The Early Russian State
Posted by Mitch Williamson in Russia on Wednesday, February 1, 2012
The Invitation of the Varangians by Viktor Vasnetsov: Rurik and his
brothers Sineus and Truvor arrive in the lands of Ilmen Slavs.
Early medieval towns in Russia,
Scandinavia, and Byzantium.
The early Russian state emerged between A.D. 750 and 1000,
the result of a complex development process. Among the most important factors
in this process were the growth of an economy based on craft production and
long-distance trade and the rise of urban centers to facilitate the specialized
economy and the administration of the nascent state. These factors, in turn,
were related closely to connections and interrelationships among peoples living
in Russia, the Baltic Sea area, and the east during the eighth through tenth
centuries.
Primary historical evidence regarding the origin of the
Russian state is scarce, consisting mainly of a single record, the Russian
Primary Chronicle. It is thought that the chronicle was compiled in the
Monastery of the Caves near Kiev in about A.D. 1110. According to the chronicle
account, in the early ninth century northern Russia was divided politically
into diverse tribal principalities, all of which owed tribute to the Varangians
(Scandinavians). In 859 these principalities rose together against the
Varangians and drove them out of Russia. Without a central power, the Russian
peoples began to fight among themselves and eventually resolved to invite the
Varangians to return and rule over them. Three Varangian brothers accepted the
invitation. They moved to northern Russia with their kin and founded cities
from which to rule the area. The oldest brother was Rurik, who located himself
in Novgorod or Staraya Ladoga (depending on the particular codex consulted).
The two younger brothers also each established a city but died within a few
years, leaving Rurik the sole authority over northern Russia. In later years
Rurik’s successors expanded and consolidated Russian rule. In 882 Oleg, a
descendant of Rurik, established himself in Kiev and declared that city the
capital of Russia, which it remained until the eleventh century.
Although the Russian Primary Chronicle account has a
legendary feel to it, clearly serving to legitimize the rule of the Kievan
dynasty over early Russia, it does provides insight into how the early state
was formed. The document identifies several key factors in the formation of the
early Russian state: early towns, the diversity of peoples who inhabited them,
and their economic interrelationships. Archaeological research on the formation
of the early Russian state has investigated these key factors, providing a great
deal of information about the development of early towns as economic and
administrative centers and about the role of the Varangians and other early
peoples in the area. Most archaeologists currently believe that the
establishment of the early Russian state was a process, not an event, as the
Russian Primary Chronicle presents it. The process of state formation, as
revealed in the archaeological record, included the growth of a specialized
economy, urbanization, and increasing social stratification. State development
took place between A.D. 750 and 1000 in two primary phases. In the first phase,
between about A.D. 750 and 900, appeared such early towns as Staraya Ladoga and
Rurik Gorodishche, whose primary function was to facilitate a long-distance
economy. The focus of these early towns was on trade and craft production. They
had a multiethnic population, which only in later years was controlled by a
central administration. In the second phase, from about A.D. 900 to 1000, rose
such towns as Novgorod and Kiev, whose primary function was administration.
These later towns showed evidence of urban planning, the presence of a ruling
elite and a military, and a continuing interest in craft production and trade.
A.D. 750–900
The peoples who settled in northwest Russia before the
period of state formation belonged to Baltic and Finno-Ugric ethnic groups.
During the eighth century, Slavic peoples were expanding north and settling
along the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, while at the same time
Scandinavians were moving south into that area. Organized into small tribal
principalities, these peoples coexisted in northern Russia. They lived in small
villages scattered across the landscape. Their economy was primarily agrarian,
with local exchange.
Between A.D. 750 and 900 the characteristic settlement
pattern and economy of northern Russia changed rapidly. A number of towns
appeared, including Staraya Ladoga, Rurik Gorodishche, and Gnezdovo. These
early towns were located at strategic points for facilitating and controlling
the growing trade across the Baltic and through Russia to the Far East. The
first towns in northern Russia were different from earlier settlements in two
significant ways: their population was more concentrated, and they had a
specialized economy focused on craft production rather than agriculture and on
long-distance rather than local trade. They also were notable for having a
multiethnic population, with individuals from several cultures living side by
side and engaging in the same economic activities.
A.D. 900–1000
By A.D. 900, many towns existed in Russia, including Staraya
Ladoga and Rurik Gorodishche. These early towns encouraged the development of a
novel specialized economy based on crafts and trade, fostered the interaction
of numerous ethnic groups, and depended upon a limited amount of urban
administration. Between A.D. 900 and 1000, a new kind of town arose in Russia,
which was associated closely with the development of an elite class and a
central government. As ethnic differences became less pronounced in urban
populations, social stratification became more prominent. Tenth-century towns,
such as Novgorod, increasingly served as administrative and economic centers
for their territories, encouraging interdependence among the urban and rural
settlements. The rise of Kiev in the late tenth century unified Russian towns
and their territories under one central administration and further increased
the social, political, and settlement hierarchy of early Russia. By A.D. 1000
Kiev effectively served as capital of the early Russian state.
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