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TheRadimichs (also Radimichi) (Belarusian:Радзiмiчы,Russian:Радимичи,Ukrainian:Радимичі andPolish:Radymicze) were anEast Slavic tribe of the last several centuries of the 1st millennium, which inhabited upper east parts of theDnieper down theSozh and its tributaries. The name probably derives from the name of the forefather of the tribe - Radim. According to Russian chronicle tradition, "... but there were Radimichs from theLechites family, who came and settled here and paid tribute toRus, and the wagon was carried to the present day" (awagon is a type of tax for the right to have one's own prince). However, in the scientific literature, there is no consensus on the ethnicity of the Radimichs. Archaeological evidence indicates that this tribal association had a mixed Slavic- Baltic origin.
The Radimichs lived in the interfluve of the upper Dnieper and Desna rivers along the Sozh and its tributaries (the south ofVitebsk, the east of theMogilev andGomel regions of modernBelarus, the west of theBryansk and south-west of theSmolensk regions of modernRussia. Written evidence on Radimichi falls on the period from 885 to 1169.
The lands of the Radimichs were conveniently connected with the central regions of theKievan Rus by waterway. In the 11th and 12th centuries, the Radimichs had a few known cities: Gomey (today'sHomel) andChechersk on theSozh river,Vshchizh on theDesna River, Vorobyin, Ropeysk, Starodub, and others. Seven-beam temporaljewelry made ofbronze orsilver represent a specificethnic trait of the Radimichs of the 9th - 11th centuries.
There is little information on the Radimichs. According toNestor the Chronicler, the tribe of Radimichs "sprang from theLyakhs" or after the conquest byVladimir the Great became part of the race ofLyakhs (Lendians) and used to live in areas of Sozh river. According to tradition recorded by Nestor, their name derives from the name of the forefather of the tribe, Radim, who was one of the Lyakh brothers, other being Vyatko from whom emergedVyatichi.[1]
Historians know that in the middle of the 9th century they were paying tribute to theKhazars. In 885, the Radimichs were conquered byPrinceOleg of Novgorod and became part ofKievan Rus. In 907, the Radimichs are mentioned as a part of Oleg's army inhis military campaign againstByzantine Empire. In 984, the Radimichs tried to break away from the Kievan Rus, but were defeated on thePischan River by Vladimir the Great'scommander Volchiy Khvost ("Wolf's Tail").[1] Since then, there had been no mentioning of the tribe in thechronicles. They continued living on their land, gradually assimilating with neighboring tribes and peoples and forming theBelarusian nationality. Subsequently, the lands of the Radimichs became a part of theChernihiv andSmolensk principalities.
In thePrimary Chronicle, it is recorded that the Radimichs, Vyatichi, andSeverians "had the same customs", all lived violent lifestyles, "burned their dead and preserved the ashes in urns set upon posts beside the highways", and they did not entermonogamous marriages but practicedpolygamy, specificallypolygyny, instead.[1][2]
The Radimichs were last mentioned in a chronicle in 1169.
The Tale of Bygone Years tells about the Lechites origin of the Radimichi: “…radimichi bo… from the Lechites” and “The former Radimichi from theLechites family; before that, you are all-powerful, and pay tribute to Russia ”.[3] These words of the chronicler had a great influence on many researchers.Medieval Polish chroniclers -Jan Długosz,Maciej Stryjkowski and others, as well as historians of the 18th and 19th centuries unconditionally recognized thePolish origin of the Radimichi.
Aleksey Shakhmatov tried to support the annalistic report about theLechites origin of the Radimichi withlinguistic data, referring to the fact that the Radimichi region now belongs to the territory ofBelarusian language, in which there are many coincidences with the Polish.[4]
HoweverYefim Karsky spoke out against the theory of the Lechites origin of the Radimichi, showing the independent development of those features of the Belarusian language that bring it closer to the Polish.[5] According to Karsky, the chronicle of the Lyash origin of the Radimichi does not indicate that they were a Lyash tribe, but that they moved toSozh from more western regions, where they neighbored with the Lyash tribes. This opinion was also supported byLubor Niederle, who considered the basins ofBug andNareva.[6]
Repeated attempts were made to determine the area from which the Radimichi came to Sozh by mappingtoponyms with the baserad-. However, such toponyms, apparently, come fromanthroponymRadim, distributed over a much larger territory than the defined regions.
On the basis of hydronymics data, it was possible to establish some similarity between thehydronyms of Sozh area and the hydronyms of a small section of the Upper Dniester region that, according to some historians, is the area from which the Radimichi moved to the Sozh basin.[7]
The connection between the Radimichi and the pre-Radimichi population of Sozh area, observed both in objects of material culture and inrites, suggests that the newcomer Slavs felt the influence of the Baltic population here. It is also possible to make an assumption about the small number of alien Slavs.
Vyacheslav Ivanov andVladimir Toporov compared the basis of the ethnonymRadimichi with the Iranian Scythian stemradam- from the Iranianfratama- <*pratama- "first", used in the Scythian royal names ('Radam-furt-,Radam-sad-,Radam-as-,Radam-mizda-, etc.).[8]Georgy Vernadsky derived the nameradimichi fromOssetian:rad - "order", "line",Ossetian:radomun, radĕmun - "to subdue", "to conquer".[9]Georgy Khaburgaev, [ru] believed that the term "radimichi" was formed from the historically earlier name of the Baltic ethnic community, which was Slavicized by the 9th-10th centuries.[10]
The chronicle tells about the origin of the Radimichi from the legendary personRadima: “... Radimichi Bo and Vyatichi from the Poles. For 2 brothers in laces, Radim, and the other Vyatko, and the gray-haired Radim came to Szhya, and was called Radimichi ... ”.[11] Some modern authors believe that this legend reflects thebiblical worldview of the author rather than a real historical fact.[12]
This article includes content derived from theGreat Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969–1978, which is partially in thepublic domain.
