Caspian expeditions of the Rus - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Caspian expeditions of the Rus' were military raids undertaken by the Rus'

Rus' (people)

The Rus' were a group of Varangians . According to the Primary Chronicle of Rus, compiled in about 1113 AD, the Rus had relocated from the Baltic region , first to Northeastern Europe, creating an early polity which finally came under the leadership of Rurik...

between 864 and 1041 on the Caspian Sea

Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...

shores. Initially, the Rus' appeared in Serkland

Serkland

In Old Norse sources, such as sagas and runestones, Særkland or Serkland was the name of the Abbasid Caliphate and probably some neighbouring Muslim regions....

in the 9th century traveling as merchants along the Volga trade route

Volga trade route

In the Middle Ages, the Volga trade route connected Northern Europe and Northwestern Russia with the Caspian Sea, via the Volga River. The Rus used this route to trade with Muslim countries on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, sometimes penetrating as far as Baghdad...

, selling furs, honey, and slaves. The first small-scale raids took place in the late 9th and early 10th century. The Rus' undertook the first large-scale expedition in 913; having arrived on 500 ships, they pillaged Gorgan

Gorgan

Gorgan Some east of Gorgan is the Golestan National Park. The city has a regional airport and several universities. Gorgan Airport was opened in September 2005.-Etymology:...

, in the territory of present day Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

, and the adjacent areas, taking slaves and goods. On their return, the northern raiders were attacked and defeated by Khazar Muslims in the Volga Delta

Volga Delta

The Volga Delta is the largest river delta in Europe, and occurs where Europe's largest river system, the Volga River, drains into the Caspian Sea in Russia's Astrakhan Oblast, north-east of the republic of Kalmykia. The delta is located in the Caspian Depression—the far eastern part of the delta...

, and those who escaped were killed by the local tribes on the middle Volga.

During their next expedition in 943, the Rus' captured Barda

Barda, Azerbaijan

Barda is the capital city of the Barda Rayon in Azerbaijan, located south of Yevlax and on the left bank of the Terter river. Once an Armenian town, and later the capital of Caucasian Albania perhaps since the end of the fourth century, Barda became the chief city of the Islamic province of Arran,...

, the capital of Arran

Arran (Azerbaijan)

Arran , also known as Aran, Ardhan , Al-Ran , Aghvank and Alvank , or Caucasian Albania , was a geographical name used in ancient and medieval times to signify the territory which lies within the triangle of land, lowland in the east and mountainous in the west, formed by the junction of Kura and...

, in the modern-day Republic of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...

. The Rus' stayed there for several months, killing many inhabitants of the city and amassing substantial plunder. It was only an outbreak of dysentery

Dysentery

Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...

among the Rus' that forced them to depart with their spoils. Sviatoslav

Sviatoslav I of Kiev

Sviatoslav I Igorevich ; , also spelled Svyatoslav, was a prince of Rus...

, prince of Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

, commanded the next attack, which destroyed the Khazar

Khazars

The Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people who established one of the largest polities of medieval Eurasia, with the capital of Atil and territory comprising much of modern-day European Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, large portions of the northern Caucasus , parts of...

state in 965. Sviatoslav's campaign established the Rus's hold on the north-south trade routes, helping to alter the demographics of the region. Raids continued through the time period with the last Scandinavian attempt to reestablish the route to the Caspian Sea taking place in 1041 by Ingvar the Far-Travelled

Ingvar the Far-Travelled

Ingvar the Far-Travelled was the leader of an unsuccessful Viking attack against Persia, in 1036–1042.There were several Caspian expeditions of the Rus' in the course of the 10th century...

Background and early raids

The Rus' first penetrated to the Muslim areas adjacent to the Caspian Sea as traders rather than warriors. By the early 9th century, the Norsemen

Norsemen

Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...

settled in northwestern Russia, where they established a settlement called Aldeigja

Staraya Ladoga

Staraya Ladoga , or the Aldeigjuborg of Norse sagas, is a village in the Volkhovsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Volkhov River near Lake Ladoga, 8 km north of the town of Volkhov. The village used to be a prosperous trading outpost in the 8th and 9th centuries...

(Slavic: Ladoga) about 6 miles (9.7 km) south of the Volkhov River

Volkhov River

Volkhov is a river in Novgorod Oblast and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia.-Geography:The Volkhov flows out of Lake Ilmen north into Lake Ladoga, the largest lake of Europe. It is the second largest tributary of Lake Ladoga. It is navigable over its whole length. Discharge is highly...

entry into Lake Ladoga

Lake Ladoga

Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.-Geography:...

. From there, they began trading with the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

along the Dnieper trade route

Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks

The trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks was a trade route that connected Scandinavia, Kievan Rus' and the Byzantine Empire. The route allowed traders along the route to establish a direct prosperous trade with Byzantium, and prompted some of them to settle in the territories of...

and with the Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

lands around the Caspian Sea along the Volga trade route

Volga trade route

. In the late 9th century, ibn Khordadbeh

Ibn Khordadbeh

Abu'l Qasim Ubaid'Allah ibn Khordadbeh , author of the earliest surviving Arabic book of administrative geography, was a Persian geographer and bureaucrat of the 9th century...

described the Rus' buying goods from the Khazars in the market areas on the lower Volga

Volga River

The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including the capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage...

and selling them on the markets of Caspian towns; these merchants brought furs, honey, and slaves. Small groups of the Rus' even went on camels as far as Baghdad

Baghdad

Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...

to sell their goods; their European slaves interpreted for them.

Thomas Schaub Noonan

Thomas Schaub Noonan

Thomas Schaub Noonan was an American historian, Slavicist and anthropologist who specialized in early Russian history and Eurasian nomad cultures....

suggested that the Rus' reached Baghdad as early as 800; this argument is supported by the finding of Sassanid, Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

, and Arabo-Sassanid dirham

Dirham

Dirham or dirhem is a unit of currency in several Arab or Berber nations, and formerly the related unit of mass in the Ottoman Empire and Persian states...

coins dated no later than 804–805 at Peterhof

Peterhof Palace

The Peterhof Palace in Russian, so German is transliterated as "Петергoф" Petergof into Russian) for "Peter's Court") is actually a series of palaces and gardens located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, laid out on the orders of Peter the Great. These Palaces and gardens are sometimes referred as the...

, near Saint-Petersburg. In ibn Khordadbeh's account, the Rus' are described as "a kind of the Saqaliba

Saqaliba

Saqaliba refers to the Slavs, particularly Slavic slaves and mercenaries in the medieval Arab world, in the Middle East, North Africa, Sicily and Al-Andalus. It is generally thought that the Arabic term is a Byzantine loanword: saqlab, siklab, saqlabi etc. is a corruption of Greek Sklavinoi for...

", a term usually used to refer to Slavs, and anti-Normanist scholars have interpreted this passage as indicative of the Rus' being Slavs rather than Scandinavians

Scandinavians

Scandinavians are a group of Germanic peoples, inhabiting Scandinavia and to a lesser extent countries associated with Scandinavia, and speaking Scandinavian languages. The group includes Danes, Norwegians and Swedes, and additionally the descendants of Scandinavian settlers such as the Icelandic...

. In the interpretation of the Normanist scholars, the word Saqaliba was also frequently applied to all fair-haired, ruddy-complexioned populations of Central

Central Europe

Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...

, Eastern

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...

, and Northeastern Europe, so ibn Khordadbeh's language is ambiguous here.

The first Caspian raid of the Rus' occurred sometime in the reign of Hasan ibn Zaid, ruler of Tabaristan between 864 and 884. The Rus' sailed into the Caspian Sea and unsuccessfully attacked its eastern shore at Abaskun

Abaskun

Abaskun was a port that existed in the Middle Ages on the southwestern shore of the Caspian Sea in the area of Gorgan.In his Geographia, Ptolemy mentions a river Sokanda in Hyrcania, which may have given the name to the city. The exact location of Abaskun remains unclear; most likely, it was...

. This raid was probably on a very small scale. The second raid took place in 909 or 910 and was likewise aimed at Abaskun; just like the previous attack, this expedition was a minor one with only sixteen ships participating in it. The third minor raid took place in 911 or 912.

Raid of 913

The Rus' launched the first large-scale raid in 913. A fleet of 500 ships reached the southern shores of the Caspian Sea through the country of the Khazars. In order to secure a peaceful passage through the land of the Khazars, the Rus' promised the Khazars half of their spoils. They sailed down the Dnieper River

Dnieper River

The Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...

into the Black Sea, then into the Sea of Azov

Sea of Azov

The Sea of Azov , known in Classical Antiquity as Lake Maeotis, is a sea on the south of Eastern Europe. It is linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south and is bounded on the north by Ukraine mainland, on the east by Russia, and on the west by the Ukraine's Crimean...

, then up the Don River

Don River (Russia)

The Don River is one of the major rivers of Russia. It rises in the town of Novomoskovsk 60 kilometres southeast from Tula, southeast of Moscow, and flows for a distance of about 1,950 kilometres to the Sea of Azov....

past the Khazar city of Sarkel

Sarkel

Sarkel was a large limestone-and-brick fortress built by the Khazars with Byzantine assistance in the 830s. It was named white-house because of the white limestone bricks they have used to build Sarkel...

, and then by a portage

Portage

Portage or portaging refers to the practice of carrying watercraft or cargo over land to avoid river obstacles, or between two bodies of water. A place where this carrying occurs is also called a portage; a person doing the carrying is called a porter.The English word portage is derived from the...

reached the Volga, which led them into the Caspian Sea.

The Rus' attacked in the Gorgan

Gorgan

Gorgan Some east of Gorgan is the Golestan National Park. The city has a regional airport and several universities. Gorgan Airport was opened in September 2005.-Etymology:...

region around Abaskun, pillaging the countryside as they went. An attempt to repel them as they lay in anchor near islands in the southwestern part of the Caspian Sea proved unsuccessful; and they were then able to roam and raid at will. Across the sea they raided at Baku

Baku

Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...

, penetrating inland a distance of three days’ journey, and plundering the regions of Arran

Arran (Azerbaijan)

, Beylagan

Beylagan

Beylagan is a rayon of Azerbaijan, with capital city being Beylagan.The 5th century Armenian historian Moses of Chorene states that this name is from the Persian name Payda-gharan , that its meaning is not clear , but "-an" in the last section means "place of " in Persian .-External links:*...

, and Shirvan

Shirvan

Shirvan , also spelled as Shirwan, Shervan, Sherwan and Šervān, is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, known by this name in both Islamic and modern times...

. Everywhere they looted as much as they could, taking women and children as slaves. The news of their outrages preceded them as they headed homeward and, in the Volga Delta

Volga Delta

, the Rus' were attacked by Khazar Muslims, as well as by some Christians, apparently with the acquiescence of the Khazar ruler. According to al-Masudi

Al-Masudi

Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Mas'udi , was an Arab historian and geographer, known as the "Herodotus of the Arabs." Al-Masudi was one of the first to combine history and scientific geography in a large-scale work, Muruj adh-dhahab...

, those who escaped were finished off by the Burtas

Burtas

Burtas were a tribe of uncertain ethnolinguistic affiliation inhabiting the steppe region north of the Caspian Sea in medieval times...

and Volga Bulgars.

Raid of 943

The second large-scale campaign is dated to 943, when Igor was the supreme leader of the Rus', according to the Primary Chronicle

Primary Chronicle

The Primary Chronicle , Ruthenian Primary Chronicle or Russian Primary Chronicle, is a history of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110, originally compiled in Kiev about 1113.- Three editions :...

. During the 943 expedition, the Rus' rowed up the Kura River

Kura River

Kura is a river, also known from the Greek as the Cyrus in the Caucasus Mountains. Starting in north-eastern Turkey, it flows through Turkey to Georgia, then to Azerbaijan, where it receives the Aras River as a right tributary, and enters the Caspian Sea...

, deep into the Caucasus, defeated the forces of Marzuban bin Muhammad, and captured Barda

Barda, Azerbaijan

, the capital of Arran. The Rus' allowed the local people to retain their religion in exchange for recognition of their overlordship; it is possible that the Rus' intended to settle permanently there. According to ibn Miskawaih, the local people broke the peace by stone-throwing and other abuse directed against the Rus', who then demanded that the inhabitants evacuate the city. This ultimatum was rejected, and the Rus' began killing people and holding many for ransom. The slaughter was briefly interrupted for negotiations, which soon broke down. The Rus' stayed in Barda for several months, using it as a base for plundering the adjacent areas, and amassed substantial spoils.

The city was saved only by an outbreak of dysentery

Dysentery

among the Rus'. Ibn Miskawaih writes that the Rus' "indulged excessively in the fruit of which there are numerous sorts there. This produced an epidemic among them . . . and their numbers began thereby to be reduced." Encouraged by the epidemic among the Rus', the Muslims approached the city. The Rus', their chief riding on a donkey, made an unsuccessful sally after which they lost 700 warriors, but evaded encirclement and retreated to the Barda fortress, where they were besieged by the Muslims. Exhausted by the disease and the siege, the Rus' "left by night the fortress in which they had established their quarters, carrying on their backs all they could of their treasure, gems, and fine raiment, boys and girls as they wanted, and made for the Kura River, where the ships in which they had issued from their home were in readiness with their crews, and 300 Russes whom they had been supporting with portions of their booty." The Muslims then exhumed from the Rus' graves the weapons that had been buried beside the warriors.

George Vernadsky

George Vernadsky

George Vernadsky , Russian: Гео́ргий Влади́мирович Верна́дский) was a Russian-American historian and an author of numerous books on Russian history.- European years :...

proposed that Oleg of Novgorod

Oleg of Novgorod

Oleg of Novgorod was a Varangian prince who ruled all or part of the Rus' people during the early 10th century....

was the donkey-riding chief of the Rus' who attacked Barda. Vernadsky identified Oleg with Helgu, a figure mentioned in the Schechter Letter

Schechter Letter

The "Schechter Letter" was discovered in the Cairo Geniza by Solomon Schechter.-The Letter:The Schechter Letter is a communique from an unnamed Khazar author to an unidentified Jewish dignitary...

. According to that document, Helgu went to Persia by boat and died there after a failed attack

Rus'-Byzantine War (941)

The Rus'–Byzantine War of 941 took place during the reign of Igor of Kiev. The Khazar Correspondence reveals that the campaign was instigated by the Khazars, who wished revenge on the Byzantines after the persecutions of the Jews undertaken by Emperor Romanus I Lecapenus.The Rus' and their allies,...

on Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

in 941. On the other hand, Lev Gumilev

Lev Gumilev

Lev Nikolayevich Gumilev , was a Soviet historian, ethnologist and anthropologist. His unorthodox ideas on the birth and death of ethnic groups have given rise to the political and cultural movement known as "Neo-Eurasianism".-Life:His parents were two prominent poets Nikolay Gumilev and Anna...

, drawing on the name of the Rus' leader (as recorded in Arabian sources), hypothesizes that this leader was Sveneld

Sveneld

Sveneld was a 10th-century Varangian warlord in the service of Svyatoslav I of Kiev and his family...

, a Varangian chieftain whose wealth was noted in the Primary Chronicle

Primary Chronicle

The Primary Chronicle , Ruthenian Primary Chronicle or Russian Primary Chronicle, is a history of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110, originally compiled in Kiev about 1113.- Three editions :...

under 945.

Destruction of Khazaria

The sources are not clear about the roots of the conflict between Khazaria and Rus', so several possibilities have been suggested. The Rus' had an interest in removing the Khazar hold on the Volga trade route because the Khazars collected duties from the goods transported by the Volga. Byzantine incitement also apparently played a role. Khazars were the allies of the Byzantines until the reign of Romanus I Lecapenus, who persecuted the Jews of his empire. According to the Schechter Letter

Schechter Letter

The "Schechter Letter" was discovered in the Cairo Geniza by Solomon Schechter.-The Letter:The Schechter Letter is a communique from an unnamed Khazar author to an unidentified Jewish dignitary...

, the Khazar ruler Joseph

Joseph (Khazar)

Joseph ben Aaron was king of the Khazars during the 950s and 960s.Joseph was the son of Aaron II, a Khazar ruler who defeated a Byzantine-inspired war against Khazaria on numerous fronts. Joseph's wife was the daughter of the king of the Alans.Whether Joseph was the Khagan or the Bek of the...

responded to the persecution of Jews by "doing away with many Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

s" and Romanus retaliated by inciting Oleg of Novgorod

Oleg of Novgorod

Oleg of Novgorod was a Varangian prince who ruled all or part of the Rus' people during the early 10th century....

(called Helgu in the letter) against Khazaria.

The conflict may also have been spurred by the Khazars' decision to close passage down the Volga in response to the raid of 943. In the Khazar Correspondence

Khazar Correspondence

The Khazar Correspondence was an exchange of letters in the 950s or 960s between Hasdai ibn Shaprut, foreign secretary to the Caliph of Cordoba, and Joseph, Khagan of the Khazars. It is one of the few documents known to have been authored by a Khazar, and one of the very few primary sources on...

, written around 950–960, the Khazar ruler Joseph reported his role as defender of the Muslim polities of the Caspian

Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...

region against Rus' incursions: "I have to wage war with them [Rus], for if I would give them any chance at all they would lay waste the whole land of the Muslims as far as Baghdad

Baghdad

Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...

." Earlier conflict between Muslim elements of the Khazar army and Rus' marauders in c. 912 may have contributed to this arrangement and the hostility of the Rus' against Khazaria.

In 965, Sviatoslav I of Kiev

Sviatoslav I of Kiev

Sviatoslav I Igorevich ; , also spelled Svyatoslav, was a prince of Rus...

finally went to war against Khazaria. He employed Oghuz

Oghuz Turks

The Turkomen also known as Oghuz Turks were a historical Turkic tribal confederation in Central Asia during the early medieval Turkic expansion....

and Pecheneg mercenaries in this campaign, perhaps to counter the Khazars' superior cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

. Sviatoslav destroyed the Khazar city of Sarkel

Sarkel

around 965, and possibly sacked (but did not occupy) the Khazar city of Kerch

Kerch

Kerch is a city on the Kerch Peninsula of eastern Crimea, an important industrial, transport and tourist centre of Ukraine. Kerch, founded 2600 years ago, is considered as one of the most ancient cities in Ukraine.-Ancient times:...

on the Crimea

Crimea

Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...

. He subsequently (probably in 968 or 969) destroyed the Khazar capital of Atil

Atil

Atil , literally meaning "Big River", was the capital of Khazaria from the middle of the 8th century until the end of the 10th century. The word is also a Turkic name for the Volga River.-History:...

. A visitor to Atil wrote soon after Sviatoslav's campaign: "The Rus' attacked, and no grape or raisin remained, not a leaf on a branch." Ibn Hawqal

Ibn Hawqal

Muḥammad Abū’l-Qāsim Ibn Ḥawqal was a 10th century Muslim writer, geographer, and chronicler. His famous work, written in 977, is called Ṣūrat al-’Arḍ ....

is the only author who reports the sack of Semender

Samandar (city)

Samandar was a city in Khazaria on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, south of the city of Atil, in the North Caucasus. The exact location of the city is unknown, but most likely, it was situated on the Terek river near the present-day city of Kizlyar, which, like Samandar, is noted for its...

, after which the Rus' departed for "Rûm

Rûm

Rûm, also Roum or Rhum , an indefinite term used at different times in the Muslim world to refer to the Balkans and Anatolia generally, and for the Byzantine Empire in particular, for the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm in Asia Minor, and referring to Greeks living outside of Greece or non-muslims...

and al-Andaluz" .

Sviatoslav's campaign brought the prosperity and independence of Khazaria to an abrupt end. The destruction of Khazar imperial power paved the way for Kievan Rus'

Kievan Rus'

Kievan Rus was a medieval polity in Eastern Europe, from the late 9th to the mid 13th century, when it disintegrated under the pressure of the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240....

to dominate north-south trade routes through the steppe and across the Black Sea

Black Sea

The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

, routes that formerly had been a major source of revenue for the Khazars. Moreover, Sviatoslav's campaigns led to increased Slavic settlement in the region of the Saltovo-Mayaki

Saltovo-Mayaki

Saltovo-Mayaki is the name given by archaeologists to the early medieval culture of the Pontic steppe region roughly between the Don and the Dnieper Rivers. Their culture was a melting pot of Onogur, Khazar, Pecheneg, Magyar, Alan, and Slavic influences...

culture, greatly changing the demographics and culture of the transitional area between the forest and the steppe.

Later expeditions

In 987, Maymun, emir

Emir

Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...

of Derbent

Derbent

Derbent |Lak]]: Чурул, Churul; Persian: دربند; Judæo-Tat: דארבּאנד/Дэрбэнд/Dərbənd) is a city in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, close to the Azerbaijani border. It is the southernmost city in Russia, and it is the second most important city of Dagestan...

, asked the Rus' to help him against local chiefs. The Rus', many of whom appear to have been professional soldiers, arrived on 18 ships. Uncertain of their reception, they sent only one ship to reconnoitre the situation. When its crew were massacred by the local population, the Rus' went on to loot the city of Maskat. In 989, this same Maymun is reported to have refused the demand of a local preacher to turn over his Rus' mercenaries to him for either conversion to Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

or death. In the ensuing struggle, Maymun was driven from the city and forced to surrender the Rus' soldiers, but he returned in 992.

In 1030, the Rus' raided the region of Shirvan; the ruler of Ganja

Ganja, Azerbaijan

Ganja is Azerbaijan's second-largest city with a population of around 313,300. It was named Yelizavetpol in the Russian Empire period. The city regained its original name—Ganja—from 1920–1935 during the first part of its incorporation into the Soviet Union. However, its name was changed again and...

then paid them much money to help suppress a revolt in Beylagan. Afterwards, the Rus' returned home. According to one source, in November 1031 the Rus' returned, but were defeated near Baku and expelled. The year of 1032 saw another Rus' raid into Shirvan; they were joined by the Alans

Alans

The Alans, or the Alani, occasionally termed Alauni or Halani, were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.-Name:The various forms of Alan —...

and Sarir

Sarir

Sarir or Serir was a medieval Christian state lasting from the 5th century to the 12th century in the mountainous regions of modern-day Dagestan. Its name is derived from the Arabic word for "throne" and refers to a golden throne which was viewed as a symbol of royal authority.- Origin :Sarir was...

. Local Muslims defeated the Rus' in 1033. It is unclear to which Rus' grouping these raiders belonged. Omeljan Pritsak

Omeljan Pritsak

Omeljan Pritsak was the first Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History at Harvard University and the founder and first director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute.-Career:Pritsak began his academic career at the University of Lvov in interwar Poland where he...

suggests that they operated out of a base near the Terek estuary and had their principal home in Tmutarakan

Tmutarakan

Tmutarakan was a Mediaeval Russian principality and trading town that controlled the Cimmerian Bosporus, the passage from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov. Its site was the ancient Greek colony of Hermonassa . It was situated on the Taman peninsula, in the present-day Krasnodar Krai of Russia,...

. Pritsak also speculated that the Rus', operating from the Caspian basin, shortly thereafter lent support to the Oghuz

Oghuz Turks

The Turkomen also known as Oghuz Turks were a historical Turkic tribal confederation in Central Asia during the early medieval Turkic expansion....

in a power struggle in Khwarezm

Khwarezm

Khwarezm, or Chorasmia, is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, which borders to the north the Aral Sea, to the east the Kyzylkum desert, to the south the Karakum desert and to the west the Ustyurt Plateau...

.

The legendary saga

Legendary saga

A Legendary saga or Fornaldarsaga is a Norse saga that, unlike the Icelanders' sagas, takes place before the colonization of Iceland. There are some exceptions, such as Yngvars saga víðförla, which takes place in the 11th century...

Yngvars saga víðförla
Yngvars saga víðförla
Yngvars saga víðförla is a legendary saga said to have been written in the twelfth century by Oddr Snorrason. Scholars have been skeptical towards this claim but in recent years it has gained more acceptance....

describes the last expedition of the Vikings into the Caspian, dated to 1041 and possibly connected with the Georgian

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

-Byzantine Battle of Sasireti

Battle of Sasireti

The Battle of Sasireti took place in 1042 at the village of Sasireti in the present day Shida Kartli region, not far from the town of Kaspi, during the civil war in the Kingdom of Georgia...

in which a Varangian force participated around the same time; in the saga much legend is conflated with the historical facts. This expedition was launched from Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

by Ingvar the Far-Travelled

Ingvar the Far-Travelled

Ingvar the Far-Travelled was the leader of an unsuccessful Viking attack against Persia, in 1036–1042.There were several Caspian expeditions of the Rus' in the course of the 10th century...

, who went down the Volga into the land of the Saracens (Serkland
Serkland
In Old Norse sources, such as sagas and runestones, Særkland or Serkland was the name of the Abbasid Caliphate and probably some neighbouring Muslim regions....

in Norse). There are no less than twenty-six Ingvar Runestones

Ingvar Runestones

The Ingvar Runestones is the name of c. 26 Varangian Runestones that were raised in commemoration of those who died in the Swedish Viking expedition to the Caspian Sea of Ingvar the Far-Travelled....

, twenty-three of them being in the Lake Mälaren

Mälaren

Lake Mälaren is the third-largest lake in Sweden, after Lakes Vänern and Vättern. Its area is 1,140 km² and its greatest depth is 64 m. Mälaren spans 120 kilometers from east to west...

region of Uppland

Uppland

Uppland is a historical province or landskap on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic sea...

in Sweden, referring to Swedish warriors who went out with Ingvar on his expedition to the Saracen lands, an expedition whose purpose was probably to reopen old trade routes, now that the Bulgars and the Khazars no longer proved obstacles. A stone to Ingvar’s brother indicates that he went east for gold but that he died in the Saracen land. Afterwards, no attempts were made by the Norsemen to reopen the route between the Baltic

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

and Caspian seas.

Khaqani

Khaqani

Khāqāni or Khāghāni was a Persian poet. He was born in the historical region known as Shirvan , under the Shirvanshah and died in Tabriz, Iran.- Life :Khaqani was born into the family of a carpenter in...

tells about the invasion of Shirvan in 1173 or 1174. In his odes, Khaqani names the Rus' and Khazars, Rus' and Alans, Rus' and Sarir as the invaders. Peter Golden

Peter Benjamin Golden

Peter Benjamin Golden is Professor of History at Rutgers University. He earned his bachelors degree from CUNY Queens College in 1963 and his M.A. and PhD in History from Columbia University in 1968 and 1970, respectively...

argued that the Rus' mentioned by Khaqani were Volga pirates

Ushkuiniks

The ushkuiniks were medieval Novgorodian pirates who led the Viking-like life of fighting, killing, and robbery. Their name derives from "ushkui", a type of flat-bottom medieval Finnish ship Uisko , which could be easily transported over portages between the rivers.Although the Novgorodians took...

who came in 73 ships. Yevgeni Pakhomov

Yevgeni Pakhomov

Yevgeni Alexandrovich Pakhomov was a Russian, Georgian and Azerbaijani numismatist and archaeologist and a recognized authority in the numismatics of the Caucasus....

and Vladimir Minorsky thought the invasion was initiated by the ruler of Darbent, Bek-Bars b. Muzaffar. According to Minorsky, "the initiative of Bek-Bars was independent of Kiev, and he must have used bands of free-lances (бродники

Brodnici

The Brodnici were a 13th-century people whose ethnicity is uncertain, as various authors suggest they were Slavic, mixed Romanian-Jassic, Romanian-Slavic, or Turkic-Slavic population, probably vassals of Galicia for a period. Brodnici did not leave any provable material or written traces, which...

) who were
roaming in the south, as a prototype of the future Cossacks". The shirvanshah

Shirvanshah

Shirvanshah also spelled as Shīrwān Shāh or Sharwān Shāh, was the title in mediaeval Islamic times of an Arab in Ethnos but speedily Persianized dynasty within their culturally Persian environment. The Shirvanshah established a native state in Shirvan...

Ahsitan I turned to the Georgian king, George III

George III of Georgia

Giorgi III , of the Bagrationi dynasty, was king of Georgia from 1156 to 1184. His reign, and that of Tamar, are seen as the 'golden age' of Georgian history, the era of empire, diplomatic success, military triumphs, great learning, cultural, spiritual, and artistic flowering.-Life:He succeeded on...

for aid and a combined army, which also included the future Byzantine emperor Andronikos Komnenos, defeated the invaders and recaptured the fortress of Shabaran. Georgian sources speak of the Khazars, but do not mention Rus' in connection with this event.

Background and early raids

Raid of 913

Raid of 943

Destruction of Khazaria

Later expeditions

See also