István Vásáry, Cumans and Tatars Oriental Military in the Pre-Ottoman Balkans, 1185–1365, Cambridge 2005
This overview is devoted to István Vásáry’s monograph Cumans and Tatars: Oriental Military in the Pre-Ottoman Balkans, 1185–1365. István Vásáry has been working as a Professor of Turkic Studies at the Loránd Eötvös University (ELTE) in Budapest since 1996. He is a Full Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. István Vásáry was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. and served two terms as Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, University of Oxford. From 1991 to 1995, Professor Vásáry was the Ambassador of the Republic of Hungary to Ankara (Turkey), from 1999 to 2003 – Ambassador of the Republic of Hungary to Tehran (Iran). Besides the book in question, he is the author of the following monographs: Oriental Military: Cumans and Tatars in the Balkans, 1185-1365 (Cambridge, 2005); Turks, Tatars and Russians in the 13th–16th Centuries (Variorum Collected Studies Series), (Ashgate, 2007).
The book under examination covers the period between 1185 and 1365 and has to do with the history of two nomadic peoples, namely the Cumans and the Tatars. The monograph has an introduction, nine chapters, and a conclusion. In the introduction, the author briefly talks about the historical past of the nomads in question. He also includes some information on the usage of the ethnonyms Quman and Tatar and states that the potential for their usage in ethnic history is quite limited as they are primarily political names referring to the leading, integrating tribe or clan of the confederacy or state. Prof. Vásáry also gives an overview of the five Byzantine narrative sources that, according to him, are basic for the epoch. At the same time, the historian omits the introduction of all the other sources that he utilises throughout the book, including Arabic and Latin ones, as well as numismatic and other material evidence that is mentioned.
Chapter 2 presents data on the late twelfth century. Vásáry also surveys the Byzantine-Bulgarian wars during the first twenty years of the Second Bulgarian Empire, laying special emphasis on the presence and role of the Cumans in the Bulgarians’ fight for independence. In chapter 3, the historian deals with the consequences of the great Tatar campaign in Eastern Europe in 1236. Volga Bulgaria was demolished in 1236, and the Tatar war machine crushed the Cuman principalities in the southern steppe region one by one. A large-scale westward migration of the Cumans began. Chapter 4 proceeds to describe the first phase of the Tatar influence characterised by the ever-growing power of Nogay, lord of the westernmost territories of the Golden Horde, which ended with the death of Michael VIII in 1282. In Chapter 5, the author continues to show how Tatar influence consistently evolved and then faded in the Balkans.
Chapter 6 narrates the Serbian history in connection to the Cumans. According to the historian, Cuman auxiliaries must have been present in Serbia on different sides of the fighting factions from the 1270s. In chapter 7, the author talks about the fates of the Cumans in the Byzantine military after the Tatar invasion. Vásáry notes that hiring Cumans had great advantages for the Byzantines: the Cumans lived within the confines of the empire, but in return for the lands they had obtained from the emperor they could be obliged to fight – which they also did voluntarily, being warlike nomads. Additionally, the historian also provides his readers with a whole case study of one Cuman family coming to Byzantium: the Syrgiannes. Chapter 7 will be especially useful to Byzantine military historians, as it contains valuable data on the ethnic composition and fluctuations of the Byzantine troops over the course of the thirteenth century. Chapter 8 goes on to discuss the topic of the Tatar power, which was also considered in the chapter 5, covering the period of its decline, namely 1320–1354. Finally, the last chapter of the book provides the reader with some data on the history of Moldavia and Wallachia, tracing the role the Cumans played in these states and after 1242 in general. Professor Vásáry concludes the book by underlining the impact the Cumans’ and the Tatars’ presence in the Balkans had on the political, military, and ethnic history of the region and pointing out some prospects in this field of research.
The value of this book lies with the fact that it offers a comprehensive and quite detailed overview of such a complex issue as the fate of the nomadic groups that shaped the history of the Balkans and Byzantium for a long period of time. The historian pedantically traces every mention of the Cumans and the Tatars as well as employs a large number of material and textual sources written in various languages. He also describes three main types of social roles the Cumans and the Tatars were fulfilling, namely, the nobility of said origin, hired auxiliary troops, and a threat (primarily because of the effectiveness of their light cavalry). The research, however, would considerably benefit if there were no occasional repetitions and logical loops.
The monograph is essential for researchers of the history of the Byzantine Empire and the Balkans from the twelfth to the fourteenth century and especially so for military history specialists. The study is crucial for specialists as the author not only compiled a comprehensive dossier on both nomadic groups but also outlined how the Cumans and the Tatars were incorporated into the life of the Balkan Peninsula. Although the book is fascinating and full of curious historical anecdotes, the peculiarity of the topic could discourage those not specializing in the era from reading it.