A History Of Russia Central Asia And Mongolia Vol 1 Inner Eurasia From Prehistory To The Mongol Empire ((new))

Farther west, in the forested zones and forest-steppe fringes of modern Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, Slavic tribes began to consolidate. In the 9th century, Scandinavian traders and warriors known as the Rus (Varangians) moved down the river networks of Inner Eurasia, linking the Baltic Sea with the Black Sea and the wealth of Byzantium.

Within decades, the Mongols had conquered the Khwarazmian Empire in Central Asia and the fragmented principalities of the Rus. Farther west, in the forested zones and forest-steppe