The Polovtsi are a nomadic Turkic-speaking people. They called themselves the Kipchaks. The Polovtsi were a very warlike people, and began their conquests in the XI century. First, they drove the Pechenegs and Torks out of the Black Sea lands, then they crossed the Dnieper and settled on the territory from the Danube and Irtysh. After some time, in the eastern historical records the name of this steppe appeared - Desht-i-Kipchak, which means “Kipchak steppe”. The Golden Horde adopted the language of the Polovtsians in the XIII century, and even later it became the basis for the languages of many Turkic peoples.
Initially, scientists believed that the term "Polovtsy" came from the word "field". This version was also supported by Afanasy Shchekatov, believing that the Slavs called the Kipchaks the "Polovtsy" based on their place of residence: the fields. Modern scientists believe that the nickname "Polovtsy" came from the color "sexual" - yellowish, straw color. The Slavs, including the Western ones, called the Kipchaks that way. The fact is that in the Czech, Russian and Serbian languages, the name of the straw color is pronounced approximately the same. But the Germans and Armenians have their own names, which, however, have the same background as the Russian word "Polovtsy". But this version was also contested for a long time, since it is believed that the Polovtsians cannot be fair-haired in any way. There is still no direct evidence that the Kipchaks were dark-skinned and dark-haired, so the version stuck and became generally accepted.
Scientists argue a lot and stubbornly about the appearance of the Polovtsians. Professor Viktor Zvyagin, an expert in forensic medical identification, studied the remains of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, the son of a Polovtsian woman. He concluded that the skull definitely belonged to a representative of the Caucasian race. It turns out that the Polovtsians, despite the fact that they were Türkic-speaking and were closer to them, and not to the Europeans, still have nothing to do with the Mongoloid race.
The history of the Polovtsians, like many other nomadic peoples, is the history of constant wars, victories and defeats, conquests and losses. In 744, the East Turkic Kaganate was defeated, and the Kipchaks bordered on other nomadic peoples: Kimaks, Khazars, Oguzes. In the middle of the 9th century, the Polovtsians achieved economic, political and cultural superiority over the Kimaks, and a century later the Kimaks completely mixed with the Kipchaks. The next on the way to expanding the territories were the Oghuzes - the Polovtsians ousted them from their usual place in the lower reaches of the Syr Darya to Central Asia. Having subdued almost all of Kazakhstan, the Polovtsians expanded their borders. The eastern border remained the same, but to the west, their possessions extended to the Volga, in the south - to the Talas River, flowing through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and in the north there were forests of Western Siberia. And this is just over 200 years!
Before the Tatar-Mongols came to Russia, the role of robbers of Russia fell to the Polovtsians. They constantly attacked the southern territories and took away livestock and property from the inhabitants. Often they took prisoners with them, as slaves, hostages, or for sale to the Crimea and Asia. Very rarely did the Russian princes manage to redeem their subjects back. Polovtsian attacks were always quick and sudden, so that the frontier principalities could never be ready to repel the attack.
The first appearance from the borders of Russia dates back to 1055. Then the Polovtsian Khan burst into the territory of the Pereyaslavl principality, where he was met by a squad headed by the young prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich. The first meeting was quite peaceful and looked more like a friendly one than an enemy invasion: the prince and the khan exchanged gifts and went home. At that time, the Polovtsians had their own, not yet resolved, issues, and the robberies of the Russians were not yet included in their plans. But almost ten years later, battles began, which lasted quite a long time and with enviable consistency. In 1061 the Pereyaslavl principality was ruined. The reason for this is the defeat of Vsevolod Yaroslavich in the battle with the Polovtsian Khan. In 1068, the Polovtsy again defeated the Russian princes. Ten years later, the Kiev prince Izyaslav died in the battle on Nezhatina Niva. In 1093, the Polovtsians defeated the troops of three Russian princes: Svyatopolk, Vladimir Monomakh and Rostislav. In 1094, with the support of the Polovtsy, Vladimir Monomakh was forced to give Chernigov to another prince - Oleg. Two years later, the Polovtsians suffered their first defeat. Khan Tugorkan was killed in this battle.
For defense, Russia built fortifications and settled in the south "border guards": peaceful Turks - black hoods. They became the main support for Kiev and participated in almost all battles. Sometimes the Russians themselves unleashed a war against the Polovtsians. When several princes united for campaigns, the offensive actions had a successful conclusion. But in those years in Russia, feudal fragmentation was aggravated, and the scattered troops were unable to resist the resistance of the Polovtsians. An example of this is the campaign of Prince Igor, described in "The Lay of Igor's Campaign."
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In 1103, the princes Svyatopolk and Vladimir Monomakh "resettled" the Polovtsi beyond the Volga and Don. After resettlement to the Caucasus, the Polovtsians became subjects of the Georgian king and helped in the liberation of Georgia from the Turks.
After the death of Vladimir Monomakh, the Polovtsians again turned their sights on Russia and continued to take part in internecine wars. Silence came around the beginning of the XIII century - a short period of peaceful life.
The Cumans take an active part in the life of Byzantium. Together with the Russian prince at the end of the 11th century, they helped the Byzantines in the fight against the Pechenegs. But only years after this war, the Kipchaks supported the impostor and invaded Byzantium already as invaders. In 1095, the Polovtsian army was defeated, and they fled back to their steppes.
Nowadays, DNA data about the Polovtsians does not exist, so it is almost impossible to say exactly who their descendants are. The genes of some tribal tribes are found among the inhabitants of Kazakhstan, Bashkiria, Tatarstan, Kyrgyzstan … They can also be found in the DNA of the Nogais, Crimean Tatars, Bashkirs, and Turkmens. This means that the ancestors of all of the above peoples, theoretically, can be Polovtsians, but we will be able to find out the exact number of descendant peoples much later, when more advanced methods of determining the origin by DNA appear.
