East Slavs

Lore & Background

Researchers know relatively little about the Eastern Slavs prior to approximately 859 AD, when the first events recorded in the Primary Chronicle occurred. They apparently lacked a written language; known facts come from archaeological digs, foreign travellers' accounts, and linguistic comparative analyses. The earliest major manuscript on Rus' history, the Primary Chronicle, dates from the late 11th and early 12th centuries and lists twelve Slavic tribal unions that had settled in the later territory of Kievan Rus by the 10th century, including the Polans, Drevlyans, Dregovichs, Radimichs, Vyatichs, Krivichs, Slovens, Dulebes (later Volhynians and Buzhans), White Croats, Severians, Ulichs, and Tivertsi. There is no consensus among scholars as to the urheimat of the Slavs. By 600 AD, the Slavs had split linguistically into southern, western, and eastern branches. The East Slavs practiced slash-and-burn agriculture, which required frequent movement and explains their rapid spread through eastern Europe. One group settled along the Dnieper river in what is now Ukraine and Belarus, spreading northward and westward; another group moved northeast, encountering the Varangians of the Rus' Khaganate and establishing Novgorod. By the 8th century, the Slavs were the dominant ethnic group on the East European Plain.

Reader's Guide

The East Slavs are significant as the foundational population of Kievan Rus', a medieval state that is considered the cultural ancestor of modern Belarusians, Russians, and Ukrainians. Their early history, recorded in the Primary Chronicle and supplemented by archaeology, shows a gradual transition from scattered, secretive forest settlements to fortified cities, particularly in the region of Kyiv and Chernigov by the 7th–8th centuries. The disintegration of Kievan Rus' in the 11th century led to population shifts and the emergence of distinct Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Russian identities, influenced by subsequent polities: southwestern and western Rus' came under Lithuanian and Polish influence, while the Russian identity developed in the Muscovite northeast and Novgorodian north. Genetically, East Slavs and West Slavs are very similar according to Y chromosome, mDNA, and autosomal markers. The legacy of the East Slavs endures in the modern nations and subethnic groups that trace their origins to them, including Belarusians, Russians, Ukrainians, and various Cossack and Rusyn communities.

Did You Know?

• The earliest major manuscript on Rus' history, the Primary Chronicle, dates from the late 11th and early 12th centuries and lists twelve Slavic tribal unions that settled the later territory of Kievan Rus by the 10th century.
• By the 8th century, the Slavs were the dominant ethnic group on the East European Plain.
• The East Slavs practiced slash-and-burn agriculture, which required frequent movement and explains their rapid spread through eastern Europe.
• Only the Northern Russians among the East and West Slavs belong to a different, 'Northern European' genetic cluster, along with the Balts, Germanic and Baltic Finnic peoples.
• Genetic research has shown that the genomes of East Slavs are homogenous and, contrary to popular belief, unaffected by Turkic or Mongol influences.