Vyatichi

The Vyatichi were the first Slavic tribe to appear in the basin of the Oka, in its upper reaches. They were probably also the first Slavs to become neighbours of the proto-Nizhny Novgorodians — the Erzya, who in historical times occupied the right bank of the Oka from Staraya Ryazan (Erzyan) to its mouth.

The origin of the tribe

An analysis of the chorographic names of the Murom land imperceptibly draws us into the bounds of the Tula, Oryol and Kaluga governorates, as we follow the Oka upstream; and so, little by little and unnoticed, we reach the land of the Vyatichi. The Vyatichi were Slavs; they and their close kinsmen, the Radimichi, were the last of the Slavs to arrive within the inner regions of the East European Plain. While the Polans, the Drevlyans and other Slavic tribes had, through the remoteness of those events, entirely lost the traditions of their own migration, the Radimichi and the Vyatichi in the days of the chronicler Nestor not only remembered their homeland in the west, but even named the forefathers who had led them to their new lands.

For there were two brothers in the forests: Radim, and the other Vyatko; and having come, they settled, Radim on the Sozh, and they were called the Radimichi, while Vyatko settled with his kin along the Oka, and from him they were called the Vyatichi

Leybov., p. 9

Geography and landscape of the upper Oka

The country to which the Vyatichi came from the shores of the Baltic Sea was at that time, in the opinion of Prof. Braun, an utterly wild land, abounding in vast expanses of dense forest, the memory of which still lives in folk recollections and in songs that celebrate the famous "Bryn forests" (Bryn is a village in Zhizdra uyezd of Kaluga governorate), and in the numerous names of towns, villages and hamlets of the Kaluga and Tula governorates that express the notion of forest: Borovsk, Chern, Norki, Boryatino, Borovenka, Borovna, Podporki, Dubenki, Dubno, Sosnovka, Ramenye and so on. Impenetrable thickets and full-flowing rivers cut across this land in every direction; in its south-western part, moss and peat bogs and quagmires stretched over a great expanse.

Plots convenient for agriculture and free of forest, that is fields, were evidently few, although this hilly plain (part of the Alaunian Upland) is distinguished over a large extent by grain-bearing soil, while its south-eastern half already belongs to the black-earth belt. The shortage of fields was more than made up for by the abundance of game of every kind and of fish. Hunting not only provided the means of subsistence, as it did in the Ryazan country, but also made it possible to carry on a brisk trade in furs.

Finno-Ugric peoples on the upper Oka

The Vyatichi were not the first inhabitants of the upper Oka; they found the land already occupied by a non-Slavic population: along the banks of the Oka and its right-hand tributaries Finnic peoples were already settled. Traces of the long presence of Finnic tribes here have been preserved in numerous names of rivers, lakes, settlements and localities. Among these names, alien to the Russian language, two extensive groups are clearly distinguished: the Mordvin and the Merya; and besides these there is a group of names whose origin has so far resisted every effort at explanation.

But first let us note those names that stand quite apart and are explained from the Finno-Ugric languages, for example the rivers:

Proshva (from porot — kindness + uve river) — Kind River. Bolva (from boll — shoal, isthmus + uve) — River rich in isthmuses and shoals. Nekisva (from nyukys — plain, valley + va — stream, water) — Plain River. Nigva (from nyuk — crooked + va) — Crooked River. Rosva (from ros — broom + va) — Broom River. Other rivers are sometimes satisfactorily explained from the Cheremis language, for example: Nara (from nare — near, close) — The Near One. Lyudema (from lyudam — I am afraid) — The Timid One.

List of names of Merya origin

Leaving the purely Erzya element in the chorographic names of Kaluga governorate for the appendix, let us dwell on the Merya ones.

The Merinovka rivulet and the village of Merinovo (Maloyaroslavets uyezd) are easily explained from mari — a Meryan; the Merlovka rivulet (Medyn uyezd) comes from the adjective marle — Meryan, the village of Merenishchi (Kozelsk uyezd) and the hamlet of Merenishcheva (Peremyshl uyezd) — from mereng — hare, the hamlet of Mertvel (Zhizdra uyezd) — from mari + tu ved — the Merya on the far side, and Merkonichi — from mari + konchemo (a lookout place) — the Meryan lookout.

Without exhausting the whole wealth of the chorographic nomenclature, let us dwell on a few settlements:

Yerdenevo, Maloyar. 1836 (from yer — lake + dene — by, near) — Lakeside.
Kondrovo, Med. 2025 (from kandra — rope) — Ropeville. Mezhmerovo, Med. 2151 (from mezh — fur, sheepskin + mari) — the Sheepskin Merya, Furrierville.
The Serena rivulet, Kozelsk uyezd (from sheram — I turn hay) — Hayturnovka.
Kurnashevo, Koz. 1105 (from kurnuzh — hawk) — Hawkovo. Boldyrevo, Koz. 1218 (from puldyr — partridge) — Partridge-ville.
Pakom, Koz. 1300 (from pakma — a sluggish horse, a nag) — Nag.
Nemerski, Meshchovsk uyezd 2593 (from nemer — porridge) — Porridgin.
Malomakhova, Borovsk uyezd 557 (from malam — I rest + ak — a particle denoting place) — Resting place.
Chibyshi, Mosalsk 3584 (present participle chibyio from chibem — I snap my fingers) — Snappers.
Shui, Mosalsk uyezd 3295 (from shui — quiet, slow) — Quietov.
Sulikhova, Mos. 3136 (from sulyk — sin) — Sinova.
Pereksha, Mos. 3014 (from perke — profit, increase) — Profitable, Abundant.
Spas Pereksha, Mos. ibid. — Spas of the Increase.
Poloshevo, Likhvin uyezd 1597 (from polshem — I help)
Poloshkova, -ovo, Kozelsk 1333 and 1096 — Helpovo
Zheremino, Likhvin 1438 (from sheram — I comb, I turn hay) — Combovo, Hayturnovo.
The Myshiga rivulet and settlement, Tarusa uyezd 4024 (from muksh — bee + iga — swarm) — Swarm River.
Pilyakina, Mos. 3237 (from pilyak — gift, grant) — Granted.

Concerning the name Merenishchi let us note that in its structure it corresponds to the words gorodishche, monastyrishche, selishche, dvorishche, and denotes an abandoned site of settlement, uninhabited and desolate. The Merenishche tract is known near the village of Kolchino, Zhizdra uyezd, where there are many burial mounds in which, when the land was ploughed up, human bones, ashes, charcoal and ancient weapons were found.

Going up the Oka, from Kaluga governorate into Tula, we find here a long series of settlements with Meryan names:

Vtiri, Odoyev 2241 (from vin — five + ur — squirrel) — Fivesquirrelovo.
Yelashkino, Chern 3870 (from yolash — trousers) — Trouserovo.
Yerino, Chern 3613 (from yer — lake) — Lakeside.
Yesyukovo, Kashira 2265 (from eksyuk — forest spirit, wood goblin) — Goblinovo.
Ishkovo, Chern 3602 (from ishky — wedge) — Wedge.
Karachevo, Epifan 1633, Odoyev 3501 (from karych — corncrake, landrail) — Corncrakevo, Landrailovo.
Kineyevo, Aleksin 599 (from kinya — hemp) — Hempovo.
Kishina, Epifan 1643 (from kish — pitch) — Pitchnaya.
Kindyakovo, Kashira 2364 (from kinde — bread) — Breadnikovo
Kokurina, Odoyev 3343 and 3367 (from kok — two + ur — squirrel) — Twosquirrelina.
Kubashevo, Bogoroditsk 783 (from kuba+sy — of an old woman) — Old-womanovo.
The Kugushevo hamlets, Efremov 1926 (from kugush — a headman, a big man) — the Bigman hamlets.
Kudashevka, Aleksin 721 (from kudasham — I undress)
Kudashevo, Epifan 1674 and 1688 # - Undressovka, Undressovo.
Kudinovo, Chern 3570 (gen. case of kudo — hut, shanty) — Hutville.
Kurakino, Bogoroditsk 814. \ (from korak — raven) - Ravenovo, the Kurakino hamlets I the Raven hamlets. Bogoroditsk 825, Epifan 2178.
Kurakovo, Tula 361, Belev 1091.
Kurmyshki, Venev 1433 (from kurmyzh — handful) — Little handfuls.
Kurulovka, Tula 13 and 227 (from kuralam — I plough) — Ploughland.
Kutukovo, Kashira 2267 (from kutuk — long) — Longville. Labadino, Tula 152 (from lebedam — I cover) — Coverovo.
Lavrino, Aleksin 444 (from lavra — mud) — Mudovo.
Ledovo, Kashira 2248, 2257, 2392, 2593 (from ludo, lodo — trap, a self-catching snare for beast and bird) — Snareville, *Trap.
The Ledovo hamlets, Kashira 2248
Lidinka, Bogoroditsk 941, 955 Lid, Kashira 2254
Melyn, Novosil 3032 (from mel — a pattern on a dress, embroidery) — Patterned.
Merlinovka, Aleksin 60811 (from mar(i) + le — Meryan) — Meryan.
Mizinevka, Krapivna 2864 (from muzy — hazel grouse) — Grousevo.
Mordez, Venev 1511, Kashira 2496 (from mardezh — wind) — Windmill.
Myzovka, Tula 142, Epifan 1800. See Mizenevka above. Nemerino, Kashira 2493 (from nemer — porridge) — Porridgino.
Purlovo, Kashira 2587 (from purlam — I bite off) — Bitovo.
Rydomo, Aleksin 637, and perhaps also Rydan, Venev 1496 (from rudem — I untie) — Untyings.
Sasova, -vo, Tula 105. Venev 1535 (from sasi — sparrow) — Sparrowovo.
Sandari, Epifan 1743 (from sundyr — sleeping platform, or from Moksha sandyr — cartilage) — Sleeping platforms, Cartilages.
Somolkovo the greater, Belev 1154, — the lesser, Belev 1155 (from somyl — toil, work) — Workville.
Sotino, Aleksin 504 (from sot — light) — Lightovo.
Subochevo, Novosil 3021 (from shobocho — kerchief) — Kerchiefovo.
Tabola or Tabolo. Epifan 1657, 1658, 1659, 1664, 1834 (from tobolem — I defend) — Defence.
Tormino, Tula 90 (from tyrma — harrow) — Harrowovo.
Temryan, Bil. 1086. (from tumer — oak wood) - Oakville,
Timerevo, Tula 249. I Oakwood.
Tolsha, Kashira 2261 (participle of tolem — I go robbing) — Robbers’.
Talyzino, Venev 1355 (from talezh — swift) - Swiftovo.
Trasna, Krapivna 2804, Novosil 3036, 3270; Chern 3772; Tras-aya, Novosil 3216 (from tra — ladybird, adj. *trasy) — Ladybird.
Ukhtomka, Epifan 1836 (from uktemo — watering place) — Wateringplace.
Shebacheyevo, Kashira 2313 (from shobycho — kerchief) — Kerchiefovo.
Shimurikha, Aleksin 598 (from sheme, shimo — black + ur — squirrel) — Blacksquirrelovo.
Shondrovo, Krapivna 2848 (from shun, shon — clay + dur — edge, side) — Clay pit.

A list of names of Erzya and Moksha origin

The Mordvin element in the geographical names of Tula governorate is likewise noticeable to a considerable degree.

Azarovka, Aleksin 528, 571. Odoyev 3494 (from Erzya azar — evil) — Evilville.
Alaykovo, Odoyev 3277 (from Erzya alyay — elder brother-in-law) — Brother-in-lawovo.
Alonino, Aleksin 589 (from Erzya alon — lower) — Lower.
Arana, Belev 1199 (from Moksha aran — to change, to be transformed) — Changeable.
Vashany, Tula 59 (from Erzya vashe, Moksha vashena — foal) — Foals.

Velegovshi, Aleksin 488 (from Erzya velga — top, covering) — Coverings.
Velmino, Epifan 1603 (from Erzya velmams — I recover) — Healthovo.
Venev, uyezd town, and Venevka 1332, Venev Monastery, Tula 208 (from Erzya venems — to straighten, to stretch out) — Straightov.
Vergino, Epifan 1878, Odoyev 3434 and 3504 (from Erzya vergedems — to shine) — Lightovo
Donok, Novosil 3115, Donok Ulyaninsky, Novosil 3116, Donskaya, Epifan 1747 (from Erzya don — river mouth) — Mouth.
Yelagina, -to, Efremov 2021, Novosil 3176, Odoyev 3454. Chern 3873 (from Erzya-Moksha yalga — comrade, friend) — Friendova.
Inshinka, Tula 357, — lower, Tula 332, — upper, Tula 333, — on the Upa 346; Inshino, Aleksin 754 and 565 (from Erzya inzhe — guest) — Guestovka, Guestovo.
Kalganovka, Novosil 2958 (hardly from kalgan — a medicinal root, rather from Erzya kolgan — skull, head, or Moksha kalga — hemp shives) — Skullovka, Shivenaya.
Kashira, uyezd town, anciently Koshira (from Erzya-Moksha kosharoms — I compel, I insist) — Compelled.
Kasimovo, Odoyev 3375, — vo the lesser, Odoyev 3376 (from Moksha kasyma — homeland, Erzya kasoms — I grow) — Native.
Kozyakovo, Kashira 2549 (from Erzya koz — cough) — Coughovo.
Konduki, Epifan 1567 (from Erzya kandyka — a small wooden bowl) — Bowls.
Kormanye, Belev 1095 (from Erzya karman — to begin) — Beginning.
Kochaki, Krapivna 2784 (from Erzya kochoms — I peck) — Peckovo.
Kundusovo, Kashira 2354 (from Erzya kundams — I catch, I hunt)— Catcherovo.
Kurkino, Efremov 217.) (from Erzya kurka — stork, turkey) - Turkeyovo.
Kutma, Krapivna 2703 (from Erzya kutyams — I tickle) — Tickler.
Lamonovo, Belev 1103, Belev 1420, Kashira 2602; — upper, Aleksin 497, — lower, Aleksin 495 (from Erzya lamo — numerous, populous) — Populous.
Odoyev, uyezd town (from Erzya od, Moksha odu — young, new) — New.
Ponarina, -ino, Krapivna 2794, Novosil ЗОН (from ponar — shirt) — Shirtova.
Ptan, Efremov 2219, 2233, 2234; - upper 2221, 2224, 2240; — lower 2218; — of the Strakhovs 2223 (from Erzya putan, Moksha pytan — to plant, to set) — Planterova.
Purgasovka, Bogoroditsk 1050 (from the proper name Purgas, derived from Moksha purgan — to splash) — Splashovka.
Salasovka, Bogoroditsk 778, — hamlets, Bogoroditsk 779 (from Erzya-Moksha salams — I steal) — Thievish.
Salomatovka, Epifan 1656 (from Erzya salamo, Moksha soloma — theft) — Thievish.
Selyuma, Tula 57 (from Erzya selme — eye, better from sel (the short form) + uma — a field plot, a share) — Round glade.
Sizenevo, Odoyev 3519, Chern 3665 (from Erzya sizems — to grow weary) — Weary.
Sindeyevo, Chern 3619 (from Erzya sindeme — I break) — Breakayevo, Breakovo.
Solomasovo, Aleksin 462, Krapivna 2792 (either from Erzya salams — I steal, or from solams — I crumble, I waste away) — Thievovo, Crumbly.
Sury, Krapivna 2928; Novosil 3199, — upper, Krapivna 2899, — lower 2900 (from Erzya sur — finger, or Moksha sura — millet, or Cheremis sura — lock) — Fingers, Millet; Lock.
Taratukhina, Belev 1125 (from Moksha tarat, Erzya tarada — shoot, twig, branch) — Twigova, Branch.
Tula, governorate town (hardly from Cheremis and Mordvin tul — fire, bonfire, but rather from Erzya tulo — wedge, stake, Moksha tula — bushing) — Wedge.
The Chegodayevo homesteads, Tula 409 (from Erzya chukadoms — to knock, to push) — the Tolkachevo homesteads.

It should not be supposed that the list given exhausts all the material relating to Meryan chorographic names within Kaluga and Tula governorates. It is in the highest degree curious that the river Tureya, on which the town of Meshchovsk stands, was in antiquity called Mereya. In the Book of the Great Chart we read: “And into the river Serena there fell the river Mereya, and on the Mereya stands Meshchovsk”.

The town of Meshchovsk itself is called in ancient charters Mezchesk, Meshchosk, Mezetsk, and this name can already be explained from the Meryan language (mezh + chi = furrier, fur-coat maker). The results of archaeological excavations within Kaluga governorate have, as was to be expected, fully confirmed the evidence of the geographical nomenclature. Over the past decade the local student of antiquity N. I. Bulychev undertook systematic excavations in Meshchovsk and Mosalsk uyezds, and it turned out that the objects he obtained are in their type very close to those found by Count Uvarov and other archaeologists in the centre of the Meryan settlements of the Rostov-Suzdal region.

The Baltic tribe of the Galindians on the upper Oka

The Merya were not the only inhabitants of the land in which the Vyatichi established themselves: within the bounds of the present Kaluga governorate, and partly in Moscow governorate, there lived in the same epoch, along the river Oka, the Baltic people of the Galindians. “In the year 6566 (1058) Izyaslav defeated the Golyad” (Leybov., pp. 136—137), says the Primary Chronicle.

“In the year 6655 (1147),” the Hypatian Chronicle relates, “Yury sent word to Svyatoslav, bidding him make war on the Smolensk volost; and Svyatoslav went and took the people of the Golyad at the head of the Protva, and thus Svyatoslav’s retinue enriched itself with booty”.

The Hypatian Chronicle places the abode of the “Golyad” in the middle of the twelfth century in the upper reaches of the river Protva; it is possible that by this time the territory occupied by the Galindians was indeed limited to that area alone, but originally the Galindians may have occupied a more extensive territory, including the lower reaches of the Protva and the region along the course of the river Ugra and along the river Una; the last name sounds thoroughly Lithuanian. In Meshchovsk uyezd, in the corner formed by the confluence of the Ugra with the Oka, the memory of the Golyad lives to this day; thus, near the hamlet of Chertova people point out a hill on which, according to legend, in olden times there lived a brigand named Golyaga, otherwise Golyada, who possessed immeasurable strength. Near the villages of Svinukhova and Sabelnikova two hills are likewise pointed out — Ulitova and Mordasova, where two brigands lived, the brothers Golyaga, who used to toss an axe to one another across a distance of thirty versts.

The neighbourhood of the Galindians readily explains the fact that in the language of the Merya and of their descendants the Cheremis there proved to be Baltic words, which passed also into certain other Finnic dialects, for example into Erzya. Unfortunately I have had to leave the Lithuanian element in the chorographic names entirely aside, for want of the proper reference works at hand. Pressed by the Vyatichi, the Merya and the Galindians gradually assimilated with them; but there can hardly be any question here of a strong cultural influence on the part of the Vyatichi.

Traditional (pre-Christian) beliefs in the region

The merging of these three elements created that peculiar bouquet of pagan rites and superstitions which is to be observed among the present population of Oryol, Kaluga and Tula governorates and which bears clear traces of Finnic influence. This found especially characteristic expression in the veneration of holy stones that has survived to this day. Over the expanse between the upper reaches of the Desna and the Don there is scattered an enormous quantity of erratic boulders, carried here from the north in the remote glacial epoch.

Some of these stones bear the names of animals: “horse-stone”, “ram-stone”; others have a peculiar nickname — bash and bashikha, as though recalling the Mordvin word paz or pas = “god”; but among the Mordvins such sacred stones, usually enclosed by a special fence, bear the name kardas-syarko. The surrounding population venerates them as sacred objects, and tradition says that in olden times sacrifices were offered upon these stones. In the village of Baniyevo, Odoyev uyezd, the peasants to this day offer their bash-stones sacrifices of money, wool, woollen thread, food and clothing; earth taken from beneath these stones protects cattle from murrain and people from the spells of sorcerers; chips from the stones heal toothache. Not only local inhabitants came to worship the bashi, but also the people of distant villages, women especially. In parallel with this it may be said that among the descendants of the Merya, the Cheremis, the veneration of stones has survived to this day; it likewise flourishes among the Mordvins and the Votyaks, in the most out-of-the-way localities.

Interaction of the Vyatichi with the Finno-Ugrians

The chronicle tells us not a word about the manner in which the Vyatichi occupied the new lands, but even the legends have preserved no memory of any bloody clashes.

To establish for that period any boundaries in this land between the Murom-Merya settlements and the Vyatichi to the W. and N.W., and likewise to delimit this territory from the Erzya settlements to the E., is decidedly impossible; the scattered nature of the Merya names and their isolation in certain cases point only to one thing — that these boundaries were constantly shifting, and always to the detriment of the Finnic population.

The Finnic element apparently held on most stubbornly and longest in the N. part of Zhizdra uyezd and in Meshchovsk uyezd, that is, in the area of the upper reaches of the rr. Bryn, Ryosa and Serena. This is precisely the area where the dense Bryn and Seryonsk forests once stretched; within this area Merya chorographic names are especially frequent, and among the local peasants many beliefs, rites and customs bearing a Finnic colouring have survived to this day. It must be supposed that in the depths of these age-old dense oak forests the Merya population long preserved its language and its tribal peculiarities, and lost them only after independent princely appanages arose in this land.

The Upper Oka under the rule of princes of Viking origin

The establishment of Kievan princely power within the bounds of Kaluga took place no earlier than 1081—1082, when Vladimir Monomakh, having taken the grand-princely throne of Chernigov, made two winter campaigns against the Vyatichi: "against Khodota and his son, and to Kordno I went the first winter". This Khodota was a native prince of the Vyatichi, and the town of Kordno may perhaps be seen in the village of Korna, Mosalsk uyezd; the Merya name of this settlement (kort — road) indicates that this town was occupied by a mixed population of Merya and Vyatichi. After the victory of Vladimir Monomakh the Vyatichi no longer attempted to regain their independence; from this same time begin the attempts to convert them to Christianity.

Christianisation of the region

Here, as in the centre of the Merya settlements — in the Rostov land and Murom (Wikipedia), Christianity met with strong resistance from the Vyatichi and the Merya. From the "Epistle" of Simon, Bishop of Vladimir, to the monk Polycarp we learn that the preacher of Christianity among the Vyatichi was the Venerable Kuksha. This strange name sounds Cheremis: in the Cheremis language there are two words — koksha, meaning one whose head is covered with scabs, scabby, scrofulous, bald, and kuksho, meaning dry, maimed (e.g. kuksho kidan — withered-handed). And indeed Kuksha is usually depicted as a bald old man, with very sparse remnants of hair at the base of the skull. The "Epistle" does not indicate whence Kuksha came to the Kiev Caves Lavra; one can only surmise that he was a native of the Rostov land or of Murom, where Christian preaching had taken place considerably earlier.

Although Kuksha worked many miracles and apparently conducted his preaching quite successfully, the pagans grew embittered against him and put the preacher and his disciple Nikon to a cruel death. This event occurred towards the end of the first half of the 12th century. The memory of Kuksha's martyrdom lives on to this day within the bounds of Kaluga province, and popular tradition even points out the very place where the Venerable Kuksha was killed — it is the bank of the river Serena, near the village of Seryonsk, in Meshchovsk uyezd.

Material by S. K. Kuznetsov (full member of the Society of Archaeology, History and Ethnography at the Imperial Kazan University), from the book "Russian Historical Geography", 1910.

An interesting fact

The Oka tribe of the Vyatichi, who together with the Merya, the Galindians, the Meshchera and the Erzya became the ancestors of the population of the Central Federal District of the Russian Federation south of Moscow, are often confused with the inhabitants of Kirov oblast (the river Vyatka), and this is done in order to justify the Slavic origin of the population of this region.