Eastern Slavs belong to the western branch of the most ancient Indo-European tribes. Their history begins long before our era, but the Eastern Slavs in the 6th-9th centuries only managed to form long-term associations of the allied tribes that constituted the prototype of the political system.
Eastern Slavs in antiquity
6-9 centuries of our era are distant from us centuries lived. Nevertheless, some information about the history of the Slavs in those distant times became known. For example, the fact that the eastern Slavs appeared in the era of the great migration of peoples does not raise questions. They populated the forest and forest-steppe zones of Eastern Europe and played a significant role. Neighbors of the eastern Slavs of the 6th-9th centuries have already formed their own states: from the west, the settlements of the Prussians were surrounded by Byzantine lands, from the south - the Hunnic state. Later, unstable state formations of nomadic peoples arose on the outskirts of Slavic lands - the Avar state (Obrov), the Khazar Kaganate, the Bulgarian kingdom.
Neighbors of the Slavs
Relations with neighbors were not easy. In the 6th-9th centuries, the Eastern Slavs repeatedly repelled enemy attacks, went on military campaigns, and entered into military alliances. The main enemy friend in this era is the powerful Byzantium. The first mention of the Eastern Slavs as an organized force is found in Byzantine sources. For example, the famous chronicler Procopius of Caesarea pointed out that the Ants and the Sklars do not have a king, these tribes live by the interests of the community, worship one god and speak the same language.
The territory of the eastern Slavs
The first homeland of the Eastern Slavs was the territory located on the banks of the Oder River. The westernmost slopes of the ancient Slavs are considered the western slopes of the Carpathian mountains. The development of more eastern lands was gradually going on. The mild climate and fertile lands of the Dnieper plain were mastered and settled by the Eastern Slavs in the 6th-9th centuries. Settlement to the north occurred later, during the formation of Kievan Rus. Slavic tribes settled on the banks of the Neva and Ladoga, reached the Vyatka lands and the harsh coast of the Northern Dvina. In the border lands there was a gradual assimilation of Slavic tribes with the Baltic and Finno-Ugric peoples. Monuments containing images of Slavic deities can still be found in our northern territories.
Tribes of the Eastern Slavs
In the 6th-9th centuries, the Eastern Slavs formed associations, which were formed not according to the tribal, but according to the territorial basis. For example, the meadow lived in the forest-steppe, which was located along the middle course of the Dnieper. Drevlyans occupied the right bank. To the north of this tribe between the banks of the Pripyat and the Western Dvina stretch the lands of the Dregovichi. This name comes from the Slavic word "wretch". Nearby are the inhabitants of Polotsk, so named along the Polota River, on the banks of which these tribes lived. The tribes of Tivertsy, Vyatichi, Radimichi, Krivichy were known, and white Croats settled on the western slopes of the Carpathians. Travelers who visited the Slavic lands noted that the Eastern Slavs in the 6-9 centuries, as at the beginning of the millennium, inhabited their territories unevenly. The most dense settlements were in the Dnieper region, where the meadow lived.
One of the names that was attached to these people sounded like Russia. The question of the origin of this term is not fully understood. Gradually, the
resettlement of the Slavs and their assimilation with indigenous tribes led to the emergence of relatively strong tribal alliances. So the foundations of statehood were laid, and the social system of the eastern Slavs of the 6th-9th centuries was formed.
How did the Slavs in ancient times
A large role in the life of the Slavic tribe was played by the community (verv). Low labor productivity required the use of the forces of the entire team. The elders' tasks included control over the use of resources and over the observance of the equitable distribution of labor results.
The gradual improvement of tools and settled life contributed to greater independence of individual families and clans. The main occupations of the Eastern Slavs of the 6th-9th centuries are deforestation, sowing of agricultural crops, cattle breeding, hunting and fishing. The single economy gradually disintegrated, the huge houses in which several hundred people lived, gave way to small dwellings intended for individual families. The onset of the Iron Age gave people iron axes, plows with metal tips, hoes, shovels, and improved weapons: a bow with arrows, swords, and darts appeared in everyday life. Thus, the ability of individual families not only to grow their own crops gradually increased, but also to maintain their safety. The common estates broke up into small plots - allotments, but hunting for a large beast, clearing agricultural land still required considerable effort.
Increasing inequality
Gradually increasing well-being of each family led to the appearance of surplus products. In this way, property inequality and, later, social inequality arose . The old tribal nobility became the cream of feudal society, gradually seizing new lands and forcing free community members to pay tribute. So the Eastern Slavs in the 6-9 centuries formed a new feudal social system. Both feudal possessions and peasant farms for the most part had a natural character of production. Both those and others did not consider the created products of labor a commodity. Small surpluses went to pay tribute or served as a medium of exchange for craft goods. Centers of such transactions became cities. From a defensive structure designed to protect nearby lands and serve as protection for the princely family, cities turned into centers of trade.
Beliefs and life of the Eastern Slavs
In the 6th-9th centuries of the first millennium AD, the religious views of our ancestors constituted a stable religion, well adapted to the everyday realities of every Slav.
The origins of beliefs were in the depths of antiquity. Many ideas about the world order of things came from the Indo-European past, or even from the Paleolithic era. For example, the head of the Slavic pantheon was Svarog - the god of the whole world. His sons brought light and fire to people. The sun god Dazhdbog was considered a national deity - it is not without reason that the "Word about Igor's Regiment" calls the ancient Rusich "dazhdzhi sons." The Slavs prayed to the ancient Family and women in labor - the goddesses of the family and fertility. Veles was considered the patron of cattle and trade, and Stribog became the lord of the winds.
Beliefs of the Slavs
The culture of the Eastern Slavs of the 6th-9th centuries was based on the worship of their gods. Archaeologists find a lot of evidence of the close connection of the spiritual and material world of our ancestors. Numerous idols, ancient temples and trimmings of embroidery show us that wonderful world full of mythical creatures in which the Eastern Slavs lived and believed in 6-9 centuries. Briefly, their worldview was reduced to the existence of three worlds - heavenly, earthly and underground.
The heavenly world was the home of the gods and lightnings, the earth was inhabited by people, animals and various mythological creatures. The underworld was the abode of the dead.
Along with the spread of pagan beliefs, social ladders also lined up. Society increasingly stratified into an independent nobility of both soldiers and dependent peasants. More and more land was concentrated in the hands of princes and nobles, more and more often peasants had to pay taxes and serve duties. Feudal relations were established in society, leading to the exaltation of the Glade tribe and the formation of the state of Kievan Rus.