FIRST PEOPLE IN RUSSIA
EARLY RUSSIAN TRIBES
• Originally home of the
Slavs
– Agricultural tribe
• Cimmerians
– 1000-700 BC
• Scythians
– 700-200 BC
– Asian nomadic tribe
• Sarmatians
– 200 BC-200 AD
– Asian nomadic tribe
Scythian
engraving
Sarmatian
warriors
MORE INVADERS
• Goths
– 200 AD-400 AD
• Huns
– 400 AD-550 AD
• Avars
– 550 AD-650 AD
MIGRATION OF THE SLAVS
• West Slavs
– Migrated to Poland,
eastern Germany, and
Czechoslovakia
• South Slavs
– Migrated to Bulgaria,
Greece, Montenegro,
Albania, and Yugoslavia
• East Slavs
– Stayed in their native
region and became
ancestors of Russians
and Ukrainians
ARRIVAL OF THE VIKINGS
• East Slavs benefited from contact with Greek citystates around Black Sea
– Set up several city-states of their own to trade
with their neighbors
• 700 AD
• Byzantine Empire
• Prosperity attracted the attention of the Varangians
(Vikings)
– Would play important role in development of
Russian civilization during 9th and 10th centuries
AD
VARANGIAN RUSSIA
• Vikings began to use
trade links set up by
East Slavs as their own
trade route to
Constantinople
• Not clear as to precisely
how they became rulers
of region
• Became upper class
within East Slav citystates and dominated
trade with Byzantine
Empire
EMERGENCE OF THE RUSSIANS
• Vikings gradually
became absorbed into
East Slav population
– Both groups began
to call themselves
“Ros”
– By 1100, this mixture
of Viking and East
Slavic people had
become the
“Russians”
KIEV
Rurik
Oleg
• Viking chieftain Rurik assumed
control of all city-states in
region
– Made capital in Novgorod
• Son Oleg transferred capital to
Kiev
– Took over some formerly
independent Slav tribes
– Took title of “Prince”
– Credited with the creation of
the Kievan State
KIEVAN STATE
• Stretched from
Baltic Sea in the
north, to Black
Sea in the south,
and from Nizhny
Novgorod in east
to Rumania in the
west
GOLDEN AGE OF KIEV
• Indigenous culture,
art, architecture,
language, and law
flourished
• Prince Vladimir
– Adopted
Byzantine
Christianity in 988
– Created Russian
Orthodox Church
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
• Turned Russia away from
Western Europe and influence of
Roman Catholic Church
• Cyrillic Alphabet
– Invented by St. Cyril
• The institution of a uniform
religion, a uniform written
language, and a united state
headquarter in Kiev helped
create idea of a separate Russian
state and a sense of national
identity.
APPANAGE RUSSIA
• Prince Yaroslav divided state
into a number of
principalities—one going to
each son
– 1036-1054
– Kiev itself was controlled
by his sons on a rotating
basis
– System quickly created
tension and acrimony
among descendants and
ultimately gave rise to
“appanage” Russia
• Period where individual
princes ruled pieces of
old Kievan state and
fought among
themselves
MONGOL INVASION
• Mongols (Tatars) invade
Russia in 1236 and, by
1242, had conquered all
the appanage principalities
• Capital at Old Sarai and
developed simple
administrative system
– Each Russian
principality paid an
annual lump sum cash
payment to Mongol ruler
(khan)
– In exchange, Mongols
allowed the various
princes to maintain their
positions and run their
territories as they saw
fit
KHANATE OF THE GOLDEN
HORDE
• Mongols appoint one appanage
prince to collect tribute for
them
– Called “Grand Prince”
• Disputes between princes were
settled by the principals
appearing at Old Sarai
– Khan settles dispute
– Awards winner, kills loser
• Russian politics took the form
of various local princes
jockeying and groveling for the
support of the Mongol khan in
order to advance their petty
schemes