Education, History
Ancient peoples on the territory of Russia. History of the State and Peoples of Russia
Ancient peoples on the territory of Russia began resettlement and land cultivation long before the emergence of statehood. That is why the first and greatest prince of Rus - Rurik - exerted a huge amount of effort to create a single state, native to many peoples.
The first attempts to study the ancient people
The main feature of the study of the Slav population is that there is a continuous dynamics of the movement of interethnic ties. What does it mean? Studying the main peoples of Russia, it is important to study this issue in a comprehensive manner. For example, focusing on the inhabitants of the Central region, it is necessary to pay attention to the nationalities of Eastern Europe and Siberia.
All studies of the pre-revolutionary system were aimed at studying the single Russian people. At the same time, the influence of other nationalities, if not excluded from science, was indirectly mentioned, but not as a leading issue, but only as a formality. The only officially recognized fact is that the Finno-Ugric tribes gradually joined the indigenous peoples of Russia.
Only at the beginning of the twentieth century, Russia began to be viewed as a historically multinational state. It is impossible to hide the fact that such conclusions were made under the influence of European scientists. Over time, the works of Orthodox authors began to be published, telling that the indigenous peoples of Russia are developing under the influence of the most ancient biblical sources. "The Russian population are people with a divine recognition of the oldest Kiev origin" - as one of the church leaders - A. Nechvolodov - interpreted the story. To the formation he counted Scythians, Huns and other, separately existing, peoples.
It was in the twentieth century that such a trend of historical thought appeared as the Eurasian theory.
People's origins: how was everything?
Several centuries before the beginning of our era, a great historical event occurred: instead of bronze, iron began to be actively used. The wide distribution of iron ore was given not only by the ubiquity of the raw materials used, but also by the strength of the tools produced.
During this period there is a gradual cooling of the climate, accompanied by an increase in the number of fertile land favorable for animal husbandry of territories, the vital activity of microorganisms developing in the conditions of water space changes, which positively affects the composition of rivers, lakes, streams and so on.
With the advent of iron ore, the ancient peoples on the territory of Russia began their active development. The number of tribes using iron as the main material increased. During this period, ancient Russia is characterized by the settlement of the ancestors of the Slavic people, Latvians, Estonians, Lithuanians, northeastern Finno-Ugric tribes, and other small communities inhabiting the space of Central Russia and Eastern Europe.
"Iron revolution" increased the level of farming, accelerated the clearing of forests for planting, eased the hard field work of plowmen. The ancient peoples of Russia, whose names are unknown to history, gradually began to show features distinct from the general mass of the population. The formation of each nation occurs under the influence of planting, development of cattle breeding and farming. Moreover, settling on different sides of the world, the Slavic peoples transferred their everyday skills to foreign neighbors - measures, chudi, Karelians and so on. This fact explains the large number of words in the Estonian language of Slavic origin related to the subject of farming.
The first fortifications
The first prototypes of cities where the peoples and the most ancient states of Russia lived and formed existed in the first millennium BC. A similar tendency can be traced both in Northern Europe and in the Urals - the visual boundary of the settlement of the Slavic peoples.
Isolation of forest spaces contributed to the destruction of the tribal communal way of life. Now the ancient peoples on the territory of Russia lived in hailstones or hard places, which significantly weakened the blood ties of the once large and powerful community. Gradually, settling forced peoples to leave their habitat and slowly move in a southeasterly direction. Abandoned hailstones were known as hillforts. Thanks to such settlements and buildings, the history of Russia since ancient times has many facts and scientific knowledge. Now scientists can judge the everyday life of people, their education, education and work. At the time of the construction of cities, the first signs of the stratification of society appear.
The origin of the Slavs as a separate ethnic group
Many scientists hold the view that the Slavs in the majority have an Indo-European origin. Thus, the most ancient people in Russia initially inhabited not only the territory of the modern state, but also most of Eastern Europe and southern countries up to modern India.
The common origin of several peoples gives the commonality of modern languages. Despite the different beginning of development, in the languages of neighboring foreign countries one can find a huge number of similar in meaning and pronunciation words. For today, Celtic, German, Slavic, Roman, Indian, Iranian and other language families are considered to be related.
Assimilation of the Slavs
As a primordial ethnic group, not a single nation has survived. During the active settlement of the Slavs , assimilation took place with neighboring tribes and communities.
On the further facts of the development of nationality, the history of the state and the peoples of Russia is silent. In connection with this, for centuries, scientists-figures have put forward various hypotheses. For example, the first chronicler Nestor believed that the Slavic people originally inhabited the border of Central and Eastern Europe, and in the future this ethnos occupied the basin of the Danube River along with the Balkan Peninsula.
Scientists - representatives of the bourgeoisie put forward an erroneous theory that the ancestral home of the Slavs is an insignificant part of the territory of the Carpathians.
Peoples of Russia: briefly about the Slavs of the second millennium BC
The wise men of antiquity considered the Slavs to be the greatest people of the history of the past, present and future. Up to our time, facts have come that the people of Slavic origin were formed under the influence of antes, Venetians, Wends and so on.
The Greeks defined the territory of the Slavs as follows: in the west - to the Elbe; In the north - to the Baltic Sea; In the south - to the Danube River; In the east - to the Seimas and Oka. Moreover, the ancient Greek travelers, thinkers and scientists did not confine themselves to these data. In their opinion, the Slavic peoples living in Russia could settle far to the southeast, thanks to an immense and fertile forest-steppe zone. It is a settled way of life in the rich forests of the country, active hunting and fishing, gathering of herbs and berries served as a reason for mixing Slavs with Sarmatians.
According to Herodotus, a people known as Scythians lived on the territory of Eastern Europe. It is worth noting that under this definition we understood not only the Slavic tribes, but also many other ethnic groups.
What is rich in north-eastern Europe?
Ancient peoples on the territory of Russia are not limited to mentioning people of Slavic origin. The second place in the number of tribes and resettlement within the borders of the state is occupied by Lithuanian-Latvian groups.
This people belonged to the tribes of the Finno-Ugric language family: Finns, Estonians, Mari, Mordovians and so on. Indirect national peoples of Russia led a lifestyle similar to the Slavic tribes. Moreover, related languages contributed to the active strengthening of the above-mentioned ethnic communities.
A distinctive feature of Latvians and Lithuanians was that most of the time and attention they gave to horse breeding, rather than farming. At the same time, the construction of reliable settlements and fortifications was conducted. Judging by the stories of the travelers, Herodotus called the Lithuanian-Latvian groups tissagets.
Ancient Rus: Scythians and Sarmatians
One of the few representatives of the Iranian language family, who left only a trace in history, are Scythians and Sarmatians. Presumably, these peoples occupied the territory of southern Russia up to the Altai.
The communities of the Scythians and Sarmatians had many traits similar to other tribes, but they never represented a single political principle. As early as the fifth century BC, social stratification occurred on the territory of settlement of tribes, and wars of conquest were also conducted. Gradually the Scythians conquered the Black Sea tribes, made many trips to the Balkan Peninsula, Asia, Transcaucasia.
Amazing legends go about the richness of the Scythians. In the royal graves, an incredible amount of gold was pawned. In this regard, we can trace quite a strong stratification of society, as well as the power of the elite class.
An interesting fact is that the Scythians were divided into several tribal groups. For example, in the valley of the eastern Dnieper lived a nomadic variation of nationality, in turn, the western side of the river was inhabited by the Scythian farmers. As a separate group stood the royal Scythians, who traveled between the Dnieper and the lower Don. Only here you can find the richest mounds and powerfully fortified settlements.
The history of Russia from ancient times also provides surprisingly dynamic alliances of Scythian-Sarmatian tribes. Gradually, such mergers gave rise to the statehood of the slave system. The first state of this nationality was formed by Sindian tribes, the other - as a result of the Thracian wars.
The most solid Scythian state was formed in the third century BC, its center was the Crimea. In place of modern Simferopol was the main character of all legends - a city with a beautiful name Naples - the capital of the Scythian kingdom. It was a powerful center, fortified with stone walls and equipped with huge grain storage facilities.
Scythians both engaged in farming, and paid particular attention to cattle breeding. In the first centuries BC among the tribes actively developed handicraft activities. The bright and unconventional culture of the Scythians is still studied by historians. This people gave an immense number of ideas for painting, sculpture and other artistic creations. To date, museums have preserved the echoes of ancient life.
It is not necessary to consider the Scythians as direct descendants of the Slavic people, however, the echoes of the ancient remarkable culture are still present.
Black Sea coast: Greek roots
Peoples that existed on the Black Sea coast, for several centuries before our era, were captured by Greek bandits. For decades, city-politics with ancient Greek culture developed here. Slaveholding relations developed.
Ancient Rus has extracted a huge amount of invaluable experience from the Greek way of life. Particularly developed in this part of the state were agriculture, catching and salting fish, winemaking, processing of wheat brought from Scythian lands. Distribution and popularity received a ceramic craft. In addition, the experience of trade with overseas countries was adopted. Valuable Greek ornaments fell into use with the Scythian kings and were recognized along with local riches.
The cities formed in the territory of the former Greek policies adopted a high level of culture of this people. Countless temples, theaters, sculptures and paintings adorned the daily life of the Greeks. Gradually, the cities were filled with barbarian tribes, which, oddly enough, revered the ancient Greek culture, preserving the monuments of art, as well as studying the writings of philosophers.
The Ancient Population of Russia: the People of the Bosporan Kingdom
The northern Black Sea region began development in the fifth century BC. Here formed the only major slave state under the name Bospor - modern Kerch. A major political education existed only 9 centuries, after which in the fourth century BC it was destroyed by the Huns.
Assimilated with the Greeks, the peoples of the Northern Black Sea region gradually settled over the territory of the Kerch Peninsula, the lower reaches of the Don. They also occupied the Taman peninsula. Active development of peoples was noted in the eastern part of the state, nobility and aristocracy gradually separated from the tribal union, which interacted with rich representatives of the Greek population.
The first impetus to the destruction of statehood was the uprising of slaves under the leadership of Savmak. During this period, Ancient Rus was filled with fragmentation and insurrection. Gradually, the Black Sea coast was completely captured by the Geth and Sarmatians, and was subsequently almost completely destroyed.
The formation of the rich Russian history of modern Russia took place not only under the influence of peoples living on the territory of the Central Region. Representatives of other nationalities also had a significant impact. To date, it is impossible to accurately determine whether the Slavs were a self-developed people or whether they were influenced by someone from outside. It is this question modern historical science is called upon to solve.
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