The book is devoted to the key problems of the political history of Russia until the 16th century. The first part of the work examines the stages of political development in the pre-Mongol period. Questions are being studied about the stage of development of East Slavic society on the eve of the formation of the state of Russia, about the so-called foreign influence on the formation of Old Russian statehood, about the territorial structure of Russia, about the time of the onset of political fragmentation. The second part is devoted to princely power: the principles of its inheritance and princely title are investigated.