Today’s story is about one of the most mysterious rulers of Ukraine-Rus’, who was virtually “lost in the haze of history.”
Prince Oleh of Kyiv was born approximately in 855. Various sources give differing information on the prince’s origins. For example, the Kyivan chronicler Nestor, in his famous Tale of Bygone Years (The Primary Chronicle , 1112), the first study of Rus’ history, writes that in 879 the dying Prince Riuryk of Novhorod handed over the reins of power to his kinsman Oleh and “left him his son Ihor, for he was still very young” (two years old — Author ). More specifically, the Resurrection Chronicle and several others call Oleh the nephew of Riuryk. The well-known Ioachim Chronicle says that Oleh, the Prince of Murom, a wise and bold man, was the brother of Riuryk’s wife Efanda. Meanwhile, the first chronicle of Novhorod simply calls Oleh one of Prince Ihor’s voivodes.
THE BEGINNING OF OLEH’S RULE IN KYIV
After the death of Prince Riuryk of Novhorod, Oleh ruled there for three years. After consolidating his position and forming an army of Varangians and northern tribesmen, he decided to go south down the Volkhov and Dnipro rivers. Nestor the chronicler notes that in 881 the army led by Prince Oleh captured the city of Smolensk and forced the Kryvychians to pay him tribute. Then the prince continued down the Dnipro and after capturing the cities of Liubech and Chernihiv, also imposed tribute on the Siverianians. In 882 Oleh marched on Kyiv, knowing only too well that the city was ruled by princes Askold and Dyr, who had their own courageous army.
Without engaging in a military confrontation, Oleh employed a ruse, which is recounted in The Tale of Bygone Years. Leaving behind his troops, Oleh, with little Ihor in his arms, and a few people landed on the banks of the Dnipro. Hiding armed warriors in tarpaulin-covered boats, he gave word to the Kyivan princes that the Varangian merchants whom the Novhorod prince had dispatched to Greece would like to see them as friends and compatriots. The unsuspecting Askold and Dyr came down to the river bank. Oleh’s warriors instantly surrounded them and Oleh said, “You are not princes because you are of humble origin, while I am a prince,” adding, “Here is the son of Riuryk,” showing them Ihor. The doomed Askold and Dyr were immediately put to death, and Oleh marched victoriously into Kyiv. Frightened by the assassination and the invaders’ mighty force, the city residents recognized him as their legitimate ruler. Captivated by the beauties of Kyiv, the navigable Dnipro, and the possibility of trading or warring with the Greek city of Chersonesus, the Khazarian city of Tauris, Bulgaria, and the Byzantine Empire, Oleh said firmly, “Be it the mother of Rus’ cities!” Following this, the principality’s capital was shifted from Novhorod to Kyiv. After settling in Kyiv and the Polianian lands, the primordial home of the Ukrainians, the wise and gallant Prince Oleh turned his eyes to the neighboring tribes. First, he subjugated the ferocious Derevlianians in 883 and forced them to pay tribute in the form of marten hides. Then he marched on the Siverianians (884), and since they in fact had not resisted, he imposed a smaller tribute on them. In 885 Oleh conquered the neighboring Radimichians, and they agreed to pay the prince the same tribute that they had given to the Khazars — a sheliah (small coin) for each wooden plow. Thus, after capturing a chain of settlements from Kyiv to Novhorod, Oleh put an end to the Khazar khan’s rule in the Vitebsk and Chernihiv lands.
After conquering the north, Oleh turned his eyes southward, where Slavs related to the people of Chernihiv lived on the Dnipro’s left bank. He subjugated them, as well as Podillia, Volhynia, and part of the Kherson region. It should be noted that Oleh’s state was based on simple military principles. The prince’s will reigned supreme, and all power was concentrated in the court of the Kyiv Principality. Oleh began to build new towns, levied taxes on the Slovenes, Krivichians and Meri, and ordered Novhorod to pay the Varangians an annual tribute of 300 hryvnias to keep the peace. Some historians believe that 882 should be considered the year the early feudal state of Rus’- Ukraine was established.
TRADING AND WAR WITH THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
The main commodities that Kyiv traded with the Byzantine Empire and other countries were forest products (honey, furs, dried berries, etc.) from the lands Oleh had seized. To reach the Greek cities, merchants had to follow the well-known and difficult route “from the Varangians to the Greeks”: they had to negotiate more than seven difficult rapids down the Dnipro, disembark from the boats, wade, and drag their cargo through narrow openings in the riverside cliffs. But the dangers of traveling to the Greek lands were not confined to transportation problems: they also had to protect their goods from Pecheneg plunderers. At the same time, the Greeks had a monopoly on trade with all the Black Sea coastal cities and thus tried to slow down trade with Ukraine in their own interests.
In order to force Constantinople to revise its trade policy vis-a-vis the Kyiv Principality, Oleh launched a military expedition to the Byzantine Empire. In 907, after mustering a large army of all the conquered tribes, Oleh placed some of his warriors on 200 ships (40 men in each) and ordered the others to proceed on horseback. The Greeks took refuge in Tsarhorod (Constantinople) and closed the port. Oleh’s troops landed and, destroying churches and buildings on the city outskirts, killed and captured many prisoners. To reach Constantinople as soon as possible, Oleh ordered his soldiers to fit the boats out with wheels and sails. A good tailwind speedily brought the troops to the walls of the Greek capital. Scared by the assault, the Greeks offered a peace proposal to Oleh. Refusing to take the Greek offer of wine and food for fear that they might be poisoned, Oleh demanded indemnities. The two sides began negotiations and Oleh set the following conditions: 1) the Greeks were to pay 12 silver hryvnias to each of his warriors and furnish gifts for the “grand princes” who ruled in Kyiv, Pereyaslav, Liubech, and other large cities of Rus’-Ukraine; 2) the Byzantine emperor was to pay for the Kyivan envoys’ stay in Constantinople; 3) Kyiv merchants traveling to the Byzantine Empire should be provided with bread, meat, fish, wine, and vegetables for a period of six months at the Greeks’ expense; and upon their departure for Kyiv, be provided with food and shipping tackle, such as sails, ropes, anchors, etc.; 4) Oleh promised that his men would do no harm in the Greek land and would thenceforth be passing unarmed through the gates of Constantinople in groups of no more than 50 people under the supervision of imperial officials. They should stay at a predetermined place, near St. Mamant’s Monastery.
These conditions were approved by the two sides, with the Greeks swearing an oath on the cross and the Rus’, on their weapons and to their pagan gods Perun and Veles. The 907 treaty with the Byzantine Empire is considered the Kyivan state’s first diplomatic act. According to the chronicler Nestor, on his way back to Kyiv, Prince Oleh hung his shield on the gates of Constantinople as a symbol of his victorious expedition. He brought back rich booty to Kyiv, including gold, textiles, all kinds of jewelry, wines, and fruit. The Kyivans, astonished by his glory and the treasures he had brought, unanimously named him Oleh the Seer (in other interpretations, the Wise, or Magus).
SECOND TREATY WITH CONSTANTINOPLE
After sending his envoys to the Byzantine Empire in 911, Prince Oleh instructed them to conclude a new, more comprehensive, and legally binding treaty between the Greeks and Rus’-Ukraine. The treaty was signed on Sept. 2, 911. A chronicler noted that the parties to the 911 treaty “confirmed their love in writing not by word of mouth, as before, but took an oath on their weapons, as Rus’ law requires.” The treaty consisted of 10 articles that may be reduced to the following basic provisions: 1) civil and criminal court procedures, 2) crimes against human life and physical integrity, 3) property crimes, such as thefts caught red- handed and robberies, 4) assistance in case of shipwreck, ransoming prisoners, recruiting warriors, and 5) tracking runaway slaves, protection of inheritance, extradition of escaped criminals. The severe but just nature of the treaty articles is reflected in Article 3: “If a Greek murders a Ruthenian or vice versa, the culprit shall be killed on the spot. Should the murderer abscond, his property shall be handed over to the victim’s next of kin.” This treaty helped establish peaceful relations between Kyiv and Constantinople for a long time — about 20 years. The treaties of 907 and 911 are very valuable sources of information about our history, as they present Rus’-Ukraine as a state that was culturally comparable to the Byzantine Empire and had its own political organization and viable legislation. The Russian historian Nikolai Karamzin, commenting on the importance of the 911 treaty for the prestige of the state, wrote, “This treaty shows the Russians [sic] not as savage barbarians but as people who know the sanctity of honor and popular faiths, have their own laws that protect personal security, property, the right of inheritance and will, and who conduct domestic and foreign trade.”
OLEH’S EXPEDITION TO THE CASPIAN SEA
The expansion of commercial relations forced Oleh to look not only to the West but also the East: merchant caravans laden with Eastern goods continued to arrive in Rus’-Ukraine from Turkestan, Persia, and even Arabia. Some historians believe that, in pursuit of his Eastern trade policy, Oleh sought to strengthen his merchants’s position not only in the Black Sea region but also on the Caspian Sea coast. First, he tried to do away with the Khazars and clear the way for his merchants to the Far East. (Some foreign sources claim, however, that Oleh routed the Khazar Khaganate only to plunder the latter). For instance, the Arab writer Massouda describes the great expedition of Oleh’s troops. The prince’s flotilla of 500 ships (100 men in each) had moved from the Don to the Volga. Khazar guards tried to stop this advance, but Oleh’s warriors promised to give them half of their Caspian Sea booty, which the Khazars accepted. As soon as the Ruthenians went out to sea, they began to destroy the coastal cities and reached the very “oil land” (Baku). The local residents, who for many years had been accustomed to seeing peaceful merchants and fishermen rather than armed warriors, were terrified. Muslims who tried to resist the mighty military force were killed, and their wives and children were captured as spoils of war. The Ruthenians thus held sway on the Caspian Sea coast for several months.
On the way home up the same river, Oleh’s warriors gave half their booty to the Khazar Khanate, which was ready to let the Ruthenians pass freely on their return home. However, the local Muslim population rose up in arms in an attempt to take revenge for their calamities. The prince’s warriors disembarked and boldly engaged in a battle against the Khazars. The fighting lasted three days, and the Khazars, who had cavalry and good weapons, finally defeated Oleh’s regiments, killing thousands of Ruthenians. The rest fled the battlefield, only to be killed by neighboring peoples. This was the tragic end of Prince Oleh’s Caspian expedition.
LEGENDS ABOUT OLEH’S DEATH
As Nestor the chronicler writes in The Tale of Bygone Years, magi predicted that the prince’s death would come from his favorite horse. From then on, Oleh refused to ride it. Four years later, in springtime, Oleh recalled the prophecy, and learning that the horse had died long ago, laughed at the magi and decided to view the bones. He stepped on the horse’s skull and said, “Am I to fear him?” But there was a snake lurking in the skull: it bit the prince and the hero died. Alexander Pushkin used this legend of Prince Oleh’s death in his poem “The Song of Oleh the Seer.” Ruthenian chroniclers attribute different dates to Oleh’s death from snakebite. For instance, Nestor indicates the year 912, while a later redaction of the Novhorod Chronicle states 922. Different sources say that Oleh was buried either in Kyiv on Shchekavytsi Hill, near Lake Ladoga, or somewhere overseas. In all probability, preference should be given to what The Primary Chronicle says. Moreover, it is a proven historical fact that, on orders from Prince Yaroslav the Wise, a descendant of Oleh’s, his bones were disinterred, blessed, and reburied under Desnianska Church. Describing the aftermath of Oleh’s demise, Nestor notes that “the people groaned and shed tears” when they heard the news. This confirms that Prince Oleh the Seer not only terrified his enemies but also enjoyed the love of his subjects. Concluding these notes on the life of Kyiv’s Prince Oleh, I would like to recall a well-known quatrain by Vladimir Vysotsky:
Everybody tries to revile the magi,
But why not heed them after all?
Had Oleg heeded,
He would have nailed one more shield
On the gates of Tsargrad.
