Kuyaba ( ar, كويابة ''Kūyāba''
) was one of the three centers of the
Rus
Rus or RUS may refer to:
People and places
* Rus (surname), a Romanian-language surname
* East Slavic historical territories and peoples (). See Names of Rus', Russia and Ruthenia
** Rus' people, the people of Rus'
** Rus' territories
*** Kievan ...
Saqaliba
Saqaliba ( ar, صقالبة, ṣaqāliba, singular ar, صقلبي, ṣaqlabī) is a term used in medieval Arabic sources to refer to Slavs and other peoples of Central, Southern, and Eastern Europe, or in a broad sense to European slaves. The t ...
(early East Slavs
The early Slavs were a diverse group of tribal societies who lived during the Migration Period and the Early Middle Ages (approximately the 5th to the 10th centuries AD) in Central and Eastern Europe and established the foundations for the Slav ...
) described in a lost book by Abu Zayd al-Balkhi
Abu Zayd Ahmed ibn Sahl Balkhi ( fa, ابو زید احمد بن سهل بلخی) was a Persian Muslim polymath: a geographer, mathematician, physician, psychologist and scientist. Born in 850 CE in Shamistiyan, in the province of Balkh, Greate ...
(dating from ca. 920) and mentioned in works by some of his followers (Ibn Hawqal
Muḥammad Abū’l-Qāsim Ibn Ḥawqal (), also known as Abū al-Qāsim b. ʻAlī Ibn Ḥawqal al-Naṣībī, born in Nisibis, Upper Mesopotamia; was a 10th-century Arab Muslim writer, geographer, and chronicler who travelled during the ye ...
, Al-Istakhri
Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Farisi al-Istakhri () (also ''Estakhri'', fa, استخری, i.e. from the Iranian city of Istakhr, b. - d. 346 AH/AD 957) was a 10th-century travel-author and geographer who wrote valuable accounts in Arab ...
, Hudud ul-'alam).
The two other centers were Slawiya ( ar, صلاوية ''Ṣ(a)lāwiya'')[ (tentatively identified with the land of ]Ilmen Slavs
The Novgorod Slavs, Ilmen Slavs (russian: Ильменские слове́не, ''Il'menskiye slovene''), or Slovenes (not to be confused with the Slovenian Slovenes) were the northernmost tribe of the Early Slavs, and inhabited the shores of L ...
, see Rus' Khaganate
The Rusʹ Khaganate ( be, Рускі каганат, ''Ruski kahanat'', russian: Русский каганат, ''Russkiy kaganat'', uk, Руський каганат, ''Ruśkyj kahanat''), is the name applied by some modern historians to a ...
) and Arthaniya ( ar, ارثانية ''’Arṯāniya'') (not properly explained).[
Soviet historians such as ]Boris Grekov
Boris Dmitrievich Grekov (; in Mirgorod, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire – 9 September 1953 in Moscow) was a Russian and Soviet historian noted for his comprehensive studies of Kievan Rus and the Golden Horde. He was a member of the Sovi ...
and Boris Rybakov
Boris Alexandrovich Rybakov (Russian language, Russian: Бори́с Алекса́ндрович Рыбако́в, 3 June 1908, Moscow – 27 December 2001) was a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russian historian who personified the anti-Normanist the ...
hypothesized that "Kuyaba" was a mispronunciation of "Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
". They theorized that Kuyaba had been a union of Slavic tribes in the middle course of the Dnieper River
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
centered on Kyiv (now in Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
).Kyivan Rus
Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
, believed to include modern Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. This explanation has been adopted by modern Ukrainian historiography.
See also
*Kyi
Kyi (, Kiy; Ukrainian: Кий, Kyi) was the legendary founder of Kyiv and the Kyi dynasty, and the Prince (Knyaz) of the Polans. He was one of four siblings ( brothers Kyi, Shchek, and Khoryv, and sister Lybid), who, according to the Primar ...
, the legendary founder of Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
*Kuyavia
Kuyavia ( pl, Kujawy; german: Kujawien; la, Cuiavia), also referred to as Cuyavia, is a historical region in north-central Poland, situated on the left bank of Vistula, as well as east from Noteć River and Lake Gopło. It is divided into three t ...
, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, also known as Cuiavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship or simply Kujawsko-Pomorskie, or Kujawy-Pomerania Province ( pl, województwo kujawsko-pomorskie ) is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divide ...
*Rus' Khaganate
The Rusʹ Khaganate ( be, Рускі каганат, ''Ruski kahanat'', russian: Русский каганат, ''Russkiy kaganat'', uk, Руський каганат, ''Ruśkyj kahanat''), is the name applied by some modern historians to a ...
References
Kievan Rus'
Former Slavic countries
{{Ukraine-hist-stub