The Earliest History of the Pechenegs

Tür:

Kitap Bölümü

Yazar:

Aleksander Paroń; Thomas Anessi

Yayın yılı:

2021

Yayıncı:

BRILL

The Problem of EthnogenesisVery little is known about the origins of the Pechenegs.Those seeking to ascertain the time, place, and manner of their ethnogenesis have to rely on indirect data.Like most nomadic peoples, the Pechenegs first appear in the sources only after they attain a significant degree of political importance.No legendary version of their origo has survived, so researchers can offer only hypotheses about their origins.These hypotheses are often based on similarities between their ethnonym and that of another group found in the sources.This was the case with Paul Pelliot's equating the Pechenegs with the Pei-ju (Beiru) people, who appear in the Book of Sui (Suí Shū), the official history of the Sui dynasty in China (581-618), written under the direction of Wei Zheng in 629-636.1In it the Pei-ju are listed as part of the T'ie-lê (Tiele) confederation, which was based in the lands east of Fu-lin (Byzantium) and probably as far west as the Caspian Sea.2While this identification has been recognized by some researchers,3 it is not universally accepted.4In addition to philological doubts, historical premises also seem to speak against Pelliot's hypothesis.According to the information in the Book of Sui, the Pei-ju ought to be based in the Black Sea or Black Sea-Caspian steppe, and thus within Constantinople's sphere of interest.Therefore, if the Pechenegs were actually a tribe of the T'ie-lê confederation, they would most probably have been recorded in Byzantine h…

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