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The conspicuous absence of historic data
that could throw more light on the history of various ancient nomadic tribes
that once populated the steppes north of the Black Sea and the territories
along and north of the rivers Dniester, Dnieper and Don and their tributaries
opened the way to a subjective interpretation of the Slavic tribes who claim
this area as their national cradle. In some cases imagination and hypothesis
substituted for hard research work and there are scholars who were quick to
deny the Slavs of their national originality; the others described them as odds
and ends of the Scythian, Thracian or Neuri tribes who somehow managed to
outlive their better known forefathers. When Herodotus described the life of
the Scythians, he merely mentioned the existence of the Neuris. This simple
detail made possible for some historians to assume that Neuris were the Slavs'
ancestors. And yet, the Slavs, if not under this name, must have existed before
the seventh or the eight centuries A.D. If they didn't come to Russia from some
other place during the many migrations of peoples that swept through this area,
(a fact which has been impossible to establish with certainty), then they must
have lived for centuries, isolated and protected from the South and the main
trade routes by deep and impenetrable forests that discouraged many invaders.
If we look at the map of Russia we can see that even nature left
unprotected from the East this enormous and rich area that stretches over the
basins of Volga, the Don, the Dniester, the Dnieper and the Danube. From the
Altai uplands and beyond the ground looks as if it descends towards the West.
The nomadic barbarian tribes from Asia easily discovered that by passing across
the Iranian plains (of Turan) and through the steppes between the Caspian Sea
and the Ural mountains they could easily reach the rich river basins. Through
this area also passed two important commercial routes that connected Europe
with Asia and the Near East. The Scythians and the Sarmatians, the Huns and the
Avars, Khazars and Pechengs, the Turks and Cumans and the Tatars all followed
the same itinerary during some ten centuries of incursions into the South East
of Europe. Almost all of these tribes showed an extraordinary capacity for
quick deployment, not hesitating to undertake a several-thousand mile
expedition from their bases. They were very experienced horsemen and well
disciplined, but for some of them merciless treatment of captives was part of
their military exercise. Surprise attacks combined with devastation, and
cruelty struck panic among their victims, making victory seldom a perilous
adventure but often very rewarding. Under the circumstances it was not
surprising that the repeated barbaric invasions provoked great migrations of
many peoples, their intermixing, racial and cultural, and in some cases the
complete disappearance of some. The geographic monotony of this enormous and
unbroken plain that stretches from the Altai and Ural mountains to the
Carpathians was another major factor that facilitated the intermixing of tribes
and made difficult the establishment of state boundaries.
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