Drevlyans

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Drevlyans

The Drevlians (?????????, Derevliany in Ukrainian

Ukrainian language

Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic languages of the Slavic languages. It is the official language of Ukraine. In some areas of Russia there are dialects, Balachka or Surzhyk, which are the Ukrainianized versions of the Russian language....
; ????????, Drevlyane in Russian

Russian language

Russian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe....
) were a tribe

Tribe

A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups ....
of Early East Slavs between the 6th and the 10th century, which inhabited the territories of Polesia

Polesia

Polesia, Polissya, or Polesie is one of the largest European swampy areas, located in the south-western part of the Eastern-European Lowland, mainly within Belarus and Ukraine but also partly within Poland and Russia....
, Right-bank Ukraine

Right-bank Ukraine

Right-bank Ukraine , a historical name of a part of Ukraine on the right river bank of the Dnieper River, corresponding with modern-day oblasts of Volyn Oblast, Rivne Oblast, Vinnytsia Oblast, Zhytomyr Oblast, Kirovohrad Oblast and Kiev Oblast, as well as part of Cherkasy Oblast and Ternopil....
west of Polans

Polans (eastern)

The Polans were a tribe of Early East Slavs between the 6th and the 9th century, which inhabited both sides of the Dnieper river from Liubech to Rodnia and also down the lower streams of the rivers Ros' River, Sula River, Stuhna, Teteriv River, Irpin' River, Desna and Pripyat River....
, down the stream of the rivers Teteriv

Teteriv River

The Teteriv River is a right tributary of the Dnieper River in Ukraine. It has a length of 365 km and a drainage basin of 15,100 km?. In the underflow the valley of the Teteriv in Polissia on up to 4 km, the width of the river widens up to 40-90 meter, before it flows into the Dnieper....
, Uzh, Ubort, and Stviga. On the West, Drevlians’ territories reached the Sluch River

Sluch River

Sluch River may refer to:* Sluch River * Sluch River ...
, where the Volynians (related to the territory of Volynia) and Buzhans

Buzhans

The Buzhans or Buzhane were one of the tribe unions of Early East Slavs. They are mentioned as Buzhane in the Primary Chronicle. It appears that the name of the tribe derives from the Bug River, where they chose to settle down....
(related to the name of Bug

Western Bug

The Bug or Buh River , sometimes called the Western Bug to distinguish it from the Southern Bug, flows from central Ukraine to the west, forming part of the boundary between Ukraine and Poland, passes along the Poland-Belarusian border and into Poland, and empties into the Narew river near Serock ....
river) lived.

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The Drevlians (?????????, Derevliany in Ukrainian

Ukrainian language

Russian language

Russian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe....
) were a tribe

Tribe

Polesia

Right-bank Ukraine

Polans (eastern)

Teteriv River

Sluch River

Sluch River may refer to:* Sluch River * Sluch River ...
, where the Volynians (related to the territory of Volynia) and Buzhans

Buzhans

Western Bug

Dregovichs

The Dregovichs were one of the tribe unions of Early East Slavs, and inhabited the territories down the stream of the Pripyat River and northern parts of the right-bank Dnieper river ....
.

The name of the tribe derives from the Slavic word ????? or ?????? (drevo, or derevo), which means "tree", because the Drevlians used to live in thick woods.

The Drevlians left many archaeological traces, such as agricultural settlements with semi-dugout

Dugout (shelter)

A dugout or dug-out, also known as a pithouse, pit-house, earth house, mud hut, is a shelter for humans or domestic animals based on a hole or depression dug into the ground....
s (or earth-houses), moundless burial grounds and barrow

Tumulus

A tumulus is a mound of Soil and Rock s raised over a Grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, H?gelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world....
s, fortified towns like Vruchiy (today's Ovruch

Ovruch

Ovruch is a city in the Zhytomyr Oblast of northern Ukraine. It is the Capital city of the Ovrutsky Raion . The current estimated population is around 17,000 ....
), Gorodsk, site of an ancient settlement near Malyn

Malyn

Malyn is a city in Zhytomyr Oblast of Ukraine located about 90 miles northwest of Kiev. Population is 28,113 .The town hosts a seismic monitoring station belonging to an international network of nuclear test monitoring stations intended to verify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty treaty....
(supposedly, a residence of the Drevlian prince

Prince

Prince, from the Latin root princeps, is a general term for a monarch, for a member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in some members of Europe's highest nobility....
Mal) and others. The principal city of the Drevlians was Iskorosten (today’s Korosten

Korosten

Korosten is a historic city in the Zhytomyr Oblast of northern Ukraine. Serving as the Capital city of the Korostensky Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast, and is located on the Uzh River ....
), where one can still see a group of compact ancient settlements. By the end of the first millennium, the Drevlians already had well-developed farming and handicraft

Handicraft

Handicraft, also known as craftwork or simply craft, is a type of work where useful and decorative devices are made completely by hand or using only simple tools....
s.

The Drevlians were fervently opposed to any attempts from the outside to include them in the Kievan Rus. According to a number of chronicle

Chronicle

Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronology order. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the chronicler....
s, in the times of Kyi, Schek and Khoriv

Kyi, Schek and Khoriv

Kyi , Schek and Khoryv are the three legendary brothers, sometimes mentioned along with their sister Lybid , who, according to the Primary Chronicle, were the founders of Kiev city - now the capital of Ukraine....
(supposedly, founders of Kiev

Kiev

Kiev, also known as Kyiv , is the Capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River....
) the Drevlians had their own princely rule and were frequently at war with the Polans. In 883, Prince Oleg of Novgorod

Oleg of Novgorod

Oleg of Novgorod was a Varangian prince who ruled all or part of the Rus during the early tenth century. He is credited with moving the capital of Kievan Rus' from Novgorod the Great to Kiev and, in doing so, laid the foundation for the powerful state of Kievan Rus....
made the Drevlians pay tribute to Kiev. In 907, the Drevlians took part in the Kievan military campaign

Rus'-Byzantine War (907)

The Rus'-Byzantine War of 907 is associated in the Primary Chronicle with the name of Oleg of Novgorod. The chronicle implies that it was the most successful military operation of the Rus against the Byzantine Empire....
against the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire and Eastern Roman Empire are conventional names used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on its capital of Constantinople....
. After Oleg’s death in 912, the Drevlians stopped paying tribute. The Varangian warlord Sveneld

Sveneld

Sveneld was a 10th-century Varangian warlord in the service of Svyatoslav I of Kiev and his family. Although he seems to have been the richest and the most influential Rus' leader after the ruling prince, his relation to the House of Rurik, if it existed, has not been positively established....
made them pay tribute to himself. Oleg's successor Igor attempted to levy the tribute after Sveneld, but the Drevlians revolted and killed him in 945. Igor’s widow Olga

Olga of Kiev

Saint Olga was a ruler of Kievan Rus as regent for her son, Sviatoslav I, Prince of Kiev....
avenged her husband’s death in an extremely harsh manner, killing Drevlianian ambassador

Ambassador

An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents their country. They are usually accredited to a Sovereignty or government, or to an international organization, to serve as the official representative of their country....
s and nobility

Nobility

Nobility is a government-privileged title which may be either hereditary or for a lifetime. Titles of nobility exist today in many countries although it is usually associated with present or former monarchies....
, burning their capital of Iskorosten to the ground and leveling other towns. After having subjugated the Drevlians, Olga transformed their territories into a Kievan appanage

Appanage

An apanage or appanage is the grant of an estate, titles, offices, or other things of value to the younger male children of a sovereign, who under the system of primogeniture would otherwise have no inheritance....
with the center in Vruchiy.

The last mentioning of the Drevlians was in a chronicle of 1136, when their lands were given as a gift to the Church of the Tithes

Church of the Tithes

The Church of the Tithes or Church of the Dormition of the Virgin was the first stone church in Kiev. It was built by the order of Grand Prince Vladimir I of Kiev between 989 and 996 by Byzantine Empire and local workers to commemorate the Baptism of Kievan Rus' and was originally named the "Church of Our Lady", in honor of the D...
by Yaropolk Vladimirovich.

In the 19th century there were still people designated as Drevlyans. Almost 200,000 were counted in the 1861 census. However since then they have become totally merged into the greater Ukrainian population.

Sources

Wixman. The Peoples of the USSR, p. 59