praj-17/QA-MCQ-Open-ended huggingface dataset:
Title: Kievan_Rus%27
Context: The rapid expansion of the Rus' to the south led to conflict and volatile relationships with the Khazars and other neighbors on the Pontic steppe. The Khazars dominated the Black Sea steppe during the 8th century, trading and frequently allying with the Byzantine Empire against Persians and Arabs. In the late 8th century, the collapse of the Göktürk Khaganate led the Magyars and the Pechenegs, Ugric and Turkic peoples from Central Asia, to migrate west into the steppe region, leading to military conflict, disruption of trade, and instability within the Khazar Khaganate. The Rus' and Slavs had earlier allied with the Khazars against Arab raids on the Caucasus, but they increasingly worked against them to secure control of the trade routes.

question: What led to constant problems with the Khazars? 

answer: rapid expansion of the Rus' to the south

question: Which area did the Khazars rule over? 

answer: Black Sea steppe

question: Who were allies with the Khazars? 

answer: Byzantine Empire

question: Who were common enimies to both the Khazars and Byzantine Empire? 

answer: Persians and Arabs
Title: Kievan_Rus%27
Context: The Byzantine Empire was able to take advantage of the turmoil to expand its political influence and commercial relationships, first with the Khazars and later with the Rus' and other steppe groups. The Byzantines established the Theme of Cherson, formally known as Klimata, in the Crimea in the 830s to defend against raids by the Rus' and to protect vital grain shipments supplying Constantinople. Cherson also served as a key diplomatic link with the Khazars and others on the steppe, and it became the centre of Black Sea commerce. The Byzantines also helped the Khazars build a fortress at Sarkel on the Don river to protect their northwest frontier against incursions by the Turkic migrants and the Rus', and to control caravan trade routes and the portage between the Don and Volga rivers.

question: What did the Byzantine empire use to expand its political influence? 

answer: turmoil

question: What teritory did the Byzantine empire hit first with their political beliefs?  

answer: Khazars

question: What did the Byzantines help the Khazars with? 

answer: build a fortress at Sarkel
Title: Kievan_Rus%27
Context: The expansion of the Rus' put further military and economic pressure on the Khazars, depriving them of territory, tributaries, and trade. In around 890, Oleg waged an indecisive war in the lands of the lower Dniester and Dnieper rivers with the Tivertsi and the Ulichs, who were likely acting as vassals of the Magyars, blocking Rus' access to the Black Sea. In 894, the Magyars and Pechenegs were drawn into the wars between the Byzantines and the Bulgarian Empire. The Byzantines arranged for the Magyars to attack Bulgarian territory from the north, and Bulgaria in turn persuaded the Pechenegs to attack the Magyars from their rear. Boxed in, the Magyars were forced to migrate further west across the Carpathian Mountains into the Hungarian plain, depriving the Khazars of an important ally and a buffer from the Rus'. The migration of the Magyars allowed Rus' access to the Black Sea, and they soon launched excursions into Khazar territory along the sea coast, up the Don river, and into the lower Volga region. The Rus' were raiding and plundering into the Caspian Sea region from 864, with the first large-scale expedition in 913, when they extensively raided Baku, Gilan, Mazandaran and penetrated into the Caucasus.

question: What led to Khazar having to put more strain on its military? 

answer: expansion of the Rus

question: Who led the war on Dniester and Dnieper? 

answer: Oleg

question: What year were the Magyars and Pechenges drug into the war? 

answer: 894

question: What year did the Rus raid Baku, Gilan,Mazandaran, and Caucasus? 

answer: 913
Title: Kievan_Rus%27
Context: As the 10th century progressed, the Khazars were no longer able to command tribute from the Volga Bulgars, and their relationship with the Byzantines deteriorated, as Byzantium increasingly allied with the Pechenegs against them. The Pechenegs were thus secure to raid the lands of the Khazars from their base between the Volga and Don rivers, allowing them to expand to the west. Rus' relations with the Pechenegs were complex, as the groups alternately formed alliances with and against one another. The Pechenegs were nomads roaming the steppe raising livestock which they traded with the Rus' for agricultural goods and other products. The lucrative Rus' trade with the Byzantine Empire had to pass through Pecheneg-controlled territory, so the need for generally peaceful relations was essential. Nevertheless, while the Primary Chronicle reports the Pechenegs entering Rus' territory in 915 and then making peace, they were waging war with one another again in 920. Pechenegs are reported assisting the Rus' in later campaigns against the Byzantines, yet allied with the Byzantines against the Rus' at other times.

question: Around what time did the Khazars unable to no longer command tribute from Volga? 

answer: 10th century

question: Who did the Byzantium ally with against the Khazar's? 

answer: Pechenegs

question: What did the Pechenges trade with the Rus? 

answer: livestock
Title: Kievan_Rus%27
Context: After the Rus' attack on Constantinople in 860, the Byzantine Patriarch Photius sent missionaries north to convert the Rus' and the Slavs. Prince Rastislav of Moravia had requested the Emperor to provide teachers to interpret the holy scriptures, so in 863 the brothers Cyril and Methodius were sent as missionaries, due to their knowledge of the Slavonic language. The Slavs had no written language, so the brothers devised the Glagolitic alphabet, later developed into Cyrillic, and standardized the language of the Slavs, later known as Old Church Slavonic. They translated portions of the Bible and drafted the first Slavic civil code and other documents, and the language and texts spread throughout Slavic territories, including Kievan Rus’. The mission of Cyril and Methodius served both evangelical and diplomatic purposes, spreading Byzantine cultural influence in support of imperial foreign policy. In 867 the Patriarch announced that the Rus' had accepted a bishop, and in 874 he speaks of an "Archbishop of the Rus'."

question: In what year did the Rus attack Constantinople? 

answer: 860

question: What had Prince Rastislav requested? 

answer: provide teachers

question: What did Cyril and Mehodius come up with to help with the issue of the Slaves not having a written language? 

answer: devised the Glagolitic alphabet

question: In what year did the Rus accept a bishop? 

answer: 867
Title: Kievan_Rus%27
Context: Relations between the Rus' and Byzantines became more complex after Oleg took control over Kiev, reflecting commercial, cultural, and military concerns. The wealth and income of the Rus' depended heavily upon trade with Byzantium. Constantine Porphyrogenitus described the annual course of the princes of Kiev, collecting tribute from client tribes, assembling the product into a flotilla of hundreds of boats, conducting them down the Dnieper to the Black Sea, and sailing to the estuary of the Dniester, the Danube delta, and on to Constantinople. On their return trip they would carry silk fabrics, spices, wine, and fruit. The importance of this trade relationship led to military action when disputes arose. The Primary Chronicle reports that the Rus' attacked Constantinople again in 907, probably to secure trade access. The Chronicle glorifies the military prowess and shrewdness of Oleg, an account imbued with legendary detail. Byzantine sources do not mention the attack, but a pair of treaties in 907 and 911 set forth a trade agreement with the Rus', the terms suggesting pressure on the Byzantines, who granted the Rus' quarters and supplies for their merchants and tax-free trading privileges in Constantinople.

question: When did the relations between the Rus and Byzantines start to become more complicated? 

answer: after Oleg took control over Kiev

question: What were the primary concerns the Rus and Byzantines had with oleg? 

answer: commercial, cultural, and military concerns

question: When did the Rus attack the Constantinole once again? 

answer: 907
Title: Kievan_Rus%27
Context: The Chronicle provides a mythic tale of Oleg's death. A sorcerer prophesies that the death of the Grand Prince would be associated with a certain horse. Oleg has the horse sequestered, and it later dies. Oleg goes to visit the horse and stands over the carcass, gloating that he had outlived the threat, when a snake strikes him from among the bones, and he soon becomes ill and dies. The Chronicle reports that Prince Igor succeeded Oleg in 913, and after some brief conflicts with the Drevlians and the Pechenegs, a period of peace ensued for over twenty years.

question: What known document tells of the death of Oleg? 

answer: The Chronicle

question: What was prophesised by a sorcerer involving Oleg's death? 

answer: certain horse

question: WHo succeeded Oleg in 913? 

answer: Prince Igor

question: What does Oleg do to his horse? 

answer: has the horse sequestered
Title: Kievan_Rus%27
Context: In 941, Igor led another major Rus' attack on Constantinople, probably over trading rights again. A navy of 10,000 vessels, including Pecheneg allies, landed on the Bithynian coast and devastated the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus. The attack was well-timed, perhaps due to intelligence, as the Byzantine fleet was occupied with the Arabs in the Mediterranean, and the bulk of its army was stationed in the east. The Rus’ burned towns, churches, and monasteries, butchering the people and amassing booty. The emperor arranged for a small group of retired ships to be outfitted with Greek fire throwers and sent them out to meet the Rus’, luring them into surrounding the contingent before unleashing the Greek fire. Liutprand of Cremona wrote that "the Rus', seeing the flames, jumped overboard, preferring water to fire. Some sank, weighed down by the weight of their breastplates and helmets; others caught fire." Those captured were beheaded. The ploy dispelled the Rus’ fleet, but their attacks continued into the hinterland as far as Nicomedia, with many atrocities reported as victims were crucified and set up for use as targets. At last a Byzantine army arrived from the Balkans to drive the Rus' back, and a naval contingent reportedly destroyed much of the Rus' fleet on its return voyage (possibly an exaggeration since the Rus' soon mounted another attack). The outcome indicates increased military might by Byzantium since 911, suggesting a shift in the balance of power.

question: What year did Igot led a Rus attack on Constantinople? 

answer: 941

question: Why did the attack by the Rus go so well on the coast at the start? 

answer: Byzantine fleet was occupied with the Arabs

question: What did the emperor of Byzatine do to some of the old retired ships to help fight the Rus? 

answer: outfitted with Greek fire throwers

question: How large was the fleet that attacked the Bithynian coast along with the Pecheneg allies? 

answer: 10,000 vessels
Title: Kievan_Rus%27
Context: Igor returned to Kiev keen for revenge. He assembled a large force of warriors from among neighboring Slavs and Pecheneg allies, and sent for reinforcements of Varangians from “beyond the sea.” In 944 the Rus' force advanced again on the Greeks, by land and sea, and a Byzantine force from Cherson responded. The Emperor sent gifts and offered tribute in lieu of war, and the Rus' accepted. Envoys were sent between the Rus’, the Byzantines, and the Bulgarians in 945, and a peace treaty was completed. The agreement again focused on trade, but this time with terms less favorable to the Rus’, including stringent regulations on the conduct of Rus’ merchants in Cherson and Constantinople and specific punishments for violations of the law. The Byzantines may have been motivated to enter the treaty out of concern of a prolonged alliance of the Rus', Pechenegs, and Bulgarians against them, though the more favorable terms further suggest a shift in power.

question: Where did Igor get warriors from after returning to Kiev after being drivin out by the Byzatines? 

answer: Slavs and Pecheneg allies

question: IN what year was the peace treaty signed between the Rus,  Byzantine and the Bulgarians. 

answer: 945

question: When did the Rus return to Byzatine seeking revenge? 

answer: 944
Title: Kievan_Rus%27
Context: Following the death of Grand Prince Igor in 945, his wife Olga ruled as regent in Kiev until their son Sviatoslav reached maturity (ca. 963). His decade-long reign over Rus' was marked by rapid expansion through the conquest of the Khazars of the Pontic steppe and the invasion of the Balkans. By the end of his short life, Sviatoslav carved out for himself the largest state in Europe, eventually moving his capital from Kiev to Pereyaslavets on the Danube in 969. In contrast with his mother's conversion to Christianity, Sviatoslav, like his druzhina, remained a staunch pagan. Due to his abrupt death in an ambush in 972, Sviatoslav's conquests, for the most part, were not consolidated into a functioning empire, while his failure to establish a stable succession led to a fratricidal feud among his sons, which resulted in two of his three sons being killed.

question: When did Prince Igor past away? 

answer: 945

question: In what year did Sviatoslav take over as leader? 

answer: 963

question: Who ruled in Prince Oleg's place following his death? 

answer: his wife Olga

question: Where did Sviatoslav move the capital to? 

answer: Pereyaslavets
Title: Kievan_Rus%27
Context: It is not clearly documented when the title of the Grand Duke was first introduced, but the importance of the Kiev principality was recognized after the death of Sviatoslav I in 972 and the ensuing struggle between Vladimir the Great and Yaropolk I. The region of Kiev dominated the state of Kievan Rus' for the next two centuries. The Grand Prince ("velikiy kniaz'") of Kiev controlled the lands around the city, and his formally subordinate relatives ruled the other cities and paid him tribute. The zenith of the state's power came during the reigns of Vladimir the Great (980–1015) and Prince Yaroslav I the Wise (1019–1054). Both rulers continued the steady expansion of Kievan Rus' that had begun under Oleg.

question: What year did Sviatoslav pass away? 

answer: 972

question: How long did the region of Kiev dominate the State of the Rus? 

answer: two centuries

question: What years did Vladimir the Great reign as leader? 

answer: 980–1015
Title: Kievan_Rus%27
Context: Vladimir had been prince of Novgorod when his father Sviatoslav I died in 972. He was forced to flee to Scandinavia in 976 after his half-brother Yaropolk had murdered his other brother Oleg and taken control of Rus. In Scandinavia, with the help of his relative Earl Håkon Sigurdsson, ruler of Norway, Vladimir assembled a Viking army and reconquered Novgorod and Kiev from Yaropolk. As Prince of Kiev, Vladimir's most notable achievement was the Christianization of Kievan Rus', a process that began in 988. The Primary Chronicle states that when Vladimir had decided to accept a new faith instead of the traditional idol-worship (paganism) of the Slavs, he sent out some of his most valued advisors and warriors as emissaries to different parts of Europe. They visited the Christians of the Latin Rite, the Jews, and the Muslims before finally arriving in Constantinople. They rejected Islam because, among other things, it prohibited the consumption of alcohol, and Judaism because the god of the Jews had permitted his chosen people to be deprived of their country. They found the ceremonies in the Roman church to be dull. But at Constantinople, they were so astounded by the beauty of the cathedral of Hagia Sophia and the liturgical service held there that they made up their minds there and then about the faith they would like to follow. Upon their arrival home, they convinced Vladimir that the faith of the Byzantine Rite was the best choice of all, upon which Vladimir made a journey to Constantinople and arranged to marry Princess Anna, the sister of Byzantine emperor Basil II.

question: What territory was Vladimar Prince of before his father died? 

answer: Novgorod

question: In 976, where did Vladimir have to flee to? 

answer: Scandinavia

question: When did the Christianization of Kievan begin? 

answer: 988

question: Who did Vladimir marry that was the sister of the Byzantine emperor? 

answer: Princess Anna
Title: Kievan_Rus%27
Context: Vladimir's choice of Eastern Christianity may also have reflected his close personal ties with Constantinople, which dominated the Black Sea and hence trade on Kiev's most vital commercial route, the Dnieper River. Adherence to the Eastern Church had long-range political, cultural, and religious consequences. The church had a liturgy written in Cyrillic and a corpus of translations from Greek that had been produced for the Slavic peoples. This literature facilitated the conversion to Christianity of the Eastern Slavs and introduced them to rudimentary Greek philosophy, science, and historiography without the necessity of learning Greek (there were some merchants who did business with Greeks and likely had an understanding of contemporary business Greek). In contrast, educated people in medieval Western and Central Europe learned Latin. Enjoying independence from the Roman authority and free from tenets of Latin learning, the East Slavs developed their own literature and fine arts, quite distinct from those of other Eastern Orthodox countries.[citation needed] (See Old East Slavic language and Architecture of Kievan Rus for details ). Following the Great Schism of 1054, the Rus' church maintained communion with both Rome and Constantinople for some time, but along with most of the Eastern churches it eventually split to follow the Eastern Orthodox. That being said, unlike other parts of the Greek world, Kievan Rus' did not have a strong hostility to the Western world.

question: What was considered too be Kiev's most important route for trade? 

answer: Dnieper River

question: What language did the church write  the liturgy in? 

answer: Cyrillic

question: What did this literature help with that was written in Cyrillic? 

answer: facilitated the conversion to Christianity
Title: Kievan_Rus%27
Context: Yaroslav, known as "the Wise", struggled for power with his brothers. A son of Vladimir the Great, he was vice-regent of Novgorod at the time of his father's death in 1015. Subsequently, his eldest surviving brother, Svyatopolk the Accursed, killed three of his other brothers and seized power in Kiev. Yaroslav, with the active support of the Novgorodians and the help of Viking mercenaries, defeated Svyatopolk and became the grand prince of Kiev in 1019. Although he first established his rule over Kiev in 1019, he did not have uncontested rule of all of Kievan Rus' until 1036. Like Vladimir, Yaroslav was eager to improve relations with the rest of Europe, especially the Byzantine Empire. Yaroslav's granddaughter, Eupraxia the daughter of his son Vsevolod I, Prince of Kiev, was married to Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor. Yaroslav also arranged marriages for his sister and three daughters to the kings of Poland, France, Hungary and Norway. Yaroslav promulgated the first East Slavic law code, Russkaya Pravda; built Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev and Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod; patronized local clergy and monasticism; and is said to have founded a school system. Yaroslav's sons developed the great Kiev Pechersk Lavra (monastery), which functioned in Kievan Rus' as an ecclesiastical academy.

question: What was Yaroslav also known as? 

answer: the Wise

question: Who was Yaroslav's father? 

answer: Vladimir the Great

question: In what year did Yaroslav become the prince of Kiev? 

answer: 1019
Title: Kievan_Rus%27
Context: An unconventional power succession system was established (rota system) whereby power was transferred to the eldest member of the ruling dynasty rather than from father to son, i.e. in most cases to the eldest brother of the ruler, fomenting constant hatred and rivalry within the royal family.[citation needed] Familicide was frequently deployed in obtaining power and can be traced particularly during the time of the Yaroslavichi rule (sons of Yaroslav) when the established system was skipped in the establishment of Vladimir II Monomakh as the Grand Prince of Kiev,[clarification needed] in turn creating major squabbles between Olegovichi from Chernihiv, Monomakhs from Pereyaslav, Izyaslavichi from Turov/Volhynia, and Polotsk Princes.[citation needed]

question: What did the rota system do? 

answer: power was transferred to the eldest member

question: What was the name of the UN-conventional system that was implemented? 

answer: rota system

question: What was often deployed when trying to gain power? 

answer: Familicide
Title: Kievan_Rus%27
Context: The most prominent struggle for power was the conflict that erupted after the death of Yaroslav the Wise. The rivaling Principality of Polotsk was contesting the power of the Grand Prince by occupying Novgorod, while Rostislav Vladimirovich was fighting for the Black Sea port of Tmutarakan belonging to Chernihiv.[citation needed] Three of Yaroslav's sons that first allied together found themselves fighting each other especially after their defeat to the Cuman forces in 1068 at the Battle of the Alta River. At the same time an uprising took place in Kiev, bringing to power Vseslav of Polotsk who supported the traditional Slavic paganism.[citation needed] The ruling Grand Prince Iziaslav fled to Poland asking for support and in couple of years returned to establish the order.[citation needed] The affairs became even more complicated by the end of the 11th century driving the state into chaos and constant warfare. On the initiative of Vladimir II Monomakh in 1097 the first federal council of Kievan Rus took place near Chernihiv]in the city of Liubech with the main intention to find an understanding among the fighting sides. However even though that did not really stop the fighting, it certainly cooled things off.[citation needed]

question: What country did the fleeing Grand Prince run off to? 

answer: Poland

question: What immediately occurred after Yarsolav the Wise past away? 

answer: conflict

question: Who was fighting for Tmutarakan following Yarsolav's death? 

answer: Rostislav Vladimirovich

question: Where did the first federal council of Rus take place in 1097? 

answer: city of Liubech
Title: Kievan_Rus%27
Context: The decline of Constantinople – a main trading partner of Kievan Rus' – played a significant role in the decline of the Kievan Rus'. The trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, along which the goods were moving from the Black Sea (mainly Byzantine) through eastern Europe to the Baltic, was a cornerstone of Kiev wealth and prosperity. Kiev was the main power and initiator in this relationship, once the Byzantine Empire fell into turmoil and the supplies became erratic, profits dried out, and Kiev lost its appeal.[citation needed]

question: What played a major role in the decline of the Rus? 

answer: decline of Constantinople

question: Which terrirory was the main power in this trade relatinship? 

answer: Kiev

question: What terriroty did the trade from the Varangians to the Greeks route mainly go through? 

answer: Byzantine