The history of the Slavic peoples is described in the oldest Russian annals - "Tales of Bygone Years." It reports on the glades that populated the Middle Dnieper near Kiev, about the drevlyans who inhabited the wooded and marshy Pripyat Polesye. On the northern borders of the ancient East Slavic world, Ilmen Slovenes lived along the shores of Lake Ilmen, and between the Western Dvina and Pripyat there were the Dregovichi, who were adjacent to the Krivichi. The latter was a fairly large tribe, which subsequently split into three parts. Thus, the tribes of the Pskov, Polotsk and Smolensk Krivichs were formed. From the steppe territories, the neighbors of the glades were northerners, and on the banks of the river Sozh lived radimichi. The Oka River basin was inhabited by Vyatichi. The southernmost territory, almost off the Black Sea coast, was occupied by tivertsy and streets.
The origin and resettlement of the Slavs, as presented in the annals, has long raised doubts among historians. However, at the beginning of the 20th century, archeology confirmed this scheme.
Living in such a vast territory, Slavic tribes clashed with representatives of other peoples who already lived in Eastern Europe before them or came along with them. At the same time, one or another relationship between peoples was naturally formed.
The neighbors of the Eastern Slavs - the Baltics - occupied a fairly vast territory. According to information, they lived up to the region of modern Moscow. This is indicated by the results of research of toponymy (names of geographical objects).
Finno-Ugrians are neighbors of the eastern Slavs from the northeast. In the southern territories, Iranian-speaking tribes who were descendants of the Sarmatians lived nearby.
Life proceeded in periodic military clashes, replaced by peaceful relations, assimilation processes took place. The neighbors of the Eastern Slavs, to one degree or another, influenced the development of tribes: various elements of the cultures of other peoples entered life. The interaction of traditions was the most important phenomenon of that period.
Separate neighbors of the Eastern Slavs were able to form fairly strong tribal unions, and some - early state formations. With such peoples there were rather complicated relations. So, the Bulgarians in the middle of the 7th century created one of these formations. Internal turmoil and external pressure contributed to the fact that part of the Bulgarians migrated to the Danube. Here they subjugated the local tribes of the southern Slavs. The other part of the Bulgarians, moving to the northeast, settled on the lower Kama and along the middle reaches of the Volga, forming Bulgaria. For a long period, this state posed a real threat to the Eastern Slavs.
In the second half of the 7th century, the Bulgarians began to be squeezed by the Turkic tribes - the Khazars. Over time, the latter settled on the territory of the Lower Volga, part of the Crimea, the Northern Black Sea Region, and the North Caucasus. Thus, the Khazar Khaganate was formed. The center of this state was located in the lower Volga. There were not so many true, “ethnic” Khazar Turks, but the majority of the population were representatives of different ethnic groups (including Slavs), descendants of the Salt-Mayak culture.
Normans lived on the Scandinavian peninsula . They represented a considerable danger to the ancient Slavs. In the 9th century, the Varangians (the so-called Normans) carried out a huge number of raids on the territory of Slavic settlements. At the same time, the military organization of the population strengthened in the fight against enemies. Among the Slavs, the military leaders were princes. Like other nations, the Slavs had a widespread system, when each tribe exhibited a hundred soldiers.