Ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs. The problem of the ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs, or Why are there blank spots in our history? Problems of the ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs pagan faith of the Slavs

The question of the origin of the Slavs interested scientists in the Middle Ages. Historians believe that the ancestors of the Slavs were the ancient Iranian-speaking peoples: Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans. Studies conducted in the 19th century make it possible to attribute the Slavs to the Indo-European linguistic group. Indo-European languages ​​are similar to each other and form several language groups, which include: Slavic, Germanic, Celtic, Romanesque, Iranian, etc.

The Indo-European community began to disintegrate in the 4th-3rd millennium BC.

East Slavs arose after the merger of the Proto-Slavs with other peoples of Eastern Europe, southern slavs - as a result of the union of the Thracians with the Illyrians. There is a lot of information that the Proto-Slavs separated from the Balts in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e.

The first mentions of Wends(Proto-Slavs) refer to the period when the Romans reached the Middle Danube, Pannonia and Norik. There are suggestions that the territory of the ancestors of the Slavs in the west extended to the Elbe, in the north - to the Baltic Sea, in the east - to the Volga and Oka. The southern border was the widest strip of forest-steppe, which ran from the left bank of the Danube to the east to Kiev. In the forest-steppe zone, the Slavs mixed with the Sarmatians. There is an opinion that the Scythian plowmen, the Scythian farmers who lived in the Middle Dnieper region, are Slavic tribes with their ancient agricultural culture. The Slavs, who lived in the southeast, exported their grain to Greece. Lithuanian-Latvian tribes in the second half of the 1st millennium BC. e. practically did not differ from the Slavs in language and way of life. In the Finno-Ugric language family, the population lived in the same villages.

Disappeared peoples left a big mark: Scythians and Sarmatians. They belong in language to the northern Iranian branch of the Indo-European peoples. The culture of the Slavs and nomadic tribes had much in common, but the Scythians and Sarmatians never formed a single political entity. In large areas of their residence, tribal unions and state associations of a slave-owning nature were formed. The Sindian tribes on the Taman Peninsula, in the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, in the steppes near the Danube, states arose. But the most powerful was the Scythian state with its center in the Crimea.

The Scythians develop crafts, trade, and architecture. Representatives of the top of the Scythian nobility with their wives, servants, animals were buried in barrows, the height of which reached a seven-story building. In the III century. BC. The Scythian kingdom was subjected to invasions by the Sarmatians, who conquered by the II-I centuries. BC. a huge part of Scythia. But the Scythians still have Crimea, where a new kingdom is being formed, the capital of which is Scythian Naples. The Scythian kings sought to capture the Greek cities of the Black Sea, but they managed to get only Olbia - and then for a short time. These events served as an impetus for the unification of the Greek colonies. But in the Bosporan kingdom itself, an uprising of the Scythians began. This rebellion was suppressed by the Pontic king, who also captured and defeated Scythian Naples. However, the Scythians were not a completely disappeared people, some of them mixed with the Slavs. In modern Russian, there are many Scythian-Sarmatian words, for example, “good”, “ax”, “dog”, etc.

Previous articles:

The complexity of studying the issues of ethnogenesis and the ancient history of the Slavic tribes lies, first of all, in the absence of reliable written sources. The earliest written sources mentioning Slavic tribes are Byzantine sources dating back to the period of the middle of the 6th century: they speak of the tribes of Antes and Sclavins, who could be the ancestors of the Eastern Slavs. Byzantine historians in their data relied on Roman authors of the 1st - 2nd centuries. AD, who mentioned the tribes of the Wends as the ancestors of the Slavs, and thus pushed the Proto-Slavs back to the time of the existence of the Ancient Roman Empire.

But at the same time, there is no indication to which ethnic group - the people - the listed tribes belong, as well as information about the history of these peoples, their movements and their historical homeland. In the earliest of the actually known Slavic sources - the Tale of Bygone Years, created by the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor in the 12th century - the narrative related to ancient Slavic history is largely mythological in nature. The data of linguistics allow us to speak about the separation of the Proto-Slavic ethnic group from the Indo-European language family in a wide time range: from the 2nd millennium BC. until the first centuries A.D.

At the same time, they establish a linguistic connection with other peoples of the Indo-European language family, who spoke Anatolian, Indo-Iranian, Armenian, Greek, Italic, Celtic, Germanic, Baltic and other languages. The community of peoples is established at the level of terminology related to production activities, the social sphere and religion, which makes it possible to speak of a similar organization of social life. The distribution area of ​​​​the language group is very wide - from Asia to the north of Western Europe. Separate peoples, including, possibly, the Slavs, settled in the Bronze Age (III - I millennium BC) on the territory of Central Europe.

The study of the ethnogenesis of the Slavs is one of the most difficult problems in archeology. Currently, archaeological research has made it possible to identify a number of Slavic archaeological cultures proper, which have become widespread in Central and Eastern Europe, starting from the 5th century BC. AD As for earlier cultures, the question - whether their carriers can be attributed to representatives of the Slavs or their ancestors - is still debatable. So, the problem of the ethnogenesis of the Slavs is connected with the establishment of the origin, history of formation and habitat of the ancient Slavic tribes. In historical science, several points of view have developed regarding the history of the origin of the ancient Slavs.

Two concepts are the most substantiated. According to the migration concept, the Slavs are migrants who moved to the East European Plain from another territory. Within the framework of this approach, several points of view have been formed. The so-called “Danubian” concept was set forth by Nestor in the Tale of Bygone Years, where the Danube territories were indicated as the ancestral home of the Slavs: as a result of the attack of the warlike tribes of the “Volokhovs”, the Slavs were forced to migrate from the territory of the Danube to the Dnieper region. This chronicle version was developed in the works of such prominent Russian historians of the 19th century as N. M. Karamzin, S. M. Solovyov, V. O. Klyuchevsky, who claimed that the Eastern Slavs moved from the Danube and settled on the East European ( Russian) plain in the 5th - 6th centuries. n. e.

Later Academician O.N. Trubachev, relying on linguistic research, also defended the point of view of the separation of the Proto-Slavic tribes from the Indo-European community in the north of the Balkans in the Danube region in the Bronze Age and their subsequent resettlement to the territory of the East European Plain. Within the framework of the “Baltic” version, reflected in the studies of M.V. Lomonosov, A.G. Kuzmin, the Slavs are also considered as migrants, but the lands of the ancient Balts are called their homeland. At a later time, scientists - linguists (for example, V.N. Toporov) built their evidence based on the proximity of the Baltic and Slavic languages. According to these scholars, in relation to the Baltic language, the Slavic language is later or, moreover, it is a pra-Baltic southern peripheral dialect. Accordingly, it was concluded that the Slavs, as a nationality, formed on the territory close to the habitats of the Baltic tribes, and subsequently migrated to the east.

Along with the migration concept, there is also an autochthonous concept of the origin of the East Slavic ethnos. Soviet historian Academician B.A. Rybakov, based on archeological data, argued that the Slavs as an ethnic group formed on the territory of Eastern Europe and are its original population. At the same time, he explained the emergence of disagreements in the definition of the Proto-Slavic territory (the ancestral home of the Slavs) - the Danube or the Baltic - by the fact that the Proto-Slavs settled in a very wide strip in Central and Eastern Europe: from the Sudetes, Tatras and Carpathians to the Baltic Sea and from Pripyat to the upper reaches of the Dniester and South Bug. Archaeologists who share this point of view consider some archaeological cultures found on the territory of Eastern Europe, including Russia, and dating back to the 1st millennium BC, to be Slavic proper, emphasizing the autochthonous nature of the Slavs in relation to this territory. In the context of the autochthonous concept, Belarus, the northern and central parts of Ukraine, and southwest Russia are called probable places of the ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs. The fact of residence in the 5th - 6th centuries should be considered unambiguously established. AD Slavic tribes in the territory from the upper and middle Vistula to the middle Dnieper. These conclusions are supported by archeological data. On the territory of the settlement of the Slavic tribes, the succession of successively changing archaeological cultures dating back to the 5th-6th centuries is traced.

In the last decades of the XX century. in the course of archaeological excavations, monuments were discovered that make it possible to speak of an earlier time than the 5th - 6th centuries, the time of the appearance of the Slavs in Eastern Europe. In the 80s. 20th century monuments of the so-called Kiev type of the end of the 2nd - 4th centuries, discovered in the Middle Dnieper and the basin of the left tributaries of the Dnieper, Desna and Seim (Kursk region), up to the sources of the Seversky Donets, were identified and attributed to a special culture. Many scientists (for example, R.V. Terpilovsky, N.S. Abashina and others) point to the direct continuity of the Kievan archaeological culture with the above Slavic cultures of the 5th - 6th centuries. In the VI century. AD on European territory, Slavic migrations acquired a massive character.

The Slavs settled the Danubian lands, Moesia, Thrace, Thessaly, to the possessions of ancient Sparta and the islands of the Mediterranean Sea. From the Baltic basin, the Slavs moved in a westerly direction, towards the Elbe River (Slavic Laba), and in the east, towards Ilmen Lake. It was during this period that the division of the ancient Slavic tribes into three main branches took place: western (Middle Danube and the region between the Oder and Elbe: Slovaks, Czechs, Poles, Lusatian Serbs), southern (Balkans: Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Bulgarians) and eastern Slavs (east and north of the East European Plain: Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians). In addition to determining the historical homeland of the Slavs and the period of formation of the Slavic ethnos, it is important to identify the features of the formation of the ethnos itself and its anthropological history. The data of paleoanthropology and genetics testify to the ethnic unity of the Slavic tribes living in Eastern Europe in the 5th - 6th centuries. and at a later time.

The Slavic ethnos was formed on the basis of the merger of two branches of the Caucasoid race: southern (Czechs, Slovaks, Ukrainians) and northern (Belarusians and Russians). The peoples closest to the Slavs are the descendants of the Balts - Lithuanians and Latvians. In addition, representatives of other ethnic communities took part in the ethnogenesis of the Slavs - Finno-Ugric peoples (northern territories), Celtic peoples (Western Slavs), Scythians (northern Black Sea region), Thracians (Balkans), etc. From the time of the formation of the nationality and as the habitat expanded, the Slavic tribes came into contact with neighboring tribes, which had a varying degree of influence on the formation of the ethnos, its way of life, language, and culture. According to many scientists, the tribes and peoples who took part in the formation of the ancient Russian nationality, in addition to the Balts and Finno-Ugric peoples, can also be attributed to the Scythians (VIII century BC - III century AD), Sarmatians (III - IV centuries AD), Huns (IV century AD), Khazars (IV - V centuries), Bulgarians (V - VIII centuries), Avars (VI - VII centuries), Hungarians ( VII - X centuries), Pechenegs (VIII - X centuries), Polovtsians (IX - XIII centuries).

By the end of the 6th century, by the time the ancient Slavs were consolidated in the newly occupied territories, the formation of the main alliances of Slavic tribes dates back. According to the Tale of Bygone Years, there were more than ten such unions. Most of the self-names of the tribes are associated with the places and conditions of their habitat. So, glades lived on the vast plains of the Dnieper region; in the forests - the Drevlyans; settled along the Dvina and its tributary Polota - Polotsk; Slavs living in the swampy area between Pripyat and Dvina got the name Dregovichi (possibly, from the dreg - a swamp), the name of the Buzhan tribe came from the Bug River.

Among the East Slavic tribes, the Slovenes are also known, who founded Novgorod on Lake Ilmen; northerners who lived along the Desna; Vyatichi settled along the Oka; Tivertsy (lower reaches of the Dniester), Radimichi (basin of the Sozh River), Krivichi (upper reaches of the Dvina, Dnieper and Volga), etc. Various Slavic tribes developed their own dialect, features of the organization of social life, economic activity, everyday and spiritual culture. Living conditions had a great influence, first of all, on economic activity: cattle breeding developed on open plains and steppe spaces, hunting, beekeeping (collection of wild honey) in forest areas, and fishing near rivers. Crafts - pottery, blacksmithing, as well as domestic industry - carpet weaving, canvas making and tailoring, saddlery and furriery - were widely developed. However, the main type of economic activity was still agriculture.

The most common cultivated crops were cereals (rye, oats, barley, buckwheat), legumes (peas, beans). They also grew hemp and flax. Garden crops were also known to the Slavs: turnips, cabbage, carrots, beets, radishes. The Slavs had a fairly developed agricultural culture, their own techniques and methods of conducting agricultural work. On the steppe spaces, shifting agriculture was developed: the site was used for 2-3 years, then left.

In the forest and forest-steppe regions, slash-and-burn agriculture dominated: the site was previously cleared of trees by felling, uprooting and burning the forest. The ash from burnt trees contributed to increased soil fertility. After 2-3 years of use, the site was also left and a new one was released for crops. In the 7th century n. e. the Eastern Slavs develop a two-field crop rotation system, which provides for the division of the land into two halves and their alternate use. By the end of the 8th century the two-field system was almost everywhere replaced by a three-field crop rotation system, in which there was an alternation of fallow, winter and spring crops, which contributed to a slower depletion of the soil.

According to some sources, from the 8th century. The Slavs practiced soil manure, which contributed to an increase in agricultural productivity. The Slavs used a fairly wide arsenal of agricultural implements for various purposes: a ralo, a hoe, a spade, a bough harrow, a sickle, a rake, a scythe, a millstone. In the VIII - IX centuries. a plow with an iron plowshare appeared, and in forest areas - a plow. Both the plow and the plow, with minor changes, existed in Russian agricultural culture until the 20th century. Cattle were used as draft power.

The transition to more advanced farming systems, the use of a plow and a plow made it possible to increase the productivity of agricultural production, contributed to the intensification of labor and the appearance of surpluses, which, in turn, directly affected the level of economic development of the agricultural economy of the Eastern Slavs. The basis of the social organization was the community (verv) - an association of people based on the joint conduct of economic activities. Community traditions that survived until the 20th century became one of the fundamental foundations of Russian culture and civilization, which was explained not only by the mentality and peculiarities of religious beliefs, but also by quite objective reasons: the severity and large amount of agricultural work that required the efforts of a large team, the need monitor the proper distribution and use of land.

The community acted as the main administrative unit: the most important legal, military-political and economic issues were resolved at community gatherings. Initially, the tribal community dominated everywhere, which was an association of large patriarchal families on the basis of consanguinity, which was characterized by the equality of all its members, the presence of communal property, joint economic activity and equal distribution of labor products. As the habitat expands, the number of members of the community increases, and, most importantly, the intensification of agricultural labor, the tribal community declines: small families receive more and more independence. By the end of the 8th century the tribal community was replaced by a neighboring community, uniting the households of small families. Members of the neighboring community jointly owned hay and forest land, and arable land was divided among individual peasant farms. Small families conducted independent economic activities and independently disposed of the products of their labor. Later, family property became the basis for the formation of private property. The uneven development of individual small farms, one way or another, contributed to the stratification of community members and the emergence of groups of the most prosperous and poorest members of society. As a result, a ruling stratum is formed, replenished initially by representatives of the tribal nobility, employed in the management of individual tribes. The political system of the pre-state period of Slavic history evolved from communal (veche) traditions to a regime of military democracy.

If at the initial stage the affairs of the tribe were managed by the general meeting of its members - the veche - then later the leading role began to be concentrated in the hands of individuals - elders, leaders. Military democracy implied the presence of military leaders at the head of the East Slavic tribes, that is, princes, whose main task was to organize the protection of the lands of the community and its inhabitants from external enemies. The princes led the squad, i.e. military detachments, consisting of free community members. The power of the prince was originally nominal and did not go beyond the functions of a military leader.

At the same time, the leaders were elected or replaced by the whole society. Frequent conflicts between tribes over land, constant attacks by neighboring tribes on Slavic lands contributed to the growth of the role and importance of the prince and his squad. The need to be distracted from agricultural work for the conduct of hostilities had a negative effect on labor efficiency, so the combatants gradually broke away from agricultural production and became, as it were, professional military men. Over time, the squad turned into a specialized military detachment, reporting directly to the prince. Taking advantage of their dominant political position, the leaders occupied the vast, most fertile lands, also enriching themselves through aggressive campaigns against neighboring tribes.

The princes and warriors formed the military service nobility, which gradually turned into the politically and economically dominant social stratum (later class, estate). Over time, the princes began to perform not only military, but also managerial, judicial functions in a particular tribe and its settlements. The Slavs formed both permanent and temporary settlements on free lands. The main type of dwelling is a semi-dugout with log or often reed roofs. As a rule, for security purposes, the Slavs arranged their dwellings on the islands, along the high banks of the rivers. From the 8th century the Eastern Slavs developed fortified settlements - “grads” (from “to fence”, “enclose”), which became the basis for the emergence of the first cities. Among the most ancient Slavic cities mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years, one can name Kiev, Pereyaslavl, Chernigov, Smolensk, Lyubech, Novgorod, Polotsk, etc. The presence of a large number of cities explains one of the names of the East Slavic lands - Gardarika (country of cities), which existed among the Scandinavian tribes of the 9th - 12th centuries. The first cities were not only fortified fortresses, behind whose walls the population took refuge during raids, but also centers of handicraft production and cultural life.

They, as a rule, concentrated tribal nobility, military squads, artisans, merchants, which contributed to the further stratification of society. Dwellings in cities are wooden houses, more durable and solid than rural huts. A few streets were landscaped: wooden flooring was laid on the ground, allowing free movement in wet weather. Cities became centers of international trade. Due to their geographical position, the East Slavic lands were the intersection of the most important trade routes.

The most important of them was widely known since the 6th century. the great water trade route from the "Varangians to the Greeks" - the path from Scandinavia to Byzantium, which passed through almost the entire territory of the settlement of the East Slavic tribes and established a connection between the Eastern Slavs and the Greek Black Sea colonies, and through them - with Byzantium. The path went from north to south, from the Baltic (Varangian) Sea along the Neva River to Lake Ladoga, then along the Volkhov River and Lake Ilmen, from it along the Lovat River, then by small rivers and dragging to the upper reaches of the Dnieper and further along the Dnieper to the Black Sea. The trade turnover on this route was enormous: iron ore, walrus ivory, whale skin products, and weapons were exported from the Scandinavian countries; from Western European countries - luxury goods and wine; from the Baltic States - amber; from Byzantium - wines, spices, jewelry and glassware, fabrics, books, art objects. Another international river route "from the Varangians to the Persians", passing along the tributaries of the upper Volga and further along this river to the lands of the Volga Bulgars and through the Khazar Khaganate to the Caspian Sea, established a connection with Central Asia and the Arab world. Slavic tribes were suppliers of various furs ("soft gold"), flax, honey, wax, leather, resin, bread, handicrafts, weapons.

It should be emphasized that trade routes played an important role not only in the process of strengthening international trade relations, but also contributed to the cultural exchange between the two civilizational centers - East and West - enriching Russian culture with elements of these two different archetypal complexes, which subsequently largely determined the originality of and the uniqueness of Russian civilization itself. The features of the material and spiritual culture of the East Slavic tribes were largely explained by the conditions of their habitat. In addition to the actual ethnic specifics in clothing, headdresses, and in the appearance of the dwelling, one can trace the influence of the peoples with whom the Slavs were in contact. A similar situation has developed in the linguistic culture, in which there are elements of different language groups.

The characteristic features of the organization of public life in a community (patriarchal way of life, traditional forms of legal proceedings and law, etc.) bring the Slavs closer to other peoples who were at the level of the tribal system. At the same time, the East Slavic tribes had a spiritual culture that was distinguished by a unique mythology, religious beliefs, and folklore. The religion of the Eastern Slavs was paganism, which meant polytheism and the presence of many cults.

The natural cult manifested itself most clearly, expressed in the deification of the forces of nature. Among the many deities, the most revered were the god of fire and sky - Svarog, the god of thunder - Perun, the god of the sun - Yarilo, the god of the wind - Stribog. Features of economic activity explain the widespread development of the cult of Rod and women in childbirth - the god and goddesses of fertility, Veles - the god of cattle breeding, Mokosh - the goddess of fertility and weaving. In honor of the most revered gods, various rituals were performed, including sacrifices. Each of the East Slavic tribes had its own patron god, the most revered of the entire pantheon.

In addition to the natural cult, a special cult of ancestors, a funeral cult, developed in Slavic culture. Slavic religious culture reflected animism (belief in spirits), which, combined with a natural cult, contributed to the emergence of a number of small spirits and deities that inhabited a certain natural environment: water, goblin, mermaids. Some spirits performed protective functions (brownies), others were evil spirits (ghouls). Totemism, the belief in ancestral animals, became widespread. Such animals and birds as bear, horse, swan, eagle, falcon were especially revered.

Images of animals were used to scare away evil spirits and have survived to this day on coats of arms. Fetishism based on the endowment of inanimate objects with supernatural powers, expressed primarily in the traditions of idolatry, became widespread. At the places of religious worship - temples - wooden or stone idols (idols) were installed - images of deities that were addressed during religious rites. Magic and the rituals associated with it were also widely developed in the Slavic environment, including healing, protective, love, etc. The annual cycle of pagan holidays was built according to the solar-economic principle: the main holidays were timed to coincide with the main positions of the sun - the winter and summer solstices, the spring and autumn equinoxes, which corresponded to the main cycles of agricultural work.

The priesthood as a special closed social stratum did not develop in Slavic culture: “sorcerers” played a significant role in the organization and conduct of the cult, i.e. knowledgeable people are magicians. The head of the pagan cult was the leader, and then the prince. The Eastern Slavs in the early stages of their existence did not have an established written system, so the oral tradition remained the main form of transmission of cultural information. The Slavs developed their own mythology, which revealed the peculiarities of the worldview and worldview of the people. Song and narrative genres were widely developed. So, the East Slavic tribes in the second half of the 1st millennium AD. represented an established ethnic community, distinguished by a unique economic, material and spiritual culture.

The Slavs as an established people were first attested in the Byzantine written sources of the middle of the 6th century. Retrospectively, these sources mention Slavic tribes in the 4th century. Earlier information refers to peoples who could take part in the ethnogenesis of the Slavs, such as the Bastars, but the degree of this participation varies in various historical reconstructions. The written testimonies of the Byzantine authors of the 6th century deal with an already established people, divided into Sclavinians and Antes. Mentions of the Wends as the ancestors of the Slavs (or a separate Slavic tribe) are of a retrospective nature. The testimonies of the authors of the Roman era (I-II centuries) about the Wends do not allow us to connect them with any reliably Slavic archaeological culture.

Archaeologists define it as a reliably Slavic series of archaeological cultures dating back to the 5th century. In academic science, there is no single point of view on the ethnic origin of the bearers of earlier cultures and their continuity in relation to later Slavic ones. Linguists also do not have a common opinion on the time of the appearance of a language that could be considered Slavic or Proto-Slavic. Existing scientific versions suggest the separation of the Proto-Slavic language from the Proto-Indo-European (or from a linguistic community of a lower level) in a wide range from the 2nd millennium BC. e. until the turn of the eras or even the first centuries AD. e.

The origin, history of the formation and range of the ancient Slavs are studied by methods and at the intersection of various sciences: linguistics, history, archeology, paleoanthropology, genetics.

Slavic origin theories

Migration

A) "Danubian" or "Balkan" migration theory.

The author of The Tale of Bygone Years (PVL) - Nestor - was the first who tried to answer the question of where and how the Slavs appeared. He determined the territory of the Slavs, including the lands along the lower Danube and Pannonia. It was from the Danube that the process of the settlement of the Slavs began, that is, the Slavs were not the original inhabitants of their land, we are talking about their migration. Consequently, the Kievan chronicler was the founder of the so-called migration theory of the origin of the Slavs, known as the "Danubian" or "Balkan". It was popular in the writings of medieval authors: Czech and Polish chroniclers of the 13th-14th centuries. This opinion was long shared by historians of the XVIII - early. XX centuries The Danubian "ancestral home" of the Slavs was recognized, in particular, by such historians as S. M. Solovyov, V. O. Klyuchevsky and others. According to V. O. Klyuchevsky, the Slavs moved from the Danube to the Carpathians. Based on this, his work traces the idea that “the history of Russia began in the 6th century. on the northeastern foothills of the Carpathians. It was here, according to the historian, that an extensive military alliance of tribes was formed, led by the Duleb-Volhynian tribe. From here, the Eastern Slavs settled to the east and northeast to Lake Ilmen in the 7th - 8th centuries. So V. O. Klyuchevsky sees the Slavs as relatively late newcomers to his land.

B) "Scythian-Sarmatian" migration theory.

It was first recorded in the Bavarian chronicle of the 13th century, and later adopted by many Western European authors of the 14th-18th centuries. According to their ideas, the ancestors of the Slavs advanced from Western Asia along the Black Sea coast and settled under the ethnonyms Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans and Roxalans. Gradually, the Slavs from the middle Black Sea region settled to the west and southwest.

C) "Scythian-Baltic" migration theory.

At the beginning of the XX century. a variant close to the "Scythian-Sarmatian" theory was proposed by Academician A. I. Sobolevsky. In his opinion, the names of re, lakes, mountains within the location of the ancient settlements of the Russian people allegedly show that the Russians received these names from another people who were here earlier. Such a predecessor of the Slavs, according to Sobolevsky, was a group of tribes of Iranian origin (Scythian root). Later, this group assimilated with the ancestors of the Slavo-Baltic living further north and gave rise to the Slavs somewhere on the shores of the Baltic Sea, from where the Slavs settled.

D) "Baltic" migration theory.

This theory was developed by a prominent historian and linguist A. A. Shakhmatov. In his opinion, the basin of the Western Dvina and the Lower Neman in the Baltic region was the first ancestral home of the Slavs. From here, the Slavs, taking the name of the Wends (from the Celts), advanced to the lower Vistula, from where the Goths had just left in front of them in the Black Sea region (the turn of the 2nd - 2nd centuries). Consequently, here (Lower Vistula), according to A. A. Shakhmatov, was the second ancestral home of the Slavs. Finally, when the Goths left the Black Sea region, part of the Slavs, namely the eastern and southern branches, moved east and south in the Black Sea region and formed here the tribes of the eastern and southern Slavs. So, following this "Baltic" theory, the Slavs were newcomers to the land, on which they then created their states.

There were and still are a number of other theories of the migratory nature of the origin of the Slavs and their "ancestral home". This is “Asian”, this is also “Central European” (according to which the Slavs and their ancestors turned out to be newcomers from Germany (Jutland and Scandinavia), settling from here across Europe and Asia, up to India), and a number of other theories.

Obviously, according to the migration theory, the Slavs were depicted according to the annalistic data as a relatively late newcomer population in the territory they occupied (VI - VIII centuries), i.e. the authors of this theory did not consider them permanent inhabitants of those lands where the Slavs were known from antiquity.

Autochthonous(from the Greek autochthon - local) - a biological species that lives in the place in which it occurred.

This theory was recognized in Soviet historiography. A similar view was held by Czech researchers in the 50s-70s, who were followers of the authoritative scientist on Slavism - L. Niederle.

They believed that Slavism was formed on a vast territory, which included not only the territory of modern Poland, but also a significant part of modern Ukraine and Belarus. According to this point of view, the Eastern Slavs were autochthonous inhabitants in their own land. Similar views were expressed by some Bulgarian and Polish scientists.

More about the view of Soviet historiography:

Initially, separate small scattered ancient tribes took shape on a certain vast territory, which then formed into larger tribes and their associations, and, finally, into historically known peoples that form nations. Consequently, peoples were formed in the course of history not from a single primordial "ancestral people" with its "ancestral language" through its subsequent disintegration and settlement from some initial center ("ancestral home"), but on the contrary, the path of development basically went from the initial multiplicity of tribes to their subsequent gradual unification and mutual crossing (assimilation). In this case, of course, in some cases a secondary process could also take place: the differentiation of large ethnic communities that had already formed earlier.

Question number 5. Formation of the Old Russian state. The problem of the origin of ancient Russian statehood. The legend of the calling of the Varangians.

State is a power-political organization that has sovereignty, a special apparatus of control and coercion, and also establishes a legal order in a certain territory.

conditions for the emergence of the state.

The first state in the lands of the Eastern Slavs was called "Rus". By the name of its capital - the city of Kiev, scientists subsequently began to call it Kievan Rus.

The first mention of the name "Rus" dates back to the same time as the information about the Ants, Slavs, Wends, i.e. to the 5th - 7th centuries. describing the tribes that lived between the Dnieper and the Dniester, the Greeks call them Antes, Scythians, Saramats. In the IX century

The prerequisites for the formation of the Old Russian state were the disintegration of tribal ties and the development of a new mode of production. The Old Russian state took shape in the process of development of feudal relations, the emergence of class contradictions and coercion.

Among the Slavs, a dominant layer was gradually formed, the basis of which was the military Nobility of the Kiev princes - the squad. Already in the 9th century, strengthening the position of their princes, the combatants firmly occupied leading positions in society.

It was in the 9th century. in Eastern Europe, two ethno-political associations were formed, which eventually became the basis of the state. It was formed as a result of the association of glades with the center in Kiev.

Slavs, Krivichi and Finnish-speaking tribes united in the area of ​​​​Lake Ilmen (the center is in Novgorod). In the middle of the 9th c. Rurik (862-879), a native of Scandinavia, began to rule this association. Therefore, the year 862 is considered the year of formation of the Old Russian state.

The presence of the Scandinavians (Varangians) on the territory of Russia is confirmed by archaeological excavations and records in the chronicles. In the 18th century German scientists G.F. Miller and G.Z. Bayer Schlozer proved the Scandinavian theory of the formation of the Old Russian state (Rus).

M.V. Lomonosov, denying the Norman (Varangian) origin of statehood, connected the word "Rus" with the Sarmatians-Roksolans, the Ros River, flowing in the south.

Lomonosov, relying on The Tale of the Vladimir Princes, argued that Rurik, being a native of Prussia, belonged to the Slavs, who were the Prussians. It was this "southern" anti-Norman theory of the formation of the Old Russian state that was supported and developed in the 19-20 centuries. historian scholars.

The first mention of Russia is attested in the "Bavarian Chronograph" and refers to the period 811-821. In it, the Russians are mentioned as a people in the composition of the Khazars inhabiting Eastern Europe. In the 9th century Russia was perceived as an ethno-political formation on the territory of the glades and northerners.

Rurik, who took over the administration of Novgorod, sent his squad led by Askold and Dir to rule Kiev. Rurik's successor, the Varangian prince Oleg (879-912), who took possession of Smolensk and Lyubech, subjugated all the Krivichi to his power, in 882 he fraudulently lured Askold and Dir out of Kiev and killed him. Having captured Kiev, he managed to unite the two most important centers of the Eastern Slavs - Kiev and Novgorod, by the power of his power. Oleg subjugated the Drevlyans, Northerners and Radimichi.

In 907, Oleg, having gathered a huge army of Slavs and Finns, undertook a campaign against Tsargrad (Constantinople), the capital of the Byzantine Empire. The Russian squad devastated the surroundings, forced the Greeks to ask Oleg for peace and pay a huge tribute. The result of this campaign was very beneficial for Russia peace treaties with Byzantium, concluded in 907 and 911.

Oleg died in 912, and Igor (912-945), the son of Rurik, became his successor. In 941, he made a campaign against Byzantium, which violated the previous agreement. Igor's army plundered the shores of Asia Minor, but was defeated in a naval battle. Then in 945, in alliance with the Pechenegs, he undertook a new campaign against Constantinople and forced the Greeks to conclude a peace treaty again. In 945, while trying to collect a second tribute from the Drevlyans, Igor was killed.

Igor's widow Princess Olga (945-957) ruled for the infancy of her son Svyatoslav. She brutally avenged the murder of her husband by devastating the lands of the Drevlyans. Olga streamlined the size and places of tribute collection. In 955 she visited Constantinople and was baptized into Orthodoxy.

Svyatoslav (957-972) - the bravest and most influential of the princes, who subjugated the Vyatichi to his power. In 965, he inflicted a series of heavy defeats on the Khazars. Svyatoslav defeated the North Caucasian tribes, as well as the Volga Bulgarians, and plundered their capital Bulgar. The Byzantine government sought an alliance with him to fight external enemies.

Kiev and Novgorod became the center of formation of the Old Russian state, East Slavic tribes, northern and southern, united around them. In the 9th century both of these groups united into a single Old Russian state, which went down in history as Russia.

The ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs is a long process of their appearance and subsequent development, which led to some final state (for example, to the formation of a state). Literally, the word "ethnogenesis" is translated as "the birth of a people." However, within its framework, the further fate of the newly emerged people is also considered.

The ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs has a very rich history, which not many peoples can boast of. Therefore, we will only superficially touch and briefly consider the ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs.

As you know, Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians came out of the Eastern Slavs. This is the most numerous branch. That is why so much attention is paid today to the problem of the ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs. Moreover, there are no reliable and complete sources on this issue. By the way, the Eastern Slavs (or their ancestors) are called Ants.

The ethnogenesis of the ancient Eastern Slavs dates back to the first millennium BC. To be more precise, the eastern branch finally separated from the community of Slavs in the fourth century. It was then that both eastern and western Slavs became independent. Already at the beginning of the new era, East Slavic tribes began to spread to the lands of the Danube and the Dnieper, the Balkans, up to Asia Minor.

The ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs took place in close ties with other peoples. And this, in turn, greatly influenced their culture, way of life and formation. It is believed that the totality of the Eastern Slavs is a mixture of the true descendants of the Proto-Slavs with other Eastern European peoples. Next to the Slavs were the Goths (they were opponents), the Avars (who also sought to enslave the Slavs), the Khazars (who imposed tribute on the Slavs), the Pechenegs and the Polovtsians. All these peoples only interfered with the strengthening of the position of the Eastern Slavs. But, perhaps, thanks to them, the character of the latter was tempered.

Eastern Slavs in ancient times lived in the so-called communities. And from them tribes were already formed. But over time, these tribal communities have lost their relevance. They were replaced by neighboring communities, and with them - private property. The next step was the unification of the Slavic tribes under the rule of the prince (fifth-sixth centuries). And this can be viewed ambiguously. It would seem that this led to the organization and strengthening of the tribe. But, on the other hand, the princes began to attack other tribes. And this sowed fragmentation in the rudiments of the state.

The ethnogenesis and settlement of the Eastern Slavs are recorded in the famous chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years". Nestor describes several tribes that inhabited different territories (for example, the glade - Kiev, the Ilmen Slavs - near the lake of the same name, and so on). I wonder where these names come from.

• First, from the place of residence.
• Secondly, from the names of the ancestors (Radimichi, Krivichi).
• Thirdly, from the way of life of this group of Slavs.

However, it is more correct to say not tribes, but tribal unions. These are such associations that led the Eastern Slavs to the formation of statehood. That is, these unions were attached to their specific territory and existed in the seventh-eighth centuries AD. And this was a fundamentally new step in the history of the Eastern Slavs. In total there were thirteen tribal unions.

The next stage in the ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs was the formation of the Old Russian state. This happened in the ninth or tenth century. Then Christianity came to Russia. Then the tribal system ceased to exist. At the same time, the culture and ideology of the Slavic state was formed.

Theories of the ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs

Theories are assumptions about how their formation and formation took place. Here are the main ones:

1. Autochthonous. It implies that the Eastern Slavs originally appeared near the Dnieper, and did not come here from other territories.
2. Migration. It says that the separated eastern branch migrated during the Great Migration.
3. A combination of both theories. That is, migration took place, but most of the Slavs still remained in place.

Scientists and historians have not come to a consensus.

Finally

Thus, the ethnogenesis and ethnic history of the Eastern Slavs is an important part of the history of the Slavic peoples. Although we do not have many sources on this subject, in general, we have an idea of ​​the formation of the East Slavic direction and the subsequent formation of the state. But, even briefly considering the problems of the ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs, we touched on the origin and development of their peoples.

Why did we raise this issue, this problem? First, the Eastern Slavs are our immediate ancestors. And secondly, recently the world has begun to forget about the kinship of peoples and states. But several hundred years ago, Ukrainians, Russians, and Belarusians were a close-knit, united and powerful people. The people who managed to survive, who rose up and created statehood. And this, perhaps, should not be forgotten.

Problems of Slavic ethnogenesis

The collapse of the ancient European linguistic community and the separation of the Balto-Slavic (or Proto-Slavonic) language from it dates back to the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. However, the isolation of the Proto-Slavic language itself is attributed by most linguists only to the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. The isolation of the Proto-Slavs as an ethnographic (archaeological) whole is most often associated with those that arose in the 5th century. BC e. on the territory of modern Poland, podklesheva and Pomeranian cultures. This does not exclude the concept of the autonomous development of Proto-Slavic elements in the east, defended by a number of archaeologists, within the framework of the Zarubinets Balto-Slavic culture. In general, from the II century. BC e. the Proto-Slavs are being introduced into several diverse cultures, without constituting an indisputable ethnographic whole. This is Przeworsk culture in the west, Zarubinets, later Chernyakhov (which absorbed the Przeworsk element) culture in the east. This makes it difficult to study their early history.

In written sources from the beginning of the Christian era, separate references to the Proto-Slavs appear. This is mainly information from geographical descriptions (“Natural History” by Pliny the Elder, “Germany” by Tacitus, “Geography” by Ptolemy, “Pevtinger's table”). The Roman emperor Volusian (251-253) received the title of Venedian for his campaign in Dacia. Proto-Slavs appear in these references as "Wends". This is an ethnonym of Italo-Illyrian origin; the ancient Veneti (Vendi) were a tribe close to the Illyrians in northeastern Italy, in the region of present-day Venice. The appearance of this ethnonym in Central Europe can be linked with the Italic migration noted by linguists, which influenced the design of the Proto-Slavic language. In favor of the identity of the Wends and the Proto-Slavs, firstly, Jordanes direct indication of the origin of the Slavs and Antes from the Wends testifies. Secondly, the Slavs are called Wends or Winds in Germanic, Wene (v?n?) - in the Baltic-Finnish languages ​​(compare also the name or epithet of the Gothic king Vinitary). Wends, conquered, according to the Jordan, in the 4th century. Germanarich, can be correlated with some part of the Przeworsk population.

According to Ptolemy, among the neighbors of the Wends, the Slavs themselves already appear (Slovene is the oldest Proto-Slavic ethnonym with the meaning ‘speaking’) - stavans. They are localized together with the Balts (Galinds and Sudins) to the southeast of the Wends and to the north of the Alans, in the territories then occupied by the Przeworsk and Late Zarubinets sites. Another later Slavic ethnonym mentioned by Ptolemy is the Velts (Velets) east of the Venets in Pomorye.

When describing the events of the 4th century, which led to the fall of the Gothic “kingdom” of Germanarich, Jordanes cites a legend about the war of the Goths with the Ants tribe, which above refers, along with the Slavs, to the descendants of the Wends. On the relationship and monolingualism of the Ants and Slavs in the VI century. says Procopius of Caesarea.

The Antes were active on the European stage in the 6th - early 7th centuries, which will be discussed later. For the period of their struggle with the Goths, there is no direct news, except for the indicated testimony of Jordanes. Traces of the same legends are found in the Germanic languages ​​(Old High German, Anglo-Saxon), where the name Antes began to denote mythical giants. The later Antes are related to the Penkovo ​​culture in the south of the East European Plain, genetically related to the Chernyakhov culture. The Chernyakhov culture, at least in some part of it, must be associated with the Antes of Gothic legends.

Were the antes of the legends used by Jordan the Proto-Slavs? The ethnonym "Antes" is non-Slavic. It is associated with the ancient Sarmatian language environment and is translated as “marginal” or even “external”, “foreign”. So the Alanian tribes of the Chernyakhov culture, who settled in a foreign-speaking environment, and the tribes themselves that made up this environment could well be called so.

With the story of Jordanes about the fall of the Ostrogothic kingdom, one can compare the evidence of Ammianus Marcellinus, a contemporary of the events. According to Jordanes, after the death of Germanaric, the Huns destroyed his kingdom. The Ostrogoths were conquered by the Huns, while the Visigoths separated from them. Amal Vinitary, the great-nephew of Germanaric, became the ruler of the Ostrogoths. Freeing himself from the power of the Huns, he first opposed the Antes, after a changeable war he defeated them, crucifying King Boz with his sons and 70 noble people. Balamber, the king of the Huns, made an alliance with part of the Goths, opposed Vinitarius and, after two unsuccessful battles on the Erak River, defeated him. Vinitary died, the Ostrogoths submitted to the Huns. Power over the Ostrogoths passed to the son of Germanaric Gunimund. The fate of Vandalarius, son of Vinitarius, is not clear; much later (at the beginning of the 5th century), the Ostrogoths subordinate to the Huns were led by his son Valamer.

According to Ammianus Marcellinus, the kingdom of the Grevtungs (Ostrogoths of the Jordan), ruled by Ermenrich, was destroyed by the Huns with the assistance of the Tanait Alans (that is, the Don) conquered by them, neighboring the Grevtungs. Vitimir was elected king of the Grevtungs, who, having bribed part of the Huns, entered the war, first of all, with the Alans, and this war was at first quite successful for him. However, in the end, having suffered a series of defeats from the Huns and Alans, he fell in battle. Power was given to his young son Viterikh under the regency of Alatheus and Safrak. The latter led the Grewthungi into the Empire, following the Tervings of King Athanaric.

Cup. Chernyakhov culture

A number of common points are evident, and we must take into account the natural exaggeration of the Gothic successes in the Gothic epic. After the death of Germanaric, the new ruler Vitimir (or Vinitary) headed the Goth, who entered the fight against the Huns (King Balamber) and their allies, but died in battle. At the same time, the Ostrogoths (Grevtungs) were divided into supporters of him and Gunimund, an ally of the Huns, noted by Jordan. Supporters of Vitimir or some part of them, led by Alatheus and Safrak, followed Athanaric's Vesigoths (tervings) to the Empire. The king of this part of the Grevtungs - Viterikh, son of Vitimir, is identical to Vandalarius Jordan. Gunimund, who was not mentioned by Ammianus Marcellinus, became the king of the Goths (Ostrogoths) who submitted to the Huns.

Here, the identity of the “Alans” (Tanaites?), with whom Vitimir fought, with the Antes, against whom Vinitarius, who wanted to overthrow the Gothic yoke, turned first of all, becomes obvious. This in itself does not indicate ethnicity. Ammian Marcellinus himself notes that during the period of their hegemony, the Alans extended their name to many allied tribes of various origins. This brings us back to the question of the nature of the Chernyakhov culture. It combines Alano-Sarmatian, Germanic, Dacian, "Balto-Slavic" and Proto-Slavic (in the contact zone with the Przeworsk culture in Volhynia and Polissya) ethnic elements. Excluding the Germans-Goths, it is this mixed population from the left, Seversk tributaries of the Dnieper to the Olt, the upper reaches of the Dniester and the Western Bug that are the Antes of the Jordan. Judging by the news of Ammian about the neighborhood of the Tanaites with the Goths, in a political sense, this vast territory was to be divided between both. On the other hand, part of the Alans-Tanaites could form the basis of the Chernyakhov culture. Antov 4th century should then be considered as the western "external" part of the Tanait association, which included components of different tribes. It is worth adding that the name of the king of the Antes (Boz) is non-Slavic.

Iron ax. Chernyakhov culture

The final transformation of the Antes into a Slavic ethnos, as well as the formation of the ethnos of the Slavs proper (Slovenes), occurs during the 5th century. However, the history of the Proto-Slavs began, as we have seen, from a much earlier time. If it is possible to consider the 5th century as the beginning of proper Slavic history, then only conditionally. The past of the Slavs counted by that time more than one millennium.

This text is an introductory piece. From the book Ancient Russia and the Great Steppe author Gumilyov Lev Nikolaevich

145. At the end of ethnogenesis On the eve of Batu's campaign, the "semi-states" that made up Ancient Russia were populous (about 6 million in total) and rich, especially Novgorod. The population consisted of healthy, courageous people. These people were capable of perceiving the Byzantine

author Gumilyov Lev Nikolaevich

X. Algorithm of ethnogenesis Ethnic relics Ethnic history can count over twenty super-ethnoi that disappeared in historical time and were replaced by those that currently exist. So far, the task is to describe the mechanism of the disappearance of superethnoi, and about their

From the book Ethnogenesis and the Biosphere of the Earth [L / F] author Gumilyov Lev Nikolaevich

The explosion of ethnogenesis in the 1st century. n. e If ethnic groups were "social categories", then they would arise in similar social conditions. But in fact, as will be shown now, the starting points of ethnogenesis, where they can be traced on strict factual material, coincide

From the book Ethnogenesis and the Biosphere of the Earth [L / F] author Gumilyov Lev Nikolaevich

The explosion of ethnogenesis in the VI century. n. The events of the 7th century were similar in character and results. in Central Arabia. A community of militant followers arose around the Prophet Muhammad, breaking the former tribal relations and creating a new stereotype of behavior.

From the book Ethnogenesis and the Biosphere of the Earth [L / F] author Gumilyov Lev Nikolaevich

An explosion of ethnogenesis in the 11th century. n. e One gets the impression that the linear sections of the earth's surface, along which intensive processes of the emergence of ethnic groups took place, do not cover the entire globe, but are limited by its curvature, as if a strip of light fell on a school globe and

From the book Ethnogenesis and the Biosphere of the Earth [L / F] author Gumilyov Lev Nikolaevich

The curve of ethnogenesis In all historical processes from the microcosm (the life of one individual) to the macrocosm (the development of man as a whole), social and natural forms of movement sometimes coexist so bizarrely that it is sometimes difficult to grasp the nature of the connection. This is especially

From the book History of Germany. Volume 1. From ancient times to the creation of the German Empire author Bonwetsch Bernd

From the book Millennium around the Caspian [L/F] author Gumilyov Lev Nikolaevich

2. Curve of ethnogenesis In all historical processes - from the microcosm (the life of one individual) to the macrocosm (the development of mankind as a whole), social and natural forms of movement sometimes coexist so bizarrely that it is sometimes difficult to grasp the nature of their connection. This

From the book Gumilev son of Gumilev author Belyakov Sergey Stanislavovich

PHASES OF ETHNOGENESIS "Gumilyov literally transfers the laws of development of an organism to ethnogenesis," critics of the passionary theory of ethnogenesis write. But after all, natural processes have a beginning and an end, each system, having exhausted the resources for development, perishes. Mountains collapse, dry up

From the book Slavs. Historical and archaeological research [Illustrated] author Sedov Valentin Vasilievich

Anthropology and ethnography in the study of Slavic ethnogenesis The role of anthropology in the study of the early history and origin of the Slavs is small. In all regions of Europe, where the Slavs and their immediate ancestors lived, in the Bronze Age and the early Iron Age, completely

From the book HISTORY OF RUSSIA from ancient times to 1618. Textbook for universities. In two books. Book one. author Kuzmin Apollon Grigorievich

Possibilities of various sciences in elucidating the Slavic ethnogenesis The history of the early Slavs can be studied with the wide cooperation of different sciences - linguistics, archeology, anthropology, ethnography and folklore. Any of these sciences separately does not have and is unlikely to

From the book Origin and Early History of the Slavs [Illustrated] author Sedov Valentin Vasilievich

POSSIBILITIES OF DIFFERENT SCIENCES IN COVERING THE SLAVIC ETHNOGENESIS The history of the early Slavs can be studied with the wide cooperation of various sciences - linguistics, onomastics, archeology, anthropology, ethnography and folklore. None of these sciences taken separately

From the book Mongols and Merkits in the XII century. author Gumilyov Lev Nikolaevich

Curve of ethnogenesis In all historical processes from the microcosm (the life of one individual) to the macrocosm (the development of humanity as a whole), social and natural forms of movement coexist and interact sometimes so bizarrely that it is sometimes difficult to catch the character

From the book From Ancient Times to the Creation of the German Empire author Bonwetsch Bernd

Problems of the ethnogenesis of the ancient Germans The history of each nation begins with its origin, the origins of which most often belong to the non-literate era. Breaking up into two huge stages (pre-literate and written), ethnogenesis, according to the specifics of the source base, becomes

From the book The Rise of China author Medvedev Roy Alexandrovich

Poverty and Corruption Problems in China China is still a very poor country, and the average salary of workers, employees, engineers or teachers in China is about 10 times lower than in the US or Japan. In terms of per capita income, China reached

From the book Dawn of the Slavs. 5th - first half of 6th century author Alekseev Sergey Viktorovich

Problems of Slavic ethnogenesis The collapse of the ancient European linguistic community and the separation of the Balto-Slavic (or Proto-Slavic) language from it dates back to the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. However, the isolation of the Proto-Slavic language proper, most