'Beyond the portage' (Zavolochye) is the great basin of the Northern Dvina and its neighbours, reached from Novgorod's lake country over the watershed portages.
Its people are the Finnic 'Zavolochye Chud', who pay tribute in furs at Novgorod's pogosts: Vel on the Vaga is one of those named in 1137 (en.wikipedia), and Kargopol on the Onega was a Novgorod trading station by 1146. The tribute is collected by armed companies sent from Novgorod each year. The Rostov-Suzdal princes have long competed for it: in 1169 Danislav Lazutinich, collecting tribute beyond the portage, was attacked by Andrei Bogolyubsky's men, beat them and brought home both his tribute and a second one taken from the Suzdal side (chronicle).
In 1187 Novgorod's tribute collectors were killed 'beyond the portage' as well as in Pechora. The grand prince now holds Ustyug at the head of the Dvina (see the Vladimir-Suzdal research). The later Novgorodian boyar estates on the Dvina and the town of Kholmogory belong to later centuries; on 1 January 1200 the Dvina is a land of Chud villages and Novgorod pogosts.
Who holds it
- Name
- none named
- Title
- the Chud of Zavolochye and Novgorod's pogosts (no leader named)
- Confidence
- high
Novgorod chronicle under 6677 and 6695; the statute of 1137; en.wikipedia Velsk, Kargopol.
Overlord
Novgorod, through its tribute collectors (dannitsy) and pogosts.
How things stand that morning
Tributary to Novgorod; no war recorded since 1187; the Ustyug outpost of the grand prince lies on its south-eastern edge.
Wealth
Furs (sable, marten, squirrel), walrus ivory and seal oil from the White Sea, salt on the coast (later recorded), fish.
Military
None of its own recorded; Novgorod's collecting companies.
Threats
- Suzdal competition from Ustyug
- Killings of the collectors (1187)
Customs and assemblies
Village communities; no leader recorded.
Overlord claims
Novgorod's tribute; the grand prince of Vladimir's men from Ustyug.
Places of note
- Vel pogost: named in 1137
- Kargopol: trading station by 1146
- Kholmogory (not yet recorded): the later Dvina centre; first recorded much later
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: A handful of chronicle notices and the 1137 statute; the extent drawn is an estimate.
On the map: Drawn generously over the river basins; real tribute was taken along the rivers, not across the whole forest. The south-western edge follows the Vladimir-Suzdal research; Ustyug is left to it.
Primary sources for Novgorod
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Chronicle of Novgorod (kept year by year; the Synodal manuscript written in the 13th and 14th centuries). Novgorod's own record, kept at St Sophia. Read online
- The Laurentian Chronicle (the Suzdal continuation kept in the late 12th and 13th centuries; manuscript 1377). The court record of Vsevolod III of Vladimir. Read online
- The Livonian Chronicle of Henry, Henry of Livonia (1225 to 1227). The chief source for the Baltic mission. Read online
- The birch-bark letters (11th to 15th centuries). Excavated letters and notes on birch bark, dated by the layer they lie in. Read online
- The law of the Gotlanders; The saga of the Gotlanders (Guta lag about 1220, Guta saga about 1220 to 1275; manuscript of about 1350). The law and the short history of the self-governing island. Read online
Sources and studies
- The Chronicle of Novgorod 1016-1471 (Novgorod First Chronicle), tr. R. Michell and N. Forbes (1914): entries for 1164-1215 read through the archive.org full-text search (scan pp. 76-106)
- Wikipedia (en): Velsk
- Wikipedia (en): Kargopol
- Wikipedia (en): Yugra
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.