Who created the Kiev. Who and when built the city of Kyiv? The period of civil strife and the collapse of Kievan Rus
Kievan Rus - one of the largest states of medieval Europe - developed in the 9th century. as a result of a long internal development of the East Slavic tribes.
According to the chronicles, in 862 several tribes at once - Ilmen Slovenes, Chud, Krivich - called on the three Varangian brothers Rurik, Truvor and Sineus to reign in Novgorod. This event was called the "calling of the Varangians." According to historians, the calling happened because the tribes that lived on the territory of the future Russia constantly overcame internecine wars, and they could not decide who should rule. And only with the arrival of the three brothers, civil strife ceased and the Russian lands began to gradually unite, and the tribes turned into a kind of state.
Before the calling of the Varangians, numerous scattered tribes lived on Russian lands, which did not have their own state and management system. With the advent of the brothers, the tribes began to unite under the rule of Rurik, who, along with himself, brought his entire clan. It was Rurik who became the founder of the future princely dynasty, which was destined to rule in Russia for more than a century.
Despite the fact that the first representative of the dynasty is Rurik himself, very often in the annals the Rurik family is traced back to Prince Igor, the son of Rurik, since it was Igor who was not called, but the first truly Russian prince. Disputes about the origin of Rurik himself and the etymology of his name are still ongoing.
The Rurik dynasty ruled the Russian state for over 700 years. The first princes from the Rurik dynasty (Igor Rurikovich, Oleg Rurikovich, Princess Olga, Svyatoslav Rurikovich) laid the foundation for the formation of a centralized state in the Russian lands.
In 882, under Prince Oleg, the city of Kyiv became the capital of a new state - Kievan Rus.
In 944, during the reign of Prince Igor, Russia for the first time concluded a peace treaty with Byzantium, stopped military campaigns and got the opportunity to develop.
In 945, Princess Olga for the first time introduced a fixed amount of dues - tribute, which marked the beginning of the formation of the tax system of the state. In 947, the Novgorod lands were subjected to administrative-territorial division.
In 969, Prince Svyatoslav introduced a system of governorship, which helped the development of local self-government, in 963 Kievan Rus was able to subjugate a number of significant territories of the Tmutarakan principality - the state expanded.
The formed state came to feudalism and the feudal system of government during the reign of the Yaroslavichs and Vladimir Monomakh (second half of the 11th-first half of the 12th century). Numerous internecine wars led to a weakening of the power of Kyiv and the Kiev prince, to the strengthening of local principalities and a significant division of territories within one state. Feudalism held out for quite a long time and seriously weakened Russia.
Starting from the second half of the 12th century and until the middle of the 13th century, the following representatives of the Rurikids ruled in Russia - Yuri Dolgoruky, Andrei Bogolyubsky, Vsevolod the Big Nest. During this period, although the princely civil strife continued, trade began to develop, individual principalities grew greatly in economic terms, and Christianity developed.
From the second half of the 13th century until the end of the 14th century, Russia was under the yoke of the Tatar-Mongol yoke (the beginning of the Golden Horde period). The ruling princes more than once tried to throw off the oppression of the Tatar-Mongol, but they did not succeed, and Russia gradually declined due to constant raids and devastation. Only in 1380 was it possible to defeat the Tatar-Mongol army during the Battle of Kulikovo, which was the beginning of the process of liberating Russia from the oppression of the invaders.
After the overthrow of the oppression of the Mongol-Tatars, the state began to recover. The capital was moved to Moscow during the reign of Ivan Kalita, under Dmitry Donskoy the Moscow Kremlin was built, the state was actively developing. Vasily 2 finally united the lands around Moscow and established the practically indestructible and sole power of the Moscow prince in all Russian lands.
The last representatives of the Rurik dynasty also did a lot for the development of the state. During the reign of Ivan 3, Vasily 3 and Ivan the Terrible, the formation of a new centralized state began with a completely different way of life and a political and administrative system similar to a class-representative monarchy. However, the Rurik dynasty was interrupted by Ivan the Terrible, and soon the “Time of Troubles” began in Russia, when it was not known who would take the post of ruler.
4. Rise and fall of the Old Russian state. The period of feudal fragmentation.
The Old Russian state, or Kievan Rus, is the first large stable association of the Eastern Slavs. His education became possible with the formation of feudal (land) relations. The state included 15 large regions - the territories of tribal associations (Polans, Drevlyans, Dregovichi, Ilmen Slovenes, Radimichi, Vyatichi, Northerners, etc.). The most developed economically and politically were the lands of the Ilmenian Slovenes (Novgorod) and Polyany (Kyiv), the unification of which by the Prince of Novgorod Oleg laid the economic foundation for the emerging state.
800-882 gg. - the initial stage of the unification of the East Slavic tribes, the formation of two centers of statehood (Kyiv and Novgorod) and their unification by Oleg;
882-912 - the strengthening of the Old Russian state by Oleg, the inclusion of neighboring East Slavic tribes in its composition. Oleg's first trade agreements with Byzantium (907 and 911);
912-1054 gg. - the heyday of the early feudal monarchy, the rise of productive forces, the development of feudal relations, the struggle against nomads, a significant increase in territory due to the entry into the state of all East Slavic tribes. Establishing close relations with Byzantium. Adoption of Christianity (988-989). Creation of the first code of laws - "The Truth of Yaroslav" (1016). The most prominent political figures of this period are Igor, Olga, Svyatoslav, Vladimir I, Yaroslav the Wise;
1054-1093 gg. - the first tangible phenomena of the collapse of the early feudal state, the specific principalities of the heirs of Yaroslav the Wise, the intensification of the inter-princely struggle; Izyaslav, Svyatoslav, Vsevolod - the triumvirate of Yaroslavichs succeed each other in the Kievan great reign. Further development of feudal relations. Growth of popular uprisings. The emergence of a new set of laws - "The Truth of Yaroslavichi" (1072), which supplemented the "Truth of Yaroslav" and became known as "Russian Truth";
1093-1132 gg. - new strengthening of the feudal monarchy. The onslaught of the Polovtsy forced the specific princes to unite their efforts under the rule of the great Kievan prince. Improvement of legal and political relations. The new legislative code - "The Charter of Vladimir Monomakh" (1113) - became an integral part of the "Russian Pravda", which is now considered to be the "Large Russian Truth". After the disappearance of the Polovtsian threat, the state disintegrates. The most prominent political figures are Vladimir II Monomakh and Mstislav the Great.
In the second half of the 11th c. in Russia, signs of strengthening feudal fragmentation are becoming more and more pronounced.
Prince Yaroslav the Wise gained his father's throne in a fierce internecine struggle. With this in mind, he left a will in which he clearly defined the inheritance rights of his sons. He divided the entire Russian land into five "districts" and determined which of the brothers to reign in which. The Yaroslavichi brothers (Izyaslav, Svyatoslav, Vsevolod, Igor, Vyacheslav) fought together against invasions for two decades and maintained the unity of the Russian land.
However, in 1073 Svyatoslav expelled his brother Izyaslav from Kyiv, deciding to become the sole ruler. Izyaslav, having lost his possessions, wandered for a long time and was able to return to Russia only after the death of Svyatoslav in 1076. Since that time, a bloody struggle for power began.
At the heart of the bloody troubles lay the imperfection of the specific system created by Yaroslav, which could not satisfy the overgrown family of Rurikovich. There was no clear order in the distribution of destinies and inheritance. According to the old custom, the eldest in the family was supposed to inherit the reign. But Byzantine law, which came with the adoption of Christianity, recognized inheritance only by direct descendants. The inconsistency of hereditary rights, the uncertainty of the boundaries of inheritances gave rise to more and more civil strife.
The bloody feuds were aggravated by the continuous raids of the Polovtsy, who skillfully used the disunity of the Russian princes. Other princes took the Polovtsy as allies and brought them to Russia.
In 1097, on the initiative of Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh, the son of Vsevolod Yaroslavovich, a congress of princes was held in Lyubech. On it, in order to stop civil strife, it was decided to establish a new order of organizing power in Russia. In accordance with the new principle, each principality became the hereditary property of the local princely family.
The adopted law became the main cause of feudal fragmentation and destroyed the integrity of the ancient Russian state. It became a turning point, as there was a turning point in the distribution of land ownership in Russia.
The pernicious error in lawmaking did not immediately make itself felt. The need for a joint struggle against the Polovtsy, the strong power and patriotism of Vladimir Monomakh (1113-1125) pushed back the inevitable for a while. His work was continued by his son Mstislav the Great (1125-1132). However, since 1132, the former counties, having become hereditary "fatherlands", gradually turned into independent principalities.
In the middle of the 12th c. civil strife reached an unprecedented severity, the number of their participants increased due to the fragmentation of princely possessions. At that time, there were 15 principalities in Russia, in the next century - 50, and during the reign of Ivan Kalita - 250. Many historians consider one of the reasons underlying these events to be the large number of children of princely families (by distributing land by inheritance, they multiplied the number of principalities ).
The largest state formations were:
TO the Principality of Kiev (despite the loss of the all-Russian status, the struggle for its possession continued until the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars);
IN the principality of Vladimir-Suzdal (in the 12th-13th centuries an economic boom began, the cities of Vladimir, Dmitrov Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Gorodets, Kostroma, Tver, Nizhny Novgorod arose);
H Ernigov and Smolensk principalities (the most important trade routes to the upper reaches of the Volga and Dnieper);
G Alitsko-Volyn principality (located between the Bug and Dniester rivers, the center of arable landowning culture);
P Olotsk-Minsk land (had a favorable location at the crossroads of trade routes).
Feudal fragmentation is characteristic of the history of many states of the Middle Ages. The uniqueness and grave consequences for the Old Russian state lay in its duration - about 3.5 centuries.
The first settlements on the territory of modern Kyiv arose from 1500 to 2000 years ago. According to legend, at the end of the 5th - beginning of the 6th century. AD, the brothers Kyi, Shchek and Khoriv and their sister Lybid chose a place on the slopes of the Dnieper and founded a city on the steep right bank and named it, in honor of their elder brother, Kiev.
The place for the city was chosen well - the high slopes of the Dnieper served as a good defense against the raids of nomadic tribes. The princes of Kiev, for greater security, erected their palaces and churches on the high Starokievsky mountain. Merchants and artisans lived near the Dnieper, where the current Podil is located.
At the end of the ninth century n. e., when the Kiev princes finally managed to unite the scattered and disparate tribes under their rule, Kyiv became the political and cultural center of the Eastern Slavs, the capital of Kievan Rus - the ancient Slavic feudal state. Due to its location on the trade routes "from the Varangians to the Greeks", Kyiv has long maintained strong political and economic ties with the countries of Central and Western Europe.
Kyiv begins to develop especially rapidly during the reign of Volodymyr the Great (980 - 1015). In order to strengthen the unity of Kievan Rus and increase its influence in the international arena, Prince Vladimir in 988 baptized Rus. Christianity brought significant political benefits to Kievan Rus and served as an impetus for the further development of writing and culture. Under Volodymyr the Great, the first stone church was built in Kyiv - the Church of the Tithes.
In the 11th century, under the rule of Yaroslav the Wise, Kyiv became one of the largest centers of civilization in the Christian world. St. Sophia Cathedral and the first library in Russia were built. In addition, at that time the city had about 400 churches, 8 markets and more than 50,000 inhabitants. (For comparison: at the same time in Novgorod, the second largest city in Russia, there were 30,000 inhabitants; in London, Hamburg and Gdansk - 20,000 each). Kyiv was among the most prosperous craft and trade centers in Europe.
However, after the death of Prince Vladimir Monomakh (1125), the process of fragmentation of a more or less unified Kievan state began. By the middle of the XII century. Kievan Rus breaks up into many independent principalities. External enemies were not slow to take advantage of the situation. In the autumn of 1240, countless hordes of Batu, the grandson of Genghis Khan, appeared under the Kiev walls.
The Mongol-Tatars managed to take the city after a protracted and bloody battle. Thousands of Kievans were killed, most of the city was razed to the ground. Kyiv's history entered a long and dark period of decline. For almost a hundred years, the Mongol-Tatars dominated the Ukrainian lands. Nevertheless, Kiev managed to preserve its ancient handicraft, merchant and cultural traditions and remain an important political, commercial and economic center. In the 14th century, the Kiev region became a stronghold of the emerging Ukrainian nation.
In the XV century. Kiev was granted the Magdeburg Law, which ensured a much greater independence of the city in matters of international trade and significantly expanded the rights of urban estates - artisans, merchants and philistines. In 1569, after the signing of the Union of Lublin, Poland and Lithuania united into one state, known in history as the Commonwealth, and gradually established their dominance in Ukraine. The cruelty and arbitrariness of foreigners led to numerous uprisings of the Ukrainian people.
Until now, historians put forward various theories about the emergence of Kievan Rus as a state. For a long time, the official version has been taken as the basis, according to which the year 862 is called the date of birth. But after all, the state does not appear “from scratch”! It is impossible to imagine that before this date there were only savages in the territory where the Slavs lived, who could not create their own state without help from “outsiders”. After all, as you know, history moves along an evolutionary path. For the emergence of the state must be certain prerequisites. Let's try to understand the history of Kievan Rus. How was this state created? Why has it fallen into disrepair?
The emergence of Kievan Rus
At the moment, domestic historians adhere to 2 main versions of the emergence of Kievan Rus.
- Norman. It relies on one weighty historical document, namely the Tale of Bygone Years. According to this theory, the ancient tribes called on the Varangians (Rurik, Sineus and Truvor) to create and manage their state. Thus, they could not create their own state formation on their own. They needed outside help.
- Russian (anti-Norman). For the first time, the rudiments of the theory were formulated by the famous Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov. He argued that the entire history of the ancient Russian state was written by foreigners. Lomonosov was sure that there was no logic in this story, the important question of the nationality of the Varangians was not revealed.
Unfortunately, until the end of the 9th century, there are no mentions of the Slavs in the annals. It is suspicious that Rurik "came to rule the Russian state" when it already had its own traditions, customs, its own language, cities and ships. That is, Russia did not arise from scratch. Old Russian cities were very well developed (including from a military point of view).
According to generally accepted sources, the year 862 is considered the date of foundation of the ancient Russian state. It was then that Rurik began to rule in Novgorod. In 864, his associates Askold and Dir seized the princely power in Kyiv. Eighteen years later, in 882, Oleg, who is usually called the Prophet, captured Kyiv and became the Grand Duke. He managed to unite the scattered Slavic lands, and it was during his reign that a campaign against Byzantium was made. More and more new territories and cities joined the grand ducal lands. During the reign of Oleg, there were no major clashes between Novgorod and Kiev. This was largely due to blood ties and kinship.
The formation and flourishing of Kievan Rus
Kievan Rus was a powerful and developed state. Its capital was a fortified outpost located on the banks of the Dnieper. Taking power in Kyiv meant becoming the head of vast territories. It was Kyiv that was compared with the “mother of Russian cities” (although Novgorod, from where Askold and Dir arrived in Kyiv, was quite worthy of such a title). The city retained the status of the capital of the ancient Russian lands until the period of the Tatar-Mongol invasion.
- Among the key events of the heyday of Kievan Rus can be called Baptism in 988, when the country abandoned idolatry in favor of Christianity.
- The reign of Prince Yaroslav the Wise led to the fact that at the beginning of the 11th century the first Russian code of laws appeared under the name "Russian Truth".
- The Kyiv prince intermarried with many famous ruling European dynasties. Also, under Yaroslav the Wise, the raids of the Pechenegs forever turned, which brought Kievan Rus a lot of trouble and suffering.
- Also from the end of the X century on the territory of Kievan Rus began its own coin production. Silver and gold coins appeared.
The period of civil strife and the collapse of Kievan Rus
Unfortunately, an understandable and uniform system of succession to the throne was not developed in Kievan Rus. Various grand-princely lands for military and other merits were distributed among combatants.
Only after the end of the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, such a principle of inheritance was established, which involved the transfer of power over Kiev to the eldest in the family. All other lands were divided among members of the Rurik dynasty in accordance with the principle of seniority (but this could not remove all the contradictions and problems). After the death of the ruler, there were dozens of heirs claiming the "throne" (starting from brothers, sons, and ending with nephews). Despite certain rules of inheritance, the supreme power was often established by force: through bloody clashes and wars. Only a few independently abandoned the control of Kievan Rus.
Applicants for the title of the Grand Duke of Kiev did not shy away from the most terrible deeds. Literature and history describe a terrible example with Svyatopolk the Accursed. He went to fratricide only in order to gain power over Kiev.
Many historians come to the conclusion that it was internecine wars that became the factor that led to the collapse of Kievan Rus. The situation was also complicated by the fact that the Tatar-Mongols began to actively attack in the 13th century. "Small rulers with big ambitions" could unite against the enemy, but no. The princes dealt with internal problems "in their own area", did not compromise and desperately defended their own interests to the detriment of others. As a result, Russia became completely dependent on the Golden Horde for a couple of centuries, and the rulers were forced to pay tribute to the Tatar-Mongols.
The prerequisites for the coming collapse of Kievan Rus were formed under Vladimir the Great, who decided to give each of his 12 sons his own city. The beginning of the collapse of Kievan Rus is called 1132, when Mstislav the Great died. Then immediately 2 powerful centers refused to recognize the grand ducal power in Kyiv (Polotsk and Novgorod).
In the XII century. there was a rivalry of 4 main lands: Volyn, Suzdal, Chernigov and Smolensk. As a result of internecine clashes, Kyiv was periodically looted and churches burned. In 1240 the city was burned by the Tatar-Mongols. The influence gradually weakened, in 1299 the residence of the metropolitan was transferred to Vladimir. To manage the Russian lands, it was no longer necessary to occupy Kyiv
The founder of Kyiv, Prince Kiy, was quite an influential ruler among the princes of the Antes of the tribes. This is evidenced by his campaigns on the Danube, the founding of Kievets on the Danube, the communication of chronicles about an audience with the Byzantine emperor, and the like. However, during the first centuries after its founding, Kyiv remained only one of the many fortresses of the Polyan tribe.
In the second half of the 1st millennium AD. on the territory of Ukraine, several large tribal unions of the Slavs were formed. Polyany lived in the forest-steppe zone in the Middle Dnieper, mainly on the right bank of the Dnieper. Northerners settled during the year of the Desna, the Seim, as well as the upper reaches of the Vorskla, Sula and Psla rivers. These lands formed the Siverschyna - the territory of modern Chernigov, north
Kiev and partly Sumy and Poltava regions. The Drevlyans lived in the forests of the Pripyat Polissya and the basin. Black grouse. Volyn occupied the territory of Volhynia, primarily the basin of the river. Western Bug. In the Carpathian region and in Upper Transnistria, as well as in Transcarpathia, a tribe of white Croats lived. Lower and Middle Transnistria up to the Black Sea were inhabited by the tribe of Tivertsy. Streets lived to the south of the glades and east of the Tivertsy, populating the lands, including the Black Sea coast between the Dnieper and the Dniester.
The Slavs, who later entered the orbit of Kyiv's influence, lived not only in the modern territory of Ukraine. Official annals of Kievan Rus in the 12th century. refers to the Slavs such tribes: "Polyans, Drevlyans, Novgorodians, Polochans, Dregovichi, Northerners, Buzhans, Volynians." The chronicler to the Slavs, in particular, did not include the tribes of Radimichi and Vyatichi. Slavic tribes on the territory of modern Russia assimilated with the numerically predominant Finno-Ugric population. In addition, as the chronicler says, the Radimichi and Vyatichi come "from the Poles", that is, they left the territory of Poland, and therefore differed significantly from other Slavs united by the Rus. As for the tribes of Tivertsy and the streets, they are in the XII century. were already driven out by nomads to the lands of other Slavic tribes (mainly glades and white Croats) and disappeared among them. In addition, the Tivertsy and Ulichi were initially largely Sarmatized. At the same time, all the Slavic tribes that were part of the union of tribes, that is, all the Slavs on the territory of Ukraine, to varying degrees, bore the imprint of the interaction of the Slavic and Sarmatian tribes.
Each of the named tribes has few tens or hundreds of fortresses. Subsequently, the main cities began to rise in each of them. For Polans, Kyiv is gradually becoming such a city. The process of the rise of the capital lasted for more than two centuries. Kyiv was forced to compete with the neighboring Drevlyansky tribes, as well as pay tribute to the Khazars for a certain time.
The fact that the city has a very convenient geographical location played in favor of the rise of Kyiv. In ancient times, the main roads in Ukraine were rivers. The largest river of our country is the Dnieper, which allowed it to be combined with distant overseas lands - Scandinavia in the north and Byzantium in the south. The waterway that passed along the Dnieper, already from the end of the 1st millennium AD. e. was called the path "from the Varangians to the Greeks." Trade was carried out through the rivers, a combination with other tribes, the princes traveled along the rivers to collect tribute, went on military campaigns, including those beyond the Black Sea. At the same time, Kyiv also has the advantage that it is located near the place where the Desna River flows into the Dnieper. This made it possible to control communications both with the Dnieper basin and with the Desna basin, where a strong tribe of northerners lived. The city, located on the steep but livable Kiev mountains, has little excellent conditions for building fortifications.
For some time in history, there was a popular theory about the Scandinavian origin of the name of Russia, which was allegedly provided by the Varangian aliens. However, this theory has now been debunked.
The name "Rus" first appeared on the territory of the Middle Dnieper region in the middle of the VI century, in the work of Pseudo-Zacharias. This Syrian author in 555 speaks of the people of the Northern Black Sea region and the Dnieper region as a people "growing up" who lived northwest of the Sea of Azov, that is, on the Middle Dnieper. Also, in the work of the Gothic historian Jordanes (VI century), who described the events of the IV century, it is said about the people of the "Rosomons" who lived in the Middle Dnieper. However, neither in the VI nor in the IV century. there could be no Varangians in the region. The first historically recorded entry of the Scandinavians into the international arena (their attack on England) dates back to 787. This is the first date for the appearance of the Vikings in international history, which took place several centuries later after the fixation of the name of Russia. The first reliably known data on the contacts of the Dnieper Slavs with the Varangians date back generally only to the middle of the 9th century.
In the chronicle of the Frankish emperors "The Bertin Annals" under 839, talking about the embassy of the Byzantine emperor to the court of the emperor of the Franks, the eyewitness chronicler wrote: "He also sent some people with them (ambassadors) who said that they, then there is their people, called Ross and that their king is called Khakan, sent them to him, the Byzantine emperor, as they say, for the sake of friendship." Thus, at present, even before the establishment of the Varangian dynasty in Kyiv, which took place in the 860s pp., the Rus had an owner who was so influential that he already maintained relations with Byzantium and sought to establish them with the Frankish Empire. Also at this time, the prince of the Rus seeks to be titled "kagan", like the rulers of Khazaria, thus trying to assert his equality with the Khazar state, which was influential at that time. Important mentions of the Rus in Byzantine sources date back to 840 pp. (The attack of the Rus on a little Asian city Amastrida, near the present city of Sinope on the southern coast of the Black Sea in Turkey) and 860 (the attack of the Rus on Constantinople). In his sermon, Patriarch Photius in 860 says that the Rus came from a land remote from the Greeks by territories and tribes, seas and raftable rivers.Thus, already by the time the Varangian dynasty was established, Rus was a fairly influential state.
According to contemporaries, the Rusyns already had their own original writing system. In 861, Cyrillo-Konstantin, the future creator of Slavic writing, discovered in the Crimea the Gospel and the Psalter, written in "Russian letters". He also met a native Russian speaker, mastered the colloquial version and deciphered the letters. In the ninth century Persian historian Farhi al-Din Mubarakshah reported that the Khazars have a letter that comes from Russian - the Khazars allegedly borrowed it from Russians living near the Khazars.
In addition, in the domestic chronicles, the Rus were clearly separated from the Varangians. In the annals, Rus is presented in the list of tribes as a separate ethnic unit along with the Varangians, Polyans and other tribes. Even more information that separates the Rus from the Varangians exists in foreign sources, including Arabic and European sources. In addition, there is no indication in the Scandinavian sources that any Scandinavians called themselves Russ. The Byzantines knew the Varangians well, who often served as mercenaries in the Byzantine army. For the Byzantines, "Rus" is the population of the Middle Dnieper and the Northern Black Sea region. The Byzantines never called these Varangians Rus. Russ or dews among the Byzantines are always the populations of the Middle Dnieper and the Northern Black Sea region, and not the Scandinavians from any other territories - Scandinavia itself, Italy and France, of which there were many in Constantinople.
In addition, immediately south of Kyiv, on the right bank of the Dnieper, a number of names with the corresponding root are crowded: the rivers Ros, Rosava, Rostavitsa, Ruta, Rutets, Maly Rutets, the Roden fortress, etc.
The appearance of the name of Rus on the territory of the Middle Dnieper region many centuries before the appearance of the Vikings-Varangians on the historical arena indicates that the name Rus has a local Dnieper origin.
In the first millennium A.D. e. a special tribe lived here - dews (Rus). Numerous written sources of travelers and political figures claim that this tribe was not Slavic. Especially a lot of such messages in the Arab travelers, in the IX-X centuries. often visited the territory of Ukraine, traveling in Khazaria and Volga Bulgaria.
According to numerous data of contemporaries, the Rus in the X century. had characteristic features - the religious cult of the sword, the method and ritual of burial, clothing (including wide trousers characteristic of the clothes of the Scythians and Sarmatians, and then Ukrainian wide trousers, woolen hats with long hats, preserved in Ukraine during the time of the Cossacks), Sarmatian job titles of their leaders (in particular zhupan), etc.
All this makes it possible to link the Rus VI-X centuries. with the remains of the Sarmatians. The settlement of the Sarmatians in the region of the Right Bank of the Middle Dnieper, that is, in the region of "primary Russia", began in the 1st century. BC e. On these lands, a significant number of Sarmatian burial grounds of the beginning of our era are recorded (in total, in the cities of Tyasmina and Rosi). A part of the Sarmatian tribe Roksolan settled in this area. The main land of "original Russia" was between the rivers Tyasmin and Ros before their confluence with the Dnieper. Here, these rivers form a kind of island, surrounded on all sides by water, clearly defined the boundaries of the tribe. It was in this wooded region that part of the Sarmatian tribes retreated and settled in a convenient place in the middle of the Dnieper - an ancient civilizational focal point, adapted at the same time to the attention of settlements, agriculture and the use of the Dnieper waterway for trade and raids. Obviously, some part of the Sarmatian tribe Roksolan, which was part of the Ants of the union of tribes (Sarmatian-Slavic in essence), settled on the middle Dnieper in the time between the 1st century BC. BC e. and the peak of the Great Migration of Peoples in the IV-V centuries. n. e. The shock of the Great Migration of Peoples stimulated the resettlement of the Sarmatian tribes in relation to the protected forest-steppe zone of Central Ukraine. This forested and somewhat swampy region became one of the places where the fragments of the Sarmatians retreated after the start of the Great Migration. Here they were able to gain a foothold and subsequently, at the finish line of their assimilation with the Slavs, give a powerful impetus to the creation of the great power of Kievan Rus.
Roksolany in the first half of the 1st millennium AD. That is, during the Great Migration of Peoples, they were divided into at least three parts (one was pushed back by other peoples to the north in the Dnieper region, the second moved to Europe in various ways, acting as active participants in the campaigns of the Germanic and Sarmatian tribes in the territory up to Gaul, Spain and North Africa, the third part settled in the Crimea).
As part of the union of tribes, the remnants of the Roxolans assimilated with the Slavs. The dews even periodically carried out campaigns against the Slavs by the Dnieper. Starting from the 8th-9th centuries, the name of the Ross (Rus) tribe passed to the entire tribe of the Polyans, and later also to the Northerners and Drevlyans. The Slavs are characterized by the change "o" to "y" in the roots of words. So, Russian truth in its oldest edition sounds like "Pravda Roska", the name of the Antes of the leader of God sounds among the authors of the 6th century. as for or Boss, and in the author of the KhP century, in the "Tale of Igor's Campaign" already as Bus. Also, the river God became the Bug, and the dews became the Rus.
Gradually, the Rus tribe was assimilated by the Slavs, while retaining and expanding the main components of their culture and the tribal name to the Slavs. The mixing of the descendants of the Sarmatians and Slavs accelerated in the X century., With the emergence of a powerful Kievan state.
Russia X-XII centuries. was within the boundaries of modern Kiev, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, a significant part of Cherkasy, Poltava, Sumy, as well as part of Vinnitsa regions. The inhabitants of this territory, that is, representatives of the tribal unions of the Polyans and the Northerners, and later the Drevlyans, were called Rusyns or Russ. From the end of the 20th century Rus, in addition to Central and Northern Ukraine, are beginning to be called Western Ukrainian lands. Having first appeared in less than the 6th century, the name "Rus" lasted in Ukraine (Western) until the 20th century, and in Central Ukraine - until the 18th century. Another brilliant poet Ivan Franko in 1914 wrote: "I am a Rusyn." Some residents of Transcarpathia still call themselves Rusyns.
"Rus" is a very ancient word of Iranian origin, associated with the names of the Sarmatian tribes that have long lived on the territory of Ukraine. By the VI century. it was fixed on the middle Dnieper and gradually passed to the Slavs. It is no coincidence that the chronicler wrote: "... glades, which are now called Rus." In other words, the Slavs from the tribe, which became the core of the Kievan state, were first called glades, but then the name "Rus" spread to them.
The name Rus, most likely, comes from the name of the Sarmatian tribe Roksolan. During the Middle Ages, this theory of the origin of Russia remained the most common in Ukraine and Europe. The word "Rocks" in Sarmatian languages means "shining", "light", "white", "main". The name "Rocks" symbolized the claims to primacy among the tribes and clans of the Sarmatians, who from the beginning of our era were called Alans.
The prominent Ukrainian historian Mykhailo Hrushevsky wrote that the name Roxolan, "as it is deduced with considerable plausibility from Iranian languages, means nothing more than 'White Alans'". The adjective "white" very often served in nomadic hordes to distinguish certain parts of the people, one tribal horde from another." The Slavs also had a tradition of naming parts of tribes using the division into "white" and "black". The Slavs had a geographical basis for this distribution - "white" was called the northern parts of the tribes and peoples, and "black" - southern. This applies, in particular, to the white Croats who settled the Ukrainian Carpathians and subsequently became one of the components of the formation of the Ukrainian ethnos, in contrast to the Croats, who moved south .
From the 15th century the newly formed state of Muscovy tried to assign the name of Rus. There is nothing surprising or unusual in this. Often the leaders of those countries that believe that they lack their own history try to appropriate someone else's, more authoritative and respected one.
In history, there are many "borrowings" of foreign ethnonyms. Modern Romania borrowed its name from Rome, although the Romans massively evicted from the territory of Romania in the 270s pp., leaving the local Latinized Dacian population there. During the Middle Ages, Germany was officially called the "Holy Roman Empire", although the contribution of the Germans to Roman history was limited mainly to the fact that the Germanic tribes destroyed Rome.
The name of Ukraine has changed over time. At first, the Greeks called this land Cimmeria, later the Greeks and Romans - Greater Scythia, Sarmatia and the like. According to the new era, Ukrainian ancestors had self-names: "anti", Rus, and, finally, Ukraine.
This change in country names is the rule rather than the exception. Let's say that the state now known as China changed its name many times - each time after the name of the ruling dynasty. However, there is no doubt - under all these names we are talking about the same China and the Chinese people, completely retained ethnic heredity.
The name Rus is just an ancient name for Ukraine. And Ukraine, respectively, is a younger name for Russia.
The fact that modern Russia has borrowed the historical name of Ukraine is only a sign of the prestige of the name of Rus. This prestige was received by the efforts of Ukrainian ancestors.
By the name and heritage of Kievan Rus, no one else can claim, except for the people on whose native territory the main state-political, cultural and religious centers of Russia are located - Kyiv, Chernihiv, Pereyaslav, Kanev, Belgorod, Vasilkov, Vyshgorod, YurTv, Lyubech , Ovruch, Ostrog, Putivl, Novgorod-Seversky, Alyoshki, Priluki, Vladimir-Volynsky, Lutsk, Galich, Lvov, Zvenigorod, Terebovlya and others. Ukrainian ethnic identity.
Source language:
"At the very beginning of the country of the Slavs there is a city called Kuyaby (Kyiv). The path to their country goes through steppes, roadless lands, through streams and dense forests. The country of the Slavs is a flat and wooded country; they live in the forests. They do not have any vineyards, nor fields. From wood they make something like jars, in which they contain both hives for bees, and the honey of bees is preserved. This is called Sij among them. They feed pigs like sheep. When one of them dies, they burn his corpse. Their women, when a dead man happens to be in them, scratch their hands and faces with a knife. On the second day after the burning of the dead man, they go to the place where it took place, collect the ashes and put it in an urn, which they then put on a hillock. A year later after the death of a person, they take twenty jars of honey, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less, and carry them to that hillock where the family of the deceased gathers, eat, drink and then disperse ... They are all idolaters. Most of all they sow millet. during the harvest they take millet grains in a ladle, raise them to the sky and say: "Lord, you, who have provided us with food [until now], give us enough of it now."
They have different lutes, harps and pipes, their pipes are two cubits, and their lute is eight-stringed. An intoxicating drink is made from honey. When the dead are burned, they resort to wild fun, thereby showing their joy over the mercy done to him [the dead] by God. There are few draft animals in them, and only one mentioned person has riding horses. Their weapons consist of javelins, shields, and spears; there is no other weapon.
Their leader is crowned; they obey him and depart from his orders. His dwelling is kept inside the country of the Slavs.
The person mentioned above, they title the "master of the hosts", the king is called in them; this person is above the subanej [caftan], who is only his viceroy. This king has riding horses, has no other food than mare's milk. He also has wonderful, strong and precious chain mail. The city where he lives is called Jarvab; it takes place monthly, within three days, bargaining. The cold in their country is so strong that each of them digs something like a cellar in the ground, to which they attach a wooden gabled roof, like [the roof of] a Christian church, and earth is laid on the roof. They move to such cellars with the whole family and, taking some firewood and stones, they light a fire and heat the stones red hot on the fire. When the stones are heated to the highest degree, water is poured over it, from which steam diverges, so it heats up the dwelling, they already throw off their clothes. In such housing remain until spring. Their king travels around them every year. When one of them has a daughter, the king takes one of her outfits a year, and if a son, then the king also takes one of his outfits a year. Whoever has neither a son nor a daughter, then gives one of the outfits of his wife or maid a year. The king catches a robber in his state, orders either to strangle him, or gives him under the supervision of one of the rulers on the far outskirts of his possessions.
3. About Russia, it is contained on an island surrounded by a lake. This island, on which they [Russians] live, occupies a space for three days' journey; it is covered with forests and swamps; unhealthy and wet to the fact that it is enough to put your foot on the ground and it is already shaking due to the abundance of water in it. They have a king called Khakan-Rus. They make raids on the Slavs, sail up to them on ships, land, take them [the Slavs] prisoner ...
When a son is born to one of them, he takes a sword taken out of its scabbard, puts it in front of the newborn and says: “I will not leave you any property as an inheritance, but you will have only that you will receive smoke with a sword” ... The payment received money, tied very tightly in their belts. They dress untidy; men wear gold bracelets in them. Slaves are treated well and their clothes are taken care of, as they are used in trade. There is a lot of bridge in them, and they live spaciously. respectfully and behave well with foreigners who seek protection in them, and with all who often visit them, not allowing any of their own to offend or oppress such people. and protect him.
Swords in them Sulaiman. When one of their clans asks for help, they all come out into the field: there is no contention between them, but they fight with one accord against the enemy until they defeat him. When one of them has a claim against another, he calls him to court before the king, before whom they argue; when the king has pronounced his sentence, what he commands is carried out. If both sides are dissatisfied with the king's sentence, then, by his order, they must decide the matter to the end with weapons: whose sword is sharper, he will win. To this fight, relatives [of both sides, are suing] come armed and stand [against each other]. Then the rivals enter into battle, and whoever overcomes the opponent wins the case according to his demand. There are healers in them - some of them give orders to the king, as their chiefs [Rus]. It happens that they prescribe to sacrifice to their creator only they like: women, men and horses, and even when the healers order, it is impossible not to follow their order. Taking a person or animal, the healer puts a noose around his neck, hangs the victim on a log and waits until she suffocates, and says that this is a sacrifice to God.
They are courageous and strong. When they attack another people, they do not lag behind until they have destroyed it all; conquer the vanquished and turn them into slavery. They are tall, beautiful looking, and bold when attacking; but they do not show this courage on horseback, but make all their raids on ships. Bloomers they wear are wide, one hundred cubits of matter goes on each. Putting on such harem pants, they collect them in a circle of knees, to which they then tie ...
When one of their nobles dies, they dig out a grave for him in the form of a large house, put him there, and together with him put in the same grave both his clothes and the gold bracelets that he wore; further on, many foodstuffs, vessels with drinks and a minted coin are lowered there.
"The Book of Precious Treasures of Abu-Ali Ahmed Ibn-Omar Ibn-Dast", 30s of the X century.
"And I saw the Rus when they arrived in their trading affairs and landed on the river Itil [Volga]. And I did not see people with more perfect bodies than they. They are like palm trees, ruddy, beautiful. They do not wear jackets or caftans but one of their number wears a kisu, with which he covers one side of himself, and one of his hands comes out of it.Each of them has an ax and a sword and a knife, and he never leaves what is mentioned. Their swords are flat, grooved, Frankish, and from the edge of the fingernail of one of them to his neck is depicted a collection of trees, images, etc. And as for each woman of their number, then on her chest is attached a ring either of iron or of of silver, or of copper, or of gold, according to the state of her husband.and each ring has a bundle and a knife, also fastened on the chest.around their necks they have several rows of beads of gold and silver ... They come from their country and moor their ships on Itil (Volga)".
Ibn Faldan, "Journey to Itil", mid-10th century
"A story about the country of the Rus and its cities. To the east of this country are the mountains of the Pechenegs, to the south of it - the Ruta River, to the west of it - Saklabi, to the north - the uninhabited Lands of the North. This is a large country, and its inhabitants are not peaceful, recalcitrant, haughty, cocky and warlike.They fight with all the infidels living around them, and come out victorious.The owner of them wears Rus-Kagan.This country is very generously endowed by nature in terms of everything necessary [for life]. of them are distinguished by courtesy of manners, they hold medicine men in high esteem, they annually pay a tenth of their booty and the trade revenues of the government... out of 100 cubits of cotton cloth, more or less, they sew trousers, which they put on by rolling them up above the knee. they wear hats of sheep's wool, with tails that come from the back of their necks.The dead are buried with all their possessions, clothing and ornaments.[Also] they place food and drink in the grave along with the deceased.Cuiaba is a city of the Rus, located closest to the lands of Islam. This is a pleasant place and the place of residence of the owner. It produces furs and valuable swords."
Perskomovna "The Book of the Limits of the World from East to West", 982 rubles, about the events of the 9th century.
"When the Magyars come, the Slavs retire to the fortresses they built; they spend the winter in fortresses and fortifications; they live in the forests in the summer. There are many prisoners in them. Having captured the thief, they take away all his property, send him to the outskirts of their possessions and expose him illegitimate between them does not happen.if any woman falls in love with any man, she goes to him, and if she turns out to be a maiden, takes her as his wife, otherwise he sells her and says: "if only in you if someone commits adultery with a married woman, they kill him, not accepting any apologies from him. There is a lot of wine and honey in them, sometimes one person has up to 100 jugs of honey wine " .
Abu Said Gardizi, "Decoration of news", 1050-59 pp., about the events of the 9th-10th centuries.
There are many versions and legends about the founding of Kyiv. Long before the founding of Kyiv, settlements of different peoples existed in its place. Many historians read that in the 3rd millennium BC there was a settlement belonging to the Tripoli civilization, and in the 4th-5th centuries BC there was a large Scythian settlement.
Slavic settlements appeared in these places much later. The first, according to historians, were the Slavic tribes of the glades. It was the meadows that founded their city here in the 6th century AD. In The Tale of Bygone Years, the Kiev chronicler Nestor describes a legend according to which the city was founded by three brothers and a sister. The elder brother, Prince Kiy, the head of the clan, founded a small fortification on one of the hills. In those days, the construction of settlements on a hill was widespread everywhere, as there was a threat from the nomads of the steppe. A mountain or a steep hill made it possible to increase the defensive capacity of the fortification. Khoriv and Shchek, his younger brothers also erected their fortifications on the hills - Shchekovitsa and Khorivitsa. And in the midst of their fortifications, a city was erected, named after the eldest of the brothers - Kiev. Their sister's name was Lybid. One fact speaks of its existence - the Lybid River, which is the right tributary of the Dnieper, is named after their sister. But it is not completely known whether this is true. After all, there is no chronicle confirmation of the existence of Lybid.
Like many legends, the legend about the founding of Kyiv is presented as a historical fact mixed with fiction. Many historians believe, based on various chronicle sources, that Kyi, Shchek and Khoriv were not brothers in the truest sense of the word, but were leaders of various Slavic tribes that were part of the Polyan Union. Initially, this union included two tribal groups of the local - the Ants, and the Slovenes-Dulebs, who came from the west. The first fortifications were conditioned by a threat from the north - the invasion of the Volynians. Later, the northern Volyn tribes settled here, concluding an alliance of a triple alliance. And thanks to this association, the city of Kyiv was erected, in which the union of three tribes was preserved until the 9th century.
Some believe that Kiy was not the prince of the meadows, but a ferryman (ferryman) across the Dnieper River. There is a logical explanation for this. Since at that time allegory was often used to describe historical figures, it would be quite plausible to believe that Kyi was the leader of the northern tribes of the Volyns who invaded the territory of the glades. But in order to get to the settlement of the Antes, he and his retinue had to cross the Dnieper - this is where the version about Kiy as a ferryman appears. According to historians, the tribes of the Ants were led by Shchek, and the Slovenes-Dulebs who came from the west were led by Khoriv.
There are several sources confirming the legend about the prince brothers who founded the city. In the Armenian chronicles there is confirmation of the legend of the three brothers. The "History of Taron" speaks of the brothers Kuare, Meltey and Horevan, who founded three cities in Paluni. There are also mentions of Kyiv and its founders and Byzantine sources.
Archaeological excavations confirm the date of the emergence of the Slavic city of Kyiv in the VI century. Initially, the settlement was located on Starokievsky Hill. But the favorable location of the city on an important trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks" allowed it to grow to the size of a large city of the early Middle Ages by the 9th century. According to various estimates, the population of Kyiv ranged from 30 to 50 thousand people.
Until the 11th century, mentions of Kyiv are very poor. But after the campaign of the Kiev prince Askold to Constantinople in 860, the Kiev principality becomes famous. And with Oleg coming to power in 882, the city receives the status of the capital, becoming the "mother of Russian cities." It was Oleg who conquered the territories adjacent to Kiev, conquered the scattered tribes of the Slavs and united them into Kievan Rus. After his death, power passes to Igor Rurikovich. And then to his wife Olga. Having adopted Christianity, she tries to baptize Russia, but she fails.
With the advent of the reign of Vladimir the Great, the “golden age” begins for Kievan Rus. In addition to economic and demographic growth, there is a unification of all of Russia under one faith. Prince Vladimir manages to baptize Russia in 998. The first Orthodox church, Tithes, is being built in Kyiv. The city is growing noticeably. Stone defensive walls appear, the Klovsky and Kiev-Pechersky monasteries, the Golden Gates and St. Sophia's Cathedral are erected.
The founding of Kyiv made it possible to unite many disparate Slavic tribes. This became one of the key stages in the development of Russia. In addition, the emergence of Kyiv led Russia to a single Orthodox faith, which significantly strengthened the power of the princes and made an invaluable contribution to the culture and architecture of the Russian lands.
