The versions about the origin of the Russian people and the hypothesis of what our history was like at the very beginning are still striking in their diversity and unexpected assumptions. The origin of the Russians - the origin of the Russian people is still impossible to reliably say which of them really has the right to exist.
The only thing that historians do not question is the fact that Russian history began much earlier than the Norman historians assumed. Even before the revolution, researchers were surprised by the fact that the very term "Rus" in ancient evidence began to appear before Rurik's Novgorod rule began. Another question, the clarification of which can radically change the idea of the history of Rus, is the question of what relation the Rus had to the Slavic tribes. Was it a special clan, tribe, or a definition of people by the type of their profession? What were the Russians themselves who lived in the first century AD? The difference between the Rus and the Slavs was emphasized by the chroniclers of the times of Prophetic Oleg.
But if the Russians are not Slavs at all, then who then? Perhaps the Germans. But this is still only a hypothesis.
Russian Kaganate - the first "Russian" state
According to researchers of the history of Kievan Rus, the history of one state, called Russian, preceded. This state was ruled by a ruler who bore the Turkic title of the head of a large state - kagan. In Europe, he would be called emperor. A ruler with such a title ruled a strong and independent state, independently determining his entire policy. 8 indirect and 4 direct historical evidence serve as evidence of the existence of the Russian Kaganate. But historians have not yet been able to determine the boundaries and geographical coordinates of this state. The opinion of scientists on this matter was divided: some believe that the kaganate occupied the northern part of the East European Plain, while others assign the region of the Sea of Azov to the ancient state.
Russian origins: assumptions of historiansThe author of the book "Secrets of the Russian Kaganate" -Galkina E. S. the center of the state is determined by the upper reaches of the Don, Northern Donets and Os-Kol. The scientist Sergei Perevezentsev also sees the origins of what he calls Alan Rus on the Don. But Alexey Ivanov, being a Donetsk historian and publicist, claims that the borders of this state are outlined by the Don and Northern Donets rivers, as well as by the Sea of Azov in the southeast, and from the west by the Dnieper. Modern Kiev was also located on the territory of this ancient state. Fatal significance for the study of this state was played by the delusion that it was not sovereign, but was part of the Khazan Kaganate, the study of which Soviet historical science was almost not interested in. Ukraine was also not interested in the history of the Russian Khaganate. Only Russia, realizingwhat role the information obtained in the study of the Russian kaganate can play on the modern idea of the Russian nation, is devoted to this issue by scientific works, articles and books. Comparison of archaeological finds with reliable historical data leads to the only conclusion that it was the Saltovsko-Mayatsk archaeological culture that could have been the Russian Khaganate.
How the ancient Russian state was born and what was it likeSpeaking about this culture, first of all, mention should be made of the high level of urbanization of cities, of which 25 have been found so far. The population in some of them reached one hundred thousand. As a comparison, about 20,000 people lived in Paris during the Middle Ages, and in Kiev already in the XI century the population did not exceed 40,000 inhabitants. Potters, jewelers and metallurgists inhabited the cities of the Russian Khaganate. Thanks to their labor, these cities became centers of trade and various crafts. Favorable geographical location made the kaganate a state with a highly developed trade. Routes from northern Europe to distant Byzantium, as well as to Asian countries, passed through it. The trade route "From the Varangians to the Greeks" known to everyone was also controlled by the Rus. The proximity to the sea provided the kaganate with all the conditions for sea trade. Weapons, jewelry, and captive slaves were exported. The trade and military state of the Rus was greatly disturbed by the Khazar Kaganate, bordering the Rus along the Don River and seeking to control all trade routes. It is not difficult to understand that the parity relationship between the two states interested in trade was extremely unstable. Archaeological evidence presents the civilization of the ancient Kaganate as a mixture of cultures of the Slavs, Turks and Alans. During the formation of the state (from the 6th century to the beginning of the 8th century), the Alanic component prevailed. Belonging to the group of Indo-Aryan peoples who spoke Iranian dialects, the Alans were descendants of the Sarmatians. Over time, the Alanian nation was replaced by modern Ossetians. In general, the territory of our state for a long period of time was in the zone of settlement of various Iranian peoples. Initially, these were the Scythians, then the Sarmatians, Roksolans, Yases and finally the Alans. This is how the root "don" entered the language of the Rus, denoting a river in their languages. Then the present north of Donbass, represented by the forest-steppe belt, was settled by the Slavs, and with them the Iranian peoples, who mastered the land, moving inland. This is how the Iranian and Slavic blood merged, and the kaganate acquired distinct Iranian-Slavic features. In addition to the main peoples, small groups of Bulgars, Ases, as well as representatives of Scandinavia were represented in the kaganate. However, the Slavic component began to dominate by the end of the existence of the Rus state. And more importantly for history,so this is the high social status of the representatives of the Slavic nation, confirmed by the luxurious burials found during archaeological excavations.
Where did the term "Rus" and "Russian" come from?The root "rus" itself is of Indo-European origin and the translation is "light" and "white". We, without implying it ourselves, mean this, calling, for example, a hare "hare". In addition to this meaning, the word also had a second translation characterizing the nobility and supremacy of the clan. It is possible that the word was encountered both in the everyday life of the Iranians and in the language of the Slavs. There is one more version. If you believe the Arabic work "Khudua-al-Alam", then the modern name of the Northern Donets River used to sound much shorter - "Rus", which meant a clean or bright river. It is likely that the inhabitants of the kaganate began to call themselves Rus, meaning their proximity to the river. According to another version, the Rus got their name from the Ruskh people who belonged to the Alan group. They were descendants of Roxalans (translated as "light Alans") and Ases.
The death of the Russian kaganate and its consequencesThe Russian Kaganate was destined to die in the thirties of the 9th century, when the Hungarian invaders invaded the territory. They carried out nomadic crossings until the very end of the century, and then began to pave the way in the western direction. The remaining surviving population found salvation in the northern forests, assimilating among the local Slavic tribes. This is evidenced by toponymy - a science at the intersection of history, geography and linguistics, which studies the origin of geographical names. Some of the survivors managed to get over to the Dnieper region, finding salvation near Kiev. However, the third group of surviving representatives of the Russian Kaganate is of particular interest to historians. Most likely they represented the rest of the military squad, which completed its march in the Baltic States. According to some historians, they settled on the entire eastern coast of the Baltic. Other researchers are more inclined to the version that having come to the territory of Prussia, the Rus formed a tribal alliance -Russia- with the local tribes. There is one more guess about the island of Saaremaa, which became the habitat of the people of the former kaganate. However, researchers agree that it was in the Baltics that a new state was created afterwards. The Slavs were actively exploring new territories and badly needed a powerful ally. For obvious reasons, such an ally was found among tribes similar in culture and language to the Rus. This leads to the idea that Rurik, drafted to Novgorod, could well have been a representative of that very Russian Kaganate, and not a Scandinavian, as previously thought. There is one more guess about the island of Saaremaa, which became the habitat of the people of the former kaganate. However, researchers agree that it was in the Baltics that a new state was created afterwards. The Slavs were actively exploring new territories and badly needed a powerful ally. For obvious reasons, such an ally was found among tribes similar in culture and language to the Rus. This leads to the idea that Rurik, drafted to Novgorod, could well have been a representative of that very Russian Kaganate, and not a Scandinavian, as previously thought. There is one more guess about the island of Saaremaa, which became the habitat of the people of the former kaganate. However, researchers agree that it was in the Baltics that a new state was created afterwards. The Slavs were actively exploring new territories and badly needed a powerful ally. For obvious reasons, such an ally was found among tribes similar in culture and language to the Rus. This leads to the idea that Rurik, drafted to Novgorod, could well have been a representative of that very Russian Kaganate, and not a Scandinavian, as previously thought. For obvious reasons, such an ally was found among tribes similar in culture and language to the Rus. This leads to the idea that Rurik, drafted to Novgorod, could well have been a representative of that very Russian Kaganate, and not a Scandinavian, as previously thought. For obvious reasons, such an ally was found among tribes similar in culture and language to the Rus. This leads to the idea that Rurik, drafted to Novgorod, could well have been a representative of that very Russian Kaganate, and not a Scandinavian, as previously thought.
Revival of an ancient stateSo far, the historical development of the Russian Kaganate can only be reproduced on the basis of archaeological finds, various hypotheses, often contradicting each other, and meager historical evidence. And now the figure of Rurik has a reliable historical meaning. One of the associates of the first ruler of the new state was Prophetic Oleg. It is believed that the name Oleg itself comes from the Scandinavian Heleg. But it is more correct from a historical point of view to look for its origin from the Iranian name Khaleg, meaning “creator”, “prince”, “creator”. In 879, Oleg became regent under the minor Igor, the son of Rurik. At this time, he organized a hike along the Dnieper towards the south. Three years later, almost without bloodshed, the regent captured Kiev. It was then that the phrase “Kiev is the mother of Russian cities” appeared. Be Oleg really Scandinavian,as historians-Normanists argued, could he describe the captured city like that? But the assumption that Oleg was a representative of the fallen kaganate provides a logical explanation for why the city did not offer adequate resistance during the capture. So Prophetic Oleg proclaimed the revival of his native ancient civilization, but with the Kiev capital. Having established his control in the new capital, Oleg took under his protection the tribes of the northerners and Rodimichi, who were forced to pay tribute to the Khazars. Thus, the great regent gathered around the emerging center of the new state those tribes of the Slavs who were directly related to the former Russian Kaganate. Thus, a new state was formed, which united the lands of the ancient kaganate and returned the old name Rus. The ruler of Russia began to be called a kagan until the reign of Yaroslav the Wise. Having won a crushing victory over the Khazars in 965, Grand Duke Svyatoslav summed up the important deed of Oleg. Capturing lands along the Don and Donets, the prince revived the Russian Kaganate. The territories of the destroyed Khazaria were transferred to the new state. So the former city of Sar-kel got the name Belaya Vezha, that is, the White Tower. Svyatoslav wanted to resettle the Slavs to this city, but circumstances were rapidly changing. The nomadic detachments of the Pechenegs came from the Trans-Volga region. Following their defeat in the thirties of the XI century, the Polovtsians invaded. Vladimir Monomakh made about twenty campaigns in the lands of the former Russian Kaganate in order to save them from numerous invasions of various nomads. This is how all Russian princes proved loyalty to their ancient homeland. However, trouble came from within. Fragmentation was her name. To keep the newly captured southern territories and to ward off the hordes of invaders from them, considerable forces were required, and the Russian princes, unfortunately, were gradually being dragged into the abyss of internecine strife and conflicts. Many Slavs from the time of Vladimir Monomakh returned to Kievan Rus. Those of them who remained, perished at the hands of the Polovtsians, who stormed the Belaya Vezha. Those who managed to escape found their refuge in Tmutarakan.
To summarize: Russian origins The state for which the term "Russian" could be found for the first time was called the Russian Khaganate. The peoples who inhabited it had a powerful impact on both Russia itself and the states adjacent to it. The Russian state has incorporated many features of the kaganate. Starting from the words of Iranian origin, ending with the title of the ruler and the names of the gods that descended from the Iranian pedestal and entered the Slavic divine pantheon - all this can be considered a great heritage of the ancient culture of the Russian Kaganate. Sergey Buntovsky, Maxim Kalashnikov