The problem of the "Mongol" invasion of Russia. Part of 3
Therefore, it is necessary to consider some of the controversial issues of the “Mongol invasion” and versions that do not correspond to the “classical” concept, which is so beneficial to our Western, and even Eastern (in particular, Chinese) “friends and partners.” The study of these issues allows us to abandon the concept of world history imposed on us from Europe and work out our own, Russian one. The emergence of the Russian historical concept will allow us to get rid of most of the myths, cliches that hold down Russia, do not allow it to go its own way, abandoning the Western impasse (which leads humanity to death). Their circle includes the problem of the origin of the Pechenegs and the Polovtsy, which in the “classic” version of the story were recorded in the Turks.
The problem of the origin of the Pechenegs and Polovtsy
Pechenegs. The “classical” (or rather, the truncated and distorted version) of Russian history gives all the steppes of Eurasia to the period of the Middle Ages to the “Turkic” peoples - Pechenegs, Polovtsy, Tatars. They are usually traditionally portrayed in Russian films and fiction as “evil Mongols”, with the main features of the Mongoloid race. Favorite occupation of narrow-eyed riders is to burn Christian churches and take them full of women and children. Thus, the predatory habits of the Crimean Tatars extended to all the steppe peoples of medieval Eurasia.
According to this version, after the disappearance of the Khazars (people of "unknown" origin), the whole south of the East European Plain was occupied by the Turks-Pechenegs, who became the "worst enemies" of Russia. It is worth looking closely at what we know about the “Pechenegs” (and little is known about them). At the end of the 9th century, the Pechenegs came to the European part of Russia from Central Asia. Anthropologically, the Pechenegs were Caucasians, not “Mongoloids” from films. And they actually had no differences from the typical Rus. This is proved by the message from the Tale of Bygone Years, when a youth calmly managed to get out of Kiev, surrounded by the Pechenegs. Kiever could easily get lost among the Pechenegs, knowing only one phrase in their dialect, he asked - "Has anyone seen a horse?"
Archaeologically, no traces of the presence of the “Pechenegs” as a special ethnos were found in the South Russian steppes (N. I. Vasilyeva, Yu. D. Petukhov. Russian Scythia.). The burials of the Pechenegs are low mounds, they did not create their necropolises, preferring to bury their dead in Scythian burial mounds. What hints at the "Scythian" origin of the Pechenegs. They did not consider the Scythian burial mounds as strangers, otherwise they would not bury their loved ones there. The excavations of the South Russian steppe burials of the “Pechenezh” period - 10-11 centuries, reveal complete continuity with the Alan-Sarmatian tradition, which in turn is the direct heir of the earlier periods - Scythian, Cimmerian, Aryan (Indo-European). Stuffed horses or their remains, composing silver belts, bone overlays for heavy bows, straight swords, belt amulets, arrowheads are found in the mounds. It is the same as the Scythians and Sarmatians, the custom to erect monuments in honor of the soldiers "missing" (cenotaphs). The fact that the Pechenegs are the heirs of the Scythian civilization is also indicated by the runic-type writing system adopted by them. Thus, the “Pechenegs” who came from the east, apparently, were descendants of Asian Sarmatians-Alans, retreating under the pressure of the Turks. In the southern Russian steppes, “the Pechenegs easily and completely (this is indicated by the absence of special“ Pecheneg ”traces) fit into their ethnopolitical system related to them.
In addition, there is evidence of an allied relationship between the Pechenegs and the "classical" Rus. The 10th century Arab geographer and traveler Ibn Haukal calls the Pechenegs "the thorn of the Russias and their power." This is not surprising if we recall that the Pecheneg detachments helped Svyatoslav defeat the Khazars, and were participants in his war in Bulgaria. It should be noted that some researchers believe that the Pechenegs blamed Svyatoslav unjustly in the death, hiding the true customers of his murder (the Kiev elite, the “pro-Byzantine party”). Tale of Bygone Years for 915, notes that the Pechenegs came to the Russian land for the first time. They did not come as enemies, the Russian government immediately concluded an alliance with them against the Hungarians. Shortly before that, around 898, the Hungarians broke beyond the Don and established control over the steppe as far as the Danube. Thus, the Pechenegs were made as allies of Russia against the Hungarians and the Khazars. Pechenegs also participated in the fight against Byzantium. They acted as part of the troops of Russia in the campaign of Igor on Constantinople in 944, fought in the army of Svyatoslav, in 970, they participated in the battle of Arkadiopol on the side of the Grand Duke of Kiev. The appearance of the Pechenegs significantly strengthened Novgorod-Kiev Russia and the Don region to it.
The myth of the constant struggle of the Russians against the “Pecheneg hordes” was created later. For almost the entire 10 century, relations between Russia and the Pechenegs were generally peaceful and allied. Although it does not speak about the possibility of conflict situations. So, Svyatoslav put in place those Pechenegs who came to Kiev in his absence. The relations between Kiev and the Pechenegs became sharply aggravated only after the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir. The Baptist Prince had to wage serious wars with the Pechenegs and strengthen the near borders of Kiev. However, major campaigns of Russian troops in the steppe against the Pechenegs were not noted. Russian princes were limited to the strengthening of borders.
At the beginning of the XI century, internal conflict broke out already among the Pechenegs themselves. Part of the Pechenegs adopted Islam, and two Western tribes (located at the Danube) adopted Byzantine Christianity, and came under the rule of Byzantium. In addition, the Pechenegs took part in the internecine war between Yaroslav the Wise and Svyatopolk the Accursed, supporting the latter. The last conflict between the Pechenegs and the Russians was recorded in the 1036 year, when Yaroslav defeated the steppe inhabitants near Kiev.
After that, the Pechenegs "disappear." Some of them were noted in the wars of Byzantium. Others joined the "Border Guard" of the Kiev princes - "black hoods". Moreover, the “black hoods” were an important part of the army of the Old Russian state, which not only protected the southern frontiers, but participated in almost all of their armed actions of the Russian princes, and together with the Kiev boyars, “hoods” resolved domestic political issues - they decided to invite Kiev another prince. Thus, the Pechenegs were an organic part of Russia at the time of Igor and Svyatoslav, then a serious conflict occurred due to religious schism. However, a significant part of the Pechenegs joined the Russian ethnos. Therefore, N. I. Vasilyeva draws the following conclusion: Up to the end of the 11th century, the steppe zone of Southeastern Europe was not only populated by the direct descendants of the Scythians-Alans (Rusas), but was also subordinate to their political control.
Polovtsi. As is known from written sources, the Torks came to replace the “disappeared” Pechenegs in the 11 century (according to the classical version, the southern branch of the Seljuk Turks), then the Polovtsi. But for two decades of being in the South Russian steppes, the Torks did not leave any archaeological sites (S. Pletnev. Polovtsian land. Old Russian principalities 10 - 13 centuries).
In the 11-12 centuries, the Polovtsi, direct descendants of Siberian Scythians, known to the Chinese as the Dinlins, advanced into the steppe zone of European Russia in the wake of southern Siberia. They, like the Pechenegs, had a "Scythian" anthropological appearance - they were blond Caucasian. The paganism of the Polovtsi practically did not differ from the Slavic: they worshiped the father-heaven and mother-earth, the cult of ancestors was developed, the wolf enjoyed great respect (we remember Russian fairy tales). Their main difference from the Rus Kiev or Chernigov, who led a fully sedentary lifestyle of the tillers, was paganism and the semi-nomadic way of life.
Polovtsian steppe.
In the Ural steppes Polovtsi strengthened in the middle of the 11 century, and this is due to their mention in the Russian chronicles. Although not identified a single repository of 11 century in the steppe zone of southern Russia. This suggests that initially military units, not a nationality, came to the borders of Russia. Somewhat later, traces of Polovtsians will be clearly visible. In the 1060-s, military clashes between Russians and Polovtsi became regular, although Polovtsians often act in alliance with someone from the Russian princes. In the 1116 year, the Polovtsy won up over the Yas and occupied the White Tower, from that time on, and on Don and Donets, their archaeological traces - “stone women” - appear. It was in the Don steppes that the earliest Polovtsian "women" were discovered (the images of "ancestors" and "grandfathers" were called so). It should be noted that this custom also has a connection with the Scythian era and the time of early bronze. Later Polovtsian statues appear in the Dnieper, Azov and Ciscaucasia. It is noted that the sculptures of women-Polovchanok have a number of "Slavic" signs - this is the temporal rings (a distinctive tradition of the Russian ethnos), many on the chest and belts have multipath stars and crosses in the circle, these charms meant that their mistress is patronized by the Goddess-mother.
For a long time, it was considered that the Polovtsy were almost Mongoloid in appearance, but Turkic in language. However, in their anthropology, the Polovtsians are typical northern Caucasians. This is confirmed by statues, where the images of male faces are always with a mustache and even with a beard. Türkic language of the Polovtsy is not confirmed. The situation with the Polovtsian language is reminiscent of the Scythian - with respect to the Scythians, they adopted a version (unconfirmed) that they are Iranian-speaking. Almost no trace of the Polovtsian language, like the Scythian, remained. An interesting question is where did he disappear in such a relatively short period of time? For analysis there are only a few names of Polovtsian nobility. However, their names are not Turkic! There are no Turkic analogues, but there is a consonance with Scythian names. Bunyak, Konchak sound the same as the Scythian Taksak, Palak, Spartak, etc. The names of such Polovtsian are also found in the Sanskrit tradition - Gzak and Gosak are noted in Rajatorongini (a Kashmir chronicle in Sanskrit). According to the “classical” (European) tradition, all those who lived in the steppes to the east and south of the Rurik state were called “Turks” and “Tatars”.
In anthropological and linguistic terms, the Polovtsy were the same Sarmatian Scythians as the inhabitants of the Don Oblast, of the Azov region, on whose lands they came. The formation of the Polovtsian principalities in the southern Russian steppes of the 12 century should be considered as a result of the migration of Siberian Scythians (Russ, according to Yu. D. Petukhov and a number of other researchers) under pressure from the Turks to the west, to the lands of the Volga-Don yas, and the Pechenegs.
Why are related peoples fighting with each other? Just look at the current relations between Ukraine and Russia to understand the answer. The ruling groups fought for power. There is a religious schism - between pagans and Christians, somewhere Islam has already pervaded.
The archeological data confirm this opinion about the origin of the Polovtsi as the heirs of the Scythian-Sarmatian civilization. There is no big gap between the Sarmatian-Alanian cultural period and the “Polovtsian” one. Even more than that, the cultures of the “Polovtsian field” show affinity with the northern, Russian. In particular, only Russian ceramics were found in the Polovtsian settlements on the Don. This proves that in the 12 century, the bulk of the population of the “Polovtsian field” was still constituted by the direct descendants of the Scythian-Sarmatians (Russ), and not the “Turks”. This is also claimed not written down and written sources 15-17 centuries. Polish researchers Martin Belsky and Matvey Stryikovsky report the kinship of the Khazars, the Pechenegs and the Polovtsy with the Slavs. The Russian nobleman Andrei Lyzlov, the author of Scythian History, as well as the Croatian historian Mavro Orbini, in the book The Slavic Kingdom, claimed that the “Polovtsy” were related to the “Goths” who stormed the limits of the Roman Empire in the 4-5 centuries, and "Goths", in turn, are Scythian Sarmatians. Thus, the sources that survived after the total “cleansing” of the 18 century speak about the kinship of the Scythians, the Polovtsy and the Russians. This was also written by Russian researchers 18 - the beginning of 20 centuries, who opposed the “classic” version of the history of Russia, composed by the “Germans” and their Russian followers.
The Polovtsi were not “wild nomads” with whom they like to portray. They had their cities. "Polovtsian cities" Sugrov, Sharukan and Balin are known to Russian chronicles, which contradicts the concept of "Wild Field" in the Polovtsian period. The famous Arab geographer and traveler Al-Idrisi (1100-1165, according to other 1161 data) reports on six fortresses on the Don: Luka, Astarkuz, Barun, Busara, Sarad and Abkad. There is an opinion that Barun corresponds to Voronezh. And the word “Baruna” has a Sanskrit root: “Varuna” in the Vedic tradition, and “Svarog” in the Slavic tradition (God “welded”, “bungled”, created our planet).
During the period of disunity of the Rus, the Polovtsi actively participated in the showdown of the princes of Rurikovich, in the Russian strife. It should be noted that the Polovtsian Khan princes regularly entered into dynastic alliances with the princes of Russia, became related. In particular, the Kiev prince Svyatopolk Izyaslavich married the daughter of the Polovtsian Khan Tugorkan; Yuri Vladimirovich (Dolgoruky) married the daughter of the Polovtsian khan Aepa; Volyn prince Andrei Vladimirovich married the granddaughter of Tugorkan; Mstislav the Redeem was married to the daughter of the Polovtsian Khan Kotyan, etc.
Polovtsy suffered a great defeat from Vladimir Monomakh (V. Kargalov, A. Sakharov. Commanders of Ancient Russia). Part of the Polovtsy went to Transcaucasia, the other to Europe. The remaining Polovtsy, reduced their activity. In 1223, the Polovtsi were twice defeated by the “Mongolian” troops - in alliance with the Yasy-Alans and with the Russians. In 1236-1337 The Polovtsy took the first blow of Batu's army and put up stubborn resistance, which was finally broken only after several years of brutal war. The Polovtsi constituted the majority of the population of the Golden Horde, and after its collapse and absorption by the Russian state, their descendants became Russians. As already noted in anthropological and cultural terms, they were descendants of the Scythians, like the Rus of the ancient Russian state, so everything was back to normal. In the time of Ivan the Terrible, the ancient northern civilization began to return to its former possessions, which stretched to the Pacific Ocean.
The problem of the "Mongol invasion" and "Mongol-Tatar yoke"
The traditional version of the “Mongolian” history and invasion is a myth and deception. According to the historian Yu. D. Petukhov, “The myth of the“ Mongols from Mongolia in Russia ”is the most grandiose and monstrous provocation of the Vatican and the West as a whole against Russia”. In order to understand this, it is enough to recall just a few facts.
The term "Tatar-Mongols" is not in the Russian chronicles. The Mongolian ethnic groups themselves called themselves “Khalkha”, “Oirats”. This is a completely artificial term that P.Naumov introduced in 1823 in the article “On the attitude of the Russian princes to the Mongolian and Tatar khans from 1224 to 1480.” The word "Mongols", in the original version of "Mogul" comes from the Korneslova "could, we can" - "a husband, a powerful, powerful, powerful." From this root comes the word "Mughal" - "the great, powerful." It was a nickname, not the self-name of the people.
It is obvious that the Mongols could not be called "great, powerful" then, and at the present time. Anthropological Mongoloids "Khalkhu" never reached Russia and Europe. These were poor nomads, primitive herders, who stood at a low level of primitive communal development, who did not even create a pre-state entity, let alone a “Eurasian” empire.
Archaeologists have not found a Mongoloid element in the 13-15 burials of centuries (V. P. Alekseev. “In search of ancestors”). There were no Mongols in Russia, not to mention the "Mongol invasion" and the "Mongol yoke". Archaeologists find traces of battles, burned and destroyed settlements, traces of pogroms, battles, but there was no “Mongolian empire” in Eurasia, as well as “anthropological mongoloid material” in Russia. The war really was, but it was not a war between the Rus and the Mongols. In the burial grounds of the time of the Golden Horde, only Europoids found the bones. This explains the Tatar-Mongolian images that have come down to us - these are typical northern Europeans. In Western Europe, on engravings "Mongols" are depicted in the image of Russian boyars, archers and Cossacks. The Mongoloid element in Russia in insignificant numbers will appear only in the 16-17 centuries, together with the service Tatars, who, being Caucasians themselves, will begin to acquire Mongoloid signs on the eastern borders of Russia.
There was no invasion and "Tatars". It is known that before the beginning of the 12 century, the “powerful moguls” and the Turkic Tatars were hostile. “A Secret Story” reports that the warriors of Temujin (Genghis Khan) hated the Tatars. For a while Temuchin subjugated the Tatars, but then they were completely destroyed. In those days, the problem of separatism and possible treason was solved simply - all the male Tatars were cleanly killed, young women and children were distributed by birth. It is strange to call Batyi warriors "Tatars" - this is the same thing, if you call the Americans who destroyed most of the Indian tribes, one of their names. Already much later, the Bulgarians (inhabitants of the state of Bulgaria on the Middle Volga, which became part of the Golden Horde) began to be called "Tatars".
The myth of the “Mongol empire” and the “Mongol invasion” is also confirmed by the economic, military, demographic component of this page of history. Mongolia and now almost uninhabited territory. And how many Mongols were in Mongolia 12-13 centuries? Could this territory give rise to armies from tens of thousands of fighters who poured in an iron stream in all directions and conquered the crowded China, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Polovtsian steppes, Russia? Where are the traces of the powerful industry that armed thousands and thousands of fighters with a good iron weapons? How did heaps of wild shepherds suddenly turn into skilled warlords, metallurgists, engineers, warriors? How could whole armies overcome the distance from Mongolia to Ryazan and Vladimir? How could the wild steppe men defeat the mighty Chinese civilization, defeat the states of Central Asia, crush the militant Polovtsian princes and crush the Russian principalities?
We are told fairy tales about iron discipline, the decimal system of organization, the "Mongolian bows", the horse corps, etc. However, the discipline was iron in the army of any then state, the decimal system of division of the troops was known in Russia long before the arrival of the "Mongols", and Russian complex bows beat much farther and more powerful than the simple bows of nomads (like the bows of the English Robin Hoods).
And so all the countless works of art, novels and films about “Mongol warriors” destroy everything in their path, about “kurultai”, “onons and kerulens” can be safely called one of the most dangerous and harmful myths for Russia and the Russian people. How was it created? This can be understood by seeing, as it has been for several decades, gradually, gradually, creating a black myth about the Hitler and Stalin regimes being the same, about the USSR (Stalin) striving to seize all of Europe, about Soviet soldiers who had raped all German women on the way to Berlin, etc. .
To be continued ...
- Alexander Samsonov
- Russian land before the Batu invasion. The problem of the "Mongol" invasion of Russia
Russian land before the Batu invasion. The problem of the "Mongol" invasion of Russia. Part of 2
The problem of the "Mongol" invasion of Russia. Part of 3
The problem of the "Mongol" invasion of Russia. Part of 4
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