European Russia,c.500–c.1050

Abstract

Histories of European Russia during the early medieval era normally focus upon the origins and development of the Rus' state centred at Kiev. Politically, it ignores the Byzantine Crimea, the Khazar khaganate, and the Volga Bulgar amirate, the non-Rus' states which existed in European Russia after 500 AD The peoples of European Russia inhabited five different geographic-economic zones during the early middle ages. The Khazars are also famous for the conversion of their ruling elite to Judaism, an event which probably took place in the early ninth century. In the aftermath of the Hunnic invasion, various Turkic peoples known as Bulgars entered the south Russian steppe from Kazakhstan. The Volga Bulgar amirate suddenly emerged from obscurity in the early tenth century. The origins and development of the Kievan state constitute the most contentious topic in medieval Rus' history.