The tribal center of the Drevlyans was the city. Ancient Slavic tribes

The Drevlyans are 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 Polesie and on the right bank of the Dnieper.

The Drevlyans are one of the tribal associations 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 Polesie 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 the Volynians and Buzhans, in the north - with the Dregovichi, to the south, some researchers settled the Drevlyans all the way to Kyiv.

However a vital role determining the boundaries of the settlement of the Drevlyans belongs to the Kurgan archaeological material.

The analysis of the burial mound materials was carried out in 1960 by I.P. Rusanova, who identified mounds with a purely Drevlyan 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 Teterev and its tributary Rostavitsa.

Probably, in the 6th-8th centuries, the kurgan burial rite was the main one. Here the burnt bones along with the ashes were placed in clay urns belonging to the Prague-Korchak type of ceramics. But there are some burials in burial grounds without mounds. Later burials of the 8th-10th centuries. characterized by urnless burial of burnt ashes.

Burials, as a rule, do not contain any grave goods. Rare finds of ceramics were molded vessels of the Luka-Raikovetsky type and early pottery pots. Signet-shaped temple rings with converging ends were also found.

In the 10th century, the ritual of burning was replaced by the ritual of placing a corpse on the horizon with the pouring of a mound with a layer of ashes from the funeral pyre. The direction of the head is most often western, only in 2 cases the head is directed to the east. Quite often there are coffins made of two long longitudinal boards and 2 short transverse ones; there were burials covered with birch bark. The poor inventory is in many ways similar to the Volynian one.

The Kurgan burial rite finally disappeared in the 13th century, like among the rest of the Slavs.

The Drevlyans, who lived in dense forests, got their name from the word “tree” - tree.

The Drevlyans had many cities, the largest of which were Iskorosten (modern Korosten, Zhitomir region, Ukraine) on the Uzh River, which played the role of the capital, Vruchy (modern Ovruch). In addition, there were other cities - Gorodsk near modern. Korostyshev, several others, whose names we do not know, but traces of them remained in the form of ancient settlements.

“The Tale of Bygone Years” reports that the Drevlyans “greyed in the woods... I lived in a bestial manner, living bestially: I killed each other, I ate everything uncleanly, and they never had a marriage, but I snatched a girl from the water.” The Drevlyans had a developed tribal organization - their own reign and squad.

Archaeological sites The Drevlyans are the remains of numerous agricultural settlements with semi-dugout dwellings, mound-free burial grounds, mounds and fortified “hails” - the mentioned Vruchiy (modern Ovruch), a settlement near the city of Malina and many others.

At the end of the 1st millennium AD. e. The Drevlyans had developed agriculture, but less developed crafts. Drevlyans for a long time resisted their inclusion Kievan Rus and Christianization. According to chronicle legends, during the times of Kiy, Shchek and Horiv, ​​“the Drevlyans” had their own reign, the Drevlyans fought with the glades.

The Drevlyans were the most hostile East Slavic tribe towards the Polans and their allies, who formed ancient Russian state with center in Kyiv.

In 883, the Kiev prince Oleg the Prophet imposed tribute on the Drevlyans, and in 907 they participated in Kyiv army on the campaign against Byzantium. After Oleg's death, they stopped paying tribute. According to the chronicle, the widow of the Kyiv prince Igor, whom they killed, Olga destroyed the Drevlyan nobility, took several cities by storm, including the capital of the Drevlyans, Iskorosten, and turned their lands into a Kyiv appanage centered in the city of Vruchiy.

Name of the Drevlyans last time found in the chronicle (1136), when their land was donated by the Grand Duke of Kyiv Yaropolk Vladimirovich to the Tithe Church.

Russian Civilization

Polyana, Drevlyans and others

Archaeological data suggests that the Eastern Slavs - the ancestors of today's Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians - began to settle in the territory of modern Western Ukraine and Eastern Dnieper region from about V to VI and 7th centuries AD, and in the upper reaches of the Neman, on the banks of the Volga and Lake Peipsi they settled no 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 flow of large and small rivers of the East European, or Russian, Plain.

Chronicles (descriptions of events by 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 ​​their settlement: “... the Slavs came and sat down along the Dnieper and called themselves glades, and others were Drevlyans, because they settled in the forests, and others settled between Pripyat and the Dvina and were called Dregovichs, others sat along the Dvina and were called Polochans, after a river flowing into the Dvina, called Polota... The same Slavs who settled near Lake Ilmen, They were called by their own name - the Slavs - and built the city. And they called it Novgorod. And others settled 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 Polyans, Drevlyans, Dregovichs, Polotsk, Ilmen Slavs, or Slovenes, there were the following large associations of East Slavic tribes: Volynians (aka Buzhans), Croats, Tivertsy, Ulichs, Radimichi, Vyatichi and Krivichi with a branch from them by the Northerners.

Slavic village

Excavations by archaeologists confirmed this chronicle information and significantly expanded and clarified it, making it possible to map the settlement zones of the Eastern Slavs.

The main occupations of the Polyans, Drevlyans and other tribes mentioned above are quite traditional for all Slavs. This is agriculture and cattle breeding. Moreover, the first one plays noticeably big 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 what fun there was on rare, but therefore especially long-awaited holidays! Songs alternated with games, competitions in strength, dexterity, and dexterity. And then everyday life came again with its own affairs and worries.

The Eastern Slavs avoided settling in open areas. Their homes were small square dugouts, securely hidden in the forest by the crowns of trees and dense bushes. Perhaps it would be more accurate to call the houses of the Eastern Slavs not dugouts, but half-dugouts, since they were sunk into the ground no more than a meter, the roofs above them were attached to poles and support pillars. The walls were of two types: logs and made of rods coated with clay. The floor was either left earthen, covered with pine spruce branches, or an adobe covering was made. A family of no more than six or seven people could fit in such a hut. The dugout house was heated by a fireplace or a stove built in the corner of stones. In addition to the forest, the favorite location of East Slavic villages were steep, inaccessible river banks.

Among the most ancient utensils discovered during excavations by scientists, primitive ceramics predominate - pot-shaped items made by hand, without a potter's wheel, from clay mixed with sand, with protrusions widening towards the top and vertical notches. Either for ritual purposes, or to impart strength, the ceramics also included crushed parts of insects. The dishes of later times (VIII-IX centuries) include clay vessels made on a potter's wheel and decorated with carvings or wavy lines drawn as if with a comb. Around the same time, round bronze plates appeared in everyday use, and among 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 women's jewelry, known as temple rings, which Slavic women used as hairpins to beautifully style their hair. It's interesting that everyone East Slavic tribe the temporal rings had their own shape: in the form of a spiral, an open circle with curved ends, trefoils, fancy flowers on a lush stem, solar disk with diverging rays, products made from a twisted bundle of wire or thin metal plates with twisted pendants, etc. Based on these differences, scientists determine where which tribe lived.

The community in which the Eastern Slavs lived was not tribal, but territorial. This means that it was an association on common territory small families engaged in collective labor.

Clearing suitable land for fields and pastures required a group effort. But, in addition to fighting nature, the Eastern Slavs had to defend their right to a place in the sun, fighting off aggressive neighbors. Sometimes the enemy was so numerous and strong that it was possible to defeat him only by resorting to some kind of cunning. That is why in their leaders general meeting tribe - the veche chose those who possessed not only great life experience, but also with a resourceful mind and knew how, in case of danger, to protect his fellow tribesmen, preserve belongings and domestic animals. During the raids of foreigners, the Eastern Slavs literally showed miracles of camouflage. They became practically invisible, making themselves the simplest camouflage from branches and grass and thus merging with the foliage of the trees. While women, children and old people were hiding in the forests, the men, skillfully feigning a stampede, lured the enemy into the nearest swamp or forced them to step on turf-covered poles during pursuit - an unsteady flooring over a deep ravine with sharp stakes at the very bottom. Having fallen into 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 depended on them individual person. After all, they, according to the general opinion, can influence everything that happens, bring good to some, evil to others, cause rain and send drought. Of course, they do not do all this themselves, but calling either to the mighty thunderer Perun, then to the lord of heaven and fire Svarog and his son Dazhdbog, in whose power the sun is, or to Veles, the patron saint of domestic animals and livestock.

Idols - figures of these deities carved from wood or stone - were displayed in a prominent place and animals, birds, and sometimes people were sacrificed to them. Especially generous offerings were made if the tribe had any serious difficulties and it was necessary to appease the almighty gods in charge of the forces of nature and obtain help from them. If the gods remained deaf to the requests and pleas of people, this was regarded as a bad sign. And then the search began for the culprits, that is, those who could somehow anger or 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 scolded their idols in their hearts, kicked them, spat on them together, hit them with sticks, thereby wanting to “punish” them for the lack of help. Then, however, if something changed for the better, they came to the idols with gifts, cried and repented, showering themselves and each other with blows and slaps, humbly asking for forgiveness.

Like wild animals, the Eastern Slavs knew how to “see” and “hear” with their noses. Not distinguishing colors very well, they had a great sense of smell 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 medicinal herbs and roots. With their help, they treated themselves for various diseases, stopped bleeding, relieved toothache, and drove away colds. In addition, each of them was a bit of a magician and, using the capabilities of his biofield, helped both 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 does not really think about why he is doing this. If you look at it, there are a lot of birds in the forest. Why is it customary to address the cuckoo as a vestal prophetess, which, by the way, does not have the most impeccable reputation in the kingdom of birds? After all, she is a bad and frivolous mother, because she is lazy to hatch chicks, preferring to throw her eggs in other people's nests. The hardworking woodpecker, for example, deserves much more trust. But it did not turn out that human longevity would be determined by its knock, or 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 fortuneteller? But the thing is that this ancient custom came from distant ancestors, who in ancient times believed that with the onset of spring, the ancestor of all living things, the Slavic god Rod, turns into a cuckoo. According to pagan beliefs, both the replenishment of the family and the longevity of people’s lives depended on it.

The veneration of Perun today is reminiscent of the superstitious habit of some people of knocking on wood three times so as not to scare away good luck. Once upon a time, in order to avoid the evil eye, they knocked not on every tree, but only on oak, because this forest giant was directly connected with the Slavic Zeus Perun - the lord of thunder and lightning, thunderstorms and rain, hail and snow. Having noticed that it was the oak tree that lightning - Perun's arrows - most often hit, people began to plant sacred oak groves and build sanctuaries where, not far from the thunder idol, which was a statue carved from wood standing on iron legs with a silver head, a beard and mustache made of gold, an unquenchable fire burned. By the way, Eternal flame in memory of fallen soldiers - a tradition that originates 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 the enemy tribe was stabbed with a sword and the iron legs of a wooden idol were stained with the blood of the killed person.

Paganism also lives in modern Russian. Name of Likho - one of the characters Slavic mythology- a huge, ugly and very strong one-eyed giantess, turning people away from good deeds, turning their lives into an unbearable journey through torment, and even not stopping at cannibalism, has become a household word, synonymous with the words “trouble”, “grief”, “misfortune”. The verb “to shun” is of pagan origin. This means fearfully avoiding something, avoiding communication with someone. Chur (Tsur or Shchur) is the pagan god of the family, the hearth, into which the soul of a deceased relative or ancestor moved. The Slavs believed that the Churs took care of their loved ones, people of the same blood as them. In order for a 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: “Church me!”, that is, “Protect me, ancestor!” When people said “chur”, they protected themselves from something bad, from troubles, from possible danger, illness, from something that threatened their lives.

The so-called obscene vocabulary also originates from archaic times - foul language, especially coarse language, known as obscenities, that is, indecent and vile expressions with the mention of the word “mother”.

However, if today these curses are clearly perceived as dirty insults, offensive to a person, humiliating his dignity, then the ancient Slavs had them speech phenomena of a different order and performed the protective function of spells, amulet, were designed to protect against infertility and ensure 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 one or another occasion. So, wedding swearing was in use - a guarantee that the newlyweds would have healthy offspring, and military swearing had the goal of protecting, averting trouble and disgracing the enemy.

Behind the notorious obscenity, our distant ancestors not only meant 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 played a sacred-magical role in the reproductive sphere. These spells were shouted in a loud voice, or swear words, which, by the way, led some philologists to the idea of ​​deriving the word “mat” from this basis as well.

In obscene vocabulary, everything one way or another comes down to masculine and feminine principles and revolves around the main and axial, from which it is tied and composed new life. And in general, in the archaic era there was nothing reprehensible or vicious in swearing, but after the baptism of Rus' it seemed to go underground. After all, everything pagan is now condemned as unclean and filthy. However, the previous spells, as a strong and reliable love spell for conception, by no means went out of use - they only gradually acquired a completely different coloring, falling into the category of shameful, obscene, forbidden words and expressions, which they had not been at all before.

From the book History, myths and gods of the ancient Slavs author

Glades inhabited the lands around Kyiv, Vyshgorod, Rodney, Pereyaslavl, settled throughout west bank Dnieper. They got their name from the word “field”. Cultivation of fields became their main occupation, therefore, they had a well-developed Agriculture and cattle breeding. According to

From the book History, myths and gods of the ancient Slavs author Pigulevskaya Irina Stanislavovna

The Drevlyans lived along the rivers Teterev, Uzh, Uborot and Sviga, in Polesie and on the right bank of the Dnieper (modern Zhitomir and west Kyiv region Ukraine). From the east their lands were limited by the Dnieper, and from the north by Pripyat, beyond which the Dregovichi lived. In the west they bordered with Dulebs,

From the book Great Secrets of Civilizations. 100 stories about the mysteries of civilizations author Mansurova Tatyana

Those 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. Igor’s squad soon began to grumble: “The youths (combatants) of Sveneld

From the book The Hidden Life Ancient Rus'. Life, customs, love author Dolgov Vadim Vladimirovich

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From the book The Beginning of Russian History. From ancient times to the reign of Oleg author Tsvetkov Sergey Eduardovich

Glades, Ledzyany, Kujavy Originality early history The Russian land was that the leading role in its creation was played by three ethnic components: the Slavs, the remnants of the local Iranian-speaking (“Scythian-Sarmatian”) population and the Russes. In the VI-VII centuries. steppe and forest-steppe zones

From the book Gold of the Scythians: secrets of the steppe mounds author Yanovich Viktor Sergeevich

5. Polyane It is assumed that the name of one of the Slavic tribes - Polyane - comes from the fact that their main occupation was agriculture. However, at the same time, the chronicle glades were not, as one might expect, inhabitants of open steppe spaces and even forest-steppes. They

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by Niderle Lubor

Drevlyans This tribe lived, as evidenced by the name itself (from the word “tree”), in dense forests stretching south from Pripyat, namely, judging by various later chronicle reports, between the Goryn River, its tributary Sluch and the Teterev River, behind which already

From the book Slavic Antiquities by Niderle Lubor

Polyane Compared to the Drevlyans neighboring tribe the glades were located at much more high level culture due to the fact that the influence of Scandinavian and Byzantine cultures has long collided on the land of the glades. The land of glades extended along the Dnieper to the south of Teterev

author

From book Slavic Encyclopedia author Artemov Vladislav Vladimirovich

author

The Drevlyans were engaged in agriculture, beekeeping, cattle breeding, and developed trades and crafts. The lands of the Drevlyans constituted a separate tribal principality headed by a prince. Big cities: Iskorosten (Korosten), Vruchy (Ovruch), Malin. In 884, the Kyiv prince Oleg conquered

From the book Encyclopedia of Slavic culture, writing and mythology author Kononenko Alexey Anatolievich

Polyans “...the Slavs came and sat along the Dnieper and called themselves Polyans” (“The Tale of Bygone Years”). The tribal union of the glades occupies in the chronicles special place. Polyana played the first role in the process of creating the Kyiv state. The Polyana princes Kiy, Shchek and Khoriv built Kyiv.

author Pleshanov-Ostaya A. V.

Polyane Polyane lived along the Dnieper and had no relation to Poland. It is the Polyans who are the founders of Kyiv and the main ancestors of modern Ukrainians. According to legend, three brothers Kiy, Shchek and Khoriv lived in the Polyan tribe with their sister Lybid. The brothers built a city on the banks of the Dnieper and

From the book What happened before Rurik author Pleshanov-Ostaya A. V.

Drevlyans The Drevlyans have a bad reputation. Kyiv princes 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

The settlement of the Dulebs went from west to east, through Polesie towards the Dnieper. The area of ​​the densest settlement of Dulebs was the upper and middle reaches of the Sluch, the interfluve of the Goryn and Sluch and the upper reaches of the Teterev, a tributary of the Dnieper. To the north of Teterev, settlements cover the basin of its tributary Irsha and the upper reaches of the Uzha. Here clearly lay the lands of several tribes. The Korczak group of settlements was located on Teterev, which gave its name to the archaeological culture of the Slavs. From the Duleb tribes compactly settled in these areas, the tribal union Drevlyans Initially, the Drevlyans were a tribe (or already a number of tribes) that settled in the forest areas of this region, directly approaching the Anta forest-steppe. In the Drevlyan tribal union, two centers of princely power were later distinguished. One was the area where Irsha and Uzha converged, where the princely cities of Malin and Iskorosten were then located. The other was the lands higher along the Uzh and north of Zherev, where the city of Ovruch was located. The latter region was still sparsely populated during the Korczak period. But there were already isolated Slovenian settlements quite far to the north from there, on Slovechna, which flows into the Pripyat.

The Drevlyans buried their dead mainly in mounds, but sometimes in ground burial grounds. From the 8th century Only one dead person was buried in the mounds, as a rule, without an urn. The burning was usually carried out externally, but sometimes on site. In this case, the deceased was placed on boards or in a wooden block, positioned along the east-west line.

“The arrival of Slavic settlers to the Kyiv region from the west was reflected in several legends, starting with the ancient Russian “Tale of Bygone Years.” In one of Ukrainian texts(of the later ones - the most logically constructed) unambiguously tells about military actions. A certain “lord” incredibly oppressed people, “took away everything he could from them.” In the end, the “subjects” rebelled. The combined forces of the rebels defeated the “pan” with his army and drove them to the site of present-day Kyiv, where they destroyed their oppressor and his associates. This, again, extremely late legend vaguely reflected the initial power of the Ants (felt by the neighboring Dulebs) and the fall of this power as a result of the war, which led to the settlement of the Kiev region by the Slovene-Dulebs.”(S. Alekseev. “Slavic Europe in the 5th-8th centuries”)

According to the Tale of Bygone Years, “the Drevlyans lived in a brutal manner, living like bestials, and killed each other, eating everything unclean, and they did not have marriage, but they kidnapped maidens near the water.” Of course, Nestor is clearly exaggerating the colors here in order to emphasize the isolation of the glades, which claim primacy in the Slavic world. But besides political differences, he had other reasons for this. The Drevlyans differed from the Polyans in their way of life and even in appearance. Thus, the Volynians, judging by later medieval burials, had an elongated head, wide face, strongly protruding nose. This is a combination of Slavic broad-facedness with typical features We see all the Caucasoids among the southern and western neighbors of the Volynians - the Drevlyans, Ulics, Tiverts. They, especially the descendants of the Antes, differed only in their slightly less elongated heads. They differed significantly - with a narrower face, a slightly less protruding nose, a medium-sized head - only in the clearing. In my opinion, this is explained by the fact that the Antes and Dulebs in general and the Drevlyans in particular were Sarmatian tribes, unlike the Polyan-Scythians. And in this regard, it seems doubtful to me that the identification of the Drevlyans with the Agachirs described by the Bulgarian chroniclers Gazi-Baraj and Sheikh-Gali, which is made in the article “Drevlyans” by S.V. Trusov. “Agach” in Tatar means “tree,” but Trusov himself gives a different interpretation of this ethnonym based on Sheikh-Gali. Here it is:

“The first mention of them corresponds to 1300-1200 BC, when the ancient Greeks (Tyrians) left the territory of their North Black Sea homeland and moved to the Balkans and Greece: “The Tyrians carried away with them part of the Karasaklans, who isolated themselves led by the biy Asparchuk in the “Aka Dzhir” region on the Aka River and therefore called Akadzhirs.” As can be seen from the above passage, Gali, like Gazi-Baraj, who used ancient texts when compiling his history, even derives the etymology of the “Drevlyans” (Agachirs) not from the “tree”, but from the name of the area in the Oka (Aki) basin. Let me remind you that the Bulgars called ancient Rostov Dzhir. The Akadzhirs, according to Gali, were eternal allies of the Tyrians (Greeks): “With the help of these Akadzhir saklans, the Tyrians conquered Little Rum and the island of Kresh and mercilessly exterminated the Imen people there.” Here: Lesser Rum - the territory of Greece and Turkey; Crash – Crete; Imenians - Minoans.."

In the second century AD, the Rosomons, together with the Wends-Rugs, Polyans and others Slavic tribes formed the state of Rusalania, which existed for about eighty years and fell under the blows of the Goths. Most likely, the Drevlyans were part of this Rusalan Union, the capital of which was the city of Gelon, known since the time of Herodotus. After the defeat of the Rusalans, part of the Dulebs fell under the rule of the Visigoths, the other part, the eastern part, came under the rule of the Huns, immigrants from south coast Baltic and initially acted as allies of the Goths. (Read the article “The Huns”) It is possible that during the times of Rusalani and the Gothic-Hunnic rule, the Drevlyan-Dulebs and Goldescythians-Akadzhirs were perceived by the Bulgarian steppes precisely as Agachirs, that is, “foresters.” But the Bulgarians of that time spoke not Turkic or even Finno-Ugric, but a completely Slavic language, which, however, does not exclude the presence of both Ugric and Turkic clans in this originally Sarmatian ethnic group. (Read the article “Bulgarians”). The Bulgarians were far from being in the Hunnic union latest roles, just like the Akadzhirs, residents of the home, who entered the history of Europe as Akatsirs. Byzantine chroniclers note the presence of the Akatsir tribe in the post-Hunnic era precisely on the Don, but in in this case we're talking about simply about the ethnic unity of the inhabitants of Poochya and the Don region preserved from Scythian times. There is no need to talk about any Drevlyan, Ugric or Turkic presence in this case.

The Drevlyans appeared on the right bank of the Dnieper at the beginning of the 7th century, during the Avar-Anta war, and immediately the Savirs (descendants of the Sarmatians) and Rus (descendants of the Scythians) moved towards them from the Don, who by this time had merged into a single community of Rosomon-Rusalans. (Read the article “Polyane”) The Savir-Russians are headed by Prince Kiy. It is difficult to say whether this Kiy was a descendant of Kiy, the founder of Rusalania, known to us from the Book of Veles, or whether we are talking about a title that became a proper name. Most likely it’s the second one. Both Kiyas, Rusalan and Savir, founded cities called Kyiv, but if we are not talking about a proper name, but about a title, then most likely “Kyiv” is the residence of “Kiya”, supreme ruler. One way or another, but it is with the second, Savir or Don cue, that the origin is connected modern city Kyiv. The Dulebs in general and the Drevlyans in particular are included in this newly formed union along with the Polyans, Savirs and Rus. Apparently, the principle of this union is the same as in Masudi’s “Valinan”, already known to us. The new formation is headed by Kiy, aka “Makha”, that is Grand Duke, and all other leaders of tribes or tribal unions are called small princes or Mals.

Drevlyans

They lived along the rivers Teterev, Uzh, Uborot and Sviga, in Polesie and on the right bank of the Dnieper (modern Zhitomir and western Kyiv region of Ukraine). From the east their lands were limited by the Dnieper, and from the north by Pripyat, beyond which the Dregovichi lived. In the west they bordered with the Dulebs, and in the southwest with the Tivertsy. The main city of the Drevlyans was Iskorosten on the Uzh River; there were other cities - Ovruch, Gorodsk and others, whose names have not been preserved, but archaeologists have excavated settlements in the lands of the Drevlyans.

As Nestor says, their name comes from the fact that they lived in the forests. He also says that even in the time of Kiy, the Drevlyans had their own reign. At the same time, the chronicler treats them much worse than the glades. Here's what he writes: “And the Drevlyans lived according to bestial customs, they lived like bestials: they killed each other, ate everything unclean, and they did not have marriages, but they kidnapped girls near the water.” However, neither archaeological data nor other chronicles support such a characterization.

The tribe was engaged in arable farming, owned various crafts necessary for subsistence farming (pottery, blacksmithing, weaving, leatherworking), people kept domestic animals, and there were also horses on the farm. Finds of many foreign items made of silver, bronze, glass and carnelian indicate international trade, and the absence of coins suggests that trade was barter.

The Drevlyans for a long time resisted their inclusion in Kievan Rus and Christianization.

According to the legend of the Tale of Bygone Years, in ancient times the Drevlyans offended their neighbors, the Polans; but Prince Oleg the Prophet subjugated them to Kyiv and imposed tribute on them. They took part in Oleg's campaign against Byzantium, after his death they made an attempt to free themselves, but Prince Igor defeated them and imposed an even greater tribute.

In 945, Igor tried to collect tribute twice and paid for it.

“That year the squad said to Igor: “The youths of Seeneld are dressed in weapons and clothes, and we are naked. Come with us, prince, for tribute, and you will get it for yourself and for us.” And Igor listened to them - he went to the Drevlyans for tribute and added a new one to the previous tribute, and his men committed violence against them. Taking the tribute, he went to his city. When he walked back, after thinking it over, he said to his squad: “Go home with the tribute, and I I’ll come back and look again.” And he sent his squad home, and he himself returned with a small part of the squad, wanting more wealth. The Drevlyans, having heard that he was coming again, held a council with their prince Mal: ​​“If a wolf gets into the habit of the sheep, he will carry out the entire flock until they kill him; so is this one: if we don’t kill him, he will destroy us all.” And they sent to him, saying: “Why are you going again? I’ve already taken all the tribute.” And Igor did not listen to them; and the Drevlyans, leaving the city of Iskorosten, killed Igor and his squad, since there were few of them.

And Igor was buried, and his grave remains near Iskorosten in Derevskaya land to this day.”

After this, the leader of the Drevlyans, Mal, attempted to woo Igor’s widow, Princess Olga, but she, avenging her husband, deceitfully killed Mal and his matchmaking embassy, ​​burying him alive in the ground. After this, Olga, together with Igor’s young son Svyatoslav, went to war against the Drevlyans and defeated them. So in 946 the Drevlyans were included in Kievan Rus.

Svyatoslav Igorevich planted his son Oleg in the Drevlyansky land. Vladimir the Holy, distributing volosts to his sons, planted Svyatoslav in the Drevlyansky land, who was killed by Svyatopolk the Accursed.

The last time the name of the Drevlyans appears in the chronicle was in 1136, when their land was donated by the Grand Duke of Kyiv Yaropolk Vladimirovich to the Tithe Church.

From the book History, myths and gods of the ancient Slavs author Pigulevskaya Irina Stanislavovna

The Drevlyans lived along the rivers Teterev, Uzh, Uborot and Sviga, in Polesie and on the right bank of the Dnieper (modern Zhitomir and western Kyiv region of Ukraine). From the east their lands were limited by the Dnieper, and from the north by Pripyat, beyond which the Dregovichi lived. In the west they bordered with Dulebs,

From the book Great Secrets of Civilizations. 100 stories about the mysteries of civilizations author Mansurova Tatyana

Those 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. Igor’s squad soon began to grumble: “The youths (combatants) of Sveneld

From the book The Hidden Life of Ancient Rus'. Life, customs, love author Dolgov Vadim Vladimirovich

“The Drevlyans live in a bestial manner”: their own “strangers” The question of the attitude towards the population of foreign lands-volosts is closely connected with the problem of realizing the unity of Rus'. As is known, in the 12th century. Russian lands did not form a single monolithic state. At the same time they were not

From the book Ancient Slavs, I-X centuries [Mysterious and fascinating stories about the Slavic world] author Soloviev Vladimir Mikhailovich

Glades, Drevlyans and other 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 approximately from the 5th and in the 6th and 7th centuries of our

From the book Features of Folk South Russian History author Kostomarov Nikolay Ivanovich

I SOUTH RUSSIAN LAND. POLYANE-RUSS. DREVLYANE (POLESIE). VOLYN. PODOL. CHERVONAYA Rus' The most ancient news about the peoples who occupied the South Russian land is very scarce; however, not without reason: guided by both geographical and ethnographic features, it should be attributed to

From the book Slavic Antiquities by Niderle Lubor

Drevlyans This tribe lived, as evidenced by the name itself (from the word “tree”), in dense forests stretching south from Pripyat, namely, judging by various later chronicle reports, between the Goryn River, its tributary Sluch and the Teterev River, behind which already

From the book Slavic Encyclopedia author Artemov Vladislav Vladimirovich

From the book Encyclopedia of Slavic culture, writing and mythology author Kononenko Alexey Anatolievich

The Drevlyans were engaged in agriculture, beekeeping, cattle breeding, and developed trades and crafts. The lands of the Drevlyans constituted a separate tribal principality headed by a prince. Large cities: Iskorosten (Korosten), Vruchy (Ovruch), Malin. In 884, the Kyiv prince Oleg conquered

From the book What happened before Rurik author Pleshanov-Ostaya A. V.

Drevlyans The Drevlyans have a bad reputation. The Kyiv princes 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

The Drevlyans are one of the tribal associations of the Eastern Slavs, in the 6th-10th centuries. occupying the forest strip of the Dnieper right bank and the basin of the Teterev, Pripyat, Uzh, Ubort, Stviga rivers. In the west they reached the Sluch River, where they bordered the Volynians, and in the north - the Dregovichi. They had cities, the largest of which were Vruchy (Ovruch), Iskorosten (Korosten), which played the role of the capital.

The Drevlyans are a tribal union (Slavinia) of the Eastern Slavs of the 6th-9th centuries who lived in the forests west of the glades on the right bank of the Dnieper. After the uprising against Prince Igor (945) they were finally annexed to Kyiv.

Orlov A.S., Georgieva N.G., Georgiev V.A. Historical Dictionary. 2nd ed. M., 2012, p. 170.

Tretyakov P.N. Drevlyans

DREVLYANE - an East Slavic tribal association that occupied the territory of Polesie in the 6th-10th centuries, Right Bank Ukraine, to the west , along the rivers Teterev, Uzh, Ubort, Stviga. In the West, the lands of the Drevlyans reached the Sluch River, where the region began and Buzhans, in the North - to the territory of the Dregovichi. The archaeological monuments of the Drevlyans are the remains of numerous agricultural settlements with semi-dugout dwellings, moundless burial grounds, burial mounds (since the end of the 10th century - burials of corpses) and fortified “cities” - the chronicle Vruchiy (modern Ovruch), a settlement near the city of Malina, Gorodsk near Korostyshev and many other. The main city of the Drevlyans was Iskorosten (modern Korosten) on the Uzh River, where a compact group of ancient settlements has been preserved. At the end of the 1st millennium AD. e. The Drevlyans had developed agriculture, but less developed crafts. The chronicle's evidence of the backwardness of the Drevlyans ("living in a beastly manner") is not objective, but reflects the desire to discredit the Drevlyans, who for a long time resisted their inclusion in Kievan Rus and Christianization...

Drevlyans (ESRC).

DREVLYANES, a Russian tribal association that occupied in the VI-X centuries. territory of Polesie, Right Bank Ukraine, to the west glade, along the rivers Teterev, Uzh, Ubort, Stviga. In the west, the lands of the Drevlyans reached the river. Case where the area began Volynians And buzhan, in the north - to the territory Dregovichi. The archaeological monuments of the Drevlyans are the remains of numerous agricultural settlements with semi-dugout dwellings, moundless burial grounds, burial mounds (from the 10th century - burials of corpses) and fortified “cities” - the chronicle Vruchiy (modern.

Boguslavsky V.V., Burminov V.V. Drevlyans.

DREVLYANES - an East Slavic tribal association that occupied in the VI-X centuries. terr. Polesie, Right Bank Ukraine west of the glades, along the river pp. Grouse, Snake, Ubort and Stviga. In the west, D.'s lands reached the river. The case where the region of the Volynians and Buzhanians began; in the north - to the territory. Dregovichi. Archaeological D.'s monuments are the remains of numerous. agriculturalist settlements with half-dugout dwellings, moundless burial grounds, mounds with corpse burnings (from the end of the 10th century - corpses) and fortified “cities” - the chronicle.