137-598: [REDACTED] Look up bolgar in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Bolgar may refer to: People [ edit ] Bolgars , a people of Central Asian origin Bolgar language , the extinct language of the Bulgars Bolgar languages Bolgar Bagryanov, Bulgarian film director Bolgar (surname) Places [ edit ] Bolgar Urban Settlement,
274-751: A Turkic language , the Bulgar language of the Oghuric branch. They preserved the military titles, organization, and customs of Eurasian steppes as well as pagan shamanism and belief in the sky deity Tangra . The Bulgars became semi-sedentary during the 7th century in the Pontic-Caspian steppe, establishing the polity of Old Great Bulgaria c. 630–635, which was defeated by the Khazar Empire in 668 AD. In 681, Khan Asparukh conquered Scythia Minor , opening access to Moesia , and established
411-748: A hemorrhage on his wedding night. After Attila's death in 453, the Hunnic Empire faced an internal power struggle between its vassalized Germanic peoples and the Hunnic ruling body. Led by Ellak , Attila's favored son and ruler of the Akatziri , the Huns engaged the Gepid king Ardaric at the Battle of Nedao , who led a Germanic coalition to overthrow Hunnic imperial authority. The Amali Goths would revolt
548-747: A "mixed race" and "troublemakers". Peter A. Boodberg noted that the Buluoji in the Chinese sources were recorded as remnants of the Xiongnu confederation, and had strong Caucasian elements. Another theory linking the Bulgars to a Turkic people of Inner Asia has been put forward by Boris Simeonov , who identified them with the Pugu (僕骨; buk/buok kwət ; Buqut ), a Tiele and/or Toquz Oguz tribe. The Pugu were mentioned in Chinese sources from 103 BC up to
685-496: A 15,000-strong Roman army led by magister militum Aristus. In 502, Bulgars again devastated Thrace as reportedly there were no Roman soldiers to oppose them. In 528–529 they again invaded the region and defeated Roman generals Justin and Baduarius . However, the Gothic general Mundus offered allegiance to Emperor Justinian I (527–565) in 530, and managed to kill 5,000 Bulgars plundering Thrace. John Malalas recorded that in
822-419: A broad chest and a large head; his eyes were small, his beard thin and sprinkled with grey; and he had a flat nose and tanned skin, showing evidence of his origin." Many scholars take these to be unflattering depictions of East Asian (obsolete " Mongoloid ") racial characteristics. Maenchen-Helfen argues that, while many Huns had East Asian racial characteristics, they were unlikely to have looked as Asiatic as
959-501: A character in the 2007 Flash Gordon series who replaced Prince Thun See also [ edit ] Bulgar (disambiguation) Volgar (disambiguation) Vulgar (disambiguation) Bolgary , several rural localities in Russia Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Bolgar . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
1096-497: A fixed rank with fixed duties. Kim affirms the importance of the logades for Hunnic administration, but notes that there were differences of rank between them, and suggests that it was more likely lower ranking officials who gathered taxes and tribute. He suggests that various Roman defectors to the Huns may have worked in a sort of imperial bureaucracy. Unlike the Iranian Huns , who quickly began to mint their own coinage,
1233-542: A genetic study of individuals from the around the Tian Shan mountains of central Asia dating from the late second century CE, Damgaard et al. 2018 found that these individuals represented a population of mixed East Asian and West Eurasian origin. They argued that this population descended from Xiongnu who expanded westward and mixed with Iranian Sakas . This population in the Tian Shan mountains may be connected to
1370-725: A group of Huns and Alans fighting against Radagaisus in defense of Italy. Uldin was also known for defeating Gothic rebels who troubled the East Romans around the Danube and for beheading the Goth Gainas around 400–401. The East Romans began to feel the pressure from Uldin's Huns again in 408. Uldin crossed the Danube and pillaged Thrace. The East Romans tried to buy off Uldin, but his sum was too high so they instead bought off Uldin's subordinates. This resulted in many desertions from Uldin's group of Huns. Uldin himself escaped back across
1507-729: A horse takes him on his back". They appear to have spent so much time riding that they walked clumsily, something observed in other nomadic groups. Roman sources characterize the Hunnic horses as ugly. It is not possible to determine the exact breed of horse the Huns used, despite a relatively good description by the Roman writer Vegetius . Sinor believes that it was likely a breed of Mongolian pony. However, horse remains are absent from all identified Hun burials. Based on anthropological descriptions and archaeological finds of other nomadic horses, Maenchen-Helfen believes that they rode mostly geldings . Apart from horses, ancient sources indicate that
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#17327808054591644-682: A municipal formation which the town of Bolgar and one rural locality in Spassky District of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia are incorporated as Bolgar (inhabited locality) , several inhabited localities in Russia Bolgar Buttress , a buttress in Antarctica Bolghar , a historical Volga Bulgarian capital Other uses [ edit ] KZT BOLGAR, a Bulgarian tractor manufacturer Bolgar,
1781-537: A people who practiced artificial cranial deformation as evidence of Hunnic agriculture. Kim similarly argues that all steppe empires have possessed both pastoralist and sedentary populations, classifying the Huns as "agro-pastoralist". As a nomadic people, the Huns spent a great deal of time riding horses: Ammianus claimed that the Huns "are almost glued to their horses", Zosimus claimed that they "live and sleep on their horses", and Sidonius claimed that "[s]carce had an infant learnt to stand without his mother's aid when
1918-507: A rank rather than an ethnicity. Robert Werner has advanced an etymology from Tocharian ku (dog), suggesting—as the Chinese called the Xiongnu dogs—that the dog was the totem animal of the Hunnic tribe. He also compares the name Massagetae , noting that the element saka in that name means dog. Others such as Harold Bailey, S. Parlato, and Jamsheed Choksy have argued that the name derives from an Iranian word akin to Avestan Ẋyaona , and
2055-537: A ranking hierarchy, much like Germanic societies. Denis Sinor similarly notes that, with the exception of the historically uncertain Balamber , no Hun leaders are named in the sources until Uldin , indicating their relative unimportance. Thompson argues that permanent kingship only developed with the Huns' invasion of Europe and the near-constant warfare that followed. Regarding the organization of Hunnic rule under Attila, Peter Golden comments "it can hardly be called
2192-686: A state of disorder", i.e. the "disturbers", was a more likely etymology for migrating nomads. According to Osman Karatay , if the "mixed" etymology relied on the westward migration of the Oğurs , meeting and merging with the Huns, north of the Black Sea, it was a faulty theory, since the Oghurs were documented in Europe as early as 463, while the Bulgars were not mentioned until 482 – an overly short time period for any such ethnogenesis to occur. However,
2329-440: A state, much less an empire". Golden speaks instead of a "Hunnic confederacy". Kim, however, argues that the Huns were far more organized and centralized, with some basis in organization of the Xiongnu state. Walter Pohl notes the correspondences of Hunnic government to those of other steppe empires, but nevertheless argues that the Huns do not appear to have been a unified group when they arrived in Europe. Ammianus wrote that
2466-696: A stay in Avar territory left and settled in Italy, in Sepino , Bojano and Isernia . These Bulgars preserved their speech and identity until the late 8th century. The First Bulgarian Empire (681–1018) had a significant political influence in the Balkans. In the time of Tervel (700–721) the Bulgars helped Byzantines two times, in 705 the Emperor Justinian II to regain his throne, and 717–718 defeating
2603-656: A topic of ongoing debate and controversy among scholars. The first clear mention and evidence of the Bulgars was in 480, when they served as the allies of the Byzantine Emperor Zeno (474–491) against the Ostrogoths . Anachronistic references about them can also be found in the 7th-century geography work Ashkharatsuyts by Anania Shirakatsi , where the Kup'i Bulgar , Duč'i Bulkar , Olxontor Błkar and immigrant Č'dar Bulkar tribes are mentioned as being in
2740-521: A unified government when they entered Europe but rather to have developed a unified tribal leadership in the course of their wars with the Romans. The Huns ruled over a variety of peoples who spoke numerous languages, and some maintained their own rulers. Their main military technique was mounted archery . The Huns may have stimulated the Great Migration , a contributing factor in the collapse of
2877-524: A variety of genetic signatures. Maróti et al. 2022 showed that the genomes of nine Hun-era individuals who lived in the basin varied from European to Northeast Asian connections, with those individuals showing associations with Northeast Asia being most similar to groups found in Mongolia such as the Xiongnu and the Xianbei . An analysis of Hun-era genomes by Gnecchi-Ruscone et al. 2022 likewise found
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#17327808054593014-529: A wide range of genetic variability, with two individuals showing a connection to ancient Northeast Asians and others showing European ancestry. The history of the Huns in the fourth century is not very clear, and the Huns left no sources themselves. The Romans became aware of the Huns when the latter's invasion of the Pontic steppes forced thousands of Goths to move to the Lower Danube to seek refuge in
3151-476: Is "no general consensus" and "scholarship is divided" on the issue of a Hun-Xiongnu connection. Recent supporters of a connection between the Huns and Xiongnu include Hyun Jin Kim and Etienne de la Vaissière . De la Vaissière argues that ancient Chinese and Indian sources used Xiongnu and Hun to translate each other, and that the various "Iranian Huns" were similarly identified with the Xiongnu. Kim believes that
3288-612: Is considered as the indication of the confines of the Bulgar settlement. In the Balkans they merged with the Slavs and other autochthonous Romance and Greek speaking population, like the Thracians and Vlachs , becoming a political and military elite. However, the influence of the pre-Slavic population had relatively little influence on the Slavs and Bulgars, indicating their population was reduced in previous centuries. The hinterlands of
3425-574: Is likewise disputed, but probably in 406/407 and 431/433 respectively. Otherwise, the Huns made no attempt to conquer or settle on Roman territory. Following Attila's death, the Huns were driven out of Pannonia and some appear to have returned to the Pontic Steppe, while one group settled in Dobruja . One of the only written sources for the size of Attila's domain is given by the Roman historian Priscus. Priscus refers to Attila ruling as far as
3562-516: Is now under the sway of the Avars, having made an alliance with the local peoples". Kuber later led a revolt against the Avars and with his people moved as far as the region of Thessaloniki in Greek Macedonia . The fifth brother, reported by Nikephoros I and Theophanes, "settling in the five Ravennate cities became a subject of the Romans". This brother is believed to be Alcek , who after
3699-469: Is placed between 650 and 663 AD. According to Nikephoros I, Kubrat instructed his five sons to "never separate their place of dwelling from one another, so that by being in concordance with one another, their power might thrive". Subsequent events proved Old Great Bulgaria to be only a loose tribal union, as there emerged a rivalry between the Khazars and the Bulgars over Turk patrimony and dominance in
3836-698: Is recorded "in the country in which I live, there formerly lived the Vununtur (< Vunundur < Onoğundur). Our ancestors, the Khazars warred with them. The Vununtur were more numerous, as numerous as the sand by the sea, but they could not withstand the Khazars. They left their country and fled... until they reached the river called Duna ( Danube )". This migration and the foundation of the Danube Bulgaria (the First Bulgarian Empire )
3973-857: Is usually dated c. 681. The composition of the horde is unknown, and sources only mention tribal names Čakarar, Kubiar, Küriger, and clan names Dulo , Ukil/Vokil , Ermiyar, Ugain and Duar. The Onglos where Bulgars settled is considered northern Dobruja , secured to the West and North by Danube and its Delta , and bounded to the East by the Black Sea . They re-settled in North-Eastern Bulgaria, between Shumen and Varna , including Ludogorie plateau and southern Dobruja. The distribution of pre-Christian burial assemblages in Bulgaria and Romania
4110-552: The 18th century , modern historians have associated the Huns who appeared on the borders of Europe in the 4th century AD with the Xiongnu who had invaded numerous Central Plain polities from the Mongolian Plateau between the 3rd century BC and the 2nd century AD . After the devastating defeat by the Han dynasty , the northern branch of the Xiongnu retreated north-westward; their descendants may have migrated through
4247-460: The Bulgar ethnonym could be due to the dialect differentiations in their language. By the middle of the 6th century, the Bulgars momentarily fade from the sources and the Kutrigurs and Utigurs come to the front. Between 548 and 576, mostly due to Justinian I (527–565), through diplomatic persuasion and bribery the Kutrigurs and Utigurs were drawn into mutual warfare, decimating one another. In
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4384-695: The Caspian Gates and to the sea, which are in the Hunnish lands. Beyond the gates live the Burgars (Bulgars), who have their language, and are people pagan and barbarian. They have towns. And the Alans – they have five towns... Avnagur (Aunagur, considered Onoğurs) are people, who live in tents Then he records 13 tribes, the wngwr ( Onogur ), wgr (Oğur), sbr ( Sabir ), bwrgr (Burğa, i.e. Bulgar), kwrtrgr (Kutriğurs), br (probably Vars , also known as
4521-610: The Eurasian Steppe and consequently they may have some degree of cultural and genetic continuity with the Huns. Scholars also discussed the relationship between the Xiongnu, the Huns, and a number of people in central Asia who were also known as or came to be identified with the name "Hun" or " Iranian Huns ". The most prominent of these were Chionites , the Kidarites , and the Hephthalites . Otto J. Maenchen-Helfen
4658-633: The Gepids , according to Paul the Deacon. However, when Theoderic the Great with his Ostrogoths departed for Italy in 489, the Illyricum and Thrace were open for Bulgar raids. In 493, according to Marcellinus Comes , they defeated and killed magister militum Julian. In 499, they crossed the Danube and reached Thrace where on the banks of the river Tzurta (considered a tributary of Maritsa ) defeated
4795-769: The Hunni divided into two tribes: the Altziagiri (who trade and live next to Cherson ) and Saviri , while the Hunuguri (believed to be the Onoğurs) were notable for the marten skin trade. In the Middle Ages, marten skin was used as a substitute for minted money. The Syriac translation of Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor 's Ecclesiastical History (c. 555) in Western Eurasia records: The land Bazgun... extends up to
4932-487: The Iranian Huns and the Huna people of South Asia , have also been disputed. Very little is known about Hunnic culture, and very few archaeological remains have been conclusively associated with the Huns. They are believed to have used bronze cauldrons and to have performed artificial cranial deformation . No description exists of the Hunnic religion of the time of Attila, but practices such as divination are attested, and
5069-557: The North Caucasian Huns , were genuine Huns. The rulers of various post-Hunnic steppe peoples are known to have claimed descent from Attila in order to legitimize their right to the power, and various steppe peoples were also called "Huns" by Western and Byzantine sources from the fourth century onward. The Huns have traditionally been described as pastoral nomads , living off of herding and moving from pasture to pasture to graze their animals. Hyun Jin Kim, however, holds
5206-695: The Olxontor Błkar , and the 5th century History by Movses Khorenatsi, which includes an additional comment from a 9th-century writer about the colony of the Vłĕndur Bułkar. Marquart and Golden connected these forms with the Iġndr (*Uluġundur) of Ibn al-Kalbi (c. 820), the Vnndur (*Wunundur) of Hudud al-'Alam (982), the Wlndr (*Wulundur) of Al-Masudi (10th century) and Hungarian name for Belgrad Nándor Fejérvár ,
5343-688: The Peace of Anatolius with the two Hun kings. Bleda died in 445, and Attila became the sole ruler of the Huns. In 447, Attila invaded the Balkans and Thrace. The war came to an end in 449 with an agreement in which the East Romans agreed to pay Attila an annual tribute of 2100 pounds of gold. Throughout their raids on the Eastern Roman Empire , the Huns had maintained good relations with the Western Empire. However, Honoria , sister of
5480-469: The Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region between the 5th and 7th centuries. They became known as nomadic equestrians in the Volga-Ural region , but some researchers trace Bulgar ethnic roots to Central Asia . During their westward migration across the Eurasian Steppe , the Bulgar tribes absorbed other tribal groups and cultural influences in a process of ethnogenesis, including Iranic , Finno-Ugric , and Hunnic tribes. The Bulgars spoke
5617-402: The Sabirs . In 463, the Saragurs defeated the Akatziri, or Akatir Huns, and asserted dominance in the Pontic region. The western Huns under Dengizich experienced difficulties in 461 when they were defeated by Valamir in a war against the Sadages , a people allied with the Huns. His campaigning was also met with dissatisfaction from Ernak , ruler of the Akatziri Huns, who wanted to focus on
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5754-506: The Sogdian merchants under their rule, who were involved in the trade along the Silk Road to China. Atwood notes that Jordanes describes how the Crimean city of Cherson , "where the avaricious traders bring in the goods of Asia", was under the control of the Akatziri Huns in the sixth century. Hunnic governmental structure has long been debated. Peter Heather argues that the Huns were a disorganized confederation in which leaders acted completely independently and that eventually established
5891-410: The Volga River, in an area that was part of Scythia at the time. By 370 AD, the Huns had arrived on the Volga, causing the westwards movement of Goths and Alans . By 430, they had established a vast, but short-lived, empire on the Danubian frontier of the Roman empire in Europe. Either under Hunnic hegemony , or fleeing from it, several central and eastern European peoples established kingdoms in
6028-437: The Vulgares killed the Lombard king Agelmund. Scholars attribute this account to the Huns, Avars or some Bulgar groups who were probably carried away by the Huns to the Central Europe. The Lombards, led by their new king Laimicho, rose up and defeated the Bulgars with great slaughter, gaining great booty and confidence as they "became bolder in undertaking the toils of war." The defeated Bulgars then became subjects of
6165-420: The Western Roman Empire . The memory of the Huns also lived on in various Christian saints' lives , where the Huns play the roles of antagonists, as well as in Germanic heroic legend , where the Huns are variously antagonists or allies to the Germanic main figures. In Hungary , a legend developed based on medieval chronicles that the Hungarians , and the Székely ethnic group in particular, are descended from
6302-456: The Yakut or Tungus . He notes that archaeological finds of presumed Huns suggest that they were a racially mixed group containing only some individuals with East Asian features. Kim similarly cautions against seeing the Huns as a homogenous racial group, while still arguing that they were "partially or predominantly of Mongoloid extraction (at least initially)." Some archaeologists have argued that archaeological finds have failed to prove that
6439-413: The nndr (*Nandur) of Gardīzī (11th century) and *Wununtur in the letter by the Khazar King Joseph . All the forms show the phonetic changes typical of later Oğuric (prothetic v-). Scholars consider it unclear how this union came about, viewing it as a long process in which a number of different groups were merged. During that time, the Bulgars may have represented a large confederation including
6576-416: The "mixing" in question may have occurred before the Bulgars migrated from further east, and scholars such as Sanping Chen have noted analogous groups in Inner Asia , with phonologically similar names, who were frequently described in similar terms: during the 4th century, the Buluoji ( Middle Chinese b'uo-lak-kiei ), a component of the " Five Barbarian " groups in Ancient China, were portrayed as both
6713-429: The 13th century. The modern Volga Tatars , Bashkirs and Chuvash people claim to have originated from the Volga Bulgars. The etymology of the ethnonym Bulgar is not completely understood and difficult to trace back earlier than the 4th century AD. Since the work of Tomaschek (1873), it is generally said to be derived from Proto-Turkic root * bulga- ("to stir", "to mix"; "to become mixed"), which with
6850-427: The 7th and 9th centuries, where they founded Volga Bulgaria , with Bolghar as its capital. According to Ahmad ibn Rustah (10th century), the Volga Bulgars were divided into three branches: "the first branch was called Bersula (Barsils), the second Esegel , and the third Bulgar". In 922 they accepted Islam as the official religion. They preserved their national identity well into the 13th century by repelling
6987-406: The 8th century AD, and later were situated among the eastern Tiele tribes, as one of the highest-ranking tribes after the Uyghurs . According to the Chronicle by Michael the Syrian , which comprises several historical events of different age into one story, three mythical Scythian brothers set out on a journey from the mountain Imaon ( Tian Shan ) in Asia and reached the river Tanais ( Don ),
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#17327808054597124-425: The Arabs during the siege of Constantinople. Sevar (738–753) was the last ruler from the Dulo clan, and the period until c. 768–772 was characterized by the Byzantino-Bulgar conflict and internal crisis. In the short period followed seven rulers from the Uokil and Ugain clan. Telerig (768–777) managed to establish a pacific policy with Byzantium, and restore imperial power. During the reign of Krum (803–814),
7261-403: The Armenian Ashkharatsuyts . The Olxontor Błkar is one of the variations used for the Onoğurs Bulgars, while others could be related to the ancient river names, such as the Kup'i Bulgar and the Kuban (Kuphis). The Duč'i could read Kuchi Bulkar and as such could be related to the Dnieper (Kocho). However, the Č'dar Bulkar location is unclear. Dimitrov theorized that the differences in
7398-663: The Avars), ksr ( Kasr ; possibly Akatziri ), srwrgwr ( Saragur ), dyrmr (unknown), b'grsyq ( Bagrasir , i.e. Barsil ), kwls (unknown), bdl (probably Abdali ), and ftlyt (Hephthalite) ... They are described in typical phrases reserved for nomads in the ethnographic literature of the period, as people who "live in tents, earn their living on the meat of livestock and fish, of wild animals and by their weapons (plunder)". Agathias (c. 579–582) wrote: ...all of them are called in general Scythians and Huns in particular according to their nation. Thus, some are Koutrigours or Outigours and yet others are Oultizurs and Bourougounds...
7535-438: The Battle of Chalons (451), "the vast majority" of Attila's entourage and troops appears to have been of European origin, while Attila himself seems to have had East Asian features. Genetic data is difficult to apply to steppe nomad societies, because they frequently migrated, intermixed, and were assimilated into each other. Nevertheless, genetics can supply information on migrations from East Asia to Europe and vice versa. In
7672-439: The Byzantine territory were for years occupied by many groups of Slavs. According to Theophanes, the Bulgars subjugated the so-called Seven Slavic tribes , of which the Severians were re-settled from the pass of Beregaba or Veregava, most likely the Rish Pass of the Balkan Mountains , to the East, while the other six tribes to the Southern and Western regions as far the boundary with the Pannonian Avars. Scholars consider that
7809-574: The Carpathian Mountains, have been attributed to the time of Attila and associated with the nomadic milieu of the Huns. While scholars have speculated about direct Hunnic control and settlement here, it is entirely unclear what kind of relationship the population of these regions had to the Huns. The Huns ruled over numerous other groups, including Goths , Gepids , Sarmatians , Heruli , Alans , Rugii , Suevi , and Sciri , alongside other groups where they occasionally asserted control. Peter Heather suggests that some of these groups were resettled along
7946-568: The Caucasus until the early 8th century. In the 18th century, French scholar Joseph de Guignes became the first to propose a link between the Huns and the Xiongnu people, who lived in northern China from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Since Guignes's time, considerable scholarly effort has been devoted to investigating such a connection. The issue remains controversial, but recent archaeogenetic studies show some Hun-era individuals to have DNA similar to populations in ancient Mongolia. Their relationships with other entities, such as
8083-418: The Danube by the Huns. Subject peoples of the Huns were led by their own kings. Those recognized as ethnic Huns appear to have had more rights and status, as evidenced by the account of Priscus. One of the principal sources of information on Hunnic warfare is Ammianus Marcellinus , who includes an extended description of the Huns' methods of war: They also sometimes fight when provoked, and then they enter
8220-401: The Danube, after which he is not mentioned again in history. Hunnish mercenaries are mentioned on several occasions being employed by the East and West Romans, as well as the Goths, during the late 4th and 5th century. In 433 some parts of Pannonia were ceded to them by Flavius Aetius , the magister militum of the Western Roman Empire . From 434 the brothers Attila and Bleda ruled
8357-484: The Danubian Bulgaria – the First Bulgarian Empire , where the Bulgars became a political and military elite. They merged subsequently with established Byzantine populations , as well as with previously settled Slavic tribes , and were eventually Slavicized , thus becoming one of the ancestors of modern Bulgarians . The remaining Pontic Bulgars migrated in the 7th century to the Volga River , where they founded Volga Bulgaria ; they preserved their identity well into
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#17327808054598494-402: The Empire and prosperity during the time of Simeon I (893–927) is considered as the Bulgarian Golden Age . However, from the time of Peter I (927–969) their power declined. The Hungarians, Kievan Rus' Slavs, as well Pechenegs and Cumans held many raids into their territory, and so weakened were eventually conquered in 1018 by the Byzantine Empire. Bulgars had the typical culture of
8631-399: The Empire doubled its size, including new lands in Macedonia and Serbia . He also successfully repelled the invading force of the Byzantines, as well defeated the Pannonian Avars where additionally extended the Empire size. In 865, during the reign of Khan Boris I (852–889), the Bulgars accepted Christianity as the official religion, and Eastern Orthodoxy in 879. The greatest expansion of
8768-411: The European Huns by individual burials that contains objects stylistically related to those used by the European Huns, although this could be a sign of the exchange of goods and the connections between elites rather than a sign of migration. As of 2023, there is little genetic data from the Carpathian basin in the Hunnic period (5th century), and the population living there during the Hunnic period shows
8905-448: The European Huns did not strike their own coins. The extent of Hunnish control in Barbarian Europe is poorly understood, as it is not much covered in Roman sources. It is generally assumed that they established an empire that stretched as far West as the Rhine and perhaps as far north as the Baltic, though it is difficult to establish its boundaries with certainty. Some scholars, such as Otto Maenchen-Helfen and Peter Golden, believe that
9042-459: The Hunnic tribes, causing the migration, may have occurred there, but the Pontic–Caspian steppe seems a more likely location. Some scholars propose that the Bulgars may have been a branch or offshoot of the Huns or at least Huns seem to have been absorbed by the Onogur-Bulgars after Dengizich 's death. Hyun Jin Kim however, argues that the Huns continued under Ernak, becoming the Kutrigur and Utigur Hunno -Bulgars. These conclusions remain
9179-449: The Hunnic union were attacked by the Šarağurs, one of the first Oğuric Turkic tribes that entered the Ponto-Caspian steppes as the result of migrations set off in Inner Asia. According to Priscus , in 463 the representatives of Šarağur, Oğur and Onoğur came to the Emperor in Constantinople , and explained they had been driven out of their homeland by the Sabirs , who had been attacked by the Avars . This tangle of events indicates that
9316-488: The Huns and Romans, and the Huns overcame a weak Roman army to raze the cities of Margus, Singidunum and Viminacium . Although a truce was concluded in 441, two years later Constantinople again failed to deliver the tribute and war resumed. In the following campaign, Hun armies approached Constantinople and sacked several cities before defeating the Romans at the Battle of Chersonesus . The Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II gave in to Hun demands and in autumn 443 signed
9453-477: The Huns had any "Mongoloid" features at all, and some scholars have argued that the Huns were predominantly " Caucasian " in appearance. Other archaeologists have argued that "Mongoloid" features are found primarily among members of the Hunnic aristocracy, which, however, also included Germanic leaders who were integrated into the Hun polity. Kim argues that the composition of the Huns became progressively more "Caucasian" during their time in Europe; he notes that by
9590-423: The Huns having several kings, with one being the "first of the kings". Ammianus also mentions that the Huns made their decisions in a general council ( omnes in commune ) while seated on horseback. He makes no mention of the Huns being organized into tribes, but Priscus and other writers do, naming some of them. The first Hunnic ruler known by name is Uldin . Thompson takes Uldin's sudden disappearance after he
9727-445: The Huns is disputed. Classical sources also frequently use the names of older and unrelated steppe nomads instead of the name Hun , calling them Massagetae , Scythians , and Cimmerians , among other names. The etymology of Hun is unclear. Various proposed etymologies generally assume at least that the names of the various Eurasian groups known as Huns are related. There have been a number of proposed Turkic etymologies, deriving
9864-443: The Huns of his day had no kings, but rather that each group of Huns instead had a group of leading men ( primates ) for times of war . E.A. Thompson supposes that, even in war, the leading men had little actual power. He further argues that they most likely did not acquire their position purely hereditarily. Heather, however, argues that Ammianus merely meant that the Huns didn't have a single ruler; he notes that Olympiodorus mentions
10001-575: The Huns together. Attila and Bleda were as ambitious as their uncle Rugila . In 435 they forced the Eastern Roman Empire to sign the Treaty of Margus , giving the Huns trade rights and an annual tribute from the Romans. When the Romans breached the treaty in 440, Attila and Bleda attacked Castra Constantias, a Roman fortress and marketplace on the banks of the Danube . War broke out between
10138-420: The Huns traded their horses for what he considered to have been "a very considerable source of income in gold", he is otherwise skeptical of Thompson's argument. He notes that the Romans strictly regulated trade with the barbarians and that, according to Priscus, trade only occurred at a fair once a year. While he notes that smuggling also likely occurred, he argues that "the volume of both legal and illegal trade
10275-417: The Huns used wagons for transportation. Maenchen-Helfen suggests that these wagons were mainly utilized to carry their tents, loot, as well as the elderly, women, and children. The Huns received a large amount of gold from the Romans, either in exchange for fighting for them as mercenaries or as tribute. Raiding and looting also furnished the Huns with gold and other valuables. Denis Sinor has argued that at
10412-632: The Huns. However, mainstream scholarship dismisses a close connection between the Hungarians and Huns. Modern culture generally associates the Huns with extreme cruelty and barbarism. The origins of the Huns and their links to other steppe people remain uncertain: scholars generally agree that they originated in Central Asia but disagree on the specifics of their origins. Classical sources assert that they appeared in Europe suddenly around 370. Most typically, Roman writers' attempts to elucidate
10549-462: The Imperial powers, for whom it was easier to deal with one ruler than several tribal chieftains. In nomadic society the tribes were political organizations based on kinship, with diffused power. Tribes developed according to the relation with sedentary states, and only managed to conquer them when had social cohesion. If the raiding by the nomads had negative effect on the economic development of
10686-535: The Kutrigurs and Utigurs to be two related, ancestral people, and prominent tribes in the later Bulgar union, but different from the Bulgars. Among many other theories regarding the etymology of Bulgar, the following have also had limited support. The origin of the early Bulgars is still unclear. Their homeland is believed to be situated in Kazakhstan and the North Caucasian steppes. Interaction with
10823-720: The Lombards and later migrated in Italy with their king Alboin . When the army of Ostrogoth chieftain Theodoric Strabo grew to 30,000-men strong, it was felt as a menace to Byzantine Emperor Zeno , who somehow managed to convince the Bulgars to attack the Thracian Goths. The Bulgars were eventually defeated by Strabo in 480/481. In 486 and 488 they fought against the Goths again, first as allies of Byzantium, according to Magnus Felix Ennodius , and later as allies of
10960-594: The North Caucasian-Kuban steppes. An obscure reference to Ziezi ex quo Vulgares , with Ziezi being an offspring of Biblical Shem , is in the Chronography of 354 . According to D. Dimitrov, the 5th-century History of Armenia by Movses Khorenatsi speaks about two migrations of the Bulgars, from Caucasus to Armenia . The first migration is mentioned in the association with the campaign of Armenian ruler Valarshak (probably Varazdat ) to
11097-620: The Ostrogoths, are believed to be the Bulgars. In 515, Bulgar mercenaries were listed along with others from the Goths, Scythians and Hunnic tribes as part of the Vitalian army. In 539, two Hunnic "kinglets" defeated two Roman generals during the raid into Scythia Minor and Moesia . A Roman army led by magister militum Ascum and Constantiolus intercepted and defeated them in Thrace; however, another raiding party ambushed and captured
11234-521: The Oultizurs and Bourougounds were known up to the time of the Emperor Leo (457–474) and the Romans of that time and appeared to have been strong. We, however, in this day, neither know them, nor, I think, will we. Perhaps, they have perished or perhaps they have moved off to very far place. According to D. Dimitrov, scholars partially managed to identify and locate the Bulgar groups mentioned in
11371-682: The Oğuric tribes are related to the Ting-ling and Tiele people . It seems that Kutrigurs and Unigurs arrived with the initial waves of Oğuric peoples entering the Pontic steppes. The Bulgars were not mentioned in 463. The account by Paul the Deacon in his History of the Lombards (8th century) says that at the beginning of the 5th century in the North-Western slopes of the Carpathians
11508-527: The Pontic Steppe north of the Black Sea. They had conquered the Hungarian Plain in stages. The precise date that they conquered the north bank of the Danube is unclear. Maenchen-Helfen argued that they may have already taken control of it in the 370s. The dates when they gained control of the Roman territory south of the Middle Danube, Pannonia Valeria and the other provinces of Pannonia ,
11645-699: The Pontic–Caspian steppe. Some historians consider the war an extension of the Western Turks struggle, between the Nushibi tribes and Ashina clan , who led the Khazars, and the Duolu/Tu-lu tribes, which some scholars associated with the Dulo clan , from which Kubrat and many Bulgar rulers originated. The Khazars were ultimately victorious and parts of the Bulgar union broke up. It is unclear whether
11782-709: The Roman Empire in 376. The Huns conquered the Alans , most of the Greuthungi or Eastern Goths, and then most of the Thervingi or Western Goths, with many fleeing into the Roman Empire . In 395 the Huns began their first large-scale attack on the Eastern Roman Empire . Huns attacked in Thrace, overran Armenia , and pillaged Cappadocia . They entered parts of Syria , threatened Antioch , and passed through
11919-749: The Sasanian–Avar alliance. With his uncle Organa in 619, Kubrat had been baptized in Constantinople. He founded the Old Great Bulgaria ( Magna Bulgaria ), also known as Onoğundur–Bulğars state, or Patria Onoguria in the Ravenna Cosmography . Little is known about Kubrat's activities. It is considered that Onogur Bulgars remained the only steppe tribes in good relations with the Byzantines. His date of death
12056-769: The Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III , sent Attila a ring and requested his help to escape her betrothal to a senator. Attila claimed her as his bride and half the Western Roman Empire as dowry. Additionally, a dispute arose about the rightful heir to a king of the Salian Franks . In 451, Attila's forces entered Gaul . Once in Gaul, the Huns first attacked Metz , then their armies continued westward, passing both Paris and Troyes to lay siege to Orléans . Flavius Aetius
12193-590: The absence of any source recording the Slavic resistance to the invasion was because it was in their interest to be liberated from the Byzantine taxation. It is considered that the Slavic tribal organization was left intact, and paid tribute to the ruling Bulgars. According to Nikephoros I and Theophanes, an unnamed fourth brother, believed to be Kuber , "having crossed the river Ister, resides in Pannonia, which
12330-435: The ancient descriptions of the Huns stress their strange appearance from a Roman perspective. These descriptions typically caricature the Huns as monsters. Jordanes stresses that the Huns were short of stature, had tanned skin and round and shapeless heads. Various writers mention that the Huns had small eyes and flat noses. The Roman writer Priscus gives the following eyewitness description of Attila: "Short of stature, with
12467-532: The assistance of the settled agricultural population at the edge of the steppe they could not have survived". He argues that the Huns were forced to supplement their diet by hunting and gathering. Maenchen-Helfen, however, notes that archaeological finds indicate that various steppe nomad populations did grow grain; in particular, he identifies a find at Kunya Uaz in Khwarezm on the Ob River of agriculture among
12604-455: The battle a Bulgar warlord was captured. In 535, magister militum Sittas defeated the Bulgar army at the river Yantra . Ennodius, Jordanes and Procopius identified the Bulgars with the Huns in a 6th-century literary topos , in which Ennodius referred to a captured Bulgar horse as " equum Huniscum ". In 505, the alleged 10,000 Hun horsemen in the Sabinian army, which was defeated by
12741-485: The battle drawn up in wedge-shaped masses, while their medley of voices makes a savage noise. And as they are lightly equipped for swift motion, and unexpected in action, they purposely divide suddenly into scattered bands and attack, rushing about in disorder here and there, dealing terrific slaughter; and because of their extraordinary rapidity of movement they are never seen to attack a rampart or pillage an enemy's camp. And on this account you would not hesitate to call them
12878-405: The brothers' parting ways was caused by the internal conflicts or strong Khazar pressure. The latter is considered more likely. The Bulgars led by the first two brothers Batbayan and Kotrag remained in the Pontic steppe zone, where they were known as Black Bulgars by Byzantine and Rus sources, and became Khazar vassals. The Bulgars led by Kotrag migrated to the middle Volga region during
13015-488: The consonant suffix -r implies a noun meaning "mixed". Other scholars have added that bulğa might also imply "stir", "disturb", "confuse" and Talat Tekin interpreted Bulgar as the verb form "mixing" (i.e. rather than the adjective "mixed"). Both Gyula Németh and Peter Benjamin Golden initially advocated the "mixed race" theory, but later, like Paul Pelliot , considered that "to incite", "rebel", or "to produce
13152-602: The country of the Alans called Barsalia , which would be later inhabited by the Bulgars and the Pugurs ( Puguraje ). The names Onoğur and Bulgar were linked by later Byzantine sources for reasons that are unclear. Tekin derived -gur from the Altaic suffix -gir . Generally, modern scholars consider the terms oğuz or oğur , as generic terms for Turkic tribal confederations , to be derived from Turkic *og/uq , meaning "kinship or being akin to". The terms initially were not
13289-459: The death of Attila in 453, the Huns ceased to be a major threat to Rome and lost much of their empire following the Battle of Nedao (c. 454). Descendants of the Huns, or successors with similar names, are recorded by neighboring populations to the south, east, and west as having occupied parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia from about the 4th to 6th centuries. Variants of the Hun name are recorded in
13426-518: The end, the Kutrigurs were overwhelmed by the Avars, while the Utigurs came under the rule of the Western Turks. The Oğurs and Onoğurs, in the 6th- and 7th-century sources, were mentioned mostly in connection with the Avar and Turk conquest of Western Eurasia. From the 8th century, the Byzantine sources often mention the Onoğurs in close connection with the Bulgars. Agathon (early 8th century) wrote about
13563-555: The ethnonym Bulgar as a "spreading" adjective . Golden considered the origin of the Kutrigurs and Utigurs to be obscure and their relationship to the Onogurs and Bulgars – who lived in similar areas at the same time – as unclear. He noted, however, an implication that the Kutrigurs and Utigurs were related to the Šarağur ( šara oğur , shara oghur ; "white oğhurs"), and that according to Procopius these were Hunnish tribal unions, of partly Cimmerian descent. Karatay considered
13700-403: The existence of shamans is likely. It is also known that the Huns had a language of their own ; however, only three words and personal names attest to it. Economically, the Huns are known to have practiced a form of nomadic pastoralism . As their contact with the Roman world grew, their economy became increasingly tied with Rome through tribute, raiding, and trade. They do not seem to have had
13837-513: The extant of Attila's empire has been exaggerated and he probably only controlled Pannonia and some adjacent areas. In the 390s, the majority of the Huns were probably based around the Volga and Don on the Pontic Steppe. But by the 420s, the Huns were based on Great Hungarian Plain , the only large grassland near the Roman empire capable of supporting large numbers of horses. However, Aleksander Paroń believes that they likely continued to control
13974-709: The first Mongol attacks in 1223. They were eventually subdued by the Mongols in 1237. They gradually lost their identity after 1431 when their towns and region were captured by the Russians. The third and most famous son, Asparukh , according to Nikephoros I: crossed the river Danapros and Danastros, lived in the locale around the Ister, having occupied a place suitable for settlement, called in their language ογγλον (ogglon; Slav. o(n)gl , "angle", "corner"; Turk. agyl , "yard" )... The people having been divided and scattered,
14111-493: The great confederations of steppe warriors was ethnically homogenous, and the same name was used by different groups for reasons of prestige, or by outsiders to describe their lifestyle or geographic origin. [...] It is therefore futile to speculate about identity or blood relationships between H(s)iung-nu, Hephthalites, and Attila's Huns, for instance. All we can safely say is that the name Huns , in late antiquity, described prestigious ruling groups of steppe warriors. Today, there
14248-614: The help of his bucellarii , then attacked the quarreling Goths and Huns, defeating them. In 469, Dengizich was defeated and killed in Thrace. After Dengizich's death, the Huns seem to have been absorbed by other ethnic groups such as the Bulgars . Kim, however, argues that the Huns continued under Ernak, becoming the Kutrigur and Utigur Hunno- Bulgars . This conclusion is still subject to some controversy. Some scholars also argue that another group identified in ancient sources as Huns,
14385-455: The high civilian officers Gennadius Avienus and Trigetius, as well as Pope Leo I , who met Attila at Mincio in the vicinity of Mantua , and obtained from him the promise that he would withdraw from Italy and negotiate peace with the emperor. The new Eastern Roman Emperor Marcian then halted tribute payments, resulting in Attila planning to attack Constantinople. However, in 453 Attila died of
14522-427: The hinge upon which the entire administration of the Hun empire turned": he argues for their existence in the government of Uldin, and that each had command over detachments of the Hunnic army and ruled over specific portions of the Hunnic empire, where they were responsible also for collecting tribute and provisions. Maenchen-Helfen, however, argues that the word logades denotes simply prominent individuals and not
14659-462: The incoming Oghur speaking peoples. Dengizich attacked the Romans in 467, without the assistance of Ernak. He was surrounded by the Romans and besieged, and came to an agreement that he would surrender if his people were given land for their herds and his starving forces given food. During the negotiations, a Hun in service of the Romans named Chelchel persuaded the enemy Goths to attack their Hun overlords. The Romans, under their General Aspar and with
14796-619: The islands in the "ocean" ( Ὠκεανός ), but it is unclear if this meant the Baltic Sea or the world-encircling Ocean that the Greeks and Romans believed in. In either case, the description of Attila ruling as far as the islands in the "ocean" may be hyperbole. Archaeology is often used to argue for an area having been under Hunnic control; however, nomadic peoples often control territories beyond their immediate settlement. A large number of major finds from Silesia and Lesser Poland , north of
14933-462: The lands "named Basen by the ancients... and which were afterwards populated by immigrants of the vh' ndur Bulgar Vund, after whose name they (the lands) were named Vanand ". The second migration took place during the time of the ruler Arshak III , when "great disturbances occurred in the range of the great Caucasus mountain, in the land of the Bulgars, many of whom migrated and came to our lands and settled south of Kokh". Both migrations are dated to
15070-544: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bolgar&oldid=1244423127 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Bulgars The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians ) were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in
15207-507: The meat of these animals, with Maenchen-Helfen arguing, on the basis of what is known of other steppe nomads, that they likely mostly ate mutton, along with sheep's cheese and milk. They also "certainly" ate horse meat, drank mare's milk, and likely made cheese and kumis . In times of starvation, they may have boiled their horses' blood for food. Ancient sources uniformly deny that the Huns practiced any sort of agriculture. Thompson, taking these accounts at their word, argues that "[w]ithout
15344-497: The most terrible of all warriors, because they fight from a distance with missiles having sharp bone, instead of their usual points, joined to the shafts with wonderful skill; then they gallop over the intervening spaces and fight hand to hand with swords, regardless of their own lives; and while the enemy are guarding against wounds from the sabre-thrusts, they throw strips of cloth plaited into nooses over their opponents and so entangle them that they fetter their limbs and take from them
15481-410: The name variously from Turkic ön , öna (to grow), qun (glutton), kün , gün , a plural suffix "supposedly meaning 'people'", qun (force), and hün (ferocious). Maenchen-Helfen dismisses all of these Turkic etymologies as "mere guesses" and proposes an Iranian etymology, from a word akin to Avestan hūnarā (skill), hūnaravant- (skillful). He suggests that it may originally have designated
15618-627: The nation of Onoğurs Bulğars. Nikephoros I (early 9th century) noted that Kubrat was the lord of the Onoğundurs ; his contemporary Theophanes referred to them as Onoğundur–Bulğars . Constantine VII (mid-10th century) remarked that the Bulğars formerly called themselves Onoğundurs . This association was previously mirrored in Armenian sources, such as the Ashkharatsuyts , which refers to
15755-435: The nomadic equestrians of Central Asia, who migrated seasonally in pursuit of good pastures, as well attraction to economic and cultural interaction with sedentary societies. Being in contact with sedentary cultures, they began mastering the crafts of blacksmithing , pottery , and carpentry . The politically dominant tribe or clan usually gave its name to the tribal confederation. Such confederations were often encouraged by
15892-564: The origins of the Huns simply equated them with earlier steppe peoples. Roman writers repeated a tale that the Huns had entered the domain of the Goths while they were pursuing a wild stag, or else one of their cows that had escaped, across the Kerch Strait into Crimea . Discovering the land fertile, they then attacked the Goths. Jordanes ' Getica relates that the Goths held the Huns to be offspring of "unclean spirits" and Gothic witches ( Getica 24:121). Since Joseph de Guignes in
16029-636: The pastures may vary, the winter quarters always remained the same. This is, in fact, what Jordanes writes of the Hunnic Altziagiri tribe: they pastured near Cherson on the Crimea and then wintered further north, with Maenchen-Helfen holding the Syvash as a likely location. Ancient sources mention that the Huns' herds consisted of various animals, including cattle, horses, and goats; sheep, though unmentioned in ancient sources, "are more essential to
16166-565: The province of Euphratesia . At the same time, the Huns invaded the Sasanian Empire . This invasion was initially successful, coming close to the capital of the empire at Ctesiphon ; however, they were defeated badly during the Persian counterattack. During their brief diversion from the Eastern Roman Empire, the Huns may have threatened tribes further west. Uldin , the first Hun identified by name in contemporary sources, headed
16303-538: The region it could significantly slow down their own social and cultural development. In a nomadic state the nomad and sedentary integration was limited, and usually had vassal tribute system. Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia , the Caucasus , and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of
16440-566: The region, including not only Goths and Alans, but also Vandals , Gepids , Heruli , Suebians and Rugians . The Huns, especially under their King Attila , made frequent and devastating raids into the Eastern Roman Empire . In 451, they invaded the Western Roman province of Gaul , where they fought a combined army of Romans and Visigoths at the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields , and in 452, they invaded Italy. After
16577-552: The remnants of Onoğurs, Utigurs and Kutrigurs among others. The Turk rule weakened sometime after 600, allowing the Avars to reestablish the control over the region. As the Western Turkic Khaganate declined, finally collapsing in the middle of the 7th century, it was against Avar rule that the Bulgars, recorded as Onoğundur–Bulğars , reappeared. They revolted under their leader Kubrat (c. 635), who seems to have been prepared by Heraclius (610–641) against
16714-525: The same year under Valamir , allegedly defeating the Huns in a separate engagement. However, this did not result in the complete collapse of Hunnic power in the Carpathian region, but did result in the loss of many of their Germanic vassals. At the same time, the Huns were also dealing with the arrival of more Oghur Turkic-speaking peoples from the East, including the Oghurs , Saragurs , Onogurs , and
16851-655: The same, as oq/ogsiz meant "arrow", while oğul meant "offspring, child, son", oğuš/uğuš was "tribe, clan", and the verb oğša-/oqša meant "to be like, resemble". There also appears to be an etymological association between the Bulgars and the preceding Kutrigur ( Kuturgur > Quturğur > *Toqur(o)ğur < toqur ; "nine" in Proto-Bulgar; toquz in Common Turkic) and Utigur ( Uturgur > Uturğur < utur/otur ; "thirty" in Proto-Bulgar; otuz in Common Turkic) – as 'Oğur (Oghur) tribes, with
16988-647: The second half of the 4th century AD. The "disturbances" which caused them are believed to be the expansion of the Huns in the East-European steppes. Dimitrov recorded that the toponyms of the Bolha and Vorotan rivers, tributaries of the Aras river, are known as Bolgaru-chaj and Vanand-chaj , and could confirm the Bulgar settlement of Armenia. Around 463 AD, the Akatziroi and other tribes that had been part of
17125-550: The slaves would have been used to manage the Huns' herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. Priscus attests that slaves were used as domestic servants, but also that educated slaves were used by the Huns in positions of administration or even architects. Some slaves were even used as warriors. The Huns also traded with the Romans. E. A. Thompson argued that this trade was very large scale, with the Huns trading horses, furs, meat, and slaves for Roman weapons, linen, and grain, and various other luxury goods. While Maenchen-Helfen concedes that
17262-475: The steppe nomad even than horses" and must have been a large part of their herds. Sheep bones are frequently found in Hun period graves. Additionally, Maenchen-Helfen argues that the Huns may have kept small herds of Bactrian camels in the part of their territory in modern Romania and Ukraine, something attested for the Sarmatians. Ammianus Marcellinus says that the majority of the Huns' diet came from
17399-524: The term "nomad" to be misleading: [T]he term 'nomad', if it denotes a wandering group of people with no clear sense of territory, cannot be applied wholesale to the Huns. All the so-called 'nomads' of Eurasian steppe history were peoples whose territory/territories were usually clearly defined, who as pastoralists moved about in search of pasture, but within a fixed territorial space. Maenchen-Helfen notes that pastoral nomads (or "seminomads") typically alternate between summer pastures and winter quarters: while
17536-579: The term Hun was "not primarily an ethnic group, but a political category" and argues for a fundamental political and cultural continuity between the Xiongnu and the European Huns, as well as between the Xiongnu and the "Iranian Huns". The name Hun is attested in classical European sources as Greek Οὖννοι ( Ounnoi ) and Latin Hunni or Chuni . John Malalas records their name as Οὖννα ( Ounna ). Another possible Greek variant may be Χοὖνοι ( Khounoi ), although this group's identification with
17673-505: The time of Attila, the Hunnic economy became almost entirely dependent on plunder and tribute from the Roman provinces. Civilians and soldiers captured by the Huns might also be ransomed back, or else sold to Roman slave dealers as slaves. The Huns themselves, Maenchen-Helfen argued, had little use for slaves due to their nomadic pastoralist lifestyle. More recent scholarship, however, has demonstrated that pastoral nomadists are actually more likely to use slave labor than sedentary societies:
17810-420: The time of the report of Olympiodorus, the Huns at some point developed a system of ranked kings, including a senior king by the time of Charaton . Priscus also speaks of "picked men" or logades ( λογάδες ) forming part of Attila's government, naming five of them. Some of the "picked men" seem to have been chosen because of birth, others for reasons of merit. Thompson argued that these "picked men" "were
17947-711: The tribe of the Khazars, from within Berulia ( Bessarabia ), which neighbors with Sarmatia, attacked them with impunity. They overran all the lands lying behind the Pontos Euxeinos and penetrated to the sea. After this, having made Bayan a subject, they forced him to pay tribute. Asparukh, according to the Pseudo –Zacharias Rhetor, "fled from the Khazars out of the Bulgarian mountains". In the Khazar ruler Joseph's letter
18084-684: The two Roman generals. In 539 and 540, Procopius reported a powerful Hunnic army crossed the Danube, devastated Illyricum and reached up to the Anastasian Wall . Such large distances covered in a short time indicate they were horsemen. Jordanes described, in his work Getica (551), the Pontic steppe beyond the Akatziri, above the Pontic Sea, as the habitat of the Bulgari , "whom the evils of our sins have made famous". In this region,
18221-410: Was a generalized term meaning "hostiles, opponents". Christopher Atwood dismisses this possibility on phonological and chronological grounds. While not arriving at an etymology per se , Atwood derives the name from the Ongi River in Mongolia, which was pronounced the same as, or similarly to, the name Xiongnu, and suggests that it was originally a dynastic name rather than an ethnic name. Most of
18358-400: Was apparently modest". He does note that wine and silk appear to have been imported into the Hunnic Empire in large quantities, however. Roman gold coins appear to have been in circulation as currency within the whole of the Hunnic Empire. Christopher Atwood has suggested that the purpose of the original Hunnic incursion into Europe may have been to establish an outlet to the Black Sea for
18495-453: Was given the duty of relieving Orléans by Emperor Valentinian III. A combined army of Roman and Visigoths then fought the Huns at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains . The following year, Attila renewed his claims to Honoria and territory in the Western Roman Empire . Leading his army across the Alps and into Northern Italy, he sacked and razed a number of cities. Hoping to avoid the sack of Rome, Emperor Valentinian III sent three envoys,
18632-425: Was the first to challenge the traditional approach, based primarily on the study of written sources, and to emphasize the importance of archaeological research. Since Maenchen-Helfen's work, the identification of the Xiongnu as the Huns' ancestors has become controversial. Additionally, several scholars have questioned the identification of the "Iranian Huns" with the European Huns. Walter Pohl cautions that none of
18769-492: Was unsuccessful at war as a sign that the Hunnic kingship was "democratic" at this time rather than a permanent institution. Kim, however, argues that Uldin is actually a title and that he was likely merely a subking. Priscus calls Attila "king" or "emperor" ( βασιλέυς ), but it is unknown what native title he was translating. With the exception of the sole rule of Attila, the Huns often had two rulers; Attila himself later appointed his son Ellac as co-king. Heather argues that by
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