History of Minsk

=Origins=

Early East Slavs settled the forested hills of today’s Minsk by the 9th century. They had been migrating from further south and pushing the preceding Balts northwards. The valley of "Svislach" river was settlement boundary between two Early East Slavs' tribal unions - Krivich and Dregovichs. By 980 the area was incorporated into the early medieval Principality of Polatsk, one of the earliest East Slav states alongside with the principalities of Kiev and Novgorod.

There is no exact historical record for the date when Minsk was founded. It was first mentioned (as "Mensk") in the Primary Chronicle in 1067. That year the chronicle recorded a bloody battle between troops of Polatsk and Kiev princes on the banks of Niamiha river (tributary of "Svislach"). Minsk, which was a Principality of Polatsk town, was burnt down by the Kievan army during a war between Kiev and Polatsk. 1067 is now widely attributed as a founding year of Minsk, though the town (by then fortified by wooden walls) should have existed for some time before it could have been burnt down. Some historians believe, that Minsk evolved from an earlier village, which may have been founded as early as the 9th or 10th centuries. Recent archeological excavations support this idea.

There is a theory, that initially Minsk was located 16 km to the southwest, on the banks of "Menka" river. According to this view, Kievan troops first seized the town and then marched to the mouth of Niamiha, location of a small fort, where the chronicle battle occurred. Later the fort was rebuilt and re-named "Mensk" .

There are several theories on the origin of the name.

# The settlement on the banks of "Menka" river to the southwest of today’s Minsk. Remnants of a 10th century settlement on the banks of the "Menka" were found by archeologists in the 1930s.
# There is a legend of a giant man with a name "‘Menesk’" who lived in the area and gave the name to a settlement.
# The city name comes from Slavonic word “мена” (“miena” - “barter” or “trade” in English”), as Minsk initially served as a trading settlement around a marketplace. However, it is less likely, as Slavs rarely used names for trade or craft for their towns. Most towns and cities have been named after rivers or governing princes.
# Niamiha river may have had another name then, possibly "Meniha". This would explain why a settlement on its banks would be named "Mensk".

Governance timeline

Historical names

* Mensk, Miensk (Менск), the historical name the Belarusian opposition tends to use.
* Polish: Mińsk, Mińsk Litewski, Mińsk Białoruski, used when Belarus was under the Polish rule.

See also

* Mińsk Voivodeship

External links

* [http://www.radabnr.org/indexen.html Belarus National Republic] - the Belarusian Government in exile
* [http://www.probelarus.ru Stary Hetman] - Belarusian history forums
* [http://www.belarus-misc.org/bel-diasp.htm#diaspora Belarusian diaspora]
* [http://www.geschichteinchronologie.ch/eu/BSSR/EncJud_juden-in-Minsk01-15jh-1941-ENGL.html Jews in Minsk. Poland-Lithuania - czarist rule - enlightenment, labour movement, and Herzl Zionism - Soviet rule until 1941 - Holocaust - Soviet rule] (Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971)