tribal confederation · Poland, Lithuania and Russia

Ilmen Slavs

600 CE – 882 CE (approx.) · capital Novgorod

The northernmost East Slavs, centred on Lake Ilmen, whose invitation to Rurik began the Rurikid dynasty in the chronicle tradition.

Origins

Slavs reached the basin of Lake Ilmen and the Volkhov river in the 7th and 8th centuries, settling among Finnic and Baltic peoples. The chronicles call them the Slovene. Their main centres were the trading settlement of Staraya Ladoga and Rurikovo Gorodishche near the later Novgorod.

Rule and society

They lived from farming, fishing, hunting and the fur trade, and their territory sat on the routes linking the Baltic with the Volga and the Dnieper. Scandinavian merchants and warriors were present from the 8th century. The tribe was led by elders and assemblies, which foreshadowed the later town assembly, the veche, of Novgorod.

Decline and legacy

According to the Primary Chronicle, the Slovene, Krivichs and Finnic tribes expelled the Varangians and then invited Rurik to rule them in 862. In 882 his successor Oleg moved south to Kiev, and Ilmen became the northern half of Kievan Rus'. Their land developed into the Novgorod Republic.

Lineage

Ilmen SlavsRus' Khaganate 830 CE – 882 CE

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻