Draft:Battle of the Salnitsa river

Battle of the Salnitsa river
Part of Rus'-Cumans struggle
Battle of Salnitsa. Miniature from the Radziwill Chronicle.
Date 27 March 1111 Location Donets, Kievan Rus' (now Ukraine) Result Decisive Rus' victory Effective end first stage of Rus'-Cuman wars Destruction Cuman army
Belligerents
Cumans	Kievan Rus'
Commanders and leaders
Boniak Ayyub Khan(D) Koktus † Aklan Burchevich † Azgulai †	Vladimir II Monomakh Sviatopolk II of Kiev Davyd Sviatoslavich
Strength
unknown; Much more than in Rus'	about 30,000 men
Casualties and losses
10,000 killed and captured;A huge number fled	Unknown

Battle of Salnica was the main battle in the final phase of the great campaign of the South Russian princes against the Polovtsians in March 1111 on the Salnica River. In this battle, the Polovtsian army was completely defeated by Russian princes led by Grand Duke Svyatopolk Izyaslavich of Kiev, Prince Davyd Sviatoslavich of Chernigov and Prince Vladimir Monomakh southern Pereyaslavl.

Campaign

On February 26, 1111 (the 2nd Sunday of Great Lent), the Russian army, led by a coalition of princes (Svyatopolk with his son Yaroslav, Davyd with his son, Vladimir with his sons), moved in battle order to the city of Sharukan, accompanied by priests with crosses singing hymns (in this regard, researchers it is said that the campaign had the character of a crusade, although this version is doubted.)

The place where the Russian army gathered was Lake Dolobskoe. His route passed through the rivers Sula (day 5), Khorol (day 6), Psel (day 7), Golty, Vorskla (day 10), after which they reached the banks of the Seversky Donets (day 23).

Sharukan surrendered without a fight on the 5th day of the siege. It is noteworthy that the townspeople offered the winners fish and wine, which characterizes the sedentary life of its inhabitants. In parallel, the Russians burned Sugrov. Both cities were named after the khans who were defeated at Sula river in 1107 (when Sharukan fled, and Sugra was captured).

On March 24, the first fierce battle took place near the Donets, in which Russian soldiers took the upper hand. On the morning of March 27, at the full moon, the second, main battle began on the Salnitsa River.

The Russians were so outnumbered that the Russian troops were surrounded, but the Polovtsians could not withstand their coordinated direct attack. The Russians captured a large number of prisoners and loot. About ten thousand Polovtsians died on the battlefield, the rest threw down their weapons, asking for their lives

Aftermath

It was the decisive battle of the Rus'-Cumans wars. The victory of Russia ensured victory in the war, the Polovtsians began to be pushed back and the only thing they could do was small raids, some of which the Russians repelled.

In 1116, the Russians again gathered on a campaign and robbed the Polovtsian Villages on the Don. Vladimir Monomakh's son Yaropolk in 1120 also gathered troops to strike, but the Polovtsians went far into the steppe.

As a result, Russia annexed a huge part of the Polovtsian territories between the Don and the Carpathians. The Polovtsians who lived there began to be called "Pagans" because they were not Christians

Massacre of captured Polovtsians

In his " Homily "Vladimir Monomakh recalls the execution of the Polovtsian soldiers:" and God gave the princes themselves alive into the hands of [me]: Koktusya and his son, Aklan Burchevich, Prince Azgului of Tarevsky [and] fifteen other young knights - and these, having brought them alive [and] chopped them up, I threw them into that Salnitsa river. At that time, about two hundred men who were caught were killed in turn."

Literature

• Гумилев, Лев (2023). От Руси к России. Moscow: Москва. ISBN 978-5-17-153845-3.