documented and therefore difficult to further classify. Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos lists eight Pecheneg tribal groupings, four on each side of the Dnieper river , reflecting the bipartite left-right Turkic organization. These eight tribes were in turn divided into 40 sub-tribes, probably clans. Constantine VII also records
7480-463: The Pechenegs was a variant of the Cuman and Oghuz idioms. He suggested that foreign influences on the Pechenegs gave rise to phonetical differences between their tongue and the idiom spoken by other Turkic peoples. Anna Komnene likewise stated that the Pechenegs and the Cumans shared a common language. Although the Pecheneg language itself died out centuries ago, the names of the Pecheneg "provinces" recorded by Constantine Porphyrogenitus prove that
7590-838: The Pechenegs were referred to as Pizenaci , Bisseni or Bessi . East Slavic peoples use the terms Pečenegi or Pečenezi (plural of Pečeneg ), while the Poles mention them as Pieczyngowie or Piecinigi . The Hungarian word for Pecheneg is Besenyő ; the Romanian term is Pecenegi . According to Max Vasmer and some other researchers the ethnonym may have derived from the Old Turkic word for "brother-in-law, relative” ( baja , baja-naq or bajinaq ; Azerbaijani : bacanaq , Kyrgyz : baja , Turkmen : baja and Turkish : bacanak ), implying that it initially referred to an "in-law related clan or tribe". Peter Golden considers this derivation by no means certain. In Mahmud Kashgari 's 11th-century work Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk , Pechenegs were described as "a Turkic nation living around
7700-412: The Pechenegs) lasted for at least another 200 years. In 15th-century Hungary, some people adopted the surname Besenyö ( Hungarian for "Pecheneg"); they were most numerous in the county of Tolna . One of the earliest introductions of Islam into Eastern Europe came about through the work of an early 11th-century Muslim prisoner who was captured by the Byzantines. The Muslim prisoner was brought into
7810-434: 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
7920-621: 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 Armenian historian, Matthew of Edessa (died 1144), also mentioned
8030-423: 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
8140-503: 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
8250-585: The Slavic root *pȍlje "field" (cf. Polish, Russian pole ), which would therefore imply that Polovtsy were "men of the field" or "men of the steppe" in contrast to the Lipovtsi . In Germanic languages , the Cumans were called Folban , Vallani or Valwe —all derivatives of Proto-Germanic root * falwa- meaning "pale" (> English "fallow"). In the German account by Adam of Bremen , and in Matthaios of Edessa ,
8360-452: The above; cf. West Slavic Polish płowy , 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 Polovtsy is also possible:
8470-651: The area pressed the Oghuz Turks to shift west, which in turn caused the Pechenegs to move to the west of the Dnieper River . Cuman and Rus' attacks contributed to the departure of the Oghuz from the steppes north of the Black Sea . 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 ) at some point around 1068–1078. They launched
8580-627: The country of the Rum ", where Rum was the Turkic word for the Eastern Roman Empire or Anatolia , and "a branch of Oghuz Turks "; he subsequently described the Oghuz as being formed of 22 branches, of which the Pecheneg were the 19th. Pechenegs are mentioned as one of 24 ancient tribes of Oghuzes by 14th-century statesman and historian of Ilkhanate -ruled Iran Rashid-al-Din Hamadani in his work Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh ("Compendium of Chronicles") with
8690-506: The country of the kings of France Saint Louis, and fought with him; and [the soldan] took him and imprisoned him; and this [soldan] was slain by his own servants. And after, they chose another to be soldan, that they clept Tympieman; and he let deliver Saint Louis out of prison for a certain ransom. And after, one of these Comanians reigned, that hight [was called] Cachas, and slew Tympieman, for to be soldan; and made him be clept Melechmenes. In East Slavic languages and Polish, they are known as
8800-451: The county are: Agriculture is the main occupation in the county. Both extensive agriculture, and small scale — vegetables and fruits for the Bucharest markets — is practiced. The area is well suited for irrigations. The county doesn't have many spectacular attractions, but its cultural folk heritage is very rich. Many Romanian personalities have been born here, some of them later describing
8910-494: The county was located in the southern part of Greater Romania , in the southwestern part of the historical region of Muntenia . Its capital was Turnu Măgurele . The county was bordered on the west by the counties Romanați County and Olt County , to the north by Argeș County , to the east by Vlașca County , and in the south across the Danube River by the Kingdom of Bulgaria . Its territory coincides in large part with that of
9020-647: The distinction between the "Turkic Pechenegs" and "Khazar Pechenegs" mentioned in the 10th-century Hudud al-'alam had its origin in this period. The Hudud al-'Alam —a late 10th-century Persian geography—distinguished two Pecheneg groups, referring to those who lived along the Donets as "Turkic Pechenegs", and to those along the Kuban as "Khazarian Pechenegs". Spinei proposes that the latter denomination most probably refers to Pecheneg groups accepting Khazar suzerainty, implies that some Pecheneg tribes had been forced to acknowledge
9130-580: The dwelling places of the Hungarians , and expelled them from the lands along the Kuban River and the upper course of the river Donets . There is no consensual date for this second migration of the Pechenegs: Pritsak argues that it took place around 830, but Kristó suggests that it could hardly occur before the 850s. The Pechenegs settled along the rivers Donets and Kuban . It is plausible that
9240-454: 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
9350-650: The fifth, Charaboï; of the sixth, Talmat; of the seventh, Chopon; of the eighth, Tzopon. At the time at which the Pechenegs were expelled from their country, their princes were, in the province of Irtim, Baïtzas; in Tzour, Kouel; in Gyla, Kourkoutai; in Koulpeï, Ipaos; in Charaboï, Kaïdoum; in the province of Talmat, Kostas; in Chopon, Giazis; in the province of Tzopon, Batas. Paul Pelliot originated
9460-543: The first certain reference to the Pechenegs. The report recorded an armed conflict between the Be-ča-nag and the Hor ( Uyghurs or Oghuz Turks ) peoples in the region of the river Syr Darya . Ibn Khordadbeh (c. 820 – 912 CE), Mahmud al-Kashgari (11th century), Muhammad al-Idrisi (1100–1165), and many other Muslim scholars agree that the Pechenegs belonged to the Turkic peoples. The Russian Primary Chronicle stated that
9570-485: The following years, when knights of the First Crusade were passing through the empire, Byzantium offered the Cumans prestige titles and gifts in order to appease them; subsequently good relations ensued. From 1097 to 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 , Prince of Przemyśl . King Coloman and his army crossed
9680-603: The lands of Rus', which sometimes escalated into full-scale wars (like the 920 war on the Pechenegs by Igor of Kiev , reported in the Primary Chronicle ). The Pecheneg wars against Kievan Rus' caused the Slavs from Walachian territories to gradually migrate north of the Dniestr in the 10th and 11th centuries. Rus'/Pecheneg temporary military alliances also occurred however, as during the Byzantine campaign in 943 led by Igor. In 968
9790-494: The life in a village in a very picturesque way. Also, the area was one of the places where the Wallachian Revolution of 1848 unfolded. The main tourist destinations are: The Teleorman County Council, renewed at the 2020 local elections , consists of 32 counsellors, with the following party composition: Teleorman County has 3 municipalities, 2 towns and 92 communes Natives of Teleorman County include: Historically,
9900-589: The meaning of the ethnonym as "the one who shows eagerness". The 17th-century Khan of the Khanate of Khiva and historian Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur mentions the Pechenegs as bechene among 24 ancient tribes of Turkmens (or Oghuzes) in his book Shajara-i Tarākima (“Genealogy of the Turkmen") and provides for its meaning as "the one who makes". Three of the eight Pecheneg "provinces" or clans were collectively known as Kangars . According to Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus ,
10010-619: The military support of the Cumans, the process of Bulgarian restoration could never have been realized. 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
10120-570: 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 , or Darial Gorge ),. The Greek philosopher Strabo (died c. 24 AD) refers to the Darial Gorge (also known as the Iberian Gates or the Caucasian Gates) as Porta Caucasica and Porta Cumana . The original meaning of
10230-489: The names of eight former tribal leaders who had been leading the Pechenegs when they were expelled by the Khazars and Oghuzes . Golden , following Németh and Ligeti , proposes that each tribal name consists of two parts: the first part being an equine coat color , the other the tribal ruler's title. The Erdim, Čur, and Yula tribes formed the Qangar/Kenger ( Greek : Καγγαρ) and were deemed "more valiant and noble than
10340-452: The other princes; all of them died." In 1089, Ladislaus I of Hungary defeated the Cumans after they attacked the Kingdom of Hungary . In 1091, the Pechenegs , a semi-nomadic Turkic people of the prairies of southwestern Eurasia , 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 and
10450-648: The politics of the Caucasus and the Khwarazmian Empire . The Cumans were fierce and formidable nomadic warriors of the Eurasian Steppe 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' , the Galicia–Volhynia Principality ,
10560-636: The present Kumandy [in Altai] and Teleuts, which is evidenced by their language that like the language of the Tobol-Irtysh and Baraba Tatars belongs to the Kypchak group . The Cumans entered the grasslands of the present-day southern Russian steppe in the 11th century AD and went on to assault the Byzantine Empire , the Kingdom of Hungary , the Principality of Pereyaslavl and Kievan Rus' . The Cumans' entry into
10670-457: The present county. The county was originally divided into five administrative districts ( plăși ): Subsequently, the county established three more districts: The county contained four urban communes: Turnu Măgurele , Alexandria , Roșiorii de Vede , and Zimnicea . According to the 1930 census data, the county population was 347,294 inhabitants, ethnically divided as follows: 98.1% Romanians, 1.4% Romanies, as well as other minorities. From
10780-657: The proposal that the Book of Sui —a 7th-century Chinese work—preserved the earliest record on the Pechenegs. The book mentioned a people named Bĕirù , who had settled near the Ēnqū and Alan peoples (identified as Onogurs and Alans , respectively), to the east of Fulin (or the Eastern Roman Empire ). Victor Spinei emphasizes that the Pechenegs' association with the Bĕirù is "uncertain". He proposes that an 8th-century Uighur envoy's report, which survives in Tibetan translation, contains
10890-588: The reign of Vladimir I of Kiev (990–995), who founded the town of Pereyaslav upon the site of his victory over the Pechenegs, followed by the defeat of the Pechenegs during the reign of Yaroslav I the Wise in 1036. Shortly thereafter, other nomadic peoples replaced the weakened Pechenegs in the Pontic steppe : the Cumans and the Torks . According to Mykhailo Hrushevsky ( History of Ukraine-Ruthenia ), after its defeat near Kiev
11000-629: The religious point of view, the population was 99.0% Eastern Orthodox, 0.6% Adventist, 0.1% Muslim, as well as other minorities. In 1930, the county's urban population was 58,632 inhabitants, comprising 94.4% Romanians, 3.3% Romanies, 0.4% Hungarians, 0.4% Jews, as well as other minorities. From the religious point of view, the urban population was composed of 98.1% Eastern Orthodox, 0.6% Muslim, 0.4% Jewish, 0.4% Roman Catholic, as well as other minorities. 43°39′25″N 25°21′25″E / 43.65694°N 25.35694°E / 43.65694; 25.35694 Cumans The Cumans or Kumans were
11110-714: The rest". According to Omeljan Pritsak , the Pechenegs are descendants from the ancient Kangars who originate from Tashkent . The Orkhon inscriptions listed the Kangars among the subject peoples of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate . Pritsak says that the Pechenegs' homeland was located between the Aral Sea and the middle course of the Syr Darya, along the important trade routes connecting Central Asia with Eastern Europe, and associates them with Kangars . According to Constantine Porphyrogenitus , writing in c. 950, Patzinakia,
11220-544: 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 Byzantine Empire and Volga Bulgaria . Volga Bulgaria was attacked again at a later stage, by Khan Ayepa, father-in-law of Grand Prince of Kiev Yuri Dolgorukiy , perhaps at his instigation. The Volga Bulgars in turn poisoned Ayepa "and
11330-425: The so-called Uzes, and even to this day they live among them, and wear such distinguishing marks as separate them off and betray their origin and how it came about that they were split off from their own folk: for their tunics are short, reaching to the knee, and their sleeves are cut off at the shoulder, whereby, you see, they indicate that they have been cut off from their own folk and those of their race. However, it
11440-634: The south. The most vulnerable regions were the Principality of Pereyaslavl, the Principality of Novgorod-Seversk and the Principality of Chernigov . The Cumans invaded and plundered the eastern part of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1091. The invading Cumans were leading by chieftain Kapolcs, they broke first in Transylvania , then the territory between the Danube and Tisza rivers. The Cumans tried to leave Hungary with their huge booty and prisoners, but King Ladislaus I of Hungary reached and defeated them near
11550-403: The steppes of southeast Europe and the Crimean Peninsula . Although an important factor in the region at the time, like most nomadic tribes their concept of statecraft failed to go beyond random attacks on neighbours and spells as mercenaries for other powers. In the 9th century the Pechenegs began a period of wars against Kievan Rus' . For more than two centuries they had launched raids into
11660-562: 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. 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
11770-426: The world, but it is not all inhabited. For at one of the parts there is so great cold that no man may dwell there; and in another part there is so great heat that no man may endure it ... And the principal city of Comania is clept [called] Sarak [Serai], that is one of the three ways for to go into India. But by that way, he may not pass no great multitude of people, but if it be in winter. And that passage men clepe
11880-693: Was 55.88/km (144.73/sq mi). Teleorman County has a total area of 5,790 square kilometres (2,240 sq mi). Two distinctive elements can be found: Beside the Danube, the main river crossing the county is the Olt River which flows into the Danube close to the village of Islaz . Other important rivers are: the Vedea River , the Teleorman River , and the Călmățui River . The predominant industries in
11990-404: 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
12100-707: 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
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