PechenegsThe Pechenegs (ˈpɛtʃənɛɡ) or Patzinaks were a semi-nomadic Turkic people from Central Asia who spoke the Pecheneg language. The Pechenegs were mentioned as Bjnak, Bjanak or Bajanak in medieval Arabic and Persian texts, as Be-ča-nag in Classical Tibetan documents, and as Pačanak-i in works written in Georgian. Anna Komnene and other Byzantine authors referred to them as Patzinakoi or Patzinakitai. In medieval Latin texts, the Pechenegs were referred to as Pizenaci, Bisseni or Bessi.
Volga BulgariaVolga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria was a historical Bulgar state that existed between the 9th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now European Russia. Volga Bulgaria was a multi-ethnic state with large numbers of Bulgars, Volga Finns, Varangians and many East Slavs. Its strategic position allowed it to create a local trade monopoly with Norse, Cumans, and Pannonian Avars. The origin of the early Bulgars is still unclear.
Turkic peoplesThe Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West, Central, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages. According to historians and linguists, the Proto-Turkic language originated in Central-East Asia, potentially in Altai-Sayan region, Mongolia or Tuva. Initially, Proto-Turkic speakers were potentially both hunter-gatherers and farmers, but later became nomadic pastoralists.
RomaniansThe Romanians (români, roˈmɨnj; dated exonym Vlachs) are a Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Romanian culture and ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they live primarily in Romania and Moldova. The 2021 Romanian census found that just under 89.3% of Romania's citizens identified themselves as ethnic Romanians. In one interpretation of the 1989 census results in Moldova, the majority of Moldovans were counted as ethnic Romanians in this country as well.
Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus'The Mongol Empire invaded and conquered Kievan Rus' in the mid-13th century, destroying numerous cities including the largest such as Kiev (50,000 inhabitants) and Chernigov (30,000 inhabitants). The Mongol siege and sack of Kiev in 1240 is generally held to mark the end of Kievan Rus'. Many other major Rus' principalities and urban centres in the northwest escaped destruction or suffered little to no damage from the Mongol invasion, including the Novgorod Republic, Pskov, Smolensk, Polotsk, Vitebsk, and probably Rostov and Uglich.
Giovanni da Pian del CarpineGiovanni da Pian del Carpine or Carpini (Iohannes de Plano Carpini, anglicised as John of Plano Carpini; 1185 – 1 August 1252) was a medieval Italian diplomat, archbishop and explorer and one of the first Europeans to enter the court of the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. He is the author of the earliest important Western account of northern and Central Asia, Rus', and other regions of the Mongol dominion. He was the Primate of Serbia, based in Antivari, from 1247 to 1252.
Altai RepublicThe Altai Republic (ˈæltaɪ; Altay Respublika; Алтай Республикасы; Respublika Altay, rjɪˈspubljɪkə ɐlˈtaj), also known as Gorno-Altai Republic, and colloquially, and primarily referred to in Russian to distinguish from the neighbouring Altai Krai as the Gornyi Altai (Горный Алтай), is a republic of Russia located in southern Siberia. It is a part of the Siberian Federal District, and covers an area of ; with a population of 210,924 residents. It is the least-populous republic of Russia and least-populous federal subject in the Siberian Federal District.
Mongol invasion of EuropeFrom the 1220s into the 1240s, the Mongols conquered the Turkic states of Volga Bulgaria, Cumania and Iranian state of Alania, and various principalities in Eastern Europe. Following this, they began their invasion into Central Europe by launching a two-pronged invasion of then-fragmented Poland, culminating in the Battle of Legnica (9 April 1241), and the Kingdom of Hungary, culminating in the Battle of Mohi (11 April 1241).
Bihor CountyBihor County (biˈhor) is a county (județ) in western Romania. With a total area of , Bihor is Romania's 6th largest county geographically and the main county in the historical region of Crișana. Its capital city is Oradea. The origin of the name Bihor is uncertain, except that it likely takes its name from an ancient fortress in the current commune of Biharia. It possibly came from vihor, the Serbian and Ukrainian word for "whirlwind" (вихор), or Slavic biela hora, meaning "white mountain".
VlachsVlach (pronˈvlɑːx or ˈvlæk), also Wallachian (and many other variants), is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe — south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula) and north of the Danube. The same name is still used in Polish(Włochy, Włosi, włoskie) and Hungarian (Olasz, Olaszország, Olasz) as an exonym for Italy, Italians and Italians, while in Slovakian (Vlasi), Czech (Vlachy) and Slovenian (Laško, Láh, Láhinja, laško) it was replaced with the endonym Italia.
