he Other Europe

in the Middle Ages

Avars, Bulgars, Khazars, and Cumans

Edited by

Florin Curta
with the assistance of Roman Kovalev

LEIDEN BOSTON
2008

A BROKEN MIRROR: THE KIPAK WORLD IN THE

THIRTEENTH CENTURY
Dimitri Korobeinikov
At the beginning of the thirteenth century before the Mongol invasions
only two great states in the Islamic world were ruled by Turkic dynasties: the Sultanate of Rm under the minor branch of the Grand Seljukid
dynasty; and the state of the Khwrazm-shhs in Central Asia. By the
middle of the century, the Khwrazm-shhs were wiped out by the Mongols; and the Sultanate of Rm became a vassal state of the great Mongol
Empire. It was the new state, the Mamlk Sultanate of Egypt that became
the last hope of the Muslim world facing the unprecedented onslaught
of the heathen Mongols. he Mamlks inally defeated the army of the
lkhn Hleg (the lkhn himself was absent at the moment) near Ayn
Jlt in Syria in 1260.1
It is less widely known, or perhaps less appreciated, that the Mamlk
state rarely called itself mamlk, literally slave. One of the oicial names
of the Mamlk Sultanate was dawla al-turkiyya, he State of the Turks.
In particular, one of the chief Mamlk historians, Rukn al-Dn Baybars al-Mansr (d. 1325),2 himself a former mamlk of Sultan al-Malik
al-Mansr Qaln (12791290), entitled one of his historical works
Kitb al-tuhfa al-mulkiyya fl-dawla al-turkiyya, he book of statecrat (litthe royal git) in the kingdom of the Turks.3 If the Mamlk
state was oicially called Turkic, where did these Turks come from?
he common answer is simple: these Turks were Cumans, or Kpaks
of the Arab and Persian sources, the Polovtsians of the Rus chronicles,
and they came from the steppes of Eastern Europe, the territory between
1
On the battle at Ayn Jlt, see Amitai-Preiss 1995, 2648; horau 1992, 7588. On
the Mongol advance westward, see Jackson 2005, 3157 and 7475.
2
During his turbulent career, Rukn al-Dn Baybars was once appointed dawdr
(chief of the chancery) and acted as the sultans deputy in Egypt (nib al-saltana). On
him, see Ashtor 1960, 112728; Richards 1998, xviiixix; Brockelmann 1949a, II:44;
Brockelmann 1949b, II:43; Little 1970, 45.
3
he book deals with the history of the Mamlk sultans and covers the period 647
709 AH (12491310) with brief additions concerning the year 721 AH (1321). See Richards 1998, xix; H amdn 1987.

380

dimitri korobeinikov

the Danube Vinto and the Caspian, called Dasht-i Kpak, the Kpak
Desert.4 It was from among those Turks that young men were captured
and sold as slaves in the Crimean ports, brought via the Black Sea and
the Mediterranean to the Mamlk kingdom, and then militarily trained
in Egypt. Yet such simplifying deinitions can only be accepted with
some reservations. In 1342 the famous Arabic scholar Shihb al-Dn Ab
al-Abbs Ahmad b. Yahy Ibn Fadl Allh al-Umar (d. 1349)5 wrote his
great compendium Maslik al-absr f mamlik al-amsr (he routes

4
One of the best descriptions of the geographical limits of the Dasht-i Kpak maybe
found in La lor des estoires de la terre d Orient composed in 1307 by the Armenian
prince Hethum of Korykos (Hayton) (ca. 1235ca. 1314), the nephew of Hethum I
(12261269) and cousin of Leo III (12991307), the kings of Cilician Armenia. I cite
him in the sixteenth-century English translation: he realme of Comany is on of the
gretyst realmes of the worlde. his lande is yll inhabited for great distemperaunce of the
ayre of the same lande. For some partes of the same be so colde that nother man nor
best may lyue in the same for excessyue coldnes, and some other partes and countreys
be in the same lande which be so hote in somer that no man may endure there for grete
hete and for lyes which there abounde. his lande of Comani is all playn; but no tree
there groweth wherof men may make tymber, nor no busshe there groeth, saue in some
certain places where the inhabytauns haue planted some trees for to make gardens and
orchyards. A great part of the people dwelleth in tents, and theyr chefe fuell for fyre is
beestes donge dryed. his lande of Comany on the est part marcheth on the realme of
Corasme, and in parte of the same syde on a great desert; towarde the west it marcheth
to the Grete See, and to the see called the see of Reme; towarde the northe it marcheth to
the realme of Roussy; and on the southe part it extendeth vnto the grettest lodde which
men knowe in the worlde, which is called the lode of Etyll (Burger 1988, 10). It is the
French and Latin versions that display the geographic limits of the Dasht-i Kpak in a
more convenient way:
1. the realme of Corasme is represented in the French original as le roiaume de
Corasine (Khurasn) and as regno Corasme (Khwrazm) in the Latin version (in
general, the term meant Central Asia);
2. the Grete See, and to the see called the see of Reme is la Grande Meir, que on
nomme en cestui pays le mer Maure et la mer de Ganna (French version) and mare
Maius sive Maurum et mare de Tanna (Latin version). he two sea names mean
he Great, or Black, Sea and the Sea of Azov, or Tana respectively, the latter being
derived from the name of the famous Italian colony of Tana (Karpov 1997, 1218);
3. the realme of Roussy means Russia;
4. the lode of Etyll is more correctly reproduced in the Latin version as Etil, whilst the
French original contains a mistake: le leuve de hanai que il appelent droit le Ethil
(the river of Tanais which is called Ethil), thus naming hanais (modern Don) as
Volga (Etil).
See Drper 1998, 19495. Hethoums description was inluenced by, if not directly borrowed from, the text of the Itinerary of Fr. Guillaume de Rubrouck, the envoy of Louis IX
of France to the Great Khn in 12531255. He wrote that the Cumans, called Capchac/
Capchat, lived between the rivers Don (Tanay) and Danube, and also between Don and
Volga (Etilia). See Wyngaert 1929, 19495; Kappler and Kappler 1985, 112.
5
Brockelmann 1949a, II:141; Brockelmann 1949b, II:17576. See also Tiesenhausen
1884, I:20708.

the kipak world in the thirteenth century

381

towards insights of the capital kingdoms), whose historical section covers the history of Islam to 743 AH (1342), the date of the completion of
the work.6 Like Rukn al-Dn Baybars magnum opus, al-Umars compendium is evidence of the irst order, for al-Umar ended his career as
head of the chancery (dwn al-insh) in Damascus; he thus had access
to the oicial records. We still do not possess the full critical edition of
the text, only a facsimile of the manuscripts in the Topkap Saray and
the Sleymaniye Umum Ktphanesi in Istanbul, the British Library
in London and the Bibliothque Nationale in Paris,7 but the most signiicant chapters of the work were published. he Egyptian section of
the Maslik al-absr f mamlik al-amsr describes the Mamlk Sultanate and, in particular, the organization of the Mamlk army. he text
reads:
As to the army of this kingdom, the part of it is under [the direct command of] His Majesty the Sultan, and another part is dispersed between
[various] provinces of the country and its lands. Some of them live in the
desert like the Arabs and the Turkmens (al-turkmn). And the army is a
mixture of the Turks, Circassians, Greeks (rm), Kurds, and Turkmens.
Most of them are slaves (mamlk) which were bought.8

he term Turks (al-Umar did not use the word Kpak in relation to
Egypt) in the statement is ambiguous. From the tenth or eleventh century, the western Turkic world was largely represented by two linguistically diferent branches, the Ouz Turks, who became the backbone of
the Grand Seljukid realm, and the Kpak Turks, who became masters
of the western part of the Eurasian steppes before the coming of the
Mongols. he Kpak people did not possess a state but formed ive large
tribal zones along the rivers, next to which they lived: (1) the Central
Asian-Kazakhstan region, as far as Talas; (2) the Volga-Ural region; (3)
the Don region; (4) the Dnieper region; and (5) the Danube region.9
he Mamlk state, undoubtedly interested in the unity and efectiveness of its army, continued to maintain the notion of general Turkishness among its subjects.10 Indeed, Ibn Abd al-Z hir (d. 1292), who

6
Little 1970, 40 points out that the historical section in al-Umar was borrowed
from Kitb duwal al-islm by al-Dhahab. See also Sezgin 19672000, II:81 and 97;
VIII:18; IX:2122.
7
Sezgin 19882001.
8
Krawulski 1986, 93.
9
Golden 1990, 280.
10
A slightly diferent view can be found in Golden 1982, 7071.

382

dimitri korobeinikov

was the chief biographer of the most famous Mamlk sultan Baybars
(12601277), and who even used oral information delivered by the sultan himself, wrote in his work al-Rawd al-zhir f srat al-Malik al-Z hir
(he garden of lowers in the biography of al-Malik al-Z hir [Baybars]) that
this sultan al-Malik al-Z hir Rukn al-Dn Ab al-Fath Baybars ibn
Abdallah al-Slih al-Najm [was] Turk, from the clan (al-jins) of Barl
( ). His high endeavour (himmatuhu al-liyya) raised him to happiness and brought him to the countries of Syria (al-mawtin al-shmiyya).
And he was favoured by the martyr Sultan al-Malik al-Slih Najm al-Dn
Ayyb ibn al-Malik al-Kmil Nsir al-Dn Muhammad ibn al-Malik
al-dil Sayf al-Dn Ab Bakr ibn Ayyb11may Allah have mercy on
them all!12

Only a person who knew the tribal genealogies of the Turks could have
understood that the tribe of Barl was Kpak, and that the Sultan was
born in Cuman territory somewhere in south-eastern Europe or northwestern Asia. And yet, the statement in Ibn Abd al-Z hir is noteworthy.
hough Turkic in Egypt, sometimes called Mamlk Kpak, undoubtedly
belonged to the Middle Kpak language group, it nevertheless demonstrated, alongside with two chief Kpak dialects (that of Khwrazm and
that of Dasht-i Kpak) some visible Eastern Ouz (Turkmen) traces.13
his meant that the language served as a koine for all Turkic people in
Egypt; the name Kpak per se in the Mamlk Turkic dictionaries and
grammar treatises served as a designation of this koine and by no means
as a name for the Cuman language of the Dasht-i Kpak.14 Likewise,
11
he sultans mentioned were (1) al-Malik al-Slih II Najm al-Dn Ayyb, sultan of
Egypt in 12401249, and of Damascus in 1239, 12451249; (2) al-Malik al-Kmil I Nsir
al-Dn Muhammad, sultan of Egypt in 12181238, and of Damascus, 1238; (3)al-Malik
al-dil Sayf al-Dn Ab Bakr ibn Ayyb, sultan of Egypt in 12001218, and of Damascus in 11961218. See Bosworth 1996, 7071.
12
al-Khuwayti r 1976, 4647; Sadeque 1956, 4 and 76; horau 1992, 2732. he maternal nephew of Ibn Abd al-Zhir, Shi ibn Al (d. 1330) made an abridgement of the
al-Rawd al-zhir which he entitled H usn al-manqib al-sirriyya al-muntazaa min al-sra
al-Zhiriyya (he excellence of the secret virtues from the biography of al-Zhir). He
reproduced the same name as al-Barl when describing the ethnic origin of the Sultan
Beybars. See al-Khuwaytir 1989, 57.
13
Najip and Blagoeva 1997, 7581; Berta 1998, 15865; Pritsak 1959, 7481; Golden
2000, 1819.
14
For example, the Mamlk dictionary composed in 1245, thus in the time under
discussion, described the language as al-lisn al-turk al-qijq (the Turkic Kpak language). See Houtsma 1894, 2. However, the dictionary contains no less than 120 Turkmen words (some of them were not recognized as such by the anonymous author of the
dictionary) of a total of 1625 words. Despite the small number, the Turkmen strata of

the kipak world in the thirteenth century

383

ater Ibn Abd al-Z hir most of the Mamlk sources accepted, in accordance with the concept of the Mamlk state as the dawla al-turkiyya the
general Turkish, not exclusively Cuman, ancestry of Beybars.
he sources of the lkhn state, the principal enemy of both the
Golden Horde and Egypt, usually avoid the name Kpak in relation to
the Mamlk state. For Rashd al-Dn the Kpak as a land irst and foremost meant the Dasht-i Kpak;15 the same is true for Vass f,16 who provides us with more details about the history of the lkhns than Rashd
al-Dn.17 However, the sources that were composed outside the Sultanate were more precise as far as the ethnic terms were concerned.
One such source is La lor des estoires de la terre d Orient of Hethum
of Korykos (Hayton).18 His description of Mamlk army and society
perfectly accords with that of al-Umar. In particular, Hethum wrote
that
the myght of the Sowdan (Sultan) in the realme of Syrie may wel be VM
(5000) knightes, that haue thyr lyueng vpon the rentes of the lande. And
yet there is a great nombre of Bednyns (Bedouins) and Turkmens, that be
woodmen, and do great helpe to the Sodan (Sultan) whan he wyll put sege
to any lande; for if he wyll, without any wages but gyueng them some, he
may haue them.19

Here, Hethoums mention of the Bedouins and the Turkmens in the

Mamlk state corresponds to the Arabs and the Turkmens military
subdivisions in al-Umar.20 However, when speaking about the Mamlk
leaders, Hethoum gave more details (I cite the sixteenth century English
translation; the variants of the proper names of the Medieval French text
are given in parantheses):

the dictionary is important, and excellently corresponds to modern Turkmen: Kuryshjanov 1970, 6975.
15
hackston 19981999, III: 806.
16
Vassf 1959, 12, 401, 476, and 574; yyat 1967, 2, 242, 277, and 326.
17
On Vass f, see Morgan 2000, 2122; Spuler 1962, 13132.
18
See above, note 4.
19
Burger 1988, 67; Drper 1998, 345.
20
he diference between the terms Turkmens and Turks of the dawla al-turkiyya
did not lie in their language or ethnic divisions, but in their habitat: whilst the name
Turks could have been applied to both the sedentary and nomadic population, the
Turkmens, like the Bedouins, were almost always nomads. he Turkmens in the Mamlk
sources could have been either Kpak or Ouz, or a mixture of both; but if mentioned as
a language Turkmen was undoubtedly Ouz. he Turkmen language as such (including
the language of Turkmen groups in Asia Minor, Syria and Irq), formed only in the late
thirteenth century (Charyiarov and Nazarov 1997).

384

dimitri korobeinikov
Ater the deth of Salzadyn (Salehadin),21 his brother and one of his neuiewes,
one ater another kept the lordship of Egypt tyll the sowdans tyme that was
called Mellecasa (Melec Sala).22 his Mellecasa was Sowdan of Egypt at
that tyme that the Tartas (Tartre) toke the realme of Cumany (Comanie).
he Sowdan herde say that the Tartas (Tartre) solde the Cumayns (Commains) that they had taken to a good shyppe; and than he sende dyuers
marchauntes with a great quantite of good for to by some of the sayd
Cumayns (Comains), and in specylly of the yongest. And many of them
was brought into Egypt. Malacasa (Melec Sala) dyde norysshed them and
loued them moche, and lerned them to ryde and to the armes, and trusted
them well and kept them euer nygh him. And in that tyme that the Kyng
of Fraunce, Loys (Sains Los, roys de France), passed ouer the see and was
taken of the Sarasyns (Sarrasins), the aboue sayd Cucumans (Commains)
(that were bought and solde) kylde there lorde Malecasa (Melec Sala), and
made one of them lorde that was called Turkmen (Turquemeni) . . .23 In
this maner began the Cucumans (Commain) to haue lordship in Egypt.
his kinred of the Cucumans is called Chapchap24 into the Orient partes
nat many dayes (Ceste nation de ces Commains appellons Capcap es parties
dOrient). Ater, one of this sclauons which was called Cochos (Cathos)
kylled the sayd Turkement (Turquemeni), and made hym sowdan, and was
called Melomees (Melec Urehis).25 his man went into the realme of Syrie
and driued out Gynbago (Guitboga) and x thousande Tartas (Tartres) . . .
As he (Melec Urehis) retorned to Egypt another of the sayde Cucumans
(Commain) kylde hym; which was called Bendocdar, and made hym sowdan and made hym calle Meldaer (Melec Dar).26

Salh al-Dn ibn Ayyb, the famous Saladin (11691193).

al-Malik al-Slih II Najm al-Dn Ayyb (see note 11 above).
23
his is not an exact description of what had happened. When King Louis IX of
France occupied Damietta in the estuary of Nile in June 1249; when the king and the
Crusaders were advancing towards Cairo, al-Malik al-Slih II Najm al-Dn Ayyb died
(November 1249). His widow, Shajar al-Durr, concealed the death of the sultan until
the Crusaders were repulsed from al-Mans ra and al-Slih II Ayybs successor, Sultan
al-Muazzam Trn Shh, arrived in February 1250. King Louis IX was captured during the disastrous retreat of the Crusading army from al-Mansra to Damietta; he was
eventually ransomed, and in May 1250 the Crusaders evacuated Egypt. It was Sultan
al-Muazzam Trn Shh, not his father al-Slih II Ayyb, who was murdered by the
Mamlks 2 May 1250. Ater a short reign of Shajar al-Durr the Mamlk leader Aybeg
al-Turkumn (the Turquemeni of Hethoum) became sultan under the name al-Malik
al-Muizz. See Holt 1986, pp. 66 and 8284.
24
his is a corrupted form of the name Kpak.
25
Aybeg al-Malik al-Muizz was killed in the bath of his palace on 23 Rab I 655 AH
(10 April 1257) by the supporters of Shajar al-Durr. Aybegs young son al-Mansr Al
reigned in 12571259 and was puppet in the hands of the Mamlk general al-Muzafar
Kutuz (Cathos) who became sultan in 1259 (Holt 1986, 8589).
26
Burger 1988, 69; Drper 1998, 35153.
21

22

the kipak world in the thirteenth century

385

he text, though not without hints to Beybars fate (for it was al-Malik
al-Slih, the Melec Sala of Hethoum, who according to Ibn Abd al-Z hir
favoured Beybars), is precise and the Cuman ancestry of Beybars is
clearly expressed. Moreover, and to the best of my knowledge this is one
of the few mentions of the name Kpak in western medieval sources.27
he second source in question is the Historical Relations of George
Pachymeres (d. 1307),28 a Byzantine historian known for his preoccupation with exact reproduction of contemporary termini technici, despite
the heavily rhetorical style of his narrative.29 According to Pachymeres,
at the end of 1264 - beginning of 1265 Maria Diplobatatzina, the illegitimate daughter of Michael VIII, escorted by heodosios Villehardouin,
the archimandrite of the monastery of Pantokrator and the future Patriarch of Antioch (12731283/84),30 had set of to the east.31 Instead of
the lkhn Hleg, who had died on February 8, 1265, Maria married
Abaqa, his successor. he rapprochement between Byzantium and the
state of the lkhns forced the Mamlks to act quickly, in order to safeguard their links with the Golden Horde. Pachymeres goes on to say:
here was another need that forced the sultan of the Ethiopians32 to conclude a peace treaty (
) with the emperor. For he was from the
Cumans ( ), being one of those who were sold as slaves, and he
sought out [the people of the same] race because of prudent and praiseworthy reasons . . . Even in the past the Ethiopians highly esteemed the
Scythians; they acquired them as slaves, and moreover employed [them]
as soldiers under their [command]. Now when a Scythian established
himself [at the summit of] his power, the Scythian [race] was searched
[more extensively] in order to form their army. However, no merchant
could [easily] transport them save those who entered the Black Sea via
the Straights, and that was impossible to do without asking [the permission] of the emperor. hat is why [the sultan] oten sent him presents with
[many] embassies, so that the ships that were sailing from thence (Egypt)
easily enter the Black Sea, and those who ofer a lot for the Scythian boys
buy them and return home bringing [them].33

he other mention is that of Rubrouck, cf. note 4 above.

Hunger 1978a, I:447; Talbot 1991, 1550.
29
Hunger 1978a, I:45253; Avertintsev 1996, 28687.
30
See Fedalto 1981, 183.
31
George Pachymeres, Historical Relations, in Failler 1984, I:235; Trapp, Walter, and
Beyer 19762000, N 21395.
32
Pachymeres, in his genuine archaizing manner, called the Egyptians the Ethiopians, probably having referred to Herodotus description of Egypt and its Twenty Fith, or
Ethiopian (Nubian), Dynasty. See Failler 1984, 137, 139140; Rosn 1987, I:225227.
33
Failler 1984, I:237239.
27
28

386

dimitri korobeinikov

his is not the place to discuss the problem of the complex diplomatic
relations between Byzantium and the rival powersthe Mamlk Sultanate and the Golden Horde, on the one hand; and the lkhnid state in
Iran, on the other. he empire managed to maintain peaceful relations
with the Mamlks, the Mongols of the Golden Horde and the lkhns.34
More interesting is the designation of the Kpaks in the text of Pachymeres. He irst mentioned Sultan Beybars as a Cuman, and then described
his nation as Scythians. Pachymeres applied the nomenclature of Herodotus to the peoples of his own days. In Herodotus time no Egyptian
Ethiopians demanded access to Scythian slaves from the steppe lands
north of the Black and Caspian seas. In the thirteenth century, on the
eve of the Mongol invasions, the situation has dramatically changed.
Yet the Turkic society in Egypt and Syria by was no means entirely
Kpak. his was partly due to the great alteration of the ethnic coniguration of Eurasia brought about by the Mongol invasions. Many
Turks who had to struggle for their lives found a new homeland in the
Mamlk Sultanate. It is diicult to say whether, and to what extent, the
Turkic society in Egypt mirrored the ethnic and tribal structures of
the Dasht-i Kpak. he reluctance of the Arabic chroniclers to name
the Mamlks Kpaks speaks for itself: with time, the incoming Turks
inevitably lost their tribal identity and became members of the powerful Mamlk military machine and of the complex social network of
Egyptian society. In the new land, under the new circumstances, the
generalizing notion Turks was therefore more appropriate, at least for
delineating the mosaic of small Turkic groups, groupings and individuals arriving to Egypt either as slaves or as refugees from various parts of
Asia and Europe.
However, the Kpak dominance of the early Mamlk society had fortunate repercussions for historians of Dasht-i Kpak. For the Cuman
slaves brought with them stories about their former homeland; and
these stories, sometimes with a reference to their origin, were recorded
in the voluminous writings of Arab historians. I will now attempt to
reconstruct the early life of the future sultan Beybars, speciically the
period before his enslavement as a Cuman young man. he story survived in the al-Alq al-khat ra f dhikr umar al-Shm wa-al-Jazra

34
Uspenskii 1926, 16; Vernadskii 1924, 7577; Zakirov 1966, 3959; Saunders
1977, 7076; Mansouri 1992, 99109 and 113139; Korobeinikov 1999, 442448 and
466468.

the kipak world in the thirteenth century

387

(he important values in the story of the amrs of Syria and Jazra) of
Ibn Shaddd (d. 1285); noteworthy is the fact that he was Beybars contemporary. An essential part of the Ibn Shaddds work survived in the
al-Nujm al-zhirah f mulk Misr wa-al-Qhirah (he shining stars of
the kings of Egypt and Cairo) by Ibn Taghrbird (d. 1470). In his chapter he story about the reign of al-Malik al-Z hir Baybars over Egypt
Ibn Taghrbird wrote:
And the shaykh Izz al-Dn Umar ibn Al ibn Ibrhm ibn Shaddd said:
he amr Badr al-Dn Baysar35 told me that [the date of] the birth of alMalik al-Z hir [Baybars] in the land of al-Qibjq [was] approximately the
year of 625 AH (12 December 122729 November 1228). And the reason
for his move from his homeland to [other] countries was the Tatars. When
they (the Tatars) decided to go to their (the Kpaks) land in 639 AH (12
July 124130 June 1242), and the [news] reached them (the Kpaks), the
latter wrote to A-n-s-khn (
),36 the king (malik) of Vlachia (awalq)
that they were going to cross the sea of Sdq (the Black Sea) [in order to
come] to him so that he would grant them asylum from the Tatars. And
he positively replied to them on the [request] and settled them in the valley between two mountains. And their travel to him took place in 640
AH (1 July 124220 June 1243). However, when [the peaceful life in] that
location made them quiet, he peridiously acted against them and made
a ierce attack on them; and he killed some of them and took [others]
into captivity. Baysar said: I, as well as al-Malik al-Z hir, were among
those captured. He [also] said: And at that time he (Beybars) was about
twenty four years old. He and other captives were sold and brought to
Sws and then we were separated and met in Aleppo (H alab) in the caravanserai of Ibn Qilj; then we separated [again]. It [thus] happened that he
was brought to Cairo (al-Qhira) and sold to the amr Al al-Dn dkn
al-Bunduqr and remained in his hands until he was taken from him [by
the sultan] during his (Al al-Dn dkns) arrest among other [slaves]
whom al-Malik al-Slih Najm al-Dn Ayyb demanded from him (Al
al-Dn dkn). And this [took place] in Shawwl of the year 644 AH (9
February9 March 1247).37

he text is noteworthy for its unique insight into the world of the Dasht-i
Kpak during the Mongol invasions. For it was the Mongols who forced
the Cuman tribe of Barl to undertake the ill-fated travel to Vlachia.
However, the Mongol armies entered the lands of the Kpaks three
times: in 12221224, 12281229, and, inally, and most disastrously for

35
36
37

On him, see horau 1992, 28, 101, 137, 168, 189, 209, 225, 230, and 253.
he name can be restored only tentatively.
Ibn Taghrbird 1967, VIII:9596.

388

dimitri korobeinikov

the Cumans, in 12351242. We need therefore to place our text into the
historical context of the Mongol attacks on the Kpaks.
In 1219 the hordes of Chinggis Khn (12061227) invaded the lands
of the Khwrazm-shh. he Khwrazm-shh Al al-Dn Muhammad
II (12001220) dispersed his troops among the chief cities of Transoxania (M wara al-Nahr, Maverannahr), in the vain hope of organizing resistance in Khurasn, Khwrazm, rn and Irq-i Ajam (Persian
Irq).38 Chinggis Khn took city ater city; he also sent a special detachment under the command of Jebe and Sbedei (Sbeetei) to pursue the
Khwrazm-shh in the depths of Khurasn and Mzandarn. Al al-Dn
managed to escape to a remote island on the Caspian Sea, near Abaskn
in the Gurgn estuary, where he died at the end of 1220.39
he expedition of Jebe and Sbedei did not stop ater the death of the
Khwrazm-shh. Indeed, they proceeded further to Mzandarn, Irq-i
Ajam, dharbyjn, Arrn and inally to the Kpak steppes by way of
Darband Shirwn, between the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea shore.40
In their struggle with the Cuman (Kpak) tribes, Jebe and Sbedei
invaded the Crimea. On 27 January 1223 they took Soghdq (Soldaia,
Sudak),41 the main port of eastern Crimea. On May 31 (or June 16),
1223, the Mongols defeated at Kalka a joint Rus-Kpak army, headed
by Mstislav Udaloi of Galich, Mstislav Romanovich of Kiev, Mstislav
Sviatoslavich of Chernigov and the chief khn of the western Cumans
Kten (Kotyan). hence the Mongol army returned home.42 According
to Ibn al-Athr, some of the citizens of Sughdq in January 1223, as well
as some of the Rus merchants in the Crimea in June 1223, escaped the
Mongols and sailed to the Sultanate of Rm.43
Ater the death of Chinggis Khn in August 1227 the khuriltai (Great
Assembly) of 1228 granted to his grandson Batu not only the western
part of his father Juchis ulus (appanage), but also the lands yet to be conquered, including all that remained of the Kpak (Qifchaq), the Alan,

38
Buniatov 1996, 4345 (7576); Ibn al-Athr 19651967, XII:35865; Sibt ibn
al-Jawz 1952, 60809; Bedjan 1890, 44647; Budge 1932, 38283.
39
Buniatov 1996, 5558 (8487), and 312 with nn. 13 and 15; Ibn al-Athr 1965
1967, XII:36572 and 38997; Qazwn 19121937, II:94117; Boyle 1997, 36286;
Cahen 1958, 12930; Edd and Micheau 1994, 2324.
40
Ibn al-Athr 1967, XII:37289.
41
Nystazopoulou 1965, 119 with n. 8; Ibn al-Athr 19651967, XII: 38688.
42
Rachewiltz 2004, I:194 (chapter 262); II:25861; Ibn al-Athr 19651967,
XII:38489; Hypatian Chronicle, in Shakhmatov 1908, 74045; Dimnik 2003, 29398.
43
Ibn al-Athr 19651967, XII:38688.

the kipak world in the thirteenth century

389

the As and the Rus, and other lands also such as Bulgar, Magas,44 and so
on.45 he khuriltai was duly followed in 12281229 by another Mongol
expedition against the Kpak lands in 12281229.46 However, we know

44
Magas was a capital city of the Alans; as such, it was mentioned (under the names
of Meget and Meket) in Rachewiltz 2004, I:201206 (chapters 270, and 274275),
II:99091 and 1009; Minorsky 1952, 23238. Recently Donald Ostrowski has tried to
prove that the allusion Magas-Meget is a wrong one; and that one should read mata
(to praise, laud, extol, glorify, used as a noun capital) instead of meget of the restored
Mongol text of the Secret History (which survived in Chinese characters) (Ostrowski
1999). I do not ind his arguments convincing. he usage of the mata looks awkward
in the text of the Secret History, despite Ostrowskis reference to Grnbech and Krueger
1976; and no possible phonetic (or linguistic) explanations of how maadlal or mata
had been transformed into meget via Chinese characters were advanced. Meanwhile
Minorskys suggestion is based on the only extant, Chinese, version of the Secret History
(called Yan pi-shih) in which meget was transcribed as Mie-kie-si/Mai-ko-si thus
close to the Magas of the oriental sources.
45
Qazwn 19121937, I:222; English translation in Boyle 1997, 267.
46
he Secret History of the Mongols 2004, 9495; Rachewiltz 2004, I:201 (chapter
270): gdei Qaan, having concluded an installation of himself as qan and the transfer
of the ten thousand guards on internal duty together with the domain of the centre to
himself, had irst of all a consultation with elder brother Chaadai, whereupon he sent
Oqotur and Mngget on a campaign in support of Chormaqan Qorchi who had taken
the ield against the Qalibai Soltan (the Caliph) of the Baqtat (Baghdad) people . . . Earlier on, Sbeetei Baatur, campaigning against Meket, Menkermen Keyibe (Kiev) and
other cities, had crossed the rivers Adil (Volga) and Jayaq (Ural) rich in waters, and
had reached as far as the Qanglin (Qangl), Kibchaut (Kpak), Bajigit (Bashkir), Orosut (Rus), Asut (As, i.e. Alans/Ossets), Sest, Majar (Magyars, Hungarians), Keshimir
(Kashmir), Sergest (Circassians), Buqar (Volga Bulgars) and Keler peoples. For the
identiications of the nations mentioned, see the exhaustive commentary in Rachewiltz
2004, II:959960 and 988992. he passage cited from the Secret History contains a contradictory dating: on the one hand, the reign of the Great Khn gedei (12291241)
began in 1229, thus the expedition of Sbeetei should have taken place in 12281229;
on the other hand, the very description of the nations conquered obviously relects the
grandiose campaign undertaken by the Mongols in 12351242 when the army of Batu
destroyed Rus, Hungary and Poland and reached Germany. Likewise, the expedition of
Oqotur and Mngget in support of Chormaqan noyan must have taken place in 1236
(Rachewiltz 2004, II:989). However, the chief source about the campaign of 12281229,
Rashd al-Dn, is explicit: Sultan Jall al-Dn was still vying for supremacy, so [the
Qn] dispatched Chormaqan (Churmghn) and a group of oicers with thirty thousand horsemen to deal with him. He sent Kkty and Sbedei bahdur with an equal
number of soldiers in the direction of the [land] of the Qipchq (Kpak), Saqsn and
Bulghr. See Rawshan and Msaw 1994, I:638; Al-zde 19571980, II:5657; hackston 19981999, II:313 (hereater I use the translation of hackston with necessary
corrections from the new edition of Rashd al-Dn by Rawshan and Msaw). he last
Khwrazm-shh Jall al-Dn Mankburn (12201231) could have vied for supremacy
until 28 Ramadn 627 AH (10 August 1230) when his army was destroyed in the battle
at Yss amn (var. Yss imen, Mecidiye) by the joint Seljukid-Ayyubid army (Buniatov 1996, 23334 and 24649); Gottschalk 1960, 5767. his provides us with a terminus
ante quem of the statement of Rashd al-Dn. His own chronology perfectly suits the
datings of the events which he mentioned.

390

dimitri korobeinikov

that Sbedei, again a leader of the Mongol army, crossed the Volga and
reached the lands of the Alans, but did not penetrate the western lands
of the Dasht-i Kpak. For according to the Rus chronicles, the khn
Kten took part in the campaign of Michail Vsevolodovich of Chernigov
and Vladimir Riurikovich of Kiev against Daniil of Vladimir-in-Volyn
in 1228. As Kten and Daniil were relatives, the former agreed to the
latters plea to abandon the princes of Chernigov and Kiev and return
back to the steppes of the Dasht-i Kpak (v zeml Polovecku); our
source did not mention any Mongol threat this time.47
However, the most important khuriltai took place in 1235.48 In 1236 a
large army was collected under the supreme leadership of Batu. Between
the autumn of 1236 and the spring of 1237 the Mongols destroyed the
Volga Bulgaria.49 It is therefore possible that they also raided the Dasht-i
Kpak in the summer of 1237.50 However, as far as the western section of the Dasht-i Kpak (Cumania) is concerned, the most devastating Mongol attacks took place ater the campaign against the Northern
Rus principalities in 12371238. We read in the Synaxarion of Sugdaia
(Sughdq, Surozh, Sudak) that the Tatars came to the Crimea on December 26, 6747 AM (1239);51 this is an important statement, for the expression to cross the sea of Sdq in Ibn Taghrbird meant that the Kpak
group, obviously not a numerous one, arrived in Vlachia by sea from
the Crimea or Alania. he Russian chronicles conirm the date in the
Synaxarion: the Mongol invasion against the Southern Rus principalities began in the spring of 1239. According to the chronicles of Pskov
and Ipatev monastery (Ipatevskaia letopis), Pereiaslavl, on the let bank
of the river Dnepr, had been taken by March 3, 1239; whilst Chernigov,
also on the let bank, fell on October 18, 1239.52 Also noteworthy is the
date when the khn Kten who was defeated by the Mongols and who
had to save himself and his people from annihilation, asked King Bla

Hypatian Chronicle, in Shakhmatov 1908, 75354; Dimnik 2003, 308.

Qazwn 19121937, I:157; English translation in Boyle 1997, 199.
49
Tolochko 1999, 16667.
50
Tolochko 1999, 16667.
51
Nystazpoulou 1965, 136 with n. 186.
52
Hypatian Chronicle, in Shakhmatov 1908, 78182; Nasonov, 1941, 1112; Nasonov
1955, 79; Letopisnyi sbornik, imenuemyi Letopisu Avraamki, in Shakhmatov 1889, 51;
Pashuto 1950, 22021; Dimnik 2003, 347 and 34950; Tolochko 1999, 172.
47

48

the kipak world in the thirteenth century

391

IV (12351270) for asylum in Hungary in 1238.53 According to Rashd

al-Dn,
in the autumn of Nqy yl, the Year of the Dog, corresponding to 635 AH
(24 August 123713 August 1238), Mngke Qn and Qadaun (Qadan)
rode against Circassia (Cherkes). During the winter, they killed the king,
Tqn by name. Shibn, Bchk (Bjik), and Bri (Br) rode to the
region of the Crimea and took Ttqar of the Kpak people. Berke rode
to Kpak and took Arjumk, Qrnms and Qrn, the leaders of the
Makrt. In the Qq yl, the year of the Pig, corresponding to 636 AH (14
August 12382 August 1239), Gyk Khn, Mngke Qn and Qadaun
rode to the city of Magas (the capital of the Alans). hey took it that winter
ater one month and iteen days of siege. hey were still on that campaign when the year of the Rat began. During the spring they organized an
expeditionary force and gave it to Bqdy, whom they sent to take Tmr
Qahalqa [the Iron Gates] and that area.54

We are thus faced with an enigma: one cannot refute the story in Ibn
Taghrbird of the capture and subsequent selling as slave of the future
sultan Beybars, because the story is based on the testimony of the eyewitness, the amr Badr al-Dn Baysar; yet the dates given do not correspond to the traditional picture of the Mongol destruction of Cumania
in 1239.
It should be noted that ater the capture of Kiev on 19 November or
6 December, 1240,55 the army of Batu quickly moved westward. hey
took Galicia and Vladimir-at-Volyn at the end of 1240. Meanwhile the
Hungarian nobility plotted against the khn Kten, whom they eventually killed. Instead of joining the king in the struggle against the Mongols, the best part of the forty thousand-strong Cuman army rushed
southward to the Balkans. At this time the Mongols passed through the
Carpathian Mountains, and then their forces were divided. he major
part of the Mongol army under Batu crushed the Hungarians at the
battle of the river Mhi (adjoining the Saj river) (10 April 1241); earlier the Mongol detachment of the prince Baidar destroyed the army of
Bolesaw V the Chaste (12271279) of Sandomir in Poland (18 March)
and then Henry II the Pious (12381241) of Krakow and Lower Silesia
at Liegnitz (Legnica) on 9 April 1241. When again united in Hungary,
53
Roger of Torre Maggiore, Carmen miserabile, in Juhsz 1938, 55354; Plczi-Horvth 1975, 31315; Golden 19791980, 309.
54
Rawshan and Msaw 1994, I:669; Al-zde 19571980, II:13638; hackston
19981999, II:327.
55
Dimnik 2003, 356.

392

dimitri korobeinikov

the Mongol army crossed the Danube in early February of 1242, and
moved to Esztergom, and then to Croatia. hey attacked Spalato (Split)
and burned Cattaro (Kotor). When the news about the death of the
Great Khn gedei (12291241) arrived, Batu ordered the retreat. hey
went by way of Bosnia, Serbia, and Northern Bulgaria to the river Danube, which they crossed in the late 1242.56 his means that the Cumans
who remained in the Dasht-i Kpak had some respite in 12411242.
If we look again at the dates when the Barl tribe asked for asylum, we
discover that what they feared the most was not the Mongol conquest of
Cumania in 12391240, but the return of Batus army at the end of 1242.
It is not quite clear how a Cuman tribe could have survived the Mongol military operations in the Crimea and the steppes and the northern
shores of the Black Sea in 1239, ater Batus campaign against the northeastern Rus.57 Even the period of 12391240, when Batu was absent, can
hardly be named as a safe one for the peoples of the Dasht-i Kpak and
southern Rus. We read in the Lavrentevskaia letopis that in 1241, that
is the time when Batu was in Hungary, the Mongols killed the prince
(kniaz) Mstislav of Rylsk, the latter being the ruler of Poseme, the Rus
territory along the river Seym, close to the former Rus-Dasht-i Kpak
border.58 his meant that the Mongol detachments or administration
were let in the newly conquered Cumania. How can one explain the
circumstances of the Barl in 12391243?
To begin with: the geography. he ill-fated journey started either from
the Crimea or the Alania (the Black Sea shore that now stretches from
the Strait of Kerch (Kerchenskii Proliv) to the North Caucasus). Where,
and to whom, did the Barl arrive? he person responsible for the tribes
misfortunes, the A-n-s-khn, the king of Vlachia59 could have hardly

56
Hypatian Chronicle, in Shakhmatov 1908, 78188; Lavrentevskaia letopis, in Karskii 1962, 523; Roger of Torre Maggiore, Carmen miserabile, in Juhsz 1938, 55388;
homas of Split, Historia Salonitanorum, in Peri, Karbi, Matijevi-Sokol, and Sweeney
2006, 253305; Petrov and Giuzelev 1978, II:10203; Rawshan and Msaw 1994,
I:66567; Al-zde 19571980, II:123128; hackston 19981999, II:331332; Jackson
2005, 6065; Dimnik 2003, 34760; Pashuto 1950, 220223; Tolochko 1999, 174180.
57
here is a deinite statement in the Hypatian Chronicle (Shakhmatov 1908, 781)
concerning the headquarters of Batu ater his campaign against the northern Rus.
he anonymous chronicler wrote: [ater the campaign Batu] went to the land of the
Cumans (i poide b zeml Popolovecku), and thence he began to send [his troops]
against the Rus cities; and he took the city of Pereiaslavl by assault. here can be no
doubt about Batus action in the Dasht-i Kpak in 12391240.
58
Lavrentevskaia letopis, in Karskii 1962, 523; Dimnik 2003, 360.
59
; but notably not the Vlachs ( ).

the kipak world in the thirteenth century

393

been a hospodar of Walachia, as Pletneva thought.60 Whilst Walachia

was the name of the irst Romanian principality north of the Lower
Danube, the same polity for which Ottoman chroniclers used the term
elk ( ),61 Vlachia in Balkan sources usually meant either Bulgaria
or hessaly, in the latter case oten within the phrase Great Vlachia
(   ).62

Pletneva 1990, 182.

Taeschner 1951, I:247.
62
Darrouzs 1990, pp. 6667 (no. 2755 of May 1383) and 19798 (no 2919 of March
1393); Hunger 1978b, 121 and 123; Bees 1909, 616617 with note 124; Lazarou 1993,
28 and 209; Nicol 1984, 7275; Ferjani 1974, 111; Zakythinos 1948, 4244. See also
Darrouzs 1981, 402, which mentions the [bishopric] of Domenikos in Vlachia under
the metropolitan see of Larissa ([     ] ) in a list of episcopal sees elevated to the rank of archbishoprics. Larissa was,
and still is, the main city in hessaly. he phrase Great Vlachia was also used in the
mid-1100s by the Jewish traveler Benjamin of Tudela. (Adler 1907, 17). he irst Byzantine author to mention Great Vlachia is Nicetas Choniates (Dieten 1975, 638). See
also A. Kazhdan 1991b, 2183. It was the Latin conquest of Constantinople in 1204 that
turned Vlachia into an oicial name. In the Partitio terrarum Imperii Romanie, Blachie
is hessaly: Orium Larisse et Provintia Blachie, cum personalibus et monasteribus in
eis existentibus (Carile 1965, 221 and 281282). La grand Blaquie is mentioned by
Henri de Valenciennes (Longnon 1948, 49), the    by George Acropolites
(Heisenberg and Wirth, I:43 and 6162), while Pachymeres wrote of
in the army Michael II Comnenus Ducas of Epirus in 1258 (Failler 1984, I:117). See also
Zlatarski 1972, III:278 with n. 2. According to Kazhdan 1991b, 2183, ater Pachymeres
the term Megale Vlachia disappears and reappears only in the iteenth century as a
designation not for the district in hessaly, but for a region on the Lower and Middle
Danube. his is doubtful. Indeed, George Sphrantzes, who lived during the second half
of the iteenth century, called Walachia north of the Danube , while
reserving 
!   for the hessalian Vlachia (Maisano 1990, 28, 172, and 192).
However, the Byzantine documentary sources give another picture. In a 1366 chrysobull
of Symeon Uro Palaeologus, the Emperor in hessaly between 1355 and 1371, Vlachia
is hessaly (Solovev and Moshin 1936, 252). Another prostagma of the same ruler dated
1357 also mentioned the hessalian Vlachia (Solovev and Moshin 1936, 210). Moreover,
in the Ekthesis Nea, a textbook of the chancery of the Patriarchate of Constantinople
composed in the late fourteenth or early iteenth century, there is a statement in the
chapter How the patriarch writes to a despot, who is not the son of the Emperor. he
text reads:   " # $
% & '   ( ), ) 
*
60
61

+ )- " # .. , / 0 1 23    4 5    6

 
4  7.8, 
  * + , (And if [the letter is addressed] to a Roman,

who is a noble one, his name should not be written; if he is a barbarian, like Dobrotitzas or the despots of Vlachia, or the rulers of Albania, the name should be written).
See Darrouzs 1969, 56. Since no late fourteenth- or early iteenth-century voyvode of
either Walachia or Moldavia bore the title of despot (see above), the address in the Ekthesis Nea must refer to the hessalian despots, who received their title from the emperor
(Ferjani 1974, 810). Dobrotitza mentioned in the text was a local ruler of Dobrudja,
who died in 1387. As a consequence, the address in the Ekthesis Nea must ante-date
Dobrotitzas death. He had been a Byzantine client from 1347, following his defeat by
Emperor John VI Cantacuzene (13471354). he title of despot was bestowed upon him

394

dimitri korobeinikov

Neither the name (A-n-s), nor the title (khn) can be found among
the Rumanian, or Moldavian, or, more generally, the Vlach people of
the time, if the name awalk can be interpreted in this, quite traditional,
way. However,
as concerns the nomenclature of the region east of the Carpathians, one
can also resort to the information furnished by oriental sources. hus, in
the chronicle of al-Aini (13611451), Valakhia is mentioned among the
countries conquered by Batu-khan.63 An interesting passage may likewise
be found in one of the less known manuscripts of Rashid ad-Dins chronicle relating how in the time of the Khan Tda-Mngka (12801287) the
emir Nogai had conquered for himself several countries among which was
Valah.64 Yet it is not clear whether the above-mentioned authors referred
to a Balkan Vlachia or to the east-Carpathian one. he same uncertainty
persists with regard to the toponyms recorded in the passages from Baibars chronicle and an-Nuwairis encyclopaedia relating the fratricidal
struggles that broke out in the camp of Nogai ater his death.65

he earliest mention of the awalq is the text of the Jmi al-tawrkh

(he Compendium of Chronicles) of Rashd al-Dn. He wrote that
during Batus campaign against Hungary in the summer of 1241 Bchk
(Bjik), brother of the future Great Khn Mngke (12511259), went
via the qar lgh (Black Vlachs) through the mountains and defeated
the people of the lgh.66 hese were certainly the Vlachs in Transylvania or the Carpathian Mountains though their precise location was
uncertain. However, if we suggest that these Black Vlachs were under
the rule of the A-n-s-khn, the king of Vlachia in Ibn Taghrbird, we
cannot settle the chronological problems: in this case, the malik of Vlachia gave his consent to the Barl in the very moment when his own
by 1357 or 1366. See Kazhdan 1991a, 642. he letters of the patriarchs of Constantinople
to the rulers of Walachia and Moldova, which appear in the Ekthesis Nea, do not contain
the title despot, but were addressed (as in the case of Prince Mircea the Old [1386
1418]) to the most high and brave great voyvode of Ungrovlachia, the most intelligent,
the most esteemed and beloved in God lord and son of our modesty (Darrouzs 1969,
61) A similar address was used for the Walachian Prince Nicholas Alexander in 1359
(Miklosich and Mller 18601890, I:383) and for Stephen I of Moldavia in 1395 (Darrouzs 1969, 61; Miklosich and Mller 18601890, II:243).
63
Tiesenhausen 18841941, I:476 (503) (dated to 618 AH, i.e., between February 25,
1221 and February 14, 1222).
64
Tiesenhausen 18841941, II: 69 with note 11.
65
Tiesenhausen 1884, I:92 (11617) and 139 (16061). I rendered all Oriental sources
as used by Spinei 1986, 31.
66
Rawshan and Msaw 1994, I:678; Al-zde 19571980, II:164; hackston 1998
1999, II:332.

the kipak world in the thirteenth century

395

land was ravaged by the Mongols. Moreover, the rasm (shape) of the
name lgh () was diferent from the awalq ( ); and the evidence of Rashd al-Dn remained alien to the Arabic geographic and
historical tradition.
here was also another mention of Vlachia in Rashd al-Dn: according to him, in the summer of 1242 the prince Qadn, who had just
forced the king of Hungary to sail to one of the islands of the Adriatic
Sea, turned back and on the way to the city of the lqt (the Vlachs)67
he took Q-rqn and Qla ater much ighting.68 As with other examples
in Spineis book, it is not clear which Vlachia is meant here. However, as
Qadns operations were largely on the right bank of the Danube, and as
the mysterious Q-rqn and Qla (  ) could have been the corrupted name of one city, Kiustendil (I thus reconstruct the original reading as Qustntl(a), !"), it seems that this Vlachia was Bulgaria.
Despite the imprecise geographic notions of the Muslim sources, the
location of the mysterious Vlachia was quite certain in the eyes of the
Arabic scholars, if the awalk in Ibn Taghrbird can be interpreted
within the geographical tradition which lourished in the Mamlk
Sultanate. A famous Mamlk scholar Ab al-Abbs Ahmad ibn Al
al-Qalqashand (d. 1418) helps us to understand which Vlachia had
been on the minds of Arabic scholars. In the fourth volume of his encyclopaedia Kitb subh al-ash f sinat al-insh (he book of dawn for
the dim-sighted one [who is] engaged in the art of composition) he
writes:
he eighth climate: the land of the Vlachs (al-Awalk, ). [he name]
consists of al-hamza and sukn, al-ww, lm, lif and then qf.69 It is said
that they are [the nation] al-Burghl (Bulgarians), whose [name] consists
of al-b connected [with previous and following letters], and sukn, al-r
without diacritic points, then fath a and al-ghain with the vowel point, lif
and then lm. And they are the famous nation. heir capital is T irnaw
(Trnovo). One writes in the Taqwm al-buldn: [he name should be
written] with al-t with a kasra and al-r with sukn, and no diacritic
points in the both cases; then al-nn with a fath a and ww in the end. And

Note the Mongol plural ending -t in the lqt.

Rawshan and Msaw 1994, I:678; Al-zde 19571980, II:166; hackston 1998
1999, II:332. My translation is based on the new edition of Rashd al-Dn and thus different from hackstons.
69
Al-Qalqashand lists the names of the letters of the Arabic alphabet, of which the
word  consists. He does the same with other geographic names.
67

68

396

dimitri korobeinikov
this [land] is situated in the seventh climate . . . . One writes in the Taqwm
al-buldn: he location of this land is 47 and 30 minutes of longitude,
and 50 of latitude. One writes: Within three days journey west of this
land, there is [the land of] Saqj. And its population (i.e. of the land of
al-Awalk) are inidels (i.e. Christians) from the nation mentioned above
(i.e. from the Bulgarians). And they [also] live in another land, namely,
the land of Saqj. One writes in the Taqwm al-buldn: . . . his [land]
is between al-Awalk and the land of al-Qusta nt nyya. One writes in the
al-Atw
al: [his land is situated] at 48 and 37 minutes of longitude and
50 of latitude; and this [land] is in the middle between being too small
or too large [by its size] on the surface of the earth. [he land of Saqj] is
located near the mouth of the river Danube (Nahr Tun), in the southwestern side from it (i.e. the mouth). he river Danube lows into the Bahr
Nti sh (the Black Sea70), which is known as Bahr al-Qirim (the Crimean
Sea). And it is about 5 days journey from it (i.e. Saqj) to Aqj Karmn
(Akkerman). And the majority of its population are the Muslims.71

It should be noted that such precise descriptions of Vlachia were very

rare as far as the Arabic geography is concerned. he chief source of
al-Qalqashand was the Taqwm al-buldn (he Survey of Countries)
by Ab al-Fid (d. 1331),72 whose major source, in its turn, was Ibn Sad
(d. 1286).73 However, neither Ibn Sad, nor Yqt (d. 1229), who wrote in
the early 1200s, mentioned Vlachia, nor did they confuse Bulgaria and
Vlachia.74 Indeed, why should it be otherwise? Walachia gained its independence from Hungary in 1330, and established close contacts with

70
his is the classical Arabic mistake in writing via the rasm. he original form of the
Bahr Ntish (#$% &') was Pontus Euxinus,
$(' &', Bahr Buntus (H usayn 1988, 60
with n. 4).
71
al-Qalqashand 19131919, IV:46465.
72
Reinaud and Sezgin 1985, 318; Korobeinikov 2004, 63.
73
Cahen 1974, essay XI, 41.
74
Ibn Sad 1970, 194; al-Jund 1990, 45859 with chapter 1673. For Yqt, Bulgaria
(which he mentioned as Burghar, )+* , ) was Volga Bulgharia.

the kipak world in the thirteenth century

397

Byzantium in 1359.75 Moldavia became independent in 1365.76 Both

dates (1359 and 1365) are much later than the period under discussion;
it would be very strange on the part of the Arabic sources to locate a
malik of Vlachia on the let bank of the Danube before the latter came
into being as an independent political entity.77 he allusion BulgariaVlachia appeared in the Muslim geographical writings in the middle
of the thirteenth century at the earliest, if one considers the sources of
Ab al-Fid and Ibn Taghrbird. he deinition was still in force at the
beginning of the iteenth century.
hus, Vlachia in the Arabic writings was Bulgaria, and not hessaly or Walachia/Romania. Other oriental sources mentioning the
name of Vlachia, however vague, were carefully listed by Spinei; and
notably all these were composed at the end of the thirteenthbeginning of the fourteenth century at the earliest; and, unlike Ab al-Fid
and al-Qalqashand, they do not help us locate the land.78 Given the
strong association between Bulgaria and Vlachia in the writings of the
Mamlk historians and geographers, it would be a reasonable assumption that Ibn Taghrbirds Vlachia was in fact Bulgaria and the adjacent
areas (but excluding Dobrudja commonly called Saqj, not Awalk). If
one accepts Vsrys deinition of Vlachia,79 then one should also suggest that the territory in which young Baybars and his fellow tribesmen
tried to ind asylum was the land on the right bank of the Danube in
modern northern Bulgaria. he sorrowful route of the Barl conirms
my conclusions. Indeed, the Kpaks usually experienced no problems
75
Obolensky 1971, 25859; Dogaru and Zachariade 1996, 134 and 13637. Obolenskyin my opinion, correctlyrejected the suggestion that any Church contacts
between Bulgaria (or Byzantium) and Walachia were established prior to the 1300s. he
suggestion was based on a famous statement by Paisios of Hilandar (1762), according
to whom heophylact, the Patriarch of Bulgaria, went to the Transdanubian Vlachia
shortly ater the revolt of Peter and Asen in 1185. But Paisios original date, 1170, is
wrong. Moreover, this cannot be anything more than an eighteenth-century legend. See
Zlatarski 19701972, II: 52633. For contacts between the Synod in Constantinople and
the Walachian Prince Nicholas Alexander (13521364) in May 1359, see Darrouzs
1977, 33841 with nn. 241112; Miklosich and Mller 18601890, I:38388; Koder,
Hinterberger, and Kresten 2001, 408425. See also Darrouzs 1969, 61 with n. 62; Obolensky 1971, 25859; Trapp, Walter, and Beyer, H.-V. 19762000, N 587.
76
Obolensky 1971, 258.
77
In the Arab tradition, a malik is commonly an independent ruler.
78
Spinei 1986, 31.
79
Vsry 2005, 27. His conclusions are based on the testimony of Robert de Clari
(Lauer 1924, 6364), who knew that Vlachia was the land between Cumania and the
formerly Byzantine territory.

398

dimitri korobeinikov

when they wanted to go to the lowlands of Central Europe (the same

suggestion is true for the Mongols; which means that the Transdanubian
Cumania could hardly have been a safe asylum for the Cumans). But to
cross the Danube and to settle in the mountainous Balkans was a more
diicult task; and if our tribe had been trapped in the Crimea, or Alania,
the sea route to the ports of Bulgaria was the only solution that could
have saved their lives in the 1240s.
How can one explain the name of the mysterious A-n-s-khn
(
 )? here are two possible interpretations of the name.
he irst one is that this is the corrupted form of the name of the
Bulgarian emperor Kaliman (12421246), or his father John II Asen
(12181242), whose cooperation with the Cumans was well attested in
the sources, and whose father, Ioannitsa (John I Asen) (11971207) was
addressed by the Pope Innocent III as illustrus rex Bulgarorum et Blacorum in 1203/1204.80 hat this was not only the oicial title sometimes
employed in correspondence, but an established usage, is shown by the
80
Migne 18441864, CCXV:292. he correspondence between the Tsar and the Pope
started in 1199 or in the early 1200. See Zlatarski 19701972, III:154 and 642; Duichev
1943, II:12, 67, 910, 1617, and 2223. here are several surviving letters of Ioannitsa to the Pope. In the irst letter in 1202 Ioannitsa styled himself as Calojoannes,
imperator Bulgarorum et Blacorum (Migne 18441864, CCXIV:1112). he imperial
title seems to have not been recognized by the Holy Roman Empire since according to
Ansbert, Ioannitsas brother Peter proclaimed himself emperor, an elegant way to say
that he was a usurper (Ansbert, Historia de expeditione Friderici imperatoris, in Chroust
1928, 58). Nor was this title initially accepted by the Pope, who replied to Calojoanni,
domino (sic!) Blacorum et Bulgarorum (Migne 18441864, CCXIV:1113). In the next
letter of 1203, Ioannitsa referred to himself as ego Calojoannes, imperator Bulgarorum
(I, John the Beautiful, emperor of Bulgaria) (Migne 18441864, CCXV: 155), thus without the addition et Blacorum. he Pope adamantly repliedto Calojoanni, domino
Bulgarorum (Migne 18441864, CCXV: 158). In the next letter, dated to the late 1203
or early 1204 (Zlatarski 19701972, III:185), Ioannitsa named himself as me dominum
et imperatorem totius Bulgariae et Blaciae and mentioned his ancestors: beatae memoriae illi imperatores Bulgarorum et Blacorum, Symeon, Petrus et Samuel and beatae
memoriae imperatores totius Bulgariae et Blaciae (Migne 18441864, CCXV:287),
praedecessorum meorum, imperatorem Bulgarorum et Blacorum, Simeonis, Petri et
Samuelis (Migne 18441864, CCXV:290) and once again described himself as imperator omnium Bulgarorum et Blacorum (Migne 18441864, CCXV:290). In reply, the
pope this time addressed his letter to the illustri regi Bulgarorum et Blacorum (Migne
18441864, CCXV:292). he pope still did not recognize Ioannitsas imperial title. In his
last letter of 1204, Ioannitsa wrote: Calojoannes, rex totius Bulgariae et Blachiae, and
universa Bulgaria atque Blachia et omnis imperii mei pertinentia (Migne 18441864,
CCXV:55152). here are two additional papal letters sent to Ioannitsa, one written
some time in 1205, the other on May, 25, 1207. hey are addressed to Calojoanni, regi
Bulgarorum et Blachorum and charissimo in Christo ilio nostro Kalo Joanni, regi
Bulgarorum illustri, respectively (Migne 18441864, CCXV:1162). See Curta 2006,
379381.

the kipak world in the thirteenth century

399

text of the Chronicle of Morea in which the Emperor Ioannitsa is mentioned as master of Vlachia (9: 5   ).81 In the Chronicle
of Morea Vlachia is usually employed for hessaly,82 but here the term
was reserved for Bulgaria. he same meaning can be frequently found
in the Latin sources,83 but no original Slavonic source called a Bulgarian emperor master of Vlachia.84 As far as the 1240s were concerned,

Kalonaros 1940, 45 and 47; Schmitt 1904, 7071 and 74.

Kalonaros 1940, 109, 132, 151, 153, 15657, 174, and 236; Schmitt 1904, 17475,
20607, 23233, 234, 24041, 24243, 24445, 27071, and 37071.
83
Geofroy de Villehardouin named Ioannitsa Johannis, qui ere rois de Blaquie et de
Bougrie. See Faral, 1961, I:20607 with n. 202, and II: 8283 with n. 273, 8485 with n.
276, 14445 with n. 333, 16061 with n. 350, 19497 with nn. 386 and 387, 19899 with
n. 389, 20203 with n. 392, 20809 with n. 398, 21617 with n. 404, 23637 with n. 424,
25657 with n. 442, 26465 with n. 451, 27475 with n. 459, 30203 with n. 488; Lauer
1924, 21, 6365, 101102, 107108 (Jehans li Blakis, rois de Blakie); Longnon 1948,
29. he title had long-lasted tradition. he second Bulgarian kingdom came into being
in 1185 ater the rebellion of two brothers, Peter and Asen. In his account of Emperor
Frederick I Barbarossas crusade, Ansbert mentions Peter as Peter the Vlach (Kalopetrus Flachus ac frater eius Assanius) under the year 1190 (Chroust 1928, 33). We read
that Frederick I Barbarossa, while crossing Bulgaria in the winter of 118990, lingered
for a while in Adrianople. here he met with Peter, who asked the German emperor to
crown him as Greek emperor (Chroust 1928, 58): Kalopetrus, Blacorum et maxime
patris Bulgarorum in hortis Traci dominus, qui se imperatorem [nominabat et legatos
misit ad imperatorem, qui eum salutabant] et coronam imperialem regni Greci ab eo
sibi imponi elagitabat (Kalopetrus, the master of the Vlachs and the most part of the
Bulgars, who proclaimed himself Emperor and sent the ambassadors to the Emperor
[Frederick] to greet him, urged [Frederick] to crown him as the Emperor of the Greek
realm). To Ansbert, Peter was the imperator Blacorum et Cumanorum, and Bulgaria
was the terram Blacorum (Chroust 1928, 63 and 69). See also Historia perigrinorum,
in Chroust 1928, 149: Interea Kalopetrus qui cum Assanio (i.e., Ioannitsa) fratre suo
dominabatur populis Blacorum, misit legationem Adrianopolim, diadema regni Grecie
de manu imperatoris caputi suo rogans inponi et adversus imperatorem Constantinopolitanum promittens se venturum illi in auxilium cum quadreginta milibus Comanorum.
See also Cronica fratris Salimbene, in Holder-Egger 1913, 10; Zlatarski 19701972, III:48
with n. 1.
84
Ioannitsas seal refers to him only as emperor of the Bulgars (Kal[n c(a)r()
blgar[m, John the Beautiful, the Tzar of the Bulghars), without any mention of the
Vlachs (Duichev 1943, II:27). In the writings of Euthymius, the last Patriarch of Trnovo
(13751393), Ioannitsa appears as the most pious Bulgarian emperor Kaloyan:
Blgarskomu <e [carstvu] i l[ vzveliqivhu s, ;D:=GORJKB<fBPbB car
Kal[n.., blagoqstivh i slavnh car Kalo[ann.., car Blgarskj
Kal[[ann (var. Kalo[ann) (Kauniacki 1971, 56, 95, 178, and 197). he Patriarch never named Ioannitsa master of Vlachia. We know very little about Emperor
Boril, who ruled ater Ioannitsas assassination. His incomplete title survived in the
Synodikon of Tsar Boril as the pious emperor Boril (Popruzhenko 1928, 7980). See
also Duichev 1943, II:27. John II Asen (12181241), Ioannitsas son, accepted a title of
Byzantine inspiration, namely ASN 2R B(LGARc)M I GRKOM (Asen, the emperor
of the Bulgarians and the Greeks). See Iliinskii 1911, 13. (dated to 1230); Popruzhenko
1928, 8284; Duichev 1943, II: 36, 3839 (the Trnovo inscription date to 1230), and
81
82

400

dimitri korobeinikov

the title king of the land of Vlachs (li rois de la tire as Blas), an excellent counterpart to the king (malik) of Vlachia (awalq), was used by
Philip Mousket.85 As in the thirteenth century the emperors of Bulgaria
were so strongly associated with Vlachia and the Vlachs, I see no reasons why the source of Ibn Taghrbird should mention any other ruler.
Indeed, the name A-n-s
 was obviously an interpretation on the part
of the Mamlk chronicler. he original name could have been written as
-., Asen. he rasm (shape) in both names is the same; the diference
depends on how to place the dot for the letter nn (n): if at the beginning, we have
 (a-n-s); if at the end, we have -. (a-s-n).
he second explanation of the name can be found in Turkic. his suggestion has some advantage because it does not depend on conjectures
concerning the rasm. If one takes into account all transliteration forms
of the A-n-s (unus, ns, onos, ns, enes, anas, ans, etc), the interpretation of the name seems to be impossible. However, if one restricts
ones self to the basic Turkic vocabulary, and also takes into account the
possibility of the omission of three dots over the letter / s, which turns
the letter into 0 sh in the name, the result is astonishingly simple. he
only name that makes sense is nish (descent), and, notably, this word
can be found almost exclusively in the languages of the Kpak Turks;
moreover, the exact equivalent of the
 (thus preserving the original
spelling of the last letter as [s], not [sh]) exists in modern Kazakh, the

42. See also Laskaris 1930, 5. Ioannitsas successors followed in his footsteps. he oicial
Slavonic titles of the Bulgarian emperors ater John II were as follows:
1. he illustrious and in Christ true emperor, the autocrat of the whole land of Bulgaria, lord Michael Asen (charter dated to 1253; Michael II Asen ruled between 1246
and 1257; see Duichev 1943, II:46);
2. Constantine Asen, in Christ God true emperor and autocrat of the Bulgarians (charter dated between 1257 and 1277, Constantine Asens irst and last regnal years);
3. John Alexander, in Christ God true emperor and autocrat of all the Bulgarians and
the Greeks (charter dated to December 1, 1347; John Alexander ruled between 1331
and 1371);
4. John Shishman, in Christ God true emperor and autocrat of all the Bulgarians and
the Greeks (charter dated to September 21, 1378; John Shishman ruled between
1371 and 1393).
All the above-mentioned examples are from. Iliinskii 1911, vi, 19, 26, 28; Duichev
1986, 54. For other titles, see Duichev 1943, II:54, 64, 6769, 72 (charter of John Alexander dated 1342: Alexander, in Christ God true emperor and autocrat of all the Bulgarians), 128 (charter of John Alexander, dated between 13451346: John Alexander, the
autocrat of the Bulgarian and Greek Empire [blgarckoe crstvo i grqckoe]), 129,
130, 136, 137, 153, 169, 172173, 174, 176, 183, 197, 27677, 279, and 281.
85
Reifenberg 1838, 681.

the kipak world in the thirteenth century

401

linguistic descendant of Kpak Turkic, in which the word is pronounced

as H [eis].86
hus, the khn that sold the future Mamlk sultan into slavery was
either the emperor of Bulgaria or a local Cuman khn, called Enish,
otherwise unknown, in the Balkans or Transdanubian Cumania. Who
was the most likely candidate? However incredible at irst sight, the best
option is the emperor of Bulgaria. Indeed, ater a careful consideration
of all the factorsthe title, the place, the location of Vlachia, the time
one has to exclude other possible suggestions. Oddly enough, the data
concerning the Bulgarian emperors in 12411247 (from the irst contacts of the Barl tribe with the malik of Vlachia until Beybars travel
as slave to Cairo) perfectly suits the suggestion. he king of Bulgaria
whom the Barl asked for asylum was either John II Asen or Kaliman. As
the death of John II is now thought to have taken place in the summer
of 1242,87 he was the most likely person to whom the Barl might have
addressed before the Mongol invasion to Bulgaria. It was John II Asen
who accepted the remnants of the Kten horde; and Ktens relatives

86
Houtsma 1894, 54: #; Kuryshjanov 1970, 117. he Turkic vowel roots are all
collected in two indispensable studies: Sevortian 1974; Clauson 1972, 1290. Strictly
speaking, only one Arabic form makes sense in Turkic: the word # [*VnVsh], not

[*VnVs], as --, not -s- , is the Turkic verbal suix (the name made with the help of -usually designates the completed, or common, action). he word [*VnVsh] is by nature
a verbal noun from the verb *VnmAk (in this transliteration, the letter V indicates any
vowel that can occur; while the letter A indicates the twofold variation of e and a). he
root can be transcribed in various ways, but considering the fact that the letter n ()
usually indicated the nasal prepalatal [n], and not the velar [] (for which the letter g 1
was employed) the Turkic verbs that suit all these criteria, are few: anmak (to remember,
call, name, not a suitable candidate, for the original root was a-, not an-), inmek (to go
down, come down, descend), onmak (to prosper, improve, recover, get better, be lucky,
not a suitable candidate as the root on- was recorded only in Old Turkic; the medieval
Turkic languages had the form o-; on the similar grounds I reject the verb root o- ~
- to turn pale) and nmek/nmek (to rise, grow, appear). Of these, only the derived
verbal name forms eni (descent, e ~ i) and n (plant, crop) were recorded; the latter
is an extremely unlikely candidate as the word survived only in Eastern Turkic (Tuvan
and Uyghur) and was oten mixed with the similar in both pronunciation and meaning r (rising): Clauson 1972, xlvi-xlvii, 168169 (a-, n-, on-, o-, n-), 191 (eni
and n), 239 (r); Sevortian 1974, i, 152154 (a-), 353354 (en- ~ in-), 456460
(o-), 530532 (n-). See also Halasi-Kun and Golden 2000, 121 and 248; Radlov, Opyt
slovaria tiurkskikh narechii, 4 vols in 8 (Moscow, 1963), i:1, col 734 (BaP); L.Z. Budagov,
Sravnitelnyi slovar turetsko-tatarskikh narechii, 2 vols (St -Petersburg, 18691871), i,
p. 102 (#); Drevnetiurkskii slovar, ed. V. M. Nadeliaev, D. M. Nasilov, E.R. Tenishev,
A.M. Scherbak (Leningrad, 1969), pp. 173 (en-), 367 (on-), 385386 (n- and -).
87
Zhavoronkov 2001, 7374. Despite the loss of Veliko Trnovo, John II Asen successfully struggled against the Mongols until his death (Reifenberg 1838, 673 and 681).

402

dimitri korobeinikov

became important members of the Bulgarian ruling elite.88 he fact that

ater John IIs death the source of Ibn Shaddd and Ibn Taghrbird continued to name the young and ineicient Kaliman as Asen-khn can be
explained as a mistake so common in the medieval chronicles, in which
the name of the dynasty was oten misinterpreted as a irst, or given,
name. Interestingly, the misfortunes of the Barl coincided with the date
of the death of Kaliman (who died at the age of only twelve in September 1246) and the beginning of the reign of the young Michael II Asen
(12461256) under the regency of his mother Irina, daughter of heodore Ducas Angelos (12151230), once the emperor of hessalonica in
12241230.89 he period 12461247, marked by the dynastic struggle
at the Bulgarian court and the advance of the armies of the emperor of
Nicaea against the kingdom, could have been a very troublesome time
for a Cuman tribe if the latter was involved in the Bulgarian disputes.
Whence did Beybars tribe arrive? he younger contemporary of the
Sultan Beybars, the Mamlk historian Rukn al-Dn Baybars al-Mansr,
whose Turkish ancestry made him alert to any information from the
Dasht-i Kpak, preserved a very rare version of the destruction of the
Pax Cumanica by the Mongols.90 He writes:
As to the mentioned group of the Turks,91 their dwellings were in the northern countries; and they do not make walls, nor do they live in houses, but
they wander over the lands, from the summer to winter pastures in search
of [the places abundant] with grass and water. hey have many tribes. hey
derive in lineage from [many] ancestors and they trace their origin to the
[most] eminent of their ancestors. And among their tribes are the tribes
of Tuqsub (Toqsoba),92 tub (Itoba),93 Burj-ghl (Burjoghlu),94 Albarl/
al-Barl (lberli), Qanghar-ghl (Qangaroghly), najughl (Unajoghlu),95

Vsry 2005, 6566.

Michael II Asen was ive or eight years old when he came to the throne (Heisenberg
and Wirth 1978, I:7279). See Bozhilov 1985, 7792 and 10410; Zhavoronkov 2005,
8185, 23031.
90
His story was never cited in full. he scholars had to refer to the Nihyat al-arab f
funn al-adab (he limitations of desire in the [various] disciplines of education) by
al-Nuwayr (d. 1333) (on him, see Little 1970, 2432; Chapoutot-Remadi 1960, 155
160. Al-Nuwayr used the text of Rukn al-Dn Baybars al-Mans r which he abridged;
the relevant part of al-Nuwayr was published in Tiesenhausen 1884, I:53941.
91
he Turks from whom the irst Mamlk were bought.
92
On the tribe of Toqsoba (the Toksobichi of the Rus chronicles), see Golden 1979
1980, 299 and 306307. he word oba means tribe.
93
Pritsak 1967, 161719.
94
Pritsak 1967, 161923.
95
Pritsak 1967, 1623.
88
89

the kipak world in the thirteenth century

403

Drut,96 Qul-b-ghl (Qulobaoghlu), Jurtn, Qar Burkl (Qara Brkl),

Kutan (Kten).97 hey continued to live in their homeland in their [usual]
dwellings until the Tatar attack [suddenly] began, as we narrated about
these countries and their (Tatars) conquests of these provinces and cities.
And this [event] took place in the year 626 AH (1 November 122819
November 1229). he ruler (malik), who occupied the [Mongol] throne
at this time, was Jingiz khn (Chinggis Khn), and ater his death his son
Dsh (Juchi) khn.98 It thus happened that a man from the tribe of Drut,
called Manghsh, son of Kten (2 ! 034: correxi99 5657 -, 084) went
forth to hunt. [By chance another] man, whose name was Aq Kubak (Aq
Kpek) from the tribe Tuqsub, met him. Hate was between them from old.
And he (Aq Kubak) took him (Manghsh) prisoner and killed him. he
news about Manghsh ceased to have been delivered (litwere delayed)
to his father and his people; and they did not know if he was alive as they
hoped or dead, and his corpse shrouded. So that they sent a man, called
Jalanghar (alangar) (3(9:: correxi 8(9:),100 to examine his circumstances
and clear up the mystery. And he returned with the news that Aq Kubak
attacked Manghsh and executed him. And they mourned him. hen his
father summoned his people and his tribe and prepared to destroy him
(Aq Kubak). [Great] discords took place; and both tribes clashed; and the
tribe of Tuqsub was broken; and Aq Kubak was wounded and his army
was scattered. hen Aq Kubak sent his brother called Anas (or Unas: ;% )
to Dsh khn, son of Jingiz khn, tell [him] and appeal for assistance.
[Anas] complained to him (Dsh khn) about what befell him, and about
the people from the Kpak tribe of Drut, and what Kten and his army
did to his brother and his tribe. And he informed him that their (Mongols) purpose would not meet any hindrance, and no resistance would
turn them away [in the Dasht-i Kpak]. [. . .].101 And he (Dsh khn) went
against them (the Kpaks) with his army, and fell on them with stronger
blows, and scattered them to many places, and annihilated most of them
by killing, seizing, taking prisoner and stripping [them from all goods].102
96
According to Pritsak, Drut was another form of the name of the famous Cuman
tribe of Terter: Pritsak, 1982, 338.
97
he letter can be read in various ways. he publisher of Beybars chronicle reproduced the name as Kn (< ), which can be read as Kayan, as the name of one of the
famous Cuman tribes of Qaya. However, I reject the reading on both grounds, the philological (the inal n remains unexplained) and the logical (as in the text of Beybars the
name Kn was used as a proper name of the Kpak khn from the tribe Drut). As Kn
had no parallels in the known Kpak names, I thus restore the reading as K-t-n (=< ),
hence Kten. Cf. Tiesenhausen 1884, I:539542.
98
Whilst the date of the Mongol invasion is correct, the chronology of the Mongol
history is corrupted. he elder son of Chinggis Khn Juchi died in 1227, if not earlier;
Chinggis Khn died some time later in the same year (Rachewiltz 2004, I:596).
99
According to Tiesenhausen 1884, I:53941.
100
Clauson 1972, 420: alaa noisy, talkative man.
101
For reasons of space, I omitted the dialogue between Anas and Dsh khn.
102
Richards 1998, 45.

404

dimitri korobeinikov

Such features as the broken chronological sequence, the mention of

Juchi, father of the khn Batu, who must have been dead by the time
in question, the dialogues, and the epic story about the murder of
Manghsh unmistakenly point out to an oral tradition. We thus cannot
trust its factual information, though this text is unique in a sense for
it represents the Cuman world through the Kpak looking glass on
the eve of the Mongol invasion. Hence some precise and trustworthy
details: the mention of the khn Kten, who is thought to have been the
head of several Cuman hordes;103 and the list of the Kpak tribes. he
list is incomplete: we know, for example, the tribe of Urus-oba, which is
absent in the list but which was mentioned in other sources.104 Yet one
tribe deserves attention: Albarl (lberli).
he tribe, one of the oldest Kpak tribes, was mentioned as al-Barl
in the Mamlk sources;105 hence the Barl of Ibn Abd al-Z hir (in
which the part al- was omitted as it was thought to have been the Arabic
deinite article) and the al-Barl of Shi ibn Al.106 he tribe was notorious for its struggle against the Mongols. We know about the Kpak
resistance from the chronicles of Rashd al-Dn and Juwain.107 Of these,
Rashd al-Dns account is the fuller. He writes that
ater that winter,108 the princes and amirs gathered at the Jyq (Ural/
Iaik, var: H bn, Chmn) river, and the amr Sbedei (Sbdy) and the
army were sent to the territory of the s and the boundaries of the Bulghars . . . Bachman (Bajmn) was one of the major amrs of the area; he
was of the lbarlk (>?@A@)109 tribe of the Kpak nation. He and Qchr
gle of the s tribe were seized. his came about as follows. his Bachman and a group of brigands escaped the sword, and other escapees joined
him. Everywhere they struck they took something. Day by day the strife he
stirred up increased, but he had no ixed residence, and the Mongol army
was unable to capture him. By day he hid in the forests along the banks of

103
Pletneva 1990, 16869. Hence the statement he summoned his people and his
tribe in Rukn al-Dn Baybars; noteworthy is the mention of Ktens name in the list of
tribes, though the text clearly indicates a few lines below that he was from the tribe of
Drut/Terter.
104
Golden 2003, essay XIII, 3346.
105
Caferolu 1931, 29; Mehren 1923, 264; Marquart 1914, 157158; Golden 2003,
1314; Golden 19791980, 300 with n. 27.
106
See note 12 above.
107
Qazwn 19121937, III:911; English translation in Boyle 1997, 55354.
108
According to Rashd al-Dns chronology, this was the winter of 12361237.
109
Here I follow the reading in Al-zde 19571980, II:129.

the kipak world in the thirteenth century

405

the tl (Volga). Mngke Qn110 ordered two hundred boats constructed,

and in each were a hundred armed Mongols. He and his brother Bchk
(Bjk) formed a hunters circle (yerge, var. nerge)111 and proceeded on
both sides of the river, and in the forests of the tl they found dung and
other traces of encampments hastily abandoned. hey also found there
an old woman, from whom they learned that Bachman had moved to an
island on which he kept all the plunder he had taken. Since there were
no boats available,112 it was not possible to cross the tl. Suddenly a wind
arose and churned up the water, and through Mngkes great good fortune
dry land appeared between the island and the other side. Mngke Qn
ordered the army to drive [their horses] in. hey seized Bachman and
annihilated his army. In an hour they cast some in the river and killed others. he women and children were taken captive. Taking much wealth and
many goods, they pulled out, and the water came back into motion, but
the soldiers had all crossed over without a single person being harmed by
the water. When Bachman was brought before Mngke Qn, he pleaded
to be killed by Mngkes own hand, but Mngke motioned for his brother
Bchk to cut Bachman in two. Qchr gle, one of the s amrs was
also killed.113

Bachman belonged to the same tribe as the future sultan Beybarsthe

lberli. he latter were the so-called Wild Cumans, that is, the Cumans
that had no long-lasting peace relationships with the southern Rus
principalities. he lberli people are thought to have dwelt in the eastern part of the lands, between the rivers Volga and Dnieper from 1152.
hough part of the Cuman confederation, they were Mongol-speaking
and came from Manchuria.114 he evidence of the Persian chroniclers
helps us restore their last dwellings: the steppes of the Northern Caucasus, near the Ossets, as Qchr gle, one of the s amrs, was Bachmans
ally. We do not know whether Beybars lberli took part in Bachmans
resistance movement of 12361237, but their last pasture lands were
again threatened by the Mongols in the autumn of 1242: according to

110
At this moment Mngke, the future Great Khn in 12511259, was not a supreme
ruler of the Mongols, but a prince of the royal house of Chinggis Khn.
111
On this term, see Minorsky 1952, 225.
112
his means that the boats were used only for transport along the river side; and
their numbers, as well as the numbers of the Mongol warriors involved in the military
operation, were exaggerated. What is certain is that two strong detachments, one under
the command of Mngke, and another under his brother Bchk moved along the river
Volga.
113
Rawshan and Msaw 1994, I:66768; Al-zde 19571980, II:128133; hackston 19981999, II:326.
114
Hypatian Chronicle, in Shakhmatov 1908:455; Golden 19791980, 300; Golden
2003, 1315; Pritsak 1982, 33940.

406

dimitri korobeinikov

Rashd al-Dn, the Mongols devastated the region of Temr Qahalqa

(he Iron Gates, Darband Shirwn), just in time for the remnants of the
lberli to save themselves. he reconstructed route of young Beybars
may have been as follows: he went from the Northern Caucasus steppes
to Alania, from Alania to Bulgaria by sea, and from Bulgaria, as a slave,
to the Sultanate of Rm, where he again was sold in the famous summer
market in the city of Sws.115
His incredible journey epitomizes the tragic fate of the Cumans.
Scholars tend to underline the Cuman vitality; Golden cited the famous
statement of al-Umar, according to which the Mongols later mixed
and intermarried with the conquered Kpaks and became like their
subjects;116 I myself discovered Cumans in the service of Daniil of Galicia
and Vladimir-in-Volyn in 1245, which means that that particular group
of Kpaks survived the Mongol invasion and now lived in the vicinity of the Mongol dominions.117 Yet these optimistic statements should
not conceal the collapse of the Kpak world. he Cuman aristocracy
was slain; their sacred stone igures were oten purposefully destroyed;118
and while the Kpaks gave birth to, or at least enriched, many Turkic
nations (the Tatars, Crimean Tatars, Kazakhs, Kirgizs, Uzbeks, the Turkic people of the North Caucasus and the Altai Mountains),119 the very
name Kpak was eventually replaced by Tatar for the entire territory
covered by the Golden Horde. he Codex Cumanicus, our chief source
of Cuman, relects the changing name of the language. In the irst two
parts of the Codex, which were written on paper made during the irst
half of the fourteenth century (the terminus ante quem of the work),
the language is described as comanicum or chomanico. By contrast, the
later parts of the Codex referred to the language as Tatar (tatar til).120
Indeed, the very name Kpak survived in the Armeno-Kpak documents composed in Lviv and Kamianets Podilskyi in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries. Ironically, we do not know the ethnic identity of
the Armeno-Kpak people: as the acts were written in Armenian characters, and were, mainly, translations of Armenian sources, one may
Ibn al-Athr 19651967, XII:242.
Lech 1968, 73; Golden 1991, 132.
117
Hypatian Chronicle, in Shakhmatov 1908:802.
118
Tolochko 1999, 123.
119
Murgulia and Shusharin 1998, 18485.
120
Codex Cumanicus (MS Marc. lat. 549, Fondo antico, Coll. 1597), fols. 1, l.5; 35v, l.2;
61v, l.25; 81v, l.32 (available online at http://www.qypchaq.freenet.kz/Memorials-Rus.
htm); Garkavets 1987, 1418.
115
116

the kipak world in the thirteenth century

407

suggest that the speakers were either Armenians who had adopted the
Kpak language, or Kpaks who had turned Armenian.121 A broken
mirror . . .
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