Origin of the name Poltava
Even in ancient times it was thought that to choose the name of a person - is the same as to choose her fate. Deep sacred and aesthetic content was put into names, they sparkled with beauty and imagination, wisdom and love of free folk soul. Still it was believed that they can influence the character and life carrier, even change fate.
That is why the girl who had blonde hair, got the name Svitlana (svitly - blond). If many villagers came to
greet the happy couple with the birth of daughter, she was given the name Ludmyla (lyd - people, myla - loved), that people loved, lovely. There are names that embody the love of the parents to God who sent their child, and through appropriate name will take care about it (Bohumyl (Bog(h) - God, myl - loved), Bohuslav (slav - praise), Bogdan (dan - given), Bogodar (dar - gift)), as well as suggestions for future positive character traits to your child (Dobroslav (dobro - good, slav - praise), Dobromysl, Dobrinja ).
A similar situation with the names of various settlements of Ukraine. But hundreds and thousands of years of history often hide from us the causes, conditions and circumstances that influenced the emergence of the name of a city or village. In the beginning people were interested in the names of their settlements. This is evidenced not only by records, which often explain causes (mostly legendary) of emergence of city, but even by earlier written and oral retellings of many nations.
Among the names of towns and villages there is a lot of opaque, incomprehensible to us today. They were tried to be explained, interpret - so appeared legends and stories which go not from historical events to a word-name, but vice versa - from names nowadays to the history, usually fictional.
Origin of the name Poltava also cloaked in the veil of mystery. There are several versions of the origin, each in its own interest.
In Old Ipatievsky chronicles there is first mention of a settlement on the site of modern Poltava called "Ltava" occurs the year 682 by the Byzantine calendar from the so-called creation of the world by God. This calendar has existed here since the end of X cent., since the adoption of Christianity in Kyiv Rus and finally replaced by the modern calendar from Christmas January 1, 1700 (year 7208).
Many scientists have transferred this date from the calendar since creation of the world to our modern calendar of Christmas. So was set the date of first literary mention of Poltava - 1174.
This year Prince Igor Seversky Svyatoslavovych pursuing hordes of Polovtsi khans Kobyak and Konchak, crossed the Vorskla near Ltava and moved towards Pereyaslav, where his wife defeated polovtsians.
Some scientists believe that the city's name derives from the name of Poltava rivulet Ltava (Po-Ltava) Vorskla's right tributary that flowed trough Mazurivsky ravine to Podil (1950-ies Ltava was taken in pipes, and she now runs underground).
Poltava historician L. Padalka first put forward the theory of origin of the modern city name from the words "plot (raft)", "plesty (weave)", "pletin' - (wicker fence)", which meant the reinforcement, braided fence, but later concluded that the name was of Scythian-Sarmatian roots.
The Scythians and Sarmatians lived in our territory for centuries and left on Ukrainian territory about 600 place-names, including the name of the river Vorskla, which means "white water".
Maybe, Ltava, Oltava of Scythian and Sarmatian Iranian origin. In Orientalism, the words "ol", "ul" means "town", "settlement." But the word "Tawi" in Georgian and Ossetian (and Ossetians are descendants of the Scythians and Sarmatians) means "source of the river". So, translated into Ukrainian, this name might mean "settlement near the source of the river", "a town on the mountain". Similar names appear on the way of the Scythians and Sarmatians, who during the Great Migration came to the West, Central and Western Europe.
In another version, the name Poltava can be ukrainized form of ancient Bulgarian name Baltavar. In recent decades, thanks to research of scientists became known that during the time when the Ukrainian lands were inhabited by poly-tribal state-political comunity called Great Bulgaria, on the modern Poltava there already was a settlement in the VII century. The most flourishing development acquired Great Bulgaria by Khan-ruler Kubrat who since 619 was coruler of his uncle Organa, and since 620 to the end of 60-years of VII century AD - an independent ruler.
Kubrat shifted the capital from the Azov Sea region to the Dnieper Basin territory, and the place to have a rest after the fighting was his residence, which was in the village Baltavar on the territory of present-day Poltava. From the strategic point of view it was a great place to relax: the hills, forests and rivers. The name "Baltavar" translated from ancient Bulgarian means "ruler", it might later have been saved by local residents, slightly altered for ease of pronunciation.
Kubrat - ruler of Great Bulgaria and the first known ruler of our city in those days - was a highly educated man of his time. In the year 619 Kubrat became Christian and got high rank of patrician. Ancient Bulgarians knew Turkic, Alanian languages together with Slavic. Since Kubrat studied and lived for many years at the court of the Byzantine emperor, where Latin was dominant and later Greek, he lernt them.
In Kubrat's tomb in 1912, archaeologists found near the village Mala Pereshchepyna, Poltava province, gold and silver vessels IV-VII centuries AD of Byzantine and Persian origin weighing about 75 kg. This richest treasure on the European territory of the Middle Ages is kept in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
In 1238-1239 the Mongol-Tatar hordes of Batu Khan conquered the Middle Dniper region, destroyed many towns. Arguably, then the Mongol invaders destroyed also Ltava for quite a long time about her there was no information.
The modern name of our city was recorded during the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. According to the Lithuanian-Ruthenian documents, in 1430 the Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas gave Poltava, Hlyns'k and Hlynytsya (Opishnya) his vassal - Tatar mirzas Leksanda Mansurksanovych.
In the XVII century from 1648 Poltava became the center of Poltava regiment - part of the Cossack army. In the battle against the Polish nobility Poltava colonel Martyn Pushkar glorified his name and city of Poltava - blood brother and confederate of Bohdan Khmelnytsky.
And observant people, probably more than once observed about themselves, how conformable names of rivers Ltava in Poltava and Vltava in Prague (do not forget about Lviv Poltva!). According to pholologist Stanislav Hubernachuk, the word "Ltava" is akin to the word "lyty - to pour"! "Ltava" - this "is that poured, pour, is pouring"!!! "Ltava" or even "lytava, latava" - an old synonym for "river - flowing river", perhaps earlier, which was displaced for some reason then with a new word "river". Therefore, we must seek connection of words "Poltava,"Poltva" and similar to them in content and sound with the word "lyty".
There turned out to be a lot of such, such words are: "plotva (roach)" - river fish, "plotyna (dam)" - river dam, "plot - (raft,life rafts)" - from "po lytomu, on Ltava" - floating equipment,"plytko" - also from "po lytomu" - where is not deeply, perhaps the same phrase can mean "water of the calf" :)"plyta" - from "po plytomu" - is where there is shallow - the place on which you can lean in water or mud, "b(p)oloto (bog)" - poly(o)ta zemlya (poured earth), "poloskaty" rinse - wash something in the water - ltava, "pleskaty (slam)" - splash on the water surface with a characteristic sound, "pleso" - surface of water, lakes, rivers, but not the sea.
This phonetic similarity, in particular, noted writer Yuri Andruhovych, who believes such matches are not accidental. Perhaps that is why in one of his books he placed one by one the memories of Prague and Poltava, which are united by rivers.
