Kievan Rus was founded c.860 by Riurik, a Scandinavian Varangian. He founded the Riurikovich dynasty that would rule Ruthenia for the next 800 years. Riurik's capital was the northern city of Novgorod, his successor Oleg relocated the capital to Kiev.
While the early rulers of Rus were Scandinavians, they gradually merged with the local Slavic population and became Ruthenes. Still, in the 11th century, Yaroslav, (called Jarisleif in Scandinavian chronicles) maintained the dynastic links and married a Swedish princess and gave asylum to king Olaf of Norway.
The unity of Kievan Rus gradually declined, and was all but gone by 1132. After that period Kievan Rus shattered into a number of smaller states all of which contested for the throne of Kiev.
Kievan Rus was finally destroyed by the Mongols in 1240, but the Riurikovich line persisted and continued to rule northern Russian principalities until the early seventeenth century.
Princes (kniazes) of Novgorod
Rulers (kniazes) of Kievan Rus
- Kyi, Schek and Khoriv? (854? - ?), supposedly, founders of 3 settlements, which would later merge and form Kiev.
- Askold and Dir? (864?-882?), supposedly, killed by Oleg.
- Oleg (882-912)
- Igor (912-945)
- Olga (Regent) (945-962)
- Sviatoslav I (962-972)
- Yaropolk (972-980)
- Vladimir I (980-1015)
- Sviatopolk I (1015-1019)
- Yaroslav (1019-1054)
- Iziaslav (1054-1073), (1076-1078)
- Vseslav (1068—1069)
- Sviatoslav II (1073-1076)
- Vsevolod (1078-1093)
- Sviatopolk II (1093-1113)
- Vladimir Monomakh (1113-1125)
- Mstislav (1125-1132)
- Yaropolk II (1132-1139)
- Vyacheslav (1139—1155, with intervals)
- Vsevolod II (1139-1146)
- Igor II (1146)
- Iziaslav II (1146-1154, with intervals)
- Yuri Dolgoruky (1149—1151, 1155—1157)
- Rostislav (1154—1167, with intervals)
- Iziaslav III (1155-1162, with intervals)
- Mstislav II (1167-1169)
- Gleb (1169, 1170-1171)
- Vladimir II (1171)
- Mikhalko (1171)
- Roman (1171-1173, 1175-1177)
- Vsevolod III (1173)
- Rurik (1172—1211, with intervals)
- Yaroslav II, (1174-1175, 1180)
- Sviatoslav III (1173, 1176—1180, 1181—1194)
- Ingvar (1202, 1214)
- Rostislav II (1204—1206)
- Vsevolod IV (1206—1212, with intervals)
- Mstislav III (1214—1223)
- Vladimir III (1223—1235)
- Iziaslav IV (1235—1236)
- Yaroslav III (1236—1238)
- Mikhail (1238—1239)
- Rostislav II (1239)
- Daniel (1239—1240)
- Alexander Nevsky (1249)
- [[Yaroslav IV of Kiev}|Yaroslav IV]] (1271)
For later rulers see Tsars.
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