The path from the Varangians to the Arabs passed through. Volga trade route

- Normans - Vikings - Vikings.

- Ladoga in the era of the Varangians.

- On the way "from the Varangians to the Arabs."

- The culture of the Ladoga burial mounds.

- Kolbyagi. Swedish Rus'.

Normans - Vikings - Vikings.

Normans ( northern people) - under this name the peoples of Scandinavia in Western Europe were known during their wide expansion in the VIII-XI centuries. In Scandinavia itself, they were called the Vikings, and in Rus' they were known as Varangians. Their expansion into neighboring and distant countries took various forms: from simple predatory attacks and large military campaigns to the search for new lands and resettlements; piracy, trade trips and mercenary service with the Byzantine emperors. The reason for the expansion of the Normans, according to the theory of L.N. Gumilyov, there was the formation of a focus of increased passionarity in Southern Scandinavia, and as a result, an increase in the activity of the militant nobility, who was looking for prey and glory, as well as resettlement bonds (free community members) to new lands.

The era of the Normans began in 793 with an attack on the monastery of St. Kuberta, located on about. Lindisfarne off the coast of England and ended with the battles of Stamfordbridge and Hastings (England) in 1066. Although the main expansion of the Normans spilled over towards Western Europe, East way - Austrvegr- occupied a fairly large place in the history of the Normans (Varangians).

From the end of the 8th century and the entire 9th century, the interests of the Vikings-Varangians were directed to the east - to Byzantium and the Caliphate. The Eastern Route (Austrvegr), which originated in the Baltic Sea, is becoming a well-known route from the Varangians to the Greeks, which ran from Ladoga through the Volkhov and the Dnieper to the Black Sea to Tsargrad (Constantinople). This path is marked by Russian chronicles. According to numerous archaeological and numismatic finds, another branch of the Austrvegr (Eastern Way) can be traced from Ladoga and Novgorod along small rivers to the Upper Volga and further along the river through the cities of Bulgar and Itil to the Caspian Sea and to the Arab Caliphate. Both routes, the Volkhov-Dnepr route and, to a lesser extent, the Volga route were associated with the process of the emergence of the ancient Russian state.

The history of the Varangians and the history of the emergence of the state in Rus' were mutually intertwined and thus obscured each other. Historians and archaeologists, supporters of the Norman theory of the formation of the ancient Russian state, assigned the Varangians an extremely important role in the formation of Russian statehood, their opponents saw in the Varangians only original discoverers, explorers, warriors, merchants, or even just robbers who did not leave a noticeable mark in Russian history. The exclusion of some aspects and the protrusion of others made it impossible for Russian and Soviet historians to reveal an objective detailed picture of the formation of the original Upper Rus' with its center in Ladoga, and then the Old Russian state - Kievan Rus.

Ladoga in the era of the Varangians.

The Vikings (Varangians), when moving from Scandinavia along the Baltic Sea to the east (Austr), fell on Eastern lands(Austrlong) and advancing along them by the Eastern Way (Austrvegr) arrived in Ladoga (Aldeigjuborg). Located in the lower reaches of the river. Volkhov, on the main waterway of the North-West, it was one of the most important centers of Upper Rus' in the VIII-X centuries. Initially, Ladoga was an open trade and craft settlement. From its very foundation, it was distinguished by a complex ethnic composition. Archaeological excavations revealed Slavic, proto-Karelian, Baltic, Scandinavian, Sami antiquities. The finds testify that the Scandinavians became part of the permanent population of Ladoga from the moment of its foundation around 750 and played a significant role in its life until the 12th century.

Despite the fact that Ladoga was part of a peculiar Baltic cultural community, distinguished by a special socio-economic order and a complex ethnic composition of the population, its role as one of the main Slavic centers of Upper Rus' should not be questioned.

The Slavic population of Ladoga belonged to the Ilmen Slovenes, the main tribal centers, which were located near the lake. Ilmen. Here, at the source of the Volkhov, Novgorod arose, and here in Peryn was the main sanctuary of the elder god of the Slovenes - Perun. Near the mouth of the Volkhov on Ladoga, Veles was more worshiped - the patron of the world of the dead, forests, animals, livestock, wealth and trade. The place of worship was located on the northern outskirts of Ladoga on the Velesha hill, hills were erected nearby, including the famous “Oleg’s grave”.

In the middle of the 9th century, Ladoga became the capital of Upper Rus', after the events of 859-862, which ended with the calling of the Varangian princes. The initial “expulsion of the Varangians across the sea” turned into a tribal feud in the emerging confederation of Slavic and Finno-Ugric tribes - Slovenes, Krivichi, Chud, Meri and Vesi. The calling of the Slovenian nobility, led by Gostomysl, to help the prince “from across the sea” with the Varangian squad led to the fact that Rurik, who arrived with the army, initially seized power in Ladoga and then extended it to the whole of Upper Rus'. “... and the elder Rurik came to Novgorod, and Sineus, the brother of Rurik, on Beliozero, and Truvor you are Izbrsk; And start fighting everywhere. ”- noted in the Novgorod Fourth Chronicle.

Prince Oleg, nicknamed the Prophet, having concentrated in his hands the military power of Upper Rus', in 882 moved along the path “from the Varangians to the Greeks” to conquer Kyiv. His campaigns, up to Tsargrad (Constantinople), ensured the unification of the ancient Russian state - Kievan Rus. It is likely that even before the march to the south, Prince Oleg ordered the construction of a stone fortress in Ladoga, and appointed a tribute (farm) to the Varangians in 300 hryvnia, which was paid to them until the death of Yaroslav the Wise in 1054. The northern chronicle tradition connects Oleg's death in 912 with Ladoga (Oleg's grave hill).

In the 9th century, Ladoga became a major trade and craft center on converging routes from Scandinavia to Byzantium. - from the Varangians to the Greeks - and the Caliphate from Varangians to Arabs. On the rivers of the Ladoga region (Pasha, Syasi, Volozhba, Tikhvinka), Scandinavian settlers appear. They become intermediaries in the fur trade with the Finno-Ugric peoples, acquire their own household, enter into closer contacts with the local population and partially assimilate them. From this mixed population, an auxiliary military contingent is formed to help the Varangians ( flasks).

The Scandinavian influence in Ladoga especially intensified at the beginning of the 11th century. Prince Yaroslav the Wise in 1020 takes Ingigerd-Irina from the Swedish royal family as his wife and gives her possession of Ladoga and the surrounding lands. The kinsman Ingigerd, jarl Rognvald, becomes the manager (governor) in Ladoga. After the death of the latter, his son Eiliv becomes the governor of Ladoga. Another son of Röngvald, Steinkil, becomes king of Sweden in 1056. By the end of the 11th century, the claims of the Swedes to Ladoga and the Ladoga region intensified, but the alarmed Novgorodians sought the complete subordination of Ladoga to their power. In the XII-XIII centuries, the role of Ladoga changed, it ceased to be an important transit point of the Eastern Route (Austrvegr), and switched to serving the trade of Novgorod with the Hanseatic cities. Over the years, the defensive purpose of Ladoga as the frontier of Veliky Novgorod on the northwestern borders of Rus' also increased.

On the way "from the Varangians to the Arabs".

The Volga trade route in the 9th century had for Northern Europe importance. This way, from the end of the 8th century, eastern silver came to western part Baltics and Scandinavia. Numerous hoards of Muslim silver coins (Kufic coins) are known on the Baltic coast and in Eastern Europe. The intensity of the fall of the first hoards of Kufic coins on the territory of Eastern and Western Europe falls on 810-820 - the time when Muslim merchants discovered the European North and developed the Volga route.

Along with the formation of the Baghdad Caliphate, its economy is developing, and trade is growing. The Muslim nobility highly appreciates precious furs and white-skinned slave women, products made from mammoth ivory and walrus tusks, from which Khorezm carvers made magnificent caskets and combs. Initially, the exchange was carried out on the principle of “goods for goods”. The northern tribes also valued silver in things and in coins, the treasures of which are found right up to the shores of the Arctic Ocean.

The Normans (Varangians), advancing along the Eastern path, entered the path of barter trade of the Bulgar merchants with the Finno-Ugric tribes and tried to take this trade into their own hands. They created strongholds in Beloozero (“ Old city”at the source of Sheksna), on Sheksna (settlement of Krutik), in the Yaroslavl Volga region (Timerevo, Sarskoye settlement), which is confirmed by the presence of things Scandinavian origin in excavated settlements and loss of hoards of Kufic coins. The Varangians imposed tribute on local tribes, which is known from chronicle sources, and added live goods to the fur goods for Arab merchants.

With all the variety of routes from the Baltic to the Volga, it remains undoubted that the shortest of them passes through the Tikhvin region. One of the variants of the Volga-Baltic route, or as it is called by analogy with the annalistic route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” - from the Varangians to the Arabs, was noted by archaeologist V.I. Ravdonikas. The Scandinavians, heading to the city of Bulgar on the Volga, began their movement on small ships from Ladoga. Climbing up the river Xiasi, they are r. Volozhba sailed to the watershed and then dragged over to the river. Chagoda, belonging to the Volga basin. Along the rivers Chagodoshche and Mologa, they descended into the Volga to the city of Bulgar, where they were met in 921 by the famous Arab traveler Ibn Fadlan under the name of the Rus, because by that time the “calling of the Varangians” and the creation of the “state of Rus” had already taken place.

The rite of burial of a wealthy Russian merchant, noted by Ibn Fadlan, by burning in a boat is a typically Scandinavian rite, analogues of which are found in the mounds of the Tikhvin region, excavated by N.E. Brandenburg and V.I. Ravdonikas. Apparently, the Varangians of this time already preferred to call themselves Rus within Eastern Europe, or the merchant who found death in the Volga city of Bulgar was from Ladoga or Ladoga.

Evidence of the existence of portage between the river. Volozhba and r. Chagoda is the presence of Volok Gotslav (Khotaslavl) churchyard recorded in the cadastral book of the Obonezh Pyatina of 1496 in the area. The Varangians began to use this portage before the arrival of the Ilmen Slovenes in the Tikhvin region. One of their strongholds on the Volozhba was the settlement of Kolbeki, the very name of which clearly correlates with the kolbyags, whose connection with the Varangians was confirmed by Russkaya Pravda.

In the 10th century, the Ilmen Slovenes settled on the transit routes of the Volga-Baltic route, as evidenced by the hills in Ozerevo on the river. Chagoda, on Voloka near the lake. Borovoye (Fomkinskoye) and in Struga, on the river. Syasi, but this did not interfere with the campaigns of the Varangians on the Volga. It is likely that at the first stage, the Slovenes joined the campaigns of the Varangians both for the purpose of trade and for the purpose of robbing the Finno-Ugric population, and only after, as the Novgorodians developed new lands, they switched to collecting tribute.

Since the end of the 10th century, the Volga-Baltic route ceased to function. Former trade relations are broken in connection with the capture by Prince Svyatoslav in 966 of the cities of Bulgar and Itil on the Volga and the destruction of the Khazar Khaganate, the main intermediary in Arab trade. The flow of Kufic coins along the Volga to Northern Europe dries up, trade routes change their direction.

The path along the Syasi - Volozhba - Chagoda still continues to operate for some time due to the relationship between the Scandinavian settlers who settled in the Ladoga region and their brothers who settled in the Timirev and Sarsky settlement in the Yaroslavl Volga region.

With the strengthening of Novgorodian influence throughout Upper Rus', the Slavic colonization of part of the Finno-Ugric tribes and Scandinavian settlers, the direction of trade routes continues to change. Since the 12th century, a “upland” (land) road has been going through the Tikhvin region to Zaonezhye, Zavolochye and Dvina land. The Novgorod routes to the Volga pass south of the Tikhvin Territory and the existence of a direct route from Ladoga to the Volga, after a while, was only reminded by local toponymic data (Volozhba, Volochenka, Volok, Struga, Buyan, Sudomlya and others).

The culture of the Ladoga burial mounds.

One of the consequences of the Austrvegr (Eastern Way) is the appearance of Scandinavian settlers in the Tikhvin region. Evidence of this is the archaeological culture of the Ladoga burial mounds. Its range covers the southeastern shores of Lake Ladoga, the lower reaches of the Pasha and Oyat rivers, the middle reaches of the Pasha, Syasi, the lower reaches of the Tikhvinka and Volozhba. The Pasha River in its lower and middle reaches is the center of culture of the Ladoga burial mounds of the 9th-11th centuries. Here the Scandinavian influence was the most powerful and the richest mounds with the classical Ladoga rite, unearthed by archaeologists N.E. Brandenburg and V.I. Ravdonikas are also located here, on the tributaries of the river. Pasha - Kumbite and Syaznige, as well as near the village of Ust-Rybezhna and near the village of Vihmes. In addition to rich clothing inventory, numerous weapons, and original funeral rites, many Arabic, Western European and Byzantine coins were found in the barrows. On the site of the largest concentration of classical Ladoga burial mounds on the Syazniga River, which flows into the Pasha opposite the village of Vihmes, in 1934 the largest of the Old Russian coin hoards was found in the surrounding forest, containing 13 thousand Western European coins (denarii) and an ingot of silver. The treasure belongs to the XI-beginning of the XII century.

Another distinguishing feature of the culture of the Ladoga mounds is the presence in them of a significant number of things of Finno-Ugric origin, including women's jewelry, among which there are especially many noisy pendants from women's burials. It should be noted that the special dependence of women on men, clearly expressed in the peculiarities of the funeral rite. Female burials, often with traces violent death accompany the burials of noble men. There were also burials of men according to a later rite of burial, accompanied by several skulls, clearly female and with the presence of female adornments (a mound near the village of Zolotovo on the Volozhba River).

The Slavic element is also present in the barrows of the Ladoga burial culture. A particularly powerful Slavic influence is found in the burial mounds located near the village of Gorodishche on the Syasi River.

An analysis of the monuments of the Ladoga kurgan culture leads to reasonable, but not quite definite conclusions about the structure of the Ladoga society with its military democracy, the cult of leaders, patriarchal slavery, with still strong tribal ties, tribal vengeance and social inequality taking place.

The complex composition of the population that gave rise to the culture of the Ladoga mounds developed in the 9th century. During the period of the Norman expansion, in parallel with the resettlement to Iceland, part of the Scandinavian settlers - bonds - began to develop the lands of the South-Eastern Ladoga region. Slavic groups settlers from the Ilmenian Slovenes appear a little later from the Volkhov region and Pomostye. The Finno-Ugric population of the region most likely did not belong to the Vesi tribes, although it was close to them in tribal terms. Most likely, these were separate tribal groups, possibly even of Finno-Baltic origin, whose own names did not reach us, but were known to the Slavs under the common collective name Chud. Archaeologist V.A. Nazarenko singled out the Finno-Ugric population of the South-Eastern Ladoga region under the name near Ladoga miracle. Probably, these were the remnants of the Finno-Ugric tribes ousted by the Slavs from the territory of the Ilmen region. These relatively small tribal and tribal groups underwent mainly Slavic assimilation, and separate groups of the Chud population that retreated north to the Vessky limits and to the South-Eastern Ladoga region underwent Scandinavian and Vessky assimilation, and then Slavic.

This assumption is supported by archeological data that in the lower reaches of the river. Pasha and on the river. The Syaznigu Chud and the first Normans arrived at about the same time.

At the end of the culture of the Ladoga mounds in the 11th century, everything from the upper reaches of the Oyat River spread relatively quickly along the Pasha and Syasi, dissolving the clans and families of the Ladoga Chud in its environment. The population change is confirmed by anthropological data. The people buried in the classical Ladoga burial mounds were of the Proto-European type, the skulls were from later burial mounds of the 11th-13th centuries. belong to the Ural-Laponoid group of types, characteristic of the northeastern Finno-Ugric tribes, including the Veps descendants of the Vesi.

Thus, in the South-Eastern Ladoga region, capturing a significant part of the Tikhvin region, in the 9th-11th centuries. a peculiar culture of the Ladoga burial mounds appeared, developed and died, associated with the Scandinavians and the local Finno-Ugric population. Settled on the Pasha, Syasi and Tikhvinka rivers, the population, in turn, experienced the ever-increasing influence of Novgorod settlers in the 12th-13th centuries and was eventually forced out or completely assimilated by the Russian population. The Veps population that survived in the northeastern regions of the Tikhvin Territory gradually transformed into the Veps people.

Kolbyagi. Swedish Rus'.

The Ladoga Kurgan culture (PKK) corresponded to a special population that lived from the end of the 9th to the beginning of the 13th century in the southeastern Ladoga region in the lower reaches of the rivers Syasi, Tikhvinka, Pasha, Oyat and Svir. Such a special population was known from written sources flasks. They are mentioned in Russkaya Pravda, but the chronicles are silent about them; in the Novgorod birch-bark charter of the 12th century. (No. 222) they are called kolobyagas. Under the name kulpings they are known in Byzantium, and the Near Eastern writer Dimeshki bears the name "kelabii". Scandinavian sources (“The Saga of Egil”, etc.) call the kolbyags kylfings, and the lands inhabited by them “kylfingaland”.

Kolbyaga outside their main habitat acted in a different role. In Rus' and Byzantium, they are known mainly as hired soldiers from the auxiliary detachments of the Varangians, and sometimes as merchants. In Zaonezhie and the White Sea, they appear as tribute collectors, robbers and merchants.

On their own territory in the southeastern Ladoga region, the kolbyags were well-armed peasants (“bonds”). These are the descendants of Scandinavian settlers from the territory of Sweden, who settled in new places at the end of the 8th - the middle of the 9th centuries. Here they met with the local Finno-Ugric population, who also recently settled in this territory. These were the remnants of tribal groups, the main area of ​​\u200b\u200bsettlement of which, previously, was Priilmenye and Pomostye. With the arrival of the Slavs from the tribal union of the Krivichi in the 6th-7th centuries, and later the tribal union of the Ilmen Slovenes, to the indicated territory, this Finno-Ugric population was assimilated, and its peripheral groups that moved to the southeastern Ladoga region and entered into interaction with the western whole were partially assimilated by the Scandinavians.

The third component in the formation of a peculiar ethnic grouping in the southeastern Ladoga region was the Slavs. Their influence in the IX-X centuries. was insignificant, but increasing, which ultimately led to the fact that by the beginning of the 13th century the local population became glorified and the ethnonym Kolbyagi disappeared from use. It was replaced by the term "obonizhane" - this is how the Novgorodians called the inhabitants of the Obonezhsky row (Obonezhskaya hundreds) formed in the southeastern Ladoga region by the 13th century.

So, the history of kolbyags is only 300-350 years old (IX-XII centuries). At the first stage, they act as colonists from Scandinavia (mainly Sweden), free peasants "bonds" who economically develop the territory in the lower reaches and in the middle reaches of the Syasi, Pasha and Oyat rivers. The process of colonization of this region by bond farmers is called by Swedish scientists as landnam (lit. "taking the land"). In the ninth century Landnam moved southeast into the basin of Chagoda, Pesya, the upper reaches of the Msta and Mologa, which can be linked to the growing influence of the role of the Volga-Baltic route in the relations of Northern Europe with the Arab Caliphate. Interestingly, the echoes of the thousand-year-old landnam are still reflected in local folklore, in particular, in forest melodies-calls.

During this period, the landnam met with the Slavic "taking the land." In the south of the Tikhvin region, the villages of kolbyags and Rus are located nearby. The only toponym of the southeastern Ladoga region, which exactly reproduces the name of the Kolbyags, is located on the Volozhba River, near the portage to the Chagoda River, on one of the branches of the route from the Baltic to the Volga. This is the churchyard of Klimetskaya in Kolbegi, known from written sources of the 15th-16th centuries. Not far from this point, which controls the path along the Syasi and Volozhba to Chagoda, there is another settlement - the village of Russka, also located on the river. Volozhba. To the south, near the Kolbyag settlement on Volozhba in the 10th century. Slovenian settlements appear, with which the Slavic burial mounds near the settlements of Mozolevo and Dregli correspond, as well as hills on the portage near the lake. Borovoye (Fomkinskoye) and on the river. Chagoda (Ozerevo). Landnam in the southeast direction to the Mologa and the Volga ceased from the 10th century and later ended with the dissolution of the Scandinavians (Kolbyags) in the Novgorod peasantry.

Simultaneously with the southeastern landnam from the Ladoga region, there was a northeastern expansion of kolbyags. From the base settlements on Pasha and Oyat, armed groups of kolbyags along the Svir River fell into Lake Onega. Having mastered the Onezhye and Zaonezhye regions, they penetrated the Vyg River and further into the White Sea region by portages from Chelmuzhi and Pyalma. There is evidence that their gangs already at the end of the 8th century. they caught fish in the White Sea, beat seals, took tribute from local residents.

WITH Lake Onega kolbyagi paved other waterways. The second route to the White Sea went from Lake Onega along the rivers Vodla, Chereva, Voloshev, Pocha to Kenozero and further from the mouth of the river. Keny on the river. Onega, which flows into the White Sea. From Lake Onega, the waterway went by rivers and portages to White Lake and further to Zavolochye and Podvinye. Successful campaigns of kolbyags for furs in Prionezhye and Zavolochye attracted the attention of Ladoga residents close to them. The latter, and the Slavic element prevailed among the population of Ladoga, are also connected to the development of the northern territories.

To the constant expansion of kolbyags in the southeastern and northeast direction from their habitats in the southeastern Ladoga region in the 9th-10th centuries. their active participation in the campaigns of ancient Russian princes is added. At the same time, separate groups of kolbyags participate in campaigns together with the Varangians, sometimes they form their own military formations as part of princely squads. Later, their dependence on the Grand Duke increases even more. Separate groups of kolbyags were resettled by Prince Vladimir to the border of the Polyanskaya and Drevlyanskaya lands (Kolbezhichi - locality located west of Kyiv). Later, another group of kolbyags moved to the Pskov region, forming the settlement of Kolbezhitsy on the river. Great.

The influx of the rural Scandinavian (Swedish) population into the southeastern Ladoga region, which fed the ethno-society "kolbyagi" at the first stage of its formation, completely stops in the 10th century at the beginning of the second stage of its development. Swedish Rus, the idea of ​​whose existence is supported by some foreign and domestic historians, did not take place. The small number of Scandinavian settlers, their outflow in the process of landnam to other regions, led to the fact that the ethnic community of the "kolbyagi" was not formed. At the beginning of the 10th century, it was a mixed two- and even trilingual population (Scandinavians, Chud, Slavs), who lived on family farms in the valleys of the Pasha, Syasi, Tikhvinka, Oyat rivers and their tributaries. The descendants of mixed marriages gradually make up the majority of the local settlers. Their distinctive feature was the almost total armament of men. The mounds of the southeastern Ladoga region, especially on the Pasha River, its left tributary Syaznig and in Vihmes are full of weapons. In addition to things of Scandinavian and local Finno-Ugric origin, Kufic, Byzantine and Western European coins and works of Byzantine and Oriental crafts were found everywhere in these barrows. All this is evidence that the combatants, who returned from distant campaigns with booty taken from the Byzantines and Khazars, lived out their lives in their native farms, and then found peace in mounds erected by their relatives, during the construction of which Varangian and Chud funeral rites were combined.

Comparative tables of the presence in the archaeological sites of Eastern Europe of Scandinavian things of the 10th-11th centuries. and especially weapons, clearly show that the southeastern Ladoga region was one of the most militarized areas along with Timirev on Upper Volga and Gnezdov on the Dnieper.

The ethnosociety of the Kolbyags did not turn into a medieval people. At the last, third, stage of its existence in the 11th-12th centuries, kolbyags disappear from the mentions of written sources. They did not have time to create their own city center on the place of permanent residence, which serves unifying purposes. Fortified settlement on the river. Syasi (Syasi settlement) could become such a center, first military, and then economic. This was facilitated by its location on the Volga-Baltic trade route. The radiocarbon date of one of the cultural layers of the Syas settlement is 860 + 80 AD. Later, for an unknown reason, it was destroyed.

This is evidence of events unknown to us connected with the establishment of Novgorod domination in the region. Ladoga land, to which the population of the Tikhvin region was “drawn” in the 12th century. lost its independence. In the 13th century, fulfilling the will of the Novgorod boyars, the Novgorod princes undertook military campaigns in the Ladoga region and Karelia. One of the reasons for the punitive expeditions was the forced conversion of the local population to Christianity. From Russkaya Pravda we know that "Kolbyag has no baptism." Apparently, they adhered to pagan cults for a long time and thus opposed themselves to the Novgorod population, which had adopted Christianity. This provision is confirmed by the Novgorod birch bark letter No. 222, dating back to the 12th century. where the kolbyags are mentioned, living in the lower reaches of the Syasi and occupying a dependent position from the surrounding population (“if the kolobyags did not run”).

The emergence and formation of the Obonezhsky row in the XII-XIII centuries, characterizes new stage Novgorod development of the southeastern Ladoga region. During this period, the influence of common Northern Russian features in the local population sharply increased in the Tikhvin Territory. The Ladoga kurgan culture (PKK) is disappearing, intensive Slavicization of kolbyags is underway, the result of which was their complete disappearance. It is possible that some part of the kolbyags, who paved the ancient paths in the Onezhye, Zavolochye, White Sea region and settled there, retained their ethnic characteristics for a long time. Subsequently, the “Kolyabyazh routes” to the North came under the jurisdiction of the Novgorodians, the assimilation of the Kolbyags continued, but their separate isolation still remained. It is likely that the inhabitants of the White Sea Pomors have kolbyags among their ancestors and inherited from them best features northern pioneers who went further, by previously unknown paths, through all of Siberia to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. But these were already Russian people.

Lobanov M.A. Forest Melodies-Cries in the System of Russian Folk Music. // Living antiquity, 1995, No. 4. - p. 21-26.

The Kostroma branch of the Russian Geographical Society in early May carried out the first reconnaissance rafting on a wooden boat along the rivers of two oceans.

A team of four people traveled along the rivers of the Kostroma and Vologda regions on a small copy of the boat of the northern peoples.

The route was compiled along the rivers: Vokhtozhka, Kileg, Monza, Kostroma, Veksa. The main goal that the researchers set themselves was to study and describe the medieval trade route, which received the conditional historical name "From the Varangians to the Arabs."

“It is known that along the rivers flowing into the Northern Dvina, Novgorodians, Scandinavian Vikings and other northern peoples went down to the rivers of the Volga basin, where they crossed the watershed to the Kostroma, Unzha, Vetluga rivers with the help of portages. However, to date, these routes have not been sufficiently described and studied, ”the head of the Kostroma regional branch of the Russian Geographical Society told the media information portal44 before the trip. Roman Ryabintsev.
end point the route was supposed to be the settlement of Unorozh in the Galich region. During the archaeological excavations of recent years, a large number of artifacts associated with the Scandinavian peoples were discovered there: beads, beads, bone combs, jewelry and much more. From which historians conclude that Unorozh already in the early Middle Ages participated in international trade relations.
“From the Varangians to the Arabs” is the most ancient of the three Great Trade Routes that ran through the territory of Rus'. And at the heart of it were rivers with portages on the watersheds, since there were simply no roads, in their modern sense.
Preparations for the expedition of the Kostroma Russian Geographical Society began with the study of historical documents.
“We found out that in the upper reaches of the Kostroma River in different time there was a network of portage systems that made it possible to get by water into the tributaries of the northern rivers Sukhona and Northern Dvina, and from there to the Baltic and White Sea. Two portages between Lezha and Monza were described and traveled by land by Vologda researchers (Usolsky portage and the Ivan the Terrible Canal). We were interested in the route Kostroma-Monza-Kilega, then the watershed swamp, which was until recently a lake, and Vokhtozhka-Lezha-Sukhona. And we found a mention of this path, ”said a participant in the campaign, a member of the Kostroma branch of the Russian Geographical Society Dmitry Shnur.

The book of the Austrian ambassador Sigismund Herberstein tells about the way the Russian ambassador Dmitry Gerasimov traveled to Denmark. From Moscow in 1496, he and a friend got to the city of Pereslavl, then on ships along the Volga, then along the Kostroma River and its tributary, and from there, by land, seven miles "to some river." Then we went along the Lezha River, which flows into the Sukhona. Then along the Sukhona, the Northern Dvina and by sea they reached their destination. It must be assumed that the tributary of the Kostroma is the Monza River, and “some kind of river” is the Vokhtoga. Other "sovereign people" later passed this way. According to the philologist A.P. Afanasiev, the Volok between Monza and Vokhtoga existed even before the beginning of the Slavic development of the Russian North and the Middle Volga region.

For complete immersion and historical authenticity, we decided to build a boat according to the technology of that time. And with the help of oars, poles and ropes, go the way, as the Vikings could do in the 9th century. We did not find craftsmen on the Upper Volga, the traditions of wooden shipbuilding have been lost. But shipbuilders from Ladoga, Viktor Volkov and his son Timofey, preserved the knowledge of their ancestors. And they built a boat for us: light and strong, especially for overcoming portages and rifts. The curved nose smoothly passes into the keel. The keel gives shape to the entire boat and its contours repeat the boards overlapping each other and being pulled together with rivets (clinker technology, when speeding up, allows air to be taken under the bottom of the vessel and reduce friction and, accordingly, increase speed). Thus, a strong cocoon is created (this technology is used to make Pomeranian karbas on the White Sea), then frames (kokora) are installed from a whole curved root of a coniferous tree.
Using this technology, without loss of strength, it is possible to reduce the thickness of the sides and reduce the number of frames, thereby reducing the weight of the boat. To drag the boat along the shallows, an additional beam was attached to the keel. With a total length of the boat of five meters and twenty centimeters and a width of one hundred and fifty centimeters, the weight was only one hundred and fifty-four kilograms.

At one in the morning on May 1, a team consisting of historian Roman Ryabintsev, archaeologist Sergei Rozov, as well as representatives of the club active rest"Grey Wolves" by Dmitry Shnur and Timur Burkov (all members of the Kostroma branch of the Russian Geographical Society) with a boat in a trailer drove off to the side Vologda region. We decided to start from the bank of the Vokhtozhka River near the village of Vokhtoga.

Dmitry Shnur, member of the expedition "Northern portage: from the Varangians to the Arabs":

At eight in the morning we were there. We launched a boat in the village of Vokhtoga near the most beautiful church under restoration with new blue domes and golden crosses. We prayed for a safe journey and went up the river to the watershed. It was evident that the main water was subsiding, and the river was on the banks. But there was still plenty of water. Vokhtozhka, with a width of several meters, was surprisingly deep. Three-meter poles did not reach the bottom, and they had to push off from the shore, where it was possible.
After half a day of struggle with a strong current, blockages, overgrown banks, we developed a tactic for passing rivers against the current. One person was in a boat with a pole, one walked along the right bank, dragging the boat on a rope, and after meeting with an obstacle, he threw the rope to a friend who was walking along the other bank, and vice versa. The fourth crew member did reconnaissance, filmed and was in the wings. Until 19 o'clock we went up, making a couple of stops for lunch and pouring water from the wading boots, to dry a little. On especially steep bends of the river, the boat was pulled ashore and dragged along the ground on ropes, like barge haulers, all together.
In some places it was even possible to go by oars. The work went well, the boat slowly went up and in front of the village of Chernovka, which during the flood is as if on an island, they stumbled upon an insurmountable obstacle. A big rift, followed by rubble and no possibility of dragging it, everything was overgrown with forest. The final goal of the first day, the mouth of the Kileg River, was only four kilometers away. At the general meeting, we decided to go downstream to the village of Vaganovo, spend the night there, and in the morning all together go to the mouth of the Kilegy on foot. That's what they decided on.
In Vaganovo, they asked a local resident to spend the night in a bathhouse near the water. locals in general, all the way they looked at us as aliens. We are not fishermen, not hunters, and even from Kostroma, and on a boat, which they never saw on their river. But everyone was friendly both in the Vologda Oblast and in our Kostroma Oblast. They offered water, food, lodging, even fresh milk. They willingly told that they knew from their parents about their native places: there was a waterway to Monza from the village of Chernovka, boats went up and down, there was a big fair in the village of Sidorovo, and goods were brought from Kostroma and Lezhi. And they even remember that they sold salmon. They remembered about salt, bread, honey and even gold, which, according to the words, guarded, washed somewhere not far away.

In the morning, travelers were in for a surprise. The water in the river receded. And the boat, which was a quarter of the water, stood on the shore a meter from the water's edge. Therefore, the decision was made to split up.
Two went to the watershed to Kilegy on foot, and two continued to lower the boat down to Vokhtoga, agreeing to meet there in the evening, at six o'clock.
By this time, the car had just approached, at this point of the route it was planned in advance to transport the boat several kilometers overland. Two other members of the expedition said by phone that they were caught in a severe thunderstorm. Therefore, they were forced to go to the Lukino junction, take an electric train there and get to the Vokhtoga station. But in the day before the rain, they worked fruitfully: they examined the tributary, the swamp, measured the bridges under the railway.
“We took the guys and moved to the Monza River in the Kostroma region, to further follow the route,” says Dmitry Shnur. We stopped for the night in the village of Ferapont. The rector of the Ascension Monastery, Father Michael, who left for Moscow the day before, left the keys to the house to the Kostroma residents.

How physically difficult was it for people from the 21st century to float on water in the medieval way? The expedition members said that “they only complained about burnt noses, calluses on their hands, pain in muscles and joints, and abrasions. And the main medicine during the trip was vitamin C pills.
The next morning, the rowers left Monza at full speed for the Kostroma River. Raised the Russian flag Geographic Society, the wind is fair, to the stern, the speed of the current is three and a half kilometers per hour, the depth under the keel is six meters, and maybe more.

Dmitry Shnur, member of the expedition "Northern portage: from the Varangians to the Arabs":

A little higher than this place is the stone ridge Baran. In ancient times, a huge stone with two protrusions in the form of horns stood right in the river. This place was the center of worship of the local peoples Chudi, Vespov, before the arrival of the Slavs. Then, during the high water, the Baran's horns sticking out of the water interfered with navigation, and the Russians beat them off, and over time, the Baran collapsed. But the place itself is remarkable, such a stone ridge is a rare occurrence in our area. Recently, television men from Moscow from the Zvezda channel filmed a film about Baran. In the Kostroma River, the Buyan was picked up by a powerful current, which we barely managed to cope with, rowing to the middle. Buyan on oars accelerated up to twelve kilometers per hour, and on average went nine to ten kilometers per hour. When accelerating, a sound appeared under the boat, as if a kettle was boiling. It was the ancient technology of the shipbuilders of the north that helped Buyan glide through the water.

Dmitry Shnur, member of the expedition "Northern portage: from the Varangians to the Arabs":

In the morning we set off on the road to Unorozh. The settlement met us with the flood of the Veksa and Toyga rivers. A high platform surrounded by water on three sides. The mound Zhuravets hangs over a bend in the road that leads to the fortress along the only dry path. Standing at a nine-meter height of the former settlement of an unknown people, you can just imagine how under the walls and towers of the fortress, under Zhuravets, along the pier, Varangian boats sway on the water, and merchants pull out goods brought from the ends of the world. Our exploration is over. In four days we traveled hundreds of kilometers and walked dozens of miles on the water.
We completed the route plan by 90 percent. They learned and felt during the trip on a wooden boat, driven by oars, poles and draft power, as much as they would not have known and would not have felt in a lifetime.

There were many cities in Rus'. And it is no coincidence that people from Scandinavia called it "Gardariki" - the country of cities. Kyiv gained the greatest glory. The German chronicler Titmar of Merseburg wrote about him in 1018: “In this big city, which is the capital of the kingdom, more than four hundred churches and eight markets, and an extraordinary multitude of people. Another German chronicler of the 11th century, Adam of Bremen, called Kyiv a "rival of Constantinople." The capital of Rus' was located on the great waterway "From the Varangians to the Greeks", and another route passed through it, connecting the Volga region with Western Europe. The fortified part of the city occupied 360-380 hectares (for comparison: the Moscow Kremlin has an area of ​​only 28 hectares). The oldest part of Kyiv was the "City of Vladimir" on Starokievsky Hill. In the 11th century, the "City of Yaroslav" was added to it. Both fortresses were heavily fortified. The height of the shaft of the "City of Yaroslav" reached 16 meters. The shafts had extremely steep slopes - 45 degrees. Their thickness reached at the base of almost 20 meters. Wooden walls ran along the top of the ramparts. In some places, the ramparts were cut through by powerful stone towers with gates. From the outside, the fortress was protected by ditches. In the upland, heavily fortified regions, there were princely and boyar towers, which were adjoined by arsenals, stables, baths, and dwellings of the court servants. Before the adoption of Christianity in the "City of Vladimir" there was a pagan sanctuary. After baptism, Greek masters erected a magnificent Church of the Tithes and other temples there. A vast area begins to occupy the metropolitan courtyard. In the 11th century, a huge St. Sophia Cathedral, richly decorated with frescoes and mosaics, was created in the "City of Yaroslav".
Most of the people of Kiev lived in Podil, a city settlement near the Pochayna River. There were houses of artisans and small merchants, which were adjoined by workshops and shops. Masters of 60 specialties: blacksmiths, casters, potters, glassblowers, weavers, leather workers and others worked here. Products of Kyiv gunsmiths, jewelers, stone and wood carvers, locksmiths were highly valued outside of Rus'. Most of the Kyiv markets were located near the Dnieper and Pochaina. Overseas guests arrived here on ships.
Kyiv, of course, was a giant city. The rest of the Russian cities, with the exception of Belgorod, were significantly inferior to it both in terms of area and population. However internal structure they had the same. Other Russian cities also aroused the astonishment of foreigners. When, in 1231, the Hungarian king Andrei II saw Vladimir-Volynsky, he exclaimed: “Such a city was not built even in the German countries!”

The path "from the Varangians to the Greeks"(Also Varangian way or East way, other scand. Austrvegr) - water (sea and river) way from Baltic Sea through Eastern Europe to Byzantium. One of the waterways of the expansion of the Varangians from the region of residence (the coast of the Baltic Sea) to the south - to South-Eastern Europe and Asia Minor at the beginning of the 10th century - the middle of the 13th century. The same route was used by Russian merchants to trade with Constantinople and Scandinavia.

Volzhsky or Volga-Baltic trade route- the earliest of the three great river routes that connected Scandinavia with the Caliphate in the early Middle Ages. Judging by the finds of dirhems, it was formed earlier than the Dnieper and Zavolotsk routes, but also its own international importance began to lose before the rest - even before the start of the crusades. During its heyday in the second half of the 9th century, the Volga trade route ensured the economic well-being of three state formations - Rus' in the upper reaches, Volga Bulgaria in the middle part and the Khazar Khaganate in the lower reaches of the Volga.

Cities of Kievan Rus and their role in world trade. Transit routes "From the Varangians to the Greeks", "From the Varangians to the Arabs".

There were many cities in Rus'. And it is no coincidence that people from Scandinavia called it ʼʼGardarikiʼʼ - the country of cities. Kyiv gained the greatest glory. The German chronicler Titmar of Merseburg wrote about him in 1018: ʼʼIn this big city, which is the capital of the kingdom, there are more than four hundred churches and eight markets, and there are an extraordinary multitude of peopleʼʼ. Another German chronicler of the 11th century, Adam of Bremen, called Kyiv a ʼʼrival of Constantinopleʼʼ. The capital of Rus' was located on the great waterway ʼʼFrom the Varangians to the Greeksʼʼ, and another route passed through it, connecting the Volga region with Western Europe. The fortified part of the city occupied 360-380 hectares (for comparison: the Moscow Kremlin has an area of ​​only 28 hectares). The oldest part of Kyiv was the ʼʼCity of Vladimirʼʼ on Starokievsky Hill. In the XI century, the ʼʼ City of Yaroslavʼʼ is attached to it. Both fortresses were heavily fortified. The height of the shaft ʼʼCity of Yaroslavʼʼ reached 16 meters. The shafts had extremely steep slopes - 45 degrees. Their thickness reached at the base of almost 20 meters. Wooden walls ran along the top of the ramparts. In some places, the ramparts were cut through by powerful stone towers with gates. From the outside, the fortress was protected by ditches. In the upland, heavily fortified regions, there were princely and boyar towers, which were adjoined by arsenals, stables, baths, and dwellings of the court servants. Before the adoption of Christianity in the ʼʼCity of Vladimirʼʼ there was a pagan sanctuary. After baptism, Greek masters erected a magnificent Church of the Tithes and other temples there. A vast area begins to occupy the metropolitan courtyard. In the 11th century, a huge St. Sophia Cathedral, richly decorated with frescoes and mosaics, was created in the ʼʼCity of Yaroslavʼʼ. Most of the people of Kiev lived in Podil, a city settlement near the Pochayna River. There were houses of artisans and small merchants, which were adjoined by workshops and shops. Masters of 60 specialties: blacksmiths, casters, potters, glassblowers, weavers, leather workers and others worked here. Products of Kyiv gunsmiths, jewelers, stone and wood carvers, locksmiths were highly valued outside of Rus'. Most of the Kyiv markets were located near the Dnieper and Pochaina. Overseas guests arrived here on ships. Kyiv, of course, was a giant city. The rest of the Russian cities, with the exception of Belgorod, were significantly inferior to it both in terms of area and population. At the same time, their internal structure was the same. Other Russian cities also aroused the astonishment of foreigners. When, in 1231, the Hungarian king Andrei II saw Vladimir-Volynsky, he exclaimed: “Such a city was not built even in the German countries! ʼʼ

The path ʼʼfrom the Varangians to the Greeksʼʼ(Also Varangian way or East way, other scand. Austrvegr) - water (sea and river) route from the Baltic Sea through Eastern Europe to Byzantium. One of the waterways of the expansion of the Varangians from the region of residence (the coast of the Baltic Sea) to the south - to South-Eastern Europe and Asia Minor at the beginning of the 10th century - the middle of the 13th century. The same route was used by Russian merchants to trade with Constantinople and Scandinavia.

Volzhsky or Volga-Baltic trade route- the earliest of the three great river routes that connected Scandinavia with the Caliphate in the early Middle Ages. Judging by the finds of dirhems, it was formed earlier than the Dnieper and Zavolotsk routes, but it also began to lose its international significance earlier than others - even before the start of the Crusades. During its heyday in the second half of the 9th century, the Volga trade route ensured the economic well-being of three state formations - Rus' in the upper reaches, Volga Bulgaria in the middle part and the Khazar Khaganate in the lower reaches of the Volga.

Cities of Kievan Rus and their role in world trade. Transit routes "From the Varangians to the Greeks", "From the Varangians to the Arabs". - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Cities of Kievan Rus and their role in world trade. Transit routes "From the Varangians to the Greeks", "From the Varangians to the Arabs." 2017, 2018.

The land on the site of the Norman city of Birka and the island of Gotland, studied today by archaeologists, are literally stuffed with silver. Tens of thousands of Arabic coins, numerous exotic items have been found here.

Scarce land, fishing and cattle breeding did not allow them to adequately support their families. And the sea, this great water plain, a formidable element, beating waves against the rocky shores, during frequent storms, called to measure the strength of strong Scandinavian men. Norman Vikings, called Russ in Arabic chronicles, rushed not only to the seas, but also walked along whimsical hydrographic, water, lake-river patterns woven deep into the Eurasian continent. Arabs from the Middle East were reaching out to meet them. emerging new civilization and culture were looking for new contacts. In the 9th century, Arab embassies and merchants appeared on the banks of the Volga. The Varangians also come here on nimble ships, which replaced the sea ones, in search of new partners. natural conditions conducive to travel. The small climatic optimum creates excellent opportunities for traveling around river systems. The increase in snowiness of winters in the IX-XII centuries. increases the height of the flood on the rivers, which makes it possible to get along small watercourses to the very watersheds and “roll” ships through them to other river systems.

Before Staraya Ladoga Viking Varangians, they are also Normans, reach the full-flowing Neva and Lake Ladoga. Here, a few kilometers from the lake, is the city of the Varangian Rus, discovered by archaeologists. The settlement was surrounded by ramparts. Under the foundations of log houses, archaeologists have found a bronze brooch, bone figurines for the game, a bronze box for needles and a dandy's shoes with triangular heels. All products are of Scandinavian origin. The found cane was covered with runic inscriptions. They turned out to be love poems composed by Scandinavian bards in an ornate manner. Consequently, the Russian merchants were not only literate, but were also not alien to a high poetic style. In anticipation of the continuation of the journey, the merchants did not get bored, especially since, in addition to furs and magnificent weapons, they were certainly accompanied by pretty girls and slaves, who were sold in the slave markets of the East. Transshipment and sorting station - that's what the city on Ladoga was in the 9th-10th centuries.

While goods were being loaded from sea ​​ships on river boats, merchants made donations and asked for divine protection in trade transactions. During excavations ancient settlement near Staraya Ladoga, the remains of a small wooden structure were found, inside of which there was a large wooden statue of one of the deities of the Scandinavian pantheon. In front of the idol resembling a warrior, there was a hearth with charred bones of animals, birds and fish - obvious traces of sacrifice. So they thanked and cajoled their formidable gods.

Having reloaded goods and slaves on shallow-draft vessels, resembling canoes in appearance (the largest of them was up to 6-7 meters long and up to 3 meters wide), asking for a good journey and good luck, the Vikings set off along rivers, lakes, through swampy watersheds to the Volga and further to the Middle East.
The water road from Ladoga went along the rivers Syas and Mologa to the great Volga. Below the confluence of the Kama, they made a stop in Bulgar - an ancient trade center.

In the description of Ibn-Fadlan, the Baghdad secretary of the ambassador, who spent about a year in Bulgar in 922, it is said that upon arrival, the Viking merchants built large wooden houses on the shore. In each of these houses, 10-20 people gathered, sometimes more, sometimes less. Each was assigned a bench, where the merchants settled down with their invariably accompanying pretty girls.
From the notes of Ibn Fadlan, the rite of worship of the gods of the Rus is known. Falling down before the holy wooden idol, surrounded by small sculptures, the merchant began a prayer: “O almighty God! I arrived from afar with many slaves and sables. Please accept my offerings!" After such an appeal, they laid out before wooden sculpture God's bread, meat, onions, milk, beer. This was followed by a continuation-request: "Send me a merchant who has a lot of money, who will buy my goods without bargaining and will not argue with me." With the successful completion of the journey, sheep and cattle were sacrificed to the same idol on the way back with the words: "God fulfilled my desires, I am obliged to reward him." Expressing gratitude, the merchant left a piece of meat in front of the shrine, and the rest was distributed to the poor.
Ali al-Masudi, a native of Baghdad, who lived in the first half of the 10th century. and who collected a huge amount of material about the peoples of the world known to the Arabs, reports on the campaign of the Rus to the Caspian Sea in 912-913: “About 500 ships, of which 100 people each ... reached the Khazar (Caspian) Sea ... all sides."
In the 10th century, Abu Ali ibn-Ruste reports about the Rus in the great work “Dear Values”: “The Rus live on an island among lakes. This island occupies the space of three days' journey. It is covered with forests and swamps. They raid the Slavs: they approach them on boats, land, take them prisoner, take them to Khazaria and Bulgaria and sell them there. They have no arable land and they feed on what they bring from the land of the Slavs ... Their only trade is the trade ... in furs. They dress untidy, their men wear gold bracelets. Slaves are treated well. They have many cities and live in open spaces. They are tall, prominent and courageous people, but they show this courage not on horseback - they make all their raids and campaigns on ships. (Quoted from the book: I.P. Magidovich, V.I. Magidovich “Essays on the history of geographical discoveries.”—V.1, M., Enlightenment, 1982).

On the way to the Arabs, who controlled trade routes from east to west, including the southern branch of the Silk Road, the Norman Rus fell into the possession of the Khazar Jews. A tribe of Turkic origin, distinguished by great tolerance and high culture, the Khazars kept a very combat-ready army between the Volga and the Caucasus. It was possible to break through further to the south with fights, which was sometimes done by the Norman Varangians, called Russ by Arab chronographs, but it was easier to pay the duty and trade on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Furs: sable, black (silver-brown) fox, ermine, marten - were in great demand. Yes, and beautiful slaves, slender, white-bodied, blue-eyed, fair-haired, aroused admiration and opened purses with gold and silver. And he was always so lacking! Yes, and the swords forged by the craftsmen of the North were exchanged for sharply sharpened Khazar pikes or exchanged for exotic goods of the Silk Road - spices, unusual figurines of unprecedented gods and, of course, silk, weightless, light, protecting from insects that teemed with the dwellings of brave warriors. But silk clothes could only be available to king-leaders, and even then at home, in a distant homeland.
The most adventurous and desperate merchant warriors transferred from light ships to ships of the desert - camels and moved along caravan paths to fabulous Baghdad - the heart of the Arab empire of that time.

The eastern bazaar impressed the northerners not only with the excitement of trade, but also with the abundance of goods "from all over the world." Indian figurines and precious stones flickering with a mysterious fire, porcelain, silk, spices that helped to preserve meat for a long time, jewelry made of gold and silver, carpets ... And all this to the cries of merchants, parting with the goods, as with life, with despair and hope … for a good profit. No travel information yet Far East Russ-Normans, but in Arab capital The Far East and the South came into their own hands. Fluffy skins of ermines, sables and martens - the currencies of the early Middle Ages - went for coins and jewelry without delay. Not without reason, on one of the islands near Stockholm, an elegant statuette of Buddha was discovered, made in Northern India in the 5th century and having traveled 5,000 km in four centuries, becoming a souvenir in a Viking house, as well as a bronze brazier, shaped like a mosque, it decorated and diversified Norman household utensils in Northern Sweden. Material evidence speaks of close contacts between two civilizations and cultures - the Vikings and the Arabs. But the trade crossroads was the Volga, Itil in the ancient treatises, where Arab and Norman merchants first met in Bulgar.