Glades, Drevlyans and others
Archaeological data suggest that the Eastern Slavs - the ancestors of today's Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians - began to settle in the territory of modern Western Ukraine and the Eastern Dnieper region from about the 5th and in the 6th and 7th centuries AD, and in the upper reaches of the Neman, on the banks of the Volga and Lake Peipsi they settle not earlier than the 9th and at the turn of the 11th-12th centuries. The places of settlement of the Eastern Slavs were also the lands adjacent to Lake Ilmen, along the course of large and small rivers of the East European, or Russian, plain.
Chronicles (descriptions of events by year - year), including the famous Tale of Bygone Years compiled in 1112 by the monk Nestor, preserved the names of large East Slavic tribal associations and make it possible to trace the approximate geographical area of \u200b\u200btheir settlement: “... the Slavs came and sat down along the Dnieper and named themselves glades, and others Drevlyans, because they sat in the forests, while others sat between Pripyat and Dvina and called themselves Dregovichi, others sat down along the Dvina and called themselves Polochans along the river flowing into the Dvina, called Polota ... The same Slavs who sat near Lake Ilmen, were called by their name - the Slavs and built the city. And they called it Novgorod. And others sat down on the Desna, and along the Seim, and along the Sula, and called themselves northerners. In total, according to the Tale of Bygone Years, twelve tribal unions are known, from which principalities were formed over time. In addition to the Polans, Drevlyans, Dregovichi, Polochans, Ilmen Slavs, or Slovenes, there were the following large associations of East Slavic tribes: Volhynians (they are Buzhans), Croats, Tivertsy, Ulichi, Radimichi, Vyatichi and Krivichi with an offshoot from them northerners.
Slavic settlement
The excavations of archaeologists confirmed these chronicle data and significantly supplemented and clarified them, making it possible to map the settlement zones of the Eastern Slavs.
The main occupations of the glades, drevlyans and other tribes mentioned above are quite traditional for all Slavs. This is agriculture and animal husbandry. Moreover, the first plays a much greater role than the second. Life in the East Slavic village was simple and did not indulge in variety. One day was like another, and almost every one of them was filled with hard work. But on the other hand, what fun came on rare, but therefore especially long-awaited holidays! Songs alternated with games, competitions in strength, dexterity, dexterity. And then weekdays came again with their deeds and worries.
Eastern Slavs avoided settling on open places. They lived in small square dugouts, securely sheltered in the forest with crowns of trees and dense shrubs. Perhaps it would be more accurate to call the houses of the Eastern Slavs not dugouts, but semi-dugouts, since they were no more than a meter deep into the ground, the roofs above them were fastened on poles and support pillars. The walls were of two types: log and twisted of rods coated with clay. The floor was either left earthen, covered with coniferous spruce branches, or an adobe coating was made. A family of no more than six or seven people was placed in such a hut. The house-dugout was heated by a hearth or a stove-heater built in the corner of stones. In addition to the forest, the favorite location of the East Slavic villages were steep, impregnable river banks.
Among the most ancient utensils discovered during the excavations by scientists, primitive ceramics predominate - molded by hand, without a potter's wheel, from clay with an admixture of sand, pot-shaped items with protrusions expanding towards the top and vertical notches. Either for ritual purposes, or to give strength, the composition of ceramics also included crushed parts of insects. The utensils of a later time (8th-9th centuries) include clay vessels already made on the potter's wheel and decorated with carvings or wavy lines applied like a comb. Around the same time, round bronze plates appeared in everyday life, and from the tools of labor - iron cutters, sickles, plowshares, plow knives, chisels, axes, tips for harrows and spears. From metal objects, archaeologists found belt buckles, paste beads, bracelets, earrings, rings, brooches, as well as characteristic female jewelry, known as temporal rings, which the Slavs used as hairpins in order to style their hair beautifully. It is interesting that each East Slavic tribe had its own form of temporal rings: in the form of a spiral, an open circle with curved ends, shamrocks, bizarre flowers on a lush stem, a sun disk with divergent rays, products made from a twisted bundle of wire or thin metal plates with twisted pendants and etc. Based on these differences, scientists determine where which tribe lived.
The community that the Eastern Slavs lived in was not tribal, but territorial. This means that it was a union of common territory small families engaged in collective labor.
Clearing suitable land for field and pasture required a group effort. But, in addition to the struggle with nature, the Eastern Slavs had to defend the right to a place under the sun, fighting off aggressive neighbors. Sometimes the enemy was so numerous and strong that it was possible to defeat him only by embarking on some kind of trick. That's why in their leaders on general meeting tribes - veche chose those who had not only great life experience, but also a resourceful mind and knew how to protect their fellow tribesmen in case of danger, preserve belongings and domestic animals. During the raids of foreigners, the Eastern Slavs literally showed miracles of disguise. They became almost invisible, making themselves the simplest camouflage of branches and grasses and thus merging with the foliage of trees. While women, children and old people hid in the forests, the men, skillfully depicting a stampede, lured the enemy into the nearest swamp or forced them to step on turf-covered poles during the pursuit - an unsteady flooring over a deep ravine with sharp stakes at the very bottom. Once in such traps, the enemies found inevitable death there.
The Eastern Slavs were pagans. Magi or priests, as intermediaries between formidable deities and people, had considerable power. They were feared and revered, because they believed that both the life of the tribe and the fate of the individual depend on them. After all, they, according to the general opinion, can influence everything that happens, bring good to one, evil to others, cause rain and send drought. Of course, they do not do all this on their own, but calling either to the mighty Thunderer Perun, then to the lord of the sky and fire Svarog and his son Dazhdbog, in whose power the sun is, then to Veles, the patron saint of domestic animals and livestock.
Idols - figures of these deities carved from wood or carved from stone - were put up in a conspicuous place and sacrificed to them animals, birds, and sometimes people. Especially generous offerings were made if the tribe had any serious difficulties and it was necessary to appease the almighty gods, who are in charge of the forces of nature, and get help from them. If the gods remained deaf to the requests and pleas of people, this was regarded as bad sign. And then the search for the guilty began, that is, those who could somehow anger, anger the carriers higher powers. It also happened that all efforts to please the gods turned out to be in vain, and then the Slavs in their hearts scolded their idols, kicked them, spat in unison, beat them with sticks, thereby wanting to "punish" for the lack of help. Then, however, if something changed for the better, they came to the idols with gifts, wept and repented, showering blows and slaps on themselves and each other, humbly asked for forgiveness.
Like wild animals, the Eastern Slavs were able to "see" and "hear" with their nose. Not distinguishing colors very well, they, on the other hand, felt great smells and could, as it were, read information from the air from afar - for example, they could smell the approach of a stranger or a predatory animal. They knew the secrets of healing herbs and roots. With their help, they cured themselves of various diseases, stopped the blood, relieved toothache, and banished colds. In addition, each of them was a bit of a magician and, using the possibilities of his biofield, helped himself and his neighbor.
Until now, when a cuckoo crows in the forest, a Russian man mechanically asks her the question of how many more years he will live, and he doesn’t really think about why he does it. If you look, there are a lot of birds in the forest. Why, then, is it customary to address, as to a Vestal prophetess, precisely to the cuckoo, which, by the way, does not have the most impeccable reputation in the feathered kingdom? After all, she is a bad and frivolous mother, because she is too lazy to hatch chicks, preferring to throw her eggs into other people's nests. Much more trust deserves, for example, a hardworking woodpecker. But it did not turn out so that human longevity would be determined by its knock, more precisely, by the number of blows of the iron beak of this tireless bird. What is the reason that the choice fell on the cuckoo as a soothsayer? But the fact is that this ancient custom came from distant ancestors, in ancient times. old times who believed that with the onset of spring, the ancestor of all living things turns into a cuckoo - slavic god Genus. According to pagan beliefs, both the replenishment of the family and the duration of people's lives depended on him.
The veneration of Perun today is reminiscent of the superstitious habit of some people knocking on wood three times, so as not to frighten off good luck. Once upon a time, in order to avoid the evil eye, they knocked not on any tree, but only on oak, because this forest giant was directly connected with the Slavic Zeus Perun - the lord of thunder and lightning, thunder and rain, hail and snow. Noticing that lightning strikes the oak tree most often - Perun's arrows, people began to plant sacred oak groves in honor of the main deity and arrange sanctuaries, where, not far from the idol-thunderer, which was a statue carved from wood with a silver head standing on iron legs, beard and mustache of gold, an unquenchable fire burned. By the way, the eternal flame in memory of the fallen soldiers is a tradition originating precisely from those times. Bloody sacrifices were made to Perun: birds, domestic animals, and sometimes even humans. So, there was a rule: every hundredth prisoner from an enemy tribe was stabbed with a sword and the iron legs of a wooden idol were stained with the blood of the slain.
Paganism also lives in modern Russian. Name Likho - one of the characters Slavic mythology- a huge, ugly and very strong one-eyed giantess, who turns people away from good deeds, turns their life into an unbearable torment, and even does not stop at cannibalism, has become a household word, synonymous with the words "trouble", "woe", "misfortune". Pagan origin verb "shun". It means fearfully avoiding something, shying away from communicating with someone. Chur (Tzur or Schur) - pagan god families, hearth in which the soul of a deceased relative, ancestor moved. The Slavs believed that churs take care of their loved ones, people of the same blood as them. In order for the chur to come to the aid of a person with whom he was connected by blood ties, it was necessary to turn to him with the words: “Chur me!”, That is, “Protect me, ancestor!”. When people said "chur", they protected themselves from something bad, from troubles, from possible danger, illness, from what threatened their lives.
From the times of the archaic, the so-called obscene vocabulary originates - foul language, especially rude abuse, known as obscene language, that is, indecently vile expressions with the mention of the word "mother".
However, if today these curses are unambiguously perceived as dirty insults, offensive to a person, degrading his dignity, then among the ancient Slavs they were speech phenomena of a different order and performed the protective function of spells, amulets, were designed to protect against infertility, to ensure the continuation of the family. And, if you look at it, all the words from a number of those that in our time are classified as obscene and unprintable, once upon a time, were ritual formulas appropriate for this or that occasion. So, wedding abuse was in use - a guarantee that the newlyweds would have healthy offspring, and swearing aimed at protecting, averting misfortune and shaming the enemy.
Behind the notorious swearing, our distant ancestors not only had in mind something innocent, harmless and pronounced without any restrictions, but they did not put into it the current purely obscene meaning. The mystery of the creation of life, according to their ideas, needed special exclamations that performed a sacral and magical role in the childbearing sphere. These spells were shouted out in a loud voice, or with a good obscenity, which, by the way, led some philologists to the idea of deriving the word "mat" from this basis as well.
In obscene vocabulary, everything is somehow reduced to the masculine and feminine and revolves around the main and axial, from which it is tied and composed new life. And in general, in the era of the archaic, there was nothing reprehensible or vicious in the mat, but after the baptism of Russia, it seemed to go underground. After all, everything pagan is now condemned as unclean, filthy. However, the former spells, as a strong and reliable love spell for conception, did not go out of use at all - they only gradually acquired a completely different color, fell into the category of shameful, indecent, forbidden words and expressions that were not at all before.
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From the book History, myths and gods of the ancient Slavs author Pigulevskaya Irina StanislavovnaThe Drevlyans lived along the Teterev, Uzh, Uborot and Sviga rivers, in Polissya and on the right bank of the Dnieper (modern Zhytomyr and western Kiev regions of Ukraine). From the east, their land was limited by the Dnieper, and from the north by Pripyat, beyond which the Dregovichi lived. In the west they bordered on dulebs,
From the book Great Secrets of Civilizations. 100 stories about the mysteries of civilizations author Mansurova TatianaThose same Drevlyans After the campaign of 944, Prince Igor no longer fought and even sent the squad of his boyar Sveneld to collect tribute, which began to affect the level of well-being of Igor's squad. In Igor's squad, they soon began to grumble: “The youths (combatants) of Sveneld
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author Niederle LuborDrevlyans This tribe lived, as the name itself testifies (from the word “tree”), in dense forests that stretched south from Pripyat, namely, judging by various later chronicle reports, between the Goryn River, its tributary Sluch and the Teterev River, for which
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From the book Encyclopedia Slavic culture, writing and mythology author Kononenko Alexey AnatolievichGlades "... the Slavs came and sat down along the Dnieper and called themselves glades" ("The Tale of Bygone Years"). The tribal union of the glades occupies in the annals special place. Polyany played the first role in the process of creating the Kiev state. Polyansky princes Kyi, Shchek and Khoriv built Kyiv.
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From the book What was before Rurik author Pleshanov-Ostoya A.V.The Drevlyans The Drevlyans have a bad reputation. The princes of Kiev 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
Drevlyans - one of the tribal associations of the Eastern Slavs, in the VI-X centuries. occupying the forest strip of the Dnieper right bank and the basin of the Teterev, Pripyat, Uzh, Ubort, Stviga (Sviga) rivers, in Polissya and on the right bank of the Dnieper.
Drevlyans - one of the tribal associations of the Eastern Slavs, in the VI-X centuries. occupying the forest strip of the Dnieper right bank and the basin of the Teterev, Pripyat, Uzh, Ubort, Stviga (Sviga) rivers, in Polissya and on the right bank of the Dnieper. In the west, they reached the Sluch River and the river. Goryn, northern and northwestern Pripyat, where they bordered on the Volhynians and Buzhans, in the north - with the Dregovichi, to the south, some researchers settled the Drevlyans up to Kyiv.
However, the decisive role in determining the boundaries of the settlement of the Drevlyans belongs to the burial mound archaeological material.
The analysis of burial mound materials was carried out in 1960 by I.P. Rusanova, who singled out mounds with a purely Drevlyanian feature - a thin layer of ash and coals above the burial. From here, the disputed border lay along the Teterev River and in the interfluve of the Teterev and its tributary Rostavitsy.
Probably, in the 6th-8th centuries, the burial rite was the main one. Here, the burnt bones, together with the ashes, were piled into clay urns belonging to the ceramics of the Prague-Korchak type. But there is a part of the burials in barrowless burial grounds. Later burials of the 8th-10th centuries. are characterized by urnless burial of burnt ashes.
Burials, as a rule, do not contain any inventory. Rare finds of ceramics were stucco vessels of the Luka-Raikovets type and early pottery pots. Ring-shaped temporal rings with converging ends were also found.
In the 10th century, the rite of burning was replaced by the rite of burial on the horizon with the pouring of a mound with a layer of ash from a funeral pyre. The direction of the head is often western, only in 2 cases with the head to the east. Quite often there are coffins made of two longitudinal long boards and 2 short transverse ones, there were burials covered with birch bark. Poor inventory is in many ways similar to Volyn.
The kurgan burial rite finally disappears in the 13th century, like the rest of the Slavs.
The Drevlyans, who lived in dense forests, got their name from the word "tree" - a tree.
The Drevlyans had many cities, the largest of them - Iskorosten (modern Korosten, Zhytomyr region, Ukraine) on the Uzh River, which played the role of the capital, Vruchiy (modern Ovruch). In addition, there were also other cities - Gorodsk near the modern. Korostyshev, several others, whose names we do not know, but their traces remained in the form of settlements.
"The Tale of Bygone Years" reports that the Drevlyans "sedosh in the woods ... live in a beastly way, living like a beast: I kill each other, I eat all unclean, and they did not have a marriage, but a maiden was washed away by the water." The Drevlyans had a developed tribal organization - their reign and squad.
Archaeological monuments of the Drevlyans are the remains of numerous agricultural settlements with semi-dugout dwellings, barrowless burial grounds, burial mounds and fortified "grads" - the mentioned Vruchiy (modern Ovruch), the settlement near the town of Malin and many others.
At the end of the 1st millennium AD. e. the Drevlyans developed agriculture, handicrafts were less developed. The Drevlyans for a long time resisted their inclusion in the Kievan Rus and Christianization. According to chronicle legends, during the time of Kiy, Shchek and Khoriv, “in the Drevly” there was their reign, the Drevlyans fought with the glades.
The Drevlyans were the most hostile East Slavic tribe in relation to the glades and their allies, who formed the ancient Russian state with the center in Kyiv.
In 883, the Kyiv prince Oleg the Prophet imposed tribute on the Drevlyans, and in 907 they participated in the Kiev army in a campaign against Byzantium. After Oleg's death, they stopped paying tribute. According to the annals, the widow of the one they killed Kiev prince Igor Olga destroyed the Drevlyan nobility, stormed several cities, including the capital of the Drevlyans Iskorosten, and turned their lands into a Kiev inheritance with the center in the city of Vruchiy.
Name of the Drevlyans last time found in the annals (1136), when their land was donated by the Grand Duke of Kiev Yaropolk Vladimirovich to the Church of the Tithes.
Russian Civilization
The Drevlyans are an East Slavic people, a tribe that lived on the territory of the present Ukrainian and Zhytomyr woodlands, as well as Right-Bank Ukraine along the Terev, Uzh and Uborot rivers. From the east, their territory was limited by the Dnieper, and from the north by the Pripyat, beyond which the Dregovichi lived. The Drevlyans became one of the tribes that became part of Russia and provided the basis for the modern ethnic group.
The origin of the Drevlyans and life before joining Russia
The Drevlyans coexisted with many ancient tribes: from the east with the glades, from the west with the Volyns and Buzhans, and in the north with the Dregovichi. Dulebs are considered the ancestors of the Drevlyans; the neighboring tribes also belong to the same group - Dulebskaya. The Drevlyans got their name presumably due to the fact that they settled mainly in dense forests and led a sedentary lifestyle, as close as possible to nature and land. So, representatives of this tribe lived in semi-dugouts, there were only a few “grads” fortified with stone, such as the city of Vruchiy (modern Ovruch in Ukraine) or the capital of the Drevlyans - the city of Iskrosten (modern Korosten in Ukraine) on the Uzh River, where ancient settlement of the Drevlyans.
During the period of their independence, the Drevlyans managed to create a fairly developed tribal structure, which can be attributed to the early state. According to data that can be read in the Tale of Bygone Years, the Drevlyans had their own principality with a single prince at the head, in particular, a certain prince Mal and the commonwealth are mentioned in the annals " best husbands", managing the Drevlyansk land.
The Drevlyans in the annals were often compared with their neighbors, the glades, and this comparison showed the Drevlyans as a rather wild people who kill and eat animals, constantly fight among themselves and lead a rather wild lifestyle. However, modern scholars have come to the conclusion that such a description given in the annals is not entirely true.
The reason lies in the fact that the chroniclers were Christians, and the Drevlyans were pagans, which in the Christian tradition is almost tantamount to savagery. In addition, the constant confrontations between the Russian princes (as well as the confrontation between the Russians and the Pechenegs, Khazars, Polovtsy and other nomads) and the Drevlyansky led to the fact that this people was considered wild and warlike.
The Drevlyans were an independent tribe for several centuries, from 6 to 10, but in 946 they finally lost their independence and became part of the Old Russian state, merging with the local population. There is evidence that for quite a long time the Drevlyansk nobility (prince Mal mentioned above) did not want to be part of Ancient Russia and resisted this with all their might. The Drevlyans sought to defend their independence and avoid the adoption of Christianity, which would immediately follow the unification.
Drevlyans and Russia
In 883, the Drevlyans first became dependent on Russia - Kyiv was captured by Prince Oleg ( Prophetic Oleg), who forced the Drevlyans living nearby to pay tribute to him and obey his laws. A little later, in 907, the Drevlyans even took part in Oleg's famous military campaign against Byzantium. After the tragic death of Oleg, the Drevlyans refused to continue paying tribute, but the new prince Igor quickly suppressed the nascent uprising and re-subdued the Drevlyans, forcing them to continue paying.
In 945, Igor tried to collect a double tribute from his subordinates, which the Drevlyan prince Mal, who did not want to pay any money to the Russian princes, strongly disliked, the Drevlyans rebelled in 946. By order of Mala, in the vicinity of the Drevlyansk city of Iskrosten, Igor was killed. The murder of Igor by the Drevlyans was the result of the uprising of the Drevlyans and was the reason for the start of another war between the Drevlyans and the Russians, which was undertaken by Igor's widow, Princess Olga.
The war between the Drevlyans and Princess Olga ended with the complete subjugation of the Drevlyans. Their cities were devastated and burned, the capital of the Drevlyan state, the city of Iskrosten, was destroyed in 945-946, and all the Drevlyan nobility was exterminated. The people actually remained beheaded. All the lands that previously belonged to the Drevlyans now became part of the Old Russian state and were turned into the Kyiv inheritance from the centers in the city of Vruchiy, where Oleg and Svyatoslav later reigned.
From that moment on, the Drevlyans finally lost their independence.
Drevlyans in chronicles
The Drevlyans were mentioned not only in Russian chronicles. In particular, the campaign of the Drevlyans against Igor and his murder were reflected in the annals of Constantinople. According to these chronicles, Emperor John corresponded repeatedly with Prince Svyatoslav and quite often mentioned in his letters the Drevlyans and how they killed Svyatoslav's father, Igor. After Olga's campaign against the Drevlyans, information about this people is still found in various chronicles for some time, but gradually fades away.
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 Kiev 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 Kiev 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 Kiev 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. Soon after this, the union of tribes was freed from the power of the Kiev 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 Kiev. 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 Kiev 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.
Drevlyans.
An East Slavic tribe that lived in the Ukrainian Polissya, Zhytomyr region and in the west of the Kiev region. From the east, their land was limited by the Dnieper, and from the north by Pripyat, beyond which the Dregovichi lived. They finally became part of Kievan Rus under Olga in 946.
VI century - 884.
912 - 946
Language(s) Old Russian
CapitalIskorosten
Continuity: Descended from Dulebs, moved to Kievan Rus
The name Drevlyane, according to the chronicler, was given to them because they lived in the forests. The chronicles speak of the origin of the Drevlyans, along with the Dregovichi, the Polyans (Dnieper), and the Krivichi (Polochans), from the tribes of White Croats, Serbs and Khorutans, who came in the 6th-7th centuries.
period of independence
Describing the manners of the Drevlyans, the chronicler exposes them, in contrast to their contemporaries, the glades, as extremely rude people: “I live as a beast, kill each other, eat everything is unclean, and they don’t have a marriage, but a maiden is washed away by the water.” Neither archaeological excavations, nor the data contained in the chronicle itself, confirm such a characterization. From archaeological excavations in the country of the Drevlyans, it can be concluded that they had a well-known culture. The established funeral rite testifies to certain religious ideas about afterlife. The absence of weapons in the graves testifies to the peaceful nature of the tribe; finds of sickles, shards and vessels, iron products, remnants of fabrics and skins indicate the existence of arable farming, pottery, blacksmithing, weaving and leather crafts among the Drevlyans; many bones of domestic animals and spurs indicate cattle breeding and horse breeding; many foreign items made of silver, bronze, glass and carnelian indicate the existence of trade, and the absence of coins suggests that the trade was barter.
The political center of the Drevlyans in the era of their independence was the city of Iskorosten, later this center, apparently, shifted to the city of Ovruch.
K. V. Lebedev. Prince Igor collects tribute from the Drevlyans in 945
According to the chronicle, in ancient times the Drevlyans offended their neighbors of the meadows; but already Oleg (882-912) subordinated them to Kiev and imposed tribute on them. Among the tribes subordinate to Oleg and participating in his campaign against the Greeks, the Drevlyans are also mentioned; but they did not submit without a stubborn struggle. After Oleg's death, they made an attempt to free themselves; Prince Igor defeated them and imposed an even greater tribute on them.
When the Kiev prince Igor tried to collect a second tribute from the Drevlyans (945), they rebelled and killed the prince. The leader of the Drevlyans Mal made an attempt to woo Igor's widow, Princess Olga, but she, driven by a sense of revenge, deceived Mal and his matchmaker's embassy, burying them alive in the ground. After that, Olga, together with Igor's young son Svyatoslav, went to war against the Drevlyans and defeated them. Igor's widow, Olga, the chronicle ascribes the final subjugation of the Drevlyans.
Svyatoslav Igorevich planted (970-977) his son Oleg in the Drevlyane land. Vladimir the Holy (c. 960-1015), distributing volosts to his sons, planted (c. 990-1015) Svyatoslav in the Drevlyansk land, who was killed (1015) by Svyatopolk the Accursed. Since the time of Yaroslav the Wise (1016-1054), the Drevlyane land has been part of the Kiev principality.
Antonovich V. B. “Antiquities of the South-Western Territory. Excavations in the country of the Drevlyans” (“Materials for the Archeology of Russia”, No. 11, St. Petersburg, 1893).
Belarusians - article from encyclopedic dictionary Brockhaus and Efron
ANNIVERSARY ACCORDING TO THE LAVRENTIAN LIST
Solovyov S.M., History of Russia since ancient times.
Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg: 1890-1907.
