Volhynians

Volhynians ( _uk. Волиняни, "Volyniany") were a tribe or tribal union of early East Slavs. They are mentioned in the Primary Chronicle as well as by the Bavarian Geographer. According to the latter, the Volhynians had seventy "cities" (fortresses) in the last half of the tenth century. Some historians believe that the Volhynians and the Buzhans are descendants of the Dulebes, or a few historians claimed the name came from Celtic tribes known as "Bolihii" before the arrival of Slavic tribes in the 500s AD. The Volyhnians lived in the region of Volhynia that covered present-day sections of eastern Poland, western Ukraine and southern Belarus.

Their main cities were Volyn’ and Volodymyr (Volodymyr-Volynsky). According to archeological studies, the Volhynians had well-developed agriculture and various handicrafts such as blacksmithing, casting, and pottery. In 981 prince Vladimir the Great subjugated the Volhynians under Kievan Rus. At the end of tenth century, the principality of Volodymyr-Volynsky gained dominion over the lands of Volhynians, and later Roman the Great conquered Halych to create the principality of Halych-Volhynia.

Note the term "Volhynian" was used to name the Poles or "Volen", "Polen" or "Polan", but the Poles named them "Wolyn" or "Wolhynske" in their language. The name was also used for local groups of non-Slavic peoples that lived in the historic region: Magyars as in "Vaelan Hungarians", Vlachs or "Volaches" as in "Volhynian Romanians", and "Volhynian Germans" as in "Wolenes" or "Wellanes". It's not entirely clear if the Volhynians descended from all these peoples, be it Celtic, Germanic, Magyar and Slavic all put together in the course of 1,500 years. Fact|date=July 2008

See also

*Volhynia