text: East of the Dnieper river marked a desolate steppe, stretching to the sea of Azov, where the lack of water made early settlement precarious, and, lying near the Kalmius trail, the region was subject to frequent raids and plundering by the Tatar tribes which prevented the area's permanent settlement, keeping it sparsely populated or an entirely uninhabited no-man's land under Tatar rule; hence it was known as the Wild Fields or the 'Deserted Plains ' (Lat. Campi Deserti).