They drove away the Pechenegs. Then, they dominated the Bulgarians. They kept the Byzantines in check, and ravaged the Kyivan Rus’ as well. These warriors from the Ponto-Caspian Steppe and Altai Mountains created the largest Turkic state during the High Middle Ages, larger even than the Seljuk Empire, and initiated the grandest era in both Turkic and Steppe history. Yet, their history is neither as linear nor as black-and-white as you might think.

                                         Meet the Cumans and Kipchaks.