Rus' is a state that was first formed during the unification of ancient, Slavic tribes under the rule of a prince from the Rurik dynasty. The lands of these tribes began to be called Russian.

“Where did the Russian land come from?”

"The Tale of Bygone Years", written by the monk Nestor in the 12th century about those events, as well as archaeological research, suggests that the Slavic tribes are the original inhabitants of Europe. “And from those Slavs the Slavs dispersed over the earth and were called by the names of those places where they sat down.” And they parted like this:

    Glades - along the western bank of the Dnieper.

    Drevlyans - along the Pripyat River.

    Dregovichi - between the rivers Pripyat and Berezina.

    Krivichi - in the upper reaches of the Volga, Dnieper, Western Dvina.

    Ilmen Slavs (the northernmost tribe) - on Lake Ilmen, along the Volkhov River.

    Vyatichi (the easternmost tribe) - along the Oka.

By superimposing these settlements on modern map, you can imagine the geography of the Slavic lands. This is Rus'.

Slavic communities

Tribes, communities led an economic way of life, namely, they were engaged in arable farming and raising cattle. Living in forests and on the banks of rivers, they hunted, fished, and collected wild honey. Later, traditional crafts also develop, but there is still no division into artisans and farmers. Every Slav knows everything.

From about the 6th century, tribal fortified settlements - cities - appeared. Where the glade lived - Kyiv, among the Ilmen Slavs - Novgorod, among the Krivichi - Smolensk. In the 9th-10th centuries, their number reaches about 25, and in the 12th century - more than 300. Ancient Rus' is country of cities.

Scientists continue to argue about the origin of the word "Rus". Supporters of the Norman theory cannot stop at one version: some believe that the Finnish name for the Swedes "rutsi" is the basis; others have found the place Roslagen on the map and, calling it the birthplace of the first prince Rurik, are looking for the origin of the word in it; they also admit that the Swedish noun "rower" (rus) is one-root. Slavic traditions connect great Rus' with the river Rosyu that flows through Ukraine. There are still options, many of them, which can neither be confirmed nor denied.

Formation of the ancient Russian state. 862

History of Rus' begins with the fact that, having freed themselves from the Vikings, who were collecting tribute in the Slavic lands, the tribes started an internecine war for power. "Rod stood on the clan." Tired of strife, the leaders agreed on the decision to invite a ruler from outside. There was nothing offensive in this; many peoples did so. A foreigner, not associated with local tribes, will be an impartial judge.

The invited princes of the Rurik dynasty came to Rus' in three. The elder brother Rurik sat down to reign in Novgorod, the middle one - on Beloozero, and the younger one - in Izborsk. But beforehand, an agreement was concluded with them, according to which they undertook to judge according to local customs, and the society was to support them and the squad. The Varangians quickly became “glorified”, already the grandson of Rurik was called Svyatoslav. “And from those Varangians the Russian land was nicknamed,” wrote the chronicler Nestor.

After the imminent death of the younger brothers, all the lands came under the rule of Rurik. Feeling the strong hand of the prince, tribal strife subsided, a single power appeared in Rus'. Thisthe first step on the path of Russian statehood.

Kievan Rus. 882

In the history of Rus' Varangian prince Rurik is the founder of the dynasty of Russian princes. This is normal, because the rulers of all countries and times considered it an honor to be related to noble foreign ancestors.

When Rurik died, his successor appeared on the Dnieper with an army. The son of Rurik was still small, and his relative Oleg took over the board. In 882, he conquered Kyiv and proclaimed it "the mother of Russian cities." By uniting Novgorod and Kyiv under one authority, Oleg strengthened the position of the state, which became known as Kievan Rus..

Igor, the grown-up son of Rurik, who also increased the borders with a sword and a spear, became his heir. Kievan Rus, successfully repelled the raids of the Pechenegs, went to fight, like Oleg, in Byzantium. He died at the hands of the Drevlyans in 945, when he arrived with a retinue to collect tribute, which seemed excessive.

His wife Olga, having avenged the death of her husband, began to rule the state herself. She wisely held power over Kiev and all of Russia. In addition, she resolved issues related to the collection of tribute, streamlining the amount of taxes and the timing of their payments.

Princess Olga was the first Russian person to accept the Christian doctrine. Baptism took place in 957 in Constantinople. The heir to the princely throne after Olga was their son Svyatoslav with Prince Igor.

Ancient Rus' is a multi-layered society

Ancient Russian chronicles say that in Rus' there was already a division of society into “nobility” and “people”. At the top of the power were the princes and the boyars close to them, combatants, church servants. Feudal estates were formed, where free peasants worked. But there were also not free people in Rus': servants and serfs. The first are prisoners of war and their descendants, and the serfs areSlavs who fell into slavery to their fellow tribesmen.

ruled by the state Grand Duke who lived in Kyiv. And power was transferred to his relatives: son, brother, nephew. In the cities, its representatives were posadniks and volostniks. At the end of the 10th century, the administration of allotments by the appanage princes, the sons of the Grand Duke, appeared.

There were also such governing bodies as the Duma, consisting of the nobility and the clergy, as well as the veche - the people's assembly. The basis of the army was the princely squad, and people who were called warriors were gathered for the war.

The economic basis of Kievan Rusthere was agriculture, but handicrafts also developed. Cities became trade and craft centers, where first cult places of pagan gods were erected, and after the baptism of Rus' - Orthodox churches. How could trade fail to flourish if the path “from the Varangians to the Greeks” went through Russian lands?

cultural traditions

Russian culture was influenced by the heritage of the ancient Slavs, and after baptism, and Byzantium. Samples of applied art, songs, epics, folk tales are Slavic roots. From Byzantium, Rus' took traditions in architecture, literature, and painting.

Writing in Kievan Rus began to spread after the adoption of Christianity. We still use the alphabet created by the Greek monks Cyril and Methodius in the 9th century. Old Russian books were decorated with miniatures and expensive salaries.

Schools were organized at the monasteries, people of all classes studied there, without restrictions. Almost all of the townspeople were literate, which is confirmed by numerous birch bark records. Painting is represented by iconography, frescoes, mosaics, and music is represented by church singing.

Vyatichi is a union of East Slavic tribes that lived in the second half of the first millennium AD. e. in the upper and middle reaches of the Oka. The name Vyatichi supposedly came from the name of the ancestor of the tribe, Vyatko. However, some associate this name by origin with the morpheme "veins" and Venedi (or Veneti / Venti) (the name "Vyatichi" was pronounced as "Ventichi").
In the middle of the 10th century, Svyatoslav annexed the lands of the Vyatichi to Kievan Rus, but until the end of the 11th century, these tribes retained a certain political independence; campaigns against the Vyatichi princes of this time are mentioned.
Since the XII century, the territory of the Vyatichi became part of the Chernigov, Rostov-Suzdal and Ryazan principalities. Until the end of the 13th century, the Vyatichi retained many pagan rituals and traditions, in particular, they cremated the dead, erecting small mounds over the burial place. After Christianity took root among the Vyatichi, the rite of cremation gradually went out of use.
Vyatichi retained their tribal name longer than other Slavs. They lived without princes, the social structure was characterized by self-government and democracy. IN last time Vyatichi are mentioned in chronicles under such a tribal name in 1197.

Buzhan (Volynians) - a tribe of Eastern Slavs who lived in the basin upstream Western Bug (from which they got their name); since the end of the 11th century, the Buzhans have been called Volynians (from the locality of Volyn).

Volhynia is an East Slavic tribe or tribal union, mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years and in the Bavarian chronicles. According to the latter, the Volhynians owned seventy fortresses at the end of the 10th century. Some historians believe that the Volhynians and Buzhans are descendants of the Dulebs. Their main cities were Volyn and Vladimir-Volynsky. Archaeological research indicates that the Volynians developed agriculture and numerous crafts, including forging, casting and pottery.
In 981, the Volynians were subordinated to the Kyiv prince Vladimir I and became part of Kievan Rus. Later, the Galicia-Volyn principality was formed on the territory of the Volynians.

Drevlyans - one of the tribes of Russian Slavs, lived along Pripyat, Goryn, Sluch and Teterev.
The name Drevlyane, according to the chronicler, was given to them because they lived in the forests.

From archaeological excavations in the country of the Drevlyans, it can be concluded that they had a well-known culture. A well-established burial rite testifies to the existence of certain religious beliefs about the afterlife: the absence of weapons in the graves testifies to the peaceful nature of the tribe; finds of sickles, shards and vessels, iron products, remnants of fabrics and leather indicate the existence of arable farming, pottery, blacksmithing, weaving and leather crafts among the Drevlyans; many bones of domestic animals and spurs indicate cattle breeding and horse breeding; many items made of silver, bronze, glass and carnelian, of foreign origin, indicate the existence of trade, and the absence of coins suggests that the trade was barter.
The political center of the Drevlyans in the era of their independence was the city of Iskorosten; at a later time, this center, apparently, moved to the city of Vruchiy (Ovruch)

Dregovichi - an East Slavic tribal union that lived between Pripyat and the Western Dvina.
Most likely the name comes from old Russian word dregva or dryagva, which means "swamp".
Under the name Drugovites (Greek δρονγονβίται), the Dregovichi are already known to Konstantin Porfirorodny as a tribe subordinate to Rus'. Being aloof from the "Road from the Varangians to the Greeks", the Dregovichi did not play a prominent role in history. Ancient Rus'. The chronicle mentions only that the Dregovichi once had their own reign. The capital of the principality was the city of Turov. The subjugation of the Dregovichi to the Kyiv princes probably happened very early. On the territory of the Dregovichi, the principality of Turov was subsequently formed, and the northwestern lands became part of the principality of Polotsk.

Dulebs (not dulebs) - an alliance of East Slavic tribes on the territory of Western Volhynia in the 6th-early 10th centuries. In the 7th century they were subjected to the Avar invasion (obry). In 907 they took part in Oleg's campaign against Tsargrad. They broke up into tribes of Volhynians and Buzhans, and in the middle of the 10th century they finally lost their independence, becoming part of Kievan Rus.

Krivichi - a large East Slavic tribe (tribal union), which occupied the upper reaches of the Volga, Dnieper and Western Dvina in the 6th-10th centuries, southern part Lake Peipsi basin and part of the Neman basin. Sometimes the Ilmen Slavs are also classified as Krivichi.
The Krivichi were probably the first Slavic tribe to move from the Carpathians to the northeast. Limited in their distribution to the northwest and west, where they met stable Lithuanian and Finnish tribes, the Krivichi spread to the northeast, assimilating with the living Tamfins.
Having settled on the great waterway from Scandinavia to Byzantium (the path from the Varangians to the Greeks), the Krivichi took part in trade with Greece; Konstantin Porphyrogenitus says that the Krivichi make boats on which the Rus go to Tsargrad. They participated in the campaigns of Oleg and Igor against the Greeks as a tribe subordinate to the Kyiv prince; Oleg's contract mentions their city of Polotsk.

Already in the era of the formation of the Russian state, the Krivichi had political centers: Izborsk, Polotsk and Smolensk.
It is believed that the last tribal prince of the Krivichi Rogvolod, together with his sons, was killed in 980 by the Novgorod prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich. In the Ipatiev list, the Krivichi are mentioned for the last time under 1128, and the Polotsk princes are called Krivichi under 1140 and 1162. After that, the Krivichi are no longer mentioned in the East Slavic annals. However, the tribal name Krivichi was used for quite a long time in foreign sources (until the end of the 17th century). The word krievs entered the Latvian language to designate Russians in general, and the word Krievija to designate Russia.

The southwestern, Polotsk branch of the Krivichi is also called Polotsk. Together with the Dregovichi, Radimichi and some Baltic tribes, this branch of the Krivichi formed the basis of the Belarusian ethnic group.
The northeastern branch of the Krivichi, settled mainly in the territory of modern Tver, Yaroslavl and Kostroma regions, was in close contact with the Finno-Ugric tribes.
The boundary between the territory of settlement of the Krivichi and Novgorod Slovenes is determined archaeologically by the types of burials: long barrows near the Krivichi and hills among the Slovenes.

The Polochans are an East Slavic tribe that inhabited the lands in the middle reaches of the Western Dvina in today's Belarus in the 9th century.
Polochans are mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years, which explains their name as living near the Polota River, one of the tributaries of the Western Dvina. In addition, the chronicle claims that the Krivichi were descendants of the Polotsk people. The lands of the Polochans stretched from the Svisloch along the Berezina to the lands of the Dregovichi. The Polochans were one of the tribes from which the Polotsk principality was later formed. They are one of the founders of the modern Belarusian people.

Glade (poly) - the name of the Slavic tribe, in the era of the settlement of the Eastern Slavs, who settled along the middle course of the Dnieper, on its right bank.
Judging by the chronicles and the latest archaeological research, the territory of the land of the glades before the Christian era was limited to the course of the Dnieper, Ros and Irpin; in the northeast it was adjacent to the derevskaya land, in the west - to the southern settlements of the Dregovichi, in the southwest - to the Tivertsy, in the south - to the streets.

Calling the Slavs who settled here glades, the chronicler adds: “outside in the gray field.” The glades differed sharply from the neighboring Slavic tribes both in moral properties and in the forms of social life: and to sisters and to their mothers .... marriage customs having a husband.
History catches the meadows already at a rather late stage political development: social order It is composed of two elements - communal and princely-druzhina, the former being strongly suppressed by the latter. With the usual and ancient occupations of the Slavs - hunting, fishing and beekeeping - more than other Slavs, cattle breeding, agriculture, “woodworking” and trade were widespread among the meadows. The latter was quite extensive not only with Slavic neighbors, but also with foreigners in the West and East: the coin treasures show that trade with the East began as early as the 8th century, but it stopped during the strife of the specific princes.
At first, about the middle of the 8th century, the glades, who paid tribute to the Khazars, due to their cultural and economic superiority, from a defensive position in relation to their neighbors, soon turned into an offensive one; Drevlyans, Dregovichi, northerners and others by the end of the 9th century were already subject to the glades. They also adopted Christianity earlier than others. Kyiv was the center of the Polyana (“Polish”) land; her others settlements-Vyshgorod, Belgorod on the Irpen River (now the village of Belogorodka), Zvenigorod, Trepol (now the village of Trypillya), Vasilev (now Vasilkov) and others.
Zemlyapolyan with the city of Kiev became the center of the possessions of the Rurikovichs from 882. The last time in the annals the name of the glades is mentioned in 944, on the occasion of Igor's campaign against the Greeks, and is replaced, probably already at the end of the Χ century, by the name Rus (Ros) and Kiyane. The chronicler also calls the Glades the Slavic tribe on the Vistula, mentioned for the last time in the Ipatiev Chronicle under 1208.

Radimichi - the name of the population that was part of the union of East Slavic tribes that lived in the interfluve of the upper reaches of the Dnieper and the Desna.
Around 885 Radimichi became part of the Old Russian state, and in the XII century they mastered most of Chernigov and the southern part of Smolensk lands. The name comes from the name of the ancestor of the Radima tribe.

Northerners (more correctly, the North) are a tribe or tribal union of Eastern Slavs who inhabited the territories east of the middle reaches of the Dnieper, along the Desna and Seimi Sula rivers.

The origin of the name of the north is not fully understood. Most authors associate it with the name of the Savir tribe, which was part of the Hunnic association. According to another version, the name goes back to the obsolete Old Slavic word meaning "relative". The explanation from the Slavic siver, north, despite the similarity of sound, is considered extremely controversial, since the north has never been the most northerly of the Slavic tribes.

Slovene (Ilmen Slavs) - an East Slavic tribe that lived in the second half of the first millennium in the basin of Lake Ilmen and the upper reaches of the Mologa and made up the bulk of the population of Novgorod land.

The Tivertsy are an East Slavic tribe that lived between the Dniester and the Danube near the Black Sea coast. They are first mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years along with other East Slavic tribes of the 9th century. The main occupation of the Tivertsy was agriculture. The Tivertsy took part in the campaigns of Oleg against Tsargrad in 907 and Igor in 944. In the middle of the 10th century, the lands of the Tivertsy became part of Kievan Rus.
The descendants of the Tivertsy became part of the Ukrainian people, and their western part underwent Romanization.

Ulichi is an East Slavic tribe that inhabited the lands along the lower reaches of the Dnieper, the Southern Bug and the Black Sea coast during the 8th-10th centuries.
The capital of the streets was the city of Pereseken. In the first half of the 10th century, the streets fought for independence from Kievan Rus, but nevertheless they were forced to recognize its supremacy and become part of it. Later, the streets and neighboring Tivertsy were driven north by the arriving Pecheneg nomads, where they merged with the Volhynians. The last mention of the streets dates back to the annals of the 970s.

Croats are an East Slavic tribe that lived in the vicinity of the city of Przemysl on the San River. They called themselves white Croats, in contrast to the tribe of the same name with them, who lived in the Balkans. The name of the tribe is derived from the ancient Iranian word "shepherd, guardian of cattle", which may indicate its main occupation - cattle breeding.

Bodrichi (encouraged, rarogs) - Polabian Slavs (lower reaches of the Elbe) in the VIII-XII centuries. - the union of the Wagrs, Polabs, Glinyakov, Smolensk. Rarog (among the Danes Rerik) - main city peppy. Mecklenburg in East Germany.
According to one version, Rurik is a Slav from the Bodrich tribe, the grandson of Gostomysl, the son of his daughter Umila and the Bodrich prince Godoslav (Godlav).

The Wislans are a West Slavic tribe that has lived at least since the 7th century in Lesser Poland. In the 9th century, the Wislans formed a tribal state with centers in Krakow, Sandomierz and Straduv. At the end of the century, they were subjugated by the king of Great Moravia Svyatopolk I and were forced to be baptized. In the 10th century, the lands of the Vistulas were conquered by the Polans and incorporated into Poland.

Zlichane (Czech. Zličane, Polish. Zliczanie) - one of the ancient Czech tribes. They inhabited the territory adjacent to the modern city of Kourzhim (Czech Republic). East and South Bohemia and the region of the Duleb tribe. The main city of the principality was Libice. The princes of Libice Slavniki competed with Prague in the struggle for the unification of the Czech Republic. In 995, the Zlichans were subjugated by the Přemyslids.

Lusatians, Lusatian Serbs, Sorbs (German Sorben), Wends - the indigenous Slavic population living in the territory of Lower and Upper Lusatia - areas that are part of modern Germany. The first settlements of the Lusatian Serbs in these places were recorded in the 6th century AD. e.
The Lusatian language is divided into Upper Lusatian and Lower Lusatian.
The dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron gives a definition: "Sorbs are the name of the Wends and, in general, the Polabian Slavs." Slavic people inhabiting a number of areas in Germany, in the federal states of Brandenburg and Saxony.
Lusatian Serbs are one of the four officially recognized national minorities in Germany (along with gypsies, Frisians and Danes). It is believed that about 60 thousand German citizens now have Serbian Lusatian roots, of which 20,000 live in Lower Lusatia (Brandenburg) and 40 thousand in Upper Lusatia (Saxony).

Lyutichi (Vilts, Velets) - an alliance of West Slavic tribes that lived in early middle ages in what is now eastern Germany. The center of the union of the Lyutichs was the sanctuary "Radogost", in which the god Svarozhich was revered. All decisions were made at a large tribal meeting, and there was no central authority.
The Lyutichi led the Slavic uprising of 983 against the German colonization of lands east of the Elbe, as a result of which colonization was suspended for almost two hundred years. Even before that, they were ardent opponents of the German king Otto I. About his heir, Henry II, it is known that he did not try to enslave them, but rather lured them with money and gifts to his side in the fight against Poland, Boleslav the Brave.
Military and political successes strengthened the adherence to paganism and pagan customs in the Lutiches, which also applied to related Bodrichs. However, in the 1050s, civil war broke out among the Lutici and changed their position. The union quickly lost power and influence, and after the central sanctuary was destroyed by the Saxon duke Lothar in 1125, the union finally broke up. Over the following decades, the Saxon dukes gradually expanded their holdings to the east and conquered the lands of the Luticians.

Pomeranians, Pomeranians - West Slavic tribes that lived from the 6th century in the lower reaches of the Odryn coast of the Baltic Sea. It remains unclear whether there was a residual Germanic population prior to their arrival, which they assimilated. In 900, the border of the Pomeranian area passed along the Odra in the west, the Vistula in the east and the Notech in the south. They gave the name of the historical area of ​​Pomerania.
In the 10th century, the Polish prince Mieszko I included the lands of the Pomeranians into the Polish state. In the 11th century, the Pomeranians revolted and regained their independence from Poland. During this period, their territory expanded westward from the Odra into the lands of the Luticians. At the initiative of Prince Vartislav I, the Pomeranians adopted Christianity.
From the 1180s, German influence began to grow and German settlers began to arrive on the lands of the Pomeranians. Because of the devastating wars with the Danes, the Pomeranian feudal lords welcomed the settlement of the devastated lands by the Germans. Over time, the process of Germanization of the Pomeranian population began.

The remains of the ancient Pomeranians who escaped assimilation today are the Kashubians, numbering 300 thousand people.

Sosnovy Bor news

Rusichi were not the only people who inhabited Kievan Rus. In the cauldron of the ancient Russian state, other, more ancient tribes “boiled”: Chud, Merya, Muroma. They left early, but left a deep mark on the Russian ethnos, language and folklore.

Chud

"Whatever you call a boat, that's how it will float." The mysterious people Chud fully justifies its name. The folk version says that the Slavs dubbed some tribes Chud, because their language seemed strange to them, unusual. In ancient Russian sources and folklore, there are many references to the “chud”, which “the Varangians from overseas imposed tribute”. They took part in Prince Oleg's campaign against Smolensk, Yaroslav the Wise fought against them: "and defeated them, and set up the city of Yuryev", legends were made about them, like a white-eyed miracle - ancient people, akin to European "fairies". They left a huge mark in the toponymy of Russia, their name is Lake Peipus, Peipsi coast, villages: "Front Chud", "Middle Chud", "Rear Chud". From the north-west of present-day Russia to the Altai mountains, their mysterious “wonderful” trace can be traced to this day.

For a long time, it was customary to associate them with the Finno-Ugric peoples, since they were mentioned where representatives of the Finno-Ugric peoples lived or still live. But the folklore of the latter also preserved legends about the mysterious ancient people of the Chud, whose representatives left their lands and went somewhere, not wanting to accept Christianity. Especially a lot about them is told in the Komi Republic. So they say that the ancient tract Vazhgort " Old village» in the Udora region was once a Chudi settlement. From there they were allegedly driven out by Slavic newcomers.

In the Kama region, you can learn a lot about Chud: locals describe their appearance (dark-haired and swarthy), language, customs. They say that they lived in the middle of the forests in dugouts, where they buried themselves, refusing to obey the more successful invaders. There is even a legend that “the miracle went underground”: they dug a large hole with an earthen roof on pillars, and they brought it down, preferring death to captivity. But none popular belief, nor the annalistic mention can answer the questions: what kind of tribes were they, where did they go and whether their descendants are still alive.

Some ethnographers attribute them to the Mansi peoples, others to the representatives of the Komi people, who preferred to remain pagans. The most daring version, which appeared after the discovery of Arkaim and the "Country of Cities" of Sintashta, claims that the Chud are ancient arias. But so far one thing is clear, the Chud are one of the natives of ancient Rus' whom we have lost.

Merya

“The Chud did it, but measured the gates, roads and milestones ...” - these lines from Alexander Blok’s poem reflect the confusion of scientists of his time about the two tribes that once lived next door to the Slavs. But, unlike the first, Mary had a "more transparent story." This ancient Finno-Ugric tribe once lived in the territories of modern Moscow, Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, Tver, Vladimir and Kostroma regions of Russia. That is, in the very center of our country.

There are many references to them, merya (merins) is found in the Gothic historian Jordanes, who in the 6th century called them tributaries of the Gothic king Germanaric. Like the Chud, they were in the troops of Prince Oleg when he went on campaigns to Smolensk, Kyiv and Lyubech, about which records have been preserved in the Tale of Bygone Years. True, according to some scientists, in particular Valentin Sedov, by that time, ethnically, they were no longer a Volga-Finnish tribe, but "half-Slavs." The final assimilation occurred, obviously, by the 16th century.

One of the largest peasant uprisings of Kievan Rus in 1024 is associated with the name of Merya. The reason was the great famine that engulfed the Suzdal land. Moreover, according to the annals, it was preceded by "immeasurable rains", drought, premature frosts, dry winds. For Mary, most of whose representatives opposed Christianization, this obviously looked like “divine punishment”. At the head of the rebellion were the priests of the "old faith" - the Magi, who tried to use the chance to return to pre-Christian cults. However, unsuccessfully. The rebellion was defeated by Yaroslav the Wise, the instigators were executed or sent into exile.

Despite the scarce data that we know about the Merya people, scientists managed to restore them. ancient language, which in Russian linguistics was called "Meryansky". It was reconstructed on the basis of the dialect of the Yaroslavl-Kostroma Volga region and the Finno-Ugric languages. A number of words were restored thanks to geographical names. So it turned out that the endings "-gda" in the Central Russian toponymy: Vologda, Sudogda, Shogda are the heritage of the Meryan people.

Despite the fact that the mention of Merya completely disappeared in the sources back in the pre-Petrine era, today there are people who consider themselves to be their descendants. Basically, these are residents of the Upper Volga region. They argue that the Meryans did not dissolve over the centuries, but formed the substratum (underlying) of the northern Great Russian people, switched to the Russian language, and their descendants call themselves Russians. However, there is no evidence for this.

Murom

As the Tale of Bygone Years says: in 862 Slovenes lived in Novgorod, Krivichi in Polotsk, Merya in Rostov, Murom in Murom. The chronicle, like the Meryans, refers to the non-Slavic peoples. Their name is translated as "an elevated place near the water", which corresponds to the position of the city of Murom, which for a long time was their center. Today, on the basis of archaeological finds found in large cemeteries of the tribe (located between the tributaries of the Oka, the left Ushna, Unzha and the right Tesha), it is practically impossible to determine to which ethnic group they belonged.

According to domestic archaeologists, they could be either another Finno-Ugric tribe or part of the Mary, or Mordovians. Only one thing is known, they were friendly neighbors with a highly developed culture. Their weapons, in terms of workmanship, were among the best in the surrounding areas, and Jewelry, which are found in abundance in burials, are distinguished by the ingenuity of forms and the care taken in their manufacture.

Murom was characterized by arched head ornaments woven from horsehair and strips of leather, which were spirally braided with bronze wire. Interestingly, there are no analogues among other Finno-Ugric tribes.

Sources show that the Slavic colonization of Muroma was peaceful and occurred mainly due to strong and economic trade ties. However, the result of this peaceful coexistence was that the Muroma was one of the very first assimilated tribes that disappeared from the pages of history. By the XII century, they are no longer mentioned in the annals.

Polischuks

Polesie - an area located today on the territory of four states: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Poland - has a special role in the history of the Slavs. If you look at the map, then Polesie will be right in the center of the Slavic world. Hence the idea of ​​it as the ancestral home of the Slavs, as well as the hypothesis of the "Polesye Lake" - an impenetrable swampy barrier that separated the Slavs and the Balts, which allegedly violated their original unity.

Today, the idea of ​​Polissya as the place where the Proto-Slavic ethnic group first originated is very popular. At the very least, this may be true in relation to its western regions. The Soviet archaeologist Yuri Kukharenko called them a "bridge", along which the ancient migration of the Slavs from west to east, from the Vistula to the Dnieper region, took place.

Today, these territories are inhabited by a completely unique East Slavic people, who are neither Russians, nor Ukrainians, nor Belarusians. Western polishchuks or tuteishs are a distinctive Slavic ethnic group: they differ from their neighbors not only in language and culture, but also in physical features.

According to the researchers, they may be descendants of groups of Duleb tribes, known as "Buzhans" and "Volynians", who lived in this territory in the first millennium of our era. Today they are conditionally divided into three groups, depending on the territory they inhabit: forest people living in villages on the outskirts of forests, swamps - the most significant group occupying swamp territories and field workers living on the plains.

Despite the fact that today the number of Western polishchuks has exceeded three million, no one has yet recognized the official status of a separate ethnic group for them.

Ancient historians were sure that warlike tribes and "people with five heads" live on the territory of Ancient Rus'. A lot of time has passed since then, but many mysteries of the Slavic tribes have not yet been solved.

Northerners living in the south

The tribe of northerners at the beginning of the 8th century inhabited the banks of the Desna, the Seim and the Seversky Donets, founded Chernigov, Putivl, Novgorod-Seversky and Kursk. The name of the tribe, according to Lev Gumilyov, is due to the fact that it assimilated the nomadic tribe of the Savirs, who lived in Western Siberia in ancient times. It is with the Savirs that the origin of the name "Siberia" is also associated. Archaeologist Valentin Sedov believed that the Savirs were a Scythian-Sarmatian tribe, and the toponyms of the northerners are of Iranian origin. So, the name of the river Seim (Seven) comes from the Iranian śyama or even from the ancient Indian syāma, which means "dark river". According to the third hypothesis, the northerners (northers) were immigrants from the southern or western lands. On the right bank of the Danube lived a tribe with that name. It could easily be "moved" by the Bulgars who invaded there. The northerners were representatives of the Mediterranean type of people. They were distinguished by a narrow face, an elongated skull, were thin-boned and nosy. They brought bread and furs to Byzantium, back - gold, silver, luxury goods. Traded with the Bulgarians, with the Arabs. The northerners paid tribute to the Khazars, and then entered the union of tribes united by the Novgorod prince Prophetic Oleg. In 907 they participated in the campaign against Tsargrad. In the 9th century, the Chernigov and Pereyaslav principalities appeared on their lands.

Vyatichi and Radimichi - relatives or different tribes?

The Vyatichi lands were located on the territory of the Moscow, Kaluga, Orel, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tula, Voronezh and Lipetsk regions. Outwardly, the Vyatichi resembled the northerners, but they were not so nosey, but they had a high bridge of the nose and blond hair. The "Tale of Bygone Years" indicates that the name of the tribe came from the name of the ancestor Vyatko (Vyacheslav), who came "from the Poles." Other scientists associate the name with the Indo-European root "ven-t" (wet), or with the Proto-Slavic "vęt" (large) and put the name of the tribe on a par with the Wends and Vandals. Vyatichi were skilled warriors, hunters, collected wild honey, mushrooms and berries. Cattle breeding and slash-and-burn agriculture were widespread. They were not part of Ancient Rus' and more than once fought with the Novgorod and Kyiv princes. According to legend, Vyatko's brother Radim became the ancestor of the Radimichi, who settled between the Dnieper and Desna in the territories of the Gomel and Mogilev regions of Belarus and founded Krichev, Gomel, Rogachev and Chechersk. Radimichi also rebelled against the princes, but after the battle on Peschan they submitted. Chronicles mention them for the last time in 1169.

Krivichi - Croats or Poles?

The passage of the Krivichi is not known for certain, who since the 6th century lived in the upper reaches of the Western Dvina, Volga and Dnieper and became the founders of Smolensk, Polotsk and Izborsk. The name of the tribe came from the ancestor of Kriv. Krivichi differed from other tribes in high growth. They had a nose with a pronounced hump, a well-defined chin. Anthropologists attribute the Krivichi to the Valdai type of people. According to one version, the Krivichi are the migrating tribes of white Croats and Serbs, according to another, they come from the north of Poland. The Krivichi worked closely with the Varangians and built ships on which they went to Constantinople. The Krivichi became part of Ancient Rus' in the 9th century. The last prince of the Krivichi Rogvolod was killed with his sons in 980. Smolensk and Polotsk principalities appeared on their lands.

Slovenian vandals

Slovenes (Ilmen Slovenes) were the northernmost tribe. They lived on the shores of Lake Ilmen and on the Mologa River. Origin unknown. According to legend, their ancestors were Sloven and Rus, who founded the cities of Slovensk (Veliky Novgorod) and Staraya Russa even before our era. From Slovene, power passed to Prince Vandal (known in Europe as the Ostrogoth leader Vandalar), who had three sons: Izbor, Vladimir and Stolposvyat, and four brothers: Rudotok, Volkhov, Volkhovets and Bastarn. The wife of Prince Vandal Advind was from the Varangians. Slovene now and then fought with the Vikings and neighbors. It is known that the ruling dynasty descended from the son of Vandal Vladimir. The Slavs were engaged in agriculture, expanded their possessions, influenced other tribes, engaged in trade with the Arabs, with Prussia, with Gotland and Sweden. It was here that Rurik began to reign. After the emergence of Novgorod, the Slovenes began to be called Novgorodians and founded the Novgorod Land.

Russ. A people without a territory

Look at the map of the settlement of the Slavs. Each tribe has its own lands. Russians are not there. Although it was the Rus who gave the name to Rus'. There are three theories of the origin of the Russians. The first theory considers the Rus to be Varangians and relies on The Tale of Bygone Years (written from 1110 to 1118), it says: “They drove the Varangians across the sea, and did not give them tribute, and began to rule themselves, and there was no truth among them , and generations stood up against generations, and they had strife, and began to fight with each other. And they said to themselves: "Let's look for a prince who would rule over us and judge by right." And they went across the sea to the Varangians, to Rus'. Those Varangians were called Rus, as others are called Swedes, and others are Normans and Angles, and still others are Gotlanders, and so are these. The second says that the Rus are a separate tribe that came to Eastern Europe earlier or later than the Slavs. The third theory says that the Rus are the highest caste East Slavic tribe glades or the tribe itself, which lived on the Dnieper and on the Ros. “The meadows are even more called Rus” - it was written in the “Laurentian” chronicle, which followed the “Tale of Bygone Years” and was written in 1377. Here, the word "Rus" was used as a toponym and the name Rus was also used as the name of a separate tribe: "Rus, Chud and Slovene", - this is how the chronicler listed the peoples who inhabited the country.
Despite the research of geneticists, disputes around the Rus continue. According to the Norwegian researcher Thor Heyerdahl, the Varangians themselves are descendants of the Slavs.

The Slavs were not the only people who inhabited Ancient Rus'. In her cauldron "boiled" and other, more ancient tribes: Chud, Merya, Muroma. They left early, but left a deep mark on the Russian ethnos, language and folklore.

Chud

"Whatever you call a boat, that's how it will float." The mysterious people Chud fully justifies its name. The folk version says that the Slavs dubbed some tribes Chud, because their language seemed strange to them, unusual. In ancient Russian sources and folklore, there are many references to the “chud”, which “the Varangians from overseas imposed tribute”. They took part in Prince Oleg's campaign against Smolensk, Yaroslav the Wise fought against them: "and defeated them, and set up the city of Yuryev", legends were made about them, as about white-eyed miracles - an ancient people, akin to European "fairies". They left a huge mark in the toponymy of Russia, their name is Lake Peipus, Peipsi coast, villages: "Front Chud", "Middle Chud", "Rear Chud". From the north-west of present-day Russia to the Altai mountains, their mysterious “wonderful” trace can be traced to this day.

For a long time, it was customary to associate them with the Finno-Ugric peoples, since they were mentioned where representatives of the Finno-Ugric peoples lived or still live. But the folklore of the latter also preserved legends about the mysterious ancient people of the Chud, whose representatives left their lands and went somewhere, not wanting to accept Christianity. Especially a lot about them is told in the Komi Republic. So they say that the ancient tract Vazhgort "Old Village" in the Udora region was once a Chud settlement. From there they were allegedly driven out by Slavic newcomers.

In the Kama region, you can learn a lot about Chud: local residents describe their appearance (dark-haired and swarthy), language, and customs. They say that they lived in the middle of the forests in dugouts, where they buried themselves, refusing to obey the more successful invaders. There is even a legend that “the miracle went underground”: they dug a large hole with an earthen roof on pillars, and they brought it down, preferring death to captivity. But not a single popular belief or chronicle reference can answer the questions: what kind of tribes were they, where did they go and whether their descendants are still alive. Some ethnographers attribute them to the Mansi peoples, others to the representatives of the Komi people, who preferred to remain pagans. The most daring version, which appeared after the discovery of Arkaim and the "Country of Cities" of Sintashta, claims that the Chud are ancient arias. But so far one thing is clear, the Chud are one of the natives of ancient Rus', whom we have lost.

Merya

“The Chud did it, but measured the gates, roads and milestones ...” - these lines from Alexander Blok’s poem reflect the confusion of scientists of his time about the two tribes that once lived next door to the Slavs. But, unlike the first, Mary had a "more transparent story." This ancient Finno-Ugric tribe once lived in the territories of modern Moscow, Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, Tver, Vladimir and Kostroma regions of Russia. That is, in the very center of our country.

There are many references to them, merya (merins) is found in the Gothic historian Jordanes, who in the 6th century called them tributaries of the Gothic king Germanaric. Like the Chud, they were in the troops of Prince Oleg when he went on campaigns to Smolensk, Kyiv and Lyubech, about which records have been preserved in the Tale of Bygone Years. True, according to some scientists, in particular Valentin Sedov, by that time, ethnically, they were no longer a Volga-Finnish tribe, but "half-Slavs." The final assimilation occurred, obviously, by the 16th century.

One of the largest peasant uprisings of Ancient Rus' in 1024 is associated with the name of Merya. The reason was the great famine that engulfed the Suzdal land. Moreover, according to the annals, it was preceded by "immeasurable rains", drought, premature frosts, dry winds. For Mary, most of whose representatives opposed Christianization, this obviously looked like “divine punishment”. At the head of the rebellion were the priests of the "old faith" - the Magi, who tried to use the chance to return to pre-Christian cults. However, unsuccessfully. The rebellion was defeated by Yaroslav the Wise, the instigators were executed or sent into exile.

Despite the meager data that we know about the Merya people, scientists managed to restore their ancient language, which in Russian linguistics was called "Meryansky". It was reconstructed on the basis of the dialect of the Yaroslavl-Kostroma Volga region and the Finno-Ugric languages. A number of words were restored thanks to geographical names. So it turned out that the endings "-gda" in the Central Russian toponymy: Vologda, Sudogda, Shogda are the heritage of the Meryan people.

Despite the fact that the mention of Merya completely disappeared in the sources back in the pre-Petrine era, today there are people who consider themselves to be their descendants. Basically, these are residents of the Upper Volga region. They argue that the Meryans did not dissolve over the centuries, but formed the substratum (underlying) of the northern Great Russian people, switched to the Russian language, and their descendants call themselves Russians. However, there is no evidence for this.

Murom

As the Tale of Bygone Years says: in 862 Slovenes lived in Novgorod, Krivichi in Polotsk, Merya in Rostov, Murom in Murom. The chronicle, like the Meryans, refers to the non-Slavic peoples. Their name is translated as "an elevated place near the water", which corresponds to the position of the city of Murom, which for a long time was their center.

Today, on the basis of archaeological finds found in large cemeteries of the tribe (located between the tributaries of the Oka, the left Ushna, Unzha and the right Tesha), it is practically impossible to determine to which ethnic group they belonged. According to domestic archaeologists, they could be either another Finno-Ugric tribe or part of the Mary, or Mordovians. Only one thing is known, they were friendly neighbors with a highly developed culture. Their weapons were of the best quality in the surrounding areas, and the jewelry, which is found in abundance in the burials, is distinguished by the inventiveness of forms and the care taken in manufacturing. Murom was characterized by arched head ornaments woven from horsehair and strips of leather, which were spirally braided with bronze wire. Interestingly, there are no analogues among other Finno-Ugric tribes.

Sources show that the Slavic colonization of Muroma was peaceful and occurred mainly due to strong and economic trade ties. However, the result of this peaceful coexistence was that the Muroma was one of the very first assimilated tribes that disappeared from the pages of history. By the XII century, they are no longer mentioned in the annals.