Könchek (Cuman)
Könchek was a Polovtsian khan of 12th century.Biography
Respectively son and grandson of the khans Otrok and Sharukan, he unifies in the second half of the 12th century the polovts tribes of the east and made in the years 1170 and 1180 the war against Russian princes; taking advantage of their dissensions, he attacked the principalities of Kiev, Pereïaslavl and Chernigov. His raids were particularly destructive along the Sula River.
In 1171, Könchek allies with the prince of Novhorod-Siverskyi Oleg II Svyatoslavich, in fight against the other Russian princes but in 1184, during an attack led against the principality of Kiev, his troops was beaten near the Khorol River by the prince Sviatoslav III. The following year, Könchek defeats the prince Igor Svyatoslavich who is taken prisoner near the Kaiala River. This unfortunate campaign of Prince Igor against Könchek will become the subject of an epic poem, The Tale of Igor's Campaign .
Könchek died in 1187. His daughter Svoboda married in 1188 Vladimir III Igorevich, son of Prince Igor. In 1203, his son Yuri took Kiev as an ally of the prince Rurik Rostislavich who, chased from Kiev, recruited Polovtses to regain power.
