Caspian expeditions of the Rus' From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Modern interpretation of Rus' Varangians and their longships in Gardariki, by Nicholas Roerich. The Caspian expeditions of the Rus' were military raids undertaken by the Rus' between the late 9th century[a] and c. 1041 on the Caspian Sea shores,[a] of what are nowadays Iran, Dagestan, and Azerbaijan. Initially, the Rus' appear..