Volhynians

rdf:langString Volhynians

rdf:langString The Volhynians (Ukrainian: Волиняни, Volyniany, Polish: Wołynianie) were an East Slavic tribe of the Early Middle Ages and the Principality of Volhynia in 987–1199. Among many East Slavic Tribes, the Volhynians are mentioned in the Primary Chronicle and lived along the Bug river in the region of Volhynia, that covered present-day sections of eastern Poland, western Ukraine and southern Belarus. Ukrainians today draw their ancestry from the Volhynian people and the Kievan Rus' at large. According to the information from the chronicle, it is considered that the Volhynians are descendants of the Dulebes and Buzhans. According to the tradition recorded by Al-Masudi and Abraham ben Jacob, in ancient times the Walitābā and their king Mājik, which some read as Walīnānā and identified with the Volhynians, were "the original, pure-blooded Saqaliba, the most highly honoured" and dominated the rest of the Slavic tribes, but due to "dissent" their "original organization was destroyed" and "the people divided into factions, each of them ruled by their own king", implying existence of a Slavic federation which perished after the attack of the Avars. In the late 11th Century Kievan rule fell into decline after the death of Yaroslav the Wise and Volhynia, as one portion of a fragmented Kievan Rus', shifted into an aristocratic rule in which the territory was controlled by Boyars. In 1146, Volhynia reverted to a patriarchal succession state when Iziaslav Mstislavich decided his son would take the throne, rather than continue allowing the Kievan prince or an associate of the prince to control the principality. Their main cities were Volyn' and Volodymyr. According to archeological studies, the Volhynians had well-developed agriculture and various handicrafts such as blacksmithing, casting, and pottery.In addition, trade routes used by the Varangians to access Constantinople served as the foundation for a foreign trade economy In 981 prince Vladimir the Great subjugated the Volhynians under Kievan Rus'.The Volhynians were Christianized into Eastern Orthodoxy by Vladimir the Great in his work to modernize the Kievan Rus' state. Both previously and well after the Christianization of the East Slavs, the Volhynians practiced pagan and animalistic rituals despite Vladimir's decree. At the end of the 10th century, the principality of Volodymyr gained dominion over the lands of Volhynians, and later Roman the Great conquered Halych to create the principality of Galica-Volhynia.