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Igor (Old East Slavic: Игорь, Old Norse: Ingvar) was a Varangian ruler of Kievan Rus from 912 to 945. Very little is known about him from the Primary Chronicle. It has been speculated that the chroniclers chose not to enlarge on his reign, as the region was dominated by Khazaria at that time. That he was Rurik's son is also questioned on chronological grounds.

He twice besieged Constantinople, in 941 and 944, and in spite of his fleet being destroyed by Greek fire, concluded with the Emperor a favourable treaty whose text is preserved in the chronicle. In 913 and 944, the Rus plundered the Arabs in the Caspian Sea and laid siege to the capital of Albania (modern-day Azerbaijan). It is not clear whether Igor had anything to do with this campaign, or it may have been an independent group of Varangians. Igor was killed while collecting tribute from the Drevlians in 945 and revenged by his wife, Olga of Kiev. The Primary Chronicle blames his death on his own excessive greed, indicating that he was attempting to collect tribute a second time in a month.

Drastically revising the chronology of the Primary Chronicle, Constantine Zuckerman argues that Igor actually reigned for three years, between summer 941 and his death in early 945. He explains the epic 33-year span of his reign in the chronicle by its author's faulty interpretation of Byzantine sources. Indeed, no Igor's activity is recorded in the chronicle prior to 941.

References

1. Zuckerman, Constantine. On the Date of the Khazars' Conversion to Judaism and the Chronology of the Kings of the Rus Oleg and Igor. A Study of the Anonymous Khazar Letter from the Genizah of Cairo. // Revue des études byzantines. - 1995. - 53. - P. 237-270.

Template:Succession

• 945 deaths
• Rulers of Kievan Rus