The name derives from the
Old East Slavic word
поле (romanized: pole), which means "field", because, according to the
Primary Chronicle they lived in the fields (). At one stage the Polanians were subjugated by the
Khazars. The land of the Polans was at the crossroads of important trade and territories inhabited by different Eastern Slavic tribes (such as the
Drevlians,
Radimichs,
Drehovians and
Severians) and connected them all with water arteries. An important
trade route, the
Road from the Varangians to the Greeks, passed along the Dnieper through the land of the Polans and connected Northern
Europe with the
Black Sea and the
Byzantine Empire. Geographic location of the Polans allowed them to play an organisational role in consolidation of the East Slavic tribes. In the 9th and 10th centuries the Polans conducted well-developed
arable land farming,
cattle-breeding,
hunting,
fishing, wild-hive
beekeeping and various
handicrafts such as
blacksmithing,
casting,
pottery,
goldsmithing, etc. Thousands of (pre-Polan)
kurgans, found by
archaeologists in the Polan region, indicate that that land could support a relatively high
population density. The Polans lived in small families in semi dug-outs ("earth-houses") and wore homespun clothes and modest jewellery. Before converting to
Christianity, the inhabitants used to burn their dead and to erect kurgan-like embankments over them. In the 860s, the
Varangians (
Vikings) arrived and organized a few successful military campaigns against the Byzantine Empire, which eventually defeated them and made peace with them, the
Pechenegs and the
Polochans. From 9th century Polans began to be known as Rus', a name they presumably adopted from Varangians. The chronicles repeatedly note that socio-economic relations in the Polan communities were highly developed compared to the neighboring tribes. According to the Primary Chronicle, the Polan tribe was headed by three brothers -
Kyi, Shchek and Khoryv, who laid the foundation of Kyiv, which will become a tribal centre. Two
Varangians Askold and Dir are considered to be the first
rulers of Kiev. In the 880s
Oleg the Wise conquered the land of the Polans, from this point the territory they inhabited becomes the political, cultural and economic centre of
Kievan Rus'. According to chronicalized legends, the largest cities of the eastern Polans were
Kyiv,
Pereiaslav,
Rodnia,
Vyshhorod,
Bilhorod Kyivskyi (now
Bilohorodka village at the
Irpin river) and
Kaniv. In the 10th century, the term "Polans" was virtually out of use, replaced by the name "Rus", with eastern Polans as a tribe being last mentioned in a chronicle of 944. == See also ==