Russians have been known since ancient times. They are mentioned both in Western European chronicles and Slavic chronicles. And today, Russians remain the main people of Russia, retaining their special character and rich culture.
Anthropologists attribute Russians to the so-called Caucasian race. The appearance, height, eye and hair color, physique of Russians were formed as a result of the long development of their historical predecessors: the Scythians and Proto-Slavs, as well as contacts with other peoples - the Balts, Finno-Ugric peoples and even the Turks. An ordinary, typical Russian has blond hair, a not very wide face, and a rather large nose. In the northern regions of European Russia, light-eyed and fair-haired people are often found; in the center - brown-eyed, with soft, as a rule, dark blond, slightly curly hair, and in the south - dark-skinned and dark-eyed: an admixture of the blood of the Mongolian and Caucasian peoples affects. Russians in the northeast of the country have thin, straight hair and slightly narrowed eyes.
Russians have been known since ancient times. They are mentioned both in Western European chronicles and Slavic chronicles. There are many theories explaining the origin of the words "Rus", "Russians". Many modern scientists associate the name of the eastern group of Slavs with the left tributary of the Dnieper - the Ros River. In the first centuries of the new era, a large tribe of "Rosses" or "Rhodians" lived along the banks of this river, which, perhaps, gave the name to the first East Slavic state - Rus.
At the beginning of the XIV century. Moscow princes managed to rally separate lands, exhausted by internecine wars, and by the end of the 15th century. free from the Horde yoke. The Russian state created by the Moscow rulers (in Western chronicles it was called Muscovy) quickly acquired, according to the prominent Russian historian Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, "independence and greatness." Ivan III (1462-1505) - the first Moscow prince, who began to be called the "autocrat of all Rus'."
Muscovites XV-XVII centuries. spoke the same language and were aware of themselves as a single people with a common faith (Orthodoxy) and culture. They perceived as brothers the inhabitants of the former ancient Russian lands, which turned out to be part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Since that time, Russia has repeatedly declared itself as a multinational power. The idea of a special mission of Muscovy as the core of the global Christian Orthodox empire, of its unifying power was supported by the theory of Moscow as the "third Rome". According to the monk Philotheus (XVI century), "two Romes fell, the third stands, and the fourth will not be."
The borders of the Russian state during the XVI and XVII centuries were steadily expanding. The accession of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates (respectively in 1552 and 1556), the development of Siberia opened the way for Russian settlers who poured into these lands. New natural and cultural conditions forced the colonists to adopt the forms of cultivating the land and managing the economy, characteristic of the local residents. Getting used to alien living conditions, the Russians, in turn, shared with their neighbors their own experience, including agricultural.
Scientists attribute the beginning of the formation of the Russian nation to the end of the 16th century. A single material and spiritual culture, a single administration in the created state, a common territory and, which did not exist before, economic life arose.
The resettlement of Russians to the lands of the Left-Bank Ukraine, which became part of the Russian state in 1654, the development of the Ural and Siberian lands by "eager people", the successful struggle of Russia for access to the Baltic and the foundation in 1703 of a new capital - St. Petersburg - expanded the territory inhabited by Russians . In the second half of the XVIII century. the lands of Right-Bank Ukraine and Crimea were annexed to it. In the same century, settlers from the center of the country moved to Kamchatka and began to develop the land beyond the Bering Strait - "Russian America" (Alaska, part of California and the Aleutian Islands).
In the censuses of that time, the religion, and not the nationality of people, was noted, therefore it is difficult to say exactly what the number of each people was in the multinational Russian Empire. According to data from the end of the 18th century, of the 37 million people who inhabited the Russian Empire, Russians accounted for approximately 53%, Ukrainians - 21, Belarusians - 8%.
By the beginning of the XIX century. Among the Russians, two large ethnographic groups have developed - North Russian and South Russian. They differed in the type of dwelling, clothing, peculiarities of the language, and the form of housekeeping.
North Russian group at the beginning of the 19th century. occupied the territory from the Volkhov River in the west to the Mezen River and the upper reaches of the Vyatka and Kama in the east (modern Karelia, Novgorod, Arkhangelsk, Vologda,
Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, Kostroma, part of the Tver and Nizhny Novgorod regions). The inhabitants of these lands spoke (and still speak) in the “okay” dialect (for example, they say: fifty dollars). They built monumental high houses; there were few households in the settlements. The basis of the traditional women's costume here was a sundress and a shirt worn under it, which were richly decorated with embroidery or linen lace. The plow was the arable tool of the northerners.
Southern Great Russians - inhabitants of the black earth strip of Russia from the Desna River basin in the west to the Sura River (a tributary of the Volga) in the east (modern Ryazan, Penza, Kaluga, Tula, Lipetsk, Tambov, Voronezh, Bryansk, Kursk, Orel, Belgorod regions), They speak in a "kaking" dialect (here they will say: paltinnik). The basis of women's clothing was a richly embroidered shirt with a pony. Houses in the south were built not as tall as the northerners, and the settlements, on the contrary, were large.
The interfluve of the Oka and the Volga (modern Moscow, Vladimir, Kaluga, Ryazan, Penza, part of the Tver and Nizhny Novgorod regions) turned out to be a “transitional” zone, in the culture of which South Russian and North Russian features crossed and changed.
The Russians living in the west of Russia had much in common with the Belarusians (light color of clothes, culinary preferences, for example, love for potatoes), and the Russian population of the Middle Volga borrowed from their neighbors, non-Slavic Volga, ornaments on clothes and features of the interior decoration of the dwelling.
The Russians of Siberia were distinguished by a special way of economic life and way of life. They accounted for almost 70% of the settlers who arrived in this region in the 18th-19th centuries. Among the Old Believers who fled here from the persecution of the "Nikonians", there were several groups (see the volume "History of Russia", part 3, "Encyclopedia for Children"). From the middle of the XVII century. whole families of Old Believers settled in Transbaikalia, hence the name - family. As a rule, colonists occupied lands along the banks of large rivers (Ob, Yenisei, Angara, Lena, Amur, Kolyma) and their tributaries. At the end of the XIX century. Russians settled in the south of Siberia along the Trans-Siberian Railway, which was built in 1891-1916.
By the beginning of the XX century. Russians made up 75% of the population of Siberia, 70% of the Urals, 63% of the Volga region, 40% of the Caucasus, 7% of Central Asia. The Russian government did not provide them with advantages in the annexed lands, so there was no enmity between Russian and non-Russian peasants. However, the bulk of Russians (more than 90%) still lived not in Siberia, but on the European territory of Russia. Almost all of them (98%) were Orthodox.
Russians for many centuries lived in accordance with their unwritten laws, "in conscience and truth." In the Russian national character there was practically no xenophobia (hatred of the alien, foreign). For Russians, vindictiveness was also uncharacteristic: either a direct reaction to an insult or forgiveness of guilt was allowed. Orthodoxy required the observance of strict moral standards. Modern psychologists who study the national character of different peoples include the following traditional features of Russians: long-suffering - and at the same time the ability to recklessly rise to rebellion, "senseless and merciless", in the words of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin; hope for a true king (ruler) capable of protecting from injustice - and at the same time dreams of "free will" and freedom; asceticism, heroism - and weakness of character, humility (no wonder Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov wrote: “You are powerful, you are powerless, Mother Rus'”); the thirst for the absolute (goodness, equality, justice) - and the denial of the relative (success for oneself, happiness for a while). Russians have always highly valued a good name, honor, reputation in the eyes of friends and neighbors, the desire for a united, "whole world", solution of controversial issues.
October 1917 opened a new page in the ethnic history of Russians. The Soviet state sought to replace everything "national" with "international", workers' and peasants'. The founder of the Soviet state, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, spoke directly about the need “not to think about your nation and put the interests of all, universal freedom and equality above it. With the "dissenters" the central authorities waged a decisive struggle. In the press, the word "Russian" began to be replaced by "Russian" (proletariat, revolution, culture, etc.). "It's over with Russia ..." - the poet Maximilian Alexandrovich Voloshin concluded sadly, seeing how the boundaries between the national Russian and multinational cultures of the Russian Empire were blurring.
Soviet laws proclaimed the equality of all peoples, religions and languages. After the civil war, the ideologists of the new life openly announced a policy of "indigenization", that is, an increase in the proportion of representatives of the indigenous, non-Russian population in state structures.
In words, the Soviet leadership strove for the "flourishing of all nations and cultures", their "rapprochement and merging." In fact, such a policy led to a sharp reduction in teaching in national languages, and this caused a natural protest of non-Russian peoples. Russian was legally declared a "second native language" for all the peoples of the Union, however, the Russians did not have any advantages. At the same time, their standard of living in the RSFSR, especially in the provinces, was lower than in many republics (primarily in the Baltic states). This situation led to mutual antipathy in everyday life. The announcement of the RSFSR "first among equals" gave rise to national strife between the Russians and other peoples of the "fraternal family of republics." The desire to develop a “multinational Soviet” (and, in fact, nationally faceless) culture to the detriment of national cultures, including Russian, led to the eradication of the features of Russian folk life.
The collapse of the USSR in December 1991 changed the position of Russians in the former Soviet republics. They turned into a national minority there and quickly began to fill the ranks of emigrants.
In the 90s. nationalist parties and movements arose in Russia. This is largely due to the desire to return to the former moral foundations of society, which had previously been eradicated, and the desire to revive Russian culture.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia remains one of the world's largest powers. Russians live in it on a vast territory from the Kaliningrad region to the Far East, from Murmansk and northern Siberia to the foothills of the Caucasus and the former Central Asian republics. Their total number in the world is more than 146 million people; of these, almost 120 million live in the RSFSR (out of 148 million of the country's population as a whole). In the "near abroad" (that is, in the territory of the former USSR) there were almost 24 million, in the "far" (in the USA, Canada and other countries) - 2.5 million people. Russians in the Russian Federation consider Russian as their native language and use the Cyrillic alphabet when writing. The majority of believers are Orthodox.
There are more women among Russians than men (52.7% versus 47.3%), however, every year this difference becomes less and less noticeable. The most common among Russians today is a family of three (parents and one child), which does not even ensure simple reproduction.
Half of all Russians in the Russian Federation (49.7%) live in the center of European Russia, in the northwest, in the Volga-Vyatka region and the Volga region. Russians of the southern and northern ethnographic groups retain their own characteristics, primarily the traditions of building and decorating houses, as well as culinary ones.
Today, Russians remain the main people of Russia, retaining their special character and rich culture.
When preparing the article, photographs from the book by V. Belov "Lad" were used
Russian Civilization
For many centuries, scientists have been breaking spears, trying to understand the origin of the Russian people. And if the studies of the past were based on archaeological and linguistic data, today even geneticists have taken up the matter.
From the Danube
Of all the theories of Russian ethnogenesis, the most famous is the Danube one. We owe its appearance to the chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years", or rather the centuries-old love for this source of domestic academics.
The chronicler Nestor determined the initial territory of the settlement of the Slavs by the territories along the lower reaches of the Danube and the Vistula. The theory of the Danube "ancestral home" of the Slavs was developed by such historians as Sergei Solovyov and Vasily Klyuchevsky.
Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky believed that the Slavs moved from the Danube to the Carpathian region, where an extensive military alliance of tribes arose, led by the Duleb-Volhynian tribe.
From the Carpathian region, according to Klyuchevsky, in the 7th-8th centuries, the Eastern Slavs settled in the East and Northeast to Ilmen Lake. The Danubian theory of Russian ethnogenesis is still adhered to by many historians and linguists. A great contribution to its development was made at the end of the 20th century by the Russian linguist Oleg Nikolaevich Trubachev.
Yes, we are Scythians!
One of the most fierce opponents of the Norman theory of the formation of Russian statehood, Mikhail Lomonosov, leaned towards the Scythian-Sarmatian theory of Russian ethnogenesis, which he wrote about in his Ancient Russian History. According to Lomonosov, the ethnogenesis of the Russians occurred as a result of the mixing of the Slavs and the Chudi tribe (Lomonosov's term is Finno-Ugric), and he named the interfluve of the Vistula and the Oder as the place of origin of the ethnic history of the Russians.
Supporters of the Sarmatian theory rely on ancient sources, as did Lomonosov. He compared Russian history with the history of the Roman Empire and ancient beliefs with the pagan beliefs of the Eastern Slavs, finding a large number of coincidences. The fierce struggle with the adherents of the Norman theory is quite understandable: the people-tribe Rus, according to Lomonosov, could not come from Scandinavia under the influence of the expansion of the Norman Vikings. First of all, Lomonosov opposed the thesis about the backwardness of the Slavs and their inability to independently form a state.
Hellenthal theory
The hypothesis about the origin of the Russians, published this year by the Oxford scholar Garrett Hellenthal, seems interesting. Having done a lot of work on the study of the DNA of various peoples, he and a group of scientists compiled a genetic atlas of the migration of peoples.
According to the scientist, two significant milestones can be distinguished in the ethnogenesis of the Russian people. In 2054 B.C. e., according to Hellenthal, the trans-Baltic peoples and peoples from the territories of modern Germany and Poland migrated to the northwestern regions of modern Russia. The second milestone is 1306, when the migration of the Altai peoples began, which actively interbred with representatives of the Slavic branches.
Hellenthal's study is also interesting in that genetic analysis proved that the time of the Mongol-Tatar invasion had practically no effect on Russian ethnogenesis.
Two ancestral homes
Another interesting migration theory was proposed at the end of the 19th century by the Russian linguist Aleksey Shakhmatov. His theory of "two ancestral homelands" is also sometimes called the Baltic one. The scientist believed that initially the Balto-Slavic community stood out from the Indo-European group, which became autochthonous on the territory of the Baltic states. After its collapse, the Slavs settled in the territory between the lower reaches of the Neman and the Western Dvina. This territory became the so-called "first ancestral home". Here, according to Shakhmatov, the Proto-Slavic language was formed, from which all Slavic languages originated.
The further migration of the Slavs was associated with the great migration of peoples, during which, at the end of the second century AD, the Germans went south, freeing the Vistula River basin, where the Slavs came. Here, in the lower basin of the Vistula, Shakhmatov defines the second ancestral home of the Slavs. Already from here, according to the scientist, the division of the Slavs into branches began. The western one went to the Elbe region, the southern one was divided into two groups, one of which settled the Balkans and the Danube, the other - the Dnieper and the Dniester. The latter became the basis of the East Slavic peoples, which include the Russians.
We are local
Finally, another theory that is different from migration is the autochthonous theory. According to it, the Slavs were an indigenous people inhabiting eastern, central and even part of southern Europe. According to the theory of Slavic autochthonism, the Slavic tribes were the indigenous ethnic group of a vast territory - from the Urals to the Atlantic Ocean. This theory has rather ancient roots and many supporters and opponents. The Soviet linguist Nikolai Marr adhered to this theory. He believed that the Slavs did not come from anywhere, but were formed from tribal communities that lived in vast territories from the Middle Dnieper to Laba in the West and from the Baltic to the Carpathians in the south.
Polish scientists also adhered to the autochthonous theory - Klechevsky, Pototsky and Sestrentsevich. They even led the genealogy of the Slavs from the Vandals, basing their hypothesis, among other things, on the similarity of the words "Vendals" and "Vandals". Of the Russians, the origin of the Slavs Rybakov, Mavrodin and Grekov was explained by autochthonous theory.
Who are we Russians? What kind of people? How did it come about? Virtually no one knows anything about it. No wonder the Russians are called: Ivans, who do not remember kinship. Psychologists are convinced that most of the troubles of modern Russia are due to the fact that the consciousness of the titular nation, that is, Russians, is, as it were, covered with a veil. Sometimes it seems that some universal demiurge clouded our reason for the time being. But the time for clearing the mind is already coming. Recently, a new book by Gennady Klimov "Russian Vedas" has been published, which tells in detail about the ancient history of Rus', the archaic civilizations of Eastern Europe, where, as it turned out, the evolution of mankind took place. It turned out that from school textbooks we approximately know the history of only 5 thousand years, and then with great distortions, and the history of the civilization of Rus' has at least 50 thousand years, that is, 10 times more. Gennady Klimov is a professional researcher of ancient religions and epics. In the last book there is a fragment that tells about the birth of the peoples who became the progenitors of the Slavs. Today we asked Gennady Klimov to tell about the origin of the Russian people.
- Let's discard some of the myths that haunt us from the very beginning. Russians can be considered Slavs with a certain stretch. The Slavs are one of the peoples that separated from Rus' and nothing more. For example, in the Voronezh, Rostov, Kharkov regions, the population consists of 60 percent of the descendants of the Aryans, who later formed the Sarmatian-Scythian world. And in Novgorod. Tver, Pskov also 40 percent of the descendants of the Scandinavians. The lower Volga region is populated in a certain proportion by a people, from which the Jews emerged in two waves. Russians are a praethnos from which other peoples emerged. In the Russian language, in the Russian mentality, two codes are combined, as it were - Sarmatia, the world of female matriarchal foundations, and Scythia, the world of male sichs and Cossack hordes. Russians have a very complex archetype, which is why Russian civilization has so many problems so far. But soon the consciousness of Russian-speaking people will be cleansed, a transformation will come. That's when the true dawn of the Russian world will come. This process has already begun.
The question is often asked: where did the Russians come from? The Russians have always lived in their place in Eastern Europe, even during the glaciation and flood. The continuous history of Russia observes from a depth of 50-70 thousand years. For example, China is barely 5,000 years old. And the Egyptian pyramids were built only 4,000 years ago. But of course the Slavs played a significant role in the entosogenesis of the Russian nation. In figurative form, the ancient authors of the Aryan books preserved for us the message about the birth of the peoples of the Northern Black Sea region, including the Slavs. It can be considered to a certain extent the ancestors of the Russian people - the Wends. Aryan ancient books tell the following.
Kadru and Vinata were sisters. Their father was Daksha - the lord of creatures. He had 13 daughters, whom he gave in marriage to the sage Kashyapa. Kadru gave birth to a thousand sons, and Vinata only two. Kadru brought a lot of eggs, but Vinata brought only two eggs. Five hundred years later, a thousand mighty snakes - nagas - hatched from Kadru's eggs. By this time, no one had yet been born to another sister, Vinata. In her impatience, Vinata broke one egg and saw her son, who was only half developed. She named him Aruna. Aryan texts contain many secrets. The name Arun means "runes of the stone Alatyr". This is a system of signs used by the priests of Valdai as secret writing. For his ugliness, the angry Arun cursed his impatient mother Vinata, and predicted her to be a slave for five hundred years. From the name of Vinat comes the Russian word "wine" and the name of the ancient Slavic families of the Wends. This word was used at different times in relation to different peoples, sometimes to all Slavs in general, and is also sometimes associated with vandals. During the Middle Ages, the Germans generically called the Wends all the Slavic peoples neighboring them (except for the Czechs and Poles, who descend from another branch of immigrants from Rus'): Lusatians, Lyutichs, Bodrichs (who lived on the territory of modern Germany) and Pomeranians. In Germany during the Weimar Republic, a special Wendian Department still existed in the internal affairs bodies, which was engaged in work with the Slavic population of Germany. Today, to a large extent, modern Germans are the genetic descendants of the Baltic Slavs. A large number of words with the root “vend” were found in the lands of eastern Germany: vendhaus, vendberg, vendgraben (grave), windenheim (homeland), windischland (land of the Wends), etc. On the territory of modern Latvia in the XII-XIII centuries. AD inhabited by a people known as the "Vendi". It is not difficult to assume that they come from the clans that laid two sons of the matriarchal commune of Vinata, mentioned in the Aryan Vedas. The word "Russia" in Finnish and Estonian sounds, respectively, "Venaja" and "Vene". It is assumed that the Finnish and Estonian names of the Russians are also associated with the name "Venedi".
The story that has been preserved in the Aryan Vedas says that the Slavs at the beginning of time appeared in the form of the son of Vinata, who was born prematurely, but received the name Arun, which means "possessing secret knowledge." Cursing his mother (having left the matriarchal commune that gave birth to him), he said: "In five hundred years, another son will deliver you from slavery if you do not break the second egg ahead of time."
This was shortly before the start of the Trojan War. At this time, the gods and asuras were in the world. The unified Aryan empire mobilized all forces to build a giant wall that separated the north from the south. So the ancients tried to protect themselves from diseases that were approaching Rus' from the south. At this time, the sisters Kadru and Vinata saw the wonderful horse Uchchaihshravasa emerging from the waters of the sea. A dispute arose between them - what color is the tail of that horse. Vinata said that she was white (as she really was). Her sister Kadru is the same - that of black. According to the condition of the dispute - the one that loses must become a slave.
At night, Kadru sent a thousand of her sons - "black kites" to hang on the tail of a white horse, and thus hide its natural color. So the insidious Kadru tricked her sister into slavery. And so the curse of the first Slavs of the Arun came true. Most likely, this is one of the tribes of the Scythians or Sarmatians, who moved to the Balkans after the Trojan War. Here the descendants of Arun began to be called Kolovyans - southern Slavs. They formed 12 Etruscan clans that created the ancient Etruscan state and Rome.
In the Russian epic, the history of the migrations of this people is preserved in the fairy tale about the kolobok. Actually, the bun is the Kolovyans. It was approximately 1200 BC. After 2200 years, some of them will return to Rus' in Kyiv and Novgorod, after Moravia was conquered by the Hungarians. When they returned, they brought with them many tales and tales about their ancient history. So in Rus' there was a fairy tale about a kolobok.
But this is only half of the history of the Slavs. Vinata gave birth to a gigantic eagle from the second egg. He was destined to become a naga slayer in revenge for his mother's servitude. When he was born, all living beings and the gods of Mount Alatyr themselves were in turmoil. The circumstances of the life and struggle of the giant eagle are very reminiscent of the circumstances of the history of modern Russia, although the Aryan Vedas were written several thousand years earlier. The peoples descended from the gigantic eagle Garuda are the Baltic Slavs, Germans and modern Russians. The eagle Garuda, at birth, broke the egg shell with its beak and, barely born, soared into the skies in search of prey. The place of his birth, apparently, was the river Don. In slavery, the matriarchal commune of Vineta was among the steppe nomads of the Nagas. Nagas formed numerous southern peoples.
At that time, Surya, the god of the sun, began to threaten that he would burn the world. Drought began in the steppes. Then the eagle Garuda took on his back his older brother, the one who was born prematurely, and placed him on the chariot of the Sun, so that with his body he shielded the world from the destructive rays. From then on, Vinata's eldest son became Surya's charioteer and deity of the dawn.
Apparently, the Garuda tribe, whose coat of arms was an eagle, was born 500 years after the Trojan War and after the first expedition of immigrants from Rus' to the Balkans and the settlement of Sicily. That is, it was about 750 BC. It was at this time that another religious crisis occurred in Rus'. At this time, a new Jerusalem temple will be built in Rus', which continues the religious reforms begun in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC by the Aryan king Melchisidek on the transition to Monotheism. In addition, the reason that prompted the huge masses of the people of Eurasia to move was the drought.
Waves of people of “free will” appear at the mouth of the Don, a naval base of the southern Varangians appears on the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov. These "people of the sea" are called Hellenes. They attack the shores of all inland seas, destroying the remnants of the Cretan-Mycenaean civilization. The dark ages are coming. The city of Panticapaeum (the modern city of Kerch) arises in the Crimea. This is a transshipment naval base from which thousands of ships sail across the seas. At the shipyards near the modern city of Voronezh, thousands of thousands more ships are being built from ship pines. The maritime expansion of Rus' ends with the emergence of many independent cities along the shores of the Black and Mediterranean Seas. It was these settlers who became the nutrient medium on which ancient culture grew.
And Garuda, having delivered his brother to the south, returned to Rus'. Dejected, he asked his mother: "Why should I serve snakes?" And his mother Vinata told him about how she fell into slavery to her sister. Garuda then asked the snakes: "What can I do to free myself and my mother from slavery?" And the snakes said to him: “Get us amrita from the gods. Then we will deliver you from slavery.” Amrita is the drink of immortality. The concept of "amrita" in the Aryan texts corresponds to Ayurveda - the science of the laws of life. It was the creation by the priests of the foundations of ancient medicine that made it possible to begin a less safe development of the territory outside of Rus'. A person is not well adapted to live far from glaciers - in the southern world he is pursued by exotic diseases. After the foundation of Ayurveda was created, people began to populate the southern countries. There they met people from primitive eras, who also somehow adapted to live in the south. But these were already other people, unlike the northerners. The sun changed their appearance, and their habits, worldview, ethical standards were from archaic eras. Their archetype of consciousness corresponded to eras long gone. This is how the mechanism of evolution on planet Earth works. Evolution in the south is slower than in the north.
Garuda flew north, where the gods kept the amrita. On the way, he passed the Gandhamadana mountain, where he saw his meditating father, the wise Kashyapa. On the advice of his father, Garuda got himself an elephant and a giant tortoise to eat and sat down on a tree to eat his prey. But the branch gave way under his weight. Garuda picked her up with his beak and saw on her a lot of tiny sages - Valakhilyas, hanging upside down. Valakhilyas - mythical sages, sixty thousand in number, each the size of a finger; in the Aryan books they are called the sons of Kratu, the sixth son of Brahma.
With a branch in its beak and with an elephant and a tortoise in its claws, Garuda flew on. When he again flew past the Gandhamadana mountain, Kashyapa said: “Beware of harming the Valakhilyas! Fear their wrath!" Kashyapa told Garuda how powerful these tiny creatures were. Then Garuda carefully lowered the Valakhilyas to the ground, and he himself flew to a mountain covered with snow, and, sitting on a glacier, ate an elephant and a tortoise. Then he continued his flight.
The father of the Valakhilyas is one of the Sapta Rishis, Kratu. From the name of this rishi (sage) comes the Russian word "mole". Why? Understand a little later. The Valakhilyas drink the sun's rays and are the guardians of the sun's chariot. In fact, their place of residence is Valdai and the Riphean mountains, the mountains of sages. They study Vedas and Shastras. One of the main features of the Valakhilyas is their purity, virtue and chastity; they are constantly praying. Elders usually live in dugouts and are indifferent to wealth. Sometimes they are called "siddhis" in books.
These are the holy hermits of Rus'. They settled in the upper reaches of the Volga, Beloozerye and the shores of the White Sea. The sketes of the holy elders can be found even far on the Kola Peninsula beyond the Arctic Circle. The Mahabharata tells how the leader of the gods Indra, together with the Valakhilyas, were responsible for kindling the fire. Indra, having collected a whole mountain of firewood, laughed at the Valakhilyas, each of which was barely pulling a stalk of grass. The wise men were offended and began to pray that another leader of the gods Indra, much more powerful, would appear. Indra, learning about this, was frightened and asked for help from the sage Kashyapa. The powerful priest was able to pacify the Valakhilyas, but so that their efforts would not be in vain, he decided that Indra should be born in the form of an eagle.
Not far from my house near Tver, in 2009, the relics of St. Savvaty, an old man who lived here at the end of the 14th century AD, were opened. His relics were found on 19 August. This is very symbolic. On this day the Orthodox Church celebrates the Transfiguration. This concept is a reflection of the philosophical concept of "smart doing" or the vision of the Light of Tabor. In the forest hermitages, hermit monks brought themselves to a state of religious ecstasy, which began directly, on Earth, to see the Light of Tabor and communicate directly with God.
The tradition of building hermitages in Rus' has its roots in the era of Cancer (7-6 thousand years BC) - a sign addressed to the world of the soul, and maybe even more ancient times. In the 4th-2nd millennium, the era of Taurus begins - the Valakhily populate the lands that have been released again from under the glacier. 60,000 hermit monks “weave” the Vedas here, which still determine the consciousness of modern man. It was they who created the archetype of consciousness that underlies world culture. The Valakhilyas persisted throughout the millennia. They exist today. In relatively recent history, the Valakhilis, who in the Russian Church are called Trans-Volga elders, have become most famous. These are the monks of the Belozersky, Vologda and Tver small monasteries and forest sketes. The external, ritual side of religion did not play any role for them. Their monasteries differed sharply in their poor, simple furnishings from rich churches. They were not afraid to tell the kings the truth. The divorce of the Russian Tsar Vasily III from his wife and his new marriage caused condemnation from the Volga people. In 1523, one of the Zavolzhets, hegumen Porfiry, was even imprisoned for standing up for Prince Vasily Shemyachich, who was summoned to Moscow and imprisoned, despite the oaths of the Grand Duke and Metropolitan Daniel. Nil Sorsky was at the head of the Trans-Volga elders.
Today, in the village of Savvatyevo near Tver, Father Andrei Yegorov (the archpriest was once a well-known Tver rocker) revives and builds a small monastery on the banks of the Orsha River and preserves the forest monastery of the Monk Savvaty Orshinsky, a hermit who, according to legend, came to Russian soil together with Metropolitan Cyprian, and who brought the teachings of the Hesychasts to Rus'. It was at the end of the 14th century.
Many names of the rivers, descriptions of the climate and the starry sky in the Aryan books indicate that the famous seven wise men, who gave people all the knowledge, in whose honor the seven stars of the Ursa Major constellation shine, lived in these places along the banks of the rivers Medveditsa, Orsha, Mologa. And at the end of the 14th century, Orthodox monks settled here in sketes, the keepers of the doctrine of the Light of Tabor. Already at the beginning of the 15th century, in just a few decades, sketes and small monasteries spread from Tver to the very Arctic Ocean.
Father Andrei during our meeting was surprised at the speed with which the teaching of the Hesychasts spread throughout Rus'. I think this is God's work. This is the Tabor Light of the Transfiguration - it spreads at the same speed as the Holy Fire from the Holy Sepulcher.
Many Orthodox monks settled in sketes in the very places where the rishis indicated in the Vedas lived. But there are at least 2500 years between these events. Seems like history repeats itself. The fact that the rishis from the Aryan epic and the hesychasts from relatively recent history manifested themselves in one place on the planet is an amazing fact. It seems that events not only repeat themselves, but also happen in the same place.
Valakhily and Orthodox hermit monks of the northwest of Rus' and Karelia are a continuous tradition of one phenomenon. It has been here for thousands of years. I know several monks who live in the forests even today.
And while Garuda was approaching Valdai, the abode of the gods, terrible signs appeared in the sky. The wind rose, thunder roared, ominous clouds shrouded the peaks. The gods were alarmed. But they have not yet seen who is going to attack them. Then the wise Brihaspati said to them: “A mighty bird is coming here to steal the amrita. Now the prophecy of the Balakhilyas is being fulfilled.”
Hearing this, the gods, led by Indra, dressed in shining armor and armed with swords and spears, says the epic of the Aryans. Surrounding the vessel with the drink of immortality amrita, they prepared for battle. And then a huge bird appeared, sparkling like the sun. She fell on the celestials and scattered them in different directions. Recovering from this onslaught, the gods, led by Indra, rushed to Garuda, showering him from all sides with spears, darts and war discs. The bird flew up, and attacked the gods from above, and overwhelmed many with blows of claws and beak. Unable to withstand the battle with the invincible bird, the gods retreated, and Garuda penetrated to where the amrita was kept. So the Proto-Slavs became the owners of the secret knowledge of the sages from Valdai.
Garuda grabbed the vessel of amrita and set off on his return journey.
The leader of the Valdai gods Indra rushed in pursuit and, having overtaken him in the air, dealt a terrible blow with his vajra. But Garuda did not flinch. He said to Indra: “Great is my strength, and I can carry on my wings all this land with mountains and forests, and you along with it. If you want, be my friend. Don't worry, I won't give the amrita to the snakes. You will have her back when I free myself and my mother from slavery." Indra is, among other things, a religion that was in Rus' 6-4 thousand years BC. This was the first manifestation of monotheism cults. Indra was the harbinger of the coming of Krishna. The Aryan Vedas believe that in the form of Krishna, the Almighty once again descended to earth in about 3100 BC. At the same time, Krishna, as it were, is a harbinger of the coming of Jesus Christ, and Indra, respectively, is Andrew the First-Called. The descendants of the second son of the slave Vinata brought the cult of monotheism to the south of Rus'. Along with the new religion, new knowledge of hygiene and healing methods spread, which made it possible to move further south.
Hearing these words, Indra said, “I accept your friendship, O mighty one. Demand whatever gift you want from me!” And Garuda said: "Let snakes be my food." From that time on, snakes are doomed to be food for Garuda and his offspring, the suparna birds. Since then, Russia has been absorbing many immigrants from the south and melting them down into the Russian ethnic group.
Garuda and his mother Vinata were freed from slavery. But in the meantime, Indra took the amrita and took it back to Valdai, to his kingdom. The snakes did not get the drink of immortality. Then they began to lick the kusha grass, on which stood a vessel with amrita. And the kusha grass, which was touched by amrita, has since become a sacred grass. That is, some knowledge of ancient medicine nevertheless fell into the environment of nomads - and this saved them in the process of evolution.
The great eagle Garuda - a solar bird - is one of the most popular images of Aryan mythology. In ancient books, the Most High (Vishnu) is often depicted flying in the sky riding on the eagle Garuda. That is, the northern Slavs were the force that in ancient times spread the faith in the one God around the world. Hence the expression among the Russians - God is with us!
The story of Gennady Klimov was recorded by Marina Gavrishenko
How did the Russian people come about. Now (with the modern system of education in Russia) less and less Russian people know about the origin of their people. At the most, they now know that the Russians lived in Ancient Kievan Rus. But even that doesn't suck right. In the days of Kievan Rus, there was still no Russian people, in those distant times the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian people were a single whole people and this people was called Rusichi (Rus). At first I wanted to write the history of the origin of the Russian people, starting from modern times and further deepening into the depths of centuries, and even began to write like that. But I realized that it would still be more understandable to write this article, starting from the most ancient times (I will start from 17 million years ago) and gradually (chronologically) describe this history (with ethnic maps) with stops and a description of ethnic processes on Earth and Eastern Europe, with stops (and maps) in the following years: So let's start from the most ancient times. 17 million years ago (see the map) As you can see from the map, then only asuras (Lemurians) lived on Earth, they were giants with black skin. Now the descendants of these black giants are the natives of Australia, the Papuans, the Veddoids of Ceylon, the Khoisan and the Pygmies of Africa. It was the first people to exist on Earth 17 million years ago. It was the only people on Earth. His name is Asura (some researchers call them Lemurians, the Greeks called them Titans, this people has many names). Indeed, the representatives of this people had a very high growth - from 38-50 meters, gradually this growth decreased - up to 6-7 meters. How this people appeared on Earth, I will not tell here. This is a separate long story. I can only say one thing, highly developed civilizations participated in the creation of this people. 4 million years ago. As can be seen from this map, around this time on Earth, the division of the only people (Asuras) into three other peoples began - the Atlanteans, the late Asuras and the Muans. 1 million years ago. At that time, the Atlanteans were the dominant people on Earth. There were, of course, other peoples - the Muans and the late Asuras, but they were in complete submission to the civilization of the Atlanteans (Toltecs). 79 thousand years BC What happened about 80 thousand years ago. On Earth, the Atlanteans play the main role, but they are no longer so united and strong. There are large groups of tribes - Akkadians, Turans, Australoids (descendants of the late Asuras and Muans) and other mixed peoples, many descendants of Atlanteans appear in Europe, who migrated from the dying mainland Atlantis. The world map takes on a look similar to the modern one. Lemuria and the continent of Mu have long been gone, the island of Poseidonis remained from Atlantis. 22 thousand years BC We will now consider only part of the world map, namely Eastern Europe, and we will start with the northern part of Europe, since we need it most of all to consider our history. Let's see what was in the north of Europe about 22,000 years BC. On the site of the modern islands - Svalbard, Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land, there was then a large mainland called Arctida (sometimes called Hyperborea), Hyperboreans lived there (these are northern Atlanteans who moved here from the dying mainland Atlantis and the island of Poseidonis). As we can see, in addition to the Hyperboreans, the tribes of the Sungir culture and the tribes of the Kostenkov culture still lived in the center of Eastern Europe. Some modern historians believe that all Indo-Europeans originated from the Sungir people, and all Caucasoid peoples originated from the Kostenkovites, but this is not so. We do not investigate these issues. We are only interested in the origin of the Indo-Europeans. And we found the ancient homeland of the Indo-Europeans (and hence the Slavs). But let me remind you that the Hyperboreans are also the ancestors of all the Ural (Finno-Ugric) peoples. 12 thousand years BC What happened in 12000 BC? At this time, there was still a large glacier in the north of Europe, it appeared around 12500 BC. This glacier destroyed (covered with ice) the northern continent of Hyperborea. The Hyperboreans had to go south (to the northern and middle Urals). There was the legendary country of Biarmia (Great Perm). The Biarmians (Boreas) are descendants of the Hyperboreans. They are also the ancestors of all Indo-Europeans (including Slavs) and also the Ural (Finno-Ugric) peoples. To the south of the Boreans lived the Gagarin tribes - these are the descendants of the late Atlanteans who migrated from Europe. Historians call them the descendants of the Cro-Magnons. 6500 BC. As we see at that time, tribes of the Shigir culture lived on a vast territory from the Middle and Southern Urals to the Baltic states. These tribes are descendants of the Boreas (Biamians, descendants of the Hyperboreans). These were the ancestors of all Indo-European peoples and the Ural (Finno-Ugric) peoples. In these times, it was probably still difficult to draw a line between the future Indo-Europeans and the Urals. A little later, the Butovo culture stood out from the total mass of the Shigirs (this is also part of the Shigirs, but they are still closer to our ancestors (ancient Slavs), especially since the habitat of the Butovites coincides with the ancestral home of the ancient Slavs. But let me remind you once again that these were not Slavs yet. 4800 BC By 4800 BC, three new groups of peoples (Indo-European) emerged from the Shigir culture - the Narva culture (Narvians), the Upper Volga culture (Volga) and the main group of Indo-Europeans (Indo-Europeans). All other tribes living to the south are not the ancestors of the Indo-European peoples. The Volga continue to settle south. 4100 BC By 4100 BC, on the basis of the Upper Volga people moving south, a new culture was formed - the Sura-Dnieper (Surtsy). By this time, only the ancient Finno-Ugric peoples remained in the place of the remaining Boreas and the remnants of the northern tribes of the Shigir culture. The Dnieper-Donetsk culture (Dneprovtsy), the Azov-Dnieper culture (Azovtsy) and the Middle Stog culture (Stogovtsy) were formed. These tribal groups were new groups of Indo-Europeans. 3100 BC By 3100 B.C. on the Middle Volga, the Balakhna culture (Balakhnins) was formed. In the steppes of Eurasia (from the Irtysh to the Danube), a new culture was formed - the Yamnaya (Yamniki). These are new Indo-European groups (the Yamniks can already be called “Aryans”, this is the eastern group of Indo-Europeans. In the north of Belarus, the North Belarusian culture (Severets) was formed. In the upper reaches of the Oka, the Belevskaya culture (Belevtsy) was formed, to the south of the Oka, the Ryazan culture (Ryazanians) was formed. Closest to all to the ancient Slavs - the Dnieper-Donetsk culture (Dnieper) - these are the descendants of the tribes of the Upper Volga culture.At that time, the Upper Volga culture itself (Volga) existed, but by this time the Volga tribes were no longer Indo-Europeans, many Ural (Finno-Ugric) ) tribes. On the maps I will be all groups of tribes that influenced the formation of the Slavic (and later Russian) peoples, I will also sign in letters. 2500 BC By 2500 BC - in the center of Eastern Europe ( in the upper reaches of the Don) a new culture was formed - the culture of Corded Ware (corders). This culture was formed on the basis of the Yamnaya culture and other cultures of Eastern Europe related to the Indo-Europeans (Belev, Ryazan, Balakhna). The Corded Ware tribes were Indo-Europeans - pastoralists "shepherds" who began their movement to the west - to Western Europe. The settlement of Europe by the Indo-Europeans began. All new cultures that began to appear west of this hearth were also Corded Ware cultures (but with different names). From 2500 AD, the mass penetration of Indo-Europeans into Western Europe began. Since that time, the Yamnaya culture included basically only the ancestors of all the ancient Iranians and Indians. The tribes of the Yamnaya culture are often called Aryans. On the basis of the Valdai and North Belarusian cultures, the Neman culture (Neman) was formed. These were the ancestors of the Western Indo-Europeans. 2100 BC By 2300 B.C. the following significant ethnic events took place. By this time, the movement of the Corded Ware tribes (Indo-Europeans) began to move west - to Central Europe. In the basin of the Middle and Upper Dnieper, the Middle Dnieper culture (Dneprovtsy-2) arose. In Scandinavia and the Baltic states, a culture of boat-shaped axes (boatmen) was formed (these are also Indo-Europeans - Corded). According to The Tale of the Princes of Slovene and Rusa, it was at that time (on the site of modern Veliky Novgorod) that the city of Slovensk was founded, and on the site of modern Staraya Russa, the city of Russa. In this place at that time there was a Fatyanovo culture (these are also Indo-Europeans, who also participated in the formation of the Slavs and Russ). Volyn megalithic culture (Volyntsy) was formed. In the northwest of the Caucasus, the Maikop culture (Maikoptsy) was formed. These tribes are the ancestors of the Hittites, Luwians, Palaians, who later moved to Asia Minor, as well as the Sinds and Meots who remained in place. Around the same time, the center of all Aryan (Indo-Iranian) tribes appeared - the city of Arkaim (in the southern Urals). Later - by 2100 BC - on the basis of the culture of boat-shaped axes in the Baltic region, the Baltic culture (Balts) was formed. In the east of Poland and the west of Belarus, a culture of zloty (złoty) appeared. This is a continuation of the movement of the Indo-Europeans to the west (this is also the Corded Ware culture). The Usatov culture arose on the western coast of the Black Sea. (mustache). 1900 BC In the lower reaches of the Volga, Don and Dnieper, a catacomb culture (catacombniks) appeared. These are the ancestors of the Cimmerians and Scythians. In the North Caucasus, a North Caucasian culture (North Caucasians) was formed. Urban culture (gorodtsy) appeared in western Ukraine. In the south of Romania and the north of Bulgaria, a clay (clay) culture was formed. In western Romania, the Peryamosh (Peryamtsy) culture appeared. If someone asks what tribes of what culture were the ancestors of the Slavs, then I will answer that it was the Middle Dnieper culture (Dnieper 2), but the tribes of neighboring cultures also influenced the formation of the Slavs. 1600 BC By this time, the tribes of the culture of bell-shaped cups (subordinate to the ancient Iberians) advanced to the territory of Western Ukraine (occupying all of Poland). On the territory of the Baltic States, a culture appeared - the southeast Baltic. On the territory of Romania, the culture of monteoru (monteors) emerged. In the north of Bulgaria, a new people is being formed - the Greeks (these are Dorians, Ionians, Aetolians). But the Indo-Europeans continued their movement to the west. 1300 BC By 1500 AD, the Seima culture (Seimas) appeared in the Middle Oka basin. In the upper reaches of the Don and on the Middle Volga, a log culture (log houses) appeared. The Tshcinets culture (Tshcinets) appeared on the territory of Poland and Ukraine. At the corner of the Urals and the north of Kazakhstan, the Andronovo culture (Andronovites) was formed. In the lower reaches of the Danube, a culture of tey (tey) appeared. A new people was formed in the Balkans - the Thracians (Thracians). Later - by 1300 BC - the Kuban culture (Kubans) was formed in the Kuban valley - these are the ancestors of the future Sinds and Meots. In Western Ukraine, the Komarovskaya culture (Komarovtsy) was formed. In the Center of Europe, a culture of barrow burials (barrows) was formed. These are most likely the ancestors of the ancient Celts. 1100 AD. By 1100 AD, a Lusatian culture (Lusatians) had formed in the center of Europe. These are the ancestors of not only the ancient Slavs, but also the Germans. In the northeast of Romania and on the territory of Moldova, the Noa (Noa) culture was formed. On the western bank of the Middle Dnieper, the Belogrudov culture (Belogrudovtsy) arose. 900 BC By this time, the Yukhnov culture (Yukhnovtsy) had formed in the Desna basin. On the eastern bank of the Middle Dnieper, the Chernolesskaya culture (Chernolestsy) was formed. In western Ukraine, a Vysotska culture (Vysottsy) was formed. In the steppes east of the middle Dnieper, the Bondarikhinsky culture (Bondarikhintsy) arose. 700 BC By 800 BC, a new people had formed in the Northern Black Sea region - the Cimmerians (Cimmerians). Later, by 700 AD, the Baltic kurgan culture (Balty-3) was formed in the southern part of the Baltic. In the Northern Black Sea region, in the basin of the Lower Don, a new people was formed - the Scythians (Scythians). In the lower reaches of the Volga and the Urals, a new people appeared - Savromats (Sauromates). Tribes of the Hallstatt culture (Hallstats) appeared on the territory of Yugoslavia. The Hallstatts are the ancestors of the future Celts. By this time, the most probable ancestors of the Slavs were the Chernolesians and Vysoktsy, although the eastern Lusatians were also the ancestors of the Slavs. 500 BC By 550 BC, the Dnieper-Dvina culture (dvintsy) arose in the upper reaches of the Dnieper and Volga. On the western bank of the Dnieper, the Zarubinets culture (Zarubintsy) was formed. Greek colonies (Greeks) appeared on the shores of the Black Sea. And by 500 AD, between the Middle Volga and the Upper Don, the Gorodets culture (Gorodets) was formed. The Milograd culture (Milogradtsy) was formed on the Middle Dnieper. Pomeranian culture (pomortsy) was formed on the territory of Poland. In the Baltic States and north-west of Belarus, a culture of hatched ceramics (hatchers) was formed. Between the Volga and the Oka, the Upper Oka culture (Oktsy) was formed. 300 BC By this time, the Poyanesti (Poyanesti) culture appeared on the territory of Moldova. In the south-east of Poland, the Guba culture (Guba people) arose. Tribes of La Tene culture (Celts) penetrated the territory of Slovakia. On the territory of Yugoslavia, a new people was formed - the Illyrians (Illyrians). 150 BC By this time, a new people appeared in the steppes of the North Caucasus - the Aorses (Aorses). This is an Iranian-speaking people, he stood out from the composition of the Savromats. In the south of Poland and the west of Ukraine, the Przeworsk culture (Pshevortsy) appeared. In the north of Poland, the Oksyvian culture (Oksyvtsy) was formed. All historians believe that the Przevortsy and Milogradtsy are Slavs. 200 AD. On the map of 200, the Finno-Ugric tribes were the northern neighbors of the Slavs. The eastern and southern neighbors of the Slavs were the Sarmatian tribes (these are Indo-European tribes of nomads). Thracian tribes lived in the southwest of the Slavs (the territory of Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria) (these are also Indo-Europeans). Further to the west of the Slavs (in the center of Europe) lived the Celts and Germans (these were also Indo-Europeans). 450 year. But note that if the southern neighbors of the Ants were the Turkic tribes, then the Slavic tribes of the Sklavins lived to the west of the Ants. Sklavins are Eastern Slavs. Without them it is impossible to trace our history. There were times when both the eastern and western Slavs were one large group of kindred tribes - the Slavs. 950 year. As can be seen from this map, several groups of East Slavic tribes lived on the territory of ancient Rus' (from north to south) - the Ilmen Slavs, Krivichi, Polochans, Vyatichi, Krivichi, Radimichi, Drevlyans, Northerners, Polyany, Volhynians, Dulebs, White Croats, tivertsy, catch. Often, all these tribes, in the face of a common threat, united in alliances. One of them is known. When the Huns (Turkic-speaking nomads from Central Asia) began to move into the territory of Rus', the Eastern Slavs had an alliance known as Antes. This is reflected in an even older map from 450. 1300 year. This map shows that in 1300 the people were still united and had one name - Rusichi. By the 13th century, Kievan Rus had become a fragmented state, in which all power was no longer in Kyiv, but in a number of feudal states headed by princes. This was the reason for the weakness of this territory. 1600 year. By 1600, Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians were already separate (kindred) peoples. Why did these kindred peoples split up? Because Kievan Rus by the 13th century turned into a fragmented state, in which all power was no longer in Kyiv, but in a number of feudal states headed by princes. For this reason, these states were subordinate to other states. Most of the (eastern) was subordinated to the Golden Horde (Mongol-Tatar state) and the Russian people began to form on this territory. The southeastern part of the former Kievan Rus was subject to the Polish state for a long time and its population became Ukrainians. Now you can briefly trace the path of the formation of the Russian people, of course this table describes a simplified path: Hyperboreans - Boreans Boreans - Shigir culture Shigir culture - Upper Volga culture and Eastern Indo-Europeans. Upper Volga culture - Sura-Dnieper culture Sura-Dnieper culture - Dnieper-Donets culture Eastern Indo-Europeans - Pit culture Pit culture - Corded Ware culture Corded Ware culture - Middle Dnieper culture culture - Lusatian culture Lusatian culture - Pomeranian culture Pomeranian culture - Przeworsk culture Oksyvian culture - Przeworsk culture Przeworsk culture - Slavs Slavs - Anty Anty - Rusichi (a large group of East Slavic tribes) Rusichi - Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians. At the end of this article, I want to say. After reading this article, it is not necessary to say that it is the Russian people who are the descendants of the most ancient people - the asuras. All peoples of the world are descendants of this people.
History shows that the word form "Russian nationality" in relation to a specific ethnic group did not become common in Russia even by the beginning of the 20th century. You can give a lot of examples when famous Russian figures were actually of foreign blood. The writer Denis Fonvizin is a direct descendant of the German von Wiesen, the commander Mikhail Barclay de Tolly is also from the Germans, the ancestors of General Pyotr Bagration are Georgians. There is nothing even to say about the ancestors of the artist Isaac Levitan - and so everything is clear.
Even from school, many remember the phrase of Mayakovsky, who wanted to learn Russian only because Lenin spoke this language. Meanwhile, Ilyich himself did not at all consider himself a Russian, and there are numerous documentary confirmations of this. By the way, it was V. I. Lenin who first in Russia came up with the idea to introduce the column “nationality” in documents. In 1905, members of the RSDLP reported on belonging to a particular nation in questionnaires. Lenin wrote in such “self-producers” that he was a “Great Russian”: at that time, if it was necessary to focus on nationality, the Russians called themselves “Great Russians” (according to the Brockhaus and Efron dictionary - “Great Russians”) - the population of “Great Russia ”, called by foreigners “Muscovy”, from the 13th century constantly expanding its possessions.
And Lenin called one of his first works on the national question "On the National Pride of the Great Russians." Although, as the biographers of Ilyich found out relatively recently, the actual “Great Russian” blood in his pedigree was from gulkin’s nose - 25%.
By the way, in Europe, nationality as belonging to a certain ethnic group was a commonly used concept already in the 19th century. True, for foreigners it was equivalent to citizenship: the French lived in France, the Germans lived in Germany, etc. In the vast majority of foreign countries, this identity has been preserved to this day.
