The Rus' Khaganate was a polity that flourished during a poorly documented period in the history of Eastern Europe (roughly the late 8th and early to mid-9th centuries CE).^[1] A predecessor to the Rurik Dynasty and the Kievan Rus', the Rus' Khaganate was a state (or a cluster of city-states) in what is today northern Russia. The region's population at that time was composed of Slavic, Finnic, and Norse peoples, among which the dominant group was the Rus' tribe or tribes. The region was also a center of operations for eastern Scandinavian (Varangian) adventurers, merchants and pirates. This article describes the history of Belarus. ... The history of Russia begins with that of the East Slavs, the ethnic group that eventually split into the Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians. ... History of Ukraine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The East Slavs are a Slavic ethnic group, the speakers of East Slavic languages. ... Coat of arms Map of the Kievan Rus′, 11th century Capital Kiev Religion Orthodox Christianity Government Monarchy Historical era Middle Ages  - Established 9th century  - Disestablished 12th century Currency Hryvnia Kievan Rus′ was the predominantly East Slavic[1] medieval state of Rurikid dynasty dominated by the city of Kiev from about... Vladimir-Suzdal Principality, Vladimir-Suzdal Grand Duchy (Russian: , tr. ... Halych-Volynia principality was the Ruthenian successor state of Kievan Rus on the territory of Rus menora (Rus propria) including the lands of Red Ruthenia, Black Ruthenia, and the remainder of southwestern Rus. This state also briefly controlled the region of Bessarabia and Moldavia. ... The Mongol Invasion of Rus was heralded by the Battle of the Kalka River (1223) between Subutais reconnaissance unit and the combined force of several princes of Rus. After fifteen years of peace, it was followed by Batu Khans full-scale invasion in 1237-40. ... The four successor Khanates of the Mongol Empire: Empire of the Great Khan (Yuan Dynasty), Golden Horde, Il-Khanate and Chagatai Khanate The Golden Horde (Mongolian: Altan Ordyn Uls; Turkish: ; Tatar: ; Russian: ) was a Mongol[1][2][3][4] — later Turkicized[3] — khanate established in parts of present-day Russia... The Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Lithuanian: , Ruthenian: Wialikaje Kniastwa Litowskaje, Ruskaje, Å»amojckaje, Belarusian: , Ukrainian: , Polish: , Latin: ) was an Eastern and Central European state of the 12th[1] /13th century until the 18th century. ... Coat of arms The growth of Muscovy-Russia. ... The Tsardom of Russia (Russian: Московское царство or Царство Русское) was the official name for the Russian state between Ivan IVs assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 and Peter the Greats foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721. ... The Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mehmed IV of Turkey. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Imperial Russia is the term used to cover the period of history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great, through the expansion of the Russian Empire from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposal of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Combatants Red Army Latvian Reds Finnish Reds White Army Czech Legion Allied intervention UK France United States Japan Italy  Canada  Greece  Romania  Serbia New states Poland Finland  Latvia  Estonia  Lithuania Ukrainian Peoples Republic Green Army (Cossacks) Black Army (Anarchists) Blue Army (Peasants) Commanders Trotsky Mikhail Tukhachevsky Kamenev Budyonny Frunze... Polity (Greek: Πολιτεία or Πολίτευμα transliterated as Politeía or Políteuma) was originally a term used in Ancient Greece to refer to the many Greek city states that had an assembly of citizens as part of the political process. ... Pre-1989 division between the West (grey) and Eastern Bloc (orange) superimposed on current national boundaries: Russia (dark orange), other countries of the former USSR (medium orange),members of the Warsaw pact (light orange), and other former Communist regimes not aligned with Moscow (lightest orange). ... “Era Vulgaris” redirects here. ... The Rurik Dynasty was the ruling dynasty of Kievan Rus, Rus principalities, and early Russia from 862 to 1598. ... Coat of arms Map of the Kievan Rus′, 11th century Capital Kiev Religion Orthodox Christianity Government Monarchy Historical era Middle Ages  - Established 9th century  - Disestablished 12th century Currency Hryvnia Kievan Rus′ was the predominantly East Slavic[1] medieval state of Rurikid dynasty dominated by the city of Kiev from about... A state is a political association with effective dominion over a geographic area. ... A city-state is a region controlled exclusively by a city. ... Distribution of Slavic people by language The Slavic peoples are a linguistic and ethnic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly in Europe, where they constitute roughly a third of the population. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Norseman redirects here; for the town of the same name see Norseman, Western Australia. ... Rus’ (????, ) was a medieval East Slavic nation, which, according to the most popular (but by no means only) theory, may have taken its name from a ruling warrior class, possibly with Scandinavian roots. ... Scandinavia is a historical and geographical region centered on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe and includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. ... The Varangians (Russian: Variags, Варяги) were Scandinavians who travelled eastwards, mainly from Jutland and Sweden. ...

According to contemporaneous sources, the population centers of the region, which may have included the proto-towns of Holmgard (Novgorod), Aldeigja (Ladoga), Lyubsha, Alaborg, Sarskoe Gorodishche, and Timerevo, were under the rule of a monarch or monarchs using the Old Turkic title Khagan.^[2][3][4] The Rus' Khaganate period marked the genesis of a distinct Rus' ethnos, and its successor states would include Kievan Rus' and later states from which modern Russia evolved. For other cities named Novgorod see Novgorod (disambiguation). ... The fortress of Ladoga was built in stone in the 12th century and rebuilt 400 years later. ... Lyubsha (Russian: Любша) is an archaeological site situated on the right bank of the Volkhov, about 1,500 metres downstream from Staraya Ladoga. ... Nicholas Roerich. ... One of the excavators of Sarskoe was Nicholas Roerich. ... Timerevo (Russian: Тимерёво, Timeryovo) is an archaeological site near the village Bolshoe Timeryovo, seven kilometers southwest of Yaroslavl, which yielded the largest deposits of early medieval Arabic coins in Northern Europe. ... Armenian king Tigranes the Great. ... The Turkic language spoken by the Gokturks and used on the Orkhon inscriptions. ... Khagan or Great Khan (Old Turkic , alternatively spelled Chagan, Khaghan, Kagan, Qagan, Qaghan), is a title of imperial rank in the Mongolian and Turkic languages equal to the status of emperor and someone who rules a Khaganate (empire, greater than an ordinary Khan, but often referred to as such in... An ethnic group is a group of people who identify with one another, or are so identified by others, on the basis of a boundary that distinguishes them from other groups. ...

Documentary evidence

Guests from Overseas, an 1899 painting by Nicholas Roerich depicting early Varangian adventurers in Russia.

The ruler of the Rus' is mentioned by the title of "khagan" in several historical sources. Most of them are foreign texts dating from the 9th century. Three others are East Slavic sources from the 11th and 12th centuries. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (900x637, 143 KB) Description = Guests from Overseas (1899) Nicholas Roerich File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Rurik Varangians Nicholas Roerich Talk:Main Page User talk:HappyUser/Main... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (900x637, 143 KB) Description = Guests from Overseas (1899) Nicholas Roerich File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Rurik Varangians Nicholas Roerich Talk:Main Page User talk:HappyUser/Main... Guests from Overseas, 1899 (Varangians in Russia) Longships Are Built in the Land of the Slavs (1903) Nicholas Roerich, (October 9, 1874 - December 13, 1947) also known as Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh (Russian: Николай Константинович Рёрих), was a Russian painter and spiritual teacher. ... The East Slavic languages constitute one of three regional subgroups of Slavic languages, currently spoken in Eastern Europe. ...

The earliest European reference to the khaganate comes from the Frankish Annals of St. Bertin. The Annals refer to a group of Vikings, who called themselves Rhos (qi se, id est gentem suam, Rhos vocari dicebant) and visited Constantinople around the year 838.^[5] Fearful of returning home via the steppes, which would leave them vulnerable to attacks by the Magyars, these Rhos travelled through Germany accompanied by Greek ambassadors from the Byzantine emperor Theophilus. When questioned by the Frankish Emperor Louis the Pious at Ingelheim, they informed him that their leader was known as chacanus (the Latin for "Khagan")^[6] and that they lived in the north of Russia, but the emperor found out that their ancestral homeland was in Sweden (comperit eos gentis esse sueonum).^[7] Statue of Charlemagne (also called Karl der Große, Charles the Great) in Frankfurt, Germany. ... The Annales Bertiniani, or Annals of St. ... The name Viking is a loan from the native Scandinavian term for the Norse seafaring warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, Europe and the British Isles from the late 8th century to the 11th century, the period of European history referred to as the Viking Age. ... Map of Constantinople. ... A steppe in Western Kazakhstan in early spring In physical geography, a steppe (Russian: - , Ukrainian: - , Kazakh: - ), pronounced in English as , is a plain without trees (apart from those near rivers and lakes); it is similar to a prairie, although a prairie is generally considered as being dominated by tall grasses... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... An ambassador, rarely embassador, is a diplomatic official accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization, to serve as the official representative of his or her own country. ... Byzantine Empire at its greatest extent c. ... Theophilus, in the Chronicle of John Skylitzes Theophilos or Theophilus (Greek: Θεόφιλος), (813 – 20 January 842) was Byzantine emperor from 829 to 842. ... Statue of Charlemagne (also called Karl der Große, Charles the Great) in Frankfurt, Germany. ... The following list of Frankish Kings is one of several Wikipedia lists of incumbents. ... Louis the Pious, contemporary depiction from 826 as a miles Christi (soldier of Christ), with a poem of Rabanus Maurus overlaid. ... Ingelheim am Rhein is the administrative centre of the Mainz-Bingen local government district, situated on the left bank of the Rhine within the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The town has approx. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ...

Thirty years later, in spring 871, the eastern and western emperors, Basil I and Louis II, quarreled over control of Bari, which had been conquered by their joint forces from the Arabs. The Byzantine emperor sent an angry letter to his western counterpart, reprimanding him for usurping the title of emperor. He argued that the Frankish rulers are simple reges, while the imperial title properly applied only to the overlord of the Romans, that is, to Basil himself. He also pointed out that each nation has its own title for the supreme ruler: for instance, the title of chaganus is used by the overlords of the Avars, Khazars (Gazari), and "Northmen" (Nortmanno). To that, Louis replied that he was aware only about the Avar khagans, and had never heard about the khagans of the Khazars and Normanns.^[8][9] The content of Basil's letter, now lost, is reconstructed from Louis's reply, quoted in full in the Salerno Chronicle.^[10] The correspondence between Louis and Basil indicates that at least one group of Scandinavians had a ruler who called himself "khagan". The extent of the Holy Roman Empire in c. ... Basil, his son Constantine, and his second wife, emperess Eudoxia Ingerina. ... Louis II, (825 – 875), Holy Roman Emperor (sole ruler 855 – 875), eldest son of the emperor Lothair I, became the designated king of Italy in 839, and taking up his residence in that country was crowned king at Rome by Pope Sergius II on June 15, 844. ... Location within Italy Bari is the capital of the province of Bari and of the Apulia (or Puglia) region, on the Adriatic sea, in Italy. ... Languages Arabic other minority languages Religions Predominantly Sunni Islam, as well as Shia Islam, Greek Orthodoxy, Greek Catholicism, Roman Catholicism, Alawite Islam, Druzism, Ibadi Islam, and Judaism Footnotes a Mainly in Antakya. ... Ordinary Magistrates Extraordinary Magistrates Titles and Honors Emperor Politics and Law The King of Rome (Latin: rex, regis) was the chief magistrate of the Roman Kingdom. ... Late Avar period Map showing the location of Avar Khaganate, c. ... The Khazars (Hebrew Kuzari כוזרי Kuzarim כוזרים; Turkish Hazar Hazarlar; Russian Хазарин Хазары; Tatar sing Xäzär Xäzärlär; Crimean Tatar: ; Greek Χαζάροι/Χάζαροι; Persianخزر khazar; Latin Gazari or Cosri) were a semi-nomadic Turkic people from Central Asia, many of whom converted to Judaism. ... The Chronicon Salernitanum, or Salerno Chronicle, is an anonymous 10th century chronicle of the history of the Principality of Salerno. ...

Ahmad ibn Rustah, a 10th century Muslim geographer from Persia, wrote that the Rus' khagan ("khaqan rus") lived on an island in a lake.^[2][11] Constantine Zuckerman comments that Ibn Rustah, using the text of an anonymous account from the 870s, attempted to accurately convey the titles of all rulers described by its author, which makes his evidence all the more precious.^[12] The Muslim geographer mentions only two khagans in his treatise — those of Khazaria and Rus. A further near-contemporary reference to the Rus' comes from al-Yaqubi, who wrote in 889 or 890 that the Caucasus mountaineers, when besieged by the Arabs in 854, asked for help from the overlords (sahib) of al-Rum (Byzantium), Khazaria, and al-Saqaliba (Slavs).^[13] Hudud al-Alam, an anonymous Arabic geography text written in the late 10th century, refers to the Rus' king as "rus-khaqan".^[14] As the unknown author of Hudud al-Alam relied on numerous 9th-century sources, including ibn Khordadbeh, it is possible that his reference to the Rus' Khagan was copied from earlier, pre-Rurikid texts, rather than reflecting contemporary political reality.^[15] Finally, an 11th century Persian geographer Gardizi mentioned "khaqan-i rus" in his work Zayn al-Akbar. Like other Muslim geographers, Gardizi relied on traditions stemming from the 9th century.^[16] Ibn Rustah (in Persian: ابن رسته) was a 10th century Persian explorer and geographer born in Rosta district, Isfahan, Persia (See Encyclopaedia Iranica [1]). He wrote a geographical compendium. ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... For other uses of this term see: Persia (disambiguation) The Persian Empire is the name used to refer to a number of historic dynasties that have ruled the country of Persia (Iran). ... Constantine Zuckerman (1957- ) is a French historian and professor. ... Yaqubi (Ahmad Ibn Abu Yaqub Ibn Jafar Ibn Wahb Ibn Wadih Al-yaqubi, 9th century), was an Arab historian and geographer, was a great-grandson of Wadih, the freedman of the caliph Mansur. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Caucasus Mountains. ... In the medieval Arab world, the term Saqaliba (سقالبة, sg. ... Hudud ul-alam min al-mashriq ila al-maghrib (حدود العالم من المشرق الی المغرب) meaning The Limits of The World from The East to The West is a Persian tenth century geography book written by an unknown author. ... Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ... Abu Said Abdol-Hayy b. ...

There are good grounds for believing that the title "khagan" was still remembered in Kievan Rus' during the Christian period. Metropolitan Hilarion of Kiev applied the title "khagan" to Vladimir I of Kiev and Yaroslav I the Wise in the earliest surviving example of Old Russian literature, Slovo o Zakone i Blagodati ("Sermon on Law and Grace"), written around 1050.^[17] Hilarion referred to Vladimir as "the great khagan of our land" (velikago kagana nashea zemlja, Vladimera) and Yaroslav as "our devout khagan."^[18] A graffito in the north gallery of Saint Sophia Cathedral reads "O Lord, save our khagan", apparently in reference to Sviatoslav II (1073-1076).^[19] As late as the end of the 12th century, The Tale of Igor's Campaign refers in passing to a "kogan Oleg"^[16], traditionally identified with Oleg of Tmutarakan.^[20] In hierarchical Christian churches, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop (then more precisely called Metropolitan archbishop) of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of an old Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital. ... Ilarion (Ukrainian: ) was the first Metropolitan of Kiev of East Slavic origin. ... Saint Vladimir Svyatoslavich the Great (c. ... Mikhail Gerasimovs reconstruction of Yaroslavs appearance, based on his examination of Yaroslavs skull Yaroslav I the Wise (c. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... Hagia Sophia or Saint Sophia (Άγια Σοφία in Greek, Sancta Sophia in Latin, Ayasofya in Turkish) can refer to: Wisdom as a sacred entity, personalized as a woman especially in Eastern Orthodoxy; or any church devoted to her: Hagia Sophia, the Church of the Holy Wisdom in Istanbul, Turkey (formerly Constantinople), now... Sviatoslav Yaroslavich (1027 – December 27, 1076, Kiev) was the Prince (Kniaz) of Chernigov from 1054 to 1073 and Grand Prince (Velikiy Knyaz) of Kiev from 1073 until his death. ... The Tale of Igors Campaign (Old East Slavic: Слово о плъку Игоревѣ, Slovo o pălku Igorevě; Modern Russian: Слово о полку Игореве, Slovo o polku Igoreve) is an anonymous masterpiece of East Slavic literature written in Old East Slavic language and tentatively dated by the end of 12th century. ... Oleg Sviatoslavich of Chernigov (Russian: Олег Святославич), sometimes also styled as of Tmutarakan, was a Rurikid prince whose equivocal adventures ignited political unrest in Kievan Rus at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries. ...

Dating

Extant primary sources make it plausible that the title of khagan was applied to the rulers of the Rus' during a rather short period, roughly between their embassy to Constantinople (838) and Basil I's letter (871). All Byzantine sources after Basil I refer to the Rus' rulers as archons. Later Kievan authors, mentioned above, appear to have revived the term "khagan" as a laudatory epithet of the ruling knyaz rather than as a valid political term.^[21] Look up Archon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Khagan or Great Khan (Old Turkic , alternatively spelled Chagan, Khaghan, Kagan, Qagan, Qaghan), is a title of imperial rank in the Mongolian and Turkic languages equal to the status of emperor and someone who rules a Khaganate (empire, greater than an ordinary Khan, but often referred to as such in... Kniaz’ or knyaz is a word found in some Slavic languages, denoting a nobility rank. ...

The dating of the Khaganate's existence has been the subject of debates among scholars and remains unclear. Omeljan Pritsak dates the foundation of the Khaganate to around 830-840. In the 1920s, Russian historian Pavel Smirnov suggested that the Rus' Khaganate emerged only briefly at around 830 and was soon destroyed by the migration of the Magyar-Kabar tribal confederation towards the Carpathian Mountains.^[22] Whatever the accuracy of such estimates may be, there are no primary sources which mention the Rus' or its khagans prior to the 830s.^[23] Omeljan Pritsak (b. ... Magyar may refer to: The Magyar language The Magyar people This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Kabars (Gr. ... Satellite image of the Carpathians. ...

Equally contentious has been discussion about the date of the khaganate's disintegration. The title of Khagan is not mentioned in the Rus'-Byzantine treaties (907, 911, 944), or in De Ceremoniis, a record of court ceremonials meticulously documenting the titles of foreign rulers, when it deals with Olga's reception at the court of Constantine VII in 945. Moreover, ibn Fadlan, in his detailed account of the Rus (922), designated their supreme ruler as malik ("king"). From this fact, Peter Golden concluded via an argumentum ex silentio that the khaganate collapsed at some point between 871 and 922.^[24] Zuckerman, meanwhile, argues that the absence of the title "khagan" from the first Russo-Byzantine Treaty proves that the khaganate had vanished by 911.^[25] Treaties between the Kievan Rus and the Byzantine Empire: Rus-Byzantine Treaty (907) Rus-Byzantine Treaty (911), supplementary agreement to the one of 907 Rus-Byzantine Treaty (945) Rus-Byzantine Treaty (971) Rus-Byzantine Treaty (1045) Category: ... De Ceremoniis (full title: De cerimoniis aulae byzantinae) is a book written by Constantine VII, emperor of the Byzantine Empire. ... Baptism of Princess Olga. ... Constantine and his mother Zoë. Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos or Porphyrogenitus, the Purple-born (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Ζ΄ Πορφυρογέννητος, Kōnstantinos VII PorphyrogennÄ“tos), (Constantinople, September 905 – November 9, 959 in Constantinople) was the son of the Byzantine emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife Zoe Karbonopsina. ... Ahmad ibn-al-Abbas ibn Rashid ibn-Hammad ibn-Fadlan (Aḥmad ʿibn alʿAbbās ʿibn Rasẖīd ʿibn ḥammād ʿibn Fadlān أحمد ابن العبا&#1587... Peter Benjamin Golden (born 1941) is Professor of History at Rutgers University. ... The argument from silence (also called argumentum e(x) silentio in Spanish? Jack: Of course. ... The Rus-Byzantine Treaty of 911 is the most comprehensive and detailed treaty concluded between the Byzantine Empire and Kievan Rus in the 10th century. ...

Location

Map showing Varangian or Rus' settlement (in red) and location of Slavic tribes (in grey), during the mid 9th century. Khazar influence indicated with blue outline.

The location of the khaganate has been actively disputed since the early twentieth century. According to one fringe theory, the Rus' khagan resided somewhere in Scandinavia or even as far west as Walcheren.^[26] In stark contrast, George Vernadsky believed that the khagan had his headquarters in the eastern part of the Crimea or in the Taman Peninsula and that the island described by Ibn Rustah was most likely situated in the estuary of the Kuban River.^[27] Neither of these theories has won many adherents, as archaeologists have uncovered no traces of a Slavic-Norse settlement in the Crimea region in the 9th century and there are no Norse sources documenting "khagans" in Scandinavia.^[28] Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 528 pixel Image in higher resolution (922 × 609 pixel, file size: 742 KB, MIME type: image/png) Map showing the distribution of early Varangian settlement, mid-ninth century CE. Varangian settlements shown in red, other Scandinavian settlement in purple. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 528 pixel Image in higher resolution (922 × 609 pixel, file size: 742 KB, MIME type: image/png) Map showing the distribution of early Varangian settlement, mid-ninth century CE. Varangian settlements shown in red, other Scandinavian settlement in purple. ... As a means of recording the passage of time the 9th century was the century that lasted from 801 to 900. ... Satellite image of the Scheldt estuary Walcheren is a former island in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. ... A History of Russia by George Verdansky George Vernadsky (1887-1973) (Russian: Георгий Вернадский) an American historian and an author of numerous books on Russian history. ... Motto: Процветание в единстве - Prosperity in unity Anthem: Нивы и горы твои волшебны, Родина - Your fields and mounts are wonderful, Motherland Location of Crimea (red) on the map of Ukraine. ... 1. ... Kuban (Russian: ) is a river in Russia, in the Northern Caucasus region. ... Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ...

Soviet historiography, as represented by Boris Rybakov and Lev Gumilev, advanced Kiev as the residence of the khagan, assuming that Askold and Dir were the only khagans recorded by name. Mikhail Artamonov became an adherent of the theory that Kiev was the seat of the Rus' Khaganate, and continued to hold this view into the 1990's.^[29] Soviet redirects here. ... Historiography is a term with multiple meanings that has changed with time, place and observer, and is thus resistant to a single encompassing meaning. ... Boris Alexandrovich Rybakov (1908-2001) was an orthodox Soviet historian who personified the anti-Normanist vision of Russian history. ... Lev Gumilyov and Anna Akhmatova, 1960s Lev Nikolayevich Gumilyov (Russian: ) (October 1, 1912, St. ... Askold (Höskuldr) and Dir (Dyri) were according to the Primary Chronicle, two of Ruriks men. ... The site of the Khazar fortress of Sarkel, which was discovered and excavated by Artamonov in the 1930s. ...

Western historians, however, have generally argued against this theory. There is no evidence of an urban settlement on the site of Kiev prior to the 880s.^[30] Archaeological finds from the period in the vicinity of Kiev are almost non-existent. Particularly troublesome is the absence of hoards of coins which would prove that the Dnieper trade route — the backbone of later Kievan Rus' — was operating in the 9th century.^[31] Based on his examination of the archaeological evidence, Zuckerman concludes that Kiev originated as a fortress on the Khazar border with Levedia, and that only after the Magyars' departure for the west in 889 did the middle Dnieper region start to progress economically.^[32] The term Western world, the West or the Occident (Latin occidens -sunset, -west, as distinct from the Orient) [1] can have multiple meanings dependent on its context (e. ... Crowded Shibuya, Tokyo shopping district An urban area is an area with an increased density of human-created structures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. ... ... Coat of arms Map of the Kievan Rus′, 11th century Capital Kiev Religion Orthodox Christianity Government Monarchy Historical era Middle Ages  - Established 9th century  - Disestablished 12th century Currency Hryvnia Kievan Rus′ was the predominantly East Slavic[1] medieval state of Rurikid dynasty dominated by the city of Kiev from about... Fortifications (Latin fortis, strong, and facere, to make) are military constructions designed for defensive warfare. ... Migration of the Hungarians Levedia (hungarian: Levédia) was an area settled by the Magyars in the 9th century. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the river. ...

A number of historians, the first of whom was Vasily Bartold, have advocated a more northerly position for the khaganate.^[2] They have tended to emphasize ibn Rustah's report as the only historical clue to the location of the khagan's residence.^[33] Recent archaeological research, conducted by Dmitry Machinsky among others, has raised the possibility that this polity was based on a group of settlements along the Volkhov River, including Ladoga, Lyubsha, Duboviki, Alaborg, and Holmgard.^[34] "Most of these were initially small sites, probably not much more than stations for re-fitting and resupply, providing an opportunity for exchange and the redistribution of items passing along the river and caravan routes".^[35] If the anonymous traveller quoted by ibn Rustah is to be believed, the Rus of the Khaganate period made extensive use of the Volga route to trade with the Middle East, possibly through Bulgar and Khazar intermediaries. His description of the Rus' island suggests that their center was at Holmgard, an early medieval precursor of Novgorod whose name translates from Old Norse as "the river-island castle". The First Novgorod Chronicle describes unrest in Novgorod before Rurik was invited to come rule the region in the 860s. This account prompted Johannes Brøndsted to assert that Holmgard-Novgorod was the khaganate's capital for several decades prior to the appearance of Rurik, including the time of the Byzantine embassy in 839.^[36] Machinsky accepts this theory but notes that, before the rise of Holmgard-Novgorod, the chief political and economic centre of the area was located at Aldeigja-Ladoga.^[37] Vasily Vladimirovich Bartold, also known as Wilhelm Barthold (1869-1930) was a Russian anthropologist who came to be recognized as one of the founding fathers of Turcology. ... Dmitry Alexeyevich Machinsky (b. ... Volkhov River, also called Olhava river (Russian: Во́лхов) is a river in Novgorod and Leningrad Oblasts in Russia. ... Lyubsha (Russian: Любша) is an archaeological site situated on the right bank of the Volkhov, about 1,500 metres downstream from Staraya Ladoga. ... Novye Duboviki (Russian: ; literally: New Oak Grove) is an archaeological site in Leningrad Oblast of Russia, located about 9 kilometers (6 mi) south of Ladoga upstream the Volkhov River, at the head of the lower Volkhov rapids. ... Nicholas Roerich. ... In the Middle Ages, the Volga trade route connected Northern Europe and Northwestern Russia with the Caspian Sea. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... For other cities named Novgorod see Novgorod (disambiguation). ... Old Norse or Danish tongue is the Germanic language once spoken by the inhabitants of the Nordic countries (for instance during the Viking Age). ... The Novgorod First Chronicle (Russian: ) is the most ancient extant chronicle of the Novgorod Republic. ... Rurik or Riurik (Russian: , Old East Norse Rørik, meaning famous ruler) (ca 830 – ca 879) was a Varangian who gained control of Ladoga in 862 and built the Holmgard settlement (Ryurikovo Gorodishche) in Novgorod. ... Johannes Brøndsted, Danish archaeologist and prehistorian. ...

Origin

Main article: Rus' (people)

Nicholas Roerich. Longships Built in the Land of the Slavs; a 1903 painting depicting construction of Norse-style vessels in Rus'.

The origins of the Rus' Khaganate are unclear. The first Scandinavian settlers of the region arrived in the lower basin of the Volkhov River in the mid-8th century. The country comprising the present-day Leningrad, Novgorod, Tver, Yaroslavl, and Smolensk regions became known in Old Norse sources as "Gardarike", the land of forts. Norse warlords, known to the Turkic-speaking steppe peoples as "köl-beki" or "sea-kings", came to dominate some of the region's Finno-Ugric and Slavic peoples, particularly along the Volga trade route linking the Baltic Sea with the Caspian Sea and Serkland.^[38] Rus’ (????, ) was a medieval East Slavic nation, which, according to the most popular (but by no means only) theory, may have taken its name from a ruling warrior class, possibly with Scandinavian roots. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Guests from Overseas, 1899 (Varangians in Russia) Longships Are Built in the Land of the Slavs (1903) Nicholas Roerich, (October 9, 1874 - December 13, 1947) also known as Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh (Russian: Николай Константинович Рёрих), was a Russian painter and spiritual teacher. ... Longships is the name given to a group of rocks situated 1. ... Volkhov River, also called Olhava river (Russian: Во́лхов) is a river in Novgorod and Leningrad Oblasts in Russia. ... Leningrad Oblast (Russian: , tr. ... Novgorod Oblast (Russian: ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). ... Tver Oblast (Russian: Тверска́я о́бласть) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). ... Yaroslavl Oblast (Russian: ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), which is located in the Central Federal District, surrounded by Tver, Moscow, Ivanovo, Vladimir, Kostroma, and Vologda Oblasts. ... Smolensk Oblast (Russian: ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). ... Old Norse or Danish tongue is the Germanic language once spoken by the inhabitants of the Nordic countries (for instance during the Viking Age). ... Map showing Varangian or Rus settlement (in red) and location of Slavic tribes (in grey), mid-9th century AD Khazar influence indicated with blue outline Garðaríki (Anglicized Gardariki or Gardarike) or Garðaveldi is the Old Norse term used in medieval times for the states of Rus Khaganate... The Turkic languages constitute a language family of some thirty languages, spoken across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are traditionally considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family. ... In the Middle Ages, the Volga trade route connected Northern Europe and Northwestern Russia with the Caspian Sea. ... The Baltic Sea is located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. ... The Caspian Sea (Russian: Каспийское море; Kazakh: Каспий теңізі; Turkmen: Hazar deňizi; Azeri: XÉ™zÉ™r dÉ™nizi; Persian: دریای خزر Daryā-ye Khazar) is the largest lake on Earth by area[2], with a surface area of 371,000 square kilometers (143,244 sq mi) and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometers (18... This runestone, raised circa 1040 at Gripsholm, commemorates a Viking lost during an ill-fated raid in Serkland. ...

As with the Rus' generally, there is much debate as to the identity and ancestry of the Rus' Khagans. They may have been Scandinavians, native Slavs or Finns, or (most probably) of mixed ancestry.^[39] Omeljan Pritsak speculated that a Khazar khagan named Khan-Tuvan Dyggvi, exiled after losing a civil war, settled with his followers in the Norse-Slavic settlement of Rostov, married into the local Scandinavian nobility, and fathered the dynasty of the Rus' khagans.^[40] Zuckerman dismisses Pritsak's theory as untenable speculation,^[41] and no record of any Khazar khagan fleeing to find refuge among the Rus' exists in contemporaneous sources.^[42] Nevertheless, the possible Khazar connection to early Rus' monarchs is supported by the use of a stylized trident tamga, or seal, by later Rus' rulers such as Sviatoslav I of Kiev; similar tamgas are found in ruins that are definitively Khazar in origin.^[43] The genealogical connection between the 9th-century Khagans of Rus' and the later Rurikid rulers, if any, is unknown at this time.^[44] Omeljan Pritsak (b. ... The Khazars were a Turkic semi-nomadic people from Central Asia who adopted Judaism. ... Khan-Tuvan Dyggvi, according to Omeljan Pritsak, was the name of a Khazar khagan of the mid 830s. ... The Kabars (Gr. ... One of the excavators of Sarskoe was Nicholas Roerich. ... Small coat of Arms of Ukraine. ... A tamgha, or tamga (Modern Turkish: damga) is an abstract seal or device used by Eurasian nomadic peoples and by cultures influenced by them. ... Sviatoslavs meeting with Emperor John by Klavdiy Lebedev, an attempt to visualise Leo the Deacons description of Sviatoslav Sviatoslav I of Kiev (East Slavic: Святослав Игоревич) (c. ... Rurik Dynasty ...

Most historians agree that the title "khagan" was borrowed by the Rus from the Khazars, but there is considerable dispute over the circumstances of this borrowing. Peter Benjamin Golden presumes that the Rus' khaganate was a puppet state set up by the Khazars in the basin of the Oka River to fend off recurring attacks of the Magyars.^[45] No source records that the Rus' of the 9th century were subjects to the Khazars, however. For foreign observers (such as Ibn Rustah) there was no material difference between the titles of the Khazar and Rus' rulers.^[46] Anatoly Novoseltsev hypothesizes that the adoption of the title of khagan was designed to advertise the Rus' claims to the equality with the Khazars.^[47] This theory is echoed by Thomas Noonan, who asserts that the Rus' leaders were loosely unified under the rule of one of the "sea-kings" in the early 9th century, and that this "High King" adopted the title khagan to give him legitimacy in the eyes of his subjects and neighboring states.^[48] The title of khagan was, according to this theory, a sign that the bearers ruled under a divine mandate.^[49] Peter Benjamin Golden (born 1941) is Professor of History at Rutgers University. ... Oka (Russian: Ока́) is a great river in Russia, the biggest right confluent of the Volga. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Thomas P. Noonan, Jr. ... A high king is a king who holds a position of seniority over a group of other kings. ...

Economy

Sergey Vasilievich Ivanov (1864-1910), Slave Trade in Early Medieval Eastern Europe.

The likely mainstay of the khaganate's economy was the Volga trade route. Early 9th-century coin hordes unearthed in Scandinavia frequently contain large quantities of dirhem coins minted in the Abbasid Caliphate and other Muslim polities, sometimes split into smaller pieces and inscribed with Runic signs.^[50] All in all, more than 228,000 Arabic coins have been recovered from over a thousand hoards in European Russia and the Baltic region. Almost 90% of these arrived in Scandinavia by way of the Volga trade route. Unsurprisingly, the dirhem was the basis for the monetary system of Kievan Rus'.^[51] Image File history File links Ruslavery. ... Image File history File links Ruslavery. ... Sergei V. Ivanov Sergei Vasilyevich Ivanov (Russian: , July 14 (July 4 (O.S.)) 1864— 16 August 1910) was a Russian painter and graphic artist. ... The dirham (درهم) is a unit of currency and a unit of the dinar. ... Abbasid provinces during the caliphate of Harun al-Rashid Abbasid was the dynastic name generally given to the caliphs of Baghdad, the second of the two great Sunni dynasties of the Muslim empire, that overthrew the Umayyid caliphs. ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... Technical note: Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ...

Trade was the major source of income for the Rus, who according to ibn Rustah did not engage in agriculture: "They have no cultivated fields but depend for their supplies on what they can obtain from as-Saqaliba's [Slavs] land. They have no estates, villages, or fields; their only business is to trade in sable, squirrel, and other furs, and the money they take in these transactions they stow in their belts."^[52] Rus merchants travelled down the Volga, paying duties to the Bulghars and Khazars, to the ports of Gorgan and Abaskun on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea; on occasion they travelled as far as Baghdad.^[16] It has been suggested that Commerce be merged into this article or section. ... Binomial name Martes zibellina Linnaeus, 1758 The Sable (Martes zibellina) is a small mammal, closely akin to the martens, living in southern Russia near the Ural Mountains through Siberia and Mongolia to Hokkaidō in Japan. ... Genera Many, see the article Sciuridae. ... A dogs fur usually consists of longer, stiffer, guard hairs—which can be straight, wiry, or wavy, and of various lengths, hiding a soft, short-haired undercoat. ... Duty is a term loosely appliedDuty to any action (or course of action) whichDutyDuty is regarded as morally incumbent, apart from personal likes and dislikes or any external compulsion. ... Map of Iran and surrounding countries, showing location of Gorgan Gorgan (Persian: گرگان, Land of the Wolf) is the capital city of the Iranian province of Golestan. ... Abaskun was a port that existed in the Middle Ages on the southwestern shore of the Caspian Sea in the area of Gorgan. ... The Caspian Sea (Russian: Каспийское море; Kazakh: Каспий теңізі; Turkmen: Hazar deňizi; Azeri: XÉ™zÉ™r dÉ™nizi; Persian: دریای خزر Daryā-ye Khazar) is the largest lake on Earth by area[2], with a surface area of 371,000 square kilometers (143,244 sq mi) and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometers (18... Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ...

Government

Writing in 922, Ibn Fadlan described the Rus' ruler (like the Khazar khagan), as having little real authority. Instead, political and military power was wielded by a deputy, who "commands the troops, attacks [the Rus' ruler's] enemies, and acts as his representative before his subjects."^[53] The supreme king of the Rus', on the other hand, "has no duties other than to make love to his slave girls, drink, and give himself up to pleasure."^[53] He was guarded by 400 men, "willing to die for him... These 400 sit below the royal throne: a large and bejewelled platform which also accommodates the forty slave-girls of his harem." Ibn Fadlan wrote that the Rus' ruler would almost never leave his throne and even "when he wants to go riding his horse is led up to him, and on his return the horse is brought right up to the throne."^[54] Ibn Rustah, on the other hand, reported that the khagan was the ultimate authority in settling disputes between his subjects. His decisions, however, were not binding, so that if one of the disputants disagreed with the khagan's ruling, the dispute was then resolved in a battle, which took place "in the presence of the contestants' kin who stand with swords drawn; and the man who gets the better of the duel also gets the decision about the matter in dispute."^[55] Authority- is a very talented rocknroll band out of Columbia, S.C. This power rock trio has its roots in rock, funk, hardcore, and a dash of hip hop. ... Much of the recent sociological debate on power revolves around the issue of the constraining and/or enabling nature of power. ... Egill Skallagrímsson engaging in holmgang with Berg-Önundr, painting by Johannes Flintoe Holmgång (or holmganga) was a duel practiced by Norsemen. ...

The dichotomy between the relative powerlessness of the nominal ruler and the great authority of his subordinate reflects the structure of Khazar government, with secular authority in the hands of a Khagan Bek only theoretically subordinate to the khagan, and sharply contrasts with the traditional Germanic system, where kingship was held by military prowess and not necessarily by blood. Moreover, some scholars have noted similarities between this dual kingship and the postulated relationship between Igor and Oleg of Kiev in the early 10th century (compare Askold and Dir in the 9th century).^[56] The institution of separate sacral ruler and military commander may be observed in the reconstructed relationship between Oleg and Igor, but whether this is part of the Rus' Khaganate's legacy to its successor-state is unknown. The early Kievan Rus' principalities exhibited certain distinctive characteristics in their government, military organization, and jurisprudence that were comparable to those in force among the Khazars and other steppe peoples; some historians believe that these elements came to Kievan Rus' from the Khazars by way of the earlier Rus' Khagans.^[57] A dichotomy is a division into two non-overlapping or mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive parts. ... The Khazars were a Turkic semi-nomadic people from Central Asia who adopted Judaism. ... This article concerns secularity, that is, being secular, in various senses. ... Title used by the Bek of the Khazars. ... Ship burial of Igor the Old, by Henryk Siemiradzki (1845-1902). ... Prince Oleg ( Norse name Helgu) was the East Slavic ruler who moved the capital of Rus from Novgorod the Great to Kiev. ... Askold (Höskuldr) and Dir (Dyri) were according to the Primary Chronicle, two of Ruriks men. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Succession of states. ... Philosophers of law ask what is law? and what should it be? Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. ...

Customs and religion

Oleg being mourned by his warriors, an 1899 painting by Viktor Vasnetsov. This burial rite, with the funerary tumulus, is typical of both Scandinavian, and Eurasian nomadic customs.

Judging from excavations conducted since the 1820s at Ladoga and related sites in Northern Russia, the Rus' customs reflected primarily Scandinavian influences. This is consistent with the writings of ibn Rustah and ibn Fadlan. The former gives a brief description of the burial of a Rus' nobleman, who was put into a "grave like a large house", together with food, amulets, coins, other staples, as well as his favorite wife. "Then the grave door is sealed and she dies there."^[58] Ibn Fadlan provides further evidence of the Rus' building a memorial mound, or cenotaph, and giving it a runic inscription on a piece of wood.^[59] The Arab traveler also left a detailed description of the Rus' custom of cremating noblemen in a ship, which involved both animal and human sacrifice. When a poor man died, he was put into a little ship and burned in it; the funeral of a nobleman was much more elaborate. His estate was divided into three parts: one for his family, one to pay for his funerary costume, and one to make beer, which was consumed on the day of his cremation.^[60] One of the deceased man's slave girls volunteered to be put to death so as to join her master in paradise. On the day of cremation, the dead man was disinterred from his grave, dressed in fine clothings, and put onto a specially constructed ship. The volunteer slave girl was killed (after the deceased man's kinsmen and friends had sex with her) and placed on board together with her master before the dead man's nearest kinsman set the vessel on fire. The funeral ended with the construction of a round mound.^[61] Image File history File links Viktor Vasnetsov. ... Image File history File links Viktor Vasnetsov. ... Self-portrait 1873 Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov (Виктор Михайлович Васнецов) (May 15 (N.S.), 1848—1926) was a Russian artist who specialized in mythological and historical subjects. ... Scandinavia is a historical and geographical region centered on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe and includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. ... Eurasian nomads are a large group of peoples of the steppes of Central Asia, Mongolia and Eastern Europe. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... The Lords and Barons prove their Nobility by hanging their Banners and exposing their Coats-of-arms at the Windows of the Lodge of the Heralds. ... The Cenotaph, London A ceremony at the Cenotaph, London, on Sunday 12th June 2005, remembering Irish war dead Memorial Cenotaph, Hiroshima, Japan A cenotaph is a tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of persons whose remains are elsewhere. ... Technical note: Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... Ship burial of Igor the Old in 945, depicted by Heinrich Semiradski (1845-1902). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Leffe, a Belgian beer, served in branded glasses Schlenkerla Rauchbier straight from the cask Beer brewed from wheat. ... Paradise, Jan Bruegel Paradise is an English word from Persian roots that is generally identified with the Garden of Eden or with Heaven. ...

Early medieval historians were impressed with the spirit of independence and enterprise inculcated among the Rus from birth.^[16] Ibn Rustah writes: "When a son is born the father will go up to the newborn baby, sword in hand; throwing it down, he says; 'I shall not leave you any property: you have only what you can provide with this weapon!'"^[62] Al-Marwazi repeated this description of the instructions given to a son and added that it was the daughter who received her father's inheritance. The same sense of rugged individualism was reflected in their treatment of the ill. According to ibn Fadlan, "if one of the Rus falls sick they put him in a tent by himself and leave bread and water for him. They do not visit him, however, or speak to him, especially if he is a serf. Should he recover he rejoins the others; if he dies they burn him. If he happens to be a serf, however, they leave him for the dogs and vultures to devor."^[63] Sources describe the Rus as liberal in sexual matters. Ibn Fadlan wrote that the king of the Rus did not shy away from having public intercourse with the slave girls in his harem. When Rus traders arrived to the Volga shores, they would make love with the slave girls they brought for sale in the presence of their comrades; sometimes this would develop into a communal orgy.^[64] Modern replica of a late Roman Empire spatha The spatha was a type of straight sword with a long point, measuring between 0. ... Ahmad ibn Abdallah Habash al-Hasib al-Marwazi was a Persian astronomer and mathematician from Merv in Khorasan, Persia. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The Idols, a painting by Nicholas Roerich (1901).

Both ibn Fadlan and ibn Rustah portray the Rus as devout pagans. Ibn Rustah and, following him, Garizi reported that the Rus shamans or "medicine men" (attiba) wielded great power over the common folk. According to ibn Rustah, these shamans acted "as if they own everything". They determined what women, men, or animals had to be sacrificed, and there was no appealing their decisions. A shaman would take the selected offering, whether human or animal, and hang it from a pole until it died.^[65] Ibn Fadlan left a description of the Rus merchants praying for success in trading before "a large wooden stake with a face like that of a human being, surrounded by smaller figures, and behind them tall poles in the ground." If trade did not pick up, more offerings were made; if the business remained slow, the trader would make offerings to the minor idols, too. When the trading was especially good, Rus merchants would likewise make additional offerings of cattle and sheep, some of which were distributed as alms.^[66] Image File history File links Idoly. ... Image File history File links Idoly. ... The shaman is an intellectual and spiritual figure who is regarded as possessing power and influence on other peoples in the tribe and performs several functions, primarily that of a healer ( medicine man). The shaman provides medical care, and serves other community needs during crisis times, via supernatural means (means... Among Native Americans and other traditional peoples as far back as Paleolithic times, a person believed to possess supernatural healing powers. ...

On the other hand, Byzantine sources report that the Rus adopted Christianity by the end of the 860s. In his encyclical dated to 867, Patriarch Photius wrote about the enthusiastic conversion of the Rus, mentioning that he had sent to their lands a bishop.^[67] Constantine VII attributes the conversion to his grandfather Basil the Macedonian and to Patriarch Ignatius rather than to their predecessors Michael III and Photius. Constantine narrates how the Byzantines galvanized the Rus' into conversion by their persuasive words and rich presents, including gold, silver, and precious fabrics. He also repeats a traditional story that the pagans were particularly impressed by a miracle: a gospel book thrown by the archbishop into an oven was not damaged by fire.^[68] Ibn Khordadbeh wrote in the late 9th century that the Rus who arrived to Muslim lands "claimed to be Christians".^[16] Modern historians are divided in their views on the historicity and extent of the Christianization of the Rus' Khaganate. Christianity percentage by country, purple is highest, orange is lowest Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch... An encyclical was a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Christian church. ... Photius (b. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      This article is about a title... Constantine and his mother Zoë. Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos or Porphyrogenitus, the Purple-born (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Ζ΄ Πορφυρογέννητος, Kōnstantinos VII PorphyrogennÄ“tos), (Constantinople, September 905 – November 9, 959 in Constantinople) was the son of the Byzantine emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife Zoe Karbonopsina. ... Basil, his son Constantine, and his second wife, emperess Eudoxia Ingerina. ... Ignatius (Игнатий in Russian) (1540 - 1620), a cleric of Greek descent, was the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia in 1605-1606. ... This coin struck during the regency of Theodora shows how Michael was less prominent than his mother, who is represented as ruler alone on the obverse, and even than his sister Thecla, who is depicted together with the young Michael on the reverse of this coin. ... For other uses, see Gospel (disambiguation). ... In Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop. ... Abul Qasim UbaidAllah ibn Khordadbeh (c. ... Christians and Pagans, a painting by Sergei Ivanov The Christianization of the Rus Khaganate is supposed to have happened in the 860s and was the first stage in the process of Christianization of the East Slavs which continued well into the 11th century. ...

Relations with neighbors

In 838, the Rus' Khaganate sent an embassy to the Byzantine Empire, which was recorded in the Annals of St. Bertin, the reasons for which remain a cause of controversy among historians. Aleksey Shakhmatov argued that the embassy of 838 had two ends in view: to establish amity with Byzantium and to open up the way into Sweden through Western Europe.^[69] Constantine Zuckerman postulates that the Rus' ambassadors were to negotiate a peace treaty after their Paphlagonian expedition of the 830s.^[70] George Vernadsky connects their mission with the construction of the fortress of Sarkel in 833. That embassy was not recorded in Byzantine sources, and in 860 Patriarch Photius referred to the Rus as "unknown people".^[71] Aleksey Aleksandrovich Shakhmatov (5 June 1864 - 16 August 1920) was an outstanding Russian philologist credited with laying foundations for the science of textology. ... Constantine Zuckerman (1957- ) is a French historian and professor. ... The Paphlagonian expedition of the Rus is documented in the Life of St. ... A History of Russia by George Verdansky George Vernadsky (1887-1973) (Russian: Георгий Вернадский) an American historian and an author of numerous books on Russian history. ... Sarkel (or Şarkil; Turkic for White Fortress) was a large limestone-and-brick fortress built by the Khazars with Byzantine assistance in the 830s. ...

According to Vernadsky, the Khazars and Greeks erected Sarkel near the portage between the Don River and Volga specifically to defend this strategic point from the Rus.^[72] Other scholars, however, believe that the fortress of Sarkel was constructed to defend against or monitor the activities of the Magyars and other steppe tribes, and not the Rus'.^[73] The Ukrainian historian Mykhailo Hrushevsky declared that the extant sources were unclear on this point. ^[74] John Skylitzes claimed that Sarkel was a "staunch bulwark against the Pechenegs" but did not identify that as its original purpose.^[75] The Don (Дон) is one of the major rivers of Russia. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Mykhailo Serhiyovych Hrushevsky (Ukrainian: ; Kholm (29 September 1866 [O.S. 17 June] — Kislovodsk, 26 November 1934) was a Ukrainian historian and statesman, one of the most important figures of the Ukrainian national revival of the early 20th century. ... John/Ioannes Skylitzes/Scylitzes (Ιωάννης Σκυλίτζης, 1081) was a Byzantine historian of the late 11th century. ... Pechenegs or Patzinaks, also known as Besenyők, were a semi-nomadic steppes people of Central Asia that spoke a Turkic language. ...

In 860, the Rus besieged Constantinople, with a fleet of 200 ships. The Byzantine army and navy were far from the capital, leaving it vulnerable to the attack. The timing of the expedition suggests that the Rus were well-aware of the internal situation in the empire thanks to the commercial and other relations that continued after the embassy of 838. The Rus warriors devastated the suburbs of Constantinople before suddenly departing on August 4.^[76] Combatants Roman (Byzantine) Empire Rus Commanders Michael III Askold and Dir? Strength Unknown Unknown Casualties Unknown Unknown The Rus raid against Constantinople in 860 is the only major military expedition of the Khaganate of Rus recorded in Greek and Western European sources. ... // Look up fleet in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... is the 216th day of the year (217th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

The early Rus' traded extensively with Khazaria. Ibn Khordadbeh wrote in the Book of Roads and Kingdoms that "they go via the Slavic River (the Don) to Khamlidj, a city of the Khazars, where the latter's ruler collects the tithe from them."^[77] Some modern commentators infer from Arab accounts that the Rus' Khaganate's political culture was profoundly influenced by its contacts with Khazaria.^[78] By the beginning of the Rurikid period in the first decades of the 10th century, however, relations between the Rus' and the Khazars soured. The Khazars were a Turkic semi-nomadic people from Central Asia who adopted Judaism. ... Abul Qasim UbaidAllah ibn Khordadbeh (c. ... The Book of Roads and Kingdoms (Arabic: ‎, Kitāb al-Masālik w’al- Mamālik) is a 9th century geography text by ibn Khordadbeh. ... In the accounts of ibn Khordadbeh and other Muslim writers, Khamlij or Khamlidj refers to the capital of the Khazars. ... Rurik Dynasty ... The Caspian expeditions of the Rus were several raids undertaken by the Rus on the lands located on the shores of the Caspian Sea between 864 and 1041. ...

Decline and legacy

Soon after Patriarch Photius informed other Orthodox bishops about the Christianization of the Rus all the centres of the khaganate in North-Western Russia were destroyed by fire. Archaeologists found convincing evidence that Holmgard, Aldeigja, Alaborg, Izborsk and other local centres were burnt to the ground in the 860s or 870s. Some of these settlements were permanently abandoned after the conflagration. The Primary Chronicle describes the uprising of the pagan Slavs and Finns against the Varangians, who had to withdraw overseas in 862. The First Novgorod Chronicle, whose account of the events Shakhmatov considered more trustworthy, does not pinpoint the pre-Rurikid uprising to any specific date. The 16th-century Nikon Chronicle attributes the banishment of the Varangians from the country to Vadim the Bold. The Ukrainian historian Mykhailo Braichevsky labelled Vadim's rebellion "a pagan reaction" against the Christianization of the Rus'.^[79] A period of unrest and anarchy followed, dated by Zuckerman to ca. 875-900. The absence of coin hoards from the 880s and 890s suggests that the Volga trade route ceased functioning, precipitating "the first silver crisis in Europe".^[80] Photius (b. ... Nicholas Roerich. ... General view of the fortress Inside the fortress of Izborsk Izborsk (Russian: ; Estonian: ) is a village in Pechorsky District of Pskov Oblast, Russia. ... The Primary Chronicle (Old-Slavonic: Повсть времяньныхъ лтъ; Russian: Повесть временных лет, Povest vremennykh let; Ukrainian: Повість времмених літ, Povist vremennykh lit; often translated into English as Tale of Bygone Years), is a history of the Ancient Rus from around 850 to 1110 originally compiled in Kiev about 1113. ... The Novgorod First Chronicle (Russian: ) is the most ancient extant chronicle of the Novgorod Republic. ... Vadim was a legendary chieftain of Ilmen Slavs who led their struggle against the Varangians and Rurik in the 9th century. ...

After this economic depression and period of political upheaval, the region experienced a resurgence beginning in around 900. Zuckerman associates this recovery with the arrival of Rurik and his men, who turned their attention from the Volga to the Dnieper, for reasons as yet uncertain. The Scandinavian settlements in Ladoga and Novgorod revived and started to grow rapidly. During the first decade of the tenth century, a large trade outpost was formed on the Dnieper in Gnezdovo, near modern Smolensk. Another Dnieper settlement, Kiev, developed into an important urban centre roughly in the same period.^[81][82] A recession is traditionally defined in macroeconomics as a decline in a countrys real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for two or more successive quarters of a year (equivalently, two consecutive quarters of negative real economic growth). ... Rurik or Riurik (Russian: , Old East Norse Rørik, meaning famous ruler) (ca 830 – ca 879) was a Varangian who gained control of Ladoga in 862 and built the Holmgard settlement (Ryurikovo Gorodishche) in Novgorod. ... This article is about the river. ... Gnezdovo or Gnyozdovo (Russian: ) is an archeological site located near the village of Gnyozdovo in Smolensk Oblast, Russia. ... A view of Smolensk in 1912. ...

The fate of the Rus' Khaganate, and the process by which it either evolved into or was consumed by the Rurikid Kievan Rus', is unclear. The Kievans seem to have had a very vague notion about the existence of the khaganate. Slavonic sources do not mention either the Christianization of the Rus in the 860s nor the Paphlagonian expedition of the 830s. The account of the Rus' expedition against Constantinople in the 860s was borrowed by the authors of the Primary Chronicle from Greek sources, suggesting the absence of a vernacular written tradition.^[83] Look up Vernacular in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

See also

• Byzantine expeditions of the Rus
• Caspian expeditions of the Rus
• Christianization of the Rus' Khaganate
• Paphlagonian expedition of the Rus

Rus-Byzantine War may refer to one of the following conflicts: Rus-Byzantine War (830s) Rus-Byzantine War (860) Rus-Byzantine War (907) Rus-Byzantine War (941) Rus-Byzantine War (968-971) Rus-Byzantine War (987) Rus-Byzantine War (1024) Rus-Byzantine War (1043) Category: ... The Caspian expeditions of the Rus were several raids undertaken by the Rus on the lands located on the shores of the Caspian Sea between 864 and 1041. ... Christians and Pagans, a painting by Sergei Ivanov The Christianization of the Rus Khaganate is supposed to have happened in the 860s and was the first stage in the process of Christianization of the East Slavs which continued well into the 11th century. ... The Paphlagonian expedition of the Rus is documented in the Life of St. ...

Notes

Abul Qasim UbaidAllah ibn Khordadbeh (c. ... The Caspian expeditions of the Rus were several raids undertaken by the Rus on the lands located on the shores of the Caspian Sea between 864 and 1041. ... The Book of Roads and Kingdoms (Arabic: ‎, Kitāb al-Masālik w’al- Mamālik) is a 9th century geography text by ibn Khordadbeh. ... Dmitry Sergeyevich Likhachev (Russian: ; November 15 (28), 1906, St. ... Fyodor Bruni. ... Igor Svyatoslavich (April 3, 1151-1202) was the prince of Novhorod-Siversky from 1180 to 1202. ... Novgorod-Seversky is a historic town in the Chernigov region of Ukraine, on the bank of the Desna River, only 45 km south from the Russian border. ... Al-Masudi or Abu-Alhasan Ali bin al-Husain. ... Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din Al-Muqaddasi (Arabic: محمد بن امحد شمس الدين المقدسي) (also known as Al-Maqdisi) was a notable medieval Arab geographer, author of Ahsan at-Taqasim fi Ma`rifat il-Aqalim (The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions). ...

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The site of the Khazar fortress of Sarkel, which was discovered and excavated by Artamonov in the 1930s. ... Johannes Brøndsted, Danish archaeologist and prehistorian. ... Kevin Alan Brook is the foremost lay authority on the Khazars in the United States of America. ... Julius Davidovich Brutzkus or Judah Loeb Brutzkus (‎, Yehuda Loeb ben David Brutzkus, Russian: ) (1870-?) was a Lithuanian Jewish historian, scholar, and politician. ... The Slavonic and East European Review (not to be confused with , older title of the Slavic Review), the journal of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) at University College London, is a international peer-reviewed multidisciplinary academic journal in the fields of social sciences and humanities founded... Dr. David Gilbert Christian (1946-) is an Anglo-American historian. ... Jonathan Shepard is a British historian specializing in early medieval Russia, the Caucasus, and the Byzantine Empire. ... Peter Benjamin Golden (born 1941) is Professor of History at Rutgers University. ... The Encyclopaedia of Islam (EI) is the standard encyclopaedia of the academic discipline of Islamic studies. ... Mogens Herman Hansen (b. ... Mykhailo Serhiyovych Hrushevsky (Ukrainian: ; Kholm (29 September 1866 [O.S. 17 June] — Kislovodsk, 26 November 1934) was a Ukrainian historian and statesman, one of the most important figures of the Ukrainian national revival of the early 20th century. ... Roman K. Kovalev is an assistant professor of history at the College of New Jersey where he teaches classes on Russian history and culture as well as seminars focused on his more specific areas of study. ... Vladimir Minorsky (1877-1966) was a famous Russian Iranologist. ... Thomas P. Noonan, Jr. ... Omeljan Pritsak (7 April 1919, Luka, Sambir County, eastern Galicia - May 29, 2006, Boston, MA) was the first Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History at Harvard University and the founder and first director (1973-1989) of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. ... The Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI) is a research institute affiliated with Harvard University devoted to studying the history, culture, language, and politics of Ukraine. ... Alexander Alexandrovich Vasiliev (1867-1953) was considered the foremost authority on Byzantine history and culture in the mid-20th century. ... George Vernadsky George Vernadsky (1887 — 1973, Russian: Гео́ргий Влади́мирович Верна́дский) was a Russian-American historian and an author of numerous books on Russian history. ... Valentin Lavrentievich Yanin (born 6 February 1929 in Kirov) is a leading Russian historian who authored more than 700 books and articles. ... Constantine Zuckerman (born 1957) is a French-Jewish historian and Professor of Byzantine Studies at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris. ...

External links

• Britannica Concise on the Origins of Russia
• Pritsak on the Origins of the Rus'
• Rus' in the Hudud al-Alam
• Waugh, Daniel C. "Suggested Chronology of Events in the Pre-Kievan and Early Kievan Periods".