Table Slavs and their neighbors. Slavs and their neighbors. Neighbors of the Eastern Slavs

As for the Slavs, their oldest place of residence in Europe was, apparently, the northern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains, where the Slavs under the names of Wends, Antes and Sklavens were known back in Roman, Gothic and Hunnic times. From here the Slavs dispersed in different directions: to the south (Balkan Slavs), to the west (Czechs, Moravians, Poles) and to the east (Russian Slavs). The eastern branch of the Slavs came to the Dnieper probably back in the 7th century. and, gradually settling, reached Lake Ilmen and the upper Oka. Of the Russian Slavs near the Carpathians remained

Volynians

(Duleby, Buzhan).

Polyane, Drevlyans

Dregovichi

were based on the right bank of the Dnieper and its right tributaries.

Northerners, Radimichi

They crossed the Dnieper and settled on its left tributaries, and the Vyatichi managed to advance even to the Oka.

also left the Dnieper system to the north, to the upper reaches of the Volga and West. Dvina, and their industry

occupied river system Lake Ilmen. In their movement up the Dnieper, on the northern and northeastern outskirts of their new settlements, the Slavs came into close proximity with

Finnish tribes

Lithuanian tribes,

gradually retreating to the Baltic Sea before the pressure of Slavic colonization. On the eastern outskirts, on the side of the steppes, the Slavs, in turn, suffered a lot from the nomadic Asian newcomers. As we already know, the Slavs especially “tormented” the Obras (Avars). Later, the glades, northerners, Radimichi and Vyatichi, who lived east of their other relatives, closer to the steppes, were conquered

Khazars,

one might say, they became part of the Khazar state. This is how the initial neighborhood of the Russian Slavs was determined.

The wildest of all the tribes neighboring the Slavs was

Finnish tribe

constituting one of the branches of the Mongol race. Within the boundaries of present-day Russia, the Finns have lived since time immemorial, subject to the influence of both the Scythians and Sarmatians, and later the Goths, Turks, Lithuanians and Slavs. Dividing into many small peoples (Chud, Ves, Em, Ests, Merya, Mordvins, Cheremis, Votyaks, Zyryans and many others), the Finns occupied with their rare settlements the vast forest spaces of the entire Russian north. Scattered and having no internal structure, the weak Finnish peoples remained in primitive savagery and simplicity, easily succumbing to any invasion of their lands. They quickly submitted to the more cultured newcomers and assimilated with them, or without any noticeable struggle they ceded their lands to them and left them to the north or east. Thus, with the gradual settlement of the Slavs in central and northern Russia, the mass of Finnish lands passed to the Slavs, and the Russified Finnish element peacefully joined the Slavic population. Only occasionally, where Finnish shaman priests (according to the old Russian name for “magi” and “magicians”) raised their people to fight, did the Finns stand against the Russians. But this struggle ended with the invariable victory of the Slavs, and which began in the 8th-10th centuries. The Russification of the Finns continued steadily and continues to this day. Simultaneously with the Slavic influence on the Finns, a strong influence on them from the Turkic people began

Volga Bulgarians

(so named in contrast to the Danube Bulgarians). The nomadic Bulgarians who came from the lower reaches of the Volga to the mouths of the Kama settled here and, not limiting themselves to nomads, built cities in which lively trade began. Arab and Khazar merchants brought their goods here from the south along the Volga (by the way, silver utensils, dishes, bowls, etc.); here they exchanged them for valuable furs delivered from the north by the Kama and upper Volga. Relations with the Arabs and Khazars spread Mohammedanism and some education among the Bulgarians. Bulgarian cities (especially Bolgar or Bulgar on the Volga itself) became very influential centers for the entire region of the upper Volga and Kama, inhabited by Finnish tribes. The influence of the Bulgarian cities also affected the Russian Slavs, who traded with the Bulgarians and subsequently became enemies with them. Politically, the Volga Bulgarians were not a strong people. Although initially dependent on the Khazars, they had, however, a special khan and many kings or princes subordinate to him. With the fall of the Khazar kingdom, the Bulgarians existed independently, but suffered a lot from Russian raids and were finally ruined in the 13th century. Tatars. Their descendants, the Chuvash, now represent a weak and underdeveloped tribe.

Written sources testifying to the ancient Slavs appeared relatively late and date back to the beginning new era, except for a few fragmentary and unclear passages from the works of authors who lived before our era. The earliest sources containing information about the Rus, dews, date back no earlier than the 9th century, although some researchers talk about the appearance of this name in earlier sources.

Slavic languages ​​are now represented by Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian, Macedonian and Sorbian, which are part of the family of Indo-European languages. The same family includes Germanic (German, English, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, etc.), Romance (French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, etc.), Indian (Hindi, Urdu, Nepali, Bengali, Sinhala, etc. .), Iranian (Persian, Afghan, Ossetian, etc.), Greek, Armenian, Albanian languages.

In addition, there were now extinct Indo-European languages: Latin, which laid the foundation for the Romance languages ​​common in the territory of the former Roman Empire, Hittite in Asia Minor, Tocharian in Central Asia, and other so-called dead languages.

Currently, peoples speaking Indo-European languages ​​constitute the largest group.

In the distant past, people who spoke Indo-European related languages, and perhaps some very ancient Indo-European language, divided into dialects, lived in a relatively limited territory, from where they settled for hundreds and thousands of years. Among them were the distant ancestors of the Slavs, who had not yet separated from the mass of other tribes with an Indo-European language. These were not Slavs, but only their distant physical and linguistic ancestors - Proto-Slavs.

Modern philologists and historians believe that some elements of Indo-European languages ​​existed back in the Mesolithic era (X-V millennium BC). In the era of early matriarchy, small tribal groups of hunters and fishermen moved from the south to the north of Central and Eastern Europe following the retreating glacier. This dates back to a time distant from us 10-12 thousand years. The period of settlement following the glacier retreating to the north of the Mesolithic clan groups of hunters and fishermen was the time of the spread of the ancient Caucasoid racial type in Central and Eastern Europe.

At a somewhat later time, from the Urals and Trans-Urals, along the northern taiga strip of Eastern Europe, small groups of hunters and fishermen of the Mongoloid (Ural-Laponoid) type penetrated west to the Baltic states and even further. In the west, Mesolithic cultures of eastern origin reach the Baltic region, where the Kunda site dates back to the 7th millennium BC; to the east there are other cultures of clearly trans-Ural origin.

This movement of Mongoloid elements from east to west, accompanied by the mixing and assimilation of the more ancient Caucasoid population, is nothing more than the penetration to the west of the tribes of the Finno-Ugric-Samoyed language family, the oldest area of ​​settlement of which was the forest belts and forest-steppe of the Urals and Trans-Urals. At the same time, both the Caucasoid and Laponoid populations moved from south to north, from east to west, not simultaneously, but in waves.

On the territory of Eastern Europe, two main linguistic communities were created: Indo-European and Finno-Ugric. Contacts between their speakers led to both cross-breeding and ancient linguistic connections.

In the period from the XII-X to the VI-V millennia BC, during the era of a cold, subarctic and later somewhat warmer and drier boreal climate, the Caucasian racial type, moving north, changed its appearance. Slowly and gradually, over many thousands of years, Caucasians settled in waves to the north and, finding themselves in a new environment, in conditions of a temperate and cold climate, changed their physical type (lightening of the skin and hair, as well as the iris of the eyes, decrease in facial height). Thus, various variants of the relatively late-developed small northern Caucasian race were created, formed from various racial types that underwent a process of lightening common to all in a cool and humid climate. Thus, in the Baltic zone, in the broad sense of the word (Gulf of Bothnia - upper Dnieper-lower Vistula), signs of the Baltic race began to take shape, pushing aside and assimilating the ancient laponoid type.

In later, Neolithic times, the Uralic (in the east) and Caucasoid Pontic (forest-steppe and steppe) racial types containing Mongoloid features spread in Eastern Europe.

As for the central regions of Eastern Europe, here, on an ancient Caucasian basis, a racial type took shape, which received the name Eastern European.

Proto-Slavs on different stages throughout their history they became closer to one or another people (Asia Minor, Persia, etc.). The Slavs came to the sea coast later. From this we can conclude that in ancient times they did not live west of the modern Kaliningrad-Odessa line. More precisely, we are talking about their residence in the region of Polesie, the interfluve of the Western Bug and the Dniester, and the upper reaches of the Vistula.

In written sources the Slavs appear as Wends. They were still known in Ancient Greece in the 7th century BC. Herodotus, writing in the 5th century. BC, reports that amber is brought from the Eridanus River from the Eneti (Veneti). Sophocles (5th century BC) wrote about the Indians, from whose land, which lies off the coast of the northern ocean, they bring amber, mined somewhere in the river. Reports about the enets Skilas (IV century BC). The Indians, brought by a storm to the shores of Western Germany, are mentioned in the 1st century. BC. Cornelius Nepos.

Roman historians talk a little more about the Wends. In the Pevtinger tables - road maps, compiled at the very beginning of the new era under Emperor Augustus, the Wendish tribe is mentioned twice. They are neighbors of the Bastarnae, who lived in the Carpathians, and the Ites and Dacians, who occupied the lower reaches of the Danube.

Comparing the meager evidence of ancient authors, we can conclude that the Wends lived along the Vistula north of the Carpathians to the Baltic Sea (Gulf of Wends). The southern border from the northern slopes of the Carpathians went east along the forest-steppe strip, in the southwestern part of which the Wends were neighbors of the Dacians, and in the southeastern part - the Sarmatians.

The Slavs occupied the lands beyond the Vistula and along the coast of the Varangian (Baltic) Sea later, around the beginning of the new era, gradually moving west. This explains the fact that the term “Vends” is of non-Slavic origin, and the Slavs themselves did not call themselves that. It is found in the territory inhabited by the Illyrians (modern Venice) and Celts. Apparently, the name of the German tribe of Vandals is of the same origin. It is possible that the name “Veneda” goes back to such a great antiquity that it excludes the possibility of an accurate explanation. In any case, the terms “Veneti”, “Indians”, “Venedi” appeared earlier than “Slavs” in Povislenie and on the shores of the Venedsky Bay. Apparently, the neighbors of the Slavs, the Germans and Finns, when they settled these lands, transferred the name of their ancient population to the Slavs.

There is also no consensus on the name “Slavs”. There is an assumption that the word “Sloven” or “Slavs” comes from “word”, i.e. a speaker who speaks a language, as opposed to someone who cannot speak a language; from “glory” meaning honorable, outstanding; from the area, the name of which had the root of “words” or “slavs” (by analogy with the Russian Volzhans, Uralians, Siberians). It is believed that “slav” simply meant “people”, “tribe”.

It is characteristic that Tacitus already speaks of the Wends’ raids on the lands of what is now the Baltic region and on the steppes where the Sarmatians lived, which is evidence of the mobility of the Wends due to the beginning of their settlement.

If in the most ancient written sources there are messages about the Wends only in the form of a few not very clear lines, then in later sources their number increases, information about the Slavs becomes more rich and distinct. And this is explained by the fact that the Slavs were involved in a great migration of peoples, approached the borders of the East Roman Empire, crushed and broke through its defensive lines, invaded the territory of Byzantium, reaching the shores of the Russian (Black), Adriatic, Aegean seas, and settled there mingling with the local population.

Byzantium had to fight and enter into alliances with the Slavs, invite them into its service and settle them on its lands, ceding entire regions to them.

Slavic settlements appeared in the Peloponnese, penetrated into the northern part of the Apennine Peninsula, into Asia Minor and prompted the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (10th century) to state that the entire country had become Slavic. The Slavs of Eastern Europe also took part in this grandiose process.

It should be noted that in the north-west of Eastern Europe, the Slavs, unlike the Balts and Finno-Ugrians, had darker hair and irises. It is no coincidence that during the times of Kievan Rus they called the Balts and Finno-Ugric peoples “the white-eyed miracle.”

Archaeological excavations show that the Slavs came to the Dniester region, the Bug region, and the Dnieper region late, no earlier than the 6th century, and, displacing and assimilating the Balts and Finno-Ugric peoples, quite quickly in the 8th - 9th centuries. inhabited vast areas of Eastern Europe to the upper reaches of the Oka, Don, Volga, Western Dvina, Volkhov, lakes Nevo (Ladoga) and Ilmen, White Sea.

In the IV - V centuries. The Slavs cross the Carpathians, populate the territories of modern Czech Republic and Slovakia, Austria, Bavaria, and Hungary. As a result of research, a certain unity of the culture of the Slavs of the 6th - 7th centuries was established. throughout the territory occupied by the Slavs. This area of ​​unity of the material culture of the Slavs was a vast territory covering the Dnieper Right and Left Banks, Podesnye, Posemye, the upper reaches of the Oka, Polesie, Dniester, Western Bug, Eastern Romania (Prut, Seret, lower Danube), Eastern and Southern Poland, Danube Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Slovakia (the so-called Prague-type ceramic culture).

The Slavs moved from this territory quite quickly in all directions: to the south, where in the 6th - 7th centuries, having crossed the Danube, they populated the entire Balkan Peninsula, appearing on the islands of the Aegean archipelago and the Ionian Sea, in Asia Minor; to the west, where in the V - VI centuries. moved to Laba (Elbe), and by the 9th century. south of Hamburg, in southern Denmark, they occupy Rana (Rügen), reach the lower reaches of the Rhine, and the coast of the North Sea.

The “Tale of Bygone Years” (author Nestor) recalls those distant times (“after many times”), when, in the process of resettlement and resettlement, the Slavs, having come from somewhere (the chronicler does not remember where), “sat down along the Danube, where There is now Ugorsk and Bolgarsk land.” “Ugrian Land” is the territory of modern Hungary, ancient Pannonia. The nomadic Ugrians (Hungarians, Magyars) came to Pannonia from the east, from Great Hungary, located somewhere in the Kama region, passing through the steppes of Eastern Europe only in the 9th century. Here they found the Slavs. Before the Slavs, the Celts lived in these lands. The chronicle story indicates that the Danube was not the ancestral home of the Slavs. A long time ago, the Slavs came from somewhere and settled along the Danube - this is the content of the chronicle legend.

The story “The Tale of Bygone Years” dates back to the time of the Ants (Anty is an ethnonym used by Byzantine writers of the 6th - 7th centuries to designate part of the Slavs who inhabited the territory from the Middle Danube to the Don, which corresponds to the area of ​​distribution of the pro-Penkov archaeological culture of the 5th - 7th centuries). "about the three brothers Kiy, Shchek and Horeb and their sister Lybid; According to legend, they founded a city named after their elder brother Kiev. All three brothers lived “on the mountains” near the banks of the Dnieper. These were the times when there was still “a forest and a great forest” around, where the inhabitants of Kyiv hunted. Who is Kiy? Several legends about Kiya reached the chroniclers. One is that Kiy is a simple carrier. But if Kiy had been a simple carrier, the chronicler argues, then it is unlikely that he would have gone to the Byzantine emperor (“king”) in Constantinople. And Kiy went, and “received great honor from the king.”

So, historians have established that the VI - VII centuries. - the time of active settlement of the Slavs in the vast territories of Southern, Central and Eastern Europe.

The advancement of the Slavs in Eastern Europe did not encounter such obstacles as in the south, where they had to overcome the resistance of the powerful Byzantium. The Slavs advanced east and north, using not only and not so much force. They lived side by side with the Balts and Finno-Ugrians, mixing with them and assimilating them. But for that distant time it is still too early to talk about Eastern, Southern or Western Slavic languages. They weren't there yet.

Already in the VI - VII centuries. In the language of the Slavs of Eastern Europe, features characteristic of the Old Russian language of the 9th - 12th centuries appeared. According to historians and philologists, then there was a common Slavic language with dialect zones. There were two of them - northern (forest) and southern (steppe).

In "The Tale of Bygone Years" the author recalls some tribes of the Slavs: Moravians who settled along the Morava River, Czechs and White Croats (in the Carpathian region), Serbs ("Serob"), Khorutans (Slovenians), Poles (or Poles), Pomeranians - in the Tyuisno-Baltic Pomerania, Lyutichs (lived in the lower reaches of the Oder and Elbe), Mazovshans in the Carpathian region, Bulgarians. The chronicler tells how the Slavs “settled” along the Dnieper and were called Polyans, others - Drevlyans, getting their name from the fact that they lived in forests. Those who lived between Pripyat and the Dnieper were called Dregovichi, those who lived along the banks of the Polota River - Polotsk residents. The same Slavs who “settled” near Lake Ilmen began to be called by their own name - “Slovenians” (Ilmen Slavs), and the inhabitants of the lands along the Desna, Seim and Sula were called northerners. The Krivichi lived in the upper reaches of the Volga, Western Dvina and Dnieper.

What are the characteristics of the individual East Slavic tribes of those times when “I had my own customs and my father’s law and traditions, each with my own customs” and lived “separately”?

First of all, about the glades. The glades, “now called Rus',” according to the Tale of Bygone Years, lived “separately in their mountains.” The chronicler singles out the glades: they are “wise and understanding men,” “their custom is meek and quiet.” The land of glades stretched from the Ros River in the south to the mouth of the Pripyat in the north. The main city is Kyiv.

The neighbors of the glades in the west were Drevlyans. The oldest cities of the Drevlyans were the chronicle Ovruch, Iskorosten and Malin. The western neighbors of the Drevlyans were Volynians. Their name came from the city of Volyn; it changed several times (initially they were called Dulebs, then Buzhans). Next to the Volynians, to the east, the Dregovichi (dryagvya - swamp) settled.

In the north-west of Volyn lived Yatvingians, tribes of Baltic origin, strongly Slavicized for a long time, and in the west the neighbor was the Polish tribe of Mazovshans. Even further to the southwest lay the land of the White Croats - in the Carpathian and Transcarpathian regions, in the upper reaches of the Dniester.

In the southwest of the East Slavic world lay the lands of the Ulichs (Uglichs) and Tiverts, which stretched along the Dniester and reached the Danube and the Russian (Black) Sea. Tiverts settlements were found in Moldova.

Perhaps the largest ethnic group of the Eastern Slavs were Krivichi. Their settlement area is huge. The lands of the Krivichs stretched from the Upper Poneman region to the Kostroma Volga region, from Pskov Lake to the upper reaches of the Sozh and Desna, from Narva to the Berezina. The eastern part of this territory was settled by the Krivichi later than the western part. The Krivichi, of course, were not a single tribe. Smolensk, Pskov, Polotsk Krivichi are distinguished.

To the north and northeast of the Krivichi lived Ilmen Slovenes(Slavs). The Krivichi with their Polotsk branch and the Ilmen Slavs made up a powerful array of northwestern, northern and northwestern Eastern Slavs Of Eastern Europe.

What were the southeastern group of Slavs - Radimichi, Vyatichi, Northerners?

The chronicler Nestor gives a legend about the origin Vyatichi and Radimichi from two brothers Vyatko and Radim, indicates that they came from the west from the “Poles”, and Radim with his “family” settled on the Sozh River, and Vyatko on the Oka. Although the chronicle speaks of the origin of the Radimichi and Vyatichi from the “Poles,” according to some domestic scientists, this version is doubtful, while others, citing archeological and linguistic data, confirm it. To the south of the Radimichi and Vyatichi on the Left Bank of the Dnieper, along the Desna, Seim and Sula lived northerners(north, north).

Separate groups of Eastern Slavs, without forming compact masses of the population, before the formation of the Old Russian state and during the period of its formation and prosperity, appeared in the south, southeast and southwest: in Belaya Vezha (Sarkel) on the Don, in Tmutarakan (Taman), Koriv (Kerch), on Berezan Island (at the entrance to the Dnieper-Bug estuary).

The common culture of the Slavs continued into the Middle Ages. They have a single pagan cult - Perun, or Perunich, Svarog, Volos, or Belee, mermaids, or pitchforks, etc. It is no coincidence that the chronicler Nestor emphasizes that, despite the tribal division - Czechs, Poles, Moravians, Lyutichs, Krivichi, Slovenes, Croats, Horutans (or Slovenes), Serbs, etc. - “there is one Slovenian language.”

In the VI - X centuries. The separation of the eastern branch of the Slavic languages ​​began. During this period, the Old Russian language was born. As for the dialects of the Eastern Slavs, they are extremely difficult to discover. We can talk about the almost complete unity of the Eastern Slavs back in the 8th - 9th centuries. (according to some sources, in the 10th - 11th centuries), but the Eastern Slavs themselves had not yet consolidated into a single ancient Russian nation, since although language is the basis of any ethnic formation, it cannot become the only defining feature of the nation.

The Tale of Bygone Years lists the peoples who paid tribute to Rus': Chud, Merya, Ves, Muroma, Cheremis, Mordovians, Perm, Pechora, Yam (em), Lithuania, Zimigola, Kors, Naroma, Lib (Livs). It is unlikely that all these tribes were genuine tributaries of Rus' already at the time of the formation of the Old Russian state. In particular, placing yam and libi among the tributaries of Rus', the chronicler Nestor had in mind the contemporary situation, i.e. end of the 11th - beginning of the 12th centuries.

Some of the listed tribes were not as organically connected with Russia (Lithuania, Korel, Zimigola, Lib, Yam) as others assimilated by the Slavs (Merya, Muroma, Ves). Some of them subsequently created their own statehood (Lithuania) or stood on the eve of its creation (Chud) and formed into the Lithuanian and Estonian nationalities. Therefore, we will mainly focus on those nationalities that were most closely associated with Russia.

Tribes of the Baltic peoples from ancient times they inhabited Ponemanye, the Upper Dnieper region, Poochie, the Upper Volga region and most of the Western Dvina. In the east, the Balts reached the present-day Moscow, Tver and Kaluga regions, where in ancient times they lived interstriated with the Finno-Ugrians, the aborigines of the region. The settlement of the Slavs across the lands of the Baltic-speaking tribes led to the Slavicization of the latter, which ended during the formation of the Old Russian state.

The wildest of all the tribes neighboring the Slavs was Finnish tribe. Within what is now Russia, the Finns lived under the influence of both the Scythians and Sarmatians, and later the Goths, Turks, Lithuanians and Slavs. Dividing into many small peoples (Chud, Ves, Em, Ests, Merya, Mordvins, Cheremis, Votyaks, Zyryans and many others), the Finns occupied with their rare settlements the vast forest spaces of the entire Russian north. Scattered and having no internal structure, the weak Finnish peoples remained in primitive savagery and simplicity, easily succumbing to any invasion of their lands. They quickly submitted to the more cultured newcomers and assimilated with them, or without any noticeable struggle they ceded their lands to them and left them to the north or east.

Thus, with the gradual settlement of the Slavs in central and northern Russia, the mass of Finnish lands passed to the Slavs, and the Russified Finnish element peacefully joined the Slavic population. Only occasionally, where Finnish shaman priests (according to the old Russian name for “magi” and “magicians”) raised their people to fight, did the Finns stand against the Russians. But this struggle ended in the victory of the Slavs, and in the VIII-X centuries. The Russification of the Finns began.

Simultaneously with the Slavic influence on the Finns, a strong influence on them from the Turkic people began Volga Bulgarians(Chuvash) (so named in contrast to the Danube Bulgarians). The nomadic Bulgarians who came from the lower reaches of the Volga to the mouths of the Kama settled here and, not limiting themselves to nomads, built cities in which lively trade began. Arab and Khazar merchants brought their goods here from the south along the Volga (by the way, silver utensils, dishes, bowls, etc.); here they exchanged them for valuable furs delivered from the north along the Kama and upper Volga. Bulgarian cities (especially Bolgar or Bulgar on the Volga itself) became very influential centers for the entire region of the upper Volga and Kama, inhabited by Finnish tribes. The influence of the Bulgarian cities also affected the Russian Slavs, who traded with the Bulgarians and subsequently became enemies with them. Politically, the Volga Bulgarians were not a strong people. Although initially dependent on the Khazars, they had, however, a special khan and many kings or princes subordinate to him. With the fall of the Khazar kingdom, the Bulgarians existed independently, but were subjected to Russian raids and were finally ruined in the 13th century. Tatars.

In the extreme north-west, the neighbors of the Slavs, according to the chronicle, were Chud. Chudyu V Ancient Rus' called the Baltic Finno-Ugric tribes. These include the Volkhov Chud (people from various tribes, attracted by the great waterway “from the Varangians to the Greeks”), Vod, Izhora, all (except Beloozersk), storks (Ests). In the time of Nestor, the Balts were called storks. Only over time did this name pass to the Finno-Ugric peoples in Estonia. In the second half of the 1st millennium AD. Eastern Slavs came into contact with Estonian tribes.

East of the Estonia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, there was a vein water (vakya, waddya). The whole population played a significant role in the history of the population of Eastern Europe. This tribe, having settled between lakes Nevo (Ladoga), Onega and White Lake, reached the Northern Dvina.

It's hard to trace history Karelian (Korelian) in the period preceding the formation of the Old Russian state, and in the initial stages of its history. The Tale of Bygone Years does not talk about Karelians. They lived at that time on the coast of the Gulf of Finland (near Vyborg) and Lake Nero. The bulk of the Karelian population was concentrated in the northwestern Ladoga region. In the 11th century part of the Karelians went to the Neva. This was Izhora, Inkeri (hence Ingria, Ingria). The Karelians included part of the vesi and the Volkhov miracle.

Karelians are not mentioned among the tributaries of Rus', apparently because Karelia was never a volost of Novgorod, but was only an integral part of it (like Vod and Izhora), its state territory. And as such, like Obonezhye, it was divided into parts.

Lithuanian tribes(Lithuania, Zhmud, Latvians, Prussians, Yatvingians, etc.), constituting a special branch of the Aryan tribe, already in ancient times (in the 2nd century BC) inhabited the places where the Slavs later found them. Lithuanian settlements occupied the basins of the Neman and Zap rivers. The Dvinas also reached the river from the Baltic Sea. Pripyat and the sources of the Dnieper and Volga. Retreating gradually before the Slavs, the Lithuanians concentrated along the Neman and Western. Dvina in the dense forests of the strip closest to the sea and there they retained their original way of life for a long time. Their tribes were not united, they were divided into separate clans and were at mutual enmity.

The religion of the Lithuanians consisted of the deification of the forces of nature (Perkun - the god of thunder), the veneration of deceased ancestors, and was generally at a low level of development. The Lithuanians had neither an influential priestly class nor solemn religious ceremonies. Each family made sacrifices to gods and deities, revered animals and sacred oaks, treated the souls of the dead and practiced fortune-telling. The rough and harsh life of the Lithuanians, their poverty and savagery placed them lower than the Slavs and forced Lithuania to cede to the Slavs those of its lands to which Russian colonization was directed. Where the Lithuanians directly neighbored the Russians, they noticeably succumbed to cultural influence.

Merya, according to the chroniclers, were located in the Upper Volga region: “on Lake Rostov Merya, and on Lake Kleshchina Merya.” But, according to later sources, the Merya peoples also inhabited the Yaroslavl and Kostroma lands, the lower reaches of the Sheksna and Mologa rivers. Like the Merya, the Meshchers and Muromas, the inhabitants of the Oka lands, were completely Russified.

The Russification of Mary, Murom, Meshchera, Vesi was not a consequence of conquest, but of the peaceful and gradual settlement of the Slavs to the east, centuries-old proximity, mutual enrichment of culture and language, and as a result of this process the Russian language and Russian culture spread.

Experienced the influence of the Eastern Slavs and Mordovians, especially Erzya. Apparently, the name Erdzian, Russian Ryazan, came from the Mordovian tribal name Erzya.

Concerning northeast(Perm, Pechora, Ugra), then the appearance of Russians here should be attributed to the time no later than the 10th - early 11th centuries, i.e. Slavs already in the 10th century. reached Pechora, Ugra and the mountains near Lukomorye (Ural).

Slavic influence is also felt among Marie(Cheremis, Tsarmis), and Kama or Volga Bulgars, and in Khazaria. The Bulgaro-Khazar population of the Don region steppes became Russified. The Khazar fortress Sarkel became the White Vezha after it was captured by the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav, which turned into a craft and shopping mall, city.

In the Dnieper region, on the territory of the Dnieper Left Bank and in Posemye, the Slavs assimilated the ancient Iranian-speaking population. These were Alans- “jasses” of Russian chronicles, descendants of the Sarmatians. The influence of the Slavs on the later nomadic and semi-sedentary population of the steppes and forest-steppe zone is undoubted. In the 30s 9th century nomads Hungarians (Magyars) appear in the steppes. Coming from the Kama region, the closest relatives of the Yugras (Khanty and Mansi), the Hungarians lived side by side with the Eastern Slavs for a long time. The Pechenegs, Torques and Berendeys settled in Porosye, under the influence of the Russians they began to settle down.

The so-called Polovtsian cities: Balin, Cheshuev, Sugrov and Sharukan. Due to the fact that these cities were inhabited mainly by Christians, their spiritual closeness to the Russian people is understandable. Slavic influence spread to Taman, North Caucasus, where Kabardians learned Russian writing. In the very southwest of Rus', in the area between the Dnieper and Prut rivers, the Eastern Slavs mixed with the Romanized descendants of the ancient Getodacian population of the region. These were the distant ancestors of the Vlachs.

In relation to their Finnish and Lithuanian neighbors, the Russian Slavs felt their superiority and were aggressive. Otherwise it was the case with Khazars.

The nomadic Turkic tribe of the Khazars settled firmly in the Caucasus and the southern Russian steppes and began to engage in agriculture, grape growing, fishing and trade. The Khazars spent the winter in cities, and in the summer they moved to the steppe to their meadows, gardens and field work. Since trade routes from Europe to Asia ran through the lands of the Khazars, the Khazar cities that stood on these routes received great trade importance and influence. The capital city of Itil on the lower Volga and the Sarkel fortress (in Russian Belaya Vezha) on the Don near the Volga became especially famous. They were huge markets where Asian merchants traded with European ones and at the same time Mohammedans, Jews, pagans and Christians converged.

The influence of Islam and Jewry was particularly strong; the Khazar khan ("khagan" or "khakan") with his court professed the Jewish faith; Among the people, Islam was most widespread, but there was also the Christian faith and paganism. Such diversity of faith led to religious tolerance and attracted settlers from many countries to the Khazars. When in the 8th century some Russian tribes (Polyans, Northerners, Radimichi, Vyatichi) were conquered by the Khazars, this Khazar yoke was not difficult for the Slavs. It opened up easy access for the Slavs to Khazar markets and drew the Russians into trade with the East. Numerous treasures of Arab coins (dirgems), found in different parts of Russia, testify to the development of eastern trade precisely in the 8th and 9th centuries, when Rus' was under direct Khazar rule, and then under significant Khazar influence. Later, in the 10th century, when the Khazars weakened under the pressure of the Pechenegs, the Russians themselves began to attack the Khazars and contributed to the fall of the Khazar state.

Varangians were not direct neighbors of the Slavs, but lived “beyond the sea” and came to the Slavs “from across the sea.” Not only the Slavs, but also other peoples (Greeks, Arabs, Scandinavians) called the Normans who left Scandinavia for other countries by the name “Varyags” (“Varangs”, “Verings”). Such immigrants began to appear in the 9th century. among the Slavic tribes on the Volkhov and Dnieper, on the Black Sea and in Greece in the form of military or trading squads. They traded or were hired out for Russian and Byzantine military service, or simply looked for booty and plundered where they could.

It is difficult to say what exactly forced the Varangians to leave their homeland so often and wander around foreign lands; in that era, in general, there was a very large eviction of Normans from the Scandinavian countries in the middle and even southern Europe: They attacked England, France, Spain, even Italy.

There were many Varangians among the Russian Slavs from the middle of the 9th century. They traded together with the Greeks and Arabs, fought together against common enemies, sometimes quarreled and fought, and either the Varangians subjugated the Slavs, or the Slavs drove the Varangians “overseas” to their homeland. Given the close communication between the Slavs and the Varangians, one would expect a great influence of the Varangians on Slavic life. But such influence is generally imperceptible - a sign that culturally the Varangians were not superior to the Slavic population of that era.

Let's try to look at the ethnic history of our country from the point of view of the above. In those centuries when the history of our Motherland and its peoples began, humanity inhabited the Earth extremely unevenly. At the same time, some peoples lived in the mountains, others in the steppes or dense forests, and still others on the shores of the seas. And everyone created completely special cultures, different from each other, but connected with the landscapes that fed them. It is clear that foresters could productively engage in hunting, for example, get furs and, by selling them, get everything that they lacked. But this could not be done either by the inhabitants of sultry Egypt, where there were no fur-bearing animals, or by the inhabitants of Western Europe, where ermines were so rare that their fur was used only for royal robes, or by the steppe dwellers engaged in cattle breeding. But the steppe people had milk and meat in abundance; they made tasty and nutritious non-perishable cheese and could sell it. To whom? Yes, to the foresters who made carts from wood that the steppe people could ride. And most importantly, the inhabitants of the forests made tar, without which the wheels of the steppe carts could not rotate. The inhabitants of the Mediterranean coast had excellent fish and olives, and goats grazed on the slopes of the Apennines and Pyrenees. So, each nation had its own way of farming, its own way of maintaining life. Consequently, we must begin the study of the history of peoples with a description of the nature and climate of the territories in which they live.

Division by geographical areas It is often arbitrary and does not always coincide with the division into climatic regions. Thus, Europe is divided by an air border corresponding to the January isotherm, which passes through the Baltic states, Western Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. To the east of this border, the average January temperature is negative, winters are cold, frosty, and often dry, and to the west, wet, warm winters predominate, with slush on the ground and fog in the air. The climate in these regions is completely different.

The great scientist, academician A.A. Shakhmatov, who started practical study Russian chronicles, exploring the history of the Russian language and its dialects, came to the conclusion that the ancient Slavs originated in the upper reaches of the Vistula, on the banks of the Tisza and on the slopes of the Carpathians. These are modern eastern Hungary and southern Poland. Thus, our ancestors, the Slavs, appeared and first left their mark on history on the border of two climatic regions (Western European - humid and Eastern European - dry with a continental climate), and this territory is especially interesting to us.

During the Great Migration of Peoples, the Slavs advanced west, north and south to the shores of the Baltic, Adriatic and Aegean seas. Their neighbors to the west were Germanic tribes. In the north-east of Europe, the so-called Balts came into contact with the Slavs: Lithuanians, Latvians, Prussians, Yatvingians. These are very ancient peoples who populated the Baltic territory when the glacier left there. They occupied almost empty places and spread quite widely, approximately from today's Penza to Szczecin. Finnish tribes lived to the northeast. There were many of them: Suomi, and Estonians, and “white-eyed Chud” (that was the name of one of these tribes in Rus'). Further on lived the Zyryans, the Chud of Zavolotsk and many other peoples.

Everything was, as already mentioned, quite stable until the 2nd century. AD, when, as a result of a passionary impulse, the Great Migration of Peoples began. And it started like this. Three Gothic squadrons with brave warriors - the Ostrogoths, Visigoths and Gepids - departed from the shores of southern Sweden, which was then called Gothia. They landed at the mouth of the Vistula, climbed to its upper reaches, reached Pripyat, passed the Dnieper steppes and reached the Black Sea. There the Goths, a people accustomed to sailing, built ships and began to raid the former Hellas - Greece. Capturing cities, the Goths plundered them and took their inhabitants prisoner. Greece belonged at that time to the Roman Empire, and Emperor Decius - a terrible persecutor of Christians, a very good commander and a brave man - opposed the Goths, who had already crossed

Danube and invaded the territory of Byzantium. The magnificent Roman infantry, well trained, armed with short swords, more convenient in battle than long ones, faced the skin-clad Goths, who were armed with long spears. It would seem that the Goths had no chance of victory, but, to the surprise of contemporaries, the Roman army was completely defeated because the Goths, skillfully maneuvering, led it into a swamp, where the Romans got stuck ankle-deep. The legions lost their maneuverability; the Goths stabbed the Romans with spears, not giving them the opportunity to engage in battle. Emperor Decius himself also died. This happened in 251.

The Goths became masters of the mouth of the Danube (where the Visigoths settled) and modern Transylvania (where the Gepids settled). To the east, between the Don and the Dniester, the Ostrogoths reigned. Their king Germanaric (IV century), a very warlike and brave man, subjugated almost all Eastern Europe: the lands of the Mordovians and Meri, the upper reaches of the Volga, almost the entire Dnieper region, the steppes to the Crimea and the Crimea itself.

The powerful state of the Goths perished, as often happened, due to the treason of its subjects and the cruelty of the ruler. Germanarich was abandoned by one of the leaders of the Rossomon tribe, subject to the Goths. The old king, who did not tolerate betrayal and was terrible in his rage, ordered the leader’s wife to be torn apart by wild horses. “It’s so scary to kill our sister!” - the brothers of the deceased, Cap and Ammius, were indignant. And then one day at a royal reception they approached Germanarich and, snatching swords from under his clothes, pierced him. But they didn’t kill them: the guards managed to stab them to death earlier. However, Germanarich did not recover from his wounds, was sick all the time and lost the reins of power. And at this time, a terrible enemy was approaching from the east - the Huns.

The ancestors of the Huns, the Huns, were a small people that formed in the 4th century. BC. on the territory of Mongolia. In the 3rd century. BC. They were going through difficult times, as the Xianbi nomads were pressing on them from the east, and the Sogdians, whom the Chinese called Yuezhi, were pressing from the west. The Huns' attempts to take part in Chinese civil strife were also unsuccessful. In China at that time there was a unification of the country, known in Chinese historiography as the “war of the kingdoms”. Of the seven kingdoms, one remained, and two-thirds of the country's population died. It was better not to mess with the Chinese, who did not take prisoners. The Huns turned out to be allies of the vanquished, and it turned out that the first Xiongnu Shanyu (ruler) paid tribute to both eastern and western neighbors, and ceded the southern fertile steppes to China. But here the consequences of the passionary push that shapes the ethnos were felt.

The Hun prince named Mode was not loved by his father. His father, a Shanyu, like all Huns and all nomads, had several wives, loved his younger wife and her son very much. He decided to send the unloved Mode to the Sogdians, who demanded a hostage from the Huns. Next, the king planned to raid Sogdiana in order to push the Sogdians to kill their son. But he guessed his father’s intentions and, when the Shanyu began the raid, the prince killed his guard and fled. His escape made such an impression on the Xiongnu warriors that they agreed: Mode is worthy of much. The father had to put his unloved son at the head of one of the state's destinies.

Mode began training warriors. He began to use a whistling arrow (holes were made in its tip, and when fired, it whistled, giving a signal). One day he ordered the soldiers to watch where he would shoot an arrow and shoot their bows in the same direction. He ordered and suddenly shot an arrow at... his favorite horse. Everyone gasped: “Why kill a beautiful animal?” But those who did not shoot had their heads cut off. Then Mode shot his beloved falcon. Those who did not shoot the harmless bird were also beheaded. Then he shot his beloved wife. Those who did not shoot were beheaded. And then, while hunting, he met the Shanyu, his father, and... shot an arrow at him. Shanyu instantly turned into something like a hedgehog - that’s how Mode’s warriors poked him with arrows. No one dared to shoot.

Mode became king in 209. He negotiated peace with the Sogdians, but the eastern nomads, who were called Dong-hu, demanded tribute from him. At first they wanted to get the best horses. “Horse of a Thousand Lengths” (li is a Chinese measure of length, approximately equal to 580 m) - this is how the fleet-footed stallion was beautifully called. Some Huns said: “You can’t give away horses.” “You shouldn’t fight over horses,” Mode did not approve of them, and those who did not want to give up their horses, cut off their heads, as was his custom. Then the Dong Hu demanded beautiful women, including the king's wife. To those who said: “How can we give away our wives!” - Mode cut off his head, saying: “Our life and the existence of the state are worth more than women.” Finally, the Dong Hu demanded a piece of empty land, which served as the border between them and the Huns. It was a desert in the east of Mongolia, and some people thought: “This land is not needed, because we don’t live on it.” But Mode said: “The land is the foundation of the state. The land cannot be given away!” And he cut off their heads. After this, he ordered the soldiers to immediately set off on a campaign against Dong Hu. He defeated them because the Huns began to obey him unquestioningly.

Mode then went to war with China. It would seem that this war was unnecessary. The nomads lived in the steppe, and the Chinese lived further south, behind their Great Wall in a humid and warm monsoon valley. But the Huns had reasons to attack China.

Mode's army surrounded the advance detachment of the Chinese, with whom Emperor Liu Bang himself was. The Huns constantly fired at the Chinese detachment with bows, without giving it a break. The Chinese emperor asked for peace. Some of Mode's nobles offered to kill the enemy, but Mode replied: “Fools, why should we kill this Chinese king - they will choose a new one for themselves. Let him live. After all, the main forces of the Chinese are in the rearguard, we have not fought with them yet.” And Mode concluded a treaty of “peace and kinship” with this emperor, the founder of the Han dynasty (198). This meant that both sides would live without encroaching on each other's lands. The Huns were accustomed to roaming the steppe; they were not bothered by the cold. But the Chinese loved the mild climate of the Yellow River Valley and had no intention of going out into the steppe.

There was also a very unpleasant situation in China. The Chinese received silk or horses from the steppes, or luxury goods from the Mediterranean. Corals, purple dye, and jewelry went to the nobility, and silk was taken from the peasants. Everyone wanted to get as much of the precious goods as possible in order to please their wives and daughters by selling them. Naturally, the Chinese developed a system in which everything was done, as they would say today, “through connections.” All the wives and concubines of the emperor (and the emperor was supposed to have a harem) began to push their relatives into the positions of rulers and chiefs. These relatives, having received the right to manage any region, immediately began to put pressure on the peasants in order to obtain money for bribes. Their crimes, naturally, could not remain a secret to the government: the Chinese were constantly writing denunciations against each other, fortunately there were many literate people among them. Governors were executed from time to time. But they, foreseeing a bitter fate, buried treasures in the ground, giving the places to their children. And therefore the government, knowing well the morals of its compatriots, began to execute not only the criminal, but also his entire family.

So, the silk trade turned out to be disastrous for both empires: the Roman and the Chinese.

Meanwhile, the confrontation between the Xiongnu and China continued. And although China had a population of 50 million, and all the Huns were about three hundred thousand, the struggle, caused by the nomads’ need for silk, flour and iron objects, was fought on equal terms. The horses of the Chinese were much worse than the horses of the steppe people. Expeditions to the Xiongnu steppes usually ended in the death of Chinese mounted troops. When the Chinese managed to find out that in Central Asia there were “heavenly stallions” - thoroughbred horses similar to Arabian horses - they sent there military expedition. Having besieged the city of Guishan (a region of modern Fergana), the Chinese demanded the release of the best stallions. The besieged gave in, and the Chinese, returning with the spoils, began breeding a new breed. Having succeeded in this matter, they began to make successful raids against the Huns. Moreover, they persuaded their nomadic neighbors from the east, north and west to oppose the Huns.

In 93, the Xiongnu Shanyu lost a decisive battle, fled to the west and disappeared without a trace. The power of the Huns fell apart. Some tribes scattered in the South Siberian steppes, others went to China, because at that time there was a drought in the Great Steppe. The Gobi Desert in northern China began to expand, and the Huns were able to move to the dried-up Chinese fields, where the dry steppes dear to their hearts were formed. Some of the Huns went to Central Asia and reached Semirechye (the region of modern Alma-Ata). This is where the “weakly powerful Huns” settled.

The most desperate ones moved west. They passed through the whole of Kazakhstan and in the 50s of the 2nd century. reached the banks of the Volga, losing most of their women. They were physically unable to endure such a transition, and only the strongest of the men survived.

The Huns quickly settled into new places convenient for cattle breeding, where no one bothered them. They acquired women by raiding the Alans, and having united and intermarried with the Vogul people (Mansi), the Huns created a new ethnic group - the Western Huns, who were as little similar to the old Asian Huns as Texas cowboys were to English farmers. These Western Huns (for simplicity we will call them Huns) started a war with the Goths.

First, the Huns completed the defeat of the Alans, exhausting their strength with endless war. The state of the Huns expanded and occupied the spaces between the Ural (Yaik) and Don rivers. The Goths tried to hold on to the Don line, but they were exhausted by the exhausting struggle with the Slavs. Therefore, when the Huns came to the rear of the Goths through the Kerch Strait, Crimea and Perekop, they fled. The Ostrogoths submitted to the Huns, the Visigoths, having crossed the Danube, ended up in the Roman Empire. The death of the Gothic power provided freedom of action for the Slavs. But the memory of the former dominance in the southern Russian steppes of the Goths, who once captured the Slavic leader Bozh and crucified 70 Slavic elders, was preserved.

Let's return to the Goths who took refuge in Byzantium. They professed Christianity according to the Arian rite, and Nicene Orthodoxy triumphed in the Eastern Roman Empire. Union and friendship did not work out. The Romans demanded that the Goths crossing the Danube surrender their weapons, and they agreed. But when the imperial officials began to rob the Goths, demand bribes from them, take away their wives, children and property, it turned out that the Goths retained enough weapons to raise an uprising. In 378, at Adrianople, the rebels fought with the Romans, defeated them, killed Emperor Valens and approached the walls of Constantinople. Although the city was well fortified, the Goths had every chance of taking it. However, a strange incident helped the Romans.

The Roman army had a detachment of mounted Arabs. The horsemen circled around the foot Goths. One of the Goths fell behind, and the Arab horseman caught up with him and, hitting him with a spear, knocked him down. Then, jumping off his horse, he cut the enemy’s throat, drank blood, threw back his head and... howled. The frightened Goths decided that it was a werewolf. They retreated from Constantinople and went to plunder Macedonia and Greece. It was not easy even for Theodosius the Great to pacify them. But we will leave the ready to settle scores with the Roman Empire and return to Eastern Europe to the Slavs and Rus.

The Slavs took part in the Gothic-Hunnic war and, naturally, on the side of the Huns. Unfortunately for the Huns and Slavs, great leader and the conqueror Attila fell ill in 453 and died. He left behind 70 children and a young widow who had not even lost her virginity. The question of an heir arose: all of Attila’s sons laid claim to their father’s throne, and the conquered tribes supported different princes. Most of the Huns sided with the leader Ellak, but the Gepids and Ostrogoths opposed him. At the Battle of Nedao (the Slavic name for this river is Nedava), the Huns were defeated and Ellak died (454). The Huns' attempts to fight the Byzantines led them to defeat on the Lower Danube. In the east, in the Volga region, the Huns were defeated (463) and the Saragurs were subjugated. Some of the surviving Huns went to Altai, others to the Volga, where, mixing with the aborigines, they formed the Chuvash people. The scene was left empty.

In the VI-VIII centuries. The Slavs, a strong and energetic people, had great success. The population increased not so much through monogamous marriages, but through captive concubines. The Slavs spread to the north, where they were called Wends (this word is still preserved in the Estonian language). In the south they were called Sklavins, in the east - Antes. Ukrainian historian M.Yu. Braichevsky established that the Greek word “anty” means the same as the Slavic “glade”. The feminine word “polyanitsa” has been preserved in the meaning of “hero.” But the word “polyane” is not used in a similar meaning today, since the Turkic word “hero” has forced it out of use.

By the 6th century The Slavs occupied Volyn (Volhynians) and the southern steppes up to the Black Sea (Tivertsy and Ulichi). The Slavs also occupied the Pripyat basin, where the Drevlyans settled, and southern Belarus, where the Dregovichi (“dryagva” - swamp) settled. Settled in the northern part of Belarus Western Slavs- Wends. In addition, already in the 7th or 8th century. two other West Slavic tribes - the Radimichi and the Vyatichi - spread south and east to the Sozh, a tributary of the Dnieper, and to the Oka, a tributary of the Volga, settling among the local Finno-Ugric tribes.

For the Slavs, it was a disaster to be in the neighborhood of the ancient Rus, who made it their business to raid their neighbors. At one time, the Rus, defeated by the Goths, fled partly to the east, partly to the south to the lower reaches of the Danube, from where they came to Austria, where they became dependent on the Heruls of Odoacer ( further fate we are not interested in this branch). Part of the Rus, who went to the east, occupied three cities, which became support bases for their further campaigns. These were Cuyaba (Kyiv), Arzania (Beloozero?) and Staraya Rusa. The Rus robbed their neighbors, killed their men, and sold the captured children and women to slave traders.

The Slavs settled in small groups in villages; It was difficult for them to defend themselves against the Russians, who turned out to be terrible robbers. Everything of value became the booty of the Rus. And furs, honey, wax and children were valuable then. The unequal struggle lasted a long time and ended in favor of the Russians when Rurik came to power.

Rurik's biography is not easy. By “profession” he was a Varangian, that is, a hired warrior. By origin - Russian. It seems he had connections with the southern Baltic. He allegedly traveled to Denmark, where he met with the Frankish king Charles the Bald. Afterwards, in 862, he returned to Novgorod, where he seized power with the help of a certain elder Gostomysl. (We do not know for sure whether the word “Gosgomysl” means given name a person or a common noun for someone who “thinks,” that is, sympathizes with “guests” - aliens.) Soon an uprising broke out in Novgorod against Rurik, led by Vadim the Brave. But Rurik killed Vadim and again subjugated Novgorod and the surrounding areas: Ladoga, Beloozero and Izborsk.

There is a legend about two brothers of Rurik, Sineus and Truvor, which arose as a result of a misunderstanding of the words of the chronicle: “Rurik, his relatives (sine hus) and warriors (thru voring).” Rurik planted the warriors in Izborsk, sent his relatives further to Beloozero, and himself, relying on Ladoga, where there was a Varangian village, settled in Novgorod. Thus, by subjugating the surrounding Slavs, Finno-Ugrians and Balts, he created his own state.

According to the chronicle, Rurik died in 879, leaving a son named Igor, Ingvar in Scandinavian, that is, “younger.” Since Igor, according to the chronicler, was “detesk velmi” (“very small”), according to the chronicler, power was taken over by a governor named Helgi, that is, Oleg. “Helgi” was not even a name, but a title of Scandinavian leaders, meaning both “sorcerer” and “military leader”. Oleg and his soldiers moved along the great path from the “Varangians to the Greeks”: from Novgorod to the south along the Lovat River, where there was a transfer, and further along the Dnieper, simultaneously occupying Smolensk. The Varangians Oleg and young Igor approached Kyiv. Then the Slavs lived there and Askold’s small Russian squad stood there. Oleg lured Askold and the Slavic leader Dir to the banks of the Dnieper and treacherously killed them there. After this, the people of Kiev submitted to the new rulers without any resistance. This happened in 882.

Oleg occupied Pskov and in 883 betrothed the young Igor to the Pskovite Olga. Olga is feminine named Oleg. Here we most likely encounter the title again, without knowing the real name of the historical person. Probably Olga, like Igor, was a child at the time of the engagement.

By the 9th century. the split in Slavic unity led to the creation of new, previously non-existent peoples. As a result of the mixing of the Slavs with the Illyrians, Serbs and Croats appeared, and in Thrace the mixing with newcomer nomads laid the foundation for the Bulgarian ethnos. Some Slavic tribes penetrated Greece and Macedonia, reaching the Peloponnese, which they called Morea (from the word “sea”). The growing passionarity of the Slavs scattered them throughout Europe.

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Great Migration of the Slavs (VI-VII centuries)

1. What event that took place at the turn of ancient times and the Middle Ages unites the following historical and geographical concepts: Europe, Asia, Scandinavia, Huns, Goths, Antes, Slavs, barbarians, Avars, Danube, Dniester, Dnieper, III-VII centuries? Define it.

1. Slavs during the Great Migration of Peoples
In the III-VII centuries. n. e. processes took place that historians called the Great Migration of Peoples. These were massive movements (migration) of Germanic, Slavic, Sarmatian and other tribes, as well as their invasion of the territory of the Roman Empire. empires. The Great Migration of Peoples marked the beginning of the formation of modern peoples in the lands where they live to this day. This period is considered the boundary between history Ancient world and the Middle Ages.

What were the reasons for the Great Migration?

There are several of them. Among them are changes climate, affecting productivity, which, in turn, led to quantitative changes in the population. One should also take into account the successes in the development of agriculture after the introduction of iron tools, which contributed to an increase in the number of people and led to overpopulation of certain territories.

Another group of reasons includes processes within the tribes: the struggle for power and the displacement of the vanquished beyond the borders of their lands, the formation of a military nobility eager to capture booty and new territories subject to it.
The Great Migration of Peoples began with the movement of the German Gothic tribes to the south. In the first half of the 3rd century. the Goths came through the lands of the Slavs to the Northern Black Sea region. Gothic tribes settled in the lower reaches of the Dnieper. They were called Ostrogoths (Eastern Goths). Some of the Goths settled between the Dnieper and the Danube. These tribes were called Visigoths (Western Goths).

Ants- Slavic tribes, which in the 4th century. settled in the territory between the Dniester and Dnieper rivers. Last mentioned about the Antes in written sources dates back to 602.

We find information from ancient authors that around 260 the Goths captured a number of ancient cities: Olbia, Tire and the Bosporan state. They formed their own state north of the Black Sea. The Eastern Slavs created an association - the Union of Ants, which had certain characteristics of a state.

Huns- Turkic-speaking nomadic tribes, in the 4th century. came from the east to the Northern Black Sea region,

The Slavs-Antes led sedentary image life, engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding, fishing, hunting, and beekeeping. They mastered various crafts, in particular, they made iron products (not only weapons, but also agricultural tools), and were good jewelers and potters; conducted active trade, going on trips to distant countries for this purpose. Ancient authors testify that the Antes were
allies of the Huns both in the fight against the Goths and in their campaigns against Byzantium. In the 4th century. The Goths, defeated by the Huns, retreated to the Lower Danube, and some of them to the Crimea.

In the notebook of an erudite
After the Goths invaded the lands of the Antes, the Antian leader Bozh (IV century) formed a powerful army and marched against the enemy. The war dragged on for several years. In its first period, the Antes completely defeated the Goths, but in vain they rejoiced at their victory. Indeed, soon (in 375) the Gothic leader Vinitarius gathered a new army and again attacked them. This time the Goths won. Their reprisal against the Ants was brutal - they killed many and took them into captivity. Bozh, his sons and 70 elders, captured, were tortured and destroyed. But Vinitarius did not have time to fully enjoy the fruits of victory: in 376 he was defeated by the Huns. And for a long time, people sang about God in songs, as evidenced by a unique monument of ancient Russian literature - “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” which you will get to know a little later.

Hun Horseman

What does this drawing indicate?

In the 5th century the Hun tribes reached highest power. For a long time, led by Attila (434-453), they ruled over all of Eastern and Central Europe. The Roman Empire and Byzantium were forced to pay off the Huns with gold. After the death of Attila in 453, the state of the Huns began to decline and subsequently completely collapsed. The Huns scattered across different territories.

In the VI century. Slavic tribes encountered nomads - Avars. They advanced into the territory modern Ukraine from Central Asia, and in 558 they attacked the population of the Azov region. It is known that in the 550s - early 560s. The Avars devastated the lands of the Antes. On the territory of the former Roman province of Pannonia (part of present-day Hungary), the Avars were created in the middle of the 6th century. your state. It was called the Avar Kaganate. In the VII-JX centuries. The Avar state gradually fell into decay. This was partly a consequence of unsuccessful wars with Byzantium, the Franks and the Slavs. In the 7th century The Slavs completely ousted the Avars from the Northern Black Sea region.
As we see, in the maelstrom of events of the Great Migration of Peoples, our ancestors - the Slavs - not only did not dissolve among other tribes, but also expanded their territories.

Avars- nomads united in a large tribal union, the main part of which were Turkic-speaking tribes.

Khaganate- a state among the Turkic peoples, headed by the Kagan.

2. Settlement of tribal unions of the Eastern Slavs on the territory of Ukraine
The Great Migration of the Slavs, mid-1st millennium AD. e.) is a component of the large-scale historical process- The Great Migration of Peoples. They wrote about the Slavs in their scientific works Romans Pliny, Cornelius Tacitus (I-II centuries AD), Greek Ptolemy. They noted that the lands of the Slavic tribes are located between the Laba (Elbe), Vistula and Dnieper rivers, and called them Wends. Byzantine historians of the 4th century. n. e. The Slavs are called differently: antes, sklavins (sklavens).

As a result of the settlement, tribes of the Eastern, Western and Southern Slavs were formed, on the basis of which numerous Slavic peoples later arose.

Having mastered the left bank of the Dnieper, the Slavs gradually populated the northern and northeastern lands, previously occupied by the Balts and Finno-Ugric peoples. Over a large territory - from the Carpathians to the upper Volga - East Slavic tribes and tribal unions are formed. These new formations, unlike the previous ones - the Sklavins and Ants, already unite a dozen different tribal groups. This is evidenced by our very ancient chronicle"The Tale of Bygone Years", which mentions 15 tribal unions. The Dregovichi, Radimichi, Vyatichi, Polotsk, Krivichi and Ilmen Slovenes settled on the territory of modern Belarus and Russia. The tribal associations from which the Ukrainian people were subsequently formed were: Polyans, Drevlyans, Northerners, Tivertsy, Ulichs, Volynians, Dulebs and White Croats.

Balts- tribes that settled in the 1st millennium AD. e. the territory from the southwestern Baltic to the upper Dnieper region, as well as the river basin. Oka.

Finno-Ugric- tribes that settled to the northeast of the territories where the Eastern Slavs lived.

The main directions of settlement of the Slavs

1. Danube region, Balkan Peninsula (VI-VII centuries)

2. Free lands after the resettlement of the Germans, within the river. Laba (Tatry Mountains, Sudeten Mountains, Baltic Sea coast)

3. Left bank of the Dnieper, between the Pripyat and Western Dvina rivers, the upper Oka basin (VIII-IX centuries)

This is how the famous Ukrainian artist G. Yakutovich depicted the ancient Slavs, who illustrated the retelling of “The Tale of Bygone Years” by Nestor the Chronicler

Look carefully at the tree map in the picture and find the names of the Slavic tribal unions.

• The names of which tribal unions did the artist not include in the drawing?
  
• Where would you label them?

Settlement of East Slavic tribes within Ukraine

Historical sources

Procopius of Caesarea 1 about the life of the Slavs and Antes in the book “War with the Goths”
These tribes, the Slavs and the Ants, do not obey one person, but have long lived democratically; therefore, they discuss everything that is useful or harmful for them together. And in almost everything else both barbarian people live the same way. They consider the one god, the Thunderer, to be the ruler of the whole world and sacrifice bulls to him and perform other sacred rituals. They completely ignore the influence of fate.

They live in squalid dwellings, located far from each other, and often change their place of residence. When going to war, many of them go against the enemy on foot, holding a small shield and darts in their hands; They don’t wear armor; some go to battle... in very short pants that cover only part of the body.

Both barbarians have the same language, simple and barbaric; they are no different from each other and appearance. All these people are tall and extremely strong. Their complexion is not completely white, their hair is not light brown and does not turn into black, but reddish...

1. Remember the definition of democracy.
2. Name the Slavic thunder god mentioned by the author.
3. How, in your opinion, does the author relate to the Slavs and Antes? Which of his statements indicate this?

1 Procopius of Caesarea (VI century AD) - famous Byzantine historian, author of “The History of Justinian’s Wars” (8 books); advisor to the Byzantine commander Belisarius. He called the tribes living in Volyn the Slavs, and the Antes the tribes of the Dnieper region.

Eastern Slavs in the 18th - mid-19th centuries.

3. Neighbors of the East Savionic tribes

Neighboring peoples had a significant influence on the life and social development of the East Slavic tribes.
In the southeast, the neighbors of the Eastern Slavs were the Khazars - semi-nomadic tribes of Turkic origin. In the middle of the 6th century. in the Caspian and Azov regions a new state was formed - the Khazar Kaganate. Its capital was first the city of Semender (in the territory of modern Dagestan), and from the middle of the 8th century. - Itil at the mouth of the Volga. The dominant elite in the Khazars were predominantly Khazars and Jews. But among the common people there were Bulgars, Slavs, and Turks.

The Khazars were warlike people. They conquered many different tribes, in particular the Alans, Ugrians and Bulgars, who lived on the Volga at that time. The power of the Khazar Kaganate also extended to some East Slavic tribes - the Northerners, Vyatichi, Radimichi. For a long time, up to the 60s. 9th century, these tribes should have
pay tribute to the Khazars. The clearing also depended on them. The capital of the Khazar Kaganate was located at the crossroads of international trade routes. The most important was the Volga route, connecting Europe with the countries of Western Asia. The ruling elite of the Kaganate enriched themselves by collecting duties on goods that transited through Itil. Another source of enrichment for the Khazar rulers and their minions were predatory raids on neighboring peoples.

The Eastern Slavs waged a fierce and lengthy struggle with the Khazars. It began even before the formation of the Kyiv state, when, according to the chronicler, instead of tribute, the glades were given swords to the Khazars.

Itil - capital of the Khazar state (khaganate); was located on both banks of the Volga and on an island at its mouth; currently - an excavated settlement 15 km north of Astrakhan (Russia); According to ancient descriptions, Itil was surrounded by a five-pointed fortified wall.

N. Roerich Overseas guests

Why did the warriors depicted by artists place their shields on the sides of the boats?

Volok- the place of closest convergence of two navigable rivers, along which boats and cargo were pulled (dragged) from one river to another.

Beginning in the 7th century, the Khazars intensified their expansion, in particular, they captured the Bosporus Strait and built
on both sides of the fortress, and subsequently extended their power to the Crimea. In the middle of the 8th century.
The Khazars captured Sugdeya (currently the city of Sudak in Crimea). There were times when they owned
even Chersonese. The south of Crimea belonged to Byzantium, here its interests collided with the interests of the Khazars.

In the VI-VII centuries. Slavs appeared in Crimea. Consequently, in the south the neighbors of the Eastern Slavs were both the Khazars and the Byzantines.

In the northwest, the neighbors of the Eastern Slavs were the Vikings, or Normans (northern people). The Slavs called them Varangians. Their homeland is the lands of modern Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Deprived of their inheritance, the younger sons of the clans gathered into bands of robber warriors and sailed on light sailing ships to the southwest - to the shores of England, France, Portugal or to the southeast - to the Slavic lands. Their trade was military robberies and the capture of prisoners, who were subsequently sold into slavery. (You will learn more about this in the history lessons of the Middle Ages).

From the 9th century The Varangians mastered the trade route, called “From the Varangians to the Greeks.” From Lake Ilmen, along small rivers and dragging their boats, they reached the upper reaches of the Dnieper, and the Dnieper - to the Black Sea and Byzantine possessions. The Varangians - warriors and merchants - played a significant role in the history of the ancient Russian state.

4. Ethnic and power-creative processes during the formation of Kievan Rus
The settlement of the Slavs on the territory of modern Ukraine began at the end of the 5th century. and continued until the 9th century. The Eastern Slavs lived in tribes, which consisted first of tribal communities, and later of neighboring communities. Power in the tribes belonged to the prince, who relied on the support of warriors-combatants. Tribes united into tribal unions. The chronicles note that the East Slavic tribal unions “lived separately and owned their clans, and each lived with his clan in his own place.” They all “had their own customs, traditions, and
the laws of their fathers (ancestors), and covenants, each with his own standards.” The truth of the chronicler's words was confirmed by archeology. Finds of East Slavic antiquities confirm characteristic local features. They relate to burial rites, decorations that are unique to one tribe and not found among others, and the like.

Tribal unions sometimes united. Such tribal associations did not exist for long, but they were a necessary stage of development on the path to the formation of a state. For example, the first East Slavic pre-state formations on the territory of Ukraine were associated with the residence of the Antes here. Subsequently in the 7th century. in Volyn and in the Carpathian region there was a strong Dulsb association.

In the VIII-IX centuries. tribal unions grew into formation top level- tribal reigns. Such reigns already had most of the signs of a state system.

Prince- the leader of the tribe, with the advent of the state - its ruler.

Druzhina- in Ancient Rus' - armed units, constant military force prince

Temporal rings- bronze, silver or gold women's jewelry that was woven into the hair at the temples or attached to the headdress. They were extremely popular among Eastern Slav women.

Pay attention to modern women's jewelry. Are there such ornaments on them?

Types of ornaments characteristic of the decorations of the Eastern Slavs

Tribal principalities laid the foundation of East Slavic statehood.

The most powerful was the tribal reign of the Polyans, which became the center of the formation of the Kyiv state.
The chronicle “The Tale of Bygone Years” contains a legend about the founding of Kyiv by three brothers: Kiy, Shchek, Khoryv and their sister Lybidya, who came from the East Slavic tribe of the Polyans. Kiy served in Byzantium and there successfully fought against the Avars. After this, Kiy built the town of Kievets on the Lower Danube, but he failed to gain a foothold there. He returned to the Dnieper region and in the second half of the 6th century. on the Kyiv hills (Starokievskaya, 24 Castle Mountains) he founded the city of Kyiv.

This city was founded in the center of settlement of East Slavic tribes. North of Kyiv, the Desna and Pripyat rivers flow into the Dnieper. Therefore, Kyiv became the key city to the lands in the upper reaches of the Dnieper, Desna and Pripyat. The lands around Kyiv were fertile and wooded, which made it possible for the glades to build houses and fortifications, develop agriculture, cattle breeding, and various crafts. The changes that occurred in economic life became an important prerequisite for the formation of the state. Principality of Kiev was the center around which the ancient Russian state began to form.

The ruler of Novgorod (the center of the North Slavic tribes) - a Varangian by origin, Oleg, having insidiously killed the Kyiv prince Askold and seized power in Kyiv, united the two centers of the East Slavic lands - the south and the north - Kyiv and Novgorod. This is how the state was founded, which received the name Rus'.

Later historians gave it the name " Kievan Rus", and in ancient documents the state was called Russia, and its capital - Kiev. The majority of the population of Rus' were Slavs. Living with them were the Normans, Balts, Bulgarians, Sarmatians, Finno-Ugric peoples and representatives of other nationalities, who together made up the population of Kievan Rus.

Castle Hill. Historical area of ​​Kyiv

Why, in your opinion, in the very center of the capital, where everyone square meter land is worth its weight in gold, the people of Kiev have not built up a significant area on Castle Hill? What role do monuments play in history?

Memorial sign on Starokievskaya Hill in Kyiv near the Historical Museum

Where does it come from, the Russian land came...

Historical sources

“The Tale of Bygone Years” about the founders of the city of Kyiv
The Glades lived separately in those days and were governed by their own clans; for even before that brotherhood there were already glades, and they all lived with their clans in their own places, and each was governed independently. And there were three brothers: one named Kiy, the other - Shchek and the third - Khoriv, ​​and their sister - Lybid. Kiy sat on the mountain where Borichev now rises, and Shchek sat on the mountain that is now called Shchekovitsa, and Khoriv on the third mountain, which was nicknamed Khorivitsa after his name. And they built a city in honor of their elder brother, and named it Kyiv. There was a forest and a large forest around the city, and they caught animals there, and those men were wise and sensible, and they were called glades, from them glades are still in Kyiv.

Some, not knowing, say that Kiy was a carrier; At that time, Kyiv had transportation from the other side of the Dnieper, which is why they said: “For transportation to Kyiv.” If Kiy had been a ferryman, he would not have gone to Constantinople; and this Kiy reigned in his family, and he went to the king...

When he was returning, he came to the Danube, and took a fancy to the place, and cut down a small town, and wanted to settle in it with his family, but those living around did not let him; This is how the Danube residents still call the settlement - Kievets. Kiy, returning to his city of Kyiv, died here; and his brothers Shchek and Khoriv and their sister Lybid died immediately.

1. What fragment of the chronicle testifies to Kiy’s campaigns in Byzantium?
2. What do the two chronicle versions of Kiy’s biography indicate? Could he, in your opinion, be both a prince and a carrier?

The monument to the founders of Kyiv became business card capital of Ukraine. Sculptor V. Boroday

Look carefully at the photo. Describe how a modern sculptor depicted the legendary founders of Kyiv. Which one of them do you think is Cue? By what signs did you determine this?

Founding of Kyiv “Kiy, Shchek, Khoriv and their sister Lybid...”
The chronicle gives you an echo of a beautiful legend. The gentle image of Lybid appears in our imagination. Every time the sister of her brothers Kiya, Shchek and Khoriv equipped herself either for hunting or for war. And then, until they returned, she was worried about them - dangers awaited people in those days at every step... But how joyfully Lybid greeted the brothers when they returned home. And most of all, the sister was delighted when the brothers returned home from a long campaign - from the town of Kievets, which they founded on the Danube. After the stories about the campaign, Kiy swore to his beloved sister never to leave her for a long time again, not to go to distant lands...