The origin of the Boudin tribe is still veiled in secrecy. In the scientific world, they were ranked among the Scythians, Germans, Sarmatians and even Finno-Ugrians. And some researchers saw in them even Slavic "vodins", that is, "living by the water." However, the ancient Greek authors associated this people with another, no less mysterious tribe - the Gelons …
The Budins were one of the nomadic tribes inhabiting Scythia. Here is what the “father of history” Herodotus reports about them: “Across the river Tanais (Don. - Ed.), It is no longer Scythian lands, but the first land holdings there belong to the Savromats … Above them there are boudins. The land here is covered with dense forest of various species. Behind the Budins to the north, the desert first stretches for seven days' journey. Further, the Greek historian notes that the Budins are "a large and numerous tribe" and they are distinguished by light blue eyes and red hair. In addition to cattle breeding, they were engaged in hunting and fishing.
Herodotus' testimonies
The same land was also inhabited by the Gelons, whom Herodotus considered to be the Hellenes who moved here. After being expelled from trading settlements, they settled among the Budins, where they were engaged in agriculture, gardening and baked bread. They differed in appearance, skin color, language and lifestyle. Gelons spoke both Scythian and Hellenic languages.
There was also a wooden city called Gelon in the land of Budins. Everything was built there from wood: the fortress wall, houses and sanctuaries with altars and statues of the Hellenic gods, built according to the Hellenic model. Every three years, the boudins celebrated a festival in honor of Dionysus and, according to eyewitnesses, went into a Bacchic frenzy.
Budins, along with other Scythian tribes, participated in the famous war against Darius, who invaded Scythia.
The invasion of Scythia by the hordes of the Persian king Darius I became a severe test for all Scythians. According to Herodotus, the Persian king gathered more than 700 thousand soldiers and 600 ships. The hitherto unseen trek began around 512 BC. On their way to the Danube - the western borders of the Scythian possessions - the Persians conquered many different peoples. Realizing that in an open battle it would be impossible for them to defeat the colossal army at that time, the Scythians switched to the tactics of guerrilla warfare: they avoided decisive battles and left behind only a scorched steppe. At a general council, the kings of the Budins, Gelons and Savromats immediately came to an agreement and promised help to the Scythians. Gelons and Budins entered the third Scythian army, which, under the leadership of Tsar Taksakis Paksak), slowly retreated to the north. The Persians were primarily lured into those kingdomswhose peoples refused to fight against a common enemy. But the members of the union also suffered.
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Persians against the Scythians
“Having penetrated into the land of Boudins, the Persians found there a city surrounded by a wooden wall. The Budins fled, the city was deserted, and the Persians set it on fire,”says Herodotus. After that, the invaders passed the country of Boudins and reached a completely uninhabited desert. The Scythian cavalry continuously attacked the supply carts and destroyed individual enemy units. The Scythians always put the Persian horsemen to flight, but could not defeat the regular infantry in any way. In addition, their donkeys and mules were an involuntary ally of the Persians. Unaccustomed to their appearance and especially to the cry, Scythian horses reared up and threw their riders off. This situation persisted for over two months. The Persians were in a desperate situation. Having traveled many hundreds of kilometers across the sun-scorched steppe, cut off from sources of supply, they lost a significant part of the army, without winning a single battle.
Meanwhile, the Scythian king Idanfirs finally decided on an open battle. The Scythians began to form for a decisive battle. But shortly before the battle, a hare ran in front of the line of horsemen, and the entire Scythian army, with a roar and shouts, rushed after the animal. This unplanned "hunt" made a huge impression on the Persian king, who declared: "These people treat us with great disdain." But ignorance of Scythian customs played a cruel joke on him: among the nomads, a hare that ran past the military system was considered an extremely bad omen.
With the onset of night, leaving the sick and weakened soldiers in the camp, Darius with the remnants of the army hastened to the Danube. The cries of tied mules and donkeys, the flickering of people around the fires convinced the Scythians that the Persian army remained in place. But at dawn, seeing that the camp was empty, the Scythians immediately rushed in pursuit. They were convinced that the Persians had moved back to those places where there was still vegetation for horses and water for people. But the exhausted Persians chose the most direct route through the already devastated territory. As a result, the troops missed each other, and Darius with the remnants of the army managed to cross the Danube. The Persians were saved. After that, the Scythians raided the Balkans, devastating large territories, up to Asia Minor. The expulsion of the strongest Persian army from their land turned them into an invincible people and for a long time predetermined the cautious attitude of the entire ancient world towards them.
The new homeland of the Hellenes
For a long time, scientists have persistently tried to establish the exact location of the legendary city of Gelon, making links to some areas of modern Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Today, it seems, this secret has been revealed. Many archaeologists and historians are inclined to consider this city a huge Velskoe settlement located near the village of Belsk in the Poltava region of Ukraine. They argue that there is no larger settlement in Eastern Europe. Its area is about 36 sq. km - four times the size of ancient Babylon.
Once upon a time there was a complex system of fortifications, consisting of four fortifications. The city was surrounded by a moat with ramparts up to 9 meters high and wooden walls with a total length of more than 30 kilometers! According to experts, at least 50-100 thousand people worked on the construction of such a fortress system, while, according to the most conservative estimates, from 60 to 80 thousand people lived in it. And in those days, slave labor was not used! In other words, without the functioning of a powerful state, it would be impossible to organize such a mass of people to work.
The dimensions of the Velskoye settlement exceed the area of any of the ancient cities of the Northern Black Sea region. Most likely, it was a kind of center in which people from different clans and tribes settled, subordinate to the general leadership. There were found ground log cabins and dugouts, utility rooms, cattle pens, workshops and forges, a sanctuary with altars and the remains of a wooden temple with columns. Objects of Scythian origin and Greek imports, both from mainland Greece and from local colonial cities, were found at the site.
Herodotus' information is also confirmed by the finds of grains of various cereals and legumes, as well as seeds of apple trees and bones of domestic animals. All this allows us to conclude that the northernmost Greek colony in the forest-steppe was inhabited by descendants of the Greeks, who settled among the distant northern people. After all, even the language in Gelon had its own, born from mixing Greek and Scythian words.
Most likely, this is what the settlers themselves called the city, for this word has an ancient Greek origin. Back in 689 BC, the city of Gela was founded by the Cretans and Rhodes on the southern coast of Sicily. And although historical science does not yet have the necessary information, it is possible that immigrants from Gela could appear in the cities-colonies of the Northern Black Sea region, from where, for unknown reasons, they could be expelled, after which they settled on the land of Budins and built a city.
The results of the excavations indicate that in the 3rd century BC, life on the Velskoye settlement began to decline. During this period, there was a decline in trade and crafts. In the long process of changing tribes and peoples, Gelons and Budins, like the Scythians, left without leaving behind direct descendants.
One can endlessly argue in which medieval ethnic groups the Gelons dissolved, but it is impossible to ignore the participation of this Eastern European ethnic group in the ancient history of our Fatherland.
Evgeny YAROVOY