The history of our country is riddled with mysteries and mysteries, in recent years, scientists have raised huge questions written by Nestor "The Tale of Bygone Years". Some inconsistencies and white spots have always been found in it, but for several years historians and archaeologists have been studying it quite seriously. And sometimes their discoveries contradict everything we knew before.
Recently, a new version of the appearance of the Slavs and the role of the Drevlyan tribes in the formation of the state has appeared in the scientific community. Yes, yes, you heard right - it was the Drevlyansk tribes. The very ones who paid tribute to Prince Igor and treacherously killed him. Is it treacherous? Let's look at the story from a slightly different angle.
"The Tale of Bygone Years": the official story
Modern Russians know almost nothing about who Prince Mal is. Despite the fact that this was a fairly well-known and influential historical figure, it is rather difficult to find references to her in ancient chronicles. The only known mention of thisman is "The Tale of Bygone Years", which describes the dialogue between Prince Igor and Prince Mal. As a result, the Drevlyansky ruler led the uprising and killed the practically unarmed Russian prince. And then he also wooed his wife Olga, for which he paid with his people and his own life.
Sad story, isn't it? Moreover, in the Russian chronicles, neither before this period nor after Prince Mal of the Drevlyansky is mentioned. He, along with his state, according to the chroniclers, seemed to have simply disappeared. But in reality, this simply could not be, and any educated person will see some understatement in this interpretation of historical facts.
Of course, sorting it out and finding out the truth is quite difficult. Moreover, behind the dust of centuries it is difficult to discern real events, but one can only put forward hypotheses. However, we will still try to collect bit by bit information from different sources in order to tell you who the real Prince Mal and his people, called in the "Tale of Bygone Years" wild and dense.
Drevlyane: history of the people and location
If you take a modern map, then the former territories of the Drevlyans will fall exactly on the Zhytomyr region. And the capital of the ancient state was the city of Iskorosten, which is now known as Korosten. Remember that this city is not too far from Kyiv. This fact will be very useful to us later.
Not much is known about the origin of the Drevlyans. According to one version, Prince Mal isa descendant of the Duleb people, and according to another, the Drevlyans were a fragment of the Goth tribe, who settled in these forests and tried with all their might to preserve their identity. Many scientists speak in favor of the latest version, because the fact that the tribes of the Goths passed through this land has long been known.
Besides, the Goths considered themselves descendants of the ancient and powerful ancestor Amal, so it is not surprising that the prince of the Drevlyans Mal, represented in Russian chronicles as practically a savage, considered himself equal to Princess Olga and confidently asked for her hand. It was this fact that always confused scientists, because if the princess had not perceived the Drevlyan ruler as an equal, she would not have communicated with the embassy from him and conducted any negotiations. This has always led historians to think about the hushing up of the noble origin of the prince in ancient sources.
Many historians who have studied ancient chronicles have come to a shocking conclusion - the Drevlyane principality, together with Iskorosten, was formed much earlier than Kyiv, the recognized founder of the Russian state. If you believe this version, then Kyiv was formed as a trading city, and only many years later the capital of the principality was moved here. But the Drevlyan prince Askold remained the ruler, who was active in trade and persuaded his people to Christianity.
It is worth noting that the Drevlyans were pagans, and they did not like such innovations of the prince. As a result of the conspiracy, Askold was killed by Prince Oleg, the father of the young Igor, and the Drevlyans were taxed and actually turned into vassals of Kyiv. An unusual take on history, isn't it?In this light, all subsequent events are seen as completely different than Nestor told about them.
Pedigree of Prince Mala
Prince Mal Drevlyansky was from a very noble family. This is evidenced by partially preserved chronicles in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Unfortunately, the Drevlyans themselves did not keep chronicles. This allowed Nestor to consider them an extremely wild people, but this fact greatly surprises modern historians and makes them start looking for the reasons for such defiant indifference to their history. It is known for certain that there is not a single written source in the Drevlyan language, although the tribes themselves quite actively communicated with the glades, Volyns and other neighbors who owned the written language and brought some information about the Drevlyans to this day.
According to this evidence, Prince Mal is a direct descendant of Kiy, elected to reign in Kyiv by the council of elders. All Drevlyans are descended from the great Beloyar Krivorg, who managed to build several fortresses that protected the vast lands of the principality. The name "Drevlyane" is not toponymic; many historians believe that it came from neighboring tribes. They carefully watched their formidable neighbors and were especially surprised at their desire to settle in the most dense forests. And so the name of the whole people appeared, which has survived to this day.
It is worth noting that, judging by the descriptions, the Drevlyans were remarkable for their remarkable strength and he alth. And their princes were quite tall and physically strong people, they alone went to the bear and could defeat him with their bare hands. Great-great-grandfather Mala PrinceThe warrior actively founded fortresses and stood up for the unification of his people. And the grandfather named Yartur became practically the educator of his grandson, since Mal's father died before his birth while still on the hunt. Almost nothing is known about the mother and father of the Drevlyansky prince, the only clarification of the chroniclers concerned the origin of the mother of Prince Mal. She was the daughter of Yartur, so the young prince was brought up by his grandfather in the traditions of his people from an early age.
Life and customs of the Drevlyans
The customs and traditions of the Drevlyans have survived to this day in the form of fragmentary and rather contradictory information. It is known that the Drevlyans welcomed polygamy and often stole brides from neighboring tribes. They lived in semi-dugouts, which were supplemented with log cabins made of solid logs. About fifty people lived in one house, all food supplies were stored in it and livestock lived. Slavery was accepted in the tribes, strong and he althy captives were sent to cut down forests and build fortresses.
A gloomy picture is emerging, because we can say that the described customs are typical only for the most backward and warlike tribes. However, do not jump to conclusions, our information may change your opinion about the Drevlyans. For example, any slave after five years became a free man and could choose where to live. Some returned to their homeland, while others chose a wife and became members of the tribe. But they could not have several wives; the Drevlyans limited the foreign clan to this. There could not be more offspring from a foreigner than purebred Drevlyans.
The legend of stealing girls is also onit doesn't really look that scary. The Drevlyans could kidnap the bride only with her consent. Usually in May there were brides, when young men, elders and beauties of a suitable age gathered in a large meadow. When the choice of a life partner took place, she came to her husband's house, which the elders had to testify. The marriage from that moment was considered concluded.
Perhaps this is surprising for modern people, but the Drevlyans could not get a divorce. From the moment of marriage, the young man was considered an adult and could serve in the tribe. The elders at the conclusion of the marriage stipulated the maintenance of the wife and future children. If a man violated these rules, he could be placed in the service of his family for the rest of his life. In some cases, he was expelled from the tribe, and a new husband was selected for the woman. A man could have as many wives as his income allowed. In the event of the death of the breadwinner, all wives were distributed among the husband's relatives by mutual agreement.
Murder, theft, adultery and other sins were severely punished. For example, for a murder, the perpetrator was tied face to face with his victim and buried alive. Other offenses were punished just as severely.
Religion and sacred knowledge of the Drevlyans
Drevlyane were pagans, they believed in the spirits of nature and plants. With special trepidation, they treated the ancient oaks. Some historians are seriously working on a version according to which the Druids and the Drevlyans have common roots. So many parallels involuntarily come to mind scientists. This is an extraordinary belief in the spirits of the forest, the absence of writing, cruelcustoms and even unprecedented knowledge in healing, which was not equal among all Slavic tribes.
Practically all diseases were treated with herbal infusions, ointments and decoctions. Some recipes, written down from the words of the Drevlyans, have survived to this day. From them one can judge how extensive knowledge of nature the Drevlyans had.
Prince Mal: years of life
To find the date of birth of the Drevlyansky prince, historians had to work hard. Mal is believed to have been born in 890. Yartur gave the name to his grandson, and, according to one version, he was so named because he was born small, but extremely strong. In addition, the chroniclers claim that from birth the boy had a hump. This circumstance is attributed to the fact that Mala's mother fell off her horse during pregnancy and harmed her unborn child.
Other sources claim that the boy was born small, but very he althy, and only at the age of three he fell off his horse. After that, his hump began to grow. Despite this, the prince had beautiful features and remarkable strength. Like his ancestors, he easily coped with the bear and was an extremely fair ruler.
Nothing is known about Prince Mala's reign. The Tale of Bygone Years presents him as a man who lured Prince Igor and cruelly de alt with him, raising an uprising in the year 945. A year later, he was killed by Igor's widow Olga, who avenged the death of her husband four times. And if we dive a little deeper into historical events, what will we see?
Prince Mal: Uprising of 945
In the history books, the actions of the prince are seen as a rebellion against the legitimate authority of the Kyiv ruler. But was it really so? We know that Prince Igor went on a campaign for tribute, which the tribes regularly paid him. The Drevlyans gave everything they had to the prince who arrived with the retinue and with a calm soul let him go. But Igor had few treasures received, he was seduced by the we alth of the Drevlyans and obeyed his governor Sveneld, who persuaded the prince to go to the Drevlyan land again.
How to consider it? At least as a violation of the contract, which the tribes sacredly adhered to. In addition, Nestor does not dwell on the personality of Sveneld, but it would be worth talking about him in detail. The fact is that the governor was considered the successor of Prince Oleg, who once defeated the Drevlyans. He was rather greedy, cruel and hypocritical. But he managed to ingratiate himself with Igor and even got the right to collect tribute from the Drevlyans. This is where the whole meaning of the tragedy lies - having received his own, the cunning governor decided to get more good by proxy and incited the prince to repeat the campaign. In addition, he persuaded Igor to send his squad home, so that, according to custom, he would not share the booty with the soldiers. What is this if not extreme greed?
It is not surprising that Prince Mal did not meet the Russian prince with kindness, but nevertheless tried to reassure him. After an unsuccessful attempt to stop the robbery of the Drevlyans (and this is exactly what it looked like), Igor was captured and executed as a criminal. According to the customs of that time, the Drevlyans had every right to punish the violator of the contract and the thief,who came to their land to take someone else's. According to the rules of the Slavs, these actions were legal. In this light, Prince Igor and Prince Mal look like completely different historical figures than Nestor imagined them.
The massacre of the Drevlyans: truth or fiction?
According to The Tale of Bygone Years, Prince Mal, getting rid of Igor, wooed his widow. This, if successful, could return the throne of Kyiv to him and conclude eternal peace between the peoples. In response, Olga twice exterminated the Drevlyansk ambassadors, it was a terrible massacre in which about five thousand people died. Further, the princess thought about how the Drevlyansky prince Mal should be punished. Voivode Pretich with his retinue offered Olga to gather an army and destroy Iskorosten together with the rebel. Which is what the grieving widow did - they burned the city, the Drevlyans were overlaid with a new tribute, and the head of Prince Mal was hoisted on a peak. Beautiful legend. But is it true?
In fact, historians very much doubt that everything Nestor described was true. And there are several reasons for this:
- Iskorosten stood not far from Kyiv (we talked about this at the beginning of the article) and Prince Mal could not help but know about the massacre of the first embassy;
- archaeologists could not find reliable evidence of the massacre in Kyiv and did not find the burial places of such a large number of people;
- according to the laws of that time, even "blood feud" could not justify the murder of five thousand people;
- historians have found mention that Princess Olga lived inIskorostene with his son (and the city was supposedly destroyed).
All this information makes us look for new facts about the fate of the Drevlyansky prince.
So what really happened to Prince Mal after 945?
But this is the biggest mystery in this story. Scientists put forward a hypothesis that is most similar to real events. According to the law of "blood feud", Princess Olga had to avenge the death of her husband, but she did not want to do this. Therefore, at a meeting with the Drevlyane embassy, an agreement was concluded, according to which the princess established a fixed tax for the Drevlyans and "fictitiously" destroyed Iskorosten, allegedly out of revenge. As a result, Olga approached the walls of the city, where there was no one from the nobility, and burned only a small part of it, without harming the Drevlyans.
According to some reports, since 947 Olga lived in the city she allegedly burned down. Local residents still show visiting tourists her baths and other places where, according to legend, the princess loved to walk.
And what about Prince Mal? Nothing is known about his fate, historians can only build versions and guesses of what happened to him. But to this day, people live in Korosten, whose surname came from the second name of the prince - Niskinich. They consider themselves descendants of a great princely family.
Where is the Drevlyansky prince immortalized?
Monument to Prince Mal installed in the town of Korosten. This amazing ten-meter copper figure,rises above the Uzh River, where, according to legend, Prince Igor, who was put on trial by the Drevlyans, was executed. Prince Mal is depicted in ancient Russian attire with a huge heavy sword, his eyes are fixed on the distance and filled with thoughts about his people.
Conclusion
It is not known whether the Drevlyansky prince actually looked like the way the sculptor depicted him. But his fate and deeds are extremely interesting for scientists. They offer a look at familiar historical events from a different point of view. Who knows, perhaps this is how it all happened back in 1945.
