Radimichs


The Radimichs were an East Slavic tribe of the last several centuries of the 1st millennium, which inhabited upper east parts of the Dnieper down the Sozh River and its tributaries. The name probably derives from the name of the forefather of the tribe - Radim.

History

The lands of the Radimichs were conveniently connected with the central regions of the Kievan Rus by waterway. In the 11th and 12th centuries, the Radimichs had a few known cities: Homiy and Chechersk on the Sozh, Vshchizh on the Desna River, Vorob'yin, Ropeisk and others. Seven-beam temporal jewelry made of bronze or silver represent a specific ethnic trait of the Radimichs of the 9th - 11th century.
There is little information on the Radimichs. According to Nestor the Chronicler, the tribe of Radimichs after the conquest by Vladimir the Great became part of the race of Lachy, similar to Lendians and used to live in areas east from Vistula river.
Historians know that in the middle of the 9th century they were paying tribute to the Khazars. In 885, the Radimichs were conquered by Prince Oleg of Novgorod and became part of Kievan Rus. In 907, the Radimichs are mentioned as a part of Oleg's army in his military campaign against Byzantine empire. In 984, the Radimichs tried to break away from the Kievan Rus, but were defeated on the Pischan River by Vladimir the Great's commander Volchiy Khvost. Since then, there had been no mentioning of the tribe in the chronicles. They continued living on their land, gradually assimilating with neighboring tribes and peoples and forming the Belarusian nationality. Subsequently, the lands of the Radimichs became a part of the Chernihiv and Smolensk principalities.
The Radimichs were last mentioned in a chronicle in 1169.