Polovtsi

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 sought asylum in the Kingdom of Hungary, as many Cumans had settled in Hungary, the Second Bulgarian Empire playing an important role in the development of the state. Cumans played also an important role in (The Byzantine Empire, the Latin Empire, and the Nicaea Empire) Anatolia .

Related to the Pecheneg, 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. The Cumans 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. The Cumans also played a prominent role in the Fourth Crusade and in the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire. Cuman and Kipchak tribes joined politically to create the Cuman–Kipchak confederation.

The Cuman language 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.

Names and etymology

Cuman

''Cuman'' appears in ancient Roman texts as the name of a fortress or gate. The Roman natural philosopher Pliny the Elder (who lived in the 1st century AD), mentions "a fortress, the name of which is Cumania, erected for the purpose of preventing the passage of the innumerable tribes that lay beyond" while describing the "Gates of Caucasus" (Derbent, or Darial Gorge),. The Greek philosopher Strabo (died 24 AD) refers to the Darial Gorge (also known as the Iberian Gates or the Caucasian Gates) as ''Porta Caucasica'' and ''Porta Cumana''.

The original meaning of the endonym Cuman is unknown. It is also often unclear whether a particular name refers to the Cumans alone, or to both the Cumans and the Kipchaks, as the two tribes often lived side by side.

Most other Turkish-speaking people (as well as most Muslim sources) called the Cumans some variant of "Qipchaqs", while Armenians called them "Xartesk'ns". Qumans were primarily used by Byzantine authors (and a few Arab sources), while the name used in Rus' tended to be "Polovtsian".

In Turkic languages ''qu'', ''qun'', ''qūn'', ''quman'' or ''qoman'' means "pale, sallow, cream coloured", "pale yellow", or "yellowish grey". While it is normally assumed that the name referred to the Cumans' hair, Imre Baski – a prominent Turkologist – has suggested that it may have other origins, including:
* the color of the Cumans' horses (i.e. cream tones are found among Central Asian breeds such as the Akhal-Teke);
* a traditional water vessel, known as a ''quman''; or
* a Turkic word for "force" or "power".Imre Baski, "On the ethnic names of the Cumans of Hungary", ''Kinship in the Altaic World: Proceedings of the 48th Permanent International Altaistic Conference, Moscow 10–15 July 2005'' (eds Elena V. Boikova, Rosislav B. Rybakov) Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag, pp. 48, 52.

Observing that the Hungarian exonym for Cumans – i.e. ''Kun'', ''Kunok'' – appeared as ''Cunus'', ''Cuni'' in the chronicles and was applied to earlier nomads such as Pechenegs or Oghuzes, György Györffy derived Kun from Huns, instead of ''Qun'', which he kept separate from ''Kun''. However, István Vásáry rejected Györffy's hypothesis and contended that "the Hungarian name of the Cumans must go back to one of their self-appellations, i.e. to ''Qun''.

Cumania

Even after the Cumans were no longer the dominant power in their territory, people still referred to the area as Cumania. 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 (1281–1349), wrote that Cumania has a cold climate and that it has excellent pasturage and numerous cattle and horses. The 14th-century ''Travels'' of Sir John Mandeville, note that Cumania

Polovtsy

In East Slavic languages and Polish, they are known as the , derived from the Slavic root ''*polvъ'' "pale; light yellow; blonde". ''Polovtsy'' or ''Polovec'' is often said to be derived from the Old East Slavic ''polovŭ'' (половъ) "yellow; pale" by the Russians – all meaning "blond". The old Ukrainian word ''polovtsy'' (Пóловці), derived from ''polovo'' "straw" – means "blond, pale yellow". The western Cumans, or Polovtsy, were also called ''Sorochinetses'' by the Rus', – apparently derived from the Turkic ''sary chechle'' "yellow-haired". A similar etymology may have been at work in the name of the ''Śārī'', who also migrated westward ahead of the Qun. However, according to O. Suleymenov ''polovtsy'' may come from a Slavic word for "blue-eyed", i.e. the Serbo-Croatian ''plȃv'' (пла̑в) means "blue", but this word also means "fair, blonde" and is in fact a cognate of the above; cf. Eastern Slavic ''polovŭ'', Russian ''polóvyj'' (поло́вый), Ukrainian ''polovýj'' (полови́й). Blonde individuals likely existed among the Kipchaks, yet anthropologically speaking the majority of Turkic peoples had East Asian admixture and generally Kimeks–Kipchaks were dark-haired and brown-eyed. An alternative etymology of is also possible: the Slavic root ''*pȍlje'' "field" (cf. Russian ''póle''), which would therefore imply that were "men of the field" or "men of the steppe" in contrast to the Lipovtsi.

Folban, Vallani, Valwe

In Germanic languages, the Cumans were called ''Folban'', ''Vallani'' or ''Valwe'' – all derivatives of Proto-Germanic root *''falwa-'' meaning "pale" (> English "fallow"). In the German account by Adam of Bremen, and in Matthaios of Edessa, the Cumans were referred to as the "Blond Ones".

Kipchak

As stated above, it is unknown whether the name Kipchak referred only to the Kipchaks proper, or to the Cumans as well. The two tribes eventually fused, lived together and probably exchanged weaponry, culture and languages; the Cumans encompassed the western half of the confederation, while the Kipchaks and (presumably) the Kangli/Kankalis