Kurya (khan)

Kurya was the name of a Pecheneg khan who allied with Svyatoslav I of Kiev in his campaigns in the Balkans. Later, after Svyatoslav's defeat by the Byzantine Empire, Kurya ambushed and killed the Kievan king at Khortitsa. According to the Chronicle of Bygone Years, Kurya had Svyatoslav's skull made into a goblet; this was a sign of respect in Eurasian nomadic cultures for an enemy who had fought bravely. Kurya appears as a villain in the 2006 animated film Prince Vladimir.