Caspian Expeditions of The Rus' - Raid of 943

Raid of 943

The second large-scale campaign is dated to 943, when Igor was the supreme leader of the Rus', according to the Primary Chronicle. During the 943 expedition, the Rus' rowed up the Kura River, deep into the Caucasus, defeated the forces of Marzuban bin Muhammad, and captured Barda, the capital of Arran. The Rus' allowed the local people to retain their religion in exchange for recognition of their overlordship; it is possible that the Rus' intended to settle permanently there. According to ibn Miskawaih, the local people broke the peace by stone-throwing and other abuse directed against the Rus', who then demanded that the inhabitants evacuate the city. This ultimatum was rejected, and the Rus' began killing people and holding many for ransom. The slaughter was briefly interrupted for negotiations, which soon broke down. The Rus' stayed in Barda for several months, using it as a base for plundering the adjacent areas, and amassed substantial spoils.

The city was saved only by an outbreak of dysentery among the Rus'. Ibn Miskawaih writes that the Rus' "indulged excessively in the fruit of which there are numerous sorts there. This produced an epidemic among them . . . and their numbers began thereby to be reduced." Encouraged by the epidemic among the Rus', the Muslims approached the city. The Rus', their chief riding on a donkey, made an unsuccessful sally after which they lost 700 warriors, but evaded encirclement and retreated to the Barda fortress, where they were besieged by the Muslims. Exhausted by the disease and the siege, the Rus' "left by night the fortress in which they had established their quarters, carrying on their backs all they could of their treasure, gems, and fine raiment, boys and girls as they wanted, and made for the Kura River, where the ships in which they had issued from their home were in readiness with their crews, and 300 Russes whom they had been supporting with portions of their booty." The Muslims then exhumed from the Rus' graves the weapons that had been buried beside the warriors.

George Vernadsky proposed that Oleg of Novgorod was the donkey-riding chief of the Rus' who attacked Barda. Vernadsky identified Oleg with Helgu, a figure mentioned in the Schechter Letter. According to that document, Helgu went to Persia by boat and died there after a failed attack on Constantinople in 941. On the other hand, Lev Gumilev, drawing on the name of the Rus' leader (as recorded in Arabian sources), hypothesizes that this leader was Sveneld, a Varangian chieftain whose wealth was noted in the Primary Chronicle under 945.