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Ate Eastern Slavs. Tribes of the Eastern Slavs: types, features of settlement

The Slavic state traces its history from 9th century AD. But the East Slavic tribes and their neighbors settled the East European Plain even earlier. How did the formation of such a group as the Eastern Slavs, why did the separation of the Slavic peoples occur - the answers to these questions can be found in the article.

In contact with

The population of the East European Plain before the arrival of the Slavs

But even before the Slavic tribes, people settled in this territory. In the south, near the Black Sea (Euxine Pontus), in the 1st millennium BC, Greek colonies(Olvia, Korsun, Panticapaeum, Phanagoria, Tanais).

Later, the Romans and Greeks will turn these territories into a powerful state of Byzantium. In the steppes, next to the Greeks, lived Scythians and Sarmatians, Alans and Roxolans (ancestors of modern Ossetians).

Here, in the I-III centuries of our era, the Goths (a Germanic tribe) tried to establish themselves.

In the 4th century AD, the Huns came to this territory, who, in their movement to the West, carried with them and part of the Slavic population.

And in VI - the Avars, who formed the Avar Khaganate in the southern Russian lands and whom in 7th century destroyed by the Byzantines.

The Avars were replaced by the Ugrians and Khazars, who founded a powerful state in the lower reaches of the Volga - Khazar Khaganate.

The geography of the settlement of the Slavic tribes

Eastern Slavs (as well as Western and Southern) gradually settled throughout the East European Plain, focusing in its movement on the river highways (settlement map Eastern Slavs clearly shows this):

• glade lived on the Dnieper;
• northerners on the Desna;
• Drevlyans and Dregovichi on the Pripyat River;
• Krivichi on the Volga and Dvina;
• radimichi on the Sozha river;
• Vyatichi on the Oka and Don;
• Slovene Ilmensky in the water area of ​​the river. Volokhov, oz. Ilmen and lake. White;
• Polochane on the river Lovat;
• dregovichi on the river. Sozh;
• Tivertsy and Uchi on the Dniester and Prut;
• street on the Southern Bug and the Dniester;
• Volhynians, Buzhans and Dulebs on the Western Bug.

One of the reasons for the settlement of the Eastern Slavs and their settlement in this territory was the presence here water transport arteries- Neva-Dneprovskaya and Sheksno-Oksko-Volzhskaya. The presence of the same water transport arteries led to what happened partial isolation of the Slavic tribes from each other.

Important! The ancestors of the Slavs and some other peoples, their immediate neighbors, most likely were the Indo-Europeans who came here from Asia.

Another ancestral home of the Slavs are considered Carpathian mountains(the territory located to the east of the Germanic tribes: from the Oder River to the Carpathian Mountains), where they were still known under the name of Wends and Slavs in the times of Goths and Huns(these tribes are mentioned in the writings of Roman historians: Pliny the Elder, Tacitus, Ptolemy Claudius). The Proto-Slavic language, according to historians, began to take shape in the middle of the 1st century BC.

East Slavic tribes on the map.

Eastern Slavs and their neighbors

The Slavic tribes had many neighbors who had a strong influence on their culture and life. The peculiarity of political geography was lack of strong states(neighbors of the Eastern Slavs) from the north, northeast and northwest and their presence in the east, southeast, northeast and west.

In the northwest, north and northeast

In the north, northeast and northwest, next to the Slavs lived Finno-Ugric, Baltic-Finnish and Lithuanian tribes:

• chud;
• sum;
• Karelian;
• measuring;
• Mari (Cheremis);
• Lithuania;
• Do you;
• Samogitians;
• wait.

Places of settlement of the Finno-Ugric tribes: they occupied the territory along Chudskoe, Ladoga, Onega lakes, the Svir and Neva rivers, the Western Dvina and Neman in the north and northwest, along the Onega, Sukhona, Volga and Vyatka rivers in the north and northeast.

The neighbors of the Eastern Slavs from the north had a strong influence on such tribes as the Dregovichi, Polochans, Ilmen Slovenes and Krivichi.

They influenced the formation of everyday life, household practices, religion (the Lithuanian god of thunder Perkun entered the pantheon Slavic gods under the name of Perun) and the language of these Slavs.

Gradually their territory was occupied Slavs settled further west.

Scandinavians also lived nearby: Varangians, Vikings or Normans who actively used the Baltic Sea and the future route "from the Varangians to the Greeks" (some for trade, and some for military campaigns on the territory of the Slavs).

Historians know that the strongholds of the Varangians on the lake. Ilmen was the island of Rügen, and Novgorod and Staraya Ladoga (large cities of the Ilmen Slovenes) had close trade ties with Uppsala and Hedyby. This led to cultural and economic rapprochement Slavs with the Baltic countries.

Neighbors of the Slavs in the east and southeast

In the east and southeast, the Eastern Slavs coexisted with Finno-Ugric and Turkic tribes:

• Bulgars (a Turkic tribe, part of which came to the territory of the Middle Volga region in the 8th century and founded the powerful state of Volga Bulgaria, a “splinter” Great Bulgaria, the state that occupied the territory of the Northern Black Sea and Danube regions);
• Muroma, Meshchera, Mordovians (Ugric-Finnish tribes, closely adjacent to the Slavs along the Oka, Volga, partly Don rivers; the Krivichi fort post, the city of Murom, was partially settled by representatives Finno-Ugric tribes);
• the Burtases (possibly an Alanian, and possibly a Turkic or Finno-Ugric tribe, scientists have not fully figured out their ethnolinguistic affiliation);
• Khazars (a Turkic tribe that settled along the rivers Volga, Don, Northern Donets, Kuban, Dnieper, and controlled the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov and the Caspian territories; the Khazars founded the state of the Khazar Khaganate, the capital of Itil; it is known that Slavic tribes paid tribute to the Khazar Khaganate in the VIII - early IX centuries);
• Adyghe (kasogi);
• Alans (yases).

Important! It is worth mentioning the Turkic Khaganate (a neighbor of the Slavic tribes from the east), which existed somewhere in Altai in the 7th-8th centuries. After its collapse, waves of nomads “rolled out” from the Great Steppe to the South Slavic borders. First the Pechenegs, later the Polovtsians.

Mordvins, Bulgars and Khazars had a strong influence on such Slavic tribes as Krivichi, Vyatichi, Northerners, Polyans, Ulichi. The relations of the Slavs with the steppe (which they called the Great) were very strong, although not always peaceful. Slavic tribes did not always favor these neighbors, periodically fighting in the Sea of ​​Azov and the Caspian lands.

Neighbors of the Eastern Slavs - scheme.

Neighbors of the Slavs in the south

Neighbors of the Eastern Slavs from the south - two strong states- which extended its influence to the entire Black Sea region, and the Bulgarian kingdom (existed until 1048, extended its influence to the Danube region). Slavs often visited such large cities of these states as Surozh, Korsun, Tsargrad (Constantinople), Dorostol, Preslav (the capital of the Bulgarian kingdom).

What tribes were adjacent to Byzantium? Byzantine historians, such as Procopius of Caesarea, for the first time described in detail the life and customs of the Slavs, whom they called differently: Antes, Slavs, Russ, Wends, Sklavins. They also mentioned about emerging in the Slavic territories large unions of tribes, such as the Antsky tribal union, Slavia, Kuyavia, Artania. But, most likely, the Greeks knew the glades who lived along the Dnieper better than all other Slavic tribes.

Neighbors of the Slavs in the southwest and west

In the southwest with the Slavs (Tivertsy and White Croats) neighbored with the Wallachians(a little later, in the year 1000, there appeared Kingdom of Hungary). From the west, the Volhynians, Drevlyans and Dregovichi coexisted with the Prussians, Yotwigs (a Baltic tribal group) and Poles (a little later, from 1025, the kingdom of Poland was formed), who settled along the Neman, Western Bug and Vistula rivers.

What is known about the Slavic tribes

It is known that the Slavs lived in large families, gradually transformed into tribes and a union of tribes.

The largest tribal unions were Polyansky, Drevlyansky, Slovyanoilmensky, with centers in Iskorosten, Novgorod and Kyiv.

In the IV-V centuries, the Slavs began to take shape military democracy system, which led to social stratification and the formation feudal relations.

It is to this period that the first mention of the political history of the Slavs belongs: Germanarich (the German leader) was defeated by the Slavs, and his successor, Vinitar, destroyed more than 70 Slavic elders who tried to negotiate with the Germans (there is also a mention of this in "").

Toponym "Rus"

It is also necessary to talk about the history of the toponym "Rus" and "Russians". There are several versions of the origin of this toponym.

1. Word happened from the name of the river Ros, which is a tributary of the Dnieper. The Greeks called the Polyana tribes Ross.
2. The word comes from the term "Rusyns", which means fair-haired people.
3. Slavs called "Rus" Varangian tribes who came to the Slavs to trade, rob or as military mercenaries.
4. Perhaps there was a Slavic tribe "Rus" or "Ros" (rather it was one of the Polish tribes), and later this toponym spread to all Slavs.

Eastern Slavs and their neighbors

Eastern Slavs in antiquity

Conclusion

East Slavic tribes and their neighbors were farmers. Grain and other industrial crops (for example, flax) were grown in large quantities. They were also actively engaged in beekeeping (gathering honey) and hunting. Actively traded with neighbors. Grain, honey and furs were exported.

Slavs were pagans and had a rather extensive pantheon of gods, the main of which were Svarog, Rod, Women in Childbirth, Yarilo, Dazhdbog, Lada, Makosh, Veles and others. Slavic genera worshiped the Shchurs(or ancestors), and also believed in brownies, mermaids, goblin, water.

Part of the common Slavic people, who settled in the early Middle Ages on the territory of the East European Plain, formed a group of East Slavic tribes (they differed markedly from the southern and western Slavs). This conglomerate coexisted with many different peoples.

The appearance of the Eastern Slavs

Modern archeology has all the necessary materials in order to illuminate in detail where and how the East Slavic tribes and their neighbors lived. How did these early medieval communities form? Even in the Roman era, the Slavs settled in the middle reaches of the Vistula, as well as the upper reaches of the Dniester. From here colonization began to the east - to the territory modern Russia and Ukraine.

In the 5th and 7th centuries the Slavs who settled in the Dnieper region coexisted with the Ants. In the VIII century, as a result of a new powerful migration wave, another culture was formed - Roman. Its bearers were northerners. These East Slavic tribes and their neighbors settled in the basins of the Seim, Desna and Sula rivers. From other "relatives" they were distinguished by narrow faces. Northerners settled in copses and fields cut by forests and swamps.

Colonization of the Volga and Oka

In the VI century, the colonization of the future Russian North and the interfluve of the Volga and Oka by the Eastern Slavs began. Here the settlers encountered two groups of neighbors - the Balts and the Finno-Ugric peoples. The Krivichi were the first to move to the northeast. They settled in the upper reaches of the Volga. To the north, the Ilmen Slovenes penetrated, who stopped in the White Lake region. Here they encountered Pomors. The Ilmenians also settled the Mologa basin and the Yaroslavl Volga region. Ritualism also mixed with the tribes.

The East Slavic tribes and their neighbors divided the modern suburbs of Moscow and the Ryazan region. Here the Vyatichi were the colonizers, and to a lesser extent, the northerners and the Radimichi. The Don Slavs also contributed. Vyatichi reached and settled along the banks characteristic feature These colonizers were Archaeologists who determined the area of ​​settlement of the Vyatichi. North-Eastern Rus' attracted settlers with a stable agricultural base and fur resources, which by that time had already been depleted in other regions of the settlement of the Slavs. The local residents - Mer (Finno-Ugrians) - were few in number and soon disappeared among the Slavs or were forced out by them even further to the north.

Eastern neighbors

Having settled in the upper reaches of the Volga, the Slavs became neighbors of the Volga Bulgarians. They lived on the territory of modern Tatarstan. The Arabs considered them the northernmost people in the world who professed Islam. The capital of the kingdom of the Volga Bulgarians was the city of Great Bulgar. His settlement has survived to this day. Military clashes between the Volga Bulgarians and the Eastern Slavs began already during the existence of a single centralized Rus' when her society ceased to be strictly tribal. Conflicts alternated with periods of peace. During this time, the lucrative trade along the great river brought considerable income to both sides.

The resettlement of the East Slavic tribes on their eastern borders also ran into the territory inhabited by the Khazars. like the Volga Bulgarians, was Turkic. At the same time, the Khazars were Jews, which was quite unusual for Europe at that time. They controlled large areas from the Don to the Caspian Sea. The heart was located in the lower reaches of the Volga, where the Khazar capital Itil existed not far from modern Astrakhan.

Western neighbors

Volhynia is considered the western border of the settlement of the Eastern Slavs. From there to the Dnieper lived Dulebs - a union of several tribes. Archaeologists rank it among the Prague-Korchak culture. The union included Volhynians, Drevlyans, Dregovichi and Polans. In the 7th century they survived the Avar invasion.

East Slavic tribes and their neighbors in this region lived in the steppe zone. To the west began the territory of the Western Slavs, primarily the Poles. Relations with them escalated after the creation of Rus' and the adoption of Orthodoxy by Vladimir Svyatoslavich. The Poles were baptized according to the Catholic rite. Between them and the Eastern Slavs there was a struggle not only for Volhynia, but also for Galicia.

The fight against the Pechenegs

The Eastern Slavs during the period of the existence of pagan tribes were not able to colonize the Black Sea region. Here ended the so-called "Great Steppe" - the steppe belt, located in the heart of Eurasia. The Black Sea region attracted a variety of nomads. In the 9th century, the Pechenegs settled there. These hordes lived between Russia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Alania.

Having gained a foothold in the Black Sea region, the Pechenegs destroyed settled cultures in the steppes. The Pridnestrovian Slavs (Tivertsy) disappeared, as well as the Don Alans. Numerous Russo-Pecheneg wars began in the 10th century. The East Slavic tribes and their neighbors could not get along with each other. The USE pays a lot of attention to the Pechenegs, which is not surprising. These ferocious nomads lived only at the expense of robberies and did not give rest to the people of Kiev and Pereyaslavl. In the 11th century, an even more formidable enemy, the Polovtsians, took their place.

Slavs on the Don

The Slavs began to massively explore the Middle Don region at the turn of the 8th - 9th centuries. At this time, monuments of the Borshevsky culture appear here. Its most important attributes (ceramics, house-building, traces of rituals) show that the colonialists of the Don region came from the south-west of Eastern Europe. The Don Slavs were neither Severians nor Vyatichi, as researchers assumed until recently. In the 9th century, as a result of infiltration of the population, the kurgan burial rite, which was identical to the Vyatichi, spread among them.

In the 10th century, the Russian Slavs and their neighbors in this region survived the predatory raids of the Pechenegs. Many left the Don region and returned to Poochie. That is why we can say that the Ryazan land was populated from two sides - from the southern steppes and from the west. The return of the Slavs to the Don basin occurred only in the XII century. In this direction in the south, the new colonizers reached the basin and completely mastered the basin of the Voronezh River.

Next to the Balts and Finno-Ugric peoples

Radimich and Vyatichi coexisted with the Balts - the inhabitants of modern Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Their cultures acquired some common features. No wonder. The East Slavic tribes and their neighbors, in short, not only traded, but also influenced each other's ethnogenesis. For example, in the settlements of the Vyatichi, archaeologists found neck hryvnias that were unnatural for other tribes related to them.

A peculiar Slavic culture developed around the Balts and Finno-Ugric peoples in the region of Lake Pskov. Long rampart-shaped mounds appeared here, which replaced the soil burial grounds. These were built only by the local East Slavic tribes and their neighbors. The history of the development of funeral rites allows specialists to become more familiar with the past of the pagans. The ancestors of the Pskovians built above-ground log buildings with heaters or adobe stoves (contrary to the southern custom of semi-dugouts). They also practiced slash-and-burn agriculture. It should be noted that the Pskov long mounds spread to the Polotsk Dvina and the Smolensk Dnieper. In their regions, the influence of the Balts was especially strong.

Influence of neighbors on religion and mythology

Like many other Slavs, they lived according to the patriarchal-clan system. Because of this, they arose and maintained the cult of the family and the cult of the funeral. The Slavs were pagans. The most important gods of their pantheon are Perun, Mokosh and Veles. On Slavic mythology influenced by the Celts and Iranians (Sarmatians, Scythians and Alans). These parallels were manifested in the images of the gods. So, Dazhbog is similar to the Celtic deity Dagda, and Mokosh is similar to Makha.

Pagan Slavs and their neighbors had much in common in their beliefs. The history of Baltic mythology left the names of the gods Perkunas (Perun) and Velnyas (Veles). The motif of the world tree and the presence of dragons (the Serpent of Gorynych) brings Slavic mythology closer to the German-Scandinavian one. After a single community was divided into several tribes, beliefs began to acquire regional differences. For example, the inhabitants of the Oka and the Volga were uniquely influenced by the mythology of the Finno-Ugric peoples.

Slavery among the Eastern Slavs

According to the official version, slavery was widespread among the Eastern Slavs of the early Middle Ages. Prisoners were taken, as usual, in the war. For example, Arab writers of that time claimed that the Eastern Slavs took many slaves in wars with the Hungarians (and the Hungarians, in turn, took the captured Slavs into slavery). This nation was in a unique position. Hungarians by origin are Finno-Ugric peoples. They migrated west and occupied the territories around the middle course of the Danube. Thus, the Hungarians found themselves exactly between the southern, eastern and western Slavs. As a result, regular wars arose.

Slavs could sell slaves in Byzantium, Volga Bulgaria or Khazaria. Although most of them consisted of foreigners captured in wars, in the 8th century slaves appeared among their own relatives. A Slav could fall into slavery due to a crime or violation of moral standards.

Supporters of a different version defend their point of view, according to which slavery as such did not exist in Rus'. On the contrary, slaves aspired to these lands because here everyone was considered free, because Slavic paganism did not consecrate unfreedom (dependence, slavery) and social inequality.

Varangians and Novgorod

The prototype of the ancient Russian state arose in Novgorod. It was founded by the Ilmen Slovenes. Until the 9th century, their history is known rather fragmentarily and poorly. Next to them lived the Varangians, who were called Vikings in Western European chronicles.

The Scandinavian kings periodically conquered the Ilmen Slovenes and forced them to pay tribute. Residents of Novgorod sought protection from foreigners from other neighbors, for which they called their commanders to reign in their own country. So Rurik came to the banks of the Volkhov. His successor Oleg conquered Kyiv and laid the foundations of the Old Russian state.

East Slavic tribes

BUZHA? NOT - an East Slavic tribe that lived on the river. Bug.

Most researchers believe that Buzhans are another name for Volynians. On the territory inhabited by Buzhans and Volynians, a single archaeological culture was discovered. "The Tale of Bygone Years" reports: "The Buzhans, who were sitting along the Bug, later began to be called Volhynians." According to the archaeologist V.V. Sedov, part of the Dulebs that lived in the Bug basin were first called Buzhans, then Volhynians. Perhaps Buzhan is the name of only a part of the tribal union of the Volhynians. E. G.

VOLYNYA? NE, Velynians - an East Slavic union of tribes that settled the territory on both banks of the Western Bug and at the source of the river. Pripyat.

The ancestors of the Volynians, presumably, were dulebs, and there are more of them early name- booze. According to another point of view, "Volynians" and "Buzhans" are the names of two different tribes or tribal unions. The anonymous author of The Bavarian Geographer (1st half of the 9th century) counts 70 cities among the Volynians, and 231 cities among the Buzhans. Arab geographer 10th c. al-Masudi distinguishes between the Volhynians and the Dulebs, although, perhaps, his information refers to an earlier period.

In the Russian chronicles, the Volhynians are first mentioned in 907: they participated in the campaign of Prince Oleg against Byzantium as "interpreters" - translators. In 981 Kiev Prince Vladimir I Svyatoslavich subjugated the Przemysl and Cherven lands where the Volhynians lived. Volynsky

The city of Cherven has since become known as Vladimir-Volynsky. In the 2nd floor. 10th c. on the lands of the Volynians formed Vladimir-Volyn principality. E. G.

VYA? TICHI - East Slavic union of tribes that lived in the basin of the upper and middle reaches of the Oka and along the river. Moscow.

According to The Tale of Bygone Years, the ancestor of the Vyatichi was Vyatko, who came “from the Poles” (Poles) together with his brother Radim, the ancestor of the Radimichi tribe. Modern archaeologists do not find confirmation of the West Slavic origin of the Vyatichi.

In the 2nd floor. 9th–10th centuries Vyatichi paid tribute to the Khazar Khaganate. For a long time they maintained their independence from Kyiv princes. As allies, the Vyatichi participated in the campaign of the Kyiv prince Oleg against Byzantium in 911. In 968, the Vyatichi were defeated by the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav. In the beginning. 12th c. Vladimir Monomakh fought with the Vyatichi prince Khodota. In con. 11–beginning 12th centuries Christianity was planted among the Vyatichi. Despite this, they for a long time maintained pagan beliefs. The Tale of Bygone Years describes the funeral rite of the Vyatichi (the Radimichi had a similar rite): “When someone died, they arranged a feast for him, and then laid out a large fire, laid the deceased on it and burned it, after which, having collected the bones, they put them in a small vessel and placed them on pillars along the roads. This rite was preserved until the end. 13th century, and the "pillars" themselves in some areas of Russia met up to the beginning. 20th century

By the 12th century the territory of the Vyatichi was in the Chernigov, Rostov-Suzdal and Ryazan principalities. E. G.

DREVLYA? NOT - East Slavic tribal union, which occupied in the 6th-10th centuries. the territory of Polissya, the Right Bank of the Dnieper, west of the glades, along the course of the Teterev, Uzh, Ubort, Stviga rivers.

According to The Tale of Bygone Years, the Drevlyans "descended from the same Slavs" as the glades. But unlike the glades, "the Drevlyans lived in a bestial way, lived like cattle, killed each other, ate everything unclean, and they did not have marriage, but they kidnapped the girls by the water."

In the west, the Drevlyans bordered on the Volynians and Buzhans, in the north - on the Dregovichi. Archaeologists have discovered on the lands of the Drevlyans burials with cremations in urns in non-kurgan burial grounds. In the 6th–8th centuries burials in mounds spread, in the 8th–10th centuries. - urnless burials, and in the 10th-13th centuries. - corpses in burial mounds.

In 883, Prince Oleg of Kiev "began to fight against the Drevlyans and, having conquered them, laid tribute on them for black marten (sable)", and in 911, the Drevlyans participated in Oleg's campaign against Byzantium. In 945, Prince Igor, on the advice of his squad, went "to the Drevlyans for tribute and added a new tribute to the previous one, and his men did violence to them," but he was not satisfied with what he had collected and decided to "collect more." The Drevlyans, after conferring with their prince Mal, decided to kill Igor: "if we do not kill him, then he will destroy us all." Igor's widow, Olga, in 946 cruelly took revenge on the Drevlyans, setting fire to their capital, the city of Iskorosten, "she took the city elders prisoner, and killed other people, gave the third into slavery to her husbands, and left the rest to pay tribute," and all the land of the Drevlyans was attached to the Kiev inheritance with the center in the city of Vruchiy (Ovruch). Yu. K.

DREGO?VICI - a tribal union of the Eastern Slavs.

The exact boundaries of the Dregovichi habitat have not yet been established. According to a number of researchers (V.V. Sedov and others), in the 6th–9th centuries. Dregovichi occupied the territory in the middle part of the river basin. Pripyat, in the 11th-12th centuries. the southern border of their settlement passed south of Pripyat, the northwestern - in the watershed of the Drut and Berezina rivers, the western - in the upper reaches of the river. Neman. The neighbors of the Dregovichi were the Drevlyans, Radimichi and Krivichi. The Tale of Bygone Years mentions the Dregoviches up to the middle. 12th c. According to archaeological research, the Dregovichi are characterized by agricultural settlements, mounds with cremations. In the 10th century the lands inhabited by the Dregovichi became part of Kievan Rus, and later entered the Turov and Polotsk principalities. Vl. TO.

DULE?BY - a tribal union of the Eastern Slavs.

They lived in the basin of the Bug and the right tributaries of the Pripyat from the 6th century. Researchers attribute the Dulebs to one of the earliest ethnic groups of the Eastern Slavs, from which some other tribal unions later formed, including the Volynians (Buzhans) and the Drevlyans. Archaeological monuments of the Dulebs are represented by the remains of agricultural settlements and burial mounds with cremations.

According to chronicles, in the 7th c. Dulebs were invaded by the Avars. In 907, the duleb squad took part in the campaign of Prince Oleg against Constantinople. According to historians, in the 10th c. Duleb union broke up, and their lands became part of Kievan Rus. Vl. TO.

KRI?VICHI - a tribal union of the Eastern Slavs of the 6th-11th centuries.

They occupied the territory in the upper reaches of the Dnieper, Volga, Western Dvina, as well as in the area of ​​Lake Peipus, Pskov and Lake. Ilmen. The Tale of Bygone Years reports that the cities of the Krivichi were Smolensk and Polotsk. According to the same chronicle, in 859 the Krivichi paid tribute to the Varangians "from overseas", and in 862, together with the Slovenes of Ilmen and the Chud, Rurik was invited to reign with the brothers Sineus and Truvor. Under 882, the Tale of Bygone Years contains a story about how Oleg went to Smolensk, to the Krivichi, and, having taken the city, "planted his husband in it." Like other Slavic tribes, the Krivichi paid tribute to the Varangians, went along with Oleg and Igor on campaigns against Byzantium. In the 11th-12th centuries. Polotsk and Smolensk principalities arose on the lands of the Krivichi.

Probably, the remnants of the local Finno-Ugric and Baltic (Ests, Livs, Latgals) tribes, who mixed with the numerous alien Slavic population, participated in the ethnogenesis of the Krivichi.

Archaeological excavations have shown that initially the specific burials of the Krivichi were long mounds: low rampart-like mounds from 12–15 m to 40 m long. By the nature of the burial grounds, archaeologists distinguish two ethnographic groups of Krivichi - Smolensk-Polotsk and Pskov Krivichi. In the 9th century long mounds were replaced by round (hemispherical). The dead were burned on the side, and most of the things burned on the funeral pyre along with the deceased, and only heavily damaged things and jewelry fell into the burials: beads (blue, green, yellow), buckles, pendants. In the 10th-11th centuries. among the Krivichi, a corpse appears, although up to the 12th century. the features of the former rite are preserved - a ritual fire under the burial and a barrow. The inventory of burials of this period is quite diverse: women's jewelry - bracelet-like knotted rings, neck necklaces made of beads, pendants to necklaces in the form of skates. There are items of clothing - buckles, belt rings (they were worn by men). Often in the mounds of the Krivichi there are decorations of the Baltic types, as well as the actual Baltic burials, which indicates a close connection between the Krivichi and the Baltic tribes. Yu. K.

POLOCHA? NOT - Slavic tribe, part of the tribal union of the Krivichi; lived along the banks of the river. Dvina and its tributary Polot, from which they got their name.

The center of the Polotsk land was the city of Polotsk. In The Tale of Bygone Years, the Polotsk people are mentioned several times along with such large tribal unions as the Ilmen Slovenes, the Drevlyans, the Dregovichi, and the Polans.

However, a number of historians question the existence of the Polochans as a separate tribe. Arguing their point of view, they draw attention to the fact that The Tale of Bygone Years does not in any way connect the Polochans with the Krivichi, whose possessions included their lands. Historian A. G. Kuzmin suggested that a fragment about the Polotsk tribe appeared in the Tale c. 1068, when the people of Kiev expelled Prince Izyaslav Yaroslavich and placed Prince Vseslav of Polotsk on the princely table.

All R. 10 - beginning. 11th century On the territory of Polotsk, the Polotsk principality was formed. E. G.

FIELDS? NOT - a tribal union of Eastern Slavs who lived on the Dnieper, in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bmodern Kyiv.

One of the versions of the origin of Rus', mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years, is associated with the glades. Scientists consider the "glade-Russian" version to be more ancient than the "Varangian legend", and attribute it to the con. 10th c.

The Old Russian author of this version considered the glades to be Slavs who came from Norik (a territory on the Danube), who were the first to be called the name "Rus": "The glade is now called Rus." In the annals, the customs of the Polyans and other East Slavic tribes, united under the name of the Drevlyans, are sharply contrasted.

In the Middle Dnieper near Kyiv, archaeologists discovered a culture of the 2nd Quarter. 10th c. with a characteristic Slavic funeral rite: clay soil was characteristic of the burial mounds, on which a fire was lit and the dead were burned. The boundaries of culture extended in the west to the river. Black grouse, in the north - to the city of Lyubech, in the south - to the river. Ros. This was, obviously, the Slavic tribe of the Polyans.

In the 2nd quarter 10th c. other people appear on the same lands. A number of scientists consider the Middle Danube to be the place of its initial settlement. Others identify him with Rugs-Rus from Great Moravia. These people were familiar with the potter's wheel. The dead were buried according to the rite of burial in burial mounds. Often found in burial mounds pectoral crosses. Glade and Russ eventually mixed up, the Rus began to speak the Slavic language, and the tribal union received a double name - glade-Rus. E. G.

RADI? MICHI - an East Slavic union of tribes that lived in the eastern part of the Upper Dnieper, along the river. Sozh and its tributaries in the 8th–9th centuries.

Convenient river routes passed through the lands of the Radimichi, connecting them with Kiev. According to The Tale of Bygone Years, the founder of the tribe was Radim, who came "from the Poles", that is, of Polish origin, together with his brother Vyatko. Radimichi and Vyatichi had a similar burial rite - the ashes were buried in a log house - and similar temporal female jewelry (temporal rings) - seven-rayed (for Vyatichi - seven-lobed). Archaeologists and linguists suggest that the Balts, who lived in the upper reaches of the Dnieper, also participated in the creation of the material culture of the Radimichi. In the 9th century radimichi paid tribute to the Khazar Khaganate. In 885, these tribes were subordinated to the Kyiv prince Oleg Veshchim. In 984, the Radimichi army was defeated on the river. Pishchane governor of the Kyiv prince Vladimir

Svyatoslavich. The last time they were mentioned in the annals was in 1169. Then the territory of the Radimichi entered the Chernigov and Smolensk principalities. E. G.

RU?SY - in the sources of 8-10 centuries. the name of the people who participated in the formation of the Old Russian state.

In historical science, discussions about the ethnic origin of the Rus are still ongoing. According to the testimony of Arab geographers in the 9th-10th centuries. and the Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (10th century), the Rus were the social elite of Kievan Rus and dominated the Slavs.

The German historian G.Z. Bayer, invited to Russia in 1725 to work at the Academy of Sciences, believed that the Rus and the Varangians were one Norman (i.e., Scandinavian) tribe that brought statehood to the Slavic peoples. Bayer's followers in the 18th century. were G. Miller and L. Schlozer. This is how Norman theory origin of the Rus, which is still shared by many historians.

Based on the data of The Tale of Bygone Years, some historians believe that the chronicler identified the "Rus" with the Glade tribe and led them, along with other Slavs, from the upper Danube, from Norik. Others believe that the Rus are a Varangian tribe, "called" to reign in Novgorod under Prince Oleg Veshchem, who gave the name "Rus" to the Kievan land. Still others prove that the author of The Tale of Igor's Campaign connected the origin of the Rus with the Northern Black Sea region and the Don basin.

Scientists note that in ancient documents the name of the people "Rus" was different - rugs, horns, rutens, ruyi, ruyans, wounds, rens, rus, ruses, dews. This word is translated as “red”, “red” (from the Celtic languages), “light” (from the Iranian languages), “rots” (from Swedish - “rowers on oared boats”).

Some researchers consider the Rus to be Slavs. Those historians who consider the Rus to be Baltic Slavs argue that the word "Rus" is close to the names "Rügen", "Ruyan", "rugi". Scientists who consider the Rus to be residents of the Middle Dnieper region notice that the word “ros” (r. Ros) is found in the Dnieper region, and the name “Russian land” in the annals originally denoted the territory of the glades and northerners (Kiev, Chernihiv, Pereyaslavl).

There is a point of view according to which the Rus are the Sarmatian-Alanian people, the descendants of the Roxolans. The word "rus" ("ruhs") in Iranian languages ​​means "light", "white", "royal".

Another group of historians suggests that the Rus are Rugs who lived in the 3rd-5th centuries. along the river Danube of the Roman province of Noricum and c. 7th c. moved together with the Slavs in the Dnieper region. The mystery of the origin of the people "Rus" has not been solved so far. E. G., S. P.

NORTH? NOT - East Slavic union of tribes that lived in the 9th-10th centuries. by rr. Desna, Seim, Sula.

The western neighbors of the northerners were the meadows and the Dregovichi, the northern neighbors were the Radimichi and the Vyatichi.

The origin of the name "northerners" is not clear. Some researchers associate it with the Iranian sev, sew - "black". In the annals, the northerners are also called "sever", "north". The territory near the Desna and the Seim has been preserved in Russian chronicles of the 16th–17th centuries. and Ukrainian sources of the 17th century. the name "North".

Archaeologists correlate the northerners with the carriers of the Volintsevo archaeological culture, who lived on the left bank of the Dnieper, along the Desna and the Seim in the 7th–9th centuries. The Volintsevo tribes were Slavic, but their territory was in contact with the lands inhabited by the bearers of the Saltov-Mayak archaeological culture.

The main occupation of the northerners was agriculture. In con. 8th c. they were under the control Khazar Khaganate. In con. 9th c. the territories of the northerners became part of Kievan Rus. According to The Tale of Bygone Years, the Kiev prince Oleg the Prophet freed them from tribute to the Khazars and laid a light tribute on them, saying: "I am an enemy to them [Khazars], but you have no need."

The centers of craft and trade of the northerners were the years. Novgorod-Seversky, Chernigov, Putivl, which later became the centers of the principalities. With the accession to the Russian state, these lands were still called "Seversk land" or "Seversk Ukraine". E. G.

WORD? NOT ILME? NSKIE - a tribal union of Eastern Slavs on the territory of Novgorod land, mainly in the lands near the lake. Ilmen, next to the Krivichi.

According to The Tale of Bygone Years, the Slovenes of Ilmen, together with the Krivichi, Chud and Mery, participated in the calling of the Varangians, who were related to the Slovenes - immigrants from the Baltic Pomerania. Slovenian soldiers were part of the squad of Prince Oleg, participated in the campaign of Vladimir I Svyatoslavich against the Polotsk prince Rogvold in 980.

A number of historians consider the Slovene Podneprovye to be the "ancestral home", others deduce the ancestors of the Ilmen Slovenes from the Baltic Pomerania, since the traditions, beliefs and customs, the type of dwellings of the Novgorodians and Polabian Slavs are very close. E. G.

TI? VERTSY - an East Slavic union of tribes that lived in the 9th - early. 12th centuries on the river Dniester and at the mouth of the Danube. The name of the tribal union probably comes from the ancient Greek name of the Dniester - "Tiras", which, in turn, goes back to the Iranian word turas - fast.

In 885, Prince Oleg the Prophetic, who had conquered the tribes of the Polyans, Drevlyans, Severyans, tried to subjugate the Tivertsy to his power. Later, the Tivertsy participated in Oleg's campaign against Tsargrad (Constantinople) as "interpreters" - that is, translators, because they knew the languages ​​​​and customs of the peoples who lived near the Black Sea well. In 944, the Tivertsy, as part of the troops of the Kyiv prince Igor, again besieged Constantinople, and in the middle. 10th c. became part of Kievan Rus. In the beginning. 12th c. under the blows of the Pechenegs and Polovtsians, the Tivertsy retreated to the north, where they mixed with others Slavic tribes. The remains of settlements and settlements, which, according to archaeologists, belonged to the Tivertsy, have been preserved in the interfluve of the Dniester and Prut. Burial mounds with cremations in urns were found; among the archaeological finds in the territories occupied by the Tivertsy, there are no female temporal rings. E. G.

U? LICHI - East Slavic union of tribes that existed in 9 - ser. 10th century

According to The Tale of Bygone Years, the streets lived in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, the Bug and on the Black Sea coast. The center of the tribal union was the city of Peresechen. According to the historian of the 18th century. V. N. Tatishchev, the ethnonym "street" comes from the old Russian word "corner". The modern historian B. A. Rybakov drew attention to the testimony of the Novgorod First Chronicle: “The streets used to sit in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, but then they moved to the Bug and the Dniester” - and concluded that Peresechen was on the Dnieper south of Kiev. The city on the Dnieper under this name is mentioned in the Laurentian Chronicle under 1154 and in the "List of Russian cities" (14th century). In the 1960s archaeologists discovered street settlements in the area of ​​the river. Tyasmin (a tributary of the Dnieper), which confirms the conclusion of Rybakov.

The tribes for a long time resisted the attempts of the Kyiv princes to subjugate them to their power. In 885, Oleg the Prophet fought with the streets, already collecting tribute from the glades, Drevlyans, northerners and Tivertsy. Unlike most East Slavic tribes, the streets did not participate in Prince Oleg's campaign against Constantinople in 907. At the turn of the 40s. 10th c. Kiev governor Sveneld kept the city of Peresechen under siege for three years. All R. 10th c. under the onslaught of nomadic tribes, the streets retreated to the north and were included in Kievan Rus. E. G.