Tribal unions are one of the varieties of forms of organization of society associated with the decomposition of the primitive communal system.
The reasons for their occurrence were differences in religions and dialects of the Slavs, as well as differences in the vision and choice of paths of historical development. Tribal unions are, so to speak, the first uncertain step towards the establishment of statehood.
The first mention of tribal unions
The first mention of various tribes in the territory of present-day Russia, and then Russia appears in the "Tale of Bygone Years." However, under the concept of tribes in that period of time, the chronicler meant a little different: Slavic communities were then divided according to territorial characteristics, and each “tribe” was located on a specific territory and included several clan communities. The Tale of Bygone Years is a chronicle that most accurately describes how tribal unions of the state settled on the territory of the present Slavic countries.
The foundations and signs of tribal unions
Modern historians have identified a number of signs of a tribal union. Communities differed in:
- name and even type of name (territorial or generic);
- habitat;
- customs and laws of ancestors (this concept included funeral and marriage rituals, as well as traditions);
- dialect.
Tribal unions are several settlements and one large city, which is a kind of capital of a particular group of people. For the glades, for example, Kiev was the main city, and for the Krivichi, Smolensk.
From the point of view of the political structure, hereditary reign reigned in tribal unions, that is, the transition of government from the prince (great husband) to his heir or elder of the clan.
Military-tribal union as a kind of tribal alliances
A military-tribal alliance is a type of tribal alliance with the possible unification of several such communities or parts of the tribe to seize land and protect their territories from outsiders. The political structure of such associations can be described by the concept of "military democracy."
A striking example of a military-tribal union is the Lutichs who lived in the territories of the current German federal lands (the region of Western Pomerania and Branderburg). The centers of their association were Radogost and Arkona. The purpose of their union was the capture of rich lands. So, many territories of Denmark for many years paid tribute to the buttercups.
And it was this tribal union at the end of the 10th century that opposed German colonization and led the uprising, thereby suspending this process for almost two hundred years.
The religion of the Lutichs, like most of the Slavic tribes, was paganism. It is not known what period of time this military-tribal union would have inspired fear in all nearby regions if it were not for the internecine war between the tribes that comprise it in the 11th century. After these events, the previously powerful and influential alliance quickly fell apart.
The development of tribal unions in Europe
By the beginning of the 7th century AD, the separation of the Slavs began throughout Europe. The Slavs, forming new tribal unions, could:
- keep the old name of the tribe;
- name your union according to the variety of places of settlement or taking into account the characteristics of the territory;
- give the name of the association by the name of the head of the clan.
The Slavs settled more often between two river systems, which were a kind of border of one union. Also, such resettlement was very competent in terms of agricultural development. For lack of rivers in some territories, marshes, impenetrable forests or mountains could serve as borders.
If we conditionally divide the tribal union of the Eastern Slavs into regions, it will be 4 separate groups:
- Northern tribal unions, in which you can include Slovens, Krivichs and Polocians;
- central, which include Vyatichi, Dregovichi and Radimichi;
- Western, consisting of white Croats, Volhynians and Buzhan;
- southern tribal unions, including northerners, drevlyans, glades and streets.
The main tribal unions of the Eastern Slavs
Glades, Drevlyans, Vyatichi are tribal unions , the names of which are well-known to every educated person. These are the unions that schoolchildren paid special attention to in the process of studying history, and which, perhaps, are best remembered. Of course, there were much more tribal unions. By the 10th century, their number had grown and fragmented so much that many, even neighboring alliances, had difficulty understanding each other's dialect. The most widely represented information about such tribes:
- Buzhany;
- Volhynians
- Vyatichi;
- Drevlyans;
- Dregovichi;
- dulebs;
- Ilmen Slovenes;
- Krivichi;
- glade;
- Rodimichi
- Northerners
- tivertsy;
- convict.
The main occupations of the Eastern Slavs of tribal unions
Of course, the basis of the activities of the people of that time was agriculture. Glades, Drevlyans, Vyatichi are tribal unions that grew a lot of grain and garden crops on their territories. Among which wheat, buckwheat, rye predominated. The flourishing of growing turnips, carrots, radishes, cabbage. The tribes have already used grain mills, millstones, sickles and hoes for agricultural activities.
In the steppe regions, they did not cultivate arable land, but shifted agriculture, somewhat similar to slash-and-burn agriculture: by burning and cutting down plants, areas for growing crops were cleared, and ash was a natural fertilizer.
East Slavic tribes were engaged in hunting, fishing, storing and cattle breeding. Handicraft and trade flourished. Trade was facilitated by the presence of such a powerful shipping artery as the Dnieper.
Peculiarities of the way of unions on the example of Drevlyans
Drevlyane - a tribal union, which occupied the territory of modern Ukrainian Polesie and Right-Bank Ukraine. On the territory of this tribal union 4 rivers flowed:
- Take away.
- Oh.
- Shift.
- Black grouse.
The neighboring unions with the Drevlyans were the Dregoviches, Volhynians and Buzhan. The chroniclers explain the name “drevlyans” by the presence of many forests in the territories of the union and translate them as “forest people”.
The center of the tribal union of the Drevlyans is the ancient settlement Korosten. In general, the Drevlyansky tribal alliance consisted of 24 settlements.
The drevlyans became famous thanks to the “Tale of Bygone Years” and the struggle described in detail in it against joining Kievan Rus and levying their tribute. For the first time, a rebellious tribe levied a tribute to Oleg, but after his death, the Drevlyans refused to pay, and Prince Igor, who tried to subdue them, was captured and brutally killed, torn in two. Later, the princes of the Drevlyansky tribe tried to get married to his widow.
The Drevlyans became part of Kievan Rus under Princess Olga, who avenged her husband and buried the Drevlyan ambassadors alive. However, the Dowager Princess did not stop there, and in the same "Tale of Bygone Years" Nestor describes the burning of the Drevlyansky capital Korosteni: burning pieces of tow with sulfur were attached to pigeons returning to the Drevlyansky center. During the fire, more than four thousand people died. It was a decisive moment, after which the tribal union of the Drevlyans joined the Kiev.
To this day, archaeologists find mounds with burials of Drevlyans: a feature of their burial was that after the death of the deceased they were cremated, the remains were poured into a clay urn and buried in the lower part of the mound.
Conclusion
Tribal unions are a concept that is still of interest to historians and ethnographers. It occupies a certain niche in the research of modern archaeologists and linguists.