The Rurik Dynasty was the ruling dynasty of Russia from 862 to 1598. More precisely, though, Russia per se did not exist during this time. The state that existed from 862 until 1240 (see Mongol invasion of Russia) is called the Kievan Rus'. The Mongols forced the Rurikid rulers to withdraw to the city of Novgorod. After the 1480s, the dynasty ruled over a state called Muscovy and held court at Moscow.

Among the descendents of the Rurik dynasty are a few noble families of Russia (Dolgoruki, Bogolubski, Staricki) and former Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland (Wareg-Massalski, Ostrogski, Zaslawski and others).

The dynasty was established by Rurik, a Varangian ruler of Novgorod, and became extinct with the death of the imbecile tsar Feodor I. After Feodor's death, an unstable period known as the Time of Troubles ensued, and lasted until 1613. That year, Mikhail I took the throne, founding the Romanov dynasty that would last for three centuries.

List of rulers of the Rurik Dynasty

Princes of Novgorod

• Riurik (c.860–879)
• Oleg (Regent) (879–912)

Rulers of Kievan Rus

• Igor (912–945)
• Olga (Regent) (945–962)
• Sviatoslav I (962–972)
• Yaropolk (972–980)
• Vladimir I (980–1015)
• Sviatopolk I (1015–1019)
• Yaroslav (1019–1054)
• Iziaslav (1054–1073, 1076–1078)
• Sviatoslav II (1073–1076)
• Vsevolod (1078–1093)
• Sviatopolk II (1093–1113)
• Vladimir Monomakh (1113–1125)
• Mstislav (1125–1132)
• Yaropolk II (1132-1138)

Muscovite Princes and Grand Princes

• Daniel (1283–1303)
• Yuri (1303–1325)
• Ivan I (1325–1341)
• Semeon (1341–1353)
• Ivan II (1353–1359)
• Dmitri Donskoi (1359–1389)
• Vasili I (1389–1425)
• Vasili II (1425–1462)
• Ivan III (Ivan the Great) (1462–1505), first Sovereign for all Russia
• Vasili III (1505–1533)

Russian Tsars

• Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) (1533–1584), first to be crowned Tsar
• Feodor I (1584–1598), last of the Riurikovich