Ancient Russia period. A Brief History of Russia. How Russia was created. Galician and Volyn lands

Today our knowledge about Ancient Rus is similar to mythology. Free people, brave princes and heroes, rivers of milk with jelly banks. The real story is less poetic, but that makes it no less interesting.

"Kievan Rus" was invented by historians

The name "Kievan Rus" appeared in the 19th century in the works of Mikhail Maksimovich and other historians in memory of the domination of Kiev. Already in the very first centuries of Russia, the state consisted of several isolated principalities that lived their own lives and were completely independent. With the nominal subordination of the lands to Kiev, Russia was not united. Such a system was common in the early feudal states of Europe, where each feudal lord had the right to own the land and all the people on it.

The appearance of the Kiev princes was not always truly "Slavic" as it is customary to imagine. It's all about fine Kiev diplomacy, accompanied by dynastic marriages, both with European dynasties and with nomads - Alans, Yases, Polovtsians. The Polovtsian wives of the Russian princes Svyatopolk Izyaslavich and Vsevolod Vladimirovich are known. In some reconstructions, Russian princes have Mongoloid features.

Organs in ancient Russian churches

In Kievan Rus one could see organs and not see the bells in churches. Although bells existed in large cathedrals, in small churches they were often replaced by flat bells. After the Mongol conquests, the organs were lost and forgotten, and the first bell makers came from Western Europe anew. Tatiana Vladyshevskaya, a researcher of musical culture, writes about organs in the Old Russian era. One of the frescoes of St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev "Skomorokhi" depicts a scene with organ playing.

Western origin

The language of the ancient Russian population is considered East Slavic. However, archaeologists and linguists do not quite agree with this. The ancestors of the Novgorod Slovenes and part of the Krivichi (Polochans) arrived not from the southern expanses from the Carpathians to the right bank of the Dnieper, but from the West. Researchers see the West Slavic "trace" in the finds of ceramics and birch bark records. The prominent historian-researcher Vladimir Sedov is also inclined towards this version. Household items and features of rituals are similar among the Ilmen and Baltic Slavs.

How Novgorodians understood Kievites

Novgorod and Pskov dialects differed from other dialects of Ancient Rus. They had features inherent in the languages \u200b\u200bof the Polabs and Poles, and even completely archaic, Proto-Slavic. Known parallels: kyrky - "church", hѣde - "gray-haired". The rest of the dialects were very similar to each other, although they were not as common as modern Russian. Despite the differences, ordinary Novgorodians and Kievans could understand each other well: the words reflected the way of life common to all Slavs.

"White spots" in the most conspicuous place

We know almost nothing about the first Rurikovichs. The events described in the "Tale of Bygone Years" were already legendary at the time of writing, and the evidence of archaeologists and later chronicles is scarce and ambiguous. Written agreements mention some Helga, Inger, Sfendoslav, but the dates of events differ in different sources. The role of the Kiev “Varangian” Askold in the formation of the Russian statehood is also not very clear. And this is not to mention the eternal disputes around the personality of Rurik.

"Capital" was a frontier fortress

Kiev was far from the center of the Russian lands, but was the southern border fortress of Rus, while being located in the very north of modern Ukraine. Cities south of Kiev and its environs, as a rule, served as centers of nomadic tribes: Torks, Alans, Polovtsians, or were mainly of defensive significance (for example, Pereyaslavl).

Russia - the state of the slave trade

The slave trade was an important article of the wealth of Ancient Rus. They traded not only captive foreigners, but also Slavs. The latter were in great demand in the eastern markets. Arabic sources of the X-XI centuries in paints describe the path of slaves from Russia to the countries of the Caliphate and the Mediterranean. The slave trade was beneficial to the princes; large cities on the Volga and Dnieper were centers of the slave trade. A huge number of people in Russia were not free, for debts they could be sold into slavery to foreign merchants. One of the main slave traders were the Radonite Jews.

Khazars "inherited" in Kiev

During the rule of the Khazars (IX-X centuries), in addition to the Turks who collected tribute, there was a large diaspora of Jews in Kiev. Monuments of that era are still reflected in the "Kiev Letter", which contains the Hebrew correspondence of Kiev Jews with other Jewish communities. The manuscript is at the Cambridge Library. One of the three main Kiev gates was called Zhidovsky. In one of the early Byzantine documents Kiev is called Sambatas, which, according to one of the versions, can be translated from Khazar as "upper fortress".

Kiev - Third Rome

Before the Mongol yoke, ancient Kiev occupied an area of \u200b\u200babout 300 hectares during its heyday, the number of churches went to hundreds, for the first time in the history of Russia, the layout of the quarters was applied in it, making the streets slender. The city was admired by Europeans, Arabs, Byzantines and called the rival of Constantinople. However, from all the abundance of that time, almost not a single building remained, not counting the St. Sophia Cathedral, a couple of rebuilt churches and the recreated Golden Gate. The first white-stone church (Desyatinnaya), on which the Kievites fled from the Mongol raid, was destroyed already in the 13th century

Russian fortresses are older than Russia

One of the first stone fortresses in Russia was a stone-earthen fortress in Ladoga (Lyubshanskaya, VII century), founded by the Slovenes. The Scandinavian fortress on the other side of the Volkhov was still made of wood. The new stone fortress, built in the era of the Prophetic Oleg, was in no way inferior to similar fortresses in Europe. It was she who was called Aldegüborg in the Scandinavian sagas. One of the first strongholds on the southern border was the fortress in Pereyaslavl-Yuzhny. Among Russian cities, only a few could boast of stone defensive architecture. These are Izborsk (XI century), Pskov (XII century) and later Koporye (XIII century). Kiev in the Old Russian time was almost completely made of wood. The oldest stone fortress was the castle of Andrey Bogolyubsky near Vladimir, although it is more famous for its decorative part.

Cyrillic was almost never used

Glagolitic, the first written alphabet of the Slavs, did not take root in Russia, although it was known and could be translated. Glagolic letters were used only in some documents. It was she who in the first centuries of Russia associated with the preacher Cyril and was called "Cyrillic". Glagolitic was often used as a cryptography. The first inscription in the Cyrillic alphabet itself was a strange inscription "gorushshcha" or "gorushna" on an earthen vessel from the Gnezdovsky burial mound. The inscription appeared shortly before the baptism of the Kievites. The origin and exact interpretation of this word is still controversial.

Old Russian universe

Lake Ladoga was called “Lake Great Nevo” along the Neva River. The ending "-o" was common (for example: Onego, Nero, Volgo). The Baltic Sea was called Varangian, the Black Sea - Russian, Caspian - Khvalissky, Azov - Surozh, and White - Studeny. On the contrary, the Balkan Slavs called the Aegean Sea the White (Byalo Sea). The Great Don was not called the Don, but its right tributary, the Seversky Donets. The Ural Mountains in the old days were called Bolshoi Kamen.

Heir to Great Moravia

With the decline of Great Moravia, the largest Slavic state for its time, the rise of Kiev and the gradual Christianization of Rus began. Thus, the chronicled White Croats came out from under the influence of the crumbling Moravia, and fell under the gravity of Russia. Their neighbors, Volhynians and Buzhanians, have long been involved in Byzantine trade along the Bug, which is why they were known as translators during Oleg's campaigns. The role of the Moravian scribes, whom the Latins began to oppress with the collapse of the state, is unknown, but the largest number of translations of Great Moravian Christian books (about 39) were in Kievan Rus.

No alcohol and sugar

There was no alcoholism as a phenomenon in Russia. Wine alcohol came to the country after the Tatar-Mongol yoke, even beer brewing in the classical form did not work out. The strength of drinks was usually not higher than 1-2%. Drinking honey, as well as intoxicated or staged honey (low alcohol), digestions, kvass.

Ordinary people in Ancient Russia did not eat oil, did not know spices like mustard and bay leaves, as well as sugar. They boiled turnips, the table was full of cereals, dishes of berries and mushrooms. Instead of tea, they drank broths of fireweed, which would later become known as "Koporsky tea" or Ivan tea. Kissels were unsweetened and made from cereals. They also ate a lot of game: pigeons, hares, deer, wild boars. Traditional dairy dishes were sour cream and cottage cheese.

Two "Bulgaria" in the service of Russia

These two most powerful neighbors of Russia had a huge impact on it. After the decline of Moravia, both countries, which emerged on the remnants of Great Bulgaria, are flourishing. The first country said goodbye to the "Bulgar" past, dissolving in the Slavic majority, converted to Orthodoxy and adopted the Byzantine culture. The second, following the Arab world, became Islamic, but retained the Bulgarian language as the state language.

The center of Slavic literacy moved to Bulgaria, at that time its territory expanded so much that it included part of the future Rus. A variant of the Old Bulgarian language became the language of the Church. It has been used in numerous lives and teachings. Bulgaria, in turn, sought to restore order in trade along the Volga, suppressing the attacks of foreign bandits and robbers. The normalization of Volga trade provided the princely possessions with an abundance of eastern goods. Bulgaria influenced Russia with culture and bookishness, and Bulgaria contributed to its wealth and prosperity.

Forgotten "megacities" of Russia

Kiev and Novgorod were not the only large cities of Russia, it was not for nothing that in Scandinavia it was nicknamed "Gardarika" (the country of cities). Before the rise of Kiev, one of the largest settlements in all of Eastern and Northern Europe was Gnezdovo, the ancestor city of Smolensk. The name is conditional, since Smolensk itself is on the sidelines. But perhaps we know his name from the sagas - Surnes. The most populated were also Ladoga, symbolically considered the "first capital", and the Timeryovskoye settlement near Yaroslavl, which was built opposite the famous neighboring city.

Russia was baptized by the XII century

The chronicle baptism of Russia in 988 (and according to some historians in 990) affected only a small part of the people, mainly limited to the people of Kiev and the population of the largest cities. Polotsk was baptized only at the beginning of the 11th century, and at the end of the century - by Rostov and Murom, where there were still many Finno-Ugric peoples. Confirmation that most of the common population remained pagans was the regular uprisings of the Magi, supported by smerds (Suzdal in 1024, Rostov and Novgorod in 1071). Dual faith arises later, when Christianity becomes a truly dominant religion.

The Turks also had cities in Russia

In Kievan Rus there were also completely "non-Slavic" cities. Such was Torchesk, where Prince Vladimir allowed the Tork nomads to settle, as well as Sakov, Berendichev (named after the Berendey), Belaya Vezha, where the Khazars and Alans lived, Tmutarakan, inhabited by Greeks, Armenians, Khazars and Circassians. By the 11th-12th centuries, the Pechenegs were no longer a typical nomadic and pagan people, some of them were baptized and settled in the cities of the union of "black hoods" subordinated to Russia. In the old cities on the site or in the vicinity of Rostov, Murom, Beloozero, Yaroslavl, mostly Finno-Ugrians lived. In Murom - Murom, in Rostov and near Yaroslavl - Merya, in Beloozero - everything, in Yuryev - a chud. The names of many important cities are unknown to us - in the 9th-10th centuries there were almost no Slavs in them.

"Rus", "Roksolania", "Gardarika" and not only

The Balts called the country "Krevia" after the neighboring Krivichi, the Latin "Ruthenia", less often "Roksolania", took root in Europe, the Scandinavian sagas called Russia "Gardarika" (country of cities), Chud and Finns "Venemaa" or "Venaya" (from the Wends), the Arabs called the main population of the country "As-Sakaliba" (Slavs, Sklavins)

Slavs out of bounds

Traces of the Slavs could be found outside the state of Rurik. Many cities along the middle Volga and in the Crimea were multinational and inhabited by Slavs as well. Before the Polovtsian invasion, many Slavic towns existed on the Don. The Slavic names of many Byzantine Black Sea cities are known - Korchev, Korsun, Surozh, Gusliev. This indicates the constant presence of Russian merchants. Peipsi towns of Estland (modern Estonia) - Kolyvan, Yuryev, Bear's head, Klin - with varying success passed into the hands of either the Slavs, or the Germans, or the local tribes. Krivichi settled along the Western Dvina, interspersed with the Balts. In the zone of influence of Russian traders was Nevgin (Daugavpils), in Latgale - Rezhitsa and Ochela. Chronicles constantly mention the campaigns of the Russian princes on the Danube and the capture of local cities. So, for example, the Galician prince Yaroslav Osmomysl "locked the door of the Danube with a key."

Both pirates and nomads

Runaway people from various volosts of Russia formed independent associations long before the Cossacks. Berladniki were known who inhabited the southern steppes, the main city of which was Berlads in the Carpathian region. They often attacked Russian cities, but at the same time they took part in joint campaigns with Russian princes. The chronicles also introduce us to the roaming people, a mixed population of unknown origin, who had much in common with the Berladniki.

The ushkuyniki were sea pirates from Russia. Initially, these were the Novgorodians, who were engaged in raids and commercial fishing on the Volga, Kama, Bulgaria and the Baltic. They undertook campaigns even in the Cis-Urals - to Ugra. Later they separated from Novgorod and even found their own capital in the city of Khlynov on Vyatka. Perhaps it was the Ushkuiniks, together with the Karelians, who destroyed the ancient capital of Sweden - Sigtuna in 1187.

History of Ancient Russia - the history of the Old Russian state from 862 (or 882) to the Tatar-Mongol invasion.

By the middle of the 9th century (according to the chronicle chronology in 862), in the north of European Russia in the Priilmenye region, a large alliance of Eastern Slavic, Finno-Ugric and Baltic tribes had formed, under the rule of the princes of the Rurik dynasty, who founded a centralized state. In 882, the Novgorod prince Oleg captured Kiev, thereby uniting the northern and southern lands of the Eastern Slavs under one rule. As a result of successful military campaigns and diplomatic efforts of the Kiev rulers, the lands of all East Slavs, as well as some Finno-Ugric, Baltic, and Turkic tribes, entered the new state. In parallel, there was a process of Slavic colonization of the northeast of the Russian land.

Ancient Russia was the largest state formation in Europe, fought for a dominant position in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region with the Byzantine Empire. Under Prince Vladimir in 988, Russia adopted Christianity. Prince Yaroslav the Wise approved the first Russian code of laws - Russian Truth. In 1132, after the death of the Kiev prince Mstislav Vladimirovich, the Old Russian state began to disintegrate into a number of independent principalities: the Novgorod land, the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, the Galicia-Volyn principality, the Chernigov principality, the Ryazan principality, the Polotsk principality and others. At the same time, Kiev remained an object of struggle between the most powerful princely branches, and the Kiev land was considered a collective possession of the Rurikovichs.

In North-Eastern Russia, from the middle of the XII century, the Vladimir-Suzdal principality rises, its rulers (Andrei Bogolyubsky, Vsevolod the Big Nest), fighting for Kiev, left Vladimir as their main residence, which led to its rise as a new all-Russian center. Also the most powerful principalities were Chernigov, Galicia-Volyn and Smolensk. In 1237-1240 most of the Russian lands were subjected to the destructive invasion of Batu. Kiev, Chernigov, Pereyaslavl, Vladimir, Galich, Ryazan and other centers of the Russian principalities were destroyed, the southern and southeastern outskirts lost a significant part of the sedentary population.

Background

The Old Russian state arose on the trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks" on the lands of the East Slavic tribes - Ilmen Slovenes, Krivichi, Glade, then encompassing the Drevlyans, Dregovichi, Polotsk, Radimichi, and Northerners.

Before the calling of the Vikings

The first information about the state of the Rus dates back to the first third of the 9th century: in 839, the ambassadors of the Khagan of the Ros people are mentioned, who first arrived in Constantinople, and from there to the court of the Frankish emperor Louis the Pious. Since that time, the ethnonym "Rus" has also become known. The term " Kievan Rus”Appears for the first time only in historical research of the 18th-19th centuries.

In 860 ("The Tale of Bygone Years" mistakenly refers it to 866) Russia makes the first campaign against Constantinople. Greek sources associate with him the so-called first baptism of Russia, after which a diocese may have arisen in Russia and the ruling elite (possibly led by Askold) adopted Christianity.

Rurik's board

In 862, according to the "Tale of Bygone Years", the Slavic and Finno-Ugric tribes called the Varangians to reign.

In the year 6370 (862). They drove out the Varangians across the sea, and did not give them tribute, and began to dominate themselves, and there was no truth among them, and family after generation rose up, and they had strife, and began to fight with each other. And they said to themselves: "Let us look for a prince who would rule over us and judge by right." And they went across the sea to the Varangians, to Russia. Those Varangians were called Rus, as others are called Swedes, and some Normans and Angles, and still other Gotlandians - that's how these are. Chud, Slovenia, Krivichi and the rest of Russia said: “Our land is great and abundant, but there is no order in it. Come to reign and rule over us. " And three brothers with their families were elected, and took all Russia with them, and came, and the eldest, Rurik, sat in Novgorod, and the other, Sineus, on Beloozero, and the third, Truvor, in Izborsk. And from those Varangians the Russian land was nicknamed. The Novgorodians are those people from the Varangian family, and before they were Slovenes.

In 862 (the date is approximate, like the entire early chronology of the Chronicle), the Varangians and Rurik's warriors Askold and Dir, heading for Constantinople, subjugated Kiev, thereby establishing full control over the most important trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks." At the same time, the Novgorod and Nikon chronicles do not connect Askold and Dir with Rurik, and the chronicle of Jan Dlugosh and the Gustynskaya chronicle call them the descendants of Kiy.

In 879 Rurik died in Novgorod. The reign was transferred to Oleg, regent with Rurik's young son Igor.

The first Russian princes

The reign of Oleg the Prophetic

In 882, according to the chronicle chronology, Prince Oleg ( Oleg the Prophetic), a relative of Rurik, set out on a campaign from Novgorod to the south, capturing Smolensk and Lyubech on the way, establishing his power there and placing his people on the reign. Oleg's army included the Varangians and warriors of the tribes under his control - the Chuds, Slovens, Meri and Krivichi. Further, Oleg with the Novgorod army and a hired Varangian squad captured Kiev, killed Askold and Dir who ruled there and declared Kiev the capital of his state. Already in Kiev, he established the size of the tribute that the subordinate tribes of the Novgorod land - Slovenia, Krivichi and Meria - had to pay annually. The construction of fortresses in the vicinity of the new capital was also started.

Oleg, by military means, extended his power to the lands of the Drevlyans and northerners, and the Radimichi accepted Oleg's conditions without a fight (the last two tribal alliances had previously paid tribute to the Khazars). The annals do not indicate the reaction of the Khazars, however, the historian Petrukhin puts forward the assumption that they began an economic blockade, ceasing to let Russian merchants through their lands.

As a result of the victorious campaign against Byzantium, the first written agreements were concluded in 907 and 911, which provided for preferential terms of trade for Russian merchants (the trade duty was canceled, ships were repaired, overnight stay), legal and military issues were resolved. According to the historian V. Mavrodin, the success of Oleg's campaign is due to the fact that he was able to rally the forces of the Old Russian state and strengthen its emerging statehood.

According to the chronicle version, Oleg, who bore the title of Grand Duke, ruled for over 30 years. Rurik's own son Igor took the throne after Oleg's death around 912 and ruled until 945.

Igor Rurikovich

The beginning of Igor's reign was marked by the uprising of the Drevlyans, who were again subjugated and imposed with an even greater tribute, and the appearance of the Pechenegs in the Black Sea steppes (in 915), who ruined the possessions of the Khazars and drove the Hungarians out of the Black Sea region. By the beginning of the X century. Pechenegs' nomad camps stretched from the Volga to the Prut.

Igor made two military campaigns against Byzantium. The first, in 941, failed. It was also preceded by an unsuccessful military campaign against Khazaria, during which Russia, acting at the request of Byzantium, attacked the Khazar city of Samkerts on the Taman Peninsula, but was defeated by the Khazar commander Pesach and turned its weapons against Byzantium. The Bulgarians warned the Byzantines that Igor began his campaign with 10,000 soldiers. Igor's fleet plundered Bithynia, Paphlagonia, Heraclea of \u200b\u200bPontic and Nicomedia, but then he was defeated and he, leaving the surviving army in Thrace, fled to Kiev with several boats. The captured soldiers were executed in Constantinople. From the capital, he sent an invitation to the Varangians to take part in a new invasion of Byzantium. The second campaign against Byzantium took place in 944.

Igor's army, consisting of glades, Krivichi, Slovens, Tivertsy, Varangians and Pechenegs, reached the Danube, from where ambassadors were sent to Constantinople. They entered into a treaty that confirmed many of the provisions of the previous 907 and 911 treaties, but abolished duty-free trade. Rus undertook to defend the Byzantine possessions in the Crimea. In 943 or 944, a campaign was made against Berdaa.

In 945, Igor was killed while collecting tribute from the Drevlyans. According to the chronicle version, the reason for the death was the prince's desire to receive tribute again, which was demanded of him by the warriors who envied the wealth of the squad of the governor Sveneld. Igor's small squad was killed by the Drevlyans near Iskorosten, and he himself was executed. Historian A. A. Shakhmatov put forward a version according to which Igor and Sveneld began to conflict over the Drevlyane tribute and, as a result, Igor was killed.

Olga

After Igor's death, due to the minority of his son Svyatoslav, real power was in the hands of Igor's widow Princess Olga. The Drevlyans sent an embassy to her, offering her to become the wife of their prince Mal. However, Olga executed the ambassadors, gathered an army and in 946 began the siege of Iskorosten, which ended with his burning and the subjugation of the Drevlyans to the Kiev princes. The Tale of Bygone Years described not only their conquest, but also the preceding revenge on the part of the Kiev ruler. Olga imposed a big tribute on the Drevlyans.

In 947, she undertook a trip to the Novgorod land, where, instead of the previous polyudye, she introduced a system of taxes and tributes, which local residents themselves had to take to camps and graveyards, transferring them to specially appointed people - tiuns. Thus, a new method of collecting tribute from the subjects of the Kiev princes was introduced.

She became the first ruler of the Old Russian state to officially adopt Christianity of the Byzantine rite (according to the most reasoned version, in 957, although other dates are proposed). In 957, Olga paid an official visit to Constantinople with a large embassy, \u200b\u200bknown from the description of court ceremonies by Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus in his composition "Ceremonies", and she was accompanied by the priest Gregory.

The emperor calls Olga the ruler (archontissa) of Russia, the name of her son Svyatoslav (in the listing of the retinue it is indicated “ people of Svyatoslav») Is mentioned without a title. Olga strove for baptism and recognition by Byzantium of Rus as an equal Christian empire. At baptism, she received the name Elena. However, according to a number of historians, it was not possible to agree on an alliance immediately. In 959, Olga received the Greek embassy, \u200b\u200bbut refused to send an army to help Byzantium. In the same year, she sent ambassadors to the German emperor Otto I with a request to send bishops and priests and establish a church in Russia. This attempt to play on the contradictions between Byzantium and Germany was successful, Constantinople made concessions, concluding a mutually beneficial agreement, and the German embassy headed by Bishop Adalbert came back with nothing. In 960, a Russian army went to help the Greeks, who fought in Crete against the Arabs under the leadership of the future emperor Nicephorus Phocas.

Monk Jacob in the 11th century essay "Memory and Praise to Prince Volodimer of Rus" reports the exact date of Olga's death: July 11, 969.

Svyatoslav Igorevich

Around 960, the matured Svyatoslav took power into his own hands. He grew up among the warriors of his father and the first of the Russian princes bore a Slavic name. From the beginning of his reign, he began to prepare for military campaigns and gathered an army. According to the historian Grekov, Svyatoslav became deeply involved in international relations between Europe and Asia. Often he acted in agreement with other states, thus participating in solving the problems of European and, in part, Asian politics.

His first event was the subordination of the Vyatichi (964), who were the last of all the East Slavic tribes to continue to pay tribute to the Khazars. Then, according to eastern sources, Svyatoslav attacked and defeated the Volga Bulgaria. In 965 (according to other data, also in 968/969), Svyatoslav made a campaign against the Khazar Kaganate. The Khazar army, led by the kagan, went out to meet the squad of Svyatoslav, but was defeated. The Russian army took by storm the main cities of the Khazars: the fortress city of Sarkel, Semender and the capital of Itil. After that, the old Russian settlement Belaya Vezha arose on the site of Sarkel. After the defeat, the remnants of the Khazar state were known under the name of the Saxins and no longer played the same role. The establishment of Russia in the Black Sea region and the North Caucasus is also associated with this campaign, where Svyatoslav defeated the Yases (Alans) and Kasogs (Circassians) and where Tmutarakan became the center of Russian possessions.

In 968, a Byzantine embassy arrived in Russia, proposing an alliance against Bulgaria, then out of control of Byzantium. The Byzantine ambassador Kalokir, on behalf of the Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, brought a gift - 1,500 pounds of gold. Having included the allied Pechenegs in his army, Svyatoslav moved to the Danube. In a short time, the Bulgarian troops were defeated, the Russian squads occupied up to 80 Bulgarian cities. Svyatoslav chose Pereyaslavets, a city on the lower reaches of the Danube, as his stake. However, such a sharp strengthening of Russia caused fears in Constantinople and the Byzantines managed to convince the Pechenegs to make another raid on Kiev. In 968, their army besieged the Russian capital, where Princess Olga and her grandsons - Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir - were located. The city was saved by the approach of a small squad of Voivode Pretich. Soon Svyatoslav himself arrived with a cavalry army and drove the Pechenegs into the steppe. However, the prince did not strive to remain in Russia. The chronicles quote his words as follows:

Svyatoslav remained in Kiev until the death of his mother Olga. After that, he divided the possessions between his sons: he left Kiev to Yaropolk, the lands of the Drevlyans to Oleg, and Novgorod to Vladimir).

Then he returned to Pereyaslavets. In a new campaign with a significant army (according to various sources, from 10 to 60 thousand soldiers) in 970 Svyatoslav captured almost all of Bulgaria, occupied its capital Preslav and invaded Byzantium. The new emperor John Tzimiskes sent a large army against him. The Russian army, which included Bulgarians and Hungarians, was forced to retreat to Dorostol (Silistria), a fortress on the Danube.

In 971 it was besieged by the Byzantines. In the battle at the walls of the fortress, Svyatoslav's army suffered heavy losses, he was forced to negotiate with Tzimiskes. According to the peace treaty, Russia pledged not to attack the Byzantine possessions in Bulgaria, and Constantinople promised not to incite the Pechenegs to campaigns against Russia.

Voivode Sveneld advised the prince to return to Russia by land. However, Svyatoslav preferred to sail through the Dnieper rapids. At the same time, the prince planned to gather a new army in Russia and renew the war with Byzantium. In winter they were blocked by the Pechenegs and a small squad of Svyatoslav spent a hungry winter in the lower reaches of the Dnieper. In the spring of 972 Svyatoslav made an attempt to break through to Russia, but his army was defeated, and he himself was killed. According to another version, the death of the Kiev prince occurred in 973. From the skull of the prince, the Pechenezh leader Kurya made a bowl for feasts.

Vladimir and Yaroslav the Wise. Baptism of Russia

The reign of Prince Vladimir. Baptism of Russia

After the death of Svyatoslav, civil strife broke out between his sons for the right to the throne (972-978 or 980). The eldest son Yaropolk became the great Kiev prince, Oleg received the Drevlyane lands, and Vladimir - Novgorod. In 977, Yaropolk defeated Oleg's squad, and Oleg himself died. Vladimir fled "overseas", but returned two years later with the Varangian squad. During the campaign to Kiev, he conquered Polotsk, an important trading point on the western Dvina, and married Rogneda, the daughter of Prince Rogvolod, who was killed by him.

During the civil strife, Vladimir Svyatoslavich defended his rights to the throne (reigned 980-1015). Under him, the formation of the state territory of Ancient Rus was completed, the cities of Cherven and Carpathian Rus, which were contested by Poland, were annexed. After the victory of Vladimir, his son Svyatopolk married the daughter of the Polish king Boleslav the Brave, and peaceful relations were established between the two states. Vladimir finally annexed the Vyatichi and Radimichi to Russia. In 983 he made a campaign against the Yatvingians, and in 985 - against the Volga Bulgarians.

Having achieved autocracy in the Russian land, Vladimir began a religious reform. In 980, the prince established a pagan pantheon of six different tribal gods in Kiev. Tribal cults could not create a unified state religious system. In 986, ambassadors from various countries began to arrive in Kiev, offering Vladimir to accept their faith.

Islam was offered by the Volga Bulgaria, Western-style Christianity - by the German emperor Otto I, Judaism - by the Khazar Jews. However, Vladimir opted for Christianity, which the Greek philosopher told him about. The embassy returning from Byzantium supported the prince. In 988, the Russian army laid siege to Byzantine Korsun (Chersonesos). Byzantium agreed to peace, Princess Anna became the wife of Vladimir. The pagan idols that stood in Kiev were overthrown, and the Kievites were baptized in the Dnieper. In the capital, a stone church was built, which became known as the Tithe, since the prince gave a tenth of his income for its maintenance. After the baptism of Rus, treaties with Byzantium became unnecessary, since closer relations were established between the two states. These ties were largely strengthened thanks to the church apparatus that the Byzantines organized in Russia. The first bishops and priests came from Korsun and other Byzantine cities. The church organization within the Old Russian state was in the hands of the Patriarch of Constantinople, who became a great political force in Russia.

Having become a Kiev prince, Vladimir faced an increased Pechenezh threat. To protect himself from nomads, he builds a line of fortresses on the border, the garrisons of which he recruited from the "best men" of the northern tribes - the Ilmen Slovenians, Krivichi, Chudi and Vyatichi. Tribal boundaries began to blur, and the state border became important. It was during the time of Vladimir that the action of many Russian epics takes place, telling about the exploits of the heroes.

Vladimir established a new order of government: he put his sons in Russian cities. Svyatopolk received Turov, Izyaslav - Polotsk, Yaroslav - Novgorod, Boris - Rostov, Gleb - Murom, Svyatoslav - Drevlyanskaya land, Vsevolod - Vladimir-on-Volyn, Sudislav - Pskov, Stanislav - Smolensk, Mstislav - Tmutarakan. Tribute was no longer collected during polyudya and only at churchyards. From that moment, the princely family with their warriors "fed" in the cities themselves and sent part of the tribute to the capital - Kiev.

The reign of Yaroslav the Wise

After the death of Vladimir, a new civil strife took place in Russia. Svyatopolk the Damned in 1015 killed his brothers Boris (according to another version, Boris was killed by the Scandinavian mercenaries of Yaroslav), Gleb and Svyatoslav. Having learned about the murder of the brothers, Yaroslav, who ruled in Novgorod, began to prepare for the campaign against Kiev. Svyatopolk received help from the Polish king Boleslav and the Pechenegs, but in the end he was defeated and fled to Poland, where he died. Boris and Gleb were canonized in 1071.

After the victory over Svyatopolk, Yaroslav had a new adversary - his brother Mstislav, by that time entrenched in Tmutarakan and the Eastern Crimea. In 1022, Mstislav conquered the Kasogs (Circassians), defeating their leader Rededu in a battle. Having strengthened the army with the Khazars and Kasogs, he set out to the north, where he subjugated the northerners to his power, who replenished his troops. Then he occupied Chernigov. At this time, Yaroslav turned to the Varangians for help, who sent him a strong army. The decisive battle took place in 1024 near Listven, the victory went to Mstislav. After her, the brothers divided Russia into two parts - along the channel of the Dnieper. Kiev and Novgorod remained with Yaroslav, and it was Novgorod that remained his permanent residence. Mstislav moved his capital to Chernigov. The brothers supported a close alliance, after the death of the Polish king Boleslav, they returned the Cherven cities to Russia, which were captured by the Poles after the death of Vladimir Krasnoe Solnyshko.

At this time, Kiev temporarily lost the status of the political center of Rus. The leading centers then were Novgorod and Chernigov. Expanding his possession, Yaroslav undertook a campaign against the Estonian tribe of Chud. In 1030, the city of Yuryev (modern Tartu) was founded on the conquered territory.

In 1036, Mstislav fell ill while hunting and died. His only son had died three years earlier. Thus, Yaroslav became the ruler of all Russia, except for the Polotsk principality. In the same year, Kiev was attacked by the Pechenegs. By the time Yaroslav arrived with an army of Varangians and Slavs, they had already captured the outskirts of the city.

In the battle at the walls of Kiev, Yaroslav defeated the Pechenegs, after which he made Kiev his capital. In memory of the victory over the Pechenegs, the prince founded the famous St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, artists from Constantinople were summoned to paint the temple. Then he imprisoned the last surviving brother - Sudislav, who ruled in Pskov. After that, Yaroslav became the sole ruler of almost all of Russia.

The rule of Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054) was at times the highest prosperity of the state. Public relations were regulated by the collection of laws "Russian Truth" and the princely charters. Yaroslav the Wise pursued an active foreign policy. He became related with many of the ruling dynasties of Europe, which testified to the wide international recognition of Russia in the European Christian world. Intensive stone construction began. Yaroslav actively turned Kiev into a cultural and intellectual center, taking Constantinople as a model. At this time, relations between the Russian Church and the Patriarchate of Constantinople were normalized.

From that moment on, the Russian Church was headed by the Metropolitan of Kiev, ordained by the Patriarch of Constantinople. No later than 1039, the first Metropolitan of Kiev Theophanes arrived in Kiev. In 1051, having gathered the bishops, Yaroslav himself appointed Metropolitan Hilarion, for the first time without the participation of the Patriarch of Constantinople. Hilarion became the first Russian metropolitan. In 1054, Yaroslav the Wise died.

In the cities, the oldest of which were Kiev, Novgorod, Ladoga, Smolensk, Polotsk, Izborsk, Chernigov, Pereyaslavl, Turov, Rostov, Beloozero, Pleskov (Pskov), Tmutarakan, Murom, Ovruch, Vladimir-Volynsky, and others, crafts and trade. Monuments of writing ("The Tale of Bygone Years", Novgorod Codex, Ostromir Gospel, Lives) and architecture (Tithes Church, St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev and cathedrals of the same name in Novgorod and Polotsk) were created. Numerous birch bark letters that have survived to this day testify to the high level of literacy of the inhabitants of Rus. Rus traded with the southern and western Slavs, Scandinavia, Byzantium, Western Europe, the peoples of the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Board of the sons and grandsons of Yaroslav the Wise

Yaroslav the Wise divided Russia between his sons. The three eldest sons received the main Russian lands. Izyaslav - Kiev and Novgorod, Svyatoslav - Chernigov and the Murom and Ryazan lands, Vsevolod - Pereyaslavl and Rostov. The younger sons Vyacheslav and Igor received Smolensk and Vladimir Volynsky. These possessions were not inherited, a system was formed in which the younger brother inherited the older in the princely family - the so-called "ladder" system. The eldest in the family (not by age, but by the line of kinship), received Kievi and became the Grand Duke, all other lands were divided among the members of the family and distributed according to seniority. Power passed from brother to brother, from uncle to nephew. The second place in the hierarchy of tables was occupied by Chernigov. At the death of one of the members of the clan, all the Rurikovichs younger than him moved to the lands corresponding to their seniority. When new members of the clan appeared, their destiny was determined - a city with land (volost). A certain prince had the right to reign only in the city where his father reigned, otherwise he was considered an outcast. The ladder system regularly caused strife between the princes.

In the 60s. In the 11th century, the Polovtsians appeared in the Northern Black Sea region. The sons of Yaroslav the Wise could not stop their invasion, but were afraid to arm the Kiev militia. In response, in 1068 the people of Kiev overthrew Izyaslav Yaroslavich and put on the throne the Polotsk prince Vseslav, who had been captured by the Yaroslavichs a year before during the strife. In 1069, with the help of the Poles, Izyaslav occupied Kiev, but after this uprisings of the townspeople became permanent during the crises of the princely power. Presumably in 1072 the Yaroslavichs edited the Russkaya Pravda, significantly expanding it.

Izyaslav tried to regain control over Polotsk, but to no avail, and in 1071 he made peace with Vseslav. In 1073 Vsevolod and Svyatoslav expelled Izyaslav from Kiev, accusing him of an alliance with Vseslav, and Izyaslav fled to Poland. Kiev was ruled by Svyatoslav, who himself was in allied relations with the Poles. In 1076 Svyatoslav died and Vsevolod became the prince of Kiev.

When Izyaslav returned with the Polish army, Vsevolod returned the capital to him, keeping Pereyaslavl and Chernigov behind him. At the same time, the eldest son of Svyatoslav Oleg was left without possessions, who began the struggle with the support of the Polovtsi. In the battle with them, Izyaslav Yaroslavich died, and Vsevolod again became the ruler of Russia. Prince of Chernigov, he made his son Vladimir, born of a Byzantine princess from the Monomakh dynasty. Oleg Svyatoslavich fortified himself in Tmutarakan. Vsevolod continued the foreign policy of Yaroslav the Wise. He sought to strengthen ties with European countries by marrying his son Vladimir to the Anglo-Saxon Gita, the daughter of King Harald, who died in the Battle of Hastings. He married his daughter Eupraxia to the German emperor Henry IV. The reign of Vsevolod was characterized by the distribution of lands to princes-nephews and the formation of an administrative hierarchy.

After the death of Vsevolod Kiev was occupied by Svyatopolk Izyaslavich. The Polovtsi sent an embassy to Kiev with a peace proposal, but Svyatopolk Izyaslavich refused to negotiate and seized the ambassadors. These events became the reason for a large Polovtsian campaign against Russia, as a result of which the combined troops of Svyatopolk and Vladimir were defeated, and significant territories around Kiev and Pereyaslavl were devastated. The Polovtsi took away many prisoners. Taking advantage of this, the sons of Svyatoslav, enlisting the support of the Polovtsy, presented their rights to Chernigov. In 1094, Oleg Svyatoslavich with Polovtsian detachments moved to Chernigov from Tmutarakan. When his army approached the city, Vladimir Monomakh made peace with him, having ceded Chernigov and went to Pereyaslavl. In 1095, the Polovtsians repeated the raid, during which they reached Kiev itself, devastating its surroundings. Svyatopolk and Vladimir called for help from Oleg, who reigned in Chernigov, but he ignored their requests. After the Polovtsians left, the Kiev and Pereyaslavl squads captured Chernigov, and Oleg fled to his brother Davyd in Smolensk. There he replenished his troops and attacked Murom, where the son of Vladimir Monomakh Izyaslav ruled. Murom was taken, and Izyaslav fell in battle. Despite the offer of peace, which Vladimir sent him, Oleg continued his campaign and took possession of Rostov. Another son of Monomakh, Mstislav, who was the governor in Novgorod, prevented him from continuing the conquests. He defeated Oleg, who had fled to Ryazan. Vladimir Monomakh once again offered him peace, to which Oleg agreed.

Monomakh's peace initiative was continued in the form of the Lyubech Congress of Princes, which gathered in 1097 to resolve existing differences. The congress was attended by the Kiev prince Svyatopolk, Vladimir Monomakh, Davyd (son of Igor Volynsky), Vasilko Rostislavovich, Davyd and Oleg Svyatoslavovich. The princes agreed to end the strife and not to claim other people's possessions. However, the world did not last long. Davyd Volynsky and Svyatopolk captured Vasilko Rostislavovich and blinded him. Vasilko became the first Russian prince to be blinded during civil strife in Russia. Outraged by the actions of Davyd and Svyatopolk, Vladimir Monomakh and Davyd and Oleg Svyatoslavich set out on a campaign against Kiev. The Kievans sent a delegation headed by the Metropolitan to meet them, which managed to convince the princes to keep the peace. However, Svyatopolk was entrusted with the task of punishing Davyd Volynsky. He freed Vasilko. However, another civil strife began in Russia, which grew into a large-scale war in the western principalities. It ended in 1100 with a congress in Uvetichi. Davyd Volynsky was deprived of his principality. However, for "feeding" he was given the city of Buzhsk. In 1101, the Russian princes managed to conclude peace with the Polovtsians.

Changes in public administration in the late X - early XII centuries

In the course of the baptism of Rus in all its lands, the authority of Orthodox bishops, subordinate to the Kiev metropolitan, was established. At the same time, in all lands, the sons of Vladimir were planted as governors. Now all the princes who acted as appanages of the Kiev Grand Duke were only from the Rurik family. The Scandinavian sagas mention the fiefdoms of the Vikings, but they were located on the outskirts of Russia and on the newly annexed lands, therefore, at the time of writing the Tale of Bygone Years, they already seemed a relic. The Rurik princes waged a fierce struggle with the remaining tribal princes (Vladimir Monomakh mentions Prince Vyatichi Khodota and his son). This contributed to the centralization of power.

The power of the Grand Duke reached the highest fortification under Vladimir and Yaroslav the Wise (then after a break under Vladimir Monomakh). The position of the dynasty was strengthened by numerous international dynastic marriages: Anna Yaroslavna and the French king, Vsevolod Yaroslavich and the Byzantine princess, etc.

Since the time of Vladimir or, according to some sources, Yaropolk Svyatoslavich, the prince began to give land to the vigilantes instead of a monetary salary. If initially these were cities for feeding, then in the XI century the vigilantes began to receive villages. Together with the villages, which became fiefdoms, the boyar title was also granted. The boyars began to form the senior squad. The service of the boyars was determined by personal loyalty to the prince, and not by the size of the land allotment (conditional land tenure did not become noticeably widespread). The younger squad ("youths", "childrens", "greedy"), who was with the prince, lived at the expense of feeding from the princely villages and the war. The main fighting force in the XI century was the militia, which received horses and weapons from the prince during the war. The services of a hired Varangian squad were basically abandoned during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise.

Over time, a significant part of the land began to be owned by the church ("monastic estates"). Since 996, the population has paid tithes to the church. The number of dioceses, starting from 4, grew. The chair of the metropolitan, appointed by the patriarch of Constantinople, began to be located in Kiev, and under Yaroslav the Wise, the metropolitan was first elected from among the Russian priests, in 1051 he was close to Vladimir and his son Hilarion. Monasteries and their elected heads, abbots began to have great influence. The Kiev-Pechersky Monastery becomes the center of Orthodoxy.

The boyars and the squad made up special advice under the prince. The prince also consulted with the metropolitan, bishops and hegumens who constituted the church council. With the complication of the princely hierarchy, by the end of the 11th century, princely congresses (“snema”) began to gather. In the cities, vecheas operated, on which the boyars often relied to support their own political demands (the uprisings in Kiev in 1068 and 1113).

In the XI - the beginning of the XII century, the first written code of laws was formed - "Russkaya Pravda", which was consistently replenished with articles "Pravda Yaroslav" (c. 1015-1016), "Pravda Yaroslavichi" (c. 1072) and "Charter of Vladimir Vsevolodovich "(c. 1113). Russkaya Pravda reflected the increasing differentiation of the population (now the size of the vera depended on the social status of the victim), the position of such categories of the population as servants, slaves, smerds, purchases and ryadovichs was regulated.

"Pravda Yaroslav" equalized the rights of "Rusyns" and "Slovenins" (it should be explained that under the name "Slovene" the chronicle mentions only Novgorodians - "Ilmen Slovenes"). This, along with Christianization and other factors, contributed to the formation of a new ethnic community, realizing its unity and historical origin.

Since the end of the 10th century, Russia has known its own coin production - silver and gold coins of Vladimir I, Svyatopolk, Yaroslav the Wise and other princes.

Decay

The Polotsk principality was the first to separate from Kiev - this happened already at the beginning of the 11th century. Having concentrated all the other Russian lands under his rule only 21 years after the death of his father, Yaroslav the Wise, dying in 1054, divided them between the five sons who survived him. After the death of the two youngest of them, all the lands were under the rule of the three elders: Izyaslav of Kiev, Svyatoslav of Chernigov and Vsevolod Pereyaslavsky ("the triumvirate of the Yaroslavichs").

Since 1061 (immediately after the defeat of the Torks by the Russian princes in the steppes), raids by the Polovtsy began, replacing the Pechenegs who had migrated to the Balkans. During the long Russian-Polovtsian wars, the southern princes for a long time could not cope with their opponents, undertaking a number of unsuccessful campaigns and suffering sensitive defeats (the battle on the Alta River (1068), the battle on the Stugna River (1093).

After the death of Svyatoslav in 1076, the Kiev princes attempted to deprive his sons of the Chernigov inheritance, and they resorted to the help of the Polovtsy, although the Polovtsians were first used in strife by Vladimir Monomakh (against Vseslav of Polotsk). Izyaslav of Kiev (1078) and the son of Vladimir Monomakh Izyaslav (1096) died in this struggle. At the Lyubech Congress (1097), designed to end civil strife and unite the princes to protect them from the Polovtsy, the principle was proclaimed: “ Yes, everyone keeps his fatherland". Thus, while retaining the law of law, in the event of the death of one of the princes, the movement of heirs was limited to their fiefdom. This opened the way to political fragmentation (feudal fragmentation), since a separate dynasty was established in each land, and the Grand Duke of Kiev became the first among equals, losing the role of suzerain. However, this also made it possible to end the strife and join forces to fight the Polovtsy, which was moved deep into the steppes. In addition, treaties were concluded with the allied nomads - "black hoods" (Torks, Berendeys and Pechenegs, expelled by the Polovtsy from the steppes and settled on the southern Russian borders).

In the second quarter of the 12th century, the Old Russian state split into independent principalities. The chronological beginning of fragmentation is considered by modern historiographic tradition in 1132, when, after the death of Mstislav the Great, the son of Vladimir Monomakh, Polotsk (1132) and Novgorod (1136) ceased to recognize the power of the Kiev prince, and the title itself became an object of struggle between various dynastic and territorial associations of the Ryurikovichs. The chronicler under 1134, in connection with the schism among the Monomakhs, wrote “ the whole Russian land was torn". The civil strife that began did not concern the great reign itself, but after the death of Yaropolk Vladimirovich (1139), the next Monomakhovich Vyacheslav was expelled from Kiev by Vsevolod Olgovich of Chernigov.

During the 12th-13th centuries, part of the population of the southern Russian principalities, due to the constant threat emanating from the steppe, as well as because of the incessant princely strife for the Kiev land, moved to the north, to the calmer Rostov-Suzdal land, also called Zalesye or Opolye. Having joined the ranks of the Slavs of the first, Krivitsa-Novgorod migration wave of the 10th century, immigrants from the populous south quickly made up the majority on this land and assimilated the rare Finno-Ugric population. Chronicles and archaeological excavations attest to massive Russian migration throughout the 12th century. It was during this period that the founding and rapid growth of numerous cities of the Rostov-Suzdal land (Vladimir, Moscow, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Yuryev-Opolsky, Dmitrov, Zvenigorod, Starodub-on-Klyazma, Yaropolch-Zalessky, Galich, etc.), the names of which the names of the cities of origin of the settlers were often repeated. The weakening of South Russia is also associated with the success of the first crusades and the change in the main trade routes.

During two major internecine wars of the middle of the XII century, the Kiev principality lost Volhynia (1154), Pereyaslavl (1157) and Turov (1162). In 1169, the grandson of Vladimir Monomakh, the Vladimir-Suzdal prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, sent an army to the south led by his son Mstislav, which captured Kiev. For the first time, the city was brutally plundered, Kiev churches were burned, the inhabitants were taken prisoner. Andrey's younger brother was imprisoned in the Kiev reign. And although soon, after unsuccessful campaigns against Novgorod (1170) and Vyshgorod (1173), the influence of the Vladimir prince in other lands temporarily fell, Kiev began to gradually lose, and Vladimir - to acquire the political attributes of an all-Russian center. In the XII century, in addition to the Kiev prince, the title of the great began to be worn by the princes of Vladimir, and in the XIII century, occasionally also the princes of Galician, Chernigov and Ryazan.

Kiev, unlike most other principalities, did not become the property of any one dynasty, but served as a constant bone of contention for all powerful princes. In 1203, he was plundered a second time by the Smolensk prince Rurik Rostislavich, who fought against the Galician-Volyn prince Roman Mstislavich. In the battle on the Kalka River (1223), in which almost all the southern Russian princes took part, the first clash between Russia and the Mongols took place. The weakening of the southern Russian principalities intensified the onslaught from the Hungarian and Lithuanian feudal lords, but at the same time contributed to the strengthening of the influence of the Vladimir princes in Chernigov (1226), Novgorod (1231), Kiev (in 1236 Yaroslav Vsevolodovich occupied Kiev for two years, while his older brother Yuri remained reign in Vladimir) and Smolensk (1236-1239). During the Mongol invasion of Russia, which began in 1237, in December 1240 Kiev was turned into ruins. It was received by the Vladimir princes Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, recognized by the Mongols as the oldest in the Russian lands, and later by his son Alexander Nevsky. However, they did not move to Kiev, remaining in their father's Vladimir. In 1299, the Kiev Metropolitan also moved his residence there. In some church and literary sources - for example, in the statements of the Patriarch of Constantinople and Vitovt at the end of the XIV century - Kiev continued to be considered as a capital city at a later time, but by that time it was already a provincial city of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Since 1254, the Galician princes bore the title "King of Russia". From the beginning of the 14th century, the Vladimir princes began to wear the title of "Great Dukes of All Russia".

In Soviet historiography, the concept of "Kievan Rus" was spread both until the middle of the 12th century and for a wider period of the mid-12th - mid-13th centuries, when Kiev remained the center of the country and Rus was governed by a single princely family on the principles of "collective suzerainty." Both approaches remain relevant today.

Pre-revolutionary historians, starting with N.M. Karamzin, adhered to the idea of \u200b\u200btransferring the political center of Russia in 1169 from Kiev to Vladimir, dating back to the works of Moscow scribes, or to Vladimir (Volyn) and Galich. In modern historiography, there is no consensus on this matter. Some historians believe that these ideas do not find confirmation in the sources. In particular, some of them point to such a sign of the political weakness of the Suzdal land as a small number of fortified settlements in comparison with other lands of Russia. Other historians, on the contrary, find in the sources confirmation that the political center of Russian civilization moved from Kiev, first to Rostov and Suzdal, and later to Vladimir-on-Klyazma.

"Ancient Rus" opens a new book series "Russia - the way through the ages". The entire history of Russia, from the Eastern Slavs to the present day, will be presented in 24-series editions. The book offered to the reader is devoted to the ancient history of Russia. It tells about the tribes that inhabited the territory of our country even before the appearance of the first Old Russian state, about how Kievan Rus was formed, about the princes and principalities of the 9th - 12th centuries, about the events of those ancient times. You will find out why pagan Russia became an Orthodox country, what role it played in the world around it, with whom it traded and fought. We will introduce you to the ancient Russian culture, which already then created masterpieces of architecture and folk art. The sources of Russian beauty and Russian spirit lie in distant antiquity. We take you back to basics.

A series:Russia - the way through the centuries

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Old Russian state

In the distant past, the ancestors of Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians constituted a single people. They came from related tribes who called themselves "Slavs" or "Slovenes" and belonged to the branch of the Eastern Slavs.

They had a single - Old Russian - language. The territories in which different tribes settled, either expanded or decreased. The tribes migrated, some were replaced by others.

Tribes and peoples

What tribes inhabited the East European Plain even before the formation of the Old Russian state?

At the turn of the old and new era

SKIFS ( lat. Scythi, Scythae; greek Skithai) is a collective name for numerous Iranian-speaking tribes related to the Savromats, Massagets and Sakas and inhabiting the Northern Black Sea region in the 7th and 3rd centuries. BC e. They were located in the regions of Central Asia, then began to move to the North Caucasus and from there to the territory of the Northern Black Sea region.

In the 7th century. BC e. the Scythians fought with the Cimmerians and drove them out of the Black Sea region. Pursuing the Cimmerians, the Scythians in the 70s. 7 c. BC e. invaded Asia Minor and conquered Syria, Media and Palestine. But after 30 years they were expelled by the Medes.

The main territory of settlement of the Scythians was the steppes from the Danube to the Don, including the Crimea.

The most complete information about the Scythians is contained in the works of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC), who for a long time lived in Olbia surrounded by the Scythians and was well acquainted with them. According to Herodotus, the Scythians claimed that they were descended from the first person - Targitai, the son of Zeus and the daughter of a river stream, and his sons: Lipoksai, Arpoxai and the younger Koloksai. Each of the brothers became the ancestor of one of the Scythian tribal associations: 1) the "royal" Scythians (from Koloksai) dominated the rest, they lived in the steppes between the Don and the Dnieper;

2) Scythian nomads lived on the right bank of the Lower Dnieper and in the steppe Crimea; 3) Scythians-Pahari - between Ingul and Dnieper (some scientists attribute these tribes to Slavic). In addition to them, Herodotus singles out the Hellenic-Scythians in the Crimea and the Scythian-farmers, without mixing them with the “plowmen”. In another fragment of his "History" Herodotus notes that the Greeks incorrectly call everyone living in the Northern Black Sea region Scythians. According to Herodotus, Borysthenes lived on Borisfen (Dnieper), who called themselves Chipped.

But the entire territory from the lower reaches of the Danube to the Don, the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov and the Kerch Strait in archaeological terms is one cultural and historical community. Its main feature is the “Scythian triad”: weapons, horse equipment and “animal style” (that is, the predominance of realistic images of animals in the works of the craft; images of a deer are most often found, later a lion and a panther were added).

The first Scythian burial mounds were excavated back in 1830. Of the archaeological monuments, the most famous burial mounds of the "royal" Scythians in the Northern Black Sea region - huge, rich in gold products. The "royal" Scythians, apparently, worshiped the horse. Every year 50 horsemen and many horses were sacrificed at the commemoration of the deceased king. In some burial mounds, up to 300 horse skeletons were found.

Rich burial mounds indicate the existence of the slave nobility. The ancient Greeks knew about the existence of the "Scythian kingdom", which until the 3rd century. BC e. was in the Black Sea steppes, and after the invasion of the Sarmatians moved to the Crimea. Their capital was moved from the site of the modern Kamensky settlement (near Nikopol). In the end. 2 c. Don. e. a kind of Scythian state in the Crimea became part of the Pontic kingdom.

From the end. 1 c. BC e. More than once, the Scythians defeated by the Sarmatians did not represent a serious political force. They were also weakened by constant conflicts with the Greek colonial cities in the Crimea. The name "Scythians" later passed on to the Sarmatian tribes and most of the other nomads who inhabited the Black Sea regions. Subsequently, the Scythians dissolved among other tribes of the Northern Black Sea region. The Scythians in the Crimea existed until the invasion of the Goths in the 3rd century. n. e.

In the Early Middle Ages, the northern Black Sea barbarians were called Scythians. E. G.

SKOLOTY is the self-name of a group of Scythian tribes that lived in the 2nd floor. 1st millennium BC e. in the Northern Black Sea region.

The mention of skolots is found in the works of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC): "All the same Scythians are together - the name of the chipped".

The modern historian B. A. Rybakov classifies the skolots as Scythian plowmen - the ancestors of the Slavs, and considers the term “skolot” itself to be derived from the Slavic “kolo” (circle). According to Rybakov, the ancient Greeks called the Skolots who lived along the banks of the Borisfen (the Greek name for the Dnieper) Borysphenites.

Herodotus cites a legend about the forefather of the Scythians - Targitai and his descendants Arpoksai, Lipoksai and Koloksai, according to which they received their name from the latter. The legend contains a story about the fall of sacred objects on the Scythian land - a plow, a yoke, an ax and a bowl. The plow and the yoke are the tools of labor not for nomads, but for farmers. Archaeologists find cult bowls in Scythian burials. These bowls are similar to those common in the pre-Scythian time in the forest-steppe archaeological cultures - Belohrudov and Chernoles (12-8 centuries BC), which many scientists associate with the Pre-Slavs. E. G.

SAVROMATS ( lat. Sauromatae) - nomadic Iranian tribes who lived in the 7th and 4th centuries. BC e. in the steppes of the Volga and Ural regions.

By origin, culture and language, the Sauromats are related to the Scythians. Ancient Greek writers (Herodotus and others) emphasized the special role played by women among the Savromats.

Archaeologists have found burials of wealthy women with weapons and horse equipment. Some of the Sauromatian women were priestesses - stone altars were found in the graves next to them. In the end. 5-4 centuries. BC e. the Savromat tribes pushed the Scythians and crossed the Don. In the 4th and 3rd centuries. BC e. they had strong tribal alliances. The descendants of the Savromats are the Sarmatians (3rd century BC - 4th century AD). E. G.

SARMATY is the general name of the Iranian-speaking tribes that roamed in the 3rd century. BC e. - 4 c. n. e. in the steppes from Tobol to the Danube.

Women played an important role in the social organization of the Sarmatians. They were excellent riders and shooters; they participated in battles along with men. They were buried in the mounds as warriors - along with a horse and weapons. A number of historians believe that the Greeks and Romans knew about the Sarmatian tribes; Perhaps it was the information about the Sarmatians that became the source of the ancient legends about the Amazons.

In the end. 2 c. BC e. Sarmatians became an important political force in the life of the Northern Black Sea region. In alliance with the Scythians, they participated in campaigns against the Greeks, and in the 1st century. BC e. drove the remnants of the Scythian tribes from the shores of the Black Sea. Since then, on ancient maps, the Black Sea steppes - "Scythia" - began to be called "Sarmatia".

In the first centuries A.D. e. among the Sarmatian tribes, the tribal unions of the Roksolans and Alans emerged. In the 3rd century. n. e. the Goths invading the Black Sea region undermined the influence of the Sarmatians, and in the 4th century. the Goths and Sarmatians were defeated by the Huns. After that, part of the Sarmatian tribes joined the Huns and participated in the Great Migration of Peoples. Alans and Roxolans remained in the Northern Black Sea region. E. G.

ROXOLANES ( lat. Roxolani; iran. - "Light Alans") - a Sarmatian-Alan nomadic tribe, who headed a large alliance of tribes that roamed the Northern Black Sea and Azov regions.

The ancestors of the Roxolans are the Sarmatians of the Volga and Ural regions. In the 2nd - 1st centuries. BC e. the Roxolans conquered the steppes between the Don and the Dnieper from the Scythians. According to the ancient geographer Strabo, “Roxolans follow their herds, always choosing areas with good pastures, in winter - in swamps near Meotida (Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov. - E. G.), and in the summer - and on the plains ”.

In the 1st century. n. e. the warlike Roxolans occupied the steppes to the west of the Dnieper. During the Great Migration of Peoples in the 4th and 5th centuries. some of these tribes migrated along with the Huns. E. G.

ANTY ( greek Antai, Antes) - a union of Slavic tribes or a tribal union related to them. In the 3rd and 7th centuries. inhabited the forest-steppe between the Dnieper and Dniester and east of the Dnieper.

Usually researchers see in the name “anty” a Turkic or Indo-Iranian designation of a union of tribes of Slavic origin.

Antes are mentioned in the works of Byzantine and Gothic writers Procopius of Caesarea, Jordan and others. According to these authors, the Antes used a common language with other Slavic tribes, they had the same customs and beliefs. Presumably, earlier the Antes and Sklavins had the same name.

The Antes fought with Byzantium, the Goths and the Avars, together with the Sklavins and the Huns, they ravaged the area between the Adriatic and the Black Seas. The leaders of the Antes - "archons" - equipped the embassies for the Avars, received ambassadors from the Byzantine emperors, in particular from Justinian (546). In 550-562. the possessions of the Antes were ravaged by the Avars. From the 7th century. Antes are not mentioned in written sources.

According to the archaeologist V.V. Sedov, 5 tribal unions of the Antes laid the foundation for the Slavic tribes - Croats, Serbs, Ulits, Tivertsy and Glades. Archaeologists attribute the tribes of the Penkovo \u200b\u200bculture to the ants, whose main occupations were arable farming, settled cattle breeding, handicrafts and trade. Most of the settlements of this culture are of the Slavic type: small semi-dugouts. During the burial, cremation was used. But some of the findings cast doubt on the Slavic nature of the ants. Two large craft centers of the Penkovo \u200b\u200bculture were also opened - Pastorskoe settlement and Kantserka. The life of the craftsmen of these settlements was unlike the Slavic one. E. G.

VENES, Veneti - Indo-European tribes.

In the 1st century. BC e. - 1 c. n. e. in Europe, there were three groups of tribes with the same name: the Veneti on the Brittany Peninsula in Gaul, the Veneti in the valley of the r. Po (some researchers associate the name of the city of Venice with them), as well as the Wends on the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea. Up to the 16th century. the modern Gulf of Riga was called the Veneda Gulf.

Since the 6th century, as Slavic tribes settled on the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea, the Wends assimilated with new settlers. But since then, the Slavs themselves have sometimes been called Wends or Vends. Author of the 6th century. Jordan believed that the Slavs used to be called "Wends", "Vends", "Windows". Many Germanic sources call the Baltic and Polabian Slavs "Wends". The term "Vendians" remained the self-name of a part of the Baltic Slavs up to the 18th century. Yu K.

SKLAVINA ( lat. Sclavini, Sclaveni, Sclavi; greek Sklabinoi) is a common name for all Slavs, known both among Western early medieval and early Byzantine authors. Later it moved to one of the groups of Slavic tribes.

The origin of this ethnonym remains controversial. Some researchers believe that "Sklaviny" is the word "Slovene" modified in the Byzantine environment.

In the end. 5 - early. 6th century the Gothic historian Jordan called the Sklavins and Antes Veneti. “They live from the city of Novietun (a city on the Sava river) and a lake called Mursiansky (apparently, they mean Lake Balaton) to Danastra, and to the north - to Viskla; instead of cities, they have swamps and forests. " The Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea defines the lands of the Sklavins as located “on the other side of the Danube River not far from its bank,” that is, mainly on the territory of the former Roman province of Pannonia, which the “Tale of Bygone Years” associates with the ancestral home of the Slavs.

Actually, the word "Slavs" in various forms became known from the 6th century, when the Sklavins, together with the Antes tribes, began to threaten Byzantium. Yu.K.

SLAVYANE - a vast group of tribes and peoples belonging to the Indo-European language family.

The Slavic language "tree" has three main branches: East Slavic languages \u200b\u200b(Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian), West Slavic (Polish, Czech, Slovak, Upper and Lower Sorbian-Serbian, Polabian, Pomor dialects), South Slavic (Old Slavonic, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbo , Slovenian). All of them originated from a single Proto-Slavic language.

One of the most controversial issues among historians is the problem of the origin of the Slavs. In written sources, the Slavs are known from the 6th century. Linguists have established that the Slavic language retained the archaic features of the once common Indo-European language. And this means that the Slavs, already in ancient times, could separate from the common family of Indo-European peoples. Therefore, the opinions of scientists about the time of the birth of the Slavs differ - from the 13th century. BC e. up to 6 c. n. e. Opinions about the ancestral home of the Slavs are equally different.

In the 2nd and 4th centuries. the Slavs were part of the tribes-carriers of the Chernyakhov culture (some scientists identify the area of \u200b\u200bits distribution with the Gothic state of Germanarich).

In the 6-7 centuries. Slavs settle in the Baltic States, the Balkans, the Mediterranean, and the Dnieper region. For a century, about three quarters of the Balkan Peninsula were conquered by the Slavs. The entire region of Macedonia adjoining Thessalonica was called "Sclavenia". By the turn of the 6-7 centuries. includes information about the Slavic flotillas that sailed around Thessaly, Achaea, Epirus and even reached southern Italy and Crete. Almost everywhere the Slavs assimilated the local population.

Apparently, the Slavs had a neighboring (territorial) community. The Byzantine Mauritius Strategist (6th century) noted that the Slavs did not have slavery, and the prisoners were offered either to ransom for a small amount, or to remain in the community as an equal. Byzantine historian 6th century. Procopius of Caesarea noted that the tribes of the Slavs "are not ruled by one person, but since ancient times they have lived in the rule of the people, and therefore happiness and unhappiness in life is considered a common cause for them."

Archaeologists have discovered monuments of the material culture of the Sklavins and Antes. The Sklavins correspond to the territory of the Prague-Korczak archaeological culture, which spread to the south-west of the Dniester, the Antam - Penkovskaya culture - to the east of the Dnieper.

Using the data of archaeological excavations, one can fairly accurately describe the way of life of the ancient Slavs. They were a sedentary people and were engaged in arable farming - archaeologists find plows, openers, ralas, plow knives and other tools. Up to 10 c. the Slavs did not know the potter's wheel. A distinctive feature of Slavic culture was rough stucco pottery. Settlements of the Slavs were located on low banks of rivers, were small in area and consisted of 15–20 small semi-dugouts, in each of which lived a small family (husband, wife, children). A characteristic feature of the Slavic dwelling was a stone stove, which was located in the corner of a semi-dugout. Polygamy (polygamy) was widespread among many Slavic tribes. The pagan Slavs burned the dead. Slavic beliefs are associated with agricultural cults, the cult of fertility (Veles, Dazhdbog, Svarog, Mokosh), the highest gods are associated with the earth. There were no human sacrifices.

In the 7th century. the first Slavic states arose: in 681, after the arrival of the nomadic Bulgarians in the Danube region, who quickly mixed with the Slavs, the First Bulgarian Kingdom was formed; - The Great Moravian state, the first Serbian principalities and the Croatian state appeared.

At 6 - early. 7th century the territory from the Carpathian Mountains in the west to the Dnieper and Don in the east and to Lake Ilmen in the north was inhabited by East Slavic tribes. At the head of the tribal unions of the Eastern Slavs - northerners, Drevlyans, Krivichi, Vyatichi, Radimichi, Polyany, Dregovichi, Polochans, etc. - were princes. On the territory of the future Old Russian state, the Slavs assimilated the Baltic, Finno-Ugric, Iranian and many other tribes. Thus, the ancient Russian nationality was formed.

Currently, there are three branches of the Slavic peoples. The South Slavs include Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Bulgarians. The Western Slavs include Slovaks, Czechs, Poles, as well as Lusatian Serbs (or Sorbians) living in Germany. The Eastern Slavs include Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians.

E.G., Yu.K., S.P.

East Slavic tribes

BUZHANE - an East Slavic tribe that lived on the river. Boog.

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

VOLYNYANE, VELYNYANE - an East Slavic union of tribes that inhabited the territory on both banks of the Western Bug and at the source of the river. Pripyat.

The ancestors of the Volynians, presumably, were the Dulebs, and their earlier name was Buzhan. According to another point of view, "Volynians" and "Buzhanians" 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 towns among the Volhynians, and 231 towns among the Buzhanians. Arab geographer of the 10th century al-Masoudi distinguishes between Volhynians and Dulebs, although, perhaps, his information refers to an earlier period.

In Russian chronicles Volynians are first mentioned under 907: they participated in Prince Oleg's campaign against Byzantium as "interpretations" - translators. In 981, the Kiev prince Vladimir I Svyatoslavich subdued the Peremyshl and Cherven lands, where the Volhynians lived. Volynsky

since then, the town of Cherven began to be called Vladimir-Volynsky. In the 2nd floor. 10 c. on the lands of the Volynians, the Vladimir-Volyn principality was formed. E. G.

VYATICHI - 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. 9-10 centuries Vyatichi paid tribute to the Khazar Kaganate. For a long time they retained their independence from the Kiev princes. As allies, the Vyatichi participated in the campaign of the Kiev prince Oleg against Byzantium in 911. In 968 the Vyatichi were defeated by the Kiev prince Svyatoslav. In the beginning. 12th century Vladimir Monomakh fought with the Vyatichi prince Khodota. In the end. 11– early. 12th century Christianity was spread among the Vyatichi. Despite this, they retained pagan beliefs for a long time. The Tale of Bygone Years describes the funeral rite of the Vyatichi (the Radimichi had a similar rite): “When someone died, they arranged a funeral feast for him, and then they made a big fire, laid the deceased on it and burned it, after which, collecting the bones, they put them in a small vessel and put them on the pillars by the roads. " This rite was preserved until the end. 13 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.

DREVLYANE - East Slavic tribal union, which occupied in the 6-10th centuries. the territory of Polesie, the right bank of the Dnieper, west of the meadows, 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 glade. But unlike the glades, "the Drevlyans lived in a bestial manner, lived like a bestial, killed each other, ate everything unclean, and they never got married, but they abducted the girls by the water."

In the west, the Drevlyans bordered on the Volhynians and Buzhanians, in the north - on the Dregovichi. Archaeologists have discovered burials with cremations in urns in burial grounds without burials on the lands of the Drevlyans. In the 6-8 centuries. burials in barrows spread, in the 8-10th centuries. - burials without burials, and in the 10-13th centuries. - corpses in the mounds.

In 883, the Kiev prince Oleg "began to fight against the Drevlyans and, having subdued them, imposed a tribute on them for the 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 one to the old tribute, and his men did violence against them,” but he was not satisfied with what he had gathered and decided to “collect more”. The Drevlyans, after consulting 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 brutally avenged the Drevlyans by setting fire to their capital, Iskorosten, “she took the city elders prisoner, and killed other people, gave others into slavery to her husbands, and left the rest to pay tribute,” and the land of the Drevlyans was annexed to the Kiev inheritance with the center in the city of Vruchiy (Ovruch). Yu.K.

DREGOVICHI - 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 6-9 centuries. Dregovichi occupied the territory in the middle part of the river basin. Pripyat, in the 11-12 centuries. the southern border of their settlement was south of Pripyat, the north-western border was in the watershed of the Drut and Berezina rivers, the western border was in the upper reaches of the river. Neman. The neighbors of the Dregovichi were Drevlyans, Radimichi and Krivichi. "The Tale of Bygone Years" mentions the Dregovichi up to the middle. 12th century According to archaeological research, agricultural settlements and burial mounds are characteristic of the Dregovichi. In the 10th century. the lands inhabited by the Dregovichi became part of Kievan Rus, and later became part of the Turov and Polotsk principalities. Vl. TO.

DULEBY - tribal union of the Eastern Slavs.

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 (Buzhanians) and Drevlyans. The archaeological monuments of the Dulebs are represented by the remains of agricultural settlements and burial mounds with cremations.

According to chronicle data, in the 7th century. the Dulebs were invaded by the Avars. In 907 the squad of the Dulebs took part in the campaign of Prince Oleg to Constantinople. According to historians, in the 10th century. the union of the Dulebs disintegrated, and their lands became part of Kievan Rus. Vl. TO.

KRIVICHI is a tribal union of the Eastern Slavs of the 6-11th centuries.

They occupied the territory in the upper reaches of the Dnieper, Volga, Western Dvina, as well as in the region of the Peipsi, Pskov lakes and lakes. Ilmen. "The Tale of Bygone Years" reports that the cities of 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 Ilmen Slovenes and Chudyu, they invited Rurik to reign with the brothers Sineus and Truvor. Under 882 in the "Tale of Bygone Years" there is a story about how Oleg went to Smolensk, to the Krivichi, and, having taken the city, "put his husband in it." Like other Slavic tribes, the Krivichi paid tribute to the Varangians, went with Oleg and Igor on campaigns against Byzantium. In the 11-12 centuries. Polotsk and Smolensk princedoms arose on the lands of the Krivichi.

Probably, the remnants of the local Finno-Ugric and Baltic (Estonians, Livs, Latgalians) tribes participated in the ethnogenesis of the Krivichi, which mixed with the large newcomer Slavic population.

Archaeological excavations have shown that originally specific burials of the Krivichi were long mounds: low rampart embankments from 12-15 m to 40 m long. According to 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) ones. The dead were burned on the side, and most of the things were burned on the funeral pyre together with the deceased, and only heavily damaged things and jewelry fell into the burials: beads (blue, green, yellow), buckles, pendants. In the 10-11 centuries. among the Krivichs, corpses appear, although up to the 12th century. the features of the previous rite are preserved - a ritual bonfire under the burial and a mound. The inventory of burials of this period is quite diverse: women's jewelry - bracelet-like knotted rings, 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.

POLOCHANE - Slavic tribe, part of the Krivichi tribal union; lived along the banks of the river. Dvina and its tributary Polota, from which they got their name.

Polotsk was the center of the Polotsk land. In the "Tale of Bygone Years," the Polotsk citizens are mentioned several times along with such large tribal unions as Slovenian Ilmen, Drevlyans, Dregovichi, Polyana.

However, a number of historians question the existence of the Polotsk people 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 Polotsk people with the Krivichi, whose possessions included their lands. The historian AG Kuzmin suggested that a fragment about the Polotsk tribe appeared in the "Tale" approx. 1068, when the people of Kiev expelled Prince Izyaslav Yaroslavich and put the Polotsk prince Vseslav on the princely table.

All R. 10 - early. 11th century on the territory of Polotsk, the Principality of Polotsk was formed. E. G.

POLYANE - a tribal union of the Eastern Slavs that lived on the Dnieper, in the area of \u200b\u200bmodern Kiev.

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

The Old Russian author of this version considered the glades to be Slavs who came from Norik (territory on the Danube), who were the first to be called by the name “Rus”: “Glades are now calling Russia”. The chronicles sharply contrast the customs of the Polyans and other East Slavic tribes, united under the name of the Drevlyans.

In the Middle Dnieper region near Kiev, archaeologists discovered the culture of the 2nd quarter. 10 c. with a characteristic Slavic funeral rite: for the kurgans, clay grease was characteristic, on which a fire was kindled and the dead were burned. The boundaries of culture extended in the west to the river. Teterev, in the north - to the town of Lyubech, in the south - to the river. Ros. This was, obviously, the Slavic tribe of the Polyans.

On the 2nd Thursday. 10 c. on the same lands another nation appears. A number of scientists consider the Middle Danube to be the place of its initial settlement. Others identify him with the Rugam Rus from Great Moravia. These people were familiar with the potter's wheel. The dead were buried according to the rite of corpses in pits under the mounds. Body-worn crosses were often found in the mounds. Glades and Russes mixed with time, the Rus began to speak the Slavic language, and the tribal union received a double name - glade-Rus. E. G.

RADIMICHI - 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 and 9th centuries.

Convenient river routes ran through the lands of the Radimichs, connecting them with Kiev. According to the "Tale of Bygone Years", the ancestor of the tribe was Radim, who came "from the Poles," that is, of Polish origin, together with his brother Vyatko. The Radimichi and Vyatichi had a similar burial rite - the ashes were buried in a log house - and similar female temporal ornaments (temporal rings) were seven-rayed (Vyatichi had seven-lobed). Archaeologists and linguists suggest that the Baltic tribes living in the upper reaches of the Dnieper also participated in the creation of the material culture of the Radimichs. In the 9th century. Radimichi paid tribute to the Khazar Kaganate. In 885, these tribes were subordinated to the Kiev prince Oleg the Prophet. In 984, the army of the Radimichs was defeated on the river. Pischane by the voivode of the Kiev prince Vladimir

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

RUSS - in sources of the 8-10th 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 Russians are still ongoing. According to the testimony of Arab geographers in the 9-10th 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 GZ 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. By the followers of Bayer in the 18th century. were G. Miller and L. Schletser. This is how the Norman theory of the origin of the Rus arose, 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 tribe of the Polyans and brought them, together with other Slavs, from the upper reaches of the Danube, from Norik. Others believe that the Rus are a Varangian tribe "called up" to reign in Novgorod under Prince Oleg Veshche, who gave the name "Rus" to the Kiev land. Still others prove that the author of "The Lay of Igor's Host" linked 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, ruthenes, rui, ruyans, wounds, renas, rus, rus, dew. 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 as Slavs. Those historians who consider the Rus as Baltic Slavs argue that the word “Rus” is close to the names “Rügen”, “Ruyane”, “Rugi”. Scientists who consider the Russians to be inhabitants of the Middle Dnieper region note that the word “Ros” (river Ros) is found in the Dnieper region, and the name “Russian land” in the annals originally denoted the territory of glades and northerners (Kiev, Chernigov, Pereyaslavl).

There is a point of view according to which the Rus are the Sarmatian-Alanian people, the descendants of the Roksolans. The word "rus" ("rukhs") in Iranian languages \u200b\u200bmeans "light", "white", "regal".

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

SEVERYANE - East Slavic union of tribes that lived in the 9-10 centuries. on pp. Desna, Seim, Sula.

Glade and Dregovichi were the western neighbors of the northerners, the radimichi and vyatichi to the north.

The origin of the name "northerners" has not been clarified. Some researchers associate it with the Iranian sev, sew - "black". In the annals, the northerners are also referred to as "north", "north". The territory near the Desna and the Seim has been preserved in the Russian chronicle of the 16-17 centuries. and Ukrainian sources of the 17th century. the name "North".

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

The main occupation of the northerners was agriculture. In the end. 8 c. they came under the rule of the Khazar Kaganate. In the end. 9 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 imposed an easy tribute on them, saying: "I am their [Khazars] enemy, but you do not need it."

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

SLOVENE ILMENSKIE - a tribal union of the Eastern Slavs on the territory of the Novgorod land, mainly in the lands near the lake. Ilmen, next to the Krivichi.

According to the "Tale of Bygone Years", the Slovene Ilmenskys, along with the Krivichs, Chudyu and Merei, participated in the vocation of the Varangians, who were related to the Slovenes who came 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 Dnieper region to be the "ancestral home" of the Slovenes, others deduce the ancestors of the Ilmenian Slovenes from the Baltic Pomerania, since the legends, beliefs and customs, the type of dwellings of Novgorodians and Polabian Slavs are very close. E. G.

TYVERTSY - East Slavic union of tribes that lived in 9 - early. 12th century on the river Dniester and at the mouth of the Danube. The name of the tribal union, perhaps, 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 Prophet, who conquered the tribes of the Polyans, Drevlyans, and Northerners, tried to subjugate the Tivertsy to his power. Later, the Tivertsy participated in Oleg's campaign against Constantinople (Constantinople) as "interpreters" - that is, translators, since they knew the languages \u200b\u200band customs of the peoples who lived near the Black Sea. In 944, the Tivertsy, as part of the army of the Kiev prince Igor, again besieged Constantinople, and in the middle. 10 c. became part of Kievan Rus. In the beginning. 12th century under the blows of the Pechenegs and Polovtsians, the Tivertsy retreated to the north, where they mixed with other Slavic tribes. Remains of settlements and settlements, which, according to archaeologists, belonged to the Tivertsy, have been preserved in the interfluve of the Dniester and the Prut. Discovered burial grounds kurgans with cremations in urns; among the archaeological finds in the territories occupied by the Tivertsi, there are no female temporal rings. E. G.

ÚLICHI - East Slavic union of tribes, which existed in 9 - mid. 10th century

According to the "Tale of Bygone Years", the uchits lived in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, Bug and on the Black Sea coast. The center of the tribal union was Peresechen. According to the assumption of the historian of the 18th century. VN Tatishcheva, the ethnonym "uchih" comes from the old Russian word "corner". The modern historian B. A. Rybakov drew attention to the evidence of the Novgorod first chronicle: “Previously, the detectives sat in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, but then moved to the Bug and Dniester” - and concluded that Peresechen was located on the Dnieper south of Kiev. A city on the Dnieper with this name is mentioned in the Laurentian Chronicle under 1154 and in the "List of Russian Cities" (14th century). In the 1960s. archaeologists have discovered settlements in the street in the area of \u200b\u200bthe river. Tyasmin (tributary of the Dnieper), which confirms Rybakov's conclusion.

The tribes for a long time resisted the attempts of the Kiev 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 of the East Slavic tribes, the Ulchi did not participate in Prince Oleg's campaign against Constantinople in 907. At the turn of the 40s. 10 c. Kiev voivode Sveneld held the city of Peresechen under siege for three years. All R. 10 c. under the onslaught of the nomadic tribes, the uliches withdrew to the north and were incorporated into the Kievan Rus. E. G.

On the borderlands

The most diverse tribes and peoples lived around the territories inhabited by the Eastern Slavs. Neighbors from the north were the Finno-Ugric tribes: Cheremis, Chud (Izhora), Merya, Vse, Korela. In the northwest lived the Balto-Slavic tribes: Zemigola, Zhmud, Yatvingians and Prussians. In the west - Poles and Hungarians, in the southwest - Volokhs (ancestors of Romanians and Moldavians), in the east - Mari, Mordovians, Murom, Volga-Kama Bulgars. Let's get acquainted with some of the tribal unions known from antiquity.

BALTY - the general name of the tribes that inhabited in the 1st - early. 2nd thousand. Territory from the south-west of the Baltic to the Upper Dnieper.

The Prussians (Estonian), Yatvyags, Galindians (Goliad) made up the group of Western Balts. The Central Balts included the Curonians, Semigallians, Latgalians, Samogitians, Aukstaits. The Prussian tribe has been known to western and northern writers since the 6th century.

From the first centuries of our era, the Balts were engaged in arable farming and cattle breeding. From the 7th to 8th centuries. fortified settlements are known. The dwellings of the Balts were rectangular ground houses enclosed at the base with stones.

A number of Baltic tribes are mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years: Letgola (Latgalians), Zemigola (Semigallians), Kors (Curonian), Lithuania. All of them, with the exception of the Latgalians, paid tribute to Russia.

At the turn of 1-2 thousand, the Baltic tribes of the Upper Dnieper were assimilated by the Eastern Slavs and became part of the Old Russian people. Another part of the Balts formed the Lithuanian (Aukštaity, Samogit, Skalvian) and Latvian (Curonians, Latgalians, Semigallians, villages) nationalities. Yu.K.

VARYAGI is the Slavic name of the population of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea (in the 9th – 10th centuries), as well as the Scandinavian Vikings who served the Kiev princes (in the 1st half of the 11th century).

The Tale of Bygone Years asserts that the Varangians lived along the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which in the chronicles is called the Varangian Sea, “to the land of Agnyanskaya and Voloshskaya”. Angles at that time were called Danes, and Volokhs - Italians. In the east, the boundaries of the settlement of the Varangians are indicated more vaguely - "to the limit of Simov." According to some researchers, in this case we mean

Volga-Kama Bulgaria (the Varangians controlled the northwestern part of the Volga-Baltic route up to the Volga Bulgaria).

The study of other written sources showed that on the southern coast near the Danes of the Baltic Sea lived "Vagry" ("Varins", "Vars") - a tribe that belonged to the Vandal group and by the 9th century. already glorified. In the East Slavic vocalization, the "Vagrs" began to be called "Varangians".

In the end. 8 - early. 9th century the Franks began to attack the lands of the Wagrov-Varins. This prompted them to look for new places of settlement. In the 8th century. in France appears "Varangeville" (Varangian city), in 915 the city of Varingvik (Varyazhskaya Bay) appeared in England, the name Varangerfjord (Varangian Bay) in the north of Scandinavia is still preserved.

The eastern coast of the Baltic Sea has become the main direction of resettlement of the Varins. To the east, they moved together with separate groups of Rus who lived along the shores of the Baltic Sea (on the island of Rügen, in the Baltic States, etc.). Hence, in the "Tale of Bygone Years" and there was a double naming of the settlers - Varangians-Rus: "And they went across the sea to the Varangians, to Rus, for that was the name of those Varangians - Rus". At the same time, the chronicler specifically stipulates that the Varangians-Rus are not Swedes, Norwegians or Danes.

In Eastern Europe, the Vikings appear in the late. 9 c. The Varangians-Rus first came to the northwestern lands to the Ilmenian Slovenes, and then descended to the Middle Dnieper. According to the testimony of various sources and in the opinion of some scholars, Prince Rurik was at the head of the Varangians-Rus who came to the Ilmen Slovenes from the shores of the Southern Baltic. The names founded by him in the 9th century. cities (Ladoga, Beloe Ozero, Novgorod) say that the Varangians-Rus at that time spoke the Slavic language. The main god of the Varangians-Rus was Perun. The treaty between Russia and the Greeks in 911, which Oleg the Prophet concluded, says: "And Oleg and his husbands were forced to swear by the Russian law: they swore by their weapons and Perun, their god."

In the end. 9-10 centuries the Vikings played a significant role in the northwestern Slavic lands. The chronicle states that Novgorodians descended from the Varangian clan. Kiev princes constantly resorted to the help of hired Varangian squads in the struggle for power. Under Yaroslav the Wise, who was married to the Swedish princess Ingigerd, Swedes appeared in the Varangian squads. Therefore, from the beginning. 11th century in Russia, the natives of Scandinavia were also called Varangians. However, in Novgorod, the Swedes were not called the Varangians until the 13th century. After the death of Yaroslav, the Russian princes stopped recruiting hired squads from the Varangians. The very name of the Varangians was rethought and gradually spread to all immigrants from the Catholic West. Yu.K., S.P.

NORMANNY (from scandal. Northman - northern man) - in European sources of the 8-10 centuries. the general name of the peoples who lived north of the Frankish state.

In Western Europe, the inhabitants of Kievan Rus were also called Normans, which, according to the German chroniclers, was located in the northeast. Writer and diplomat of the 10th century Bishop Liutprand of Cremona, speaking about the campaign of the Kiev prince Igor in 941 to Constantinople, wrote: “Closer to the north there is a certain people, which the Greeks ... call dews, but we call them Normans by location. Indeed, in German, nord means north, and man means man; that's why the northern people can be called Normans. "

In the 9-11 centuries. the term "Norman" began to designate only the Scandinavian Vikings who raided the maritime borders of European states. In this sense, the name "urmane" is found in the "Tale of Bygone Years". Many modern historians identify the Varangians, Normans and Vikings. E. G.

PECHENEGI is a union of Turkic nomadic tribes, formed in the 8th-9th centuries. in the steppes between the Aral Sea and the Volga.

In the end. 9 c. Pechenezh tribes crossed the Volga, pushed the Ugric tribes wandering between the Don and the Dnieper to the west and occupied a huge space from the Volga to the Danube.

In the 10th century. The Pechenegs were divided into 8 tribes ("tribes"), each of which consisted of 5 clans. The tribes were headed by the "grand dukes", and the clans were headed by the "little princes". The Pechenegs were engaged in nomadic cattle breeding, and also made predatory raids on Russia,

Byzantium, Hungary. Byzantine emperors often used the Pechenegs to fight Russia. In turn, during the strife, the Russian princes attracted detachments of the Pechenegs to battles with their rivals.

According to the "Tale of Bygone Years", for the first time the Pechenegs came to Russia in 915, having concluded a peace agreement with Prince Igor, they left for the Danube. In 968 the Pechenegs laid siege to Kiev. The Kiev prince Svyatoslav lived at that time in Pereyaslavets on the Danube, while Olga remained in Kiev with her grandchildren. Only the cunning of the youth, who managed to call for help, made it possible to lift the siege from Kiev. In 972 Svyatoslav was killed in a battle with the Pechenezh Khan Kurey. The Pechenegs' raids were repeatedly repelled by Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich. In 1036, the Pechenegs again besieged Kiev, but were defeated by Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich the Wise and left Russia forever.

In the 11th century. The Pechenegs were pushed back to the Carpathians and the Danube by the Polovtsy and Torks. Part of the Pechenegs went to Hungary and Bulgaria and mixed with the local population. Other Pechenezh tribes submitted to the Polovtsians. The rest settled on the southern borders of Russia and merged with the Slavs. E. G.

PO LOVTSY (self-name - Kypchaks, Kumans) - a medieval Turkic people.

In the 10th century. Polovtsians lived on the territory of modern North-Western Kazakhstan, in the west they bordered on the Khazars, in the middle. 10 c. crossed over

Volga and moved to the steppes of the Black Sea region and the Caucasus. Polovtsian nomads in the 11-15th centuries. occupied a huge territory - from the west of the Tien Shan to the mouth of the Danube, which was called Desht-i-Kipchak - "Polovtsian land".

In the 11-13 centuries. the Polovtsians had separate tribal unions headed by the khans. The main occupation was cattle breeding. From the 12th century. in the Polovtsian land there were cities that were inhabited, in addition to the Polovtsians, Bulgars, Alans and Slavs.

In the Russian chronicles, the Polovtsians were first mentioned under 1054, when the Polovtsian Khan Bolush led the campaign against Russia. The Pereyaslavl prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich made peace with the Polovtsians, and they returned back, "where they came from." Constant Polovtsian raids on the Russian land began in 1061. During the strife, the Russian princes entered into alliances with them against their own brothers who ruled in the neighboring principalities. In 1103, the previously feuding princes Svyatopolk and Vladimir Monomakh organized a joint campaign against the Polovtsians. On April 4, 1103, the combined Russian forces defeated the Polovtsians, and they fled to Transcaucasia with heavy losses.

From the 2nd floor. 12th century the raids of the Polovtsians devastated the border Russian lands. At the same time, many princes of South and North-Eastern Russia were married to Polovtsy women. The struggle of the Russian princes with the Polovtsy is reflected in the monument of ancient Russian literature "The Lay of Igor's Host." E. G.

State formation

Gradually, the scattered tribes of the Eastern Slavs unite. The Old Russian state appeared, which went down in history under the names "Rus", "Kievan Rus".

THE ANCIENT RUSSIAN STATE is a name common in historical literature for a state that took shape in the late. 9 c. as a result of the unification under the rule of princes from the Rurik dynasty of the East Slavic lands with the main centers in Novgorod and Kiev. On the 2nd Thursday. 12th century broke up into separate principalities and lands. The term "Old Russian state" is used along with other terms - "Russian land", "Rus", "Kievan Rus". Vl. TO.

RUS, Russian land - the name of the unification of the lands of the Eastern Slavs with the center in Kiev, which arose in the late. 9 in .; to the end. 17th century the name extended to the territory of the entire Russian state, with its center in Moscow.

In the 9-10th centuries. the name Rus is assigned to the territory of the future Old Russian state. At first, it covered the lands of the East Slavic tribe Polyan-Rus from years. Kiev, Chernigov and Pereyaslavl. At 11 - early. 12th century Rus began to call the lands and principalities subordinate to the Kiev prince (Kievan Rus). In the 12-14 centuries. Rus is the general name of the territory on which the Russian principalities were located, which arose as a result of the fragmentation of Kievan Rus. During this period, the names Great Russia, White Russia, Little Russia, Black Russia, Chervonnaya Rus, etc., arose as designations for various parts of the common Russian land.

In the 14-17 centuries. Rus is the name of the lands included in the Russian state, the center of which is from the 2nd floor. 14th century became Moscow. S. P.

KIEVAN RUSSIA, the Old Russian state - a state in Eastern Europe, which arose as a result of the unification of lands under the rule of princes from the Rurik dynasty (9th – 2nd quarter of the 12th centuries).

The first news of the existence of the state among the Eastern Slavs is legendary. The "Tale of Bygone Years" reports that strife began among the northern East Slavic tribes (Novgorod Slovens and Krivichi), as well as the Finno-Ugric Chudi, Mary and Vesi. It ended with the fact that its participants decided to find themselves a prince who would "volody and judge by right". At their request, three Varangian brothers came to Russia: Rurik, Truvor and Sineus (862). Rurik began to reign in Novgorod, Sineus - in Beloozero, and Truvor - in Izborsk.

Sometimes, from the chronicle message about the invitation of Rurik and his brothers, it is concluded that statehood was brought to Russia from the outside. It is enough, however, to draw attention to the fact that Rurik, Truvor and Sineus are invited to perform functions that are already well known to the inhabitants of the Novgorod land. So this story is only the first mention of social institutions that have already operated (and apparently for a long time) in the territory of North-Western Russia.

The prince was the leader of an armed detachment and performed the functions of the supreme ruler, and initially not only secular, but also spiritual. Most likely, the prince led the army and was the high priest.

The squad consisted of professional military personnel. Some of them passed to the prince from their father ("senior", or "big", squad). Younger warriors grew up and were brought up together with the prince from the age of 13-14. They, apparently, were tied by friendly ties, which were reinforced by mutual personal obligations.

The personal loyalty of the vigilantes was not secured by temporary land holdings. Old Russian warriors are completely on the support of the prince. The guards lived separately, in the prince's "court" (in the prince's residence). The prince was considered the first among equals in the retinue environment. The squad pledged to support and protect their prince. She performed both police and "foreign policy" functions to protect the tribes who invited this prince from violence from neighbors. In addition, with her support, the prince controlled the most important trade routes (collected taxes and protected merchants in the territory under his control).

Another way to form the first state institutions could be the direct conquest of this territory. An example of such a path among the Eastern Slavs is the legend about the founders of Kiev. It is believed that Kiy, Schek and Khoriv are representatives of the local nobility of the Polyana. The name of the eldest of them was allegedly associated with the beginning of the Russian land as a proto-state association of the Polyan tribe. Subsequently, Kiev was occupied by the legendary Askold and Dir (according to the "Tale of Bygone Years" - Rurik's warriors). A little later, power in Kiev passed to Oleg, the regent of Igor, the young son of Rurik. Oleg deceived Askold and Dir and killed them. To substantiate his claims to power, Oleg refers to the fact that Igor is the son of Rurik. If before the source of power was an invitation to rule or seizure, now the decisive factor for the recognition of power as legitimate is the origin of the new ruler.

The seizure of Kiev by the legendary Oleg (882) is usually associated with the beginning of the formation of the Old Russian state. With this event, the existence of a kind of "unification" of Novgorod, Smolensk and Kiev lands begins, to which the lands of the Drevlyans, Northerners and Radimichs were subsequently annexed. The foundation was laid for an inter-tribal union of East Slavic and a number of Finno-Ugric tribes inhabiting the forest and forest-steppe zones of Eastern Europe. It is customary to call this association the Old Russian state, as well as

Ancient, or Kiev, Rus. An external indicator of the recognition of the power of the Kiev prince was the regular payment of tribute to him. The collection of tribute took place annually during the so-called polyudya.

Like any state, Kievan Rus uses force to achieve submission to its organs. The main power structure was the princely squad. However, the inhabitants of Ancient Russia obey the prince not only and not so much under the threat of the use of weapons, but voluntarily. Thus, the actions of the prince and the squad (in particular, the collection of tribute) are recognized by the subjects as legal. This, in fact, provides the prince with the opportunity to manage a huge state with a small squad. Otherwise, the free inhabitants of Ancient Rus, who were often quite well armed, could well defend their right not to obey illegal (in their opinion) demands.

An example of this is the murder of Prince Igor of Kiev by the Drevlyans (945). Igor, going for a second tribute, obviously could not imagine that his right to receive tribute - even if it exceeded the usual size - would be challenged by anyone. Therefore, the prince took with him only the "small" squad.

An extremely important event in the life of the young state is associated with the uprising of the Drevlyans: Olga, having cruelly avenged her husband's death, was forced to establish lessons and graveyards (the size and places of collecting tribute). Thus, for the first time, one of the most important political functions of the state was realized: the right to issue laws.

The first surviving monument of written law is Russkaya Pravda. Its appearance is associated with the name of Yaroslav the Wise (1016-1054), therefore the oldest part is sometimes called Yaroslav's Pravda. It is a collection of court decisions on specific issues, which later became binding when solving similar cases.

A new phenomenon in political life was the division of the entire territory of the Old Russian state between the sons of the Kiev prince. In 970, setting off on a military campaign to the Balkans, the Kiev prince Svyatoslav Igorevich "imprisoned" his eldest son Yaropolk to reign in Kiev, Vladimir in Novgorod, and Oleg in the land of the Drevlyans, adjacent to Kiev. Obviously, they also transferred the right to collect tribute for the Kiev prince, that is, from that time the prince ceases to go to the polyudye. A certain prototype of the local state apparatus is beginning to form. Control over it continues to remain in the hands of the Kiev prince.

This type of government finally took shape during the reign of the Kiev prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich (980-1015). Vladimir, leaving behind the Kiev throne, put his eldest sons in the largest Russian cities. All power at the local level passed into the hands of the Vladimirovichs. Their subordination to the grand prince-father was expressed in the regular transfer of part of the tribute to him, collected from the lands in which the grand prince's sons-governors sat. At the same time, the hereditary right of power was preserved. At the same time, when determining the order of inheritance of power, the priority right of seniority is gradually consolidated.

This principle was also observed in the case of the redistribution of reigns between the sons of the Grand Duke of Kiev after the death of one of the brothers. If the eldest of them died (usually sitting on the Novgorod "table"), his place was taken by the next oldest brother, and all the other brothers moved up the "ladder" of power one "step" up, moving to more and more prestigious reigns. Such a system of organizing the transfer of power is usually called the "ladder" system of ascending to the throne of princes.

However, the "ladder" system operated only during the lifetime of the head of the princely family. After the death of his father, as a rule, an active struggle began between the brothers for the right to own Kiev. Accordingly, the winner distributed all other reigns to his children.

So, after the Kiev throne passed to him, Yaroslav Vladimirovich managed to get rid of almost all of his brothers, who had any serious claim to power. Their places were taken by the Yaroslavichs. Before his death, Yaroslav bequeathed Kiev to his eldest son Izyaslav, who, moreover, remained the prince of Novgorod. The rest of the cities Yaroslav divided by

seniority between sons. Izyaslav was supposed to maintain the established order, as the eldest in the family. Thus, the political priority of the Kiev prince was formally consolidated.

However, by the end. 11th century the power of the Kiev princes is significantly weakening. The Kiev veche begins to play a noticeable role in the life of not only the city, but the state as a whole. They drove out or invited princes to the throne. In 1068 the Kievites overthrew Izyaslav, the Grand Duke of Kiev (1054–1068, 1069–1073, 1077–1078), who had lost the battle with the Polovtsians, and put Vseslav Bryachislavich of Polotsk in his place. Six months later, after Vseslav fled to Polotsk, the Kiev veche asked Izyaslav to return to the throne.

Since 1072, a number of princely congresses took place, at which the Yaroslavichs tried to agree on the basic principles of the division of power and on interaction in the struggle against common opponents. Since 1074, a fierce struggle for the Kiev throne unfolded between the brothers. At the same time, Polovtsian detachments were increasingly used in the political struggle.

Frequent strife seriously worsened the internal and especially the foreign policy position of the Russian lands. In 1097, a princely congress was held in the city of Lyubech, at which Yaroslav's grandchildren established a new principle of relations between the rulers of the Russian lands: "Let each one keep his fatherland." Now the "fatherland" (the land in which the father reigned) was inherited by the son. The "ladder" system of ascension of princes to the throne was replaced by dynastic rule.

Although neither Lyubechsky, nor the subsequent princely congresses (1100, 1101, 1103, 1110) could prevent civil strife, the significance of the first of them is extremely great. It was on it that the foundations of the existence of independent states on the territory of the former united Kievan Rus were laid. It is customary to associate the final disintegration of the Old Russian state with the events that followed the death of the eldest of the sons of the Kiev prince Vladimir Monomakh, Mstislav (1132). A.K.

On the distant frontiers

On the distant borders of Kievan Rus, there were other ancient states with which the Slavs developed certain relations. Among them, the Khazar Kaganate and the Volga Bulgaria should be highlighted.

KHAZAR KAGANAT, Khazaria - a state that existed in the 7-10 centuries. in the North Caucasus, between the Volga and Don rivers.

It took shape on the territory inhabited by the Turkic Caspian nomadic tribes, which in the 6th century. invaded the Eastern Ciscaucasia. Perhaps the name "Khazars" goes back to the Turkic basis "kaz" - to nomad.

At first, the Khazars roamed in the Eastern Ciscaucasia, from the Caspian Sea to Derbent, and in the 7th century. entrenched on the Lower Volga and on part of the Crimean Peninsula, were dependent on the Turkic Kaganate, which by the 7th century. weakened. On the 1st Thursday. 7 c. an independent Khazar state was formed.

In the 660s. the Khazars, in alliance with the North Caucasian Alans, defeated Great Bulgaria and formed the Khaganate. Under the rule of the supreme ruler - the kagan - there were many tribes, and the title itself was equated to the imperial one. The Khazar Kaganate was an influential force in Eastern Europe, and therefore a lot of written evidence has been preserved about it in Arabic, Persian and Byzantine literature. Khazars are also mentioned in Russian chronicles. It contains important information about the history of the Khazar Kaganate dating back to the 10th century. letter from the Khazar king Joseph to the head of the Spanish Jewish community Hasdai ibn Shafrut.

The Khazars made constant raids on the lands of the Arab Caliphate in Transcaucasia. Already from the 20s. 7 c. Periodic invasions of the Khazars and allied tribes of the Caucasian Alans into the Derbent region began. In 737, the Arab commander Mervan ibn Muhammad took the capital of Khazaria - Semender, and the kagan, saving his life, swore an oath to accept Islam, but did not keep his word. According to the Khazar legend, after Jewish merchants arrived in Khazaria from Khorezm and Byzantium, a certain Khazar prince Bulan converted to Judaism.

His example was followed by a part of the Khazars who lived on the territory of modern Dagestan.

The Khazar Kaganate was inhabited by nomadic tribes. The territory of Khazaria proper is the Western Caspian steppes between the rivers. Sulak in Northern Dagestan and the Lower Volga. Here archaeologists have found burial mounds of Khazar warriors. Academician B. A. Rybakov suggested that the Khazar Kaganate was a small state in the lower reaches of the Volga, and gained its fame thanks to a very favorable position on the Volga-Baltic trade route. His point of view is based on the testimony of Arab travelers, who reported that the Khazars did not produce anything themselves and lived off the goods brought from neighboring countries.

Most scholars believe that the Khazar Kaganate was a huge state, under whose rule half of Eastern Europe, including many Slavic tribes, was under its rule for more than two centuries, and they associate it with the area of \u200b\u200bthe Saltov-Mayak archaeological culture. The Khazar king Joseph called the Sarkel fortress on the Lower Don as the western border of his state. In addition to her, the Khazar years are known. Balanjar and Semender, which were on the river. Terek and Sulak, and Atil (Itil) at the mouth of the Volga, but these cities have not been found by archaeologists.

The main occupation of the population of Khazaria is cattle breeding. The system of social organization was called "eternal el", its center was the horde - the headquarters of the kagan, who "held the el", that is, headed the union of tribes and clans. The upper class was made up of Tarkhans - the tribal aristocracy, the most notable among them were those from the Kagan clan. The hired guards who guarded the rulers of Khazaria consisted of 30 thousand Muslims and "Rus".

Initially, the state was ruled by the kagan, but gradually the situation changed. The “deputy” of the kagan, the shad, who commanded the army and was in charge of collecting taxes, became a co-ruler with the title of kagan-bek. By the beginning. 9 c. the power of the kagan became nominal, and he himself was considered a sacred person. He was appointed kagan-bek from the representatives of a noble family. The kagan candidate was strangled with a silk rope, and when he began to choke, they asked how many years he wanted to rule. If the kagan died before the time he named, it was considered normal, otherwise - he was killed. Only the kagan-bek had the right to see the kagan. If there was a famine or an epidemic in the country, the kagan was killed, as it was believed that he had lost his magical power.

The 9th century was the heyday of Khazaria. In the end. 8 - early. 9th century a descendant of Prince Bulan Obadiy, becoming the head of the kaganate, carried out a religious reform and declared Judaism the state religion. Despite opposition, Obadiya managed to unite around him a part of the Khazar nobility. So Khazaria became the only state of the Middle Ages, where at least its head and the highest nobility professed Judaism. The Khazars, with the help of the allied nomadic tribes of the Hungarians, were able to subdue the Volga Bulgars, Burtases for a short time, impose tribute on the Slavic tribes of the Polyans, Northerners, Vyatichi and Radimichi.

But the domination of the Khazars was short-lived. Soon they freed themselves from dependence on the meadow; Oleg the Prophet saved the northerners and Radimichs from the tribute to the Khazars. In the end. 9 c. the Pechenegs broke through into the Northern Black Sea region, weakening Khazaria with constant raids. The Khazar Kaganate was finally defeated in 964-965. Kiev prince Svyatoslav. To the end. 10 c. Khazaria fell into decay. The remnants of the Khazar tribes settled in the Crimea, where they subsequently mixed with the local population. E. G.

ITIL - the capital of the Khazar Kaganate in the 8-10th centuries.

The city was located on both banks of the river. Itil (Volga; above modern. Astrakhan) and on a small island where the kagan's palace was located. Itil was a major center of the caravan trade. The population of the city was made up of Khazars, Khorezmians, Turks, Slavs, Jews. Merchants and artisans lived in the eastern part of the city, and government offices were located in the western part. According to Arab travelers, there were many mosques, schools, baths, markets in Itil. Residential buildings were wooden tents, felt yurts and dugouts.

In 985 Itil was destroyed by the Kiev prince Svyatoslav Igorevich. E. K.

BULGARIA VOLZHSKO-KAMSKAYA, Bulgaria Volga - a state that existed in the Middle Volga and Kama regions.

Volga Bulgaria was inhabited by Finno-Ugric tribes and Bulgars who came here after the defeat of Great Bulgaria. In the 9-10th centuries. the inhabitants of the Volga Bulgaria switched from nomadism to sedentary agriculture.

Some time in the 9-10th centuries. Volga Bulgaria was under the rule of the Khazar Kaganate. In the beginning. 10 c. Khan Almas started the unification of the Bulgar tribes. In the 10th century. Bulgars accepted Islam and formally recognized the Arab Caliph as the supreme ruler - the head of the Muslims. In 965 the Volga Bulgaria gained independence from the Khazar Kaganate.

The location of Bulgaria on the Volga-Baltic trade route, connecting Eastern and Northern Europe with the East, provided an influx of goods into the country from the countries of the Arab East, the Caucasus, India and China, Byzantium, Western Europe, Kievan Rus.

In the 10-11 centuries. the capital of the Volga Bulgaria was the city of Bulgar, located 5 km from the left bank of the Volga, below the mouth of the river. Kams. Bulgar quickly turned into a large center of crafts and transit trade. They minted their coins here.

The city has been around since the 10th century. was well fortified, and from the west adjoined posad. To the west of Bulgar there was an Armenian settlement with a Christian temple and a cemetery. Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of the Bulgar - the Bulgarian settlement, where stone buildings of the 14th century, mausoleums, a cathedral mosque, and public baths have been preserved.

In the 10-12 centuries. Russian princes more than once made campaigns against the Volga Bulgars. He was the first to try to impose a tribute on the Volga Bulgaria

Vladimir I Svyatoslavich, but in 985 he was forced to conclude a peace treaty. The Tale of Bygone Years tells the following legend: “Vladimir went to the Bulgarians with his uncle Dobrynya ... And the Bulgarians won. And he said to Vladimir Dobrynya: “I examined the prisoners - everyone was wearing boots. These tributes will not be given to us, we will look for bast shoes for ourselves "".

Then the Volga-Kama Bulgaria was threatened by the Vladimir principality. In the 12th century. Bulgars moved the capital into the interior of the country.

Bilyar, a city on the left bank of the river, became the new capital of the state. Cheremshan. It arose in the 10th century, in written sources it was mentioned for the first time in 1164. Crafts were significantly developed: iron smelting, bone carving, leatherworking, blacksmithing, and pottery. Found items exported from the cities of Kievan Rus, Syria, Byzantium, Iran, China.

In the 13th century. Volga-Kama Bulgaria was conquered by the Mongol-Tatars and became part of the Golden Horde. In 1236 Bulgar and Bilyar were devastated and burned by the Mongol-Tatars, but soon they were rebuilt again. Until the end. 13th century Bulgar was the capital of the Golden Horde, 14th century. - the time of its highest prosperity: active construction was carried out in the city, coins were minted, crafts developed. A blow to the power of the Bulgar was struck by the campaigns of the Golden Horde ruler Bulak-Timur in 1361. In 1431, the Bulgar was captured by the Russian troops under the command of Prince Theodore the Pestroy and finally fell into decay. In 1438 the Kazan Khanate was formed on the territory of the Volga Bulgaria. E. G.

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The given introductory fragment of the book Ancient Russia. IV-XII centuries. (Collective of authors, 2010) provided by our book partner -

As already noted in the preface to the entire VIII Volume, its first section is devoted to the ancient period in the history of the country, which is designated by the concept of "Ancient Rus". But where is the starting point from which the history of Russia begins? This point, or rather the boundary, is at least 2.5 million years away from us, when on Earth a branch of humanoids emerged from the animal world, which laid the foundation for the Human race. This boundary refers, as indicated in the first volume of the "History of Mankind", to all of Mankind, and therefore to the inhabitants of the territory of Russia, although the first traces of anthropoid creatures lead us to the territories of West Africa, India, the islands of Indonesia, and later, as soon as further human evolution, are found in other regions of the world, including the East European Plain, the Caucasus, Siberia.

At the same time, the authors of The History of Humanity, in the words of one of the initiators and authors of the publication, Charles Moraze, emphasize that "it is better to avoid overemphasizing our ancestors among our distant common ancestors," since this violates the scientific basis of the history of Humanity and causes groundless national passions and ambitions. We will follow this advice and, in turn, draw attention to the fact that in volumes I and II of the "History of Humanity" the authors (among whom there are many prominent Russian archaeologists and anthropologists), covering the topic of the appearance and settlement of people in Russia, also talk about common human ancestors in the regions they study, but by no means about the ancestors of a particular people. In this edition, relying on the data of the previous volumes and only briefly repeating their conclusions, we basically define the borderline for a more detailed presentation of the history of Russia, starting from the time of the appearance of Indo-Europeans in the Eurasian spaces and their interaction with the ancestors of the Finno-Ugric peoples that have already emerged in the same region. and Turkic peoples, since a significant part of the peoples of Russia in one way or another goes back precisely to these historical communities of people.

In this regard, one should touch upon the question posed in the "History of Mankind" about the relationship between prehistory and the history of Mankind. The first longest period of human life is defined as their prehistory and covers the time from 2.5 million years ago to the appearance of writing, i.e. up to about 5 thousand years BC, with which Mankind enters into its already written history. Acceptable for the most advanced civilizational regions of the planet at that time, i.e. for the so-called "key cultural regions" - North Africa (Ancient Egypt), the Middle East (Sumerian civilization), India, China, this approach turns out to be completely unthinkable for the territory of Western, Central, as well as Eastern Europe and a significant part of Asia, which turned out to be territory of Russia, since by the V millennium BC. these regions were a remote and sparsely populated periphery of the "key cultural regions" of that time and continued to remain at the level of the prehistory of Mankind. Touching upon the history of Russia of this time and subsequent millennia and centuries, we found ourselves on a train of asynchronous approach to the history of Russia, in which historical categories related to "key cultural regions" turn out to be absurd when applied to other regions of the world, in particular, to Eastern Europe and Eurasia.

This also applies to the history of the most ancient period in the history of Russia, covering the time from the 9th century. AD, i.e. from the boundary of the formation of the ancient Russian state to 1230. - to the point beyond which its political integrity ceases and a period of political fragmentation begins. The political state feature acts here, as in the future, as the beginning, concentrating and determining the main civilizational processes. However, as the history of Russia changes, first of all, its most ancient and ancient period, we will have to consider not only this civilizational feature that appears on the historical surface, at first glance, is poorly compatible with the progress of the quality of life of people and the improvement of human personality, although such a connection between development and improvement of political principles and progress of the Human race is historically correct. We will also talk about other global historical phenomena that determined the civilizational development of the region against the background of general European development and, in connection with it, led to the mastery of writing, the adoption of Christianity, participation in European and Eurasian politics, etc.

The state-territorial area of \u200b\u200bAncient Rus should be specially determined. Initially, its constituent parts were the Old Russian North, headed by Novgorod, the Old Russian South, headed by Kiev, which already in the X century. were multinational conglomerates. In the future, this territory, which was under the state control of a single center - Kiev, "the mother of Russian cities", as the Chronicle says, and covering vast areas from the Carpathians to the Middle Volga, from the shores of the Baltic and the White Sea to the Northern Black Sea coast, Taman Peninsula, Kerch Strait and the foothills of the Caucasus, was Rus, an ancient Russian state. Such a state continued to exist as the center of Old Russian statehood moved to the northeast, in the interfluve of the Oka, Volga and Klyazma rivers, as well as as the title of Grand Duke moved from Kiev to Chernigov, and then to the northeast, to Vladimir on the Klyazma. The life of this state, like this period itself, ended as its political and economic unity collapsed, as its individual parts ended up in other state formations, and new state formations and new phenomena in the economy, social relations, and culture dominated paving their way into the future.