Ancient peoples on the territory of Russia began resettlement and habitation of land long before the emergence of statehood. That is why the first and greatest prince of Russia - Rurik - made a huge amount of effort to create a single state, native to many peoples.
The first attempts to study the ancient Russian people
The main feature of the study of the Slavic population is that there is a continuous dynamics of the movement of interethnic ties. What does it mean? Studying the main peoples of Russia, it is important to comprehensively investigate this issue. For example, focusing on the inhabitants of the Central region, it is necessary to pay attention to the nationalities of Eastern Europe and Siberia.
All studies of the pre-revolutionary system were aimed at studying the united Russian people. At the same time, the influence of other nationalities, if not excluded from science, was indirectly mentioned, but not as a leading issue, but only as a formality. The only officially recognized fact is that in indigenousthe peoples of Russia gradually joined the Finno-Ugric tribes.
Only at the beginning of the twentieth century, Russia began to be seen as a historically multinational state. It is impossible to hide the fact that such conclusions were made under the influence of European scientists. Over time, the works of Orthodox authors began to be published, telling that the indigenous peoples of Russia were developing under the influence of ancient biblical sources. “The Russian population is people with divine recognition of the most ancient Kievan origin” - this is how one of the church leaders, A. Nechvolodov, interpreted the story. He included the Scythians, Huns and other peoples who existed separately as part of the formation.
It was in the twentieth century that such a direction of historical thought as the Eurasian theory appeared.
Folk origins: how was it?
Several centuries before the beginning of our era, a great historical event took place: iron began to be actively used instead of bronze. The widespread use of iron ore has given not only the ubiquity of the raw materials used, but also the durability of the tools made.
During this period, there is a gradual cooling of the climate, accompanied by an increase in the amount of fertile land favorable for animal husbandry, the vital activity of microorganisms developing in the water space changes, which positively affects the composition of rivers, lakes, streams, and so on.
With the advent of iron ore, the ancient peoples on the territory of Russia began their active development. An increase in the number of tribes usingiron as the main material. During this period, ancient Russia is characterized by the settlement of the ancestors of the Slavic people, Latvians, Estonians, Lithuanians, northeastern Finno-Ugric tribes, as well as other small communities that inhabited the space of Central Russia and Eastern Europe.
The "Iron Revolution" raised the level of agriculture, accelerated the clearing of forests for planting, facilitated the hard field work of plowmen. The ancient peoples of Russia, whose names are unknown to history, gradually began to show features that were distinctive from the general mass of the population. The formation of each nation occurs under the influence of settled life, the development of cattle breeding and agriculture. Moreover, settling in different parts of the world, the Slavic peoples passed on household skills to their foreign-speaking neighbors - Merya, Chud, Karelians, and so on. This fact explains the large number of words in the Estonian language of Slavic origin related to the subject of agriculture.
First settlements
The first prototypes of cities where the peoples and ancient states of Russia lived and formed existed in the first millennium BC. A similar trend can be traced both in Northern Europe and in the Urals - the visual border of the settlement of the Slavic peoples.
Isolation by forest expanses contributed to the destruction of the tribal communal way of life. Now the ancient peoples on the territory of Russia lived in cities or firmaments, which significantly weakened the blood ties of the once large and powerful community. Gradually, the resettlement forced the peoples to leave the placeof their habitat and move slowly in a southeasterly direction. Abandoned castles were called settlements. Thanks to such settlements and buildings, the history of Russia from ancient times has many facts and scientific knowledge. Now scientists can judge the everyday life of people, their upbringing, education and work. During the construction of cities, the first signs of the stratification of society appear.
The birth of the Slavs as a separate ethnic group
Many scientists are of the opinion that the Slavs are mostly of Indo-European origin. Thus, the most ancient people in Russia originally inhabited not only the territory of the modern state, but also most of Eastern Europe and southern countries up to modern India.
The common origin of several peoples gives a commonality of modern languages. Despite the different beginning of development, in the languages of neighboring foreign countries one can find a huge number of words similar in meaning and pronunciation. Today, Celtic, Germanic, Slavic, Romance, Indian, Iranian and other language families are considered related.
Assimilation of the Slavs
No nation has survived as a primitive ethnic group. During the period of active settlement of the Slavs, assimilation with neighboring tribes and communities took place.
The history of the state and peoples of Russia is silent about further facts of the development of nationality. In this regard, over the centuries, scientists-figures have put forward various hypotheses. For example, the first chronicler Nestor believed thatThe Slavic people originally lived on the border of Central and Eastern Europe, and later this ethnic group occupied the Danube River basin along with the Balkan Peninsula.
Scientists - representatives of the bourgeoisie put forward an erroneous theory that the ancestral home of the Slavs is an insignificant part of the territory of the Carpathians.
The peoples of Russia: briefly about the Slavs of the second millennium BC
The sages of antiquity considered the Slavs the greatest people in the history of the past, present and future. Facts have come down to our times that the people of Slavic origin were formed under the influence of Antes, Venets, Veneds and so on.
The Greeks defined the territory of the Slavs as follows: in the west - to the Elbe; in the north - to the B altic Sea; in the south - to the Danube River; in the east - to the Seim and Oka. Moreover, ancient Greek travelers, thinkers and scientists were not limited to these data. In their opinion, the Slavic peoples living in Russia could settle far to the southeast, thanks to the vast and fertile forest-steppe zone. It was the sedentary lifestyle in the rich forests of the country, active hunting and fishing, gathering herbs and berries that caused the Slavs to mix with the Sarmatians.
According to Herodotus, a people known as the Scythians lived on the territory of Eastern Europe. It is worth noting that this definition meant not only Slavic tribes, but also many other ethnic groups.
What is North-Eastern Europe rich in?
Ancient peoples on the territory of Russia are not limited to mentioning peopleSlavic origin. The second place in terms of the number of tribes and settlement within the borders of the state is occupied by the Lithuanian-Latvian groups.
This people belonged to the tribes of the Finno-Ugric language family: Finns, Estonians, Mari, Mordovians and so on. The indirect national peoples of Russia led a way of life similar to the Slavic tribes. Moreover, related languages contributed to the active strengthening of the above ethnic communities.
A distinctive feature of Latvians and Lithuanians was that they devoted most of their time and attention to horse breeding rather than to agriculture. At the same time, the construction of reliable settlements-fortifications was carried out. Judging by the stories of travelers, Herodotus called the Lithuanian-Latvian groups Tissagets.
Ancient Russia: Scythians and Sarmatians
Scythians and Sarmatians are one of the few representatives of the Iranian language family who left only a trace in history. Presumably, these peoples occupied the territory of southern Russia up to the Altai.
The communities of the Scythians and Sarmatians had many features similar to other tribes, but they never represented a single political principle. As early as the fifth century BC, social stratification took place on the territory of the settlement of the tribes, and aggressive wars were also waged. Gradually, the Scythians conquered the Black Sea tribes, made many trips to the Balkan Peninsula, Asia, Transcaucasia.
Amazing legends go about the we alth of the Scythians. An incredible amount of gold was laid in the royal graves. In this regard, wewe can trace a fairly strong stratification of society, as well as the power of the elite class.
An interesting fact is that the Scythians were divided into several groups-tribes. For example, in the valley of the eastern Dnieper, nomadic variations of nationality lived, in turn, the western side of the river was inhabited by Scythian farmers. As a separate group, the royal Scythians stood out, traveling between the Dnieper and the lower Don. Only here you can find the richest burial mounds and powerfully fortified settlements.
The history of Russia since ancient times also provides for surprisingly dynamic unions of the Scythian-Sarmatian tribes. Gradually, such mergers gave rise to the statehood of the slave system. The first state of this nationality was formed by the Sind tribes, the other - as a result of the Thracian wars.
The most stable Scythian state was formed in the third century BC, its center was the Crimea. On the site of modern Simferopol, the main character of all legends was located - the city with the beautiful name of Naples - the capital of the Scythian kingdom. It was a powerful center, fortified with stone walls and equipped with huge grain stores.
The Scythians were both engaged in agriculture and paid special attention to cattle breeding. In the first centuries BC, handicraft activities actively developed among the tribes. The bright and extraordinary culture of the Scythians is still being studied by historians. This people gave an immense amount of ideas for painting, sculpture and otherartistic creations. Echoes of ancient life are kept in museums today.
There is an opinion that the Scythian tribes were not completely destroyed from the face of the earth. The presence of a crisis in the slave-owning society is obvious, but the likelihood of assimilation with the Slavic tribes is very high. This fact is evidenced by the origin of many words of the modern Russian language. If the Slavs used "dog", along with this expression, the Scytho-Iranian "dog" is used; the common Slavic "good" is equated with the Scythian-Sarmatian "good" and so on.
The Scythians should not be considered direct descendants of the Slavic people, however, echoes of the ancient wonderful culture are still present.
Black Sea coast: Greek roots
The peoples that existed on the territory of the Black Sea coast, several centuries before our era, were captured by Greek bandits. For decades, city-states with ancient Greek culture developed here. Slave relations developed.
Ancient Russia learned a huge amount of invaluable experience from Greek life. Particularly developed in this part of the state were agriculture, catching and s alting of fish, winemaking, processing of wheat brought from the Scythian lands. The ceramic craft has become widespread and popular. In addition, the experience of trade with overseas states was adopted. Valuable Greek jewelry fell into use by the Scythian kings and was recognized along with local riches.
Cities formedon the territory of the former Greek policies, adopted a high level of culture of this people. Countless temples, theaters, sculptures and murals adorned the everyday life of the Greeks. Gradually, the cities were filled with barbarian tribes, who, oddly enough, revered ancient Greek culture, preserving art monuments, and also studying the writings of philosophers.
The ancient population of Russia: the peoples of the Bosporan kingdom
The northern Black Sea region began to develop in the fifth century BC. Here was formed the only large slave-owning state called the Bosporus - modern Kerch. A major political entity lasted only 9 centuries, after which it was destroyed by the Huns in the fourth century BC.
Assimilated with the Greeks, the peoples of the Northern Black Sea region gradually settled on the territory of the Kerch Peninsula, the lower reaches of the Don. They also occupied the Taman Peninsula. The active development of peoples was noted in the eastern part of the state, from the union of tribes, the nobility and the aristocracy gradually emerged, which interacted with the we althy representatives of the Greek population.
The first impetus to the destruction of statehood was the uprising of slaves led by Savmak. During this period, Ancient Russia was filled with disunity and uprisings. Gradually, the Black Sea region was completely captured by the Getae and Sarmatians, and subsequently almost completely destroyed.
The formation of the rich Russian history of modern Russia took place not only under the influence of the peoples livingin the Central region. Representatives of other nationalities also had a significant impact. To date, it is impossible to accurately determine whether the Slavs were an independently developing people or whether someone from outside influenced their formation. It is this question that modern historical science is called upon to resolve.
