Könchek (also spelled Konchak, Könchek, Končak, in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

: Кончак; died in 1187) was a

Polovtsian The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many soug ...

khan of 12th century.

Biography

Grandson of Sharukan and son of Otrok, he unified the Polovts tribes in the second half of the twelfth century. Taking advantage of divisions among Russian princes, he made war against them in 1170 and 1180 by attacking the principalities of

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, Pereïaslavl, and

Chernigov Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative ...

. His raids were particularly destructive along the Sula river. In 1171, Könchek allied with the prince of

Novhorod-Siverskyi Novhorod-Siverskyi ( uk, Новгород-Сіверський ) is a historic city in Chernihiv Oblast (province) of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Novhorod-Siverskyi Raion, although until 18 July 2020 it was incorporated as a city ...

Oleg II Svyatoslavich Oleg II Svyatoslavich was prince of Novgorod-Seversk until the year 1180. Year of birth missing Year of death missing People from Novhorod-Siverskyi Princes of Novgorod {{East-Slavic-hist-stub ...

, in fight against the other Russian princes, but in 1184, during an attack led against the principality of Kiev, his troops was beaten near the Khorol river by the prince Sviatoslav III. The following year, Könchek defeated the prince

Igor Svyatoslavich Prince Igor Sviatoslavich the Brave or Ihor Sviatoslavych (Old East Slavic: Игорь Святъславичь, ''Igorĭ Svjatŭslavičĭ''; uk, Ігор Святославич, ''Ihor Svyatoslavych''; russian: Игорь Святослави ...

, who was taken prisoner near the Kaiala river (possibly modern

Kalmius The Kalmius (, russian: Кальмиус) is one of two rivers flowing through the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. The other is the Kalchik, which flows into the Kalmius. The Kalmius flows into the Sea of Azov near the Azovstal steel manufacturing ...

river).Volodymyr Kubijovyc, editor
Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Volume II: G-K
University of Toronto Press, 758 pages, 1988 , Igor's campaign against Könchek became the subject of an epic poem, ''

The Tale of Igor's Campaign ''The Tale of Igor's Campaign'' ( orv, Слово о пълкѹ Игоревѣ, translit=Slovo o pŭlku Igorevě) is an anonymous epic poem written in the Old East Slavic language. The title is occasionally translated as ''The Tale of the Campaig ...

''. Könchek died in 1187. His daughter Svoboda ("Liberty" in Russian) married

Vladimir III Igorevich Vladimir III Igorevich (October 8, 1170Putyvl, 1211) was a Rus' prince (a member of the Rurik dynasty). He was the son of Igor Svyatoslavich and was with him during his campaign against the Cumans on 13 April 1185, immortalized in the epic ''The ...

, son of Igor, in 1188. In 1203, his son

Yuri Yuri may refer to: People and fictional characters Given name *Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc. *Yuri (Japanese name), also Yūri, feminine Jap ...

took

as an ally of the prince

Rurik Rostislavich Rurik Rostislavich (Russian and Ukrainian: Рюрик Ростиславич) (died 1215), Prince of Novgorod (1170–1171), Belgorod Kievsky (currently Bilohorodka; 1173–1194), Grand Prince of Kiev (Kyiv, 1173, 1180–1181, 1194–1201, 1203–12 ...

who, chased from Kiev, recruited from the Polovts tribes to regain power.

References

Bibliography

* Martin Dimnik, ''The Dynasty of Chernigov, 1146–1246'', Cambridge University Press, 2003. * Boris Grekov, Aleksandr Yakubovsky, ''The Golden Horde and Russia: Tatar rule in the XIII and XIV of the Yellow Sea to the Black Sea'. Translated from Russian by François Thuret, Payot, 1961.'' *

Novgorod First Chronicle The Novgorod First Chronicle (russian: Новгородская первая летопись) or The Chronicle of Novgorod, 1016–1471 is the most ancient extant Old Russian chronicle of the Novgorodian Rus'. It reflects a tradition different ...

External links

"Konchak"
''Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine '', vol. 2, 1989. {{DEFAULTSORT:Konchak 12th-century Kipchacks History of Russia History of Ukraine Cumans