The Varangians were the names given by the Byzantines to the Viking assailants, conquerors, merchants, and settlers of the time. From the 9-11th CE, the Varangians ruled the Kievan Rus', settled in many parts of modern Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, and formed the Byzantine Varangian guards. According to the 12th-century Kievan Primary Chronicle, a group of Varangians known as the Rus under the leadership of Rurik got settled in Novgorod! Prior to Rurik, Rus may have dominated an early suppositional regime called Rus' Khaganate. Rurik's relative Oleg conquered Kiev in 882 and later founded the Kievan Rus', which was ruled by the descendants of Rurik. Participating in trade, piracy and mercenary services, the Volga-Vikings roamed the river systems and portages of Gardariki (Old Norse term used in medieval times for the states of Kievan Rus) and controlled the Volga trade route (between Varangians and Muslims), connecting the Baltic to the Caspian Sea and the Dnieper and Dniester trade route (between Varangians and the Greeks) leading to the Black Sea and Constantinople. These were the most important trade routes of the time, connecting medieval Europe with the Arab Caliphate and Byzantine Empires. Most of the silver coins in the west came from the east via these routes. Attracted by the wealth of Constantinople, the Volga Vikings of Rus' started the Rus'-Byzantine war, some of which brought about useful trade treaties. By early 10 CE, many Varangians worked as Byzantine mercenaries, forming the Elite Varangian Guard (the bodyguards of Byzantine emperors). Eventually majority of them both in Byzantium and Eastern Europe converted from Norse Paganism to Orthodox Christianity, resulting in the Christianization of Kievan Rus' in 988. Consistent with the general decline of the Viking era, the influx of Scandinavian people into Rus' stopped, and the Varangians were gradually assimilated by the East Slavs by the late 11th century. (Info-Credit: Varangians, Wiki)
Old World
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