People began to populate the territory of Belarus from the Middle Paleolith (100-40 year BC) and the first settlements emerged 27-24 thousand years ago. In the 7-9th centuries, dryhavichy, kryvichy and radzimichy who formed Slavic alliances inhabited Belarus. Polotsk, Turov and Smolensk Principalities were the first state formations in Belarus. The Town of Polotsk is known since 862. The first chronicled Polotsk Prince that ruled in the late 10th century was Rogvolod. The Polotsk Principality reached the peak of its power in the 11th century under the rule of the Prince Vseslav Charodei. Kiev Princes ruled the Polotsk and Turov Principalities, like other Belarusian lands, over specific historical periods, but the process of feudal fragmentation resulted in a collapse into smaller independent Principalities. In the 10-12th centuries, feudalism began to develop on Belarusian lands and at the initial stage it combined communal structure elements.

In the late 10th century, Byzantine-rite Christianity began to disseminate over the Belarusian land, thereby contributing to development of culture, emergence of stone monumental architecture, painting and literature.

In the 1050s, the St. Sophia’s Cathedral was built in Polotsk — the first monumental structure on the Belarusian land. In 1161, jeweler-craftsman Lazar Bogsha created a unique Cross for Enlightener St. Efrasinnia of Polacak — a masterpiece of east-Slavonic applied art. Kirill Turovsky, author of sermon “words” was most well known among Christian preacher writers. The 11th century Turovsky Gospels survived. The Belarusian language began to form in the first half of the 13th century.

In the early 13th century, Belarusian lands and Principalities participated in formation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania due to threat of invasion of crusaders and Mongol-Tatars (the latter subjugated eastern and southern Russian areas in the 1230-1240s). Mindaug who was coronated as a king in 1253 ruled the Duchy. Novogorodok (Novogrudok) became the capital of the new state and since 1323 — Vilno (current Vilnius). In the 13-14th centuries, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania incorporated all Belarusian lands. The Old Belarusian language was the official language from the mid 14th to the late 17th century.

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania under the rule of Vitaut reached the peak of its power, expanded its frontiers to the maximum and gained international prestige. The Battle of Grunwald in 1410 in which the Teutonic Order was inflicted a crushing defeat by the joint forces of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was of critical importance for strengthening the state.

In the 16th century, the state system of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania acquired a final form. Its fundamentals were embodied in Statutes of 1529, 1566 and 1588. The Grand Duke and Rada Polish landowners ruled the state, the area of which was divided into provinces and povets (administrative district). The representative power body of feudal lords (Polish gentry) was the Sejm, the deputies of which were elected at the povet regional councils.

The struggle for influence in the eastern Baltic region initiated the Livonian war (1558-1583) between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Muscovy State. Failures of the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania led to closer military and state alliance with Poland. The Lyublin Union of 1569 resulted into unification of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Polish Kingdom into the federative state — Rzeczpospolita with a single monarch and Sejm. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania kept its government, financial system, army and emblem. Concluding the Union allowed the new state to win the war and return areas lost during the retreat and to secure its power in Livonia.

From the early 16th century, the massive agrarian reform was launched (the so-called volochnaya pomera of 1557). The serfdom was finally embodied in the 1588 Statute. The towns that were granted self-government — Magdeburg Law — since the late 14th century were intensively developing, urban crafts sprouted and shop production gained momentum. The commerce was intensively developing.

In the 16th century, the Reformation initiated Lutheranism, Calvinism and other Protestant trends in Belarus. Religious tolerance lasted for a long period, but in the late 16th century the counter-reformation began. The compromise between Orthodox and Catholicism resulted in the Brest Church Union of 1596 according to which the Orthodox Church of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania recognized supremacy of the Pope and Catholic doctrines, while keeping its rites and organization. Reluctance of Orthodox worshippers to accept the Church Union aggravated by economic pressure on peasantry and urban lower classes had led to the anti-feudal war.