Where did the Slavic people come from? There are quite a few theories about this. In this article we will try to understand what ethnogenesis is. We will find out what hypotheses about the origin of the Eastern Slavs exist.
What is ethnogenesis?
Peoples did not arise in one moment. Different people united in small groups, which gradually expanded. Small communities grew into entire tribes. In their life together, they had their own foundations, habits, rules and traditions that distinguish them from other groups.
What is ethnogenesis? This is the initial stage in the formation of peoples. The process of transition from individuals to a group with the same way of life, one culture. The formation of an ethnos, that is, a people, occurred due to various reasons and factors.
Each nation has a different history of origin. The emergence and formation of a nationality, a nation can be influenced by the geographical environment, religion, neighboring groups of people. Settlers and invaders also contribute to the development of the people. Some peoples, such as Germans, Americans, Swiss, have emerged as a result of an external challenge.
Slavs
In cultural-In ethnological terms, a people is a community of people, which is united by certain characteristics. Previously, they were blood kinship, but over time, language, religion, historical past, traditions and culture, territory began to be considered such signs.
Europe is home to about 70 nations, some of which are Slavs. They represent the largest ethnic community. Settled in Central, Southern, Eastern Europe, the Far East and the Asian part of Russia. They number approximately 350 million worldwide.
Distinguish between the eastern, southern and western branches of the Slavs. Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians are classified as Eastern Slavs because of the closer cultural and linguistic connection. According to some researchers, the ancestors of these peoples were the main population of the Old Russian state in the Middle Ages, representing one nationality.
Ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs
Under the name of the Wends, the Slavs appear in various written sources as early as the 1st millennium BC. Prior to this, there were several pre-Slavic ethnic cultures (for example, Przeworsk), which, most likely, gave rise to these peoples. However, the problem of the ethnogenesis of the Slavs still remains open. And now the opinions of scientists on this matter differ.
It is believed that the Slavs belong to the Indo-European language family, which includes many other peoples. And the ancestors of the Slavs come from the central and eastern regions of Europe. According to various hypotheses, the ancestral home of the Slavs isthe territory between the Oder and the Vistula, the Middle Danube, Pripyat Polissya, etc.
It is assumed that they lived in small tribes, after the first millennium they began to unite into larger formations - tribal unions. Gradually, they were divided into western and eastern branches, and over time, a southern branch appeared. Eastern Slavs are often called Ants. They lived next to the tribes of Avars, Goths, Khazars, Pechenegs, Polovtsians.
All these tribes had a significant impact on the ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs. Between them often there were wars, raids. The Khazars even managed to impose tribute on the Slavs. Researchers do not exclude the possibility that modern East Slavic peoples may be descendants of joint marriages between Slavs and East European tribes.
Theories of the origin of the Eastern Slavs
There are various hypotheses about the origin and distribution of the Slavic tribes. Thus, the autochthonous theory of ethnogenesis reports that the tribes of the Eastern Slavs did not come from other territories, but arose in the valleys of the Dnieper and Dniester.
According to the migration theory, during the Great Migration of Peoples in the III-VII centuries, they settled in the territory between the Dnieper and the Dniester, in the eastern valleys of the Dnieper. Later, some of them spread to the territories of southern Ukraine, the Southern Bug and modern Moldova. The other part, faced with the Varangians, stopped in the north-west of Russia and founded Veliky Novgorod, also occupied the territory of Beloozero and the Tver region.
There is also a mixed theory that suggests that migration among the Slavs took place. Only not everyone moved, some remained in the territory of their historical homeland, continuing their usual way of life.
Conclusion
What is ethnogenesis? This is the process of the birth and formation of the people. Although the term includes its further development. The study of ethnogenesis includes the study of the linguistic, cultural, historical characteristics of a certain people, their way of life, geographical location and movement throughout existence.
The origin of the Eastern Slavs still leaves more questions than answers. There are many theories, historical and semi-legendary documents about the formation, but there is no consensus in scientific circles.
