Why go
The contrast between the Baltic river routes and the southern steppe makes the formation of Rus’ easier to follow. Novgorod and Kyiv linked northern trade with Byzantium, while the lower Volga belonged to another commercial world shaped by the Khazars.
The full story
Before Rus’ emerged, the northern Black Sea and southern steppe connected many different populations. Greek trading settlements, later migrations and the Khazar state formed part of this changing landscape. The Khazars controlled territory around the lower Volga and maintained commercial links between northern Europe and the Islamic world. East Slavic settlement also developed among Finnic communities in the forest regions farther north. Scandinavian traders and warriors, commonly called Varangians in this eastern setting, travelled the waterways between the Baltic, Black and Caspian seas. The chronicle tradition places Rurik at Novgorod before his successors extended their authority southwards to Kyiv. Rus’ took shape around these routes. Furs, wax and enslaved people were traded along rivers including the Volkhov and Dnieper. Connections with Constantinople brought both conflict and cultural exchange. The adoption of Orthodox Christianity in 988 and the use of Church Slavonic in worship became lasting influences on religious and literary culture.