# Severians

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{{Short description|East Slav ethnic group}}
{{other uses of|Severian}}

thumb|200px|European territory inhabited by East Slavic tribes in 8th and 9th century.
The '''Severians''', also '''Severyans''', '''Siverians''', or '''Siverianians<ref>{{Cite web |date=1993 |title=Slavs |url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CS%5CL%5CSlavs.htm |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=Encyclopedia of Ukraine}}</ref>''' ({{langx|be|Севяране}}; {{langx|bg|Севери}}; {{langx|ru|Северяне}}; {{langx|uk|Сiверяни|translit=Siveriany}}) were a [tribe](/source/tribe) or tribal [confederation](/source/confederation) of early [East Slavs](/source/East_Slavs) occupying areas to the east of the middle [Dnieper River](/source/Dnieper_River) and southeast of the [Danube](/source/Danube) River. They are mentioned by the [Bavarian Geographer](/source/Bavarian_Geographer) (9th century), Emperor [Constantine VII](/source/Constantine_VII) (956–959), the [Khazar](/source/Khazars) ruler [Joseph](/source/Joseph_(Khazar)) (c. 955), and in the [Primary Chronicle](/source/Primary_Chronicle) (1113).

==Ethnonym==
The [etymology](/source/etymology) of the name "Severian" is uncertain. The name of the [Severia](/source/Severia) region originated from the Slavic tribes. One theory proposes derivation from the Slavic word for "north" (''sěver''; men of the north<ref name="Franklin-Shepard"/>), but the Severians never were the northernmost tribe of Slavs. Another theory proposes an [Iranic](/source/Iranian_languages) derivation, from the name of the [Sarmatian](/source/Sarmatians) ''Seuer'' tribe (''seu'' meaning "black").<ref name="Quarterly">{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YqQrAQAAIAAJ |journal=The Ukrainian Quarterly |publisher=Ukrainian Congress Committee of America |year=2000 |volume=56 |page=184|title=The Ukrainian Quarterly }}</ref> Some scholars have argued that [Jews](/source/Jews) called this tribe the ''Sawarta,'' based on the ''[Kievan Letter](/source/Kievan_Letter)'' (c. 930), written in [Hebrew](/source/Hebrew) as ''SWRTH'' (read either as ''Sur'ata'' or ''Sever'ata''), derived from Slavic ''sirota'' ("[orphan](/source/orphan)"; in the letter, possibly meaning "convert"); or that the name "Severian" comes from the [Magyar](/source/Magyar_tribes) ''Savarti'' ("black"; possibly borrowed from [Proto-Germanic](/source/Proto-Germanic) ''swartaz)''.<ref name="Brook">{{Cite book |author=Kevin Alan Brook |date=2006 |title=The Jews of Khazaria |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hEuIveNl9kcC |publisher=[Rowman & Littlefield](/source/Rowman_%26_Littlefield) |pages=105–106, 55, 58, 35 |isbn=9781442203020}}</ref> Based on the writings of the [Bavarian Geographer](/source/Bavarian_Geographer), some scholars connect the ethnonym to the ''Zuierani'',<ref name="Łuczyński">{{cite journal |last=Łuczyński |first=Michal |date=2017 |title="Geograf Bawarski" — nowe odczytania |trans-title="Bavarian Geographer" — New readings |url=https://rcin.org.pl/dlibra/show-content/publication/edition/64469?id=64469 |language=pl |journal=Polonica |volume=XXXVII (37) |page=73 |doi=10.17651/POLON.37.9 |access-date=4 August 2020|url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }}</ref> ''[Zeriuani](/source/Zeriuani)'',<ref name="Witczak">{{cite journal |author=Krzysztof Tomasz Witczak |title=Poselstwo ruskie w państwie niemieckim w roku 839: Kulisy śledztwa w świetle danych Geografa Bawarskiego |url=https://www.academia.edu/6870884 |year=2013 |journal=Slavia Orientalis |volume=62 |issue=1 |language=pl, en |pages=25–43}}</ref> or ''[Sebbirozi](/source/Sebbirozi)'' (most probably the [Sabirs](/source/Sabir_people)<ref name="Łuczyński"/><ref name="Witczak"/>).<ref name="Łowmiański1986">{{cite book|author=Henryk Łowmiański|author-link=Henryk Łowmiański|title=Studia nad dziejami Słowiańszczyzny, Polski i Rusi w wiekach średnich|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y-dBAAAAYAAJ|year=1986|publisher=Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewica w Poznaniu|pages=161–169}}</ref>

==History==
The Severians are believed to have continued the East Slavic tribal union along the middle Dnieper valley, after the political disappearance of the [Antae](/source/Antae) and [Dulebes](/source/Dulebes), either independently or under Khazar policy. It is presumed they inhabited the lower [Desna](/source/Desna_(river)) and upper [Sejm](/source/Seym_River) and [Sula](/source/Sula_River) rivers. They were thought to have been centered in [Chernihiv](/source/Chernihiv) ("black city"<ref name="Quarterly"/>).<ref name="Magocsi">{{cite book |author=Paul Robert Magocsi |author-link=Paul Robert Magocsi |title=A History of Ukraine: The Land and Its Peoples |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TA1zVKTTsXUC |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=2010 |pages=47, 49, 57, 66 |isbn=9781442610217}}</ref> However, as the Severians in the historical sources inhabited both the Dnieper valley and a part of the [Danube](/source/Danube) valley, and as the [Zeriuani](/source/Zeriuani) realm was said to be so great that all Slavs traced their origins to it, [Henryk Łowmiański](/source/Henryk_%C5%81owmia%C5%84ski) believed that the [Ruthenia](/source/Ruthenia)n Severians were the Slavic mother tribe.<ref name="Witczak"/> Professor [Traian Stoianovich](/source/Traian_Stoianovich) described the Severian Slavs as mix of [Slavs](/source/Slavs) and [Slavicized](/source/Slavicized) formerly [Turkic](/source/Turkic_peoples) speaking [Huns](/source/Huns).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stoianovich|first=Traian|title=Balkan Worlds: The First and Last Europe|publisher=Taylor & Francis Inc|year=1994|isbn=9781563240331|location=Armonk, United States|pages=134}}</ref>

Some Severians settled in the territory of present-day northeastern [Bulgaria](/source/Bulgaria), ([Moesia Inferior](/source/Moesia_Inferior), and [Scythia Minor](/source/Scythia_Minor_(Roman_province))).<ref name="Fine">{{cite book |author=John Van Antwerp Fine |author-link=John Van Antwerp Fine, Jr. |title=The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0NBxG9Id58C |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=1991 |pages=69, 77 |isbn=9780472081493}}</ref> According to [Theophanes the Confessor](/source/Theophanes_the_Confessor), the [Bulgars](/source/Bulgars) subjugated the so-called [Seven Slavic tribes](/source/Seven_Slavic_tribes). One of these tribes, the ''Severeis'', were resettled in the east "from the klisuras before Veregava" ({{lang|el|ἀπό τῆς ἔμπροσθεν κλεισȣ́ρας Βερεγάβων}}), most likely the [Rish Pass](/source/Rish_Pass) of the [Balkan Mountains](/source/Balkan_Mountains); while the other six tribes were resettled in the southern and western regions, as far the boundary with the [Pannonian Avars](/source/Pannonian_Avars).<ref>{{cite book |last=Fiedler |first=Uwe |chapter=Bulgars in the Lower Danube region: A survey of the archaeological evidence and of the state of current research |title=The Other Europe in the Middle Ages: Avars, Bulgars, Khazars and Cumans |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_-G1L-9Zec0C |editor-last1=Curta |editor-first1=Florin |editor-link1=Florin Curta |editor-last2=Kovalev |editor-first2=Roman |date=2008 |publisher=Brill |pages=154 |isbn=9789004163898}}</ref> In 767, the [Byzantines](/source/Byzantine_Empire) kidnapped the Severian [prince](/source/prince) Slavun, who had made trouble in [Thrace](/source/Thrace_(theme)), indicating they retained a tributary relationship with the Bulgars.<ref name="Fine"/>

The other Severians had as neighbors the [Radimichs](/source/Radimichs), [Krivichs](/source/Krivichs), and [Vyatichs](/source/Vyatichs) in the north and the [Derevlians](/source/Derevlians) and [Polianians](/source/Polans_(eastern)) in the west.<ref>{{cite book |author=Martin Gilbert |author-link=Martin Gilbert |title=The Routledge Atlas of Russian History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FMe8RgimEAAC |publisher=Psychology Press |year=2002 |page=12 |isbn=9780415281195}}</ref> Those tribes had to pay tribute to the [Khazars](/source/Khazars) in 859 in the form of [squirrel](/source/squirrel) and [beaver](/source/beaver) skins,<ref name="Dolukhanov">{{cite book |author=Pavel Dolukhanov |author-link=Pavel Dolukhanov |title=The Early Slavs: Eastern Europe from the Initial Settlement to the Kievan Rus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TIkABAAAQBAJ |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |pages=182, 194 |isbn=9781317892229}}</ref> which suggests they lived in or near the northern forests.<ref name="Franklin-Shepard">{{cite book |author1=Simon Franklin |author-link1=Simon Franklin |author2=Jonathan Shepard |author-link2=Jonathan Shepard |title=The Emergence of Russia 750-1200 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TsoFBAAAQBAJ |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |pages=77–78, 109, 120, 195, 197 |isbn=9781317872238}}</ref> In 884, [Oleg of Novgorod](/source/Oleg_of_Novgorod) annexed their territory to the [Kievan Rus'](/source/Kievan_Rus').<ref name="Magocsi"/><ref name="Dolukhanov"/><ref name="Subtelny">{{cite book |author=Orest Subtelny |author-link=Orest Subtelny |title=Ukraine: A History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ktyM07I9HXwC |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=2009 |edition=4 |pages=21–22, 43 |isbn=9781442697287}}</ref> The Severians had to pay a "light tribute." According to Oleg, he had acted not against the Severians but against the Khazars. It is possible that the Severians accepted Oleg's rule because he imposed lower taxes on them.<ref name="Franklin-Shepard"/>

Together with other East Slavic tribes, Severians participated in the [Oleg's campaign](/source/Rus'-Byzantine_War_(907)) against [Constantinople](/source/Constantinople) in 907.<ref>{{cite book |author=Vladimir Plugin |author-link=Vladimir Plugin |title=Russian Intelligence Services |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pngrAwAAQBAJ |publisher=Algora Publishing |year=2007 |page=19 |isbn=9781892941251}}</ref> In the 10th century, in his ''[De Administrando Imperio](/source/De_Administrando_Imperio)'', [Constantine VII](/source/Constantine_VII) wrote that in winter, the Rus princes (''[archon](/source/archon)tes'') moved to and were maintained in the lands of their Severian and Krivich tributaries.<ref name="Franklin-Shepard"/> Eventually, Severian territory became part of the [Grand Principality of Chernigov](/source/Grand_Principality_of_Chernigov), and the last reference to them is from 1024, when they are mentioned as part of the troops recruited by [Mstislav of Chernigov](/source/Mstislav_of_Chernigov) for his ''[druzhina](/source/druzhina)''.<ref name="Franklin-Shepard"/> They had a significant impact on the victory at the [Battle of Listven](/source/Battle_of_Listven) (1024), especially against the [Varangians](/source/Varangians).<ref>{{cite book |author=John Marsden |title=Harald Hardrada: The Warrior's Way |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t0s7AwAAQBAJ |publisher=The History Press |year=2011 |isbn=9780752474441}}</ref>

Scholars disagree about the abovementioned dates. Some place Oleg's conquest in the 920–930s; the Khazar ruler Joseph (c. 955) mentioned that his empire ruled over the "''Sever'', ''[Slaviun](/source/Sclaveni)'', and ''[Ventit](/source/Vistula_Veneti)''"; while Constantine VII wrote that the Severians paid tribute to the Rus and not the Khazars c. 950.<ref name="Brook"/>

The Severians eventually came to be known as the Chernihovians<ref>{{cite book |author=Serhii Plokhii |author-link=Serhii Plokhii |title=The Origins of the Slavic Nations: Premodern Identities in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCdUmCWxwJ8C |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |page=31 |isbn=9781139458924}}</ref> and gave their name to the region of [Severia](/source/Severia).<ref>{{cite book |author=Joseph L. Wieczynski |title=The Modern encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet history |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zL1oAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Academic International Press |year=1994 |page=117 |isbn=9780875690643}}</ref>

==Culture==
[Archaeologist](/source/Archaeologist)s have found numerous rural settlements associated with the Severians, including [burial mound](/source/burial_mound)s with [cremated](/source/Cremation) bodies, from the 8th–10th centuries. Like other [East Slavs](/source/East_Slavs), the Severians were mostly engaged in [agriculture](/source/agriculture); [cattle breeding](/source/cattle_breeding); [hunting](/source/hunting); and different [handicraft](/source/handicraft)s such as [pottery](/source/pottery), [weaving](/source/weaving), and [metalworking](/source/metalworking).<ref name="Magocsi"/> It is considered that trade was not very developed, and they offered [honey](/source/honey), [wax](/source/wax), [furs](/source/furs), and [slaves](/source/slaves).<ref name="Subtelny"/> According to Constantine VII, they provided not only tribute but also transport via [boats dug out from single hollowed trees](/source/Dugout_canoe).<ref>{{cite book |author=Michael Postan |author-link=Michael Postan |title=The Cambridge economic history of Europe: 2. Trade and Industry in the Middle Ages |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHRvtwTLcMAC |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1987 |orig-year=1952 |pages=488–489 |isbn=9780521087094}}</ref>

The Severians were a [patriarchial](/source/patriarchy) culture ruled by clan or tribal leaders, who held political authority in the commune (''[zadruga](/source/zadruga)'') and convened tribal councils. The centers of political power were the fortified ''[grady](/source/Gord_(archaeology))'', which were built in forests or on elevations, around which villages developed.<ref name="Subtelny"/><ref name="Magocsi"/> Some [Saltovo-Mayaki](/source/Saltovo-Mayaki_culture) forts were situated on Severian land.<ref name="Brook"/>

In the ''[Primary Chronicle](/source/Primary_Chronicle)'', it is recorded that the [Drevlians](/source/Drevlians), [Radimichs](/source/Radimichs), [Vyatichi](/source/Vyatichi), and Severians all lived violent lifestyles, and they did not enter [monogamous](/source/monogamy) marriages but practiced [polygamy](/source/polygamy), specifically [polygyny](/source/polygyny), instead.<ref>{{cite book |author=Eve Levin |title=Sex and Society in the World of the Orthodox Slavs, 900–1700 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IL382sYaohkC |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=1995 |pages=41–42 |isbn=9780801483042}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==See also==
* [List of Medieval Slavic tribes](/source/List_of_Medieval_Slavic_tribes)
{{Slavic ethnic groups (VII-XII century)}}

Category:Severians
Category:East Slavic tribes
Category:Slavic tribes in Thrace and Moesia
Category:Medieval history of Ukraine
Category:Medieval history of Russia
Category:Saltovo-Mayaki culture

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Severians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severians) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severians?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.