tribal confederation · Poland, Lithuania and Russia

Dregovichs

600 CE – 900 CE (approx.) · capital Turov

An East Slavic tribe of the Pripyat marshes, whose lands around Turov later formed one of the principalities of Rus'.

Origins

The Dregovichs settled the wet, forested lands between the Pripyat and the Western Dvina in the 7th and 8th centuries. Their name is usually derived from a Slavic word for bog. Constantine VII mentions them as Drougoubitai, paying tribute to the Rus', in the 10th century.

Rule and society

They lived in small villages and hill forts and farmed the drier ground, supplementing this with hunting, fishing and beekeeping. The river Pripyat linked them to the Dnieper and to Kiev, which made them early tributaries of the Kievan princes. The chronicle records that they had their own princely rule before Rus' control, but no names survive.

Decline and legacy

By the 10th century the Dregovichs had been absorbed into Kievan Rus'. Turov became the seat of a princely line, and the territory developed into the Principality of Turov and Pinsk. Their land is now southern Belarus.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

DregovichsKievan Rus' 882 CE – 1240 CE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Dregovichs. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/dregovichs
MLA
“Dregovichs.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/dregovichs. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Dregovichs.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/dregovichs.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Dregovichs’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/dregovichs (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻