The Greek colony of Hermonassa was located a few miles west of Phanagoria and Panticapaeum, major trade centers for what was to become the Bosporan Kingdom.
After a long period as a Roman client state, the kingdom succumbed to the Huns, who defeated the nearby Alans in 375/376.
With the collapse of the Hunnic Empire in the late fifth century, the area passed within the Roman sphere once again but was taken by the Bulgars in the sixth century.
Following the fall of the city to the Khazars in the late seventh century, it was rebuilt as a fortress town and renamed Tamatarkha.
Arabic sources refer to it as Samkarsh al-Yahud (i.e., "Samkarsh the Jewish") in reference to the fact that the bulk of the trading there was handled by Jews.
Other variants of the city's name are "Samkersh" and "Samkush".
Fortified with a strong brick wall and boasting a fine harbor, Tamatarkha was a large city of merchants.
It controlled much of the Northern European trade with the Byzantine Empire and Northern Caucasus.
There were also trade routes leading southeast to Armenia and the Muslim domains, as well as others connecting with the Silk Road to the east.
The inhabitants included Greeks, Armenians, Russians, Jews, Ossetians, Lezgins, Georgians, and Circassians.
After the destruction of the Khazar empire by Svyatoslav of Rus in the mid-tenth century, Khazars continued to inhabit the region.
The Mandgelis Document, a Hebrew letter dated AM 4746 (985–986) refers to "our lord David, the Khazar prince" who lived in Taman and who was visited by envoys from Kievan Rus to ask about religious matters.
Although the exact date and circumstances of Tmutarakan's takeover by the Kievan Rus are uncertain, the Hypatian Codex mentions Tmutarakan as one of the towns that Vladimir the Great gave to his sons, which implies that Russian control over the city was established in the late tenth century and certainly before Vladimir's death in 1015.
Bronze and silver imitations of imperial Greek coinage had been struck by the new rulers during this period.
Vladimir's son Mstislav of Chernigov was the prince of Tmutarakan at the start of the eleventh century.
During his reign, a first stone church was dedicated to the Mother of God (Theotokos).
The excavated site suggests that it was built by Byzantine workmen and has similarities with the church Mstislav went on to commission in Chernigov.
After his death, he was followed by a succession of short-lived petty dynasts.
Gleb Svyatoslavich had been given command of the city by his father, Svyatoslav Yaroslavich, but in 1064 he had been displaced by the rival Russian prince Rostislav Vladimirovich, who in his turn had been forced to flee the city when Gleb approached with an army led by his father.
Once Svyatoslav left, however, Rostislav had expelled Gleb once again.
During his brief rule, he subdues the local Circassians (also known as Kasogi) and other indigenous tribes, but his success provokes the suspicion of neighboring Greek Chersonesos in the Crimea, whose imperial envoy poisons him on February 3, 1066.
Afterwards, command of Tmutarakan returns to the prince of Chernigov and then to the Grand Prince of Kiev, Vsevolod Yaroslavich.
