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106-798: Throughout history, the area has been conquered and reconquered by several different groups and countries, including the Huns , the Chinese, Arab forces, the Persian Empire , various Turkic forces, and the Mongols . The Qara Khitai also included the majority of Turkestan's land. Known as Turan to the Persians , western Turkestan has also been known historically as Sogdia , "Ma wara'u'n-nahr" (by its Arab conquerors), and Transoxiana by western travelers. The latter two names refer to its position beyond

212-748: 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

318-419: 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

424-608: A female slave from the period of the Gaochang kingdom under the rule of Qu clan and mentioned the Sogdian word "twrkstn", which may have referred to the lands to the east and north of Syr Darya in the realm of the First Turkic Khaganate . In 2024, Turkish Ministry of Education changed the term 'Central Asia' ( Turkish : Orta Asya ) to 'Turkestan' ( Turkish : Türkistan ) in history textbooks. The history of

530-497: 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,

636-542: 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

742-725: 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

848-729: 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

954-537: 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

1060-507: 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

1166-537: 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

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1272-703: A reason why the Qara Khitai did not convert to Islam . Despite the Chinese trappings, there were comparatively few Han Chinese among the population of the Qara Khitai. These Han Chinese had lived in Kedun  [ zh ] during the Liao dynasty, and in 1124 migrated with the Khitans under Yelü Dashi along with other people of Kedun, such as the Bohai , Jurchen, and Mongol tribes, as well as other Khitans in addition to

1378-583: A single nation state . Persian geographers first used the word to describe the place where Turkic peoples lived. According to ethnographer Dávid Somfai Kara , prior to the Russian conquest , Turkestan historically referred only to the western portion of Central Asia: The Eastern part of Central Asia (inhabited by nomads of the Tien Shan Mountains and settled peoples of the Tarim Basin )

1484-493: 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

1590-521: 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

1696-524: 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

1802-529: 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

1908-476: 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

2014-574: 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

2120-458: Is subdivided into Afghan Turkestan and historical Russian Turkestan (the latter of which extended in the south to Persia , in the west to the Aral and Caspian Seas and in the northeast to Lake Balkhash and Lake Zaysan ) in the west, and Chinese Turkestan or East Turkestan in the east. Of Persian origin (see -stan ), the term "Turkestan" ( ترکستان ) had historically never referred to

2226-648: The History of Liao (one of the Twenty-Four Histories ), which was compiled officially during the Yuan dynasty by Toqto'a et al. After the fall of the Tang dynasty , various dynasties of non- Han ethnic origins gained prestige by portraying themselves as the legitimate dynasty of China. Qara Khitai monarchs used the title of " Chinese emperor ", and were also called the "Khan of Chīn". The Qara Khitai used

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2332-606: 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

2438-800: The Aral Sea the "Sea of Sïr," or Sïr Tengizi . The important evidence is the etymology of the name of the Syr-Darya River mentioned by the Ancient authors – '''Yaksart''', established by V. A. Livshits (2003: 10). It means ‘'''flowing’, ‘streaming’.''' The word belongs to the Sogdian dialect that had emerged from the Saka language group. When the Macedonian army of Alexander the Great reached

2544-695: The Central Asian nations have failed to reinstate it. Inadequate infrastructure, poor water-management, and outdated irrigation methods all exacerbate the issue. In 2012, the Syrdarya–Turkestan State Regional Natural Park was opened in the Kazakhstan, in hopes of protecting the river plain ecosystems, archaeological sites, and historical-cultural monuments, as well as plants and animal species, some of which are rare or endangered. The river rises in two headstreams in

2650-610: 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

2756-487: 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

2862-557: 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

2968-688: 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

3074-736: 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

3180-617: 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

3286-578: The Soviet era, a resource-sharing system was instituted in which Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan shared water originating from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers with Kazakhstan , Turkmenistan , and Uzbekistan in summer. In return, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan received Kazakh, Turkmen, and Uzbek coal, gas, and electricity in winter. After the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union , this system disintegrated and

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3392-930: The Tian Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan and eastern Uzbekistan —the Naryn River and the Kara Darya which come together in the Uzbek part of the Fergana Valley —and flows for some 2,212 kilometres (1,374 mi) west and north-west through Uzbekistan and southern Kazakhstan to the remains of the Aral Sea. The Syr Darya drains an area of over 800,000 square kilometres (310,000 sq mi), but no more than 200,000 square kilometres (77,000 sq mi) actually contribute significant flow to

3498-577: 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

3604-714: 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

3710-507: 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

3816-471: The northern remnants of the Aral Sea . It is the northern and eastern of the two main rivers in the endorheic basin of the Aral Sea, the other being the Amu Darya (Jayhun, also known by its classical name the Oxus ). In the Soviet era, extensive irrigation projects were constructed around both rivers, diverting their water into farmland and causing, during the post-Soviet era, the virtual disappearance of

3922-704: The "image of China" to legitimize their rule to the Central Asians. The Chinese emperor, together with the rulers of the Turks, Arabs, India and the Byzantine Romans, were known to Islamic writers as the world's "five great kings". Qara Khitai kept the trappings of a Chinese state, such as Chinese coins, Chinese imperial titles, the Chinese writing system, tablets, seals, and used Chinese products like porcelain, mirrors, jade and other Chinese customs. The adherence to Liao Chinese traditions has been suggested as

4028-583: The 17th and early 18th century, but the Khanate of Kokand rebuilt many in the 19th century, primarily along the Upper and Middle Syr Darya. Massive expansion of irrigation canals in Middle and Lower Syr Darya during the Soviet period to water cotton and rice fields caused ecological damage to the area. The amount of water taken from the river was such that in some periods of the year, no water at all reached

4134-426: The 19th century, the Russians under Nikolai Aleksandrovich Veryovkin  [ ru ] took the city of Turkistan (in present-day Kazakhstan ) in 1864. Mistaking its name for the entire region, they adopted the name of "Turkestan" ( Russian : Туркестан ) for their new territory . In 1969, a Turfanian document from 639 CE was found in the Astana district of Turpan, which recorded Sogdian sale contract of

4240-432: The 8th century. The Persian Samanid dynasty subsequently conquered it and the area experienced economic success. The entire territory was held at various times by Turkic forces, such as the Göktürks , until the conquest by Genghis Khan and the Mongols in 1220. Genghis Khan gave the territory to his son Chagatai and the area became the Chagatai Khanate . Timur took over the western portion of Turkestan in 1369, and

4346-418: The Aral Sea, once the world's fourth-largest lake. The point at which the river flows from Tajikistan into Uzbekistan is, at 300 m (980 ft) above sea level, the lowest elevation in Tajikistan. The second part of the name ( darya , دریا ) means "lake" or "sea" in Persian and "river" in the Central Asian Persian . The current name dates only from the 18th century. The earliest recorded name

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4452-438: 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

4558-574: 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

4664-568: 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

4770-443: The Central Asian region that was later called Turkestan dates back to at least the third millennium BC. Many artifacts were produced in that period, with much trade being conducted. The region was a focal point for cultural diffusion , as the Silk Road traversed it. Turkic sagas, such as the " Ergenekon " legend, and written sources, such as the Orkhon Inscriptions , in the 8th century AD, state that Turkic peoples originated in

4876-418: 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

4982-401: 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

5088-411: 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

5194-448: 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

5300-488: 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

5406-477: 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

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5512-423: 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

5618-445: 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

5724-443: 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

5830-399: 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

5936-420: 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

6042-417: 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

6148-512: 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

6254-416: The Jaxartes in 329 BC, after travelling through Bactria and Sogdia without encountering any opposition, they met with the first instances of native resistance to their presence. In October 329 BC the Macedonians fought the Battle of Jaxartes against the Saka , killing some 1,200 combatants including the leader of the nomads. Alexander was forced to retire south to deal with a revolt in Sogdia . Alexander

6360-399: 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 ,

6466-591: The River Oxus when approached from the south, emphasizing Turkestan's long-standing relationship with Iran , the Persian Empires , and the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates . Oghuz Turks (also known as Turkmens ), Kyrgyzs , Uzbeks , Kazakhs , Khazars , Uyghurs , and Hazaras are some of the Turkic inhabitants of the region who, as history progressed, have spread further into Eurasia forming such Turkic nations as Turkey , and subnational regions like Tatarstan in Russia and Crimea in Ukraine . Tajiks and Russians form sizable non-Turkic minorities. It

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6572-423: 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

6678-490: 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

6784-408: The Xiao consort clan. Qara Khitai's rule over the Muslim-majority Central Asia has the effect of reinforcing the view among some Muslim writers that Central Asia was linked to China even though the Tang dynasty had lost control of the region a few hundred years ago. Marwazī wrote that Transoxiana was a former part of China, while Fakhr al-Dīn Mubārak Shāh defined China as part of "Turkestan", and

6890-435: 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

6996-408: The area became part of the Timurid Empire . The eastern portion of Turkestan was also called Moghulistan and continued to be ruled by descendants of Genghis Khan. In Chinese historiography , the Qara Khitai is most commonly called the "Western Liao" ( 西遼 ) and is considered to be a legitimate Chinese dynasty , as is the case for the Liao dynasty . The history of the Qara Khitai was included in

7102-422: 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

7208-485: 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

7314-411: The cities of Balāsāghūn and Kashghar were considered part of China. The association of Khitai with China meant that the most enduring trace of the Khitan's power is names that are derived from it, such as Cathay , which is the medieval Latin appellation for China. Names derived from Khitai are still current in modern usage, such as the Russian, Bulgarian, Uzbek and Mongolian names for China. However,

7420-410: 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

7526-403: 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

7632-513: 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

7738-654: The furthest"—in 329 BC. For most of its history since at least the Muslim conquest of Central Asia in the 7th to 8th centuries AD, the name of this city (in present-day Tajikistan ) has been Khujand . In the mid-19th century, during the Russian conquest of Turkestan , the Russian Empire introduced steam navigation to the Syr Darya, initially from Fort Raim but with an important river port at Kazalinsk ( Kazaly ) from 1847 to 1882, when service ceased. During

7844-493: 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

7950-667: 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,

8056-455: 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

8162-476: 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

8268-462: 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

8374-619: 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

8480-507: 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

8586-497: 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

8692-410: 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

8798-500: The nearby Altai Mountains , and, through nomadic settlement, started their long journey westwards. Much earlier than the Gokturks or their Orkhon Inscriptions, other groups such as the Huns conquered the area after they conquered Kashgaria in the early 2nd century BC. With the dissolution of the Huns' Empire, Chinese rulers took over Eastern Central Asia, which was centuries later also called Turkestan. Arab forces captured it in

8904-616: 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

9010-636: 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

9116-713: The power of riding or walking. Syr Darya The Syr Darya / ˌ s ɪər ˈ d ɑːr j ə / SEER - DAR -yə , historically known as the Jaxartes ( / dʒ æ k ˈ s ɑːr t iː z / jak- SAR -teez , Ancient Greek : Ἰαξάρτης ), is a river in Central Asia . The name, which is Persian , literally means Syr Sea or Syr River . It originates in the Tian Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan and eastern Uzbekistan and flows for 2,256.25 kilometres (1,401.97 mi) west and north-west through Uzbekistan, Sughd province of Tajikistan, and southern Kazakhstan to

9222-637: 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

9328-566: 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

9434-730: The river: indeed, two of the largest rivers in its basin, the Talas and the Chu , dry up before reaching it. Its annual flow is a very modest 37 cubic kilometres (30,000,000  acre⋅ft ) per year—half that of its sister river, the Amu Darya . Along its course, the Syr Darya irrigates the most productive agricultural regions in all of Central Asia , together with the towns of Kokand , Khujand , Kyzylorda and Turkestan . Various local governments throughout history have built and maintained an extensive system of canals . These canals are of central importance in this arid region. Many fell into disuse in

9540-576: 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

9646-550: 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

9752-475: 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

9858-524: 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

9964-630: 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

10070-505: 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:

10176-514: The time of the Arab conquest, the Yinçü , or "Pearl river", from Middle Chinese 眞珠 * t͡ɕiɪn-t͡ɕɨo . Tang Chinese also recorded this name as Yaosha River 藥殺水 ( MC : * jɨɐk-ʃˠɛt ) and later Ye River 葉河 (MC: * jiɛp ). The current local name of the river, Syr ( Sïr ), does not appear before the 16th century. In the 17th century, Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur Khan, historian and ruler of Khiva , called

10282-420: 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

10388-583: The use of the name Khitai to mean "China" or "Chinese" by Turkic speakers within China, such as the Uyghurs , is considered pejorative by the Chinese authorities, who tried to ban it. 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

10494-591: Was Jaxartes or Iaxartes ( Ἰαξάρτης ) in Ancient Greek , consist of two morpheme Iaxa and artes , found in several sources, including those relating to Alexander the Great . The Greek name hearkens back to the Old Persian name Yakhsha Arta ("True Pearl"), perhaps a reference to the color of its glacially-fed water. More evidence for the Persian etymology comes from the river's Turkic name up to

10600-468: 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

10706-456: 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

10812-483: Was called Moghulistan (“Mongol land”). The Western part (inhabited by nomads of Syr-darya and settled peoples of Khwarazm ) was called Turkestan (Turk land), although they were both inhabited by linguistically Turkic ethnic groups. Beginning in the nineteenth century, the term Turkestan was also applied to Ferghana and Mawara-an-nahr by the Russians. On their way southward during the conquest of Central Asia in

10918-573: 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,

11024-425: 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

11130-492: 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

11236-673: Was wounded in the fighting that ensued and the native tribes took to attacking the Macedonian garrisons stationed in their towns. As the revolt against Alexander intensified it spread through Sogdia, plunging it into two years of warfare, the intensity of which surpassed any other conflict of the Anabasis Alexandri . On the shores of the Syr Darya, Alexander placed a garrison in the City of Cyrus ( Cyropolis in Greek), which he then renamed after himself Alexandria Eschate —"Alexandria

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