The history of our country is riddled with secrets and riddles; in recent years, scientists have written huge questions written by Nestor, "The Tale of Bygone Years." It always found some inconsistencies and white spots, but for several years historians and archaeologists have been studying it quite seriously. And sometimes their discoveries contradict everything that we knew before.
Recently, a new version of the appearance of the Slavs and the role of Drevlyansky tribes in the formation of the state appeared in the scientific community. Yes, yes, you heard right - precisely the Drevlyansky tribes. Those who paid tribute to Prince Igor and treacherously killed him. Is it treacherous? Let's look at the story from a slightly different angle.
The Tale of Bygone Years: The Official Story
Modern Russians know almost nothing about who Prince Mal is. Despite the fact that it was a fairly well-known and influential historical figure, in the ancient chronicles it is quite difficult to find mention of it. The only known mention of this man is the "Tale of Bygone Years", which describes the dialogue between Prince Igor and Prince Mal. As a result, the Drevlyan ruler led an uprising and killed an almost unarmed Russian prince. And then he also embraced his wife Olga, for which he paid with his people and his own life.
A sad story, isn't it? Moreover, in the Russian annals neither before this period, nor after Prince Mal Drevlyansky is not mentioned. He, along with his state, according to the chroniclers, as if simply disappeared. But in reality this simply could not be, and any educated person will see some understatement in this interpretation of historical facts.
Of course, understanding this and finding out the truth is quite difficult. Moreover, it is difficult to discern real events behind the dust of centuries, but you can only put forward hypotheses. However, we still try to collect bit by bit information from various sources to tell you who Prince Mal is really and his people, nicknamed in the "Tale of Bygone Years" wild and dense.
Drevlyane: history of the people and location
If you take a modern map, then the former territories of Drevlyans will fall just on the Zhytomyr region. And the capital of the ancient state was the city of Iskorosten, which is now known as Korosten. Remember that this city is not too far from Kiev. This fact will be very useful to us later.
Not much is known about the origin of Drevlyans. According to one version, Prince Mal is a descendant of the Duleb people, and according to another, the Drevlyans were a fragment of the Goths, who settled in these forests and tried to preserve their identity by all means. Many scientists speak out in favor of the latest version, because it has been known for a long time that tribes of Goths passed through this land.
In addition, the Goths considered themselves the descendants of the ancient and powerful ancestor of Amal, so it is not surprising that the prince of the Drevlyan Mal, represented in the Russian chronicles as almost a savage, considered himself equal to Princess Olga and confidently requested her hands. It was this fact that always confused scientists, because if you didn’t take the princess of the Drevlyansky ruler as an equal, she would not communicate with the embassy from him and conduct any negotiations. This has always led historians to think about hushing up the prince's noble origin in ancient sources.
Many historians who studied the ancient chronicles came to a shocking conclusion - the Drevlyan principality, together with Iskorosten, was formed much earlier than Kiev, the recognized founder of the Russian state. If you believe this version, then Kiev was formed as a trading city, and only after many years the capital of the principality was transferred here. But the ruler remained the Prince of Drevlya Askold, who conducted active trade and persuaded his people to Christianity.
It is worth noting that the Drevlyans were pagans, and they did not like such innovations of the prince. As a result of the conspiracy, Askold was killed by Prince Oleg, the father of a minor Igor, and the Drevlyans were taxed and turned into virtually vassals of Kiev. An unusual look at history, right? In this light, all subsequent events are seen in a completely different way than Nestor spoke about them.
Pedigree of Prince Mala
Prince Mal Drevlyansky was from a very noble family. This is partially confirmed by chronicles in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Unfortunately, the drevlyans themselves did not keep records. This allowed Nestor to consider them an extremely wild people, but this fact is very surprising for modern historians and compels them to search for the reasons for such a provoking indifference to their history. It is known for certain that there is not a single written source in the Drevlyansky language, although the tribes themselves were quite active in communicating with glades, Volhynia, and other neighbors who owned written language and conveyed to this day some information about Drevlyans.
According to these testimonies, Prince Mal is a direct descendant of Kiy, elected to reign in Kiev by the council of elders. All Drevlyans are descended from the great Beloyar Krivorg, who managed to lay several fortresses that defended the vast lands of the principality. The name "Drevlyans" is not toponymic; many historians believe that it came from neighboring tribes. They carefully watched their formidable neighbors and were especially surprised at their desire to settle in the most dense forests. So the name of the whole nation appeared, which has survived to the present day.
It is worth noting that, judging by the descriptions, the Drevlyans were remarkable for their remarkable strength and health. And their princes were quite tall and physically strong people, they alone went to the bear and could defeat him with their bare hands. Great-great-grandfather of Mala, Prince Warrior actively founded fortresses and advocated for the unification of his people. And a grandfather named Yartur became practically the tutor of his grandson, since Mala's father died before he was born on the hunt. Almost nothing is known about the mother and father of the Drevlyan prince, the only clarification of the chroniclers concerned the origin of the mother of Prince Mal. She was the daughter of Yartur, so the young prince from his young nails was brought up by his grandfather in the traditions of his people.
Life and customs of drevlyane
The customs and traditions of the drevlyans have survived to the present in the form of fragmentary and rather contradictory information. It is known that Drevlyans welcomed polygamy and often stole brides in neighboring tribes. They lived in semi-dugouts, which were supplemented by log cabins from whole logs. About fifty people lived in one house, all food supplies were stored in it, and livestock lived. Slavery was accepted in the tribes, strong and healthy captives were sent to cut down forests and build fortresses.
A gloomy picture develops, because we can say that the described customs are characteristic only of the most backward and warlike tribes. However, do not make hasty conclusions, our information may change your opinion about the Drevlyans. For example, after five years, any slave became a free man and could choose where to live. Some returned to their homeland, while others chose a wife and became members of the tribe. But they could not have several wives, the Drevlyans limited the foreign clan to these. There could not be more offspring from a foreigner than purebred woodlings.
The legend of the theft of girls also does not really look so scary. Drevlyane could snitch the bride only with her consent. Usually in May there were weddings when young men, elders and beauties of a suitable age gathered in a large meadow. When the choice of a companion of life took place, she came to her husband’s house, which the elders had to testify. The marriage from that moment was considered a prisoner.
Perhaps this is surprising for modern people, but the Drevlyans could not get a divorce. From the moment of marriage, the young man was considered an adult and could serve in the tribe. At the time of marriage, the elders stipulated the maintenance of a wife and future children. If a man violated these rules, he could be placed in the service of his family for the rest of his life. In some cases, he was expelled from the tribe, and a new husband was selected for the woman. A man could have as many wives as his income allowed. In the event of the death of the breadwinner, all the wives were distributed among the husband's relatives by mutual agreement.
Murder, theft, adultery and other sins were very severely punished. For example, for the murder of the guilty person, they were tied face to face with his victim and buried alive. Other misconduct was just as severely punished.
Religion and Sacred Knowledge of the Drevlyans
The Drevlyans were pagans, they believed in the spirits of nature and plants. They treated the ancient oaks with special trepidation. Some historians are seriously working on a version according to which the Druids and Drevlyans have common roots. Already a lot of parallels involuntarily come to mind scientists. This is an extraordinary faith in the spirits of the forest, lack of writing, cruel customs and even unprecedented knowledge in healing, which was not equal among all Slavic tribes.
Almost all diseases were treated with herbal infusions, ointments and decoctions. Some recipes recorded from the words of Drevlyans have survived to the present day. From them one can judge how extensive the knowledge of nature was among the drevlyans.
Prince Mal: ​​years of life
To find the date of birth of the Drevlyansky prince, historians had to work hard. It is believed that Mal was born in 890. Yartur gave the name to his grandson, and, according to one version, he was so named because he was born small, but extremely strong. In addition, chroniclers claim that from birth the boy had a hump. This circumstance is attributed to the fact that the mother of Mala fell off her horse during pregnancy and harmed the unborn baby.
Other sources claim that the boy was born small, but very healthy and only at the age of three fell from his horse. After which he began to grow a hump. Despite this, the prince possessed beautiful features and remarkable strength. Like his ancestors, he easily coped with a bear and was an extremely fair ruler.
Almost nothing is known about the reign of Prince Mal. The Tale of Bygone Years presents him as a man who lured Prince Igor and brutally cracked down on him, raising an uprising in nine hundred and forty-fifth. A year later, he was killed by the widow of Igor Olga, who four times avenged the death of her husband. And if you plunge a little deeper into historical events, what will we see?
Prince Mal: ​​945 uprising
In history textbooks, the actions of the prince are considered as an uprising against the legitimate authority of the Kiev ruler. But was it really so? We know that Prince Igor went on a campaign for the tribute that the tribes regularly paid him. The Drevlyans gave the prince who had arrived with the squad all the necessary things and, with a calm soul, released him. But Igor had few treasures received, he was seduced by the wealth of the Drevlyans and obeyed his governor Sveneld, who persuaded the prince to go to the Drevlyansk land again.
How to consider it? At least as a violation of the treaty, which the tribes piously adhered to. In addition, Nestor does not stop on the identity of Sveneld, and it would be worthwhile to talk about him in detail. The fact is that the voivode was considered the successor to Prince Oleg, who once defeated the Drevlyans. He was rather greedy, cruel and hypocritical. But he managed to get into confidence in Igor and even got the right to collect tribute from the Drevlyans. This is where the whole meaning of the tragedy lies - having received its own, the cunning governor decided to get more good with the wrong hands and knocked the prince on a second campaign. In addition, he persuaded Igor to send his squad back home, so as usual not to share the booty with the soldiers. What is this if not extreme greed?
It is not surprising that Prince Mal did not meet the Russian prince with kindness, but nevertheless tried to make him stronger. After an unsuccessful attempt to stop the robbery of the Drevlyans (and this was exactly what it looked like), Igor was captured and executed as a criminal. According to the customs of that time, the Drevlyans had every right to punish the violator of the contract and the thief who came to their land to take someone else's. According to the rules of the Slavs, these actions were legal. In this light, Prince Igor and Prince Mal look completely different historical figures than Nestor imagined them.
Reprisal against Drevlyans: truth or fiction?
According to the "Tale of Bygone Years", Prince Mal, having got rid of Igor, got married to his widow. This, if successful, could return to him the throne of Kiev and conclude eternal peace between nations. In response, Olga twice exterminated the drevlyansky ambassadors, it was a terrible massacre in which about five thousand people died. Then the princess wondered how the Drevlyan prince Mal should be punished. Voivode Pretich with his retinue suggested that Olga gather an army and destroy Iskorosten along with the rebel. What the grieving widow did - they burned the city, overlaid the Drevlyans with a new tribute, and set the head of Prince Mal to its peak. A beautiful legend. But is it true?
In fact, historians very much doubt that everything described by Nestor was true. And there are several reasons for this:
- Iskorosten stood near Kiev (we talked about this at the beginning of the article) and Prince Mal could not have known about the reprisal against the first embassy;
- archaeologists could not find reliable evidence of the massacre in Kiev and did not find the burial places of such a large number of people;
- according to the laws of that time, even "blood feud" could not justify the killing of five thousand people;
- historians have found a mention that Princess Olga lived in Iskorosten with her son for seven years (and the city was allegedly destroyed).
All this information makes us look for new facts about the fate of the Drevlyansky prince.
So what really happened to Prince Malom after 945?
But this is the biggest mystery in this story. Scientists have put forward a hypothesis that is most similar to real events. According to the law of "blood feud", Princess Olga had to avenge the death of her husband, but she did not want to do this. Therefore, at a meeting with the Drevlyansky embassy, ​​an agreement was concluded under which the princess imposed a fixed tax on the Drevlyans and "fictitiously" destroyed Iskorosten allegedly from revenge. As a result, Olga went to the walls of the city, where there was no one from the nobility, and burned only a small part of it, without harming the Drevlyans.
According to some information, since 947, Olga lived in the city allegedly burnt by her. Locals still show visitors to tourists her baths and other places where, according to legend, the princess loved to walk.
But what about Prince Mal? Nothing is known about his fate, historians can only build versions and conjectures of what happened to him. But until today, people live in Korosten, whose last name came from the second name of the prince - Niskinich. They consider themselves descendants of the great princely family.
Where is the Drevlyansky prince immortalized?
Monument to Prince Mal is installed in the city of Korosten. This stunning ten-meter copper figure rises above the river Uzh, where, according to legend, Prince Igor, who was brought to trial by the Drevlyans, was executed. Prince Mal is depicted in Old Russian robes with a huge heavy sword, his gaze fixed on the distance and filled with thoughts of his people.
Conclusion
It is not known whether the Drevlyan prince actually looked like the sculptor depicted it. But his fate and deeds are extremely interesting for scientists. They suggest looking at familiar historical events from a different perspective. Who knows, perhaps this is exactly what happened once in the distant nine hundred and forty-fifth year.