Part of the common Slavic people, who settled in the early Middle Ages on the territory of the East European Plain, formed a group of East Slavic tribes (they differed markedly from the southern and western Slavs). This conglomerate coexisted with many different peoples.
The appearance of the Eastern Slavs
Modern archeology has all the necessary materials to cover in detail where and how the East Slavic tribes and their neighbors lived. How did these early medieval communities form? Even in the Roman era, the Slavs settled in the middle reaches of the Vistula, as well as the upper reaches of the Dniester. From here colonization began to the east - to the territory of modern Russia and Ukraine.
In the V and VII centuries. the Slavs who settled in the Dnieper region coexisted with the Ants. In the VIII century, as a result of a new powerful migration wave, another culture was formed - the Romny. Its bearers were northerners. These East Slavic tribes and their neighbors settled in the basins of the Seim, Desna and Sula rivers. From other "relatives" they were distinguished by narrow faces. Northerners settled in copses and fields cut by forests and swamps.
Colonization of the Volga and Oka
In the 6th century, Eastern Slavs began to colonize the future Russian North and the interfluve of the Volga and Oka. Here the settlers encountered two groups of neighbors - the B alts and the Finno-Ugric peoples. The Krivichi were the first to move to the northeast. They settled in the upper reaches of the Volga. To the north, the Ilmen Slovenes penetrated, who stopped in the White Lake region. Here they encountered Pomors. The Ilmenians also settled the Mologa basin and the Yaroslavl Volga region. Ritualism was mixed together with the tribes.
East Slavic tribes and their neighbors divided the modern suburbs of Moscow and the Ryazan region. Here the Vyatichi were the colonizers, and to a lesser extent, the Northerners and Radimichi. The Don Slavs also contributed. The Vyatichi reached the Prony River and settled along the banks of the Moscow River. Temporal rings were a characteristic feature of these colonizers. According to them, archaeologists determined the area of \u200b\u200bsettlement of the Vyatichi. North-Eastern Russia attracted settlers with a stable agricultural base and fur resources, which by that time had already been depleted in other regions of the settlement of the Slavs. The local residents - Mer (Finno-Ugrians) - were few in number and soon disappeared among the Slavs or were forced out by them even further north.
Eastern neighbors
Having settled in the upper reaches of the Volga, the Slavs became neighbors of the Volga Bulgarians. They lived on the territory of modern Tatarstan. The Arabs considered them the northernmost people in the world who professed Islam. The capital of the kingdom of the Volga Bulgarians was the city of Great Bulgar. His settlement has survived to this day. Military clashes between the Volga Bulgarians andEastern Slavs began already in the period of the existence of a single centralized Russia, when its society ceased to be strictly tribal. Conflicts alternated with periods of peace. During this time, the lucrative trade along the great river brought significant income to both sides.
The settlement of the East Slavic tribes on their eastern borders also ran into the territory inhabited by the Khazars. This people, like the Volga Bulgarians, was Turkic. At the same time, the Khazars were Jews, which was quite unusual for Europe at that time. They controlled large areas from the Don to the Caspian Sea. The heart of the Khazar Khaganate was in the lower reaches of the Volga, where the Khazar capital Itil existed not far from modern Astrakhan.
Western neighbors
Volyn is considered the western border of the settlement of the Eastern Slavs. From there to the Dnieper lived Dulebs - a union of several tribes. Archaeologists rank it among the Prague-Korchak culture. The union included Volhynians, Drevlyans, Dregovichi and Polans. In the 7th century they survived the Avar invasion.
East Slavic tribes and their neighbors in this region lived in the steppe zone. To the west began the territory of the Western Slavs, primarily the Poles. Relations with them escalated after the creation of Russia and the adoption of Orthodoxy by Vladimir Svyatoslavich. The Poles were baptized according to the Catholic rite. Between them and the Eastern Slavs there was a struggle not only for Volhynia, but also for Galicia.
Fighting the Pechenegs
OrientalSlavs during the existence of pagan tribes were not able to colonize the Black Sea region. Here ended the so-called "Great Steppe" - the steppe belt, located in the heart of Eurasia. The Black Sea region attracted a variety of nomads. In the 9th century, the Pechenegs settled there. These hordes lived between Russia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Alania.
Having gained a foothold in the Black Sea region, the Pechenegs destroyed settled cultures in the steppes. The Pridnestrovian Slavs (Tivertsy) disappeared, as well as the Don Alans. Numerous Russo-Pecheneg wars began in the 10th century. The East Slavic tribes and their neighbors could not get along with each other. The USE pays a lot of attention to the Pechenegs, which is not surprising. These ferocious nomads lived only at the expense of robberies and did not give rest to the people of Kiev and Pereyaslavl. In the 11th century, an even more formidable enemy, the Polovtsians, took their place.
Slavs on the Don
Slavs began to massively explore the Middle Don at the turn of the VIII - IX centuries. At this time, monuments of the Borshevsky culture appear here. Its most important attributes (ceramics, house-building, traces of rituals) show that the colonizers of the Don region originated from the south-west of Eastern Europe. The Don Slavs were neither Severians nor Vyatichi, as researchers assumed until recently. In the 9th century, as a result of infiltration of the population, the kurgan burial rite, which was identical to the Vyatichi one, spread among them.
In the 10th century, the Russian Slavs and their neighbors in this region survived the predatory raids of the Pechenegs. Many left the Don region andreturned to Poochie. That is why we can say that the Ryazan land was populated from two sides - from the southern steppes and from the west. The return of the Slavs to the Don basin occurred only in the XII century. In this direction in the south, the new colonialists reached the Bityug River basin and completely mastered the Voronezh River basin.
Next to the B alts and Finno-Ugrians
The Slavic tribes of Radimichi and Vyatichi coexisted with the B alts - the inhabitants of modern Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Their cultures have acquired some common features. No wonder. The East Slavic tribes and their neighbors, in short, not only traded, but also influenced each other's ethnogenesis. For example, in the settlements of the Vyatichi, archaeologists found neck hryvnias, unnatural for other related tribes.
A peculiar Slavic culture developed around the B alts and Finno-Ugric peoples in the region of Lake Pskov. Long rampart-shaped mounds appeared here, which replaced the soil burial grounds. These were built only by the local East Slavic tribes and their neighbors. The history of the development of funeral rites allows specialists to become more familiar with the past of the pagans. The ancestors of the Pskovians built above-ground log buildings with heaters or adobe stoves (contrary to the southern custom of semi-dugouts). They also practiced slash-and-burn agriculture. It should be noted that the Pskov long mounds spread to the Polotsk Dvina and the Smolensk Dnieper. In their regions, the influence of the B alts was especially strong.
The influence of neighbors on religion andmythology
Like many other peoples of Eastern Europe, the Eastern Slavs lived according to the patriarchal tribal system. Because of this, they arose and maintained the cult of the family and the cult of the funeral. The Slavs were pagans. The most important gods of their pantheon are Perun, Mokosh and Veles. Slavic mythology was influenced by the Celts and Iranians (Sarmatians, Scythians and Alans). These parallels were manifested in the images of the gods. So, Dazhbog is similar to the Celtic deity Dagda, and Mokosh is similar to Makha.
The pagan Slavs and their neighbors had much in common in their beliefs. The history of B altic mythology left the names of the gods Perkunas (Perun) and Velnyas (Veles). The motif of the world tree and the presence of dragons (the Serpent of Gorynych) brings Slavic mythology closer to the German-Scandinavian one. After a single community was divided into several tribes, beliefs began to acquire regional differences. For example, the inhabitants of the Oka and the Volga were uniquely influenced by Finno-Ugric mythology.
Slavery among the Eastern Slavs
According to the official version, slavery was widespread among the Eastern Slavs of the early Middle Ages. Prisoners were taken, as usual, in the war. For example, Arab writers of that time claimed that the Eastern Slavs took many slaves in wars with the Hungarians (and the Hungarians, in turn, took the captured Slavs into slavery). This nation was in a unique position. Hungarians by origin are Finno-Ugric peoples. They migrated to the west and occupied the territories around the middle reaches of the Danube. Thus, the Hungarians were exactly between the southern,Eastern and Western Slavs. In this regard, regular wars arose.
Slavs could sell slaves in Byzantium, Volga Bulgaria or Khazaria. Although most of them consisted of foreigners captured in wars, in the 8th century slaves appeared among their own relatives. A Slav could fall into slavery due to a crime or violation of moral standards.
Supporters of a different version defend their point of view, according to which slavery as such did not exist in Russia. On the contrary, slaves aspired to these lands because here everyone was considered free, because Slavic paganism did not consecrate lack of freedom (dependence, slavery) and social inequality.
Varangians and Novgorod
The prototype of the ancient Russian state arose in Novgorod. It was founded by the Ilmen Slovenes. Until the 9th century, their history is known rather fragmentarily and poorly. Next to them lived the Varangians, who were called Vikings in Western European chronicles.
Scandinavian kings periodically conquered the Ilmen Slovenes and forced them to pay tribute. Residents of Novgorod sought protection from foreigners from other neighbors, for which they called their commanders to reign in their own country. So Rurik came to the banks of the Volkhov. His successor Oleg conquered Kyiv and laid the foundations of the Old Russian state.
