Cuman Khanate
Fierce and formidable nomadic warriors of the Eurasian Steppe.
The Cumans were a Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia, comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. They inhabited a shifting area north of the Black Sea and along the Volga River known as Cumania. They were fierce and formidable nomadic warriors of the Eurasian Steppe who exerted an enduring influence on the medieval Balkans. They were numerous, culturally sophisticated, and militarily powerful. Many eventually settled west of the Black Sea, influencing the politics of Kievan Rus', the Galicia–Volhynia Principality, the Golden Horde Khanate, the Second Bulgarian Empire, the Kingdom of Serbia, the Kingdom of Hungary, Moldavia, the Kingdom of Georgia, the Byzantine Empire, the Empire of Nicaea, the Latin Empire, and Wallachia, with Cuman immigrants becoming integrated into each country's elite.
- Type
- Nomadic Horde
- Region
- Eastern Europe / Pontic Steppe
- Primary Culture
- Cuman (Turkic)
- Religion
- Tengri (Pagan)
- Key Trait
- Raiding and Mobility
Lore & Background
The Cumans spoke the Cuman language, which is attested in some medieval documents and is the best-known of the early Turkic languages. The Codex Cumanicus was a linguistic manual written to help Catholic missionaries communicate with the Cuman people. After the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' in 1237, many Cumans sought asylum in the Kingdom of Hungary, as many of them had already settled there in the previous decades. The Cumans also played an important role in the Second Bulgarian Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Latin Empire, and the Nicaea Empire's Anatolia. The Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta said of Cumania: 'This wilderness is green and grassy with no trees, nor hills, high or low ... there is no means of travelling in this desert except in wagons.' The Persian historian Hamdallah Mustawfi wrote that Cumania has a cold climate and that it has excellent pasturage and numerous cattle and horses.
In Their Own Story
The Cumans or Kumans were a Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. Related to the Pechenegs, they inhabited a shifting area north of the Black Sea and along the Volga River known as Cumania, from which the Cuman–Kipchaks meddled in the politics of the Caucasus and the Khwarazmian Empire. Cuman and Kipchak tribes joined politically to create the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. The Cumans played a role in the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire. Seven Cuman tribes eventually settled in Hungary, namely: Toqsoba, Borcsol, Csertan, Olás, Kór ~ Kól, Iloncsuk, and Koncsog.
Reader's Guide
The Cumans were fierce and formidable nomadic warriors of the Eurasian Steppe. They were numerous, culturally sophisticated, and militarily powerful. Many eventually settled west of the Black Sea, influencing the politics of Kievan Rus', the Galicia–Volhynia Principality, the Golden Horde Khanate, the Second Bulgarian Empire, the Kingdom of Serbia, the Kingdom of Hungary, Moldavia, the Kingdom of Georgia, the Byzantine Empire, the Empire of Nicaea, the Latin Empire, and Wallachia, with Cuman immigrants becoming integrated into each country's elite. After the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' in 1237, many Cumans sought asylum in the Kingdom of Hungary, as many of them had already settled there in the previous decades.
Did You Know?
- The Cumans are referred to as Polovtsians (Polovtsy) in Rus' chronicles, as 'Cumans' in Western sources, and as 'Kipchaks' in Eastern sources.
- The Codex Cumanicus was a linguistic manual written to help Catholic missionaries communicate with the Cuman people.
- The Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta described Cumania as 'green and grassy with no trees, nor hills, high or low' and said travel was only possible in wagons.
- Seven Cuman tribes eventually settled in Hungary: Toqsoba, Borcsol, Csertan, Olás, Kór ~ Kól, Iloncsuk, and Koncsog.
- After the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' in 1237, many Cumans sought asylum in the Kingdom of Hungary.