What religion were the Pechenegs?

The ruling elite spoke Iranian, whereas most of the population spoke Turkic with a significant admixture of Hunno-Bulgar elements. By the time the Pechenegs had arrived in Ukraine, they were familiar with various religions, including Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam.

What language did the Pechenegs speak?

Turkic language
Pecheneg is an extinct Turkic language spoken by the Pechenegs in Eastern Europe (parts of Southern Ukraine, Southern Russia, Moldova, Romania and Hungary) in the 7th–12th centuries. Byzantine princess Anna Komnene asserts that the Pechenegs and Cumans spoke the same language.

What happened to pecheneg?

After centuries of fighting involving all their neighbours—the Byzantine Empire, Bulgaria, Kievan Rus’, Khazaria, and the Magyars—the Pechenegs were annihilated as an independent force in 1091 at the Battle of Levounion by a combined Byzantine and Cuman army under Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.

Where is Cumania?

Later, for a short time period, in Western sources Cumania also referred to the area in eastern Wallachia and southern Ukraine (centered on the lowlands of Budjak and the Bărăgan Plain), referring to the area where the first contact between the Cumans and the Western Christians took place, and where, later, the Cumans …

Where did the Pechenegs come from?

The Pechenegs or Patzinaks were a semi-nomadic Turkic people from Central Asia speaking the Pecheneg language which belonged to the Oghuz branch of Turkic language family. Three of the ruling clans of the Pechenegs were the Kankalis/Kangli.

What kind of government did the Pecheneg have?

The Pecheneg regime was a kind of military democracy, in which all important decisions were made by a general council. The kagan’s seat and the council’s meeting place were probably located in the Ros River Valley. Until 1036 the Pechenegs had an estimated population of 2.8 to 3 million.

Did the Pechenegs and Cumans speak the same language?

Anna Komnene likewise stated that the Pechenegs and the Cumans shared a common language. Although the Pecheneg language itself died out centuries ago, the names of the Pecheneg “provinces” recorded by Constantine Porphyrogenitus prove that the Pechenegs spoke a Turkic language.

How many warriors did the Pechenegs have?

Each of the 40 districts provided a division of 10,000 mounted warriors. They were masters of lightning mounted maneuvers and were renowned for their art of fighting from fortified wagon encampments. The Pecheneg regime was a kind of military democracy, in which all important decisions were made by a general council.