Ugandi (
Latin:
Ungannia or
Ugaunia;
Latvian:
Ugaunija;
Low German:
Uggn) was an
independent country between the east coast of Lake
Võrtsjärv and west coast of
Lake Pskov, bordered by
Vaiga,
Mõhu,
Nurmekund,
Sakala,
Latgale, and The
Principality of Pskov. Ugandi had an area of approximately 3000
hides. Ugandi corresponded roughly to the present
Estonia's territory of
Tartu County,
Põlva County,
Võru County and half of
Valga County.
The county was first mentioned in print by
Henry of Livonia After the Northern crusades it became
Bishopric of Dorpat. In
Latvian:
Igaunija (
Ugaunija is the Latvian name for the Ugaunia county) is still the modern national name for
Estonia. The name
Ugandi is derived by associating "Ugaunia" with the name of
Uandimägi Hill near
Otepää. An alternate theory proposes that the name "Ugaunia" could have been derived from the
Slavic language word "Ug", meaning "South" (cf.
Yugoslavia). The power center of Ugandi is believed to have been in the fortified stronghold of
Odenpeh (
Ugaunian for "bear's head";
Latin: "Caput Ursi",
Russian: "Medvezh'ya Golova") in present-day Linnamägi Hill in the town of Otepää. The hill is indeed shaped like a head of a bear, thought to have been a holy animal for
Ugaunians. Another important Ugaunian stronghold was
Tarbatu by the river
Emajõgi (literally, "Mother River"). It was erected around 600 AD on the east side of Toome Hill (Toomemägi) in what is today
Tartu. Due to its location, Ugandi always bore the brunt of
East Slavs' attacks against
Chudes, as they called Finnic peoples around their North-Eastern boundaries.
History
In 1030 the town of
Tarbatu in Ugandi was conquered by
Kievan Prince
Yaroslav I the Wise who forced the local people to pay annual tribute; as well, he established his own fort there and named it
Yuryev (literally "Yury's" - Yury being Yaroslav's Christian name). Kievan rule of Tarbatu may have lasted 30 years until 1061, when, according to
Old East Slavic chronicles, Tarbatu/Yuryev was burned down by
Sosols (probably
Sackalians, or the
Œselians the people of
Saaremaa (Ösel) or
Soopoolitse). In modern Estonian literature, the province of Ugaunia is called
Ugandi or
Ugala. In
Latvian, the country of Estonia is still called
Igaunija after Ugaunians, their ancient warlike neighbors. In
Estonian folklore, Ugaunians (
ugalased) are enemy warriors and robbers. For example, a folk song from
Viljandi calls for speeding up the harvest work because Ugaunians might attack.
"Ugalane" has also been used as a disparaging word for an unsophisticated country person. Rulers of
Novgorod Republic and
Principality of Pskov made frequent raids against Ugaunians in the 12th century but never succeeded to subjugate them. Fort Bear's Head was conquered in 1116 and 1193, Tharbata in 1134 and 1192. Ugaunians themselves made several raids against Pskov.
At the beginning of the 13th century, a new powerful enemy appeared. German crusaders had established a foothold at the mouth of the
Daugava river and started to expand and christen local tribes. The Ugaunians' southern neighbors, the
Latgalians (or
Letts), saw the crusaders as potential allies against their traditional adversaries. The Ugaunians wanted to continue the truce with their new neighbors, but the crusaders had a list of preconditions. They demanded that the Ugaunians pay reparation for an old incident. Many years ago the Ugaunians, upon the advice of the Livonians, had robbed a caravan of German merchants by the Daugava river. In 1207 the crusaders sent a priest called Alabrand to Ugaunia to demand compensation, but did not receive an answer. Next year the Letts and
Teutonic Knights sent a new delegation to Ugaunia and returned with Ugaunian envoys. Ugaunians were offered "eternal peace" if they accept Christianity and return everything they had robbed from Germans and Letts. Ugaunians refused and left, threatening the Letts with "very sharp lances". The crusaders and Letts went to war against Ugaunians. They burned Odenpeh and returned with captives and booty. Ugaunians and Sackalians retaliated, raided territories of the Letts and burned their worst enemies alive. The Livonians and the Bishop of Riga wanted peace and sent the priest Alabrand to Odenpeh to negotiate. Alabrand used the gathering of Ugaunians to preach the Christianity to them. Some pagan Ugaunians wanted to kill him because of his preaching, but his status as the messenger of the bishop protected him. Ugaunians made peace with the Bishop of Riga, the leader of the
Livonian Crusade.
In 1210 the Novgorodian prince
Mstislav the Bold and his brother, Vladimir the Prince of
Polatsk sent an army against Ugaunians. They besieged Odenpeh and fought there for eight days. Defenders of the fort suffered a shortage of food and water and were forced to ask for peace. Ugaunians had to accept Orthodox baptism and pay a tribute of 400 "nogata" marks. (
Nogat or
nahad is Estonian word for pelts). The same summer Ugaunians of Odenpeh surrendered to crusader commander Bertold of
Wenden. Ugaunians continued to raid Lettish territories. Wars between Ugaunians and Letts lasted the whole decade. The elders of Ugaunians and Letts had deep personal feuds. When Ugaunians captured
Thalibald of Tricatea (
:et:Talibald,
:lv:Tālivaldis) in 1215 and burned him alive, his sons burned alive all Ugaunian men they could catch to avenge. They also tortured Ugaunians to force them to show hiding places in the woods. When all Ugaunian provinces were burnt down, the people still alive sent messengers to Riga, asking for peace and promised to receive baptism. They told that all who had been involved in the robbery of German merchants had already been killed. The priests Otto and Peter Kakuwalda were sent to baptize them. Hearing about that, prince Vladimir of Pskov attacked Ugaunians. Ugaunians and German crusaders fortified Odenpeh and avenged Russians, raiding lands of Pskov and Novgorod. After that Ugaunians went with crusaders, Livonians and Letts against Estonian pagan provinces
Jerwia and
Vironia. Prince
Vladimir of Pskov sent messengers through all of Estonia to besiege Germans and Ugaunians at Odenpeh. Harrians and Oeselians came and even already baptized Sackalians. While troops of 20000 of
Novgorodians and
Œselians attacked Odenpeh, Ugaunians alongside with crusaders made raids against Novgorod, Vironians and
Votians.
In 1220 Ugaunians rebelled against the Germans. Sackalians sent bloody swords with which they had killed Germans to Ugaunians of Tharbata and Odenpeh. In Tharbata they decided by lot whether to
sacrifice to the gods an ox or their priest
Hartwig, who was equally fat. Lucklily for the priest, the lot fell upon the
ox. Ugaunians decided to side with Novgorodians. Russian princes of Pskov, Novgorod and Suzdal sent huge troops of 20000 men to Ugaunia. The people of Tharbata sent them large gifts and Odenpeh welcomed them too. The Russians left
Vetseke as their prince to rule Ugaunians and any other Estonian province around he could gathered tax from. In 1224 crusaders retook all provinces in mainland Estonia. After casting lot, bishop
Hermann of Buxhoeveden was given rule over Ugaunia while Sackala was given to the order. Odenpeh was happy over the rule of bishop Hermann but Tharbata was still ruled by Vetseke and his
Ruthenians. Later that year however, Tharbata was conquered and all its Ugaunian and
Ruthenian defenders killed. Bishop Hermann started to fortify Odenpeh and Tharpata. He chose Tharbata/Dorpat to be his residence. Bishop Hermann and his Ugaunian subjects fought frequently against Novgorod and were defeated by prince
Alexander Nevsky in the
Battle on Lake Peipus in 1242. Ugaunia became subsequently known as the
Bishopric of Dorpat.
See also
