Ryazanian

The Ryazanians are the East Slavic people of the middle Oka, the south-eastern frontier of Rus' where forest meets steppe. Their land emerged from the Murom-Ryazan inheritance that split from Chernigov by 1129, with fortress towns on the border with the nomadic world.

In December 1237 Batu's armies sacked and annihilated the capital, Old Ryazan, killing most of its princely house; the seat moved north to Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky, later Ryazan. Rebuilding under the Golden Horde, the princes balanced between Sarai, Moscow and the steppe. Prince Oleg Ivanovich stood aside from Kulikovo in 1380 as an ally of Mamai, and Ryazan annexed the principality of Pronsk in 1483.

Ryazan was finally absorbed by Vasily III in 1521 when its last prince fled to Lithuania. Its speech belonged to the southern Russian dialect belt, marked by akanye and contact with Turkic neighbours.