Revolt of the Drevlyans. Murder of Igor

Igor was the first prince of the Old Russian state from the Rurik dynasty. Few people know that Rurik himself was the Prince of Novgorod. And Prince Oleg, called the Prophet, subjugated Kyiv and moved the capital to it. Oleg was a relative of Rurik and, dying, he left the young Igor to him, as well as a kind of regency under him. The prophetic Oleg ruled with absolute authority as an unlimited autocrat, but he carried out a number of deeds, especially bloody ones, in the name of the young Igor. For example, having deceived the princes Askold and Dir who ruled there from Kyiv, he executed them, declaring: “You are not princes and not of a princely family. But I am of a princely family. And this is Rurik’s son.”

Prince Igor ruled Kiev for 33 years and it would seem that his life, as the actual founder of the dynasty, should be known for certain. However, it is not. There is no unity even in determining the date of his birth. Therefore, the encyclopedia indicates that he was born around 878, a year before the death of his father, whom some historians do not consider a historical figure at all.

Igor began to reign independently only after the death of the Prophetic Oleg - also a semi-legendary personality, at least not mentioned in any foreign source, and this despite the fact that his “shield is on the gates of Constantinople.” Oleg died in 911 (according to other sources in 922). Before his death, he managed to marry Igor to the future first Russian saint - Princess Olga. Before her marriage, Olga’s name was Pregrada, and she came from Pskov, where she was either a commoner, or, on the contrary, from a noble family of Gostomysl. It is possible that she was actually born in Plovdiv and was a Bulgarian princess. A number of historians claim that Olga was the daughter of the Prophetic Oleg. And all that is known for certain is that at baptism she received the name Elena.

After Olga, Igor took several more wives. However, according to ancient chronicles, the one who later became a saint enjoyed the greatest respect from him. It is believed that the marriage took place in 903, however, this date is highly doubtful. Especially if you analyze the fact that their son Svyatoslav was born in 942.

During the reign of Igor, Russian squads willingly sailed along the Caspian Sea, plundering the coastal states of the region. They even managed to plunder and massacre the capital of Caucasian Albania, the city of Berdaa, located on the territory of modern Azerbaijan. “The Rus, greedy for battle, ... set out to sea and made an invasion on the decks of their ships ... These people devastated the entire territory of Berdaa ... They are something other than robbers, like wolves and lions. They never indulge in the joy of feasts... They take over countries and conquer cities...” Nizami later wrote.

However, Oleg's military glory - that same shield - greatly attracted Prince Igor. In 941 he undertook his first campaign against Constantinople. It is interesting that the Russian chronicles telling about this campaign are a retelling of Greek sources; they report: “On June 11... the dews sailed to Constantinople on ten thousand ships.” The main forces of the Byzantines at this time fought on other fronts. However, the leader of the city, warned by the Bulgarians about the invasion, boldly entered the battle.

The Byzantines were armed with “Greek fire” - a flammable mixture that could burn in water, and managed to burn most of the Russian fleet. The trip ended in nothing. However, as a result, his prince Igor became the first Russian ruler to appear in the Byzantine chronicles. He is the first to be cross-mentioned in both Russian and foreign sources. And, accordingly, he is the first ruler of Rus', whose real existence is considered proven.

What this prince, wise in many battles and thirty years of ruling the state, who expanded its borders and successfully restrained the onslaught of enemies, did next, according to the official version, cannot be explained logically. In 945, at the request of the squad, which was “overspent and worn out,” he went to the Drevlyans for tribute. It should be understood that the squad was the highest stratum of the society of that time, from which the boyars were subsequently formed, so they certainly could not go hungry and be poorly dressed. In addition, nothing is reported anywhere about the refusal of the Drevlyans to pay the tribute that Igor imposed on them back in 914. That is, it turns out that the autocrat, having gathered the entire leadership of the country, sets off to rob his own subjects. Well, let's say that's exactly how it was. Then, apparently, later he simply went crazy. Having collected tribute without any resistance, Igor sends most of the squad with valuables to Kyiv, and with a small gang returns to Iskorosten, wanting to rob it again. The Drevlyans, under the leadership of Prince Mal, rebel, destroy his squad, and tie the prince himself to two trees and tear him to pieces.

Historians have long noticed that there is something wrong with this version. It is quite difficult to rely on ancient chronicles as a reliable document, since everything was written exclusively at the request of the rulers and in the manner that these rulers considered correct. A version was proposed that Igor could have been killed by dissatisfied Varangians. In an expanded version, the version says that the Varangians were bribed. The question remains: by whom? The ancient principle of detective work says: “Qui prodest” - look for who benefits.

So, Princess Olga, without having any dynastic rights, after the death of Prince Igor, single-handedly ruled Russia for 17 years, from 945 to 962.

Prince Igor
Ruler of Kievan Rus.
Date of Birth - ?
Date of death - 945
Years of reign - (912 - 945)

Igor was the son of the founder of the ancient Russian princely dynasty. The exact date of birth of the prince is unknown, it varies from 861 to 875. If we rely on the “tale of bygone years,” then Igor took his princely throne in 912, after Igor’s guardian, Prince Oleg, died. Having become the head of the state, Igor continued the policy of his predecessor - strengthening the power of Rus' over the conquered tribes and strengthening international positions.
Having ascended the throne, Igor immediately encountered difficulties. The Drevlyans, who were conquered by Oleg, did not approve of the new prince; on this occasion, an uprising was raised, which Igor brutally suppressed.
In 913-914, Russian squads made a campaign to the Caspian Sea and took the cities of Gilan, Daleim, Abesgun, but were defeated on the way back by the army of the Khazar Kaganate.
In 915, a dangerous enemy appeared on the southern borders of Rus' - the Pechenegs came from the east to the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region. They rushed to Russian lands, but were stopped by Igor’s squads. The prince entered into an alliance with the Pechenegs, which lasted five years. In 920, a new conflict broke out, ending in military confrontation. Unfortunately, the sources do not contain accurate data on the consequences of this war.
In 940, the Ulichi and Tivertsy submitted to the Prince of Kyiv, and their lands were subject to tribute. True, these tribes were not under the rule of Kyiv for long.
In his long-distance campaigns, Igor was not original and continued what Oleg had started. In 941 he moved with the Russian army to Byzantium. The Byzantine chronicle says that Igor arrived at Constantinople with an army on ten thousand ships. Against the troops that besieged the capital of Byzantium, Emperor Roman Lecapinus (919-944) sent the protovestiary Theophanes, who defeated the Russian fleet in a naval battle near Constantinople using “Greek fire” - a highly flammable petroleum-based mixture, the exact composition of which was kept a closely guarded secret. The emperor opposed the troops that besieged Bithynia to the armies of the patrician Vardas and the domesticate John, who also achieved victory.
In 944 Igor repeats the campaign against Byzantium. He gathered naval and ground forces, but, without waiting for the start of hostilities, the Byzantines preferred to conclude a peace treaty between Russia and Byzantium. According to the new peace treaty, Rus' had to pay trade duties and assumed a number of obligations towards Byzantium. In particular, Igor pledged not to allow black Bulgarians who lived near the Kerch Strait into the Byzantine possessions located in Crimea. In turn, Emperor Roman Lekapin obliged, at the request of the Russian prince, to provide an army at his disposal.
In 944-945, Igor carried out another campaign in the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea, walking along the Caucasian coast of the Black Sea and then heading to Derbent. During this campaign, the city of Berdaa was captured.
In 945, inspired by the success, Prince Igor of Kiev decided to go to the Drevlyans for tribute. He added a new one to the old one. After some battles, the Drevlyans paid tribute to the prince. Igor took the tribute and went back to his native Kyiv, but changed his mind and decided to return to the Drevlyans to collect another part of the tribute. The prince released most of his army. The Drevlyans, hearing that he was coming again, held a council with their prince Mal: “If a wolf gets into the habit of the sheep, he will carry out the whole flock until he kills him; so will this one: if we don’t kill him, he will destroy us all.” And they sent to him, saying: “Why are you going again? You’ve already taken all the tribute.” And Igor listened to them; and the Drevlyans, leaving the city of Iskorosten, killed Igor and his warriors, since there were few of them. And Igor was buried, and there is his grave (mound) at Iskorosten in Derevskaya land to this day."

Death of the Prince

So, despite military successes, the prince died from his greed. In the chronicle “The Tale of Bygone Years” he went down in history as Igor the Old, or Igor the Greedy.
His wife, Princess Olga, took revenge on the Drevlyans for the death of her husband. She ordered one dove per house to be given as tribute. The princess ordered to tie a twig to the birds' feet and set it on fire; the birds returned to their house and burned all the houses.
The assessment of Prince Igor’s activities by his contemporaries is ambiguous: on the one hand, the Kiev Chronicle notes his greed, on the other hand, the Novgorod Chronicle speaks of him as a talented commander who knew military affairs and knew how to negotiate. There is enough evidence of both characteristics: on the one hand, the prince’s greed was the cause of his death, on the other, he actually managed to sign a profitable trade agreement with Byzantium, resist the attacks of the Pechenegs, conquer and annex the Uglich lands to his territory. Like most rulers of Kievan Rus, the image of Igor Rurikovich is a controversial person.

Until 912, Kievan Rus was ruled by Prince Oleg on behalf of Igor, since the latter was still very young. Being modest by nature and upbringing, Igor respected his elders and did not dare to lay claim to the throne during the life of Oleg, who surrounded his name with a halo of glory for his deeds. Prince Oleg approved the choice of wife for the future ruler. The Kiev prince Igor married in 903 a simple girl, Olga, who lived near Pskov.

Beginning of reign

After Oleg died, Igor became the full-fledged prince of Rus'. His reign began with war. At this time, the Drevlyan tribe decided to leave the power of Kyiv and the uprising began. The new ruler brutally punished the rebels, inflicting a crushing defeat on them. This battle began numerous campaigns of Prince Igor. The result of the campaign against the Drevlyans was the unconditional victory of Rus', which, as a winner, demanded additional tribute from the rebels. The following campaigns were aimed at confronting the Pechenegs, who, having expelled the Ugor tribes from the Urals, continued their advance to the West. The Pechenegs, in the fight against Kievan Rus, occupied the lower reaches of the Dnieper River, thereby blocking the trade opportunities of Rus', since it was through the Dnieper that the route from the Varangians to the Greeks passed. The campaigns carried out by Prince Igor against the Polovtsians met with varying success.

Campaigns against Byzantium

Despite the ongoing confrontation with the Cumans, new wars continue. In 941, Igor declared war on Byzantium, thereby continuing the foreign policy of his predecessors. The reason for the new war was that after the death of Oleg, Byzantium considered itself free from previous obligations and ceased to fulfill the terms of the peace treaty. The campaign against Byzantium was truly outstanding. For the first time, such a large army was advancing on the Greeks. The Kiev ruler took with him about 10,000 ships, according to the chroniclers, which was 5 times more than the army with which Oleg won. But this time the Russians failed to take the Greeks by surprise; they managed to gather a large army and won the first battle on land. As a result, the Russians decided to win the war through naval battles. But that didn’t work out either. Byzantine ships, using a special incendiary mixture, began to burn Russian ships with oil. Russian warriors were simply amazed by these weapons and perceived them as heavenly. The army had to return to Kyiv.

Two years later, in 943, Prince Igor organized a new campaign against Byzantium. This time the army was even larger. In addition to the Russian army, mercenary detachments were invited, which consisted of Pechenegs and Varangians. The army moved towards Byzantium by sea and land. The new campaigns promised to be successful. But the surprise attack did not work. Representatives of the city of Chersonesus managed to report to the Byzantine emperor that a new large Russian army was approaching Constantinople. This time the Greeks decided to avoid battle and proposed a new peace treaty. The Kiev prince Igor, after consulting with his squad, accepted the terms of the peace treaty, which were identical to the terms of the agreement signed by the Byzantines with Oleg. This completed the Byzantine campaigns.

The end of the reign of Prince Igor

According to records in the chronicles, in November 945, Igor gathered a squad and moved to the Drevlyans to collect tribute. Having collected tribute, he released most of the army and with a small squad went to the city Iskorosten. The purpose of this visit was to demand tribute for himself personally. The Drevlyans were outraged and planned murder. Having armed the army, they set off to meet the prince and his retinue. This is how the murder of the Kyiv ruler took place. His body was buried not far from Iskorosten. According to legend, the murder was characterized by extreme cruelty. He was tied hand and foot to bent trees. Then the trees were released... Thus ended the reign of Prince Igor...

The Grand Duke of Rus' Igor is one of the figures in our history on whom a lot of dirt has been poured. His death, as presented in The Tale of Bygone Years, left a negative imprint on his entire reign, in which a lot of sweat and blood was shed to strengthen the Russian state.

The chronicle about the last days of the prince says the following: “The squad said to Igor: “The youths of Sveneld were dressed in weapons and clothes, and we are naked. Come with us, prince, for tribute, and you will get it, and so will we.” And Igor listened to them - he went to the Drevlyans for tribute, and added a new one to the previous tribute, and his men committed violence against them. Taking the tribute, he went to his city. When he was walking back, after thinking about it, he said to his squad: “Go home, and I’ll come back and collect some more.” And he sent his squad home, and he himself returned with a small squad, wanting more wealth.” Further, the plot is known to everyone from school history textbooks; the Drevlyans decided at a meeting: “If a wolf gets into the habit of the sheep, he will carry out the entire flock until they kill him; so is this one: if we don’t kill him, he will destroy us all.” The Drevlyans organized an ambush and killed the prince and his warriors, “since there were few of them.”

The picture is imaginative, bright, memorable. As a result, we know from childhood that the Russian Grand Duke Igor is a greedy and stupid robber (he went with a small number of soldiers to an already robbed tribe), a mediocre commander (the plot of the burning of the Russian fleet by “Greek fire” in 941), a useless ruler who did not bring any benefit to Rus'.
True, if you think sensibly and remember the subjectivity of historical written sources, which were always written to order, then you can replace several inconsistencies. The squad says to the Grand Duke, “and we are naked.” Just a year ago - in 944, the Byzantines, frightened by the power of Igor's troops, gave him a huge tribute. The prince “took from the Greeks gold and silk for all the soldiers.” And in general, it’s funny to say that the Grand Duke’s squad (the military elite of that time) was “naked.” In addition, the chronicle reports that Igor took from Byzantium “the tribute that Oleg took and more.” Oleg took 12 hryvnia of silver per brother (a hryvnia was equal to approximately 200 grams of silver). For comparison, a good horse cost 2 hryvnia. Combat sea boat with rammed sides - 4 hryvnia. It is clear that after such wealth, the “treasures” of the Drevlyans - honey and furs - are an ordinary tribute (tax).

The next discrepancy is the image of the “unlucky prince”, a mediocre commander. Over the long years of his reign (ruled from 912 - died in 945), Igor lost only one battle - in 941. Moreover, the rival of the Rus was the world power of that time, which possessed advanced military technologies - Byzantium. In addition, the victory was won by the Byzantines due to the lack of a surprise factor - the Greeks managed to prepare well for the battle (the Bulgarians reported the attack of the Rus), and the use of the most powerful weapons of that time. It was the so-called. “Greek fire” is a flammable mixture that was used for military purposes; its exact composition is unknown. There was no protection from this weapon; the flammable mixture burned even on water. We must also take into account the fact that the military campaign as a whole was won by Igor. Three years later, the Grand Duke gathered a new army, replenished it with Varangians, entered into an alliance with the Pechenegs and marched against the enemy. The Byzantines got scared and sent an embassy asking for peace. The prince took a rich tribute and concluded a peace treaty. Igor proved himself not only as a warrior, but also as a diplomat - why fight if the enemy himself offers a profitable peace? He did not forget the betrayal of the Bulgarians - he “commanded the Pechenegs to fight the Bulgarian land.”

Why does Prince Igor order the Pechenegs? There is an answer and it also does not fit into the image of a “robber and adventurer.” In 915, when “the Pechenegs first came to the Russian land,” the Grand Duke was able to force them to peace. It is clear that if the Russian land had been weak, the situation would have developed differently. As in those days, so now, peoples understand only the language of force. The Pechenegs migrated to the Danube. In 920, in the chronicle of the Pechenegs there is another phrase - “Igor fought against the Pechenegs.” Please note - he did not repulse the raid, he did not fight with them on Russian soil, but “fought against the Pechenegs,” that is, he himself went against them and won. As a result, the Pechenegs decided to try the forces of Rus' only in 968. In addition, if the fate is the fact that Igor could “command” the Pechenegs to fight the Bulgarian land in 944, they were in vassal dependence on Rus'. At least some of the tribes. This is confirmed by the participation of auxiliary Pecheneg forces in Svyatoslav’s wars. For 48 years (two generations) the Pechenegs did not dare to touch Russian lands. This says a lot. Just one line - “Igor fought against the Pechenegs,” and a whole forgotten feat of the Russian army. The blow was so powerful that the brave warriors of the steppes were afraid to attack Rus' for two (!) generations. For comparison, the Polovtsians, who came later than the Pechenegs, made only fifty major attacks on Russian lands in one hundred and fifty years. This is not to mention small raids, which were not even counted. And if we take the period of the reign of the Baptist of Rus', Vladimir Svyatoslavich, then he had to build a line of fortresses along the southern borders of the state, driving warriors there from all over the state. Under Vladimir, Rus'’s relations with the Steppe deteriorated sharply - there was an incessant “great war” with the Pechenegs, who almost every year broke through to the Kyiv suburbs. According to the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, the Pecheneg hordes roamed just one day's journey from Rus'.

Foreign sources confirm the opinion about the power of Rus' during the reign of Grand Duke Igor. The 10th-century Arab geographer and traveler Ibn-Haukal calls the Pechenegs “a spearhead in the hands of the Rus,” which Kyiv turns wherever it wants. The Arab historian and geographer Al-Masudi calls the Don the “Russian River,” and the Black Sea “Russian, because no one dares to swim on it except the Russians.” This was during the reign of Igor the Old. The Byzantine writer and historian Leo Deacon calls the Cimmerian Bosporus (modern Kerch) a Russian base, from where Igor led his fleet against the Byzantine Empire. From the treaty with Byzantium in 944, it is clear that Rus' under Igor controlled both the mouth of the Dnieper and the passages to Crimea from the steppe.

The question is, who is the great statesman? Igor, to whom the mighty Byzantine Empire paid tribute, the Pechenegs were “the tip of his weapon” and for two generations they did not dare to disturb the Russian borders, the ruler who made the Don “Russian River”. Or Vladimir “The Saint” - a participant in the fratricidal internecine war, who owned hundreds of concubines, and built forts on the Desna, from the Pechenegs, who roamed a day’s journey from Russian cities.

The mystery of Igor's death and the role of Olga

The question is, how did the great sovereign, commander and diplomat, who took gold, silver and silks from the Greeks, fall into the trap created by the greed of his soldiers? According to historian Lev Prozorov, Igor was killed not by the Drevlyans, but by the Varangian squad, which mainly consisted of Christians. Let me tell you a few facts about this. Firstly, a real Russian squad would not leave the prince. The squad and the prince were one. The warriors could not leave the prince in a hostile land. The prince's squad suffered significant damage in 941. Therefore, to collect tribute, he took Varangian troops and a “small squad”. Secondly, before the campaign against Byzantium in 944, Igor’s army was replenished with Varangians. After the second campaign against Byzantium, the treaty of 944 mentions that a significant part of the Rus swear allegiance in the cathedral church of Elijah the Prophet on Kiev Podol. The chronicle explains: “For many Varangians are Christians.” Thirdly, greed (the official reason for the death of Igor and his small squad) was not characteristic of the Rus and, in general, the pagans of the North of Europe. The Rus and Slavs have always amazed foreigners with their generosity and selflessness, which often turns into extravagance. Christian Germans and Christian Poles, on the contrary, were distinguished by their greed for spoils. Fourthly, the Byzantine author Leo the Deacon writes that Igor was killed by the “Germans,” and Christianity on the shores of the Varangian Sea was then called the “German Faith.”

The fact that the squad returned to Kyiv is also interesting; the prince and his closest associates were killed, but the soldiers returned alive and well. They are not punished, and their ridiculous story becomes the official version. It is clear that the murder had a customer. The Christian community of Kyiv at that time felt good, Prince Askold accepted the Christian faith, and under Igor a cathedral church appeared. The Christian community also had a high patron - Princess Olga, Igor's wife. It is officially believed that she was a pagan at that time, and was baptized at the hands of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine. But Byzantine sources do not confirm this version.

Olga’s “revenge” raises even more questions. She allegedly avenged her husband “according to cruel pagan custom.” It should be noted that according to pagan customs, blood feud was a matter of a narrow circle of men - a brother, a son, the father of the murdered man, a brother’s son, or a sister’s son. Women were not considered as avengers. In addition, at that time the affairs of Christians were no less (if not more terrible) than the pagans. For example, the Christian emperor Justinian the Great ordered the massacre of 50 thousand rebel Christians at the capital's hippodrome, and Emperor Basil II ordered the execution of 48 thousand captive Bulgarians (also Christians).

The number of deaths is surprising; at the “bloody feast” alone, according to the chronicle, 5 thousand Drevlyans who were drunk on Greek wine were killed. Judging by the way Olga hurries and the number of those killed, one gets the impression that this is not revenge, but a “cleansing” of possible witnesses. True, apparently, we will never know whether Olga was among the organizers of this murder, or whether she was used “in the dark” by agents of Constantinople who acted through the Christian communities of Kyiv and the Drevlyansky land.

Most people who graduated from the Soviet school will be able to remember that Igor was an insignificant prince who died while collecting tribute from the Drevlyans due to his greed and stupidity. However, this version does not correspond to historical truth. Moreover, the causes of his death and the real killers have not been definitively established. Igor began to reign independently only after the death of the Prophetic Oleg - also a semi-legendary personality, at least not mentioned in any foreign source, and this despite the fact that his “shield is on the gates of Constantinople.” Oleg died in 911 (according to other sources in 922). Before his death, he managed to marry Igor to the future first Russian saint - Princess Olga. Before her marriage, Olga’s name was Pregrada, and she came from Pskov, where she was either a commoner, or, on the contrary, from a noble family of Gostomysl. It is possible that she was actually born in Plovdiv and was a Bulgarian princess. A number of historians claim that Olga was

daughter of Prophetic Oleg. And all that is known for certain is that at baptism she received the name Elena. After Olga, Igor took several more wives. However, according to ancient chronicles, the one who later became a saint enjoyed the greatest respect from him. It is believed that the marriage took place in 903, however, this date is highly doubtful. Especially if you analyze the fact that their son Svyatoslav was born in 942.

Prince Igor made his first military campaign against the Drevlyans in 914. This Slavic tribe had its capital in Iskorosten, 150 kilometers from Kyiv. The prophetic Oleg conquered them, but after his death the Drevlyans refused to pay tribute. Igor defeated the Drevlyans and imposed a tribute on them greater than Oleg's. In 915, Igor had his first clash with the Pechenegs. Igor managed to conclude an “eternal peace” with them, which lasted until 920, after which there was virtually continuous war on the borders of Rus' and the steppe. During the reign of Igor, Russian squads willingly sailed along the Caspian Sea, plundering the coastal states of the region. They even managed to plunder and massacre the capital of Caucasian Albania, the city of Berdaa, located on the territory of modern Azerbaijan. “The Rus, greedy for battle, ... set out to sea and made an invasion on the decks of their ships ... These people devastated the entire territory of Berdaa ... They are something other than robbers, like wolves and lions. They never indulge in the joy of feasts... They take over countries and conquer cities...” Nizami later wrote.

However, Oleg’s military glory – that same shield – greatly attracted Prince Igor. In 941 he undertook his first campaign against Constantinople. It is interesting that the Russian chronicles telling about this campaign are a retelling of Greek sources; they report: “On June 11... the dews sailed to Constantinople on ten thousand ships.” The main forces of the Byzantines at this time fought on other fronts. However, the leader of the city, warned by the Bulgarians about the invasion, boldly entered the battle. The Byzantines were armed with “Greek fire” - a flammable mixture that could burn in water, and managed to burn most of the Russian fleet. The trip ended in nothing. However, as a result, his prince Igor became the first Russian ruler to appear in the Byzantine chronicles. He is the first to be cross-mentioned in both Russian and foreign sources. And, accordingly, he is the first ruler of Rus', whose real existence is considered proven.

The first failure did not discourage Prince Igor. In 943-944, the prince assembled a new army, which, in addition to the Slavic units, included many Varangian squads and the mercenary cavalry of the Pechenegs. He again goes on a campaign against Constantinople and wins, without shedding a drop of blood. The Byzantines were so frightened by reports of the prince’s huge army that they sent ambassadors ahead who promised to pay tribute, generously reward each warrior and, in modern terms, provide most favored nation treatment to Russian merchants. After consulting with the squad, the prince accepted these proposals. And he returned to Kyiv with fame and wealth. What this prince, wise in many battles and thirty years of ruling the state, who expanded its borders and successfully restrained the onslaught of enemies, did next, according to the official version, cannot be explained logically. In 945, at the request of the squad, which was “overspent and worn out,” he went to the Drevlyans for tribute. It should be understood that the squad was the highest stratum of the society of that time, from which the boyars were subsequently formed, so they certainly could not go hungry and be poorly dressed. In addition, nothing is reported anywhere about the refusal of the Drevlyans to pay the tribute that Igor imposed on them back in 914. That is, it turns out that the autocrat, having gathered the entire leadership of the country, sets off to rob his own subjects. Well, let's say that's exactly how it was. Then, apparently, later he simply went crazy. Having collected tribute without any resistance, Igor sends most of the squad with valuables to Kyiv, and with a small gang returns to Iskorosten, wanting to rob it again. The Drevlyans, under the leadership of Prince Mal, rebel, destroy his squad, and tie the prince himself to two trees and tear him to pieces.

Further more. An enemy so hated that the most brutal execution was chosen for his destruction is buried with great pomp and honor near Iskorosten, having built a huge mound over his body. Prince Mal, without thinking twice, sets off to woo Princess Olga. The inconsolable widow, naturally, as a good Christian woman, orders him and his entire retinue to be buried alive in the ground in revenge for the death of her husband. Moreover, she was so heartbroken that later she went to take revenge on the Drevlyans three more times. Historians have long noticed that there is something wrong with this version. It is quite difficult to rely on ancient chronicles as a reliable document, since everything was written exclusively at the request of the rulers and in the manner that these rulers considered correct. A version was proposed that Igor could have been killed by dissatisfied Varangians. In an expanded version, the version says that the Varangians were bribed. The question remains: by whom? The ancient principle of detective work says: “Qui prodest” - look for someone who benefits. So, Princess Olga, without having any dynastic rights, after the death of Prince Igor, single-handedly ruled Russia for 17 years, from 945 to 962.