Drevlyans and other most warlike Slavic tribes

The Drevlyans The Drevlyans have a bad reputation. The princes of Kyiv twice imposed tribute on the Drevlyans for raising an uprising. The Drevlyans did not abuse mercy. Prince Igor, who decided to collect a second tribute from the tribe, was tied up and torn in two. Prince Mal of the Drevlyans immediately

The resettlement of the Dulebs went from west to east, through Polissya towards the Dnieper. The area of ​​the most dense settlement of dulebs was the upper and middle reaches of the Sluch, the interfluve of the Goryn and Sluch and the upper reaches of the Teterev, a tributary of the Dnieper. To the north of Teterev, settlements cover the basin of its tributary, the Irsha, and the upper reaches of the Uzh. Here clearly lay the lands of several tribes. The Korchak group of settlements was located on Teterev, which gave the name to the archaeological culture of the Slavs. From the Duleb tribes compactly settled in these areas, a tribal union of the Drevlyans later formed. Initially, the Drevlyans was a tribe (or already a number of tribes) that settled in the forest areas of this region, directly approaching the Ant forest-steppe. In the Drevlyansk tribal union, two centers of princely power were later distinguished. One was the area of ​​convergence of Irsha and Uzh, where the princely cities of Malin and Iskorosten were then located. Others were the lands up the Uzh and north of Zherev, where the city of Ovruch was located. last district in the Korczak period it was still rarely inhabited. But there were already isolated Slovenian settlements and quite far to the north from there, on the Slovechna flowing into the Pripyat.

The Drevlyans buried the dead mainly in mounds, but sometimes in ground burials. From the 8th century only one dead person was buried in the mounds, as a rule, without an urn. Burning was usually carried out on the side, but sometimes on the spot. In this case, the deceased was placed on boards or in a wooden block, positioned along the east-west line.

“The arrival of Slavic settlers to the Kyiv region from the west is reflected in several legends, starting with the Old Russian Tale of Bygone Years. In one of the Ukrainian texts (from the later ones, the most logically constructed one), it unequivocally tells about military operations. A certain "pan" incredibly oppressed people, "took away from them everything that was possible." In the end, the "subjects" revolted. The united forces of the rebels defeated the "pan" with his army and drove to the place of present-day Kyiv, where they destroyed their oppressor and his relatives. This, again, extremely late tradition vaguely reflected the initial power of the Ants (felt by the neighboring dulebs) and the fall of this power as a result of the war, which led to the settlement of the Kiev region by Slovenes-dulebs.(S. Alekseev. "Slavic Europe in the 5th-8th centuries")

According to the Tale of Bygone Years, “the Drevlyans lived in a brutal way, living like cattle, and killed each other, eating everything unclean, and they did not have marriage, but they kidnapped girls by the water.” Of course, Nestor is clearly exaggerating here in order to emphasize the isolation of the glades, claiming primacy in the Slavic world. But besides political differences, he had other reasons for this. The Drevlyans both in their way of life and even outwardly differed from the glades. Thus, the Volynians, judging by the latest medieval burials, had an elongated head, broad face, strongly protruding nose. We also see this combination of Slavic broad-facedness with typical features of all Caucasoids in the southern and western neighbors of the Volhynians - Drevlyans, streets, Tivertsy. They, especially the descendants of the Antes, differed only in a somewhat less elongated head. They differed significantly - a narrower face, a slightly less protruding nose, a medium-sized head - only a clearing. In my opinion, this is due to the fact that both the Antes and Dulebs in general and the Drevlyans in particular were Sarmatian tribes, in contrast to the Polyan-Scythians. And in this regard, the identification of the Drevlyans with the Agachirs described by the Bulgarian chroniclers Gazi-Baradj and Sheikh-Gali, which S. V. Trusov makes in the article “Drevlyane”, seems doubtful to me. “Agach” in Tatar means “tree”, but Trusov himself gives a different reading of this ethnonym based on Sheikh-Gali. Here it is:

“The first mention of them corresponds to 1300-1200 BC, when the ancient Greeks (Tyrians) left the territory of their northern Black Sea homeland and moved to the Balkans and Greece: Asparchuk in the area of ​​"Aka Dzhir" on the Aka River and therefore called Akajirs. As can be seen from the above passage, Gali, like Gazi-Baradj, who used ancient texts when compiling his history, even derives the etymology of the “Drevlyans” (Agachirs) not from the “tree”, but from the name of the area in the Oka (Aki) basin. Let me remind you that the Bulgars called the ancient Rostov Djir. The Akajirs, according to Gali, were the eternal allies of the Tyrians (Greeks): “With the help of these Saklans-Akajirs, the Tirians conquered Little Rum and the island of Crash and ruthlessly exterminated the local Imenians.” Here: Small Rum - the territory of Greece and Turkey; Crash - Crete; Imenians - Minoans .. "

In the second century AD, the Rosomones, together with the Wends-Rugs, Polyans and other Slavic tribes, formed the state of Rusalania, which existed for about eighty years and fell under the blows of the Goths. Most likely, the Drevlyans were part of this Rusalan Union, the capital of which was the city of Gelon, known since the time of Herodotus. After the defeat of the Rusalians, part of the Dulebs came under the rule of the Visigoths, the other part - the eastern part - under the rule of the Huns, people from the southern coast of the Baltic and who initially acted as allies of the Goths. The Drevlyans-Dulebs and Goldescythians-Akajirs were perceived by the Bulgarians-steppes precisely as Agachirs, that is, "foresters". But the Bulgarians of that time did not speak Turkic or even Finno-Ugric, but completely Slavic, which, however, does not exclude the presence of both Ugric and Turkic clans in this originally Sarmatian ethnos. (Read the article "Bulgarians"). The Bulgarians were far from the last roles in the Hunnic union, just like the Akadzhirs, the inhabitants of the Ochi region, who entered the history of Europe as Akatsirs. Byzantine chroniclers note the presence of the Akatsir tribe in the post-Hunnic era precisely on the Don, but in this case we are simply talking about the ethnic unity of the inhabitants of the Poochi and Don regions that has survived from Scythian times. There is no need to talk about any Drevlyane, Ugric or Turkic presence in this case.

The Drevlyans appear on the right bank of the Dnieper at the beginning of the 7th century, during the Avaro-Antian war, and immediately the Savirs (descendants of the Sarmatians) and the Rus (descendants of the Scythians) moved towards them from the Don, having merged by this time into a single community of Rosomon-Rusalans. (Read the article "Glade") Prince Kiy is the head of the Savir-Rus. It is difficult to say whether this Kiy was a descendant of Kiy, the founder of Rusalania, known to us from the Book of Veles, or whether we are talking about a title that has become a proper name. Most likely the second one. Both Kiy, both Rusalan and Savir, found cities called Kyiv, but if we are not talking about a proper name, but about a title, then most likely “Kyiv”, this is the residence of “Kiya”, the supreme ruler. One way or another, but it is with the second, Savir or Don Kiy, that the origin of the modern city of Kyiv is connected. The Dulebs in general and the Drevlyans in particular are included in this newly formed union along with the Polyans, Savirs and Russ. Apparently, the principle of this union is the same as in the already known to us "Valinan" by Masudi. At the head of the new formations is Kiy, he is also "Maha", that is, the Grand Duke, and all other leaders of tribes or tribal unions are called small princes or Malami.

Who were our ancestors before they became Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians.

Vyatichi

The name Vyatichi, in all likelihood, comes from the Proto-Slavic vęt- “big”, like the names “Venedi” and “Vandals”. According to The Tale of Bygone Years, the Vyatichi descended "from the kind of Poles", that is, from the Western Slavs. The resettlement of the Vyatichi went from the territory of the Dnieper left bank and even from the upper reaches of the Dniester. In the basin of the Oka River, they founded their own state - Vantit, which is mentioned in the works of the Arab historian Gardizi.

The Vyatichi were an extremely freedom-loving people: the Kyiv princes had to capture them at least four times.

The last time the Vyatichi as a separate tribe was mentioned in the annals was in 1197, but the legacy of the Vyatichi can be traced back to the 17th century. Many historians consider the Vyatichi the ancestors of modern Muscovites.

It is known that the Vyatichi tribes adhered to the pagan faith for a very long time. The chronicler Nestor mentions that this union of tribes had polygamy in the order of things. In the 12th century, the Vyatichi Christian missionary Kuksha Pechersky was killed, and only by the 15th century did the Vyatichi tribes finally accept Orthodoxy.

Krivichi

The Krivichi were first mentioned in the annals in 856, although archaeological finds indicate the emergence of the Krivichi as a separate tribe as early as the 6th century. The Krivichi were one of the largest East Slavic tribes and lived on the territory of modern Belarus, as well as in the regions of the Dvina and Dnieper regions. The main cities of the Krivichi were Smolensk, Polotsk and Izborsk.

The name of the tribal union comes from the name of the pagan high priest krive-krivaytis. Krive meant "curved", which could equally indicate the advanced years of the priest, as well as his ritual staff.

According to the legends, when the high priest could no longer perform his duties, he committed self-immolation. The main task of krive-krivaitis were sacrifices. Usually goats were sacrificed, but sometimes the animal could be replaced by a man.

The last tribal prince of the Krivichi Rogvolod was killed in 980 by the Novgorod prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich, who married his daughter. In the annals, the Krivichi are mentioned until 1162. Subsequently, they mixed with other tribes and became the ancestors of modern Lithuanians, Russians and Belarusians.

Glade

The meadows have nothing to do with Poland. It is believed that these tribes came from the Danube and settled on the territory of modern Ukraine. It is the meadows that are the founders of Kyiv and the main ancestors of modern Ukrainians.

According to legend, three brothers Kyi, Shchek and Khoriv with their sister Lybid lived in the Polyan tribe. The brothers built a city on the banks of the Dnieper and named it Kyiv, in honor of their elder brother. These brothers laid the foundation for the first princely family. When the Khazars imposed tribute on the fields, they paid them the first with double-edged swords.

Initially, the meadows were in a losing position, from all sides they were squeezed by more numerous and powerful neighbors, and the Khazars forced the glades to pay tribute to them. But by the middle of the 8th century, thanks to the economic and cultural upsurge, the meadows moved from waiting to offensive tactics.

Having seized many of the lands of their neighbors, in 882 the meadows themselves were under attack. Prince Oleg of Novgorod seized their lands, and declared Kyiv the capital of his new state.

The glade was last mentioned in chronicles in 944 in connection with Prince Igor's campaign against Byzantium.

White Croats

Little is known about white Croats. They came from the upper reaches of the Vistula River and settled on the Danube and along the Morava River. It is believed that Great (White) Croatia, which was located on the spurs of the Carpathian Mountains, was their homeland. But in the 7th century, under pressure from the Germans and Poles, the Croats began to leave their state and go east.

According to The Tale of Bygone Years, White Croats participated in Oleg's campaign against Constantinople in 907. But the chronicles also testify that Prince Vladimir in 992 "went against the Croats." So the free tribe became part of Kievan Rus.

It is believed that the White Croats are the ancestors of the Carpathian Rusyns.

Drevlyans

The Drevlyans have a bad reputation. The princes of Kyiv twice imposed tribute on the Drevlyans for raising an uprising. The Drevlyans did not abuse mercy. Prince Igor, who decided to collect a second tribute from the tribe, was tied up and torn in two.

Prince Mal of the Drevlyans immediately wooed Princess Olga, who had just become a widow. She brutally dealt with his two embassies, and during the feast for her husband, she massacred the Drevlyans.

The princess finally subjugated the tribe in 946, when she burned their capital Iskorosten with the help of birds that lived in the city. These events went down in history as "Olga's four revenges on the Drevlyans." Interestingly, along with the glades, the Drevlyans are the distant ancestors of modern Ukrainians.

Dregovichi

The name Dregovichi comes from the Baltic root "dreguva" - a swamp. Dregovichi - one of the most mysterious alliances of Slavic tribes. Almost nothing is known about them. At a time when the princes of Kyiv were burning neighboring tribes, the Dregovichi "entered" into Russia without resistance.

It is not known where the Dregovichi came from, but there is a version that their homeland was in the south, on the Peloponnese peninsula. Dregovichi settled in the 9th-12th centuries on the territory of modern Belarus, it is believed that they are the ancestors of Ukrainians and Poleshchuks.

Before becoming part of Russia, they had their own reign. The capital of the Dregovichi was the city of Turov. Not far from there was the city of Khil, which was an important ritual center where sacrifices were made to pagan gods.

Radimichi

Radimichi were not Slavs, their tribes came from the west, forced out by the Goths back in the 3rd century, and settled in the interfluve of the upper Dnieper and Desna along the Sozh and its tributaries. Until the 10th century, the Radimichi retained their independence, were ruled by tribal leaders and had their own army. Unlike most of their neighbors, the Radimichi never lived in dugouts - they built huts with chicken stoves.

In 885, Prince Oleg of Kyiv asserted his power over them and obliged the Radimichi to pay tribute to him, which they had previously paid to the Khazars. In 907, the Radimichi army participated in Oleg's campaign against Tsargrad. Shortly thereafter, the union of tribes was freed from power. Kyiv princes, but already in 984 a new campaign against the Radimichi took place. Their army was defeated, and the lands were finally annexed to Kievan Rus. The last time radimichi are mentioned in the annals in 1164, but their blood still flows in modern Belarusians

Slovenia

Slovenes (or Ilmen Slovenes) are the northernmost East Slavic tribe. Slovenes lived in the basin of Lake Ilmen and the upper reaches of the Mologa. The first mention of Slovenes can be attributed to the VIII century.

Slovene can be called an example of vigorous economic and state development.

In the 8th century, they captured settlements in Ladoga, then established trade relations with Prussia, Pomerania, the islands of Rügen and Gotland, as well as with Arab merchants. After a series of civil strife, in the 9th century, the Slovenes called on the Varangians to reign. Veliky Novgorod becomes the capital. After that, Slovenes begin to be called Novgorodians, their descendants still live in the Novgorod region.

northerners

Despite the name, the northerners lived much further south than the Slovenes. The northerners inhabited the basins of the Desna, Seim, Seversky Donets and Sula rivers. The origin of the self-name is still unknown, some historians suggest Scythian-Sarmatian roots for the word, which can be translated as "black".

The northerners were different from other Slavs, they had thin bones and a narrow skull. Many anthropologists believe that the northerners belong to a branch of the Mediterranean race - the Pontic.

The tribal union of the northerners existed until the visit of Prince Oleg. Previously, the northerners paid tribute to the Khazars, but now they began to pay to Kyiv. In just one century, the northerners mixed with other tribes and ceased to exist.

Uchi

The streets were unlucky. Initially, they lived in the region of the lower Dnieper, but the nomads forced them out, and the tribes had to move westward to the Dniester. Gradually, the streets founded their own state, the capital of which was the city of Peresechen, located on the territory of modern Dnepropetrovsk.

With the coming to power of Oleg, the streets began the struggle for independence. Sveneld, the governor of the Kyiv prince, had to conquer the lands of the convicted piece by piece - the tribes fought for every village and settlement. Sveneld besieged the capital for three years, until the city finally surrendered.

Even taxed, the streets tried to restore their own lands after the war, but soon a new misfortune came - the Pechenegs. The streets were forced to flee to the north, where they mingled with the Volhynians. In the 970s, the streets are mentioned in chronicles for the last time.

In the chronicle short story under 914, for the first time, the campaign of Russia against the "Drevlyans" is reported (from the following it will be clear that quotes are needed here). But who are the chronicle "Drevlyans" who played such a significant role in the fate of Prince Igor, his wife and the entire Russian land?

At first glance, there is absolutely nothing to puzzle over here. The Tale of Bygone Years quite definitely says that the Drevlyans / Derevlyans were a Slavic tribe that settled on the right bank of the Dnieper, next to the Kievan Rus (“glades”). They got their name because "Sedosha in the woods". The Drevlyans are known not only to ancient Russian sources. Konstantin Porphyrogenitus conveys this ethnonym in the forms "Vervians" and "dervlenins", and the Bavarian geographer knows them as "forest people"(forsderen liudi). The common Slavic root of this tribal name is confirmed by the presence of the Drevan tribe in the Vendian Pomorie (their tribal territory was located near modern Lüneburg, in the basin of the Ietzel River, the former Slavic Jesna). The Slavic population of the Drevan land finally disappeared only in the 18th century. But the Germanized name of this area - Dravehn - has been preserved by the Germans to this day [ Derzhavin N.S. Slavs in antiquity. M., 1946. S. 29].

All this is indisputable. But further difficulties arise. To begin with, the tribal territory of the East Slavic Drevlyans (“Trees”, “Derevskaya Land”) is outlined in the annals very approximately. The statement of an authoritative archaeologist sounds alarmingly that “ attempts to restore the territory of the settlement of the Drevlyans on the basis of chronicle evidence have been made repeatedly, but none of them can be considered successful» [ Sedov V.V. Eastern Slavs in the VI - XIII centuries. M., 1982. S. 102]. Slavic antiquities in the Pripyat and Uzh basins are quite numerous, but extremely heterogeneous and difficult to classify ethnographically.

With further consideration of the "Drevlyansk question", absurdities and riddles grow like a snowball. In striking contradiction with the archaeological picture of the Drevlyansk tribal area are the information from written sources. The chronicle reports a highly developed tribal organization among the Drevlyans, who had "their reign", princes, tribal nobility (" best husbands”), squad, fortified cities. Drevlyansky ambassadors praise their rulers to Olga, who care about the economic prosperity of their country: "... our princes are kind, who saved the essence of the Derevskaya land"- and this is not empty bragging, since it turns out that after repeated exactions and the merciless devastation of the unfortunate Derevskaya land by the Kyiv army, it is still possible to impose "tribute heavy", which Olga did not fail to do. The military power of the Drevlyans is emphasized in the annals by the mention of certain “grievances” that the “glade” suffered from them in the past, as well as repeated attempts to break the bonds of tributary dependence on the Kyiv princes. Meanwhile, on the archaeological map of the Dnieper right bank, the Drevlyane land appears as a poor and sparsely populated region, certainly not able to compete with its neighbors in economic terms and even more so to be with them in a long-term military confrontation. Drevlyansk "grads" (Oran, Ivankovo, Malino, Gorodsk) have an area of ​​​​about two thousand square meters- smaller than a football field [ Demin A.S. On some features of archaic literary creativity (raising the question on the material of "The Tale of Bygone Years") // Culture of the Slavs and Russia. M., 1998. S. 65]. And near Iskorosten Olga “standing ... summer, and not able to take hail”!

Unfortunately, our historiography, until recently, passed by all these oddities. But what is most striking of all is the centuries-old inattention of historians to one ethnographic feature preserved in the sources that characterizes the annalistic "Drevlyans". I mean the way they chose to execute Prince Igor, which, as follows from the message of Leo the Deacon, "was taken ... captured, tied to tree trunks and torn in two"(It is worth noting that The Tale of Bygone Years is silent about these details). Knowing the message of Leo the Deacon, quoting him and at the same time considering the “Drevlyans” who killed Igor as a Slavic tribe - all this is nothing but an incomparable historiographic embarrassment, because the indicated method of execution is as inherent in ancient Slavic criminal law as, for example, the custom scalped or crucified. And yet this absurdity has firmly settled in the historical literature. Only relatively recently have researchers finally noticed that the execution of Igor coincides with similar customs among the Turkic peoples - Oghuz * and Bulgars " [Petrukhin V.Ya. From ancient history Russian law. Igor Stary - the "wolf" prince // Philologia slavica. M., 1993. S. 127], and according to the German chronicler of the XII century. Saxo Grammaticus, Redon, the “ruthenian” pirate (Ruthenorum pirata), who robbed in the Baltic, had a special predilection for this method of execution [ Rydzevskaya E.A. Ancient Russia and Scandinavia IX - XIV centuries. M., 1978. S. 194]. On my own behalf, I will add that, on the orders of Alexander the Great, Bess, the murderer of Darius III, was similarly torn to pieces, as Plutarch narrates. In Greek mythology, the robber Sinid, nicknamed Pitiokampt (Pine Bender), is known, who caught travelers, tied them to the tops of bent trees and, releasing the trees, tore people in half. The hero Theseus dealt with the villain in his own way. In a word, not a single source correlates the custom of dismembering people with the help of trees with the Slavs, and even more so with the Eastern Slavs.

*See the message of Ibn Fadlan about the Ghuzes (Oghuzs): “They do not know fornication, but if they find out any deed regarding someone, then they tear it into two halves, namely: they connect together the gap of branches of two trees, then they tie him to the branches and let both trees go, and the one who is in the straightening of them [trees] is torn. .

To the brilliant finds of recent times [ see Nikitin A.L. Foundations of Russian history. M., 2000. S. 326.] also refers to the discovery of another “Drevlyansk land” - “Tree”, which, according to the introductory part of the Tale of Bygone Years (listing the “Aphetian countries” - lands that “priyash” Japheth, one of the sons of Noah), is by no means in the Middle Dnieper, and in the Northern Black Sea region - between "Vosporia" (Bosporus) and the Azov regions ("Meoti" and "Sarmati"), where it thus coincides with the climates of the Crimean Mountains *.

*The term "Climate", found in medieval Byzantine literature, is associated with the late antique geographical tradition, according to which the earth's surface was divided into several (usually seven or nine) "climatic" zones. According to Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the Climate is the region of the mountainous Crimea between Kherson and the Bosporus: “From Kherson to the Bosporus there are fortresses of Climates, and the distance is 300 miles” (however, in another place he also writes about the “nine Climates of Khazaria” adjacent to Alania). Crimean climates (probably not all, but a significant part of them) were part of the Kherson theme (military administrative district), and Konstantin repeatedly expresses concern about their safety.

In this regard, Leo the Deacon’s indication that Igor died while setting off to "on a campaign against the Germans". At the same time, it was finally noticed that the chronicle “Derevlyans” not only live in two different geographical regions that are significantly distant from each other, but also have two tribal centers: one is the city of Ovruch, lying on the Uzh River (annalistic article under 997 .), the other is the city of Iskorosten / Korosten, the exact location of which is not indicated (annalistic articles under 945 and 946) [ Nikitin A.L. Foundations of Russian history. S. 112].

Let us now summarize the facts we have.
The East Slavic tribe of the Drevlyans, possibly related to the Vendian Drevans, at the end of the 8th - beginning of the 9th century. settled on the right bank of the Middle Dnieper, where it soon fell into tributary dependence on the Rus. By the time the Tale of Bygone Years was compiled (the second half of the 11th - the beginning of the 12th century), these Drevlyans were already a small, poor and culturally backward people, who had almost completely lost their ethnographic individuality and dissolved among the numerous migrants from the Dnieper left bank.

However, in the process of creating the "Tale of Bygone Years", or rather during its later editing, the history of the Drevlyan tribe, brief and unremarkable, turned out to be full of events related to the history of other "Drevlyans" who had nothing in common with the Drevlyans of the Dnieper, except for their Russified tribal name. In other words, there was an ethnographic confusion quite common for early medieval literature, which, perhaps, could be called amusing if it had not taken root in the most serious and thorough way in modern historiography. Fortunately, it is not so difficult to restore the truth in this case.

Nestor or some other ancient Russian scribe who edited the "Tale" was confused by another "Derevskaya land" - "Derevi", discovered by him in the Northern Black Sea region. The source from which it once migrated to the Russian chronicle was the Byzantine chronicle of the 9th century. George Amartol, namely the place where the “Afetov countries” are listed. In the Slavic translation of the chronicle of Amartol, which preceded The Tale of Bygone Years, the corresponding term was rendered as "Dervi" [ Istrin V.M. Chronicle of George Amartol in ancient Slavic Russian translation. T. 1. Pg., 1920. S. 59]. In The Tale of Bygone Years, the Amartol list of countries reads as follows: "... Vosporii, Meoti, Derevi, Sarmati, Tavriani, Skufia ..." The Black Sea region called Dervi / Derevi is easily identified as the habitat of the descendants of the Vezegoths, or Goths-Tervings (from the ancient German tre - "tree") - "inhabitants of the forest", "forest people", in Slavic - "drevlyans" . The last doubts on this score will disappear if we compare the Old Russian news of the death of Prince Igor in "Derevekh" with the message of Leo Deacon about his last campaign "against the Germans." The Goths were the only Germanic ethnic group in the Northern Black Sea region.

Having understood that the annalistic term "Drevlyane / Derevlyane" covers two different people, ethnically dissimilar, we understand the reason discrepancies in ethnographic and historical information about them. On the one hand, “the Drevlyans live in a bestial way, living as a beast: I kill each other, poison everything unclean, and they didn’t have marriage, but a maiden was washed away by the water”; with another - “Our princes are kind, who saved the essence of the Derevskaya land”, the presence of formidable fortresses, like Iskorosten, which can be taken only with the help of military cunning, diplomatic embassies to the Rus in order to conclude dynastic marriages. It is obvious that in the first case we are talking about the East Slavic foresters of the Dnieper right bank, in the second - about the Crimean Goths, whose prosperous colonies existed in Taurida until the 16th century. Tauride and Kievan Rus in the 9th - 10th centuries. must have, of course, encountered them more than once—on the field of economic competition and on the field of battle.

Druzhina legends about the wars with the Crimean Goths existed in Kyiv for a long time and were known to Russian scribes of the 12th century. But time took its toll - the dual meaning of the term "Drevlyans" was firmly forgotten, thanks to which the history of the conquest of the Black Sea "Drevlyans" / Tervings was transferred to the history of the Drevlyans of the Dnieper, closer and more familiar to the "Kyyans" of the Nestor era.

East Slavic union of tribes that lived in the basin of the upper and middle reaches of the Oka and along the Moscow River. The resettlement of the Vyatichi took place from the territory of the Dnieper left bank or from the upper reaches of the Dniester. The Vyatichi substratum was the local Baltic population. Vyatichi retained pagan beliefs longer than other Slavic tribes and resisted the influence of the Kievan princes. Rebelliousness and militancy are the hallmark of the Vyatichi tribe.

The tribal union of the Eastern Slavs of the 6th-11th centuries. They lived in the territories of the current Vitebsk, Mogilev, Pskov, Bryansk and Smolensk regions, as well as eastern Latvia. Formed on the basis of the alien Slavic and local Baltic population - the Tushemly culture. In the ethnogenesis of the Krivichi, the remnants of the local Finno-Ugric and Baltic - Ests, Livs, Latgals - tribes, who mixed with the numerous alien Slavic population, participated. Krivichi are divided into two large groups: Pskov and Polotsk-Smolensk. In the culture of the Polotsk-Smolensk Krivichi, along with Slavic elements of jewelry, there are elements of the Baltic type.

Slovenian Ilmen- tribal union of Eastern Slavs in the territory Novgorod land, mainly in the lands near Lake Ilmen, in the neighborhood of the Krivichi. According to The Tale of Bygone Years, the Slovenes of Ilmen, together with the Krivichi, Chud and Merya, participated in the calling of the Varangians, who were related to the Slovenes - immigrants from the Baltic Pomerania. A number of historians consider the ancestral homeland of the Slovenes in the Dnieper region, others deduce the ancestors of the Ilmen Slovenes from the Baltic Pomerania, since the traditions, beliefs and customs, the type of dwellings of the Novgorodians and Polabian Slavs are very close.

Duleby- tribal union of Eastern Slavs. They inhabited the territory of the Bug River basin and the right tributaries of the Pripyat. In the 10th century Duleb union broke up, and their lands became part of Kievan Rus.

Volynians- East Slavic union of tribes, who lived on the territory on both banks of the Western Bug and at the source of the river. Pripyat. Volynians were first mentioned in Russian chronicles in 907. In the 10th century, the Vladimir-Volyn principality was formed on the lands of the Volynians.

Drevlyans- East Slavic tribal union, which occupied in the 6-10 centuries. the territory of Polissya, the Right Bank of the Dnieper, west of the glades, along the course of the Teterev, Uzh, Ubort, Stviga rivers. The habitat of the Drevlyans corresponds to the area of ​​the Luka-Raikovets culture. The name Drevlyane was given to them because they lived in the forests.

Dregovichi- tribal union of Eastern Slavs. The exact boundaries of the Dregovichi habitat have not yet been established. According to a number of researchers, in the 6th-9th centuries, the Dregovichi occupied the territory in the middle part of the Pripyat River basin, in the 11th - 12th centuries, the southern border of their settlement passed south of Pripyat, the northwestern - in the watershed of the Drut and Berezina rivers, the western - in the upper reaches of the Neman River . When settling in Belarus, the Dregovichi moved from south to north to the Neman River, which indicates their southern origin.

Polochane- Slavic tribe, part of the tribal union of the Krivichi, who lived along the banks of the Dvina River and its tributary Polot, from which they got their name.
The center of the Polotsk land was the city of Polotsk.

Glade- a tribal union of Eastern Slavs, who lived on the Dnieper, in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bmodern Kyiv. The very origin of the glades remains unclear, since the territory of their settlement was at the junction of several archaeological cultures.

Radimichi- an East Slavic union of tribes that lived in the eastern part of the Upper Dnieper, along the Sozh River and its tributaries in the 8th-9th centuries. Convenient river routes passed through the lands of the Radimichi, connecting them with Kyiv. Radimichi and Vyatichi had a similar burial rite - the ashes were buried in a log house - and similar temporal female jewelry (temporal rings) - seven-rayed (for Vyatichi - seven-paste). Archaeologists and linguists suggest that the Balts, who lived in the upper reaches of the Dnieper, also participated in the creation of the material culture of the Radimichi.

northerners- East Slavic union of tribes that lived in the 9th-10th centuries along the Desna, Seim and Sula rivers. The origin of the name northerners is of Scythian-Sarmatian origin and is derived from the Iranian word "black", which is confirmed by the name of the city of northerners - Chernihiv. The main occupation of the northerners was agriculture.

Tivertsy - East Slavic tribe, settled in the 9th century in the interfluve of the Dniester and Prut, as well as the Danube, including the Budzhak coast of the Black Sea on the territory of modern Moldova and Ukraine.

Uchi- East Slavic union of tribes that existed in the 9th - 10th centuries. Ulichi lived in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, Bug and on the Black Sea. The center of the tribal union was the city of Peresechen. For a long time, the Ulichi resisted the attempts of the Kyiv princes to subjugate them to their power.