The Sabirs ( Savirs , Suars , Sawar , Sawirk among others; Greek : Σάβιροι ,) were a nomadic Turkic equestrian people who lived in the north of the Caucasus beginning in the late-5th–7th century, on the eastern shores of the Black Sea , in the Kuban area, and possibly came from Western Siberia . They were skilled in warfare, used siege machinery, had a large army (including women) and were boat-builders. They were also referred to as Huns , a title applied to various Eurasian nomadic tribes in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe during late antiquity . Sabirs led incursions into Transcaucasia in the late-400s/early-500s , but quickly began serving as soldiers and mercenaries during the Byzantine–Sasanian Wars on both sides. Their alliance with the Byzantines laid the basis for the later Khazar -Byzantine alliance.
35-562: Gyula Németh and Paul Pelliot considered Turkic etymology for Säbir / Sabïr / Sabar / Säβir / Sävir / Savar / Sävär / Sawār / Säwēr from the root * sap- 'to go astray', i.e. the 'wanderers, nomads', placed in a group of semantically similar names: Qazar , Qazaq , Yazar , and Qačar. Al-Masudi recorded that the Khazars were named as such in Persian, while in Turkic it is Sabir , implying
70-431: A Byzantine client state since 522, when its king, Tzath I, had rejected Persian hegemony. However, during the rule of Emperor Justinian I (reigned 527–565), a series of heavy-handed Byzantine measures made them unpopular. In particular, the establishment of a trade monopoly by the magister militum (general) John Tzibus , which was regulated from the newly constructed fortress of Petra, drove Gubazes to seek once again
105-527: A message to Constantinople accusing Gubazes of dealings with the Persians. Emperor Justinian, intending to question Gubazes himself, authorized the two generals to arrest him, using force if necessary. The two Byzantine generals then (September/October 555) invited Gubazes to observe the siege of a Persian-held fort, but when they met, John, Rusticus's brother, stabbed the king with his dagger . Gubazes fell from his horse , and one of Rusticus's servants gave him
140-622: A new army under Mihr-Mihroe was able to establish Persian control over the eastern part of Lazica. The Byzantine forces in Lazica withdrew west to the mouth of the Phasis , while the Lazi, including Gubazes and his family, sought refuge in the mountains. Despite enduring harsh conditions in the winter of 551/552, Gubazes rejected the peace offers conveyed by envoys from Mihr-Mihroe. In 552, the Persians received substantial reinforcements, but their attacks on
175-457: A surprise attack, and pursued the survivors into Caucasian Iberia . In the same summer, they won another victory against a new Persian army led by Khorianes . The allies failed, however, to prevent another Persian army from reinforcing Petra, and Dagisthaeus was recalled and replaced by Bessas . In 550, a pro-Persian revolt broke out among the Abasgians , a people that neighboured Lazica to
210-571: Is unknown, but it must not have been much earlier than 541, when he is first attested as king of the Lazi . It is very likely that before his accession he had lived for several years at the Byzantine capital, Constantinople , for he is recorded to have been a silentiarius , an influential position at the imperial palace ; alternatively, but less probably, he may have been given the title as an honorary appointment after his accession. Lazica had been
245-668: The Byzantine Empire . It has been proposed that the 20,000 Huns led by Zilgibis were Sabirs. They made treaties with both Justin I and Kavadh I, but decided on the former, which resulted in mutual agreement between Justin I and Kavadh I, and the former devastating attack on Zilgibis and his army. In 520s, the Queen Boareks, widow of the Sabir chieftain Balaq (Turkic balaq ) through Justinian I 's diplomacy came closer to
280-740: The Byzantine–Sasanian War of 572–591 , in 572–573, Sabirs lost as part of the Sasanian mixed army against the Marcian near Nisibis . In 578, some eight thousand Sabirs and Arab allies were on the side of the Persians and raided territory around Resaena and Constantia . The Syriac translation of the Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor 's Ecclesiastical History (c. 555) in Western Eurasia recorded thirteen tribes, including
315-529: The sbr (Sabir). 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)". The Armenian and Arabic sources placed them in the North Caucasus, near Laks , Alans , Filān, Masqat, Sāhib as- Sarīr and the Khazar town Samandar . By
350-592: The Byzantine Empire against the Sasanian Empire. They were led by Balmaq (Turkic barmaq , "finger" ), Kutilzis (Turkic *qut-il-či , with qut meaning "majesty") and Iliger (Turkic Ilig-ār , "prince-man"). They won against the three thousand Dilimnites near Archaeopolis. Eight hundred Dilimnites were killed in a failed rush. In the same year, some five thousand Sabirs allied to the Persians were killed by three thousand Roman horsemen. As part of
385-627: The Byzantines, and successfully attacked two Hunnic leaders Astera/Styrax (executed in Constantinople) and Aglanos/Glones (Sasanian ally). She ruled over 100,000 people and could field 20,000 strong-men army. At the Battle of Satala (530) , a mixed Persian army led by Mihr-Mihroe consisted of circa three thousand Sabirs. In December 531, many Sabirs were summoned by the Persians to plunder around Euphratesia , Cyrrhus , Cilicia , but some of
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#1732765444939420-821: The Sabirs attacked the Saragurs , Oghurs and Onogurs , as a result of having themselves been attacked by the Avars. It has been suggested that the nomadic motion began with the Chinese attack in 450–458 against the Rouran Khaganate . In 504 and 515, they held raids around the Caucasus , which was the Sasanian northern frontier during the rule of king Kavadh I , causing problems to the Persians in their war against
455-477: The Volga, came there as the result of the Khazar state creation, or were tribes who never went to the North Caucasus, but stopped on the Volga. Ahmad ibn Fadlan recorded that in the 10th century they still had their own leader with the title Wirgh (* Vuyrigh , Turkic Buyruq ), and there were some Suwār-Bulghar hostilities. There is no reliable information supporting the view of Mikhail Artamonov , who has claimed
490-701: The booty had been returned by the Roman magister militum . During the Lazic War (541–562), in 548, along with the Alans they allied with Gubazes II of Lazica and conquered the Petra from the Persians. In 551, some Sabirs were allied to Bessas in the successful attempt to wrest Petra from the Persians, meanwhile, other four thousand led by Mihr-Mihroe were part of the unsuccessful siege of Archaeopolis . In 556, two thousand Sabirs served as heavy infantry mercenaries of
525-476: The category of ethnonyms denoting nomads; or sipir- "to sweep, [...] to drive out, to send away", whose derivative would mean "those who sweep away [their foes]", even though the a / ä vocalization is unattested (unlike sipir- > süpür- ). Walter Bruno Henning considered to have found them in the Sogdian Nafnamak (near Turpan ) long after the 5th century. Some scholars related their name to
560-490: The earliest recorded marriage between the Lazic and Byzantine elites. The custom of marrying Byzantine women, usually from the senatorial aristocracy, was common among the Lazic royalty: his uncle, the "king" Opsites (it is unknown when exactly he reigned), was married to a Byzantine noblewoman named Theodora. It is known that Gubazes had a younger brother, Tzath , who succeeded him on the throne, and an unnamed sister. Gubazes
595-463: The entire Lazi people and replace them with Persians. As a first step, the Persian ruler planned to assassinate Gubazes. Forewarned of Khosrau's intentions, Gubazes switched his allegiance back to Byzantium. In 548, Emperor Justinian dispatched 8,000 men under Dagisthaeus , who together with a Lazic force set siege to the Persian garrison at Petra. As the Persians were well provisioned, the siege dragged on. Dagisthaeus had neglected to keep watch over
630-557: The finishing blow. After Gubazes's murder, the Lazi stopped participating in operations against the Persians for a time, leading to the failure of a Byzantine attack against the fort of Onoguris. An assembly of the Lazic people informed Emperor Justinian of the events, requested that an investigation be launched, and asked that Gubazes's younger brother Tzath, at the time residing in Constantinople, be confirmed as their new ruler. The Byzantine emperor complied with their requests:
665-498: The fortress fell soon after . Khosrau left a Persian garrison at Petra and departed the country, but soon, the Lazi grew discontented: as Christians , they resented the Persians' Zoroastrianism , and they were greatly affected by the cessation of the Black Sea trade with Byzantium. The contemporary Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea reports that Khosrau, who was aware of Lazica's strategic importance, intended to resettle
700-445: The fortresses held by the Byzantines and the Lazi were repulsed. Over the next two years, the Byzantines increased their forces in Lazica, but failed to achieve decisive success; Gubazes quarreled with their generals, and wrote to Emperor Justinian accusing them of incompetence following a defeat by the Persians. Bessas was recalled, but the other two, Martin and the sacellarius Rusticus , resolved to get rid of Gubazes. They sent
735-680: The intermixing of the Sabirs and Khazars was facilitated by their common Bulgar ethnicity, or that they were Turkicized Ugrians . Károly Czeglédy considered that the Khazar state was composed of three basic groups, including the Sabirs. Dieter Ludwig suggested that the Khazars were Sabirs who had formed an alliance with the Uar of Khwarezm . The intimate ties between the Hungarians and the Sabirs led Lev Gumilev to speculate that rather than Oghuric they may have been Ugric speakers (both terms being of
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#1732765444939770-632: The late 6th century, the coming of the Pannonian Avars into Europe terminated the Sabir union in the North Caucasus. According to Theophylact Simocatta , when the Barsils , Onogurs and Sabirs saw the invading Uar and Chunni they panicked because thought the invaders were the Avars. Menander Protector placed the events between 558 and 560. He mentioned them last time in connection with the Byzantine conquest in Caucasian Albania during
805-432: The mountain passes that led into Lazica, and a far larger Persian relief force under Mihr-Mihroe arrived and raised the siege. Yet, the Persians lacked sufficient supplies, and so, after strengthening the garrison at Petra and leaving a further 5,000 men under Phabrizus to secure its supply routes, Mihr-Mihroe left. In the spring of the next year, Gubazes and Dagisthaeus combined their forces, destroyed Phabrizus's army in
840-577: The name of Siberia (e.g. Harmatta ), with a far-eastern Xianbei (e.g. Pritsak ) and Finno-Ugric origin (e.g. Artamonov ). The ancient historians related and differed them from the Huns , implying their mixed descent. Byzantine documents normally refer to Sabirs as Sabiroi , although the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos (908–959) writes in his De Administrando Imperio that he
875-537: The north. This provided an opportunity for a high-ranking Lazic noble named Terdetes, who had quarreled with Gubazes, to betray to the Persians Tzibile , an important fort in the land of the Apsili, a tribe under Lazic suzerainty. The Apsili retook the fort, but refused to accept Lazic rule until persuaded to do so by the Byzantine general John Guzes . In 551, the Byzantines finally took and razed Petra , but
910-399: The protection of the Persian shah , Khosrau I (r. 531–579). In 540, Khosrau broke the " Eternal Peace " of 532 and invaded the Byzantine province of Mesopotamia . In spring 541, Khosrau and his troops, led by Lazi guides, marched over the mountain passes into Lazica, where Gubazes submitted to him. The Byzantines under John Tzibus resisted valiantly from Petra, but Tzibus was killed, and
945-507: The reign of Tiberius II Constantine (578–582), but the large sums were not enough to stop them to rejoin the Persians. They were assimilated into the Khazars and Bulgars confederations. The tribe Suwāz in Volga Bulgaria is related to the city Suwār in the same state, and North Caucasian kingdom Suwār. However, it is uncertain whether these Suwār i.e. Sawâr are the Sabirs who gone to the North Caucasus and after 558 retreated to
980-595: The same etymological origin). Al-Biruni remarked that the language of the Volga Bulgars and Sawârs was "compounded of Turkic and Khazar ", while modern scholars like Gyula Németh, Lajos Ligeti and Peter Benjamin Golden consider that the Sabirs spoke standard Turkic rather than Oghuric Turkic. A number of Caucasian toponyms derive from their name; Šaberan, Samir, Samirkent, Sabir-xost, Sibir-don, Sivir-don, Savir, Bila-suvar, Sebir-oba, Sevare, Suvar, and as well as
1015-440: The same semantic meaning, and related ethnogenesis. However, Golden notes that root * sap-' s aorist (ending in -ar ) is sapar ; according to Gerard Clauson , the meanings "to go astray, to deviate" of root sap- ~ sep- only appeared as new words in later medieval period. Golden suggests possible derivations (though still problematic) from other roots: sav- "to drive away, repulse, avoid, escape from", which fits better into
1050-710: The subdivisions Sabar and Sabur/Sabïr of the Kyrgyzes . Chuvash historians postulate that their nation is descended from Sabirs. In the Mari language modern Volga Tatars are called Suas ; Chuvash also are known as Suasenmari (which means Suar -icized Mari), or in Finnish Suaslanmari . Gyula N%C3%A9meth (linguist) Gyula Németh ( Hungarian : Németh Gyula ; November 2, 1890 – December 14, 1976), commonly known in English as Julius Németh
1085-666: Was a Hungarian linguist and turkologist and member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences . He worked at the Faculty of Humanities of the Eötvös Loránd University . This article about a Hungarian scientist is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Gubazes II of Lazica Gubazes II ( Georgian : გუბაზ II , Greek : Γουβάζης ) was king of Lazica (modern western Georgia ) from circa 541 until his assassination in 555. He
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1120-483: Was married and had children, but neither the name of his wife nor of his offspring is known. The name of Gubazes's father is not known from the ancient annals. Professor Cyril Toumanoff , a specialist in Caucasian history and genealogy, has hypothesized that Gubazes was a son and direct successor of the king Tzath I , and that Opsites, his uncle, never actually ruled as a king. The exact date of Gubazes's accession
1155-441: Was one of the central personalities of the Lazic War (541–562). He originally ascended the throne as a vassal of the Byzantine Empire , but the heavy-handed actions of the Byzantine authorities led him to seek the assistance of Byzantium's main rival, Sassanid Persia . The Byzantines were evicted from Lazica with the aid of a Persian army in 541, but the Persian occupation of the country turned out to be worse, and by 548, Gubazes
1190-460: Was requesting assistance from Byzantium. Gubazes remained a Byzantine ally during the next few years, as the two empires fought for control of Lazica, with the fortress of Petra as the focal point of the struggle. Gubazes eventually quarrelled with the Byzantine generals over the fruitless continuation of the war, and was assassinated by them. Gubazes was of Byzantine descent through his mother, Valeriana. Tzathius' marriage to Valeriana seems to be
1225-687: Was told by a Hungarian delegation visiting his court that the Tourkoi (the Byzantine name for the Hungarians ) used to be called " sabartoi asphaloi ", generally considered to mean "steadfast Sabirs", and still regularly sent delegations to those who stayed behind in the Caucasus region near Persia. Possibly some Hungarian group derived from the Sabirs as their name is reflected in Szavard, and personal clan name Zuard. In 463 AD, Priscus mentions that
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