Caspian campaigns of the Rus. Igor Rurikovich Campaigns against Byzantium

At the time when Igor Rurikovich ascended the throne of Kyiv, Russia was a vast territory with a center in Kyiv, which was united under his hand by Prince Oleg.

Within the borders of the Novgorod land lived Ilmen Slovenes and Finno-Ugric tribes - Chud, Merya and all. Tribute to the prince of Kyiv was paid by the Krivichi, northerners, streets, Radimichi, Drevlyans, as well as a number of Baltic tribes. Igor inherited a state that stretched from Ladoga to the Dnieper, acting as a full participant in international events in the Eurasian region, where Byzantium, the Arab Caliphate and the Khazar Khaganate played an important role in diplomacy. The unity of Russia in the time of Igor was kept only by the force of arms of the princely squad, which included many mercenaries from Scandinavia.

Ties between individual lands and the center were fragile. Local princes retained their rights and ruled tribal unions independently of Kyiv. The reign of Igor was marked by the intensification of the inclination towards autonomy among some East Slavic ethnic groups. The Drevlyans were the first to leave his subordination, and then they were convicted. With those and others, Igor had to wage a long struggle. In his reign, for the first time, the Pechenegs appeared near the southern borders of Russia. Byzantium, fearing the strengthening of Kievan Rus, used them to its advantage. Igor managed to secure the borders of the state and conclude peace with the Pechenegs in 915 for a period of five years.

Igor participated in many military campaigns, which did not always end well for him. In 941, he suffered a crushing defeat under the walls of Constantinople, but three years later, with a large army, consisting of the Varangians, Pechenegs and warriors of the tribes subordinate to him, he again went to Constantinople. Frightened, the Greeks hurried to start peace negotiations with him. The agreement with Byzantium, concluded in 945, indicates that its influence on Russia was significant.

During the reign of Igor, the borders of the Russian land expanded to the Caucasus and the Tauride Mountains. He persistently fought for hegemony in the south of Eastern Europe and in the Northern Black Sea region, which was demanded by the political and commercial interests of Russia.

CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS

  912 Death of Prince of Kyiv and Prince of Novgorod Oleg. Accession of Igor to the throne of Kyiv.

  913 The unsuccessful campaign of the Rus on 500 ships to the Caspian Sea.

  914 Igor's suppression of the rebellion of the Drevlyans and the imposition of a new tribute on them.

  Later 914 Igor transfers the right to collect tribute from the Drevlyans to the governor Sveneld, which causes dissatisfaction with the Kyiv squad.

  915 The first annalistic mention of the Pechenegs' campaign against Russia. The conclusion of peace for a period of five years between the Pechenegs and Prince Igor.

  920 Prince Igor's campaign against the Pechenegs.

  922 Igor's campaign against the streets and the imposition of tribute on them. Movement of the border of Russia beyond the Dnieper.

  925 As a result of the unification of the Croatian tribes, the Kingdom of Croatia arose.

  934 spring- The Pechenegs, in alliance with other Turkic tribes, having made peace with the Hungarians, declared war on Byzantium, ravaged Thrace and approached Constantinople. The conclusion of peace between Byzantium and the Hungarians and the Pechenegs.

  935 Campaign of Russian ships together with the Greek fleet to the Apennine Peninsula.

  936 The reign of the German king Otto I (936-973) began, from 962 - the emperor of the "Holy Roman Empire".

  Around 940 Birth of Prince Igor and Olga's son Svyatoslav.

  Early 940s The beginning of the reign of the young prince Svyatoslav in Novgorod.

  940 The capture of the Kyiv governor Sveneld Peresechen - the main city of the street tribe.

  941 The campaign of Prince Igor to Constantinople, which ended in the complete defeat of the Russian fleet and heavy losses among the Rus during their return to their homeland.

  942-944 Campaigns of the Tmutarakan prince Helgu to the Byzantine lands and to the city of Berdaa in Transcaucasia.

  942 The campaign of Prince Igor against the Drevlyans and their pacification. An increase in tribute to the Drevlyans in favor of Kyiv, which caused their disobedience.

  943 The campaign of Prince Igor against Byzantium with a huge army. The Byzantines send an embassy to Prince Igor with an offer of peace. The Kyiv prince receives a ransom from the Greeks, ruins Bulgaria and returns to Kyiv.

The Rurik dynasty ruled the state for over 700 years. The events in which Prince Igor took part are known today only from a number of chronicles, sometimes contradicting each other.

Childhood and youth

The exact date of Igor's birth is unknown. And if The Tale of Bygone Years, in principle, is silent about this moment, then in other chronicles the year of birth varies greatly. It is most likely that he was born in 875. His father Rurik was the founder of the ancient Russian state. But when he died in 879, the boy was too young to rule. Therefore, Igor was appointed a regent - a relative of Rurik -. He was a warrior and often took the boy on military campaigns.

There is very little information about Igor's mother. Only in the Joachim Chronicle it is indicated that she was the Norwegian princess Efanda. The historian Tatishchev considered her to be Oleg's sister.

It is possible that Igor had both brothers and sisters, but there is no mention of these people in the annals. But some sources mention the prince's nephews and cousins. Most likely, they did not own lands and powers, but were part of the prince's squad.

Often his name is mentioned with the adjective "Old". There are two versions of the origin of this nickname. Since there was more than one Igor in the Rurik dynasty, they decided to call the first of them "Old". And, most likely, historians of later periods began to use it, and not his contemporaries. Another reason for this nickname could be the fact that the prince came to power not upon reaching adulthood, but only after the death of Oleg. Igor at that time was already about 37 years old.

Governing body

Prophetic Oleg left Igor a rich state, showing by his own example how to manage it. But the government brought a lot of worries. As soon as the Drevlyans learned about the death of Oleg, they immediately refused to pay tribute to the new ruler. Igor was forced to gather a squad and go to their lands. And so that in the future it would be discourteous for them to rebel against the prince, he imposed a tribute on them twice as much as before. Since then, the Drevlyans harbored a strong grudge against him.

The domestic and foreign policy of Igor Rurikovich had an aggressive character. After the uprising of the Drevlyans, he decided to collect tribute from the people in a different way. Every year, together with the warriors, the prince traveled around the lands subject to him and collected the "tax" of the tribes that lived there. He took everything: flour, grain, honey, animal skins, etc. Now it was called polyud. But Igor's people behaved extremely rudely and impudently with the people. Yes, and the prince himself was distinguished by a steep and quick-tempered disposition.

In 915, Igor went to the aid of Byzantium, which was attacked by the Bulgarians. In 920 he defeated the Pechenegs. But the most important military campaigns in the life of Prince Igor are his campaigns against Byzantium.

In 941, he sailed to Byzantium, accompanied by a thousand ships. However, the Greeks managed to repel the attack, they used at that time a new weapon - "Greek fire" - a mixture of oil and other combustible substances. With the help of "fire" they burned most of the enemy ships.

Igor was forced to return home, but with only one goal - to gather a new army for the next campaign against Byzantium. This time he was a success. The prince concluded a peace treaty with the Byzantines, according to which he was provided with a monetary payment.

For 33 years Igor stood at the head of Ancient Russia, the years of his reign - from 912 to 945. His ancestral sign was a stylized diving falcon.

Personal life

Igor's wife was a Pskov woman with the fabulous name Prekrasa, whom the young prince gave a new name before the conclusion of the union - Olga. Why he did this, again, there are several options. Or it was his whim and a demonstration of power. At the time of their marriage, the young man was 25 years old, and the girl was only 13. Or the reason for this act lay much deeper.

Some sources say that Olga is Oleg's daughter. Namely, Oleg and betrothed her to Igor. His goal was to strengthen the influence on the matured young man. The name Olga is a derivative of the male name Oleg. The woman went down in history as Olga, becoming the Grand Duchess and the first ruler who converted to Christianity.

They had a son, Svyatoslav, who became a prince three years later under the tutelage of his mother.

Igor had other wives, but Olga always remained his beloved woman. She was wise, approached the solution of issues thoughtfully and balancedly. Whether Igor had children in other marriages is not reported in the annals.

Death

The death of Prince Igor deserves special attention. In 945, his warriors began to complain that they did not have enough money, that they were not financially prosperous. The warriors persuaded the ruler to go to collect polyudye in the Drevlyane lands. They took tribute in excess of the prescribed measure, committed violence against the inhabitants.

On the way back to Kyiv, during a halt, Igor unexpectedly decided to return to the Drevlyans for additional tribute. The prince sent part of the army with the already assembled crowd to Kyiv. And he himself with a small number of combatants went back.

As soon as the Drevlyans heard about the return of the prince, they decided to peacefully resolve the situation, but Igor refused to leave the lands. Therefore, the Drevlyans, led by their ruler, Prince Mal, decided to rebel against Igor, since his activities violated the norms of the established way of life.

Igor was in the minority, the Drevlyans quickly struck his warriors, captured the prince, and soon executed him. According to the Byzantine chronicler Leo Deacon, the murder of the prince was committed with particular cruelty. Igor was tied to the tops of bent trees and his body was torn to pieces.

After his death, Princess Olga ascended the throne, since his son Svyatoslav was too small. Having become the head of state, Olga decided to avenge the death of her husband.

Prince Mal sent matchmakers to the princess. The Drevlyans sailed along the Dnieper in a boat. Olga ordered the soldiers to carry the boat along with the guests to the palace, thus honoring them. But by that time, a hole had been dug in the yard, into which the matchmakers were thrown along with the boat, and then buried alive. Soon, ambassadors from Mal came to Olga. The woman said that they first washed themselves from the road. The men went into the bathhouse, it was immediately closed and set on fire.

Prince Igor was buried near the city of Iskorosten, Olga decided to go with her retinue to her husband's grave. The Drevlyans met the princess, but immediately asked where the ambassadors sent to her by the prince. The woman convinced them that they were following with the Kyiv squad. At the funeral feast, she watered the Drevlyans without measure, and when they were already obscenely drunk, she ordered the warriors to chop them all.

Olga laid siege to Iskorosten, but the Drevlyan people were not going to surrender. Therefore, the princess decided to take them by cunning. She told them that her husband had been avenged, and demanded a conditional tribute from the inhabitants of Iskorosten: three sparrows and three doves from the yard. The townspeople, not suspecting anything, with obvious relief, fulfilled the requirement of the princess.

Olga ordered her soldiers to tie a lit tinder to the leg of each bird and let them go. The birds returned to their nests and set fire to the city. The Drevlyans fled, but immediately fell into the hands of Olga. Some were killed on the spot, others were taken prisoner, and then sold into slavery.

The actions of Princess Olga, who avenged her husband's death, are horrific. But those times were distinguished by their cruelty, so that her deeds corresponded to the mores of the era.

Memory

• Igorevskaya street in Kyiv

Cinema

• 1983 - "The Legend of Princess Olga", in the role of Igor Alexander Denisenko

Literature

• "Igor", A. Serba
• "Prince Igor and Princess Olga", V. Sedugin
• "The tip of the scabbard of a sword from a mound near Korosten", M. Fekhner

art

• "Prince Igor collects tribute from the Drevlyans in 945", K. Lebedev
• "The first meeting of Prince Igor and Olga", V. Sazonov
• "Prince Igor", K. Vasiliev
• "Princess Olga meets the body of Prince Igor", V. Surikov
• "Prince Igor", I. Glazunov
• "Execution of Prince Igor", F. Bruni

Until 912, Kievan Rus was ruled by Prince Oleg on behalf of Igor, since the latter was still very young. Being modest by nature and upbringing, Igor respectfully treated his elders and did not dare to claim his rights to the throne during the life of Oleg, who for his deeds surrounded his name with a halo of glory. Prince Oleg approved the choice of a wife for the future ruler. Prince Igor of Kyiv married in 903 a simple girl, Olga, who lived near Pskov.

Beginning of the reign

After Oleg died, Igor became a full-fledged prince of Russia. His reign began with a war. At this time, the tribe of the Drevlyans decided to get out of the power of Kyiv and an uprising began. The new ruler severely punished the rebels, inflicting a crushing defeat on them. This battle began numerous campaigns of Prince Igor. The result of the campaign against the Drevlyans was the unconditional victory of Russia, which, as a winner, demanded additional tribute from the rebels. The next campaigns were aimed at confronting the Pechenegs, who, having driven the Ugor tribes from the Urals, continued their advance to the West. The Pechenegs, in the fight against Kievan Rus, occupied the lower reaches of the Dnieper River, thereby blocking the trade opportunities of Russia, since it was through the Dnieper that the path from the Varangians to the Greeks passed. The campaigns conducted by Prince Igor against the Polovtsy were carried out with alternate success.

Campaigns to Byzantium

Despite the ongoing confrontation with the Polovtsians, new wars continue. In 941, Igor declares war on Byzantium, thereby continuing the foreign policy of his predecessors. The reason for the new war was that after the death of Oleg, Byzantium considered itself free from previous obligations and ceased to fulfill the terms of the peace treaty. The campaign against Byzantium was truly outstanding. It was the first time that such a large army was advancing on the Greeks. The Kyiv ruler took with him about 10,000 ships, according to the chroniclers, which is 5 times more than the army with which Oleg won. But this time the Russians failed to take the Greeks by surprise, they managed to gather a large army and won the first battle on land. As a result, the Russians decided to win the war by naval battles. But that didn't work either. Byzantine ships, using a special incendiary mixture, began to burn Russian ships with oil. Russian wars were simply amazed by this weapon and perceived it as heavenly. The army had to return to Kyiv.

Two years later, in 943, Prince Igor organizes a new campaign against Byzantium. This time the army was even larger. In addition to the Russian troops, mercenary detachments were invited, which consisted of Pechenegs and Varangians. The army moved to Byzantium by sea and by land. New campaigns promised to be successful. But the surprise attack failed. Representatives of the city of Chersonesos managed to report to the Byzantine emperor that a new large Russian army was advancing on Constantinople. This time the Greeks decided to avoid fighting and proposed a new peace treaty. Prince Igor of Kyiv, after conferring with his retinue, accepted the terms of the peace treaty, which were identical to the terms of the treaty signed by the Byzantines with Oleg. This ended the Byzantine campaigns.

End of the reign of Prince Igor

According to the records in the annals, in November 945, Igor gathered a squad and moved to the Drevlyans to collect tribute. Having collected tribute, he released most of the troops and with a small squad went to the city Iskorosten. The purpose of this visit was to demand tribute for himself personally. The Drevlyans were outraged and planned murder. Having armed the army, they set off towards the prince with his retinue. This is how the murder of the Kyiv ruler happened. His body was buried near Iskorosten. According to legend, the murder was extremely brutal. He was tied hand and foot to bent trees. Then the trees were released... Thus ended the reign of Prince Igor...

Three groups of Rus and mysterious trips to the Caspian

In the light of the above concept, these campaigns cease to be so mysterious. It becomes clear and the reason why they did not get into the Russian, or rather, the Kyiv chronicles. THIS WAS NOT THE ACTS OF THE KIEVAN RUSSIANS. Russ came to the Caspian Sea from the Danube Rus.

Starting from the 10th century, in the Arab-Persian sources, a story appears about three types or groups of Russ - Kuyab (Kukiyana of other sources, some clarify that this group is called Ravas), Slaviyi (Salav) and Arsaniyi, whose capital is called Arsa (Urtab in KhAA ). Each group has its own king. In general, Eastern sources do not report anything intelligible about the location of these groups, but a number of characteristics that we find in various authors make it possible to clarify the situation.

Perhaps, researchers have no doubts only about the localization of Cuiaba - it is unanimously identified with Kyiv and its district, which the Russian chronicles call the "Russian Land", and Konstantin Porphyrogenitus similarly calls it "Kioava". So, we note that the “Russian Land” is an area of ​​​​compact settlement of ethnic Russ or, more precisely, Rusyns, as they called themselves, independent of other - non-Russian - lands. In the annals, “land” means the state: “Bulgarian land”, “Greek land”, “Czech land”, etc., as well as autonomous East Slavic principalities vassal to Kyiv: “Novgorod land”, “Polotsk land”, “Derevskaya land ". Neither Novgorod, nor Polotsk, nor Derevskaya, nor Rostov, nor Muromo-Ryazan, nor Volyn, Turov or Galician lands were called "Russian" and were opposed to it - these were "lands" conquered by the Rus and paying tribute to them. People went to "Rus" from Smolensk and Novgorod, from Polotsk and Rostov. The boundaries of the Dnieper Russian land are clearly defined in the annals: Kyiv and the old land of Polyan, Pereyaslavl - Russian, Chernigov, Lyubech, Novgorod - Seversky, Kursk and the entire Seversky land - the former territory of the Volintsevo culture. It is her V. V. Sedov, as we remember, defines as the Russian Khaganate.

Historians just as unanimously declared Slavia Novgorod-Ilmensky, which stood in the land of Slovenia. However, in the Eastern texts it is specifically about the lands of the Rus people, and neither in Novgorod nor in Kyiv, as we have already seen, the Novgorod land was not considered “Russian”. For the same reason, all East Slavic lands conquered by Rus should be excluded. The geographer al-Istarhi, in whom we find the most complete and possibly the earliest version of the report on the "three groups", in about 930-931. wrote that Kuyaba is the closest group of Rus to Volga Bulgaria (in the KhAA - “to the Muslims”, the Khan of Volga Bulgaria converted to Islam around 922), and Slaviya is the most distant group. Here it is necessary to say a few more words about the Novgorod land. It was connected with Bulgaria-on-Volga by the river Volga-Baltic trade route, which significantly reduced travel time, therefore, in the eyes of travelers, it was Novgorod - "Slaviya" that should have been located closer to the East than Kyiv lying beyond the forests and steppes. To get from Kyiv to the Volga, one had to go through the dense Vyatichi and Murom forests or move in a roundabout way to the Don and Oka rivers. The convenient location of Novgorod explains precisely its economic heyday in the 11th-14th centuries.

Consequently, Slaviya was located to the west of Kyiv. It was clearly a significant state formation, which means that all kinds of "Russian stamps" of Germany and Hungary disappear. Let us recall that in a similar way - "the most remote Russia" - Idrisi described Danubian Russia in the XII century! It was with Slaviya that the author or source of the KhAA associated plots about the Bulgarians: with a certain “country of the Bulgarians” (the author of “Khudud-al-Alam” identified these Bulgarians with the “internal Bulgarians” of the Azov region), the Rus of Slaviya can fight, and in peacetime - trade. It is not at all necessary to associate this message exclusively with the black Bulgarians of the Azov region. In the East, two Bulgaria could well have been confused - the Danube and the Azov. B. Rybakov, relying on the reports of KhAA and Idrisi about the three cities of the Rus, believed that these cities stood on the Dnieper and identified Kuyaba with Kyiv, Arsu / Urtab with Rodn, and Slaviya with Pereyaslavl - Russian. However, the city of Pereyaslavets was also known on the Danube, more ancient than the Dnieper (according to the annals and recent archaeological research, Pereyaslavl-Russian was founded by Vladimir the Baptist). It is no coincidence that it was here that Svyatoslav the Brave intended to move his capital from Kyiv.

Another piece of evidence for this localization of Slaviya is another piece of news from Idrisi. According to this geographer, in the space between the Dniester and the Danube (the exact localization has not been established) was the city of Saklaha, which may well turn out to be Salava, the capital city of Russia - Slavia. The difference in spelling should not be embarrassing in this case, since Idrisi was a compiler and used different and different sources. In one of them (KHAA) the city was called Salava, in another Saklakha. Similarly, Kyiv is called by him Kukiyana, and in another place Kav. This mysterious city is a serious competitor for the chronicle Pereyaslavets-on-the-Danube (Barasclafis). The fact is that this city became any significant center only at the time of the writing of Russian chronicles, which makes one think that the city that Svyatoslav wanted to make his capital is the Bulgarian capital Preslav the Great. This, in turn, explains the strange (considering that the Danube cities almost voluntarily surrendered to the Russian squads!) Hostility of the “Pereyaslavites” to the Brave Prince.

No less interesting information can be found in Idrisi about the borders of Russia and Bulgaria. This information makes one think about the fact that the geographer mechanically connected the news about the two Russian states. Al-Idrisi in the introductory part 5 of section VI climate, giving a general description of the Black Sea, lists the countries on the Black Sea coast: Kalat (Galatia), the country of al-Buntim (Pont), the country of al-Khazariya (Khazaria), the country of al-Kumaniyya (Kumaniya), [the country] ar-Rusiyya and the land of the Burjans (Bulgaria)." It is characteristic that he did not place this news on the map, and did not mark the Dniester-Danube interfluve at all as someone's possession. But here is an Arab scientist of the second half of the 14th - early 15th centuries. ibn-Khaldun, who left a description of the Idrisi map in one of his writings, twice emphasized that Russia and Bulgaria lie on the Black Sea coast and have a common long border: according to him, “Rus surrounds the country of the Burdjans” from the west, north and east! Echoed by ibn-Khaldun and Idrisi al-Bekri, an author of the 11th century, who reports on the Rus as an “island and ship people”, living near the Danube Bulgaria and “often descending into the Nitas Sea”.

Arsaniyya is rightfully considered the most mysterious of the three groups of Rus. The Arab-Persian authors themselves wrote that no one knows the exact location of Arsa. A variety of opinions were expressed in science, and, of course, according to the same criteria by which Slaviya was declared Novgorod: Rostov, Beloozero, Tmutorokan, Smolensk, Polotsk were seen in Ars. However, the Arabs still left us some clues.

1. The very fact that none of the strangers knew where Arsa was, because the Rus killed every stranger and "no one dared to enter their land." They traded through the people of Kiev. Such closeness says only one thing - for the Rus, Arsa was a holy city.

2. Based on the fact that the location of Arsa was unknown, she was very far away.

3. From the words of ibn-Khaukal (a contemporary of Svyatoslav): "But for trade, no one travels further than the Bulgarian capital, no one travels to Arta", - we can conclude that Arsu - Artu - Urtab could be reached along the Volga-Baltic route moving upstream from Bulgaria-on-Volga.

1. One of the main exports of Arsa was tin, which indicates its trade relations with England, possibly through intermediaries.

All of the above points to the Baltic, where A. G. Kuzmin singled out as many as four Rus! The Russian colonies at the mouth of the Neman, on the Western Dvina, the island of Saaremaa and on the coast of Estonia - in the provinces of Rotalia and Vik, we must exclude due to their insignificance, especially since many of them arose much later, in the 11th century. We must also exclude Ladoga. Firstly, it was also an insignificant possession, which early merged with the principality of Slovenes - Novgorodians, and secondly, Ladoga did not have at all that halo of holiness that surrounded Arsu. Thus, only the island of Rügen remains!

It fully corresponds to all the descriptions of Arsa! Firstly, the descriptions of Rügen-Ruyan in the German chronicles almost literally repeat the Arab-Persian descriptions of the "Island of Rus". Secondly, the "Island of Rus" in the Arab road books was always placed to the west of the Eastern Slavs and the only one did not have any landmarks relative to neighboring peoples, that is, it was so far away that the eastern geographers simply did not know its exact location. Thirdly, like Arsa, Rügen was connected with the Volga Bulgaria by the water trade route, it was in Bulgaria that the eastern merchants encountered the island Russ in the 9th century. Fourthly, Rügen traded with the whole world and was connected with England as well! Finally, fifthly, the “king” of Rugen was sitting in Arkon, the sacred city of the entire Slavic land, and the “king” of Arsaniyya was sitting in the holy city of Arsa! However, the Baltic Rus deserve a separate discussion, but here we must deal with their brothers in Kyiv and on the Danube.

So, in the 10th century (the first mention of the “three groups” appears around the time of Svyatoslav’s campaigns), the Arabs were relatively well aware of two Russian states in the Black Sea basin - the Danube (“most remote”) Russia or Slavia (Pereyaslav Principality?) and more young Kievan Rus. The chroniclers, who have preserved for us fragments (you can’t call them otherwise) the initial history of the Kievan state, do not know about many deeds committed by the Rus on the shores of the Black and Caspian Seas. It is logical to assume that these acts were committed by the Rus of the Danube Principality!

Such localization is also confirmed by sources that tell about the Caspian campaigns of the Rus, however, refusing to believe in the Danube Rus, the researchers passed by these most valuable indications! Al-Masudi, nicknamed by scientists the “Arab Herodotus”, a geographer of the first half of the 10th century, left us a most valuable description of the Russian campaign against the Caspian Sea in 909–913: “Ruses make up many peoples, divided into scattered tribes. Among them there is a tribe called Ludana (? - A.K.), which is the most numerous of them; they travel with goods to the country of Andalus (Spain - A.K.), Rumia (Rome (Italy) - A.K.), Custantinia and Khazar. After 300 AH (912-913 A.D.) R H.) (reckoning in Muslim literature is from the year of the migration (hijra) of Muhammad and his supporters from Mecca to Medina, which took place in 622 AD - A.K.) it happened that about 500 ships, on which each one was a hundred people (from Russ), entered the branch of Naitas, connecting with the Khazar river (meaning the Volga. Al-Masudi believed that there was a strait connecting the Volga with the Black Sea. - A.K.). Here, the Khazar king appointed in large numbers people who hold back those who come by this sea, who also come by land from the side where the strip of the Khazar Sea (Caspian Sea. - A.K.) connects with the Naitas Sea. This is done because Turkic nomads - Ghuzzs come to this region and winter here; often the water that connects the Khazar River with the Naitas branch freezes, and the Guzzas cross it with their horses - for this water is great and does not break under them due to severe freezing - and go to the Khazar country. Sometimes the Khazar king comes forward to meet them when the people appointed by him are too weak to keep the Ghuzzs, prevent them from crossing the frozen water and remove them from their state. As for the summer, the Turks then do not have a road to cross it. After the Russian ships arrived at the Khazar people, placed at the mouth of the arm, they (Russes) sent to the Khazar king to ask that they could cross into his country, enter his river and enter the Khazar sea - which is also the sea Jurjan, Tabaristan and other Persian countries, as we have already mentioned, on the condition that they give him half of everything that they steal from the peoples living on this sea. He (the king) agreed to this. Therefore, they entered the branch, reached the mouth of the river and began to rise along this water strip until they reached the Khazar river, entered Itil along it (the capital of Khazaria - A.K.), passed it and reached the mouth of the river and its confluence with the Khazar Sea . From the confluence of the river to the city of Itil, this is a large river and full of water. And Russian ships spread across this sea, their crowds rushed to Jil, Dalem, to the cities of Tabaristan, to Abaskun, which is located on the Dzhurdzhan coast, to the oil country (the region of the city of Baku - A.K.) and towards Adarbaijan, because from the region of Ardabil in the country of Adarbayjan, the distance to this sea is about three days' journey. And the Rus shed blood, took women and children prisoner, robbed property, disbanded horsemen (for attacks) and burned them. The peoples who lived near this sea cried out in horror, for it did not happen to them since ancient times that the enemy hit them here, and only ships of merchants and fishermen arrived here. The Russians fought with Jil, Dalem and with the commander Ibn-Abis-Saja (the Arab ruler of Armenia and Azerbaijan - A.K.) and reached the oil coast in the Shirvan region, known as Baku. When returning from the coastal countries, the Rus turned to the islands close to Nafta, at a distance of several miles from it. Ali ibn al-Gaytham was then the king of Shirvan. And the inhabitants armed themselves, boarded ships and merchant ships and went to these islands; but the Russians rushed at them, and thousands of Muslims were killed and drowned. For many months, the Rus remained on this sea in this position: none of the local peoples had the opportunity to approach them on this sea, and they all strengthened and were on guard against them, for this sea is inhabited by peoples around. After they looted and they were tired of this life, they went to the mouth of the Khazar river and its outflow, sent to the king of the Khazars and carried him money and booty according to their agreement. The king of the Khazars does not have courts, and his people are unaccustomed to them; otherwise, the Muslims would be in great danger on his part. Larsia and other Muslims from the country of the Khazars learned about this case and said to the Khazar king: “Let us (take revenge), for this people attacked the country of our Muslim brothers, shed their blood and captured their wives and children.” Unable to prevent them, the king sent to the Rus and informed them that the Muslims intended to fight with them. The Muslims gathered and went out to look for them at the entrance to Itil by water. When they saw each other, the Ruses left their courts. There were about 15,000 Muslims with horses and weapons, and many of their Christians living in Itil were also with them. For three days the battle continued between them; God helped the Muslims against the Rus, and the sword destroyed them, who was killed and who was drowned. About 5,000 of them escaped and went on ships to the country adjacent to the country of Burtas (Burtasov. - A.K.), where they left their ships and stood on land; but some of them were killed by the inhabitants of Burtas, and some fell to the Muslims in the Burgar country (Bulgar, that is, Volga Bulgaria. - A.K.), and they killed them. The counted dead of those killed by Muslims on the banks of the Khazar River were about 30,000. Since that year, the Rus have not resumed more than what we wrote.

Masudi said: we brought this story to refute the opinion of those who believe that the Khazar Sea is connected to the Mayotas Sea.(Sea of ​​Azov. - A. K.) and the Kustantinia branch through the Mayotas and Naitas seas. If this were so, then the Rus would certainly have set out on this (last) sea, for it is their sea, as we have already mentioned. What we have described is not contradicted by any of the peoples neighboring this sea (namely), that the sea of ​​the Persian peoples does not have a branch connecting with another sea, for it is a small sea, known from all sides. What we wrote about Russian courts is common among all peoples, and the year is known; it was after 300 (AH), only the definition of the year eluded me. Perhaps, the mention that the Khazar Sea connects with the branch of Kustantinia, under the "Khazar Sea" meant the sea of ​​Mayotas and Naitas, which is the sea of ​​Burgar and Rus. God knows best how it is…”

The described campaign was preceded by another predatory raid in 909-910, during which the Rus were exterminated, however, it is not clear whether the attacking Rus or some kind of merchant caravan. The extermination of brothers became the reason for a new punitive action, which was remembered by the Arabs for a long time. The reasons for the appearance of the Rus in the Caspian are closely related to the general political situation in the world, and this is not the place to discuss them. We are here interested in the route that the Russian army moved: the Black Sea - the Kerch Strait - the Don - the Volga - the Caspian Sea. In another place, Masudi specifies the location of the Rus on the northwestern coast of the Black Sea, from where they attack Khazaria!

Ibn-Khordadbeg, who wrote a hundred years before Masudi, in the 840s-860s, places the Rus in the same region. According to his information, Russian merchants moved along the Black Sea past the Byzantine possessions in the Crimea, that is, from the northwestern coast (Kievan Rus did not yet exist!) - through the Kerch Strait - Don - Volga - to the Caspian Sea. The route exactly repeats the route of the Russian fleet in 913! All this allows us to conclude that both at the beginning of the 10th century and earlier - in the first half of the 9th century, there was a powerful political and military center on the Lower Danube - the Russian state! It is natural to conclude that it was from here that the Russian squadrons plundered already at the end of the 8th - beginning of the 9th centuries. Surozh (Life of Stefan of Surozh), Amastrida (Life of George of Amastrid) and, of course, those who besieged Tsargrad in 860! Such a powerful state should have left a trace in the sources, and we immediately find it in the Frankish Bertin annals! We are talking about the embassy of the “Khakan of the people of Ros” to Byzantium and Germany in 839!

29. Caspian Caspian Sea - Hyrcanian Sea, p. 148.