who are the russians? where did they come from and who are the natives of what is today known as russia?

Question

I suspect they killed / conquered many central asians (like Kazakhs)?

Over what time period did this happen? How closely related are the more eastern peoples of russia like estonians?

Answer 1

"Early ancestors of the Russians were East Slavic tribes who migrated to the East European Plain in the early middle ages. Most prominent Slavic tribes in the area of modern European Russia included Vyatichs, Krivichs, Radimichs, Severians and Ilmen Slavs. By the 11th century East Slavs assimilited Finno-Ugric tribes Merya and Muroma and Baltic tribe Eastern Galindae who also used to populate the same area (modern Central Russia)."

"Ethnic Russians known as Great Russians (as oppose to White Russians and Little Russians) began to be recognized as a distinct ethnic group in the 15th century, when they were referred to as Muscovite Russians, during the consolidation of Muscovy Tsardom as a regional power. Between 12th and 16th century Russians known as Pomors migrated to Northern Russia and settled White Sea coasts. As a result of the migrations and Russian conquests (following liberation from the Mongol Golden Horde domination) during 15th-16th centuries Russians settled the Volga, Urals and Northern Caucasus regions. Between 17th and 19th centuries Russian migrants settled the vast sparsely inhabited areas in Siberia and Russian Far East. A major role in these territorial expansions and migrations was played by the Russian Cossacks."

"According to most ethnologists ethnic Russians originated from the earlier Rus' people (East Slavs of Kievan Rus), and gradually evolved into a different ethnicity from the western Rus people who became the modern-day Belarusians and Ukrainians. Between 15th and 18th centuries modern Russian language gradually developed from the Old East Slavic and Church Slavonic languages. Some ethnologists maintain that Russians were a distinct Slavic group even before the time of Kievan Rus. Others believe that the distinguishing feature of the Russians is not primarily their separation from Western Rus, but that ethnic Russians are a mix of East Slavic and non-Slavic (for example Finno-Ugric, Germanic, and Baltic) tribes. However, the origin of the Slavic peoples is itself a matter on which there is no consensus."

"Russians : Emergence of Russian ethnicity" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russians#Emergence_of_Russian_ethnicity

"Rus’ (Русь, [rusʲ]) was a medieval East Slavic nation, which, according to the most popular but by no means the only theory, may have taken its name from a ruling warrior class, possibly, with Scandinavian roots. The Slavic Rus’ people were the historical predecessors of modern Belarusians, Russians, and Ukrainians. The name of the Rus’ survived in the cognates Russians, Belarusians, Rusyns, and Ruthenians."

"The origins of the Rus as the warrior class are controversial. Whereas most Western historians hold to the Normanist theory, many Slavic scholars take strong exception to it and attempt to discover alternative origins. Some take the view that the word Rus was not ethnically specific, but rather, like Viking in the west or Varangian in the east, designated an occupation ("merchant/raider/mercenary"). These occupations were filled mostly by Norsemen at first and Slavs later on."

"Ultimately at stake in this controversy are culture and heritage. The question is whether East Slavic civilization owes an element of its cultural origin to the Scandinavian rulers of the 9th – 11th centuries, as implied by the Normanist theory, or whether that heritage may be attributed exclusively to the Slavs, as the Slavists would have it."

"Rus'" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rus%27_%28people%29

"In Old East Slavic literature, the East Slavs refer to themselves as "[muzhi] ruskie" ("Rus men") or, rarely, "rusichi." The East Slavs are thought to have adopted this name from the Varangian elite, which was first mentioned in the 830s in the Annals of Saint Bertan. The Annals recount that Holy Roman Emperor Louis II's court at Ingelheim, in 839 (the same year as the first appearance of Varangians in Constantinople), was visited by a delegation from the Byzantine emperor. The delegates included two men who called themselves "Rhos" ("Rhos vocari dicebant"). Louis inquired about their origins and learned that they were Swedes. Fearing that they were spies for their brothers, the Danes, he incarcerated them. They were also mentioned in the 860s by Byzantine Patriarch Photius under the name, "Rhos." "

"Rusiyyah was used by Ibn Fadlan for Varangians near Astrakhan, and by the Persian traveler Ibn Rustah who visited Novgorod and described how the Rus' exploited the Slavs."

"Etymology of Rus and derivatives : Early evidence" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_Rus_and_derivatives#Early_evidence

"Relatively little is known about the East Slavs prior to approximately 859 AD, the date from which the account in the Primary Chronicle starts. The reasons are the apparent absence of a written language (Cyrillic script, created about 863 was specifically for Slavic adoption) and the remoteness of East Slavic lands. What little is known comes from archaeological digs, foreign traveller accounts of the Rus land, and linguistic comparative analyses of Slavic languages."

"Except for the apocryphal Book of Veles, very few native Russian documents, dating before the 11th century (none ante-dating the 9th century) have been discovered. The earliest major manuscript with information on Rus' history is the Primary Chronicle, written in the late 11th and early 12th centuries."

"There is no consensus among scholars as to the urheimat of the Slavs. In the first millennium AD, Slavic settlers are likely to have been in contact with other ethnic groups who moved across the East European Plain during the Migration Period. Between the first and ninth centuries, the Sarmatians, Goths, nomadic Huns, Alans, Avars, Bulgars, and Magyars passed through the Pontic steppe in their westward migrations. Although some of them could have subjugated the region's Slavs, these foreign tribes left little trace in the Slavic lands. The Early Middle Ages also saw Slavic expansion as an agriculturist and beekeeper, hunter, fisher, herder, and trapper people. By the 8th century, the Slavs were the dominant ethnic group on the East European Plain."

"By 600 AD, the Slavs had split linguistically into southern, western, and eastern branches. The East Slavs flooded Eastern Europe in two streams. One group of tribes settled along the Dnieper river in what is now Ukraine; they then spread northward to the northern Volga valley, east of modern-day Moscow and westward to the basins of the northern Dniester and the Southern Buh rivers in present-day Moldova and southern Ukraine."

"Another group of East Slavs moved from Pomerania to the northeast, where they encountered the Varangians of the Rus' Khaganate and established an important regional centre of Novgorod. The same Slavic population also settled the present-day Tver Oblast and the region of Beloozero. Having reached the lands of the Merya near Rostov, they linked up with the Dnieper group of Slavic migrants."

"East Slavs" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Slavs

"The Varangians or Varyags (Russian, Ukrainian : Варяги, Varyagi) were Scandinavians who migrated eastwards and southwards through what is now Russia in the 9th and 10th centuries. Engaging in trade, piracy and mercenary activities, they roamed the river systems and portages of Gardariki, reaching the Caspian Sea and Constantinople.[1] By the most common opinion, their name came from Old Norse Væringjar, which may have come from the Old Norse plural noun várar = "pledge, troth". The East Slavs and the Byzantines did not distinguish Scandinavians from other Germanic peoples when they used this term. In the Primary Chronicle, this term includes people from Scandinavian countries and England which had many Scandinavian settlements at this time."

"Having settled Aldeigja (Ladoga) in the 750s, Scandinavian colonists were probably an element in the early ethnogenesis of the Rus' people, and likely played a role in the formation of the Rus' Khaganate. The Varangians (Varyags, in Old East Slavic) are first mentioned by the Primary Chronicle as having exacted tribute from the Slavic and Finnic tribes in 859. It was the time of rapid expansion of the Vikings in Northern Europe."

"Varangians" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varangians

Answer 2

Russians People

Answer 3

I have no idea who were the original inhabitants of the area now called Russia. It has been invaded many times both from the East and the West. Go to your library and get an introductory text on Russian history. Since that is a long period in history, you could probably end your studies with Peter the Great. If this is an assignment due soon, then have fun as a year history course at the university level will only scratch the surface on this topic.

Answer 4

Slavs, Scandinavians, Germanic tribes, Mongols, Chinese, Huns, and a few others I think. I'm not sure, but I think the Kazakhs were aborbed into the Russian peoples. I hope this helps a bit, though find a book on the peoples of the steppes (Russia is mainly that) and it should be able to tell you more.

It took place over centuries of warfare and such.

Answer 5

Russians weren't slavs. In fact they were the complete opposite. The rusini (russians) hated the slavs (ukees polaks)