Radimichi and northerners are their occupations. Slavic tribes and their settlement

Part 1.
Imagine that you and I are traveling through time, say, over the last two hundred years, making sequential stops every fifty years and at each stop exploring how Russian knowledge about their history of the 5th-10th centuries has changed. Most likely, we will come to sad conclusions. The farther from that time, the less knowledge becomes. It would seem that everything should be the other way around: science is developing, new research methods are being discovered, and fewer and fewer secrets remain in the world. That’s how it is, but not quite. More precisely, not at all. Why did I suggest virtual time travel to the last 200 years and not 400 or 500? Yes, because during this period it is possible to track what was taught in educational institutions, what research in this area was carried out by historians, what articles were published in historical journals.Read, don’t be lazy, there are a lot of books, magazines and other materials of that time on the Internet. You will be surprised. For example, the first thing that came across on the Internet was the book by Alexander Vasiliev “On the ancient history of the Northern Slavs before the time of Rurik, and where Rurik and his Varangians came from,” St. Petersburg, 1858. By the way, quite an interesting study. The book can be downloaded from this link.
What is now ALLOWED teaching our children the history of Rus' is strikingly different from what was taught and known 200 years ago. Moreover, if I may say so, this historical material is an insignificant fraction of the huge layer of our chronicle, and it is so perverted that there are more lies in it than truth. Official history simply became fixated on the “wild” Slavs and Rurik the Viking. Our people are smart enough to understand the delusion of the official version. Then the question arises - if everyone understands everything, then why are there no alternatives to this nonsense in textbooks and books? Yes, because in Russia there are enough people of biblical and semi-biblical nationalities who are in key positions in governing the country (government and ministries), managing the mass consciousness of people (culture, art, media, film industry, religion), who support the official history with undisguised enthusiasm , promote it in the media, pursuing only one goal - mass misinformation of citizens. Only the three-hundred-year “enlightenment” reign of the Romanovs should remain in people’s memory. Before them there was turmoil, before the turmoil, the “wild” tribes of the Slavs existed miserably in their ignorance on these lands. The only “bright spot” in those days was the baptism of Rus' by Vladimir. This is the “great” story that official history offers us, although there are enough facts and information about what happened before Rurik, what crimes the same Romanovs and the Baptist Vladimir committed against the Russian people, but no one even tries to put it all together and comprehend how whole.
Let's open a little the curtain of the chronicle of Rus' before the 10th century, tightly drawn by our historical science, because we need to know and remember our own history, otherwise we will be forced to learn someone else's history. In this article I will make a short overview of the Slavic peoples who inhabited the lands of modern Belarus, Ukraine and Russia until the 10th century. Many of us don’t even know what these peoples were called and where they lived, what they did, what kind of relationships they had with their neighbors. I don’t pretend to be true, because we know only crumbs. Starting with the Romanovs, and to this day, there has been an undeclared war, an imperceptible, methodical destruction of the millennia-long history of Rus', on the lands of which many peoples arose and disappeared...

Legends of hoary antiquity. IX V. BC - IV AD Ruskolan.
This is either a legend or a true story, that in the period from the 9th century. BC to IV AD There was an ancient Slavic state of Ruskolan (Roksolan), which stretched from the Carpathian Mountains through the Caucasus Mountains to the Caspian Sea and the Volga with its capital in the city of Kiyar - Kyiv Antsky, near Elbrus. There is mention of him in the Gothic, Bulgarian and Ayart chronicles. Our great scientist Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov also spoke about it. Ruskolan and its last ruler Bus Beloyar are mentioned in the book of Veles, which is not controversial from the point of view of authenticity. In 368, hordes of Goths (West Germanic tribes) attacked Ruskolan and killed Bus and 70 other princes. The Slavs won this war, but the victory came at too high a price. The former power was lost, the decline and subsequent collapse of Ruskolani began. After the Goths' campaign to the East, the great migration of peoples in Europe began. This directly affected the Slavs. Bus Beloyar and Ruskolani are written about in an article on our website, so I won’t repeat myself.

V - X century. Vedic Rus'.
At this time, the territory of the former Ruskolani (lower Volga region, Northern Caucasus and Azov region) was ruled first by the Turkic Khaganate (VI - VIII centuries), and then by the Khazar Khaganate with its capital Itil, which in 972 wiped out Svyatoslav the brave from the face of the earth. Every year, on July 3, grateful Slavs celebrate the great victory over the Judean Khazaria.
Some of the Ruskolan tribes remained in the Caucasus and assimilated with other tribes that came there a little later, which we now know as the Caucasian peoples. Look at the faces of their children. No, no, but you will find Slavic features in them with blue or gray eyes. Other tribes dispersed around the world, joining other Slavic unions. Let's list the main ones who lived in the 5th - 10th centuries on the territory of modern Ukraine, Belarus and Russia: Krivichi, Vyatichi, Radimichi, Northerners, Drevlyans, Polyane, Dregovichi, Slovenes, Ulichi, Tivertsy . Do you notice? Who's missing from this list? Where is the Rus tribe? But there was no such tribe, for they all called themselves Rus. Wasn’t it because they called themselves Rus that they considered themselves the heirs of Ruskolani? But really, read the chronicles of that time. They talk about the Rus and the Slavs, but there was no Rus tribe!?

KRIVICHI- East Slavic tribal union. Around the 5th century, from the territory of modern Poland through the eastern Baltic to the territory of modern Russia, the Slavic tribes of the Pskov long barrow culture (Slavic early medieval culture) penetrated, which gave rise to the KRIVICHS. The Krivichi tribes settled in the territories of what are now Vitebsk, Mogilev, Pskov, Bryansk and Smolensk regions, as well as eastern Latvia.
The Krivichi comprised two large groups: Pskov and Polotsk-Smolensk.
There are two versions of where the name came from - Krivichi. According to one version with the name, the deity Krive-Kriveite, according to another - with the name of the elder of the clan (high priest) Krive. It is no coincidence that Latvians still call Russians Krivichi (Latvian krievi), and Russia Krievija (Latvian Krievija).
Northern Krivichi founded Novgorod. The western Krivichi created Polotsk, the northern Izborsk, and the southern Smolensk (Gnezdovo). In the 10th century, Rurik’s successor, Prince Oleg, would introduce them into the Old Russian state. The Krivichi interacted closely with the Varangians.
VYATICHI, RADIMICHI, NORTHERN. They can probably be combined into one group based on origin. Around the end of the 7th - beginning of the 8th century, a large group of Slavs left the upper reaches of the Dniester to the northeast: the future Radimichi (led by Radim), the Vyatichi led by Vyatko and the northerners. The synthesis of newcomers and aboriginal tribes led to the formation of tribal associations of northerners, Radimichi and Vyatichi. This is how the Tale of Bygone Years speaks about it: “... the Radimichi were from the Poles and the Vyatichi were from the Poles. There were two brothers in Lyasi, - Radim, and the other Vyatko, - and Radim came to Sezha, and was called Radimichi, and Vyatko was gray with his family after his Father, from him he was called Vyatichi.
VYATICHI- East Slavic tribal union. In the 8th-9th centuries, from the banks of the Dniester, through modern Poland, between the Volga and Oka rivers and to the upper Don, an alliance of tribes led by elder Vyatko came; After his name, this people began to be called Vyatichi. The name Vyatko is a diminutive form of the name Vyacheslav. “Vyache” is an old Russian word meaning “more”, “more”. This word is also known in Western and South Slavic languages. Thus, Vyacheslav, Boleslav is “more glorious.” This confirms the hypothesis about the Western origin of the Vyatichi: the name Boleslav is most widespread among the Czechs, Slovaks and Poland.
The Vyatichi lived in the basin of the upper and middle reaches of the Oka and along the Moscow River. Archaeological excavations in the land of the Vyatichi discovered numerous craft workshops of metallurgists, blacksmiths, mechanics, jewelers, potters, and stone cutters. Metallurgy was based on local raw materials - swamp and meadow ores, as elsewhere in Rus'. Iron was processed in forges, where special forges with a diameter of about 60 cm were used. Jewelry making reached a high level among the Vyatichi. The collection of foundry molds is second only to Kyiv: 19 foundry molds were found in one place, Serensk. Craftsmen made bracelets, rings, temple rings, amulets, etc.
Vyatichi maintained its independence from Kievan Rus until the 12th century. Until the end of the 13th century, the Vyatichi preserved many pagan rituals and traditions, for example, cremation of the dead and the erection of small burial mounds over burial sites.
RADIMICHI - East Slavic tribal union . They have the same origin as the Vyatichi and Severyans. They lived in the main basin of the lower and middle Sozh and the interfluve of the Sozh, Desna and Dnieper. They bordered the Dnieper with the Dregovichi. At the same time, individual settlements of the Dregovichi people penetrated the Dnieper left bank, being located interspersed with the Radimichi ones. In the southeast, between the Sozh and Desna rivers, they bordered the northerners. The border with the Vyatichi passed in certain places of the Desna, and on its right tributaries.
Convenient river routes passed through the lands of the Radimichi, connecting them with Kiev.
The connection between the Radimichi and the indigenous local population of Posozhye, observed both in objects of material culture and in rituals, suggests that the newcomer Radimichi Slavs felt the influence of the Baltic population here.
The Radimichi and Vyatichi had a similar burial rite - the deceased was burned in a krada, the ashes were buried in a log house on a pillar - and similar female temple jewelry (temporal rings) - seven-pointed (among the Vyatichi - seven-pointed).
In 885, the Kiev prince Oleg established his power over the Radimichi, who had previously paid tribute to the Khazars.
NORTHERN(IMENKOVSKAYA CULTURE) this is another wave of Slavs from the upper reaches of the Dniester and it has reached the middle Volga region. But under the influence of Asian nomads they return to the west, where on their basis the Northerners are formed - an East Slavic tribal union that lived in the 8th - early 9th centuries. on the territory of modern Chernigov, Sumy and Kursk regions, along the Desna, Seim and Sula rivers. The origin of the name northerners is most likely Scythian-Sarmatian and is traced back to the Iranian word “black”, which is confirmed by the name of the city of northerners - Chernigov. The main occupation of the northerners was agriculture.
SLOVEN- an East Slavic tribal union on the territory of the Novgorod land, mainly in the lands near Lake Ilmen, adjacent to the Krivichi. According to the Tale of Bygone Years, the Ilmen Slovenes, together with the Krivichi, Chud and Meri, participated in the calling of the Varangians, who were related to the Slovenes - immigrants from the Baltic Pomerania. A number of historians consider the Dnieper region to be the ancestral home of the Slovenes, others trace the ancestors of the Ilmen Slovenes from the Baltic Pomerania, since the legends, beliefs and customs, the type of dwellings of the Novgorodians and Polabian Slavs are very similar.
DREGOVICHI- East Slavic tribal union. The exact boundaries of the habitat of Dregovichi have not yet been established. According to a number of researchers, in the 6th - 9th centuries the Dregovichi occupied territory in the middle part of the Pripyat River basin, in the 11th - 12th centuries the southern border of their settlement ran south of Pripyat, the northwestern - in the watershed of the Drut and Berezina rivers, the western - in the upper reaches of the Neman River . When settling Belarus, the Dregovichi moved from south to north to the Neman River, which indicates their southern origin.
STREETS - East Slavic tribal union that existed in the 9th - 10th centuries. The Ulichi lived in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, Bug and on the shores of the Black Sea. The center of the tribal union was the city of Peresechen. The Ulichi for a long time resisted the attempts of the Kyiv princes to subjugate them to their power. It is likely that the ethnonym Ulichi comes from the word "Angle". It is known that in 885 Oleg the Prophet fought with the Ulichs. In the 10th century, the Kiev governor Svineld kept the main city of Peresechen under siege for three years.
TIVERTS- an East Slavic tribe that settled in the 9th century in the area between the Dniester and Prut rivers, as well as the Danube, including along the Budjak coast of the Black Sea in the territory of modern Moldova and Ukraine. The name Tivertsi possibly goes back to the ancient Greek word Tiras, which they used to call the Dniester River. At the beginning of the 12th century, the Tivertsy left their lands due to the constant raids of the Pechenegs and Cumans, and subsequently mixed with other tribes.
POLANA- an East Slavic tribal union that lived in the forest-steppe region of the Dnieper region, between the mouths of the Desna and Ros rivers, in the area of modern Kyiv. The name “glades” explains the chronicle: “zane v poly sedyakhu,” that is, they lived in the fields. The area of the glades was part of the zone of ancient agricultural culture. According to chronicles and archival data, the glades were engaged in arable farming, cattle breeding, hunting, beekeeping and fishing. The remains of their settlements with small square dwellings were usually located on low river banks. The very origin of the glades remains unclear, since the territory of their settlement was at the junction of several archaeological cultures.
The glades contain burial mounds. Polyana jewelry is known from treasures of the 6th - 8th centuries, and spread in the 9th and 9th centuries. potter's wheel indicate a significant development of their crafts. The chronicle repeatedly noted that the economic and social order of the glades was at a higher stage of development than that of their neighbors. Polyana became the core of Russian statehood in the 8th - 9th centuries, which subsequently united other East Slavic regions around itself. The last time the name of the Polyans was mentioned in the chronicle was in 994, after which they were replaced by the ethnonym “Rus”.
DREVLYANES- East Slavic tribal union, which occupied in the 6th-10th centuries. the territory of Polesie, the Right Bank of the Dnieper, west of the glades, along the rivers Teterev, Uzh, Ubort, Stviga. In the west they reached the Sluch River. They had cities, the largest of which were Vruchy (Ovruch), Iskorosten (Korosten), which played the role of the capital. The area of residence of the Drevlyans corresponds to the area of the Luka-Raykovets culture. The name Drevlyans was given to them because they lived in forests. After the uprising against Prince Igor (945) they were finally annexed to Kyiv.
DULEBY- one of the largest tribal unions of the Eastern Slavs. During the great migration of peoples, the tribal union of the Dulebs broke up into Czech Dulebs and Dulebs in the Pripyat and Bug river basins, which at the end of the 8th or beginning of the 9th century. moved beyond Pripyat to the lands of the Dregovichs. The word "duleb" has become a common noun in many dialects. In the Bolkhov district of the Oryol province, the word “duleb” was Bolkhov’s nickname. The Ryazan word “duleby” means cross-eyed, odd-eyed. According to the chronicle, in the 7th century. Duleby suffered heavily from the invasion of the Avars; in 907 their squad took part in the campaign Oleg to Constantinople. In the 10th century the association apparently disintegrated, and its components entered into Kievan Rus under the name Volynians And buzhan. Archaeologists have discovered in the territories occupied by the Dulebs the remains of agricultural settlements with dwellings and burial mounds with remains of corpses burned. In the 10th century The association of Dulebs disintegrated, and their lands became part of Kievan Rus.
MIRACLE - a legendary tribe that lived in the north of the European part of Rus' and the Urals. This tribe is mainly known only from the legends of the Komi peoples. Currently, it is believed that Chud are the ancestors of modern Estonians, Vepsians, Karelians, Komi and Komi-Permyaks. The name is associated with their identification in ancient Rus' as a tribe with a wonderful language and wonderful customs, which were very different from other Slavic tribes.
To be continued.

By the middle and second half of the 1st millennium AD. e. refers to the formation of powerful Slavic tribal unions registered in the Tale of Bygone Years. Several such unions have developed on the territory of Belarus. The largest of them were Krivichsky, Dregovichsky, Radimichsky and Drevlyansky.

Map of the settlement of ancient Russian tribes.

The Russian chronicler gave the ethnogeography of the East Slavic tribes as it had developed by the 9th century. For the territory of Belarus, this was already the result of large and lengthy ethnic movements and complex relationships between Slavic tribes and the local population.

In the archeology of East Slavic tribes, the problem of establishing ethnic characteristics inherent in individual tribes and determining them based on their mapping is of undoubted interest.

tribal areas.

Attempts to clarify the areas of individual East Slavic tribes were made on the basis of relatively late archaeological data from the period of Kievan Rus. At this time, tribes as such no longer existed, but echoes of the former tribal division were quite clearly imprinted in material culture. In the mass of things and details of funeral rites, signs characteristic of certain tribes were identified.

The existence on the territory of the chronicle tribes of local groups of monuments that differ in detail, but coincide chronologically, makes it possible to identify within these “tribes” those primary and unknown tribes from the chronicle that, in the era of the disintegration of primitive communal relations, united into large unions.

One of the largest East Slavic tribes - the Krivichi, according to the initial chronicle, occupied lands in the upper reaches of the Volga, Dvina and Dnieper. In the middle and second half of the 1st millennium AD. e. in this territory, as well as in certain areas of Ponemanye and the Western Bug, long and elongated mounds were common, which were replaced in the 9th century. round mounds with single corpse burnings arrived. Elongated mounds are low, on average up to 1.5 m, mounds up to 20 m long and about 10 m wide. Under them, on the horizon, corpses are usually found to have been burned on the side. There are known finds of burnt bones placed in pots. In one of the mounds near the village of Khotenchitsy, burnt horse bones were found, poured into a hole under the mound and covered with an inverted vessel.

Long mounds have the form of a shaft, up to 80...100 m long. Their width can be 20 m or more, their height

Elongated and long mounds are very poor in finds. Usually these are rough molded pots, small bronze jewelry and costume details: trapezoidal pendants, spirals, bracelets, bells, buckles.

The oldest long mounds on the territory of Belarus date back to approximately the 7th century. The burial mounds in Budrany in Polotchina date back to this time, where a narrow-bladed ax was found, characteristic of antiquities of the 5th…8th centuries. There, between the villages of Mashuli and Shalteni, a long mound was excavated, dated by B-shaped buckles

Most researchers trace a continuity between elongated and long mounds, on the one hand, and ancient Russian burial structures, on the other. Both are characterized by ritual fire pits, preserved in the form of an ash-coal layer in an embankment or hole under the base of the mound. This circumstance makes it possible to connect long and elongated mounds with Krivichi. Recent studies of the Krivichy monuments lift the veil on the question of their origin. By the middle of the 1st millennium AD. e. territorial isolation of the Krivichi from the rest of the East Slavic tribes began to emerge. The oldest known long mounds are located, according to the observations of V.V. Sedov, in the area of settlement of the Pskov group of Krivichi. They are not found either in the Smolensk Dnieper region or in the Polotsk region. But even in the ancient Pskov region, the Krivichi culture was alien. The Krivichi brought with them the tradition of above-ground buildings in the form of adobe houses with stone ovens, previously unknown in those places.

The search for the original territory of formation of the Krivichi tribes has not yet been successful. Krivichi monuments older than those in the Pskov region have not yet been discovered anywhere. However, one cannot ignore the fact that in the last centuries of the first half of the 1st millennium AD. e. in the lands located between the Pskov region and the Upper Neman region, some kind of population movement is planned, accompanied by the death of fortified settlements. Many settlements with lined pottery in the western part of their distribution area ceased to exist in the 4th century. At the same time, settlements with hatched ceramics are spreading over the territories previously occupied by the Finno-Ugric population. Y. V. Stankevich noted in ceramics and other inventory of settlements of the 3rd...4th centuries. a combination of Slavic and East Baltic elements. According to V.V. Sedov, these phenomena should be explained by the penetration of the Krivichi tribes into this territory from the southwest, who in their movement carried away other tribes, in particular the tribes of hatched ceramics.

Temporal rings of Krivichi (1) and Radimichi (2). Granular Dregovichi bead (3).

The further history of the Krivichi is connected with their colonization of the Smolensk Dnieper region and the Polotsk region, where they penetrated approximately in the 7th century. n. e. It is interesting to note that in the oldest long barrows of the Polotsk and Smolensk regions there are no Baltic items. According to V.V. Sedov, this indicates that the Slavs initially did not mix with the local population here. But in the later long barrows of the 8th...9th centuries. Baltic things are known. The rural community, which by this time had replaced the clan community, obviously already admitted a foreign population into its composition. About the presence of a tribal organization among the Krivichi of the middle of the 1st millennium AD. e. nothing is known yet.

Echoes of the ethnic uniqueness of the Krivichi culture make themselves felt for a long time. In the monuments of the ancient Russian era, features that go back to the time of tribal isolation are clearly visible. This is manifested in the details of the funeral ritual, which retained its characteristics for a long time, and in the stability of the traditional forms of some things. Archaeologically, an easily detectable ethnic feature of the Krivichs is women's temple rings in the form of a wire bracelet with tied ends. Such rings were woven into the hair near the temples, usually three on each side. Mapping of mounds with Krivichi

The burial ritual and bracelet-shaped temple rings make it possible to establish much more clearly the area of settlement of the Krivichi. By the time it became part of the Old Russian state, the Krivichi lands occupied a significant part of northeastern Belarus. Their southern border apparently ran north of Minsk.

The initial chronicle names the area of settlement of another East Slavic tribe - the Dregovichi - as the land between Pripyat and the Western Dvina. A. A. Spitsyn was the first to notice that the mound antiquities of this territory are characterized by some stable features: the presence of wooden frames, or towers, inside the mound mounds, ring-shaped temple rings with overlapping ends (the so-called one and a half turn), large metal granular beads, known as beads "Minsk type". These signs have been confirmed by other researchers.

True, ring-shaped temporal rings are also known among the southern neighbors of the Dregovichi - the Drevlyans and Volynians. But neither the Krivichi nor the Radimichi have them, which allows us to consider them a sign that helps distinguish between the Dregovichi, on the one hand, and the Krivichi and Radimichi, on the other. In the same way, it is not only the Dregovichi people who have the custom of burying their dead in wooden houses. A similar ritual is also known among the Volynians. V.V. Sedov considers grainy beads to be a typical Dregovichi item. They are not found at all in the necklaces of other Eastern Slavs. They should obviously be considered the main ethnically defining feature of the Dregovichi.

Based on the mapping of archaeological data characteristic of the Dregovichi, V.V. Sedov defines the territory of the Dregovichi within the following boundaries: in the south - the Pripyat River, in the east - the Dnieper, in the northeast - the watershed of the Berezina and Druti, in the north - the line of the cities of Zaslavl - Borisov. The natural border in the west was a vast swampy area - the so-called Vygonovskoe swamp.

The oldest Slavic monuments in this territory are settlements of the 6th…8th centuries. with Prague type ceramics. All of them are located in the southern part of Dregovichi land.

It should be noted that settlements of this type are also characteristic of the territory of the Drevlyans and Volynians. It can be assumed that the Prague-type culture was the source for the Dregovichi, Drevlyans, Volynians and, possibly, for some other Slavic tribes. This is apparently evidenced by the above-mentioned common features in their funeral rites and inventory.

V.V. Sedov dates the beginning of the Dregovich colonization of the left bank of Pripyat to the 9th century. It was at this time that burial mounds containing molded urns spread here. The local Baltic population, representing the descendants of the “shakers,” was assimilated. This process is quite clearly reflected in archaeological, anthropological and linguistic material. It is in the northern part of the Dregovichi territory, where the culture of hatched ceramics was widespread in the early Iron Age, that the ritual side of the burials contains an element characteristic of other East Slavic tribes that settled in the ancient territory of the Balts - the presence in the mounds of the remains of fire pits under burials.

This element is absent in the burial monuments of the Eastern Slavs located outside the area of ancient Baltic hydronymy, including among the southern Dregovichi.

Anthropological data speaks to this as well. Craniological studies by V.V. Sedov showed that in the northern part of the Dregovichi territory in the 11th...12th centuries. The Caucasoid long-headed and relatively broad-faced anthropological type, characteristic of the Baltic population, was widespread. In the southern part of the Dregovichi land, the population belonged to the Caucasoid, long-headed and narrow-faced anthropological type.

The southern neighbors of the Dregovichi were the Drevlyans. In the chronicle, their territory is marked, as always, very conditionally. The most important material for establishing the tribal territory of the Drevlyans is provided by archeology.

The most ancient Slavic culture in the land of the Drevlyans, like that of the Dregovichi, is represented by monuments of the Prague type, which were replaced in the 9th century. mounds came with single corpse burnings, and later corpses. The burial goods of the Drevlyans were extremely poor: a knife, a wire ring or a bead. It is not yet possible to identify ethnically defining things among things. The only opportunity to establish the tribal territory of the Drevlyans is provided by some features of the funeral rite. According to the observations of I.P. Rusanova, burials on the horizon (74%) or in the mound embankment (18%) are most typical for the Drevlyans. Differences in the ritual are purely territorial and not related to chronological changes. It is possible that these local features reflect the territorial division of the Drevlyans. A very important feature of Drevlyan burials is the presence of coal-ash accumulations in the mound mound above the burial. Unlike the neighboring mounds of the Dregovichi and Volynians, the Drevlyan mounds do not have log houses inside.

These features of the funeral rite of the Drevlyans and its difference from the rite of their neighbors make it possible to include the mounds of the right bank of the Pripyat east of the interfluve of the Sluch and Goryn into the tribal territory of the Drevlyan union. The main part of the Drevlyan land was located on the territory of Ukraine, reaching in the south to Zdvizh and Teterev.

To the east of the Dregovichi and south of the Krivichi lived the East Slavic tribe of the Radimichi. The Russian chronicler places them on Sozh.

The ethnically defining tribal feature of the Radimichi is the temporal rings in the form of a plate with seven rays diverging downward and an arch for attachment to the hairstyle. Mapping of the seven-rayed temporal rings outlines the territory of the Radimichi from the Dnieper in the west to Iput in the east and from the lower reaches of the Pronya in the north to the mouth of the Sozh in the south.

Early Radimichi sites in this area have been poorly studied. At the end of the 1st millennium AD. e. burial mounds with corpses were widespread here. In the middle reaches of the Dnieper and the Sozh basin, such mounds reach a height of 3.5 m. A characteristic feature of the ritual is the burning of the deceased on the site of the future mound. The remains of a fireplace with burnt bones and fragments of pottery are found in the sand-filled mound. There are usually no other things.

In the 11th century The ritual of cremation was replaced by the deposition of corpses. On the territory of the Radimichi, the ritual prevails

burial of the deceased on the horizon. According to the calculations of G.F. Solovyova, out of 59 studied mound groups, in 49 groups the burials were made on the horizon, in the rest - either in the mound embankment or in pits. Although the burial mounds date back to the next historical era, observations of the details of the ritual and inventory made it possible to identify several local groups, apparently reflecting the once existing tribal division of the Radimichi union. G. F. Solovyova, who studied the Radimich mounds, identifies 8 such groups.

The first occupied the area between the Dnieper and Sozh. Its characteristic features boil down to the following: burials were made in an embankment, the deceased was oriented with his head to the west, the dishes were placed at the feet of the deceased. The second group occupied the Sozh basin. It is characterized by burials on the horizon, the deceased lies on his back with his head to the west, there are no traces of coffins. Men's burials are usually without things. The third group of monuments is located in the Iput basin. The burials took place on the horizon. The orientation is mixed - west and east. Male bones are usually oriented to the east. Remains of wooden coffins and a ritual fire pit are discovered. The fourth group is located in the Iput and Snova basin. The ritual is dominated by burials on the horizon, but there are burials in mounds and pits; female burials are oriented to the west, male burials are oriented to the east; the remains of coffins and coals can be traced. The fifth group is located in the Again basin. The burials took place on the horizon. The orientation of the dead is Western. The sixth group is located in the lower reaches of the Iput. All three types of burials are known - on the horizon, in an embankment, and in a pit. The dead are oriented with their heads to the west. There is no coal. The seventh group occupies the area of the middle reaches of the Dnieper. All three types of burials are known. The orientation of the buried people is predominantly western. Burials in wooden logs are typical. Men's bones are usually not accompanied by things. Finally, the eighth group of Radimichi mounds was located between the Sozh and Besedi rivers. Burials were made both in the mound and on the horizon. Moreover, only male burials with a predominant eastern orientation were found in the mounds. Coal is often traced.

The presence of fairly distinct local groups of monuments in the Radimichi land gives grounds to suggest that the Radimichi tribal union was formed as a result of the unification of at least 8 primary tribes. We don’t know their names and are unlikely to ever find out. One thing is certain - there were significantly more East Slavic tribes than we know from the Tale of Bygone Years.

History does not have accurate data about where the first Slavs appeared. All information about their appearance and settlement throughout the territory of modern Europe and Russia was obtained indirectly:

analysis of Slavic languages;
archaeological finds;
written mentions in chronicles.

Based on these data, we can conclude that the original habitat of the Slavs was the northern slopes of the Carpathians; it was from these places that the Slavic tribes migrated to the south, west and east, forming three branches of the Slavs - Balkan, Western and Russian (Eastern).
The settlement of East Slavic tribes along the banks of the Dnieper began in the 7th century. Another part of the Slavs settled along the banks of the Danube and received the name Western. The South Slavs settled on the territory of the Byzantine Empire.

Settlement of Slavic tribes

The ancestors of the Eastern Slavs were the Veneti - a union of tribes of ancient Europeans who lived in Central Europe in the 1st millennium. Later, the Veneti settled along the coast of the Vistula River and the Baltic Sea to the North of the Carpathian Mountains. The culture, life and pagan rituals of the Veneti were closely connected with the Pomeranian culture. Some of the Veneti who lived in more western areas were influenced by Germanic culture.

Slavic tribes and their settlement, table 1

In the III-IV centuries. The East European Slavs were united under the rule of the Goths as part of the Power of Germanaric, located in the Northern Black Sea region. At the same time, the Slavs were part of the tribes of the Khazars and Avars, but were in the minority there.

In the 5th century, the settlement of East Slavic tribes began from the territories of the Carpathian region, the mouth of the Dniester and the banks of the Dnieper. The Slavs actively migrated in various directions. In the East, the Slavs stopped along the Volga and Oka rivers. The Slavs who migrated and settled in the East began to be called Ants. The Antes' neighbors were the Byzantines, who endured Slavic raids and described them as "tall, strong people with beautiful faces." At the same time, the southern Slavs, who were called Sklavins, gradually assimilated with the Byzantines and adopted their culture.

Western Slavs in the 5th century. were settled along the coast of the Odra and Elbe rivers, and constantly launched raids into more western territories. A little later, these tribes split into many separate groups: Poles, Czechs, Moravians, Serbs, Luticians. The Slavs of the Baltic group also separated

Slavic tribes and their settlement on the map

Designation:
green - Eastern Slavs
light green - Western Slavs
dark green - southern Slavs

The main East Slavic tribes and their places of settlement

in the VII-VIII centuries. Stable East Slavic tribes were formed, whose settlement occurred as follows: Polyans - lived along the Dnieper River. To the north, along the Desna River lived the northerners, and in the northwestern territories lived the Drevlyans. The Dregovichi settled between the Pripyat and Dvina rivers. Polotsk residents lived along the Polota River. Along the Volga, Dnieper and Dvina rivers there are Krivichi.

Numerous Buzhans or Dulebs were settled on the banks of the Southern and Western Bug, some of whom migrated towards the west and assimilated with the Western Slavs.

The places of settlement of the Slavic tribes influenced their customs, language, laws and methods of farming. The main occupations were growing wheat, millet, barley, some tribes grew oats and rye. They raised cattle and small poultry.

The settlement map of the ancient Slavs displays the boundaries and areas characteristic of each tribe.

East Slavic tribes on the map

The map shows that the East Slavic tribes are concentrated in Eastern Europe and in the territory of modern Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. During the same period, a group of Slavic tribes began to move towards the Caucasus, therefore in the 7th century. Some of the tribes find themselves on the lands of the Khazar Kaganate.

More than 120 East Slavic tribes lived on the lands from the Bug to Novgorod. The largest of them:

The Vyatichi are an East Slavic tribe that lived at the mouths of the Oka and Moscow rivers. The Vyatichi migrated to these areas from the Dnieper coast. This tribe lived separately for a long time and retained pagan beliefs, actively resisting joining the Kyiv princes. The Vyatichi tribes were subject to raids by the Khazar Khaganate and paid them tribute. Later, the Vyatichi were still annexed to Kievan Rus, but did not lose their identity.
The Krivichi are the northern neighbors of the Vyatichi, living on the territory of modern Belarus and the Western regions of Russia. The tribe was formed as a result of the merger of the Balts and Finno-Ugric tribes that came from the north. Most elements of Krivichi culture contain Baltic motifs.
Radimichi are tribes that lived in the territory of modern Gomel and Mogidev regions. Radimichi are the ancestors of modern Belarusians. Their culture and customs were influenced by Polish tribes and eastern neighbors.

These three Slavic groups subsequently united and formed the Great Russians. It must be understood that the ancient Russian tribes and the places of their settlement did not have clear boundaries, because Wars were fought between the tribes for lands and alliances were concluded, as a result the tribes migrated and changed, adopting each other’s culture.

In the 8th century the eastern tribes of the Slavs from the Danube to the Baltic already had a single culture and language. Thanks to this, it became possible to create a trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” and became the root cause of the formation of the Russian state.

The main East Slavic tribes and their places of settlement, table 2

Krivichi	The upper reaches of the Volga, Dnieper, and Western Dvina rivers
Vyatichi	Along the Oka River
Ilmenskie Slovenes	Around Lake Ilmen and along the Volkhov River
Radimichi	Along the Sozh River
Drevlyans	Along the Pripyat River
Dregovichi	Between the Pripyat and Berezina rivers
Glade	Along the western bank of the Dnieper River
Ulichi and Tivertsy	Southwestern East European Plain
Northerners	Along the middle reaches of the Dnieper River and the Desna River

Western Slavic tribes

West Slavic tribes lived in the territory of modern Central Europe. They are usually divided into four groups:

Polish tribes (Poland, Western Belarus);
Czech tribes (part of the territory of modern Czech Republic);
Polabian tribes (lands from the Elbe River to the Odra and from the Ore Mountains to the Baltic). The “Polabian union of tribes” included: Bodrichi, Ruyans, Drevyans, Lusatian Serbs and more than 10 other tribes. In the VI century. most of the tribes were captured and enslaved by the young Germanic feudal states.
Pomeranians who lived in Pomerania. Beginning in the 1190s, the Pomeranians were attacked by the Germans and Danes and almost completely lost their culture and assimilated with the invaders.

Southern Slavic tribes

The South Slavic ethnic group included: Bulgarian, Dalmatian and Greek Macedonian tribes settled in the northern part of Byzantium. They were captured by the Byzantines and adopted their customs, beliefs and culture.

Neighbors of the ancient Slavs

In the west, the neighbors of the ancient Slavs were tribes of Celts and Germans. In the east are the Balts and Finno-Ugric tribes, as well as the ancestors of modern Iranians - the Scythians and Sarmatians. Gradually they were supplanted by the Bulgar and Khazars tribes. In the south, Slavic tribes lived side by side with the Romans and Greeks, as well as the ancient Macedonians and Illyrians.

The Slavic tribes became a real disaster for the Byzantine Empire and for the Germanic peoples, carrying out constant raids and seizing fertile lands.

In the VI century. Hordes of Turks appeared in the territory inhabited by the Eastern Slavs, who entered into a fight with the Slavs for lands in the Dniester and Danube region. Many Slavic tribes went over to the side of the Turks, whose goal was to seize the Byzantine Empire.
During the war, the Western Slavs were completely enslaved by the Byzantines, the southern Slavs, the Sklavins, defended their independence, and the East Slavic tribes were captured by the Turkic horde.

East Slavic tribes and their neighbors (map)

Volynians

One of the chronicle tribes (tribal union), mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years. Known since the end of the 1st – beginning of the 2nd millennium on the lands of Western Ukraine and Belarus in the historical region of Volyn (the Bug River basin, the upper reaches of the Pripyat River).

Arab sources indicate that the Volynians were a powerful tribe to which other tribes were subordinate. In the 7th-8th centuries, the Arab geographer Al-Masudi points out, the Volynians created an early state union led by King Majak. There were about 70 fortified settlements on the lands of the Volynians. The main centers were Volyn, Buzhsk, and later Vladimir (Volynsky).

In 907, the Volynians became allies of the Kyiv prince Oleg in a campaign against Byzantium. In 981, the Kiev prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich conquered the Cherven and Przemysl lands inhabited by Volynians, and they became part of Kievan Rus. During the period of feudal demarcation, a separate appanage Vladimir-Volyn principality arose in the territory where the Volynians settled, which over time became part of the Galician-Volyn state.

Vyatichi

“...and Vyatko settled with his family on the Oka, from him the Vyatichi were called”(“The Tale of Bygone Years”).

One of the large Slavic tribes or tribal associations that lived in the Oka River basin and its tributaries. Over time, the Vyatichi moved southeast to the upper reaches of the Don.

The name of the tribe probably comes from the name of the ancestor Vyatka. The Radimichi and Vyatichi tribes came from the west. “The Radimichi and Vyatichi are from the family of Poles. There were two brothers y l Yakhov - one is Radim, and the other is Vyatko"(“The Tale of Bygone Years”).

And these two brothers brought their peoples, and became neighbors of the Polyans, the Drevlyans and the Northerners, and the Radimichs, and they all lived peacefully among themselves. Vyatichi was conquered by the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav. Being part of Kievan Rus, until the end of the 11th century. maintained political independence. In later times, the Kiev prince Vladimir Monomakh dealt with the Vyatichi tribal prince Khodota.

Until the end of the 13th century. (during the penetration of Christianity), the Vyatichi preserved pagan customs and rituals, for example, they burned the dead and built mounds over the burial site. The Vyatichi retained their tribal name longer than any other Slavic tribe. They lived under the laws of self-government and democracy. The last mention of the Vyatichi was in the chronicle of 1197.

Drevlyans

They 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 Kiev prince Oleg conquered the Drevlyans and annexed their lands. In 907, the Drevlyans, as part of the Kyiv army, took part in the campaign against Byzantium. An attempt by the Kyiv prince Igor in 945 to re-collect tribute led to an uprising of the Drevlyans and the death of Igor. In 946, Igor's wife, Princess Olga, went to war against the Drevlyans, captured their prince Mal, destroyed Iskorosten, and subjugated the lands of the Drevlyans to Kyiv. The name of the tribe was last found in the chronicle in 1136, where it is said that Prince Yaropolk transferred the lands of the Drevlyans to the Tithe Church.

Some researchers call the tribe in the East Slavic group of tribes next to the Drevlyans Zhitich, which allegedly existed on the banks of the Teterev River, and the main city of this tribe was the city of Zhitomir.

Dregovichi

“...and others sat down between Pripyat and Dvina and called themselves Dregovichs...”(“The Tale of Bygone Years”).

An inter-tribal association that possibly included two groups of tribes. They lived in the 9th – 10th centuries. between Pripyat and the upper reaches of the Western Dvina. In the east, the Dregovichi region moved to the left bank of the Dnieper. Obviously, the name of the tribe came from “dryagva”, “dregva” - swamp, quagmire, indicating the swampy nature of the area where the Dregovichi lived. Cities: Slutsk, Drutsk, Kletsk (Klechesk). Researchers believe that the tribal center of the Dregovichi was Turov. They were engaged in farming, collecting berries and plants, and crafts (pottery, iron processing).

In the 9th – 10th centuries. the territory of the Dregovichi was annexed to the Kyiv state. During the division of Rus' into appanages by Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich, most of the Dregovich lands went to the Turov (Turovo-Pinsk) principality, and the northwestern lands to the Polotsk principality. The history of the Dregovichi has no bright pages; they are only mentioned in the list of tribes.

Duleby

One of the most ancient East Slavic tribal associations, which arose in the 7th century. The chronicler mentions them in connection with the attack on them by the Avars (Obrov) during the time of Emperor Heraclius (610–641). “These obras fought against the Slavs, and tortured the Dulebs, also Slavs, and inflicted violence on the Dulebs’ wives.”(“The Tale of Bygone Years”).

Scientists suggest: the Dulebs, Buzhans and Volynians, who were sometimes considered one tribe, are different neighboring tribes. The Dulebs lived to the south of the Volynians in the Upper Nadnestrian region and in the upper reaches of the Western Bug between the Carpathians and Volyn. This is the southwestern outskirts of the East Slavic lands. " The Dulebs lived above the Bug, where the Volynians are now.”(“The Tale of Bygone Years”). After the defeat from the Avars, part of the Dulebs moved to Pannonia. In 911, the Dulebs took part in the campaign of the Kyiv prince Oleg to Constantinople. The Duleb tribal union was short-lived. It collapsed in the 10th century. into individual tribes, without achieving its state completeness.

“The center of the appanage principality in the Volyn land was the city of Cherven (Cherven) on the left bank of the river. Guchvy (nowadays a fortified settlement near the village of Czermno, Tyszowiec commune, Zamoyskie Voivodeship, Poland). In addition to Cherven, there were also Cherven cities: the city of Volyn (now the village of Grudek Nadbuzhny), the city of Suteysk (now the village of Sonsyadka) on the river. Por and others. In the second half of the 1st millennium, the territory of the Cherven cities was inhabited by the East Slavic tribes of Dulebs, Buzhans, and Volynians. Cherven cities arose during the formation of the East Slavic unification led by the Dulebs. At the beginning of the X century. The Cherven cities had a close connection with Kievan Rus, but in the third quarter of the 10th century. the local tribal elite became dependent on the Czech Republic. The Cherven cities passed from the Poles to Kievan Rus and were part of the Vladimir-Volyn and Galicia-Volyn principalities. In the middle of the 13th century. Cherven cities were destroyed by the Tatars, after which they fell into decay. In the 14th century this territory was captured by Polish and Lithuanian feudal lords"(Maria Kostik).

There are quite a lot of toponymic names “Duleby” on Slavic lands: the villages of Duleby on the Turia River and on the Stryi River, Duleby Island on the left bank of the Pripyat River, Dolobskoye Lake near Kyiv.

Ilmen Slavs

A unique separate group of Slavs were the Ilmen or Novgorod Slavs, who occupied the northern edge of the eastern Slavic lands. The Ilmen Slavs settled north of Polotsk and Krivichi, in the basin of Lake Ilmen and the Volkhov River. There are several assumptions about their origin: one group of scientists believes that the Slavs came to the north from the south, the other - from the west. Most likely, the Baltic Slavs came to Lake Ilmen.

“The same Slavs who settled near Lake Ilmen called themselves by their name - Slavens, and built a city and called it Novgorod”(“The Tale of Bygone Years”).

One of the first trade and craft centers of the Ilmen Slavs was Staraya Ladoga (an ancient Slavic settlement of the 7th century). At the end of the 9th century. new centers emerge - Ladoga, Rurik settlement; at the beginning of the 10th century – Novgorod, which became the tribal center of the Ilmen Slavs. In later times, Novgorod and Kyiv were the main political, commercial and cultural centers of the Eastern Slavs. The Union of Ilmen tribes incorporated three tribal entities: Ladoga, Pskov and Novgorod.

Krivichi

“...the Krivichi, who sit in the upper reaches of the Volga, and in the upper reaches of the Dvina, and in the upper reaches of the Dnieper, their city is Smolensk...”(“The Tale of Bygone Years”).

Tribal association of the Eastern Slavs in the 6th-10th centuries. They lived in the upper reaches of the Dnieper, Western Dvina, Volga and in the southern part of the Lake Peipsi basin. Main cities: Smolensk (near Smolensk in Gnezdovo, archaeologists found a large burial mound and the remains of a settlement), Izborsk, Pskov, Toropets. The Krivichi of Smolensk, Pskov and Polotsk are known.

The Slavs came to these lands later and merged with the local Baltic population. The name “krivich” (“kriv”) corresponds to the Latvian krievs - Russian, Eastern Slav. The Krivichi were called Slavic Vends. History knows of an unification - a confederation of three cities: Izborsk (Krivichi-Vends), Staraya Ladoga (Estonians), Beloozero (Vepsians). In the middle of the 9th century. they “invited” the Danish king (from the Frigs) Rurik to rule. The main occupations of the Krivichs were agriculture, cattle breeding, and crafts.

As a result of the campaigns of the Kyiv prince Askold, the lands of the Krivichi became part of Kievan Rus. Later, the Smolensk and Polotsk principalities were created in the territories of residence (864 and 870). The northwestern part of the Krivichi lands went to the possessions of Novgorod. The last mention of the Krivichi in the chronicle was in 1162.

Polotsk residents

“...others sat down on the Dvina and called themselves Polotsk, from the river that flows into the Dvina and is called Polota”(“The Tale of Bygone Years”).

Part of the ancient Slavic tribal association of Krivichi; inhabited in the 9th century. areas of the middle reaches of the Western Dvina River. The name of the tribe comes from the name of the Polota River, which flows into the Western Dvina. The main city of Polotsk is the center of the tribal principality. All Slavic tribes had their own reign: “... and the Drevlyans had their own princedom. And the Dregovichi have theirs, and the Slavs in Novgorod have theirs. Another reign was on the Polota River, where Polotsk residents lived."(“The Tale of Bygone Years”).

Archaeological site of the 6th-7th centuries. On the territory of residence of Polotsk residents in the upper reaches of the Western Dvina there is a large group of long mounds. Similar mounds were found by archaeologists in the settlement territory of their neighbors, the Krivichi. The Polochans, together with the Pskov and Smolensk Krivichi, were an alliance of tribes. In this union they are called Polotsk Krivichi. The Principality of Polotsk arose on the territory of the Polotsk tribe. The descendants of Polotsk residents disappeared into the population of Belarus, and together with the Dregovichi, Radimichi and Krivichi became the basis of the Belarusian people.

Glade

“...the Slavs came and sat along the Dnieper and called themselves Polyans”(“The Tale of Bygone Years”).

The tribal union of the glades occupies a special place in the chronicles. Polyana played the first role in the process of creating the Kyiv state. The Polyana princes Kiy, Shchek and Khoriv built Kyiv. Foreign sources of the early Middle Ages do not mention the Polyans, although they testify to other tribes. It is possible that by that time the tribal association of the glades no longer existed, and foreigners knew a new association called “Rus”.

In addition to ancient Russian glades, Polish glades are known in history, which became the basis of the Polish state; glades in Moravia, Bulgarian glades. There are suggestions that all these glades come from the large Antsky (Polyansky) tribal union, which was geographically settled between the Dniester and Dnieper in the forest-steppe zone. Polyane - inhabitants of the field. Byzantine sources call this Slavic union of tribes “Ants”, while the Ants themselves called themselves “Polyans”. A study of archaeological monuments of the territory inhabited by the Ant-Polyans shows that the Polyan tribal association included six tribal groups: Ulichi, Tivertsy, Dulebs, Buzhans, Volynians and White Croats. After the collapse of the Polyanian Union as a result of wars with the Avars in the 7th century. these tribes independently perform in the historical arena.

Radimichi

“...Radim sat on Sozhe, from him they were called Radimichi”(“The Tale of Bygone Years”).

East Slavic tribe, which in the 9th - 10th centuries. lived in the interfluve of the upper reaches of the Dnieper and Desna, in the Sozh River basin. They were engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding, fishing, and crafts. The name is probably from the name of the hero-ancestor Radim (Radimir). Main cities: Gomel (Gomiy), Vzhishch on the Desna, Chichersk on Sozh.

In the VIII-IX centuries. were under the rule of the Khazars. In 885 they were conquered by the Kyiv prince Oleg and became part of the Kyiv state. They strive for independence, but in 984, the Kiev prince Vladimir conquered the Radimichi for the second time and annexed their lands to Kievan Rus. In the 11th century. The lands of the Radimichi became part of the Smolensk and Chernigov principalities. Last mentioned in the chronicle in 1169.

“Obviously, they (Radimichi) really represent some kind of new formation that arose at the last stage of the formation of Rus' due to some specific conditions. This is also supported by the fact that the territory of the Radimichi is significantly smaller than the territory of any other chronicled tribe.”(Mikhail Braichevsky).

Northerners

“And others sat on the Desna, and on the Seym, and on the Sula, and were called northerners”(“The Tale of Bygone Years”). Tribal association of Eastern Slavs in the Northern Slavic territories. “North”, “siver” - cold, “siverko” - cold north wind. Territory of settlement at the end of the 1st millennium AD. e. – the left bank of the Dnieper, the basins of the Sula, Desna, Seym rivers, the upper reaches of the Psla and Vorskla rivers. Cities: Chernigov (the center of the tribal principality), Pereyaslav, Novgorod-Siversky, Kursk, Lyubech. Chernigov was famous for its artisans, and especially its jewelers. There were more than 150 fortified settlements on the Siversk lands. Main occupations: arable farming, fishing, hunting, developed crafts.

In the VI-VII centuries. together with the Polans and other tribes, the northerners created an early state unification on the territory of the Middle Dnieper region. In the VIII-IX centuries. the northerners paid tribute to the Khazars. During the war between Prince Oleg and the Khazars in 884, part of the lands of the northerners became part of Kievan Rus. In 911, the northerners took part in Oleg’s campaign against Byzantium. In the 60s of the 10th century. after Prince Svyatoslav’s campaign against the Khazar Kaganate, the Seversky lands completely became part of the Kyiv state. The last mention of the northerners was in the chronicle of 1024.

Tivertsy

Tribe or tribal association. The name probably comes from the name of the Tivre River, or from the ancient name of the Dniester River - Tiras. They lived in the area between the rivers Dniester, Prut, and Danube. Archaeological excavations indicate the settlement of the Tiverts on the territory of Moldova and the ancient city of the Tiverts Cherna. “...the Ulichi and the Tivertsi sat on the Dniester, in close proximity to the Danube”(“The Tale of Bygone Years”).

On the territory of the Tiverts, according to archaeologists, there were about 150 fortified settlements with high earthen ramparts and deep ditches. The main occupations were agriculture, cattle breeding, beekeeping, and crafts and crafts developed.

From the second half of the 10th century. The lands of the Tiverts are attacked by the nomadic tribes of the Pechenegs and Polovtsians. For protection, the Tivertsi enter into an alliance with other Slavic tribes and mix with them. The relations between the Tiverts and the glades cannot be called friendly. Polyansky Prince Igor conquered the Tiverts and their neighbors, the Streets. In the X – XI centuries. Tivertsy were part of the Kyiv state. In the XII-XIII centuries. The Tivertsi tribal association was part of the Galician Principality. In later times, the descendants of the Tiverts disappeared into the population of Moldova.

Ulichi

A tribe or tribal group of Eastern Slavs. A widespread version was about the primary place of settlement of the Ulichs (Uglichs) between the Southern Bug and the Dniester, in an area that has long been called the Angle (Kut), as well as on the shores of the Black Sea. Later the Turks called this area Budzhak, which also means “corner”. This is where the name “ulich” comes from, from the primary “uglichi”. But the chronicles indicate that the primary territory of the streets was the Naddnepryanshchina to the south of Kyiv.

“And the Uglich sat along the Dnieper down (from Kyiv), and then they came between the Bug and the Dniester and sat there.”(First Novgorod Chronicle).

On the right bank of the Dnieper, slightly below the mouth of the Lybid River, there was the main city of the streets - Peresechen (the ancient settlement has been partially preserved). In the list of Russian cities (Resurrection Chronicle), Peresechen is mentioned between the city of Yuryev on the Ros River and the city of Vasilyev on the Stugna River. Bavarian geographer of the 9th century. testifies that the Ulichi - a numerous people - had 318 cities. Probably, the Ulichi first lived on the Right Bank of the Dnieper, and later moved to the forest-steppe Dnieper region. In 885, the streets became part of the Kyiv state. In the 10th century under the pressure of the Pechenegs they retreated to the north.

Prince and fighting squad. "The Life of Boris and Gleb"

B) West Slavic tribes

Moravians. Poles. Slovaks. Czechs

Moravians

“So some came and sat down on the Morava River and called themselves Moravians...”(“The Tale of Bygone Years”).

A West Slavic tribal association that occupied territory in the Morava River basin north of the Danube (Moravia). At the head of the Moravian union (principality) was the Mojmirovich family (first prince Mojmir I, 833–836). Mojmir I annexed the Nitrat principality of Prince Pribin to his possessions, and in the 30s of the 9th century. a power began to emerge in the center of Europe - Great Moravia. In the middle of the 9th century. Great Moravia included the lands of the Czech, Slovak, Serbian Sorbian tribes, Silesia and part of Pannonia. In 862, under Prince Rostislav, Great Moravia, with its capital Velegrad on the Morava River, occupied the territory from Tisza to the Vistula and Oder. In the same year, the prince sent an embassy to the Byzantine Emperor Michael with a request to rule the service of the Christian Church in his native language. Byzantine missionaries compiled an alphabet that the Czech-Moravian tribes did not yet have, and with the translation of the sacred books into the Slavic language, they arrived in Velehrad in 863.

During the reign of Prince Svyatopolk, the missionary activity of Cyril and Methodius began in Moravia, thanks to which Christianity according to the Greek-Eastern rite was established in Moravia, and then in the Czech Republic. There is a lot of evidence in the chronicles that Cyril and Methodius invented the Slavic alphabet. Scientists have not yet established which alphabet they created - Cyrillic or Glagolitic.

After the death of Svyatopolk (894), the Czech Republic separated from the Great Moravian Empire. Then Great Moravia was destroyed by the Magyars. After 955, the Czech prince Boleslav annexed Moravia to the Czech Republic.

Poles

“When the Volochs attacked the Slavs, and settled among them, and oppressed them, these Slavs came and sat on the Vistula and called themselves Poles, and from those Poles began the Poles, and from them also the Mazovshans and Pomeranians.”(“The Tale of Bygone Years”).

Nowadays it is the main population of Poland. They also live in the Russian Federation, Ukraine, USA, Canada, Argentina, France, England and other countries.

The Poles are the main and largest branch of the Western Slavs. They have been performing in the historical arena since the 9th century. With the emergence of the ancient Polish state (9th – 11th centuries), the Polish nation was formed. In the territory between the Oder (interfluve of the Vistula and Oder), the Baltic Sea and the Carpathians in the 9th – 10th centuries. there were more than 50 West Slavic tribes and tribal unions (among which the largest was the Polyans).

Poles are divided into several tribal groups:

1) Wielkopolska – in Szlesk, Poznan and Prussia: Poles or valleys, Vistula people, paloons, Pozhechane, kuyaby and etc; 2) Mazovskaya - over the middle Vistula, Narew and Bug: Mazovshans, Masurians, Kujawiaki, Xenzhans; 3) Lesser Poland - along the upper Vistula and Sian: the Carpathian ones stand out gurals.

The Kashubian group stands out separately ( Kashubians). Polish tribes appeared in the territory between the Oder and Vistula, the Baltic Sea and the northern mountains of the Czech Republic at the end of the 6th - beginning of the 7th century, after German tribes left these lands to the west. The Slavic neighbors called the Poles by the common name “Poles”. Large Polish tribes are known. Glades - above Varta and Notech. The Vistula people are on the upper Vistula. This territory of southeastern Poland has been inhabited since the end of the 15th century. called Lesser Poland. The center of the Vistula tribe was the city of Krakow. The lands of the Vistula at the end of the 10th century. Bolesław I the Brave annexed it to the Polish state. Sometimes the Vistula people who lived in the territory of the present Krakow and Sandomierz voivodeships were called Croats or Chrobats. Mazovshan - on both banks of the middle Vistula. Kujawiaki – on the lower Vistula near Thorn. A tribe that lived near lakes Goplo, Lednica and others in the Notec River basin. (Hoplo is a large lake west of the city of Gniezno. Often mentioned in folk songs and legends. Lednica is a lake near the city of Gniezno, with an island on which the ruins of the princely palace of the 9th - 10th centuries are preserved.) Slenzyans - lived above the upper Oder. There were still many small tribes.

The first form of civil life among the Polish Slavs was a clan that created a siege - “wies”; clans were united into “opole”, and those into a tribal organization, headed by zhupans and veche; Princes stood out among the zhupans. The pagan religion of the Polish tribes had a pan-Slavic character.

The tribal principality of Polan with its center in the city of Gniezno during the reign of the princely Piast dynasty in the second half of the 9th century. - first half of the 10th century. united other tribes around itself. The unification of the West Slavic tribes Polans, Slęzyans, Vistulas, Mazovshans, Pomorians, Lendians eventually became the basis of the Polish people. Under the first reliable prince Mieszko I (963–992), the state received the name Poland, and the population received a collective name - Poles. The Eastern Slavs called the Poles “Poles”, “Lechites”, as evidenced by written sources. During the period of unification, the Polish Principality fought: with the German Empire for the Pomeranian lands; with Kievan Rus, which united the East Slavic tribes, for border lands. In the south, the conflict with the Czech Republic was caused by the annexation of Silesia and Lesser Poland with Krakow to the Polish lands. Mythological sources testify to the common ancestors of the Polish and Czech peoples. In 1025, the Polish prince Boleslav I the Brave was crowned, and the state was named the Kingdom of Poland.

East Slavic union of tribes living in the basin of the upper and middle reaches of the Oka and along the Moscow River. The settlement of the Vyatichi occurred from the territory of the Dnieper left bank or from the upper reaches of the Dniester. The substrate of the Vyatichi was the local Baltic population. The Vyatichi preserved pagan beliefs longer than other Slavic tribes and resisted the influence of the Kyiv princes. Disobedience and belligerence are the calling card of the Vyatichi tribe.

Tribal union of the Eastern Slavs of the 6th-11th centuries. They lived in the territories of what are now Vitebsk, Mogilev, Pskov, Bryansk and Smolensk regions, as well as eastern Latvia. They were formed on the basis of the incoming Slavic and local Baltic population - Tushemlinskaya culture. The ethnogenesis of the Krivichi involved the remnants of local Finno-Ugric and Baltic tribes - Estonians, Livs, Latgalians - who mixed with the numerous newcomer Slavic population. The Krivichi are divided into two large groups: Pskov and Polotsk-Smolensk. In the culture of the Polotsk-Smolensk Krivichi, along with Slavic elements of decoration, there are elements of the Baltic type.

Slovenian Ilmenskie- a tribal union of Eastern Slavs on the territory of the Novgorod land, mainly in the lands near Lake Ilmen, adjacent to the Krivichi. According to the Tale of Bygone Years, the Ilmen Slovenes, together with the Krivichi, Chud and Meri, participated in the calling of the Varangians, who were related to the Slovenes - immigrants from the Baltic Pomerania. A number of historians consider the ancestral home of the Slovenes to be the Dnieper region, others trace the ancestors of the Ilmen Slovenes from the Baltic Pomerania, since the legends, beliefs and customs, the type of dwellings of the Novgorodians and Polabian Slavs are very similar.

Duleby- tribal union of the Eastern Slavs. They inhabited the territories of the Bug River basin and the right tributaries of the Pripyat. In the 10th century The association of Dulebs disintegrated, and their lands became part of Kievan Rus.

Volynians- an East Slavic union of tribes that lived on the territory on both banks of the Western Bug and at the source of the river. Pripyat. In Russian chronicles, Volynians were first mentioned in 907. In the 10th century, the Vladimir-Volyn principality was formed on the lands of the Volynians.

Drevlyans- East Slavic tribal union, which occupied in the 6th-10th centuries. the territory of Polesie, the Right Bank of the Dnieper, west of the glades, along the rivers Teterev, Uzh, Ubort, Stviga. The area of residence of the Drevlyans corresponds to the area of the Luka-Raykovets culture. The name Drevlyans was given to them because they lived in forests.

Dregovichi- tribal union of the Eastern Slavs. The exact boundaries of the habitat of Dregovichi have not yet been established. According to a number of researchers, in the 6th-9th centuries the Dregovichi occupied territory in the middle part of the Pripyat River basin, in the 11th - 12th centuries the southern border of their settlement ran south of Pripyat, the northwestern - in the watershed of the Drut and Berezina rivers, the western - in the upper reaches of the Neman River . When settling Belarus, the Dregovichi moved from south to north to the Neman River, which indicates their southern origin.

Polotsk residents- a Slavic tribe, part of the tribal union of the Krivichi, who lived along the banks of the Dvina River and its tributary Polota, from which they got their name.
The center of Polotsk land was the city of Polotsk.

Glade- a tribal union of Eastern Slavs who lived on the Dnieper, in the area of modern Kyiv. The very origin of the glades remains unclear, since the territory of their settlement was at the junction of several archaeological cultures.

Radimichi- an East Slavic union of tribes that lived in the eastern part of the Upper Dnieper region, along the Sozh River and its tributaries in the 8th-9th centuries. Convenient river routes passed through the lands of the Radimichi, connecting them with Kiev. The Radimichi and Vyatichi had a similar burial rite - the ashes were buried in a log house - and similar female temple jewelry (temporal rings) - seven-rayed (among the Vyatichi - seven-paste). Archaeologists and linguists suggest that the Balt tribes living in the upper reaches of the Dnieper also participated in the creation of the material culture of the Radimichi.

Northerners- an East Slavic union of tribes that lived in the 9th-10th centuries along the Desna, Seim and Sula rivers. The origin of the name northerners is of Scythian-Sarmatian origin and is traced back to the Iranian word “black”, which is confirmed by the name of the city of northerners - Chernigov. The main occupation of the northerners was agriculture.

Tivertsy- an East Slavic tribe that settled in the 9th century in the area between the Dniester and Prut rivers, as well as the Danube, including along the Budjak coast of the Black Sea in the territory of modern Moldova and Ukraine.

Ulichi- East Slavic tribal union that existed in the 9th - 10th centuries. The Ulichi lived in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, Bug and on the shores of the Black Sea. The center of the tribal union was the city of Peresechen. The Ulichi for a long time resisted the attempts of the Kyiv princes to subjugate them to their power.