The
Primary Chronicle dates the foundation of the city of Pereyaslavl' to 992; the archaeological evidence suggests it was founded not long after this date. In its early days Pereyaslavl' was one of the important cities in Kievan Rus' behind the
Principality of Chernigov and
Kiev. The city was located at a ford where
Vladimir the Great fought a battle against the nomad
Pechenegs. The principality can be traced as a semi-independent dominion from the inheritance of the sons of
Yaroslav the Wise, with
Sviatoslav receiving Chernigov,
Vsevolod getting Pereyaslavl, Smolensk going to Viacheslav, and
Vladimir-in-Volhynia going to
Igor. The
Primary Chronicle records that in 988 Vladimir assigned the northern lands (later associated with Pereyaslavl) to Yaroslav. Pereyaslavl was conquered and devastated by the
Mongols in March 1239. It is unclear what happened after that, although it evidently became a tributary of the
Golden Horde. Archaeological data suggests the territory of the city was abandoned some time after 1239, and remained uninhabited until the 15th century, when a small settlement appeared on the territory of the surrounding city. The
Galician–Volhynian Chronicle described under the year 1245 (6758) that prince
Danylo of Halych sailed from
Vydubychi Monastery (near Kyiv) on a boat to pay homage to
Batu Khan in
Sarai on the Lower Volga. On the way there, Danylo "arrived in Pereyaslavl' and there the Tatars met him." This has led some scholars to believe that there was a Tatar or Mongol garrison in Pereyaslavl, although the
Chronicle does not say so. The text continues by saying: "From there he [Danylo] went to meet
Kuremsa", who was dwelling together with other Tatars/Mongols in an unspecified location, but presumably beyond Pereyaslavl. The town is not mentioned again in that chronicle afterwards. Early on during the
Great Troubles, around 1360, grand duke
Algirdas (Olgerd) of
Lithuania acquired the core principalities of former Kievan Rus': Chernigov, Pereyaslavl, and Kiev. == Gallery ==