"List of Rus’ towns": clear and unclear
Nicholas Zharkikh
Mea mors – tua vita
"My death is your life." Such a laconic inscription, understandable even without translation, can be read on of the ancient battle near the town Komarno in the Lviv region. Nowadays, during the great war for the independence of Ukraine against the Rotten Straw Horde, these words become particularly acute. Yes, my life (like that of millions of Ukrainians) and the opportunity to work continues solely thanks to the heroic sacrifice of our soldiers, who tirelessly destroy the Moscow locust and bear bloody sacrifices.
A low bow to our warriors of light!
The article "A se imena vsem gradom ruskym dalnym i blyzhnym" (List of Rus’ towns, hereinafter abbreviated SRG), which accompanies some Great Russian chronicles of the 15th and 16th centuries, has long attracted the attention of researchers, but (in my opinion) still contains many mysteries. In this work, I will try to ask some questions about SRG and, if possible, give answers to them.
, that the Rotten Straw Horde in six months (from October 1, 2023 to March 29, 2024) managed to seize 505 square km of the territory of Ukraine. It cost for Horde 162,220 cattle (440,790 – 278,570), 2,220 tanks (6,922 – 4,702) and 31 aircraft (347 – 316). And if cattle is not particularly valuable, then tanks and especially airplanes, even if they are made of rotten straw, are materially valuable! (March 29, 2024 at 8:07 am).
I developed the methodology for working out the lists of geographical names using the example of the jarlyks of the Crimean khans [Zharkikh N. I. Geography of Crimean jarlyks of the 15th and 16th centuries. – Kyiv: 2024; also Zharkikh N. I. "List of Švitrigaila’s towns": order and disorder. – Kyiv: 2024] and I will use it now.
A short conclusion
"List of Rus’ towns" was compiled in the Great Novgorod in the 2nd quarter of the 15th century. It was an attempt to create a geographical encyclopedia of Rus’ lands – an attempt that stopped at the initial stage of work. The SRG does not reflect the state of the Rus’ lands on a certain date – it includes materials from the 11th to the 1st half 15th century. It is not possible to specify a single year when all the mentioned objects existed at the same time. In terms of political geography, data from different times and different political systems are mixed in the SRG; it cannot be thought that it reflects the political geography of Eastern Europe at the time of its compilation. The SRG is made up of parts of very different quality and different levels of competence. It contains not only real towns (fortified settlements), but also villages, uninhabited tracts, and rivers. SRG is an interesting, but difficult to understand, useful source for the historical geography and history of science of its time.
During the time when this work was being written, from March 29 to October 4, 2024, the Rotten Straw Horde lost 217,150 livestock in Ukraine ( – 440790, + 34 % compared to the previous 6 months), 1986 tanks (8908 – 6922, -11 %) and 21 aircraft (368 – 347, -32 %). Muscovites have to save military equipment, because it is of material value and can suddenly run out, and cattle – I repeat – does not have any value, it can be driven more and more.
And all this is not counting the losses on the territory of the Horde itself, in Syria, in Africa and on other fronts of the war against the evil empire.
In Kyiv, March 29 – October 4, 2024.
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