Read the text and match the missing phrases with the gaps

a) from Rus, a medieval state populated mostly by the East Slavs

b) proclaimed an Empire in 1721 and became recognized

c) a disastrous defeat of invaders

d) The ancestors of modern Russians

e) the traders, warriors and settlers from the Baltic Sea region

f) formed the state of the Golden Horde, which pillaged the Russian principalities and ruled the southern and central expanses of Russia for over two centuries

g) defeat on the Mongol-Tatars in the Battle of Kulikovo

h) doubled the already large Russian territory by annexing the three Tatar khanates