Huns- a Turkic-speaking people, a union of tribes formed in the 2nd-4th centuries by mixing different tribes of the Great Eurasian Steppe, the Volga region and the Urals. In Chinese sources they are referred to as Xiongnu or Xiongnu. A tribal group of the Altai type (Turkic, Mongolian, Tungus-Manchu languages), which invaded in the 70s of the 4th century. n. e. to Eastern Europe as a result of a long advance west of the borders of China. The Huns created a huge state from the Volga to the Rhine. Under the commander and ruler Attila, they tried to conquer the entire Romanesque west (mid-5th century). The center of the Huns' settlement territory was in Pannonia, where the Avars later settled, and then the Hungarians. Member of the Hunnic monarchy in the mid-5th century. included, in addition to the Hunnic (Altai) tribes themselves, many others, including Germans, Alans, Slavs, Finno-Ugrians and other peoples.
Brief history
According to one version, a large association of the Huns (known from Chinese sources as the “Xiongnu” or “Xiongnu”) at the end of the 3rd century BC. e. formed on the territory of Northern China, from the 2nd century AD. e. appeared in the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region. The “Hunnu,” according to Chinese chronicles, began their slow march to the west somewhere at the turn of the era. Archaeological evidence has also been found that along the way they founded their nomadic states either in Northern Mongolia or even further to the west. This information is highly controversial and hypothetical, without archaeological confirmation. No traces of the “Xiongnu” have been found west of Northern Kazakhstan. Moreover, in the 4th-5th centuries AD. e. People from the Xiongnu tribal union headed the royal dynasties in Northern China. In the 70s of the 4th century, the Huns conquered the Alans in the North Caucasus, and then defeated the state of Germanaric, which served as an impetus for the Great Migration of Peoples. The Huns subjugated most of the Ostrogoths (they lived in the lower reaches of the Dnieper) and forced the Visigoths (who lived in the lower reaches of the Dniester) to retreat to Thrace (in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula, between the Aegean, Black and Marmara seas). Then, having passed through the Caucasus in 395, they devastated Syria and Cappadocia (in Asia Minor) and around the same time, settling in Pannonia (a Roman province on the right bank of the Danube, now the territory of Hungary) and Austria, they raided the Eastern Roman Empire from there (in relation to the Western Roman Empire until the middle of the 5th century, the Huns acted as allies in the fight against the Germanic tribes). They imposed tribute on the conquered tribes and forced them to participate in their military campaigns.
The Hunnic union of tribes (in addition to the Bulgars, it already included the Ostrogoths, Heruls, Gepids, Scythians, Sarmatians, as well as some other Germanic and non-Germanic tribes) reached its greatest territorial expansion and power under Attila (ruled 434-453). In 451, the Huns invaded Gaul and were defeated by the Romans and their allies the Visigoths on the Catalaunian fields. After the death of Attila, the Gepids, who had conquered them, took advantage of the discord that arose among the Huns and led the uprising of the Germanic tribes against the Huns. In 455, at the Battle of the Nedao River in Pannonia, the Huns were defeated and went to the Black Sea region: the powerful alliance collapsed. Attempts by the Huns to break into the Balkan Peninsula in 469 failed. Gradually, the Huns disappeared as a people, although their name was still used for a long time as a general name for the nomads of the Black Sea region. According to the testimony of the same Jordan, the tribes that were part of the “Hunnic” union shamelessly occupied both the Western and Eastern parts of the Roman Empire, settling in Thrace, Illyria, Dalmatia, Pannonia, Gaul and even on the Apennine Peninsula. The last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was the son of Attila's secretary, Orestes. The first barbarian king of Rome, who overthrew him from the throne, according to Jordan, the “King of the Torquilings” Odoacer, to whom historians for some reason attribute German origin, was the son of Attila’s best military leader, Skira, Edecon. Theodoric, the son of Attila's associate, the Ostrogothic king Theodomir, who defeated Odoacer with the help of the Byzantine emperor Zeno, became the first Christian king of the Gothic-Roman kingdom.
Lifestyle
The Huns did not have permanent dwellings; they roamed with their livestock and did not build huts. They roamed the steppes and entered the forest-steppe. They did not engage in farming at all. They transported all their property, as well as children and the elderly, in wagons on wheels. Because of the best pastures, they entered into a fight with near and distant neighbors, forming a wedge and emitting a menacing howling cry.
Strangely, completely opposite evidence is contained in the “History of the Goths” by Priscus Panius, who visited the capital of Attila, and described wooden houses with beautiful carvings in which the “Hunnic” nobles lived, and the huts of the local inhabitants - the Scythians, in which the embassy had to spend the night on the road. The evidence of Priscus is the complete opposite of Ammianus’s fiction that the “Huns” are afraid of houses, as if they were cursed tombs, and only feel comfortable in the open air. The same Priscus describes that the army of the “Huns” lived in tents.
The Huns invented a powerful long-range bow that reached a length of more than one and a half meters. It was made composite, and for greater strength and elasticity it was reinforced with overlays made of bone and animal horns. Arrows were used not only with bone tips, but with iron and bronze ones. They also made whistle arrows, attaching drilled bone balls to them, which emitted a terrifying whistle in flight. The bow was placed in a special case and attached to the belt on the left, and the arrows were in a quiver behind the warrior’s back on the right. The “Hun bow”, or Scythian bow (scytycus arcus) - according to the testimony of the Romans, the most modern and effective weapon of antiquity - was considered a very valuable military booty by the Romans. Flavius Aetius, a Roman general who spent 20 years as a hostage among the Huns, introduced the Scythian bow into service in the Roman army.
The dead were often burned, believing that the soul of the deceased would fly to heaven faster if the worn-out body was destroyed by fire. With the deceased they threw his weapons into the fire - a sword, a quiver of arrows, a bow and horse harness.
The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus, “godfather of the Huns,” describes them this way:
...all of them are distinguished by dense and strong arms and legs, thick heads and generally such a monstrous and terrible appearance that they can be mistaken for two-legged animals or likened to piles that are roughly hewn out when building bridges.
“The Huns never hide behind any buildings, having an aversion to them as tombs... Roaming through the mountains and forests, from the cradle they learn to endure cold, hunger and thirst; and in a foreign land they do not enter homes unless absolutely necessary; They don't even consider it safe to sleep under the roof.
... but, as if attached to their hardy, but ugly-looking horses and sometimes sitting on them like women, they perform all their usual tasks; On them, each of this tribe spends the night and day... eats and drinks and, bending over the narrow neck of his cattle, plunges into a deep, sensitive sleep...
In contrast to Ammianus, the ambassador to the Hun king Attila Priscus of Panius describes the Huns as follows:
Having crossed some rivers, we arrived at a huge village, in which, as they said, were the mansions of Attila, more prominent than in all other places, built of logs and well-planed boards and surrounded by a wooden fence that surrounded them for no reason of safety. , but for beauty. Behind the royal mansions stood the mansions of Onogesius, also surrounded by a wooden fence; but it was not decorated with towers like Attila's. Inside the fence there were many buildings, some of which were made of beautifully fitted boards covered with carvings, while others were made of hewn and scraped logs straight, inserted into wooden circles...
Since their squad consists of various barbarian peoples, the warriors, in addition to their barbarian language, adopt from each other the Hunnic, Gothic, and Italic speech. Italian - from frequent communication with Rome
Having overcome a certain path together with the barbarians, we, by order of the Scythians assigned to us, went to another path, and in the meantime Attila stopped in some city to marry the daughter of Eski, although he already had many wives: Scythian law allows polygamy.
Each of those present, with Scythian courtesy, stood up and handed us a full cup, then, hugging and kissing the drinker, accepted the cup back.
Huns and ancient Slavs
Procopius of Caesarea in the 6th century, describing the Slavs and Antes, reports that “essentially they are not bad people and not at all evil, but they retain Hunnic morals in all their purity.” Most historians interpret this evidence in favor of the fact that some of the Slavs were subjugated by the Huns and were part of Attila's empire. The once widespread opinion (expressed, in particular, by Yur. Venelin) that the Huns were one of the Slavic tribes is unanimously rejected by modern historians as erroneous.
Of the Russian writers, Attila was declared a Slavic prince by Slavophile authors - A. F. Veltman (1800-1870), in the book “Attila and Rus' of the 6th and 5th centuries,” A. S. Khomyakov (1804-1860) in unfinished "Semiramis", P. J. Safarik (1795-1861) in the multi-volume work “Slavic Antiquities”, A. D. Nechvolodov “The Tale of the Russian Land”, I. E. Zabelin (1820-1908), D. I. Ilovaisky (1832-1920), Yu. I. Venelin (1802-1839), N. V. Savelyev-Rostislavich.
The emergence and disappearance of the Huns
Origin and name of the people
The origin of the Huns is known thanks to the Chinese, who called the “Xiongnu” (or “Xiongnu”) a people who roamed the steppes of Transbaikalia and Mongolia 7 centuries before Attila. The latest reports about the Huns concern not Attila or even his sons, but a distant descendant of Mundo, who served at the court of Emperor Justinian.
Version about the Turkic origin of the Huns
According to the hypothesis of Joseph de Guignes, the Huns could be Turkic or proto-Turkic in origin. This version was supported by O. Maenchen-Helfen in his linguistic research. The English scientist Peter Heather considers the Huns to be the so-called. "the first group of Turks" to invade Europe. Turkish researcher Kemal Dzhemal confirms this version with the facts of the similarity of names and names in the Turkic and Hunnic languages, this is also confirmed by the similarity of the Hunnic and Turkic tribal management systems. This version is also supported by the Hungarian researcher Gyula Nemeth. Uyghur researcher Turgun Almaz finds a connection between the Huns and modern Uyghurs in China
The Huns are an ancient nomadic tribe that invaded Eastern Europe in late antiquity (370s).
The Huns were Asians by origin, and their language, according to most scientists, belonged to the Turkic group.
Also, most researchers recognized that the Huns were descendants of the Central Asian Xiongnu, known from their wars with the Chinese Empire.
Huns in Europe
The invasion of the Huns radically changed the history of European civilization. It was the beginning of the so-called Great Migration - a process in which “barbarian” European tribes, primarily the Germans, settled in different places of the continent and invaded the Roman Empire.
As a result, the once integral empire was divided into several geographical parts, separated by barbarian settlements, which in some cases formed their own states.
On the other hand, many Germanic tribes wanted to become Roman citizens, so the government allowed them to settle in the outlying areas of the empire, in exchange for which they pledged to protect the borders from other barbarian tribes.
Nevertheless, the Huns managed to subjugate a number of European peoples, who with great difficulty were able to free themselves from their rule. More precisely, the state of the Huns weakened and collapsed after the death of Attila, the most powerful and famous Hun ruler, and this allowed the Germans to gain freedom.
The Alans and Germanic tribes were the first to suffer from the onslaught of the Huns:
- Ostrogoths;
- Burgundy;
- Heruli.
Asian nomads organized real “races of peoples for survival.” The final result of this process, in particular, was the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the consolidation of the Slavs and Germans throughout Europe.
Origin of the Huns
While most scholars recognize the Huns as an ancient Turkic tribe, some researchers tend to connect them with the Mongol and Manchu peoples. Linguistic data testify to the Turkic origin of the Huns, but the material culture is too different from the traditional Turkic one.
For example, all ancient Turks were characterized by round housing “ib”, which later became the prototype of the yurt; The Huns lived in dugouts with an L-shaped bed.
Rulers
The first known Hunnic ruler is Balamber. It was he who subdued the Ostrogoths in the 4th century and forced the Visigoths to retreat to Thrace. The same king devastated Syria and Cappadocia (at that time Roman provinces), and then settled in Pannonia (the territory of present-day Hungary) and Austria. Information about Balamber is legendary.
The next famous ruler is Rugila. Under him, the Huns concluded a truce with the Eastern Roman Empire, but Rugila threatened to break it if Emperor Theodosius II did not hand over to him the fugitives pursued by the Huns. Rugila did not have time to put his threat into action because he died in time.
After him, his nephews Bleda and Attila began to rule the nomads. The first died in 445 for an unknown reason during a hunt, and from that moment Attila became the sole ruler of the Huns. This ruler, in the words of one Roman author, was “born to shake the world.”
For the imperial authorities, Attila was a real “scourge of God”; his image was used to intimidate the masses who inhabited the remote provinces of both Roman empires (Eastern and Western) and were thinking about winning independence.
In the 6th – 8th centuries, a certain “kingdom of the Huns (Savir)” existed on the territory of Dagestan. Its capital was the city of Varachan, but most of the inhabitants of the state continued to maintain a nomadic way of life. The ruler of the state bore the Turkic title Elteber. In the 7th century, the next ruler of Alp-Ilitver, having received an embassy from Christian Caucasian Albania, himself deigned to convert to Christianity.
After the 8th century, there is no reliable information about the fate of the Dagestan “kingdom of the Huns”.
Lifestyle
The Huns were absolute nomads. The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus reports that they never built any buildings for themselves and even in conquered cities they tried not to enter houses; According to their beliefs, it was unsafe to sleep indoors. They spent most of the day on horses, often even spending the night on them.
However, the Roman ambassador to the Huns, Priscus, wrote that Attila and some of his military leaders had huge and richly decorated palaces. The Huns practiced polygamy. The basis of their social system was a large patriarchal family.
It is reported that the Huns were well acquainted with cooking, but their nomadic life taught them to be unpretentious in food. Apparently, the Huns knew how to cook food, but refused to do so due to lack of time.
Religion
The Huns were pagans. They recognized the common Turkic Tengri as the supreme god. The Huns had amulets with images of fantastic animals (primarily dragons), and had temples and silver idols. According to Movses Kalankatvatsi (Armenian historian of the 7th century), the Huns deified the sun, moon, fire and water, worshiped the “gods of the roads,” as well as sacred trees.
They sacrificed horses to trees and gods; however, the Huns did not practice human sacrifice, unlike their supposed ancestors the Xiongnu. Perception of the Huns The Huns inspired real horror in the European population, even the “barbarian” ones. Because of their Mongoloid characteristics, they seemed to the noble Romans not like people, but like some kind of monsters, tightly attached to their ugly horses.
The Germanic tribes were outraged by the onslaught of the nomadic Huns, who were not even familiar with agriculture and flaunted their savagery and lack of education.
The Xiongnu tribes, or Huns, have been known to the Chinese since BC. Their warlike nomadic alliance took shape somewhere on the northern borders of China back in the 5th - 3rd centuries. BC At that time, the population of what is now Western Mongolia and Northwestern China spoke mainly Indo-European languages (Iranian, Tocharian, etc.). Indo-Europeans lived in the west within what is now Kazakhstan. To the north of them lived the Ugric peoples, from whom only the Hungarians and small West Siberian ethnic groups - the Khanty and Mansi - have survived today. Previously, their relatives lived in both the Southern Urals and Southern Siberia.
The Xiongnu, or Huns, fought the Chinese for a long time with varying degrees of success. The latter often accompanied the nomads due to the fact that almost the entire male population were potential warriors, and light cavalry made it possible to maneuver and defeat the Chinese infantry. At the same time, long-term contacts with the Chinese were not limited to wars, but between the nomads and the settled population there was a mutually beneficial exchange of goods and skills, including military ones. Because of this, the Huns have long learned a lot from the Chinese, who at that time were one of the most civilized peoples on earth.
The question of the ethnicity of the Huns is still unclear. Most likely, among them were proto-Turks, more precisely, the common ancestors of the Turks and Mongols at that time, as well as Manchu tribes.
In the II century. BC The Huns suffered serious defeats in clashes with the Chinese and, under their pressure, rushed to the west, fighting and defeating neighboring peoples, among whom the main ones were the so-called Yuedzhi - related to the Saka-Scythians. The Yueji, in turn, had to retreat to the west, to the borders of Central Asia and present-day Kazakhstan. During such a struggle, the Huns somewhere around the 2nd century. AD went to the Volga, where some ancient authors recorded them for that time. On the long journey from Mongolia to the Volga, the Huns carried away with them a lot of other tribes, primarily Ugric and Iranian. So the nomads who came to the threshold of Europe were no longer a homogeneous ethnic mass.
On the banks of the Volga, the Huns were forced to linger for almost two centuries, because they encountered powerful resistance from the Alans, who then lived between the Volga and Don. The Alan tribal union was a strong political union. The Alans, like the Huns, were nomads, and it is no coincidence that the authors of the 4th century, describing the Huns and Alans as tribes completely different in racial type, emphasize their almost identical nomadic life. Both of them had cavalry as their main force, and among the Alans part of it was heavily armed, where even the horses had armor. The Alans rushed into battle shouting “marga” (death) and became worthy opponents for the eastern nomads, nurtured in centuries of battles with the Chinese.
However, in the 70s of the 4th century. the outcome of the two-century rivalry was decided in favor of the Huns: they defeated the Alans and, crossing the Volga and then the Don, rushed to the settlement "". Written sources write about the defeat of the Goths in the war with the Huns, noting that the very appearance of the Huns, unusual for Europeans, terrified the Goths and their allies.
A major role in the victory was played by the superiority of the Hun cavalry, which, after the defeat of the Alans, attacked the peaceful settlements of the Chernyakhovites, where the Goths were politically dominant. Before this, the country of the Alans was subjected to a terrible pogrom. Some of the Alans were pushed back to the regions of Ciscaucasia, others had to submit to the conquerors and then go on a campaign to the west with them. Finally, a considerable part of the vanquished, along with the defeated Goths, also rushed to the west. In the V - VI centuries. we meet Alans in both Spain and North Africa. A similar fate befell the Goths. The so-called Visigoths went first to the Balkans, within the Roman Empire, and then further to the west (first to Gaul and then to Spain). Another part of them, the so-called Ostrogoths, initially submitted to the Huns and fought with them in Europe, including against their fellow tribesmen. Finally, a small part of the Goths remained in the mountainous Crimea and Taman, where their descendants were somehow still known until the 16th century.
Archaeological data show pictures of the terrible defeat of the country of the Chernyakhovites. A very promising early civilization was destroyed, the carriers of which were forced to hide in the forest-steppe zone, leaving the steppe at the disposal of newcomer nomads. The Huns did not remain in our southern steppes, and went further to the west, making Pannonia (present-day Hungary) the central region of their “empire”. This historical region has long been a refuge for many tribes and peoples. In the IV - V centuries. Slavs lived there, some of the descendants of the Sarmatians, probably Celts, Germans and other tribes. The Huns constituted only the dominant stratum there. Scientists believe that the ethnic type of the Huns and their language changed during the period of their migrations from Mongolia to Europe. The Huns themselves came under the civilizational influences of the local sedentary population. The famous Attila already had palaces and other attributes of a settled life. It has been proven that the name Attila is translated from the Gothic language and means “father”. When Attila set out on a campaign against the Roman Empire, his horde included Goths, Alans, and many other tribes. Attila's attempt to conquer Western Europe ended with the Battle of the Cataluan Fields (northern France, Champagne) in 451, where equally multinational Roman armies led by Aetius blocked the path of Attila's hordes. They returned to Pannonia, the Hun ruler Attila died (453).
Attila's heirs quarreled with each other. The conquered peoples took advantage of their infighting and forced the bulk of the Huns to go east to the Black Sea steppes.
Only in the central Caucasus did a powerful mass of the Alan (Iranian) ethnic group survive, which left after the Hun pogrom and recreated its political unification - the Alan Union.
In the western Ciscaucasia in the 6th century. The Bulgars took a dominant position. After the collapse of the Turkic Kaganate, it was the Bulgar Union that began to play a major role in the North Caucasus, and the weakness of the Bulgars’ habitat received the name Great Bulgaria. It occupied approximately the territory of the present Krasnodar Territory, north of the Kuban River. Perhaps part of the Circassians who lived on the left bank of this river also obeyed the Bulgars.
The Bulgars competed with the Western Turks, although this rivalry was relatively modest. Most likely, the Bulgars sought to establish their dominance to the west, in the steppes of present-day Ukraine to the Danube, which they did in the first half of the 7th century. succeeded after the death of the Anta Union. At the same time, throughout the 6th - early 7th centuries. Various hordes of mixed origin periodically walked through these steppes to the west, most often called Avars (Obras according to Slavic sources).
The ethnicity of the Avars is also unclear. Most likely, it was some kind of Ugric horde breaking through to the west through the hostile Turkic environment dominating the Turkic Kaganate. In the west, in Pannonia, the Avar Khaganate arose, whose rulers, together with the Bulgars, became allies of Iran during the Iranian-Byzantine wars of the first third of the 7th century. In 626, the famous siege of Constantinople by the Avars took place, in which the Slavs also participated as the latter’s allies.
UPD (10/09/2018) The photo shows exhibits of the exhibition “Nomads of the Arkaim Steppes” from the funds of the Museum of Archeology and Ethnography of Chelyabinsk State University (website “Real Time” https://realnoevremya.ru/galleries/941)
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Atilla in battle
There are many conflicting opinions about this ethnic group, which rarely converge into one point of view. Ancient Western European historians say one thing, Chinese say another, Persian historians say something else. The Huns, a tribal union of the ancient Turks, are the descendants of the great Huns, and this is a fact that, unfortunately, not everyone wants to accept.
The Huns created their power in the 3rd century. BC e., when he came to power son of Shanyu Tuman - Mode. The father did not love his eldest son and tried to get rid of him by any means. Fog gave him as a hostage to the Yuezhi, and then attacked them so that they would kill his son. But Mode was able to escape. Fog no longer dared to kill his son after his return. His father put him in charge of 10,000 families. And Mode, in turn, created strict discipline in his army, after which he carried out a coup, which was followed by the death of Tuman, his wife and younger brother, and he himself became a chanyu. The terrible Mode did not stand on ceremony with his subordinates, cutting off heads even for minor offenses. He created such a tough system of warfare that the Huns began to defeat the Chinese, who had a twenty-fold superiority of armed personnel!
A state like the Han Empire was by no means weak. Wrote about this Chinese historian of the 1st century. Sima Qian. We will not dwell on a detailed description of the history of the Xiongnu power, but will simply take a short excursion, and then move on to the main topic, where we are interested in the Huns, to whom, in fact, I dedicated this topic. The Huns waged wars with the eastern Donghu tribes, then with the Yuezhi, but the most frequent wars were with China. In the period from 202 BC. e. until the middle of the 1st century. they restrained the aggression of first the Qin Empire and then the Han Empire. But the Chinese, who were defeated by the “whistling arrows” of the brave Huns (the Huns made arrows with holes in the tip, as a result of which the arrow flew with a whistle and affected the enemy’s psyche), began to use their skillful diplomats, who raised the surrounding tribes against the Huns and were able to bind the state into an internecine war. The situation was very difficult. Civil strife split the Xiongnu power. Then, as historians say, a century-long drought began in the steppe, and the Gobi Desert expanded. That is, not only the political situation, but also the natural factor greatly influenced here. Now the eastern neighbors and ancestors of the Mongols - the Xianbei - began to gradually gain influence in the Great Steppe, and they decided to put an end to the Huns (2nd century)
The events described above divided the Huns into four branches. The Southern Huns began to live in the northernmost part of China - Ordos and were considered the core of Chinese military power; The Yueban Huns went to Central Asia, dividing into tribes: Chuyuye, Chumi, Chumugun, Chuban; The Northern Huns continued to resist the warlike Xianbeans, but they could no longer prolong the war. Exhausted by drought, they fled to the West to new lands. The last, fourth, weakest and most subpassionate voluntarily submitted to the Xianbi.
Northern Huns
The path to the West was extremely difficult, since behind the backs of the surviving Huns there were Syanbis who pursued the fugitives. Great historian L.N. Gumilyov writes that women could not withstand this transition. Only physically and spiritually strong people survived, i.e., mostly men. But how many were there? The answer to this question is contained in Gumilev’s book “A Millennium Around the Caspian Sea”: “Let’s return to the demographic problem, which, despite all the approximate digital data, gives us the necessary solution. It was stated above that the Huns in the 1st century. BC e. there were 300 thousand people. For 1-2 centuries. n. e. there was an increase, but very small, since the Huns fought all the time, only Chinese emigrants - the Kuls - joined them.” I emphasize that the Kuls are emigrants who fled from the tyranny of Chinese officials and the emperor, who believed that they would find peace with the Huns. “Kuls”, i.e. slaves, they were called the Huns. Having merged into the system of the Xiongnu power, the Kuls became the Xiongnu subethnic group. In the 3rd century. in China there were 30 thousand families, i.e. about 150 thousand Huns, and the “low-power” ones in Central Asia were about 200 thousand (Hun-Yueban). So how much could have gone to the West? At best, 20-30 thousand warriors, without wives, children and old people, unable to endure a retreat through a foreign country without respite, for the Xianbei pursued the Huns and killed those who remained.
These energetic, passionate people walked 2600 km in 1000 days. They stopped only on the territory of the Ural-Volga interfluve, where, having found refuge and a quiet life, the Huns literally became friends with the Finno-Ugric tribes. It is known that many Finno-Ugric people left the steppe zone and sailed north along the Ob, where already in the northern part of the Urals they met a little-known tribe - the Siirtya, who belonged to a certain Ust-Poluy culture. It was believed that the Siirtya were a very dangerous and merciless people who suddenly attacked aliens.
It’s very interesting how the Huns could interact with the Ugrians and Finns across such a huge distance, or rather across the entire taiga zone from south to north? “Note that all the listed ethnic groups (first the peoples of the Volga region are listed. Ugric: Moksha, meadow Cheremis, Chud Zavolotskaya; Finns: Erzya, mountain Cheremis, Chud white-eyed. The Chuvash are descendants of the Huns, since the Chuvash language belongs to the most archaic Turkic languages ) live near the Volga and its tributaries or close to them. This means that it was the Volga, which froze in winter, that was the road of the Ugrians and Huns to the north,” writes L. N. Gumilyov.
The Huns who came to the new lands did not fight with anyone for 200 years, they lived peacefully, forming a Xiongnu-Ugric-Finnish symbiosis. As mentioned above, the Huns did not have enough women, and they made up for the shortage thanks to the Ugrians. There is no need to talk about complete assimilation; there was only symbiosis and nothing more. The ethnos of the Huns was formed, that is, those very “savages” that were terrible for Europeans. Although, judging by the fact that during such a period of time from 160 to 360 AD. the Huns did not wage wars, it can be judged that Roman-German historians exaggerated. One of them is historian Ammianus Marcellinus, who, according to his spy, who was afraid of the “terrible nomadic barbarians,” reported to his master about unknown aliens.
Eye on Europe
The period of great massacre of peoples. The Western Roman Empire is gradually collapsing, the Eastern Roman Empire is rising, etc. Let's start, perhaps, with the Eastern part of Europe. Here, in the Black Sea steppes, the last Scythians defend their independence and life from the Alans (Sarmatians). The Sarmatians brutally dealt with the Scythians, exterminating some and pushing others into the Crimea. The poor Scythians believed that Crimea would become an impregnable natural fortress for enemies, but, unfortunately, events did not go in favor of the Scythians. Three detachments of the warlike Goth tribe landed at the mouth of the Vistula. The Goths were divided into Visigoths, Gepids and Ostrogoths.
The Ostrogoths became conquerors of the East European Plain. Here they conquered the tribes of the Ants (the ancestors of the Polans), the Wends (also Slavs, like the Ants, but who are the most warlike of the Slavic tribes and equally passionate with many Germanic tribes). In the future, the Wends will be divided into Luticians and Bodrichis, who will be destroyed by the Swabian emperors in the Middle Ages), Rugians (a Germanic tribe that lived before the defeat by the Goths on the banks of the Vistula), Herulians (a Germanic tribe), and then completely destroyed the last Scythians in the Crimea and here created their own fleet, borrowing it from the Greeks. The Ostrogoths created their own strong kingdom, at the head of which kings from the family of Amals (nobles) began to rule, among them he especially distinguished himself King Germanarich. They became allies of the Alans. Later, the Huns would come as avengers of the Scythians (the Huns knew about the Scythians and their related Sakas, since their culture made a great impression on the Huns) and liberators of the Slavic tribes from the cruel Alans and Germans, if you look at the history of these peoples “from a bird’s eye view” , as Lev Nikolaevich called it.
The Visigoths, led by the Baltic (brave) family, defeat the Romans, cross the Balkans, and later capture Rome. The Romans distinguished the Goths as aggressive warriors with long spears. It was these long spears that seriously helped the Goths in battles with Roman legionary foot soldiers. The Goths conquer half of Europe; The Franks capture Gaul; The Vandals pass through Western Europe, settle in Spain, where they encounter the Suevi (then, as we know, the Vandals move to Africa, from where they attack Rome, from which the city and the empire itself never recovered, but this happens almost at the very end of what we are describing period); Saxons, Angles, Jutes conquer Britain. Now the Huns are entering the arena of the history of the Great Migration of Peoples (the late period is described here, when the Huns were already in Europe, but what is described above cannot be excluded)...
Militancy of the Huns
The Huns did not forget their great ancestors. Sitting by the fire, the elders told stories to their relatives about the glory, courage and heroism of the warriors of the Xiongnu state, where everyone helped each other in difficult times, as a result of which they, the descendants of the Huns, are still alive. And the time came when the Huns themselves had to show what they were capable of...
Beginning in 360, the Alans decided to seize the Ural-Volga interfluve, the territory from which they had once left (after leaving this territory, they conquered the North Caucasus and the Don-Volga interfluve). Here they met the Huns. The heavy Alan cavalry was considered invincible, but the mobile Huns used light cavalry with brilliant archers.
The war lasted 10 years, until 370, but in the end the victory was won by the small Huns in alliance with the Ugrians. But is this an easy victory? The Alans were well equipped and armed. In addition, they had their own fortresses, which indicates that they were semi-sedentary. And more importantly, the Alans had strong passionate allies - the Goths. Moreover, under the Goths lived the Antes, Gepids, Heruli, Wends, Rosomons and other tribes. And yet, the Huns won. They advanced through the North Caucasus to the shores of the Sea of Azov, however, as Gumilev writes, “the foothill fortresses were not taken,” because the Huns did not yet know how to take fortresses. The Huns did not dare to cross the Don, apparently due to the fact that the right bank of the river was seriously fortified and the Goths were preparing for a clash. However, things didn't go according to their plans.
According to legend, in 371, on the Taman Peninsula, hunting Hun horsemen saw a female deer and chased after her. The deer entered the water and... crossed to the Crimea! Then the Huns themselves crossed the strait and attacked their enemies from the rear. If you follow the legend, the Kerch Strait was then so shallow that you could walk through it freely! Gradually breaking through Perekop in the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region, the Huns began a sudden war with the Ostrogoths, who, like their allies the Alans, suffered complete defeat. The state of Germanarich fell, and the tribes liberated by the Huns, who hated the Goths, began to willingly serve their new masters. Now the Hunnic army was replenished with foreigners and access to Europe opened.
Beginning in 376, the irreconcilable part of the Ostrogoths and their relatives the Visigoths crossed the Danube and found themselves in an area subject to the Romans. At this time, his son was captured by the Huns Roman general Gaudentius(he was a German) and some Roman woman - Aetius. He then became friends with his peer Attila, and probably with Attila’s uncle - Rugila and father - Mundzuk. Aetius would later become not a friend for Attila, but the most implacable, but worthy enemy, when one would lead the western barbarians, and the other the eastern. As for Rugila, he was considered a very wise ruler, a real diplomat. He threatened to attack Byzantium, which was then paying him an annual tribute, because the emperor was taking in the Goths who had fled from the Huns. However, the negotiations were disrupted due to the death of Rugila, while the borders of the Hunnic state were already located on the Rhine.
In 434, power passed to the sons of Mundzuk - Attila and Bleda. Already at this time, their state turned into a chimera, when all the tribes subordinate to them did not live separately, where ethnic groups interact with each other in symbiosis, but merged into an anti-ethnic group, which, according to Gumilyov, unlike an ethnos, has no age and can be quickly destroyed if it encounters a young and energetic ethnic group.
I would like to dwell on this statement in a little more detail, because it is precisely this that explains to us such a rapid collapse of the Hunnic Empire. A chimera in ethnogenesis is a formation that gave birth to a mixture of peoples in one mass, while representatives of their ethnic groups who entered the chimera lose the traditions and stereotypes of behavior that were previously characteristic of them. Chimera, unlike an ethnic group, has no age! That is, if we say “chimera,” then there can be no talk of any phase of ethnogenesis. Chimeras win politically and economically, but never ideologically.
If it lasts for a long time, it becomes a stronghold of lies, that is, its members use lies as a “modus vivendi”, as a principle of existence. Antisystems are formed, that is, religious and philosophical organizations with a negative worldview. Examples from history: Ptolemaic State (Greeks + Jews + Copts), Ghaznavid Sultanate (Turks + Persians + Arabs), Karakhanid State (Turks + Tajiks), Fatimid Sultanate (Slavs + Turks + Hungarians + Arabs + Berbers); The most worthy example of a modern chimera is the USA. But let's return to the Huns of the 5th century.
In 445, Attila kills Bleda and becomes the rightful ruler of his empire. He destroys 70 cities on the Balkan Peninsula (the Huns themselves did not know how to take fortress cities, as noted above, so this role was assigned to the Slavs and Germans subject to them). First, in 447, the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II makes peace with Attila, and then the second emperor, Marcian, who replaced him, who did not want to “kneel” before the Huns, decides to break the peace in 450. It is interesting that Attila again does not go to war against Byzantium, but begins an offensive to the West, to Western Roman Gaul, modern France.
Here Attila meets with Aetius, a talented diplomat and politician, with the “last of the Romans” (a title which, for the first time, was assigned to him Byzantine scientist Procopius. Aetiem), who became a Roman commander, leading the Roman legions and tribes hostile to the power of Attila. In short, there was a moment in history when two tribal masses, two coalitions, fought in one battle - on the Catalaunian fields. The battle took place in 451.
Final procession
There were Antes, Ostrogoths, Rugians, Heruli, Alemanni, Bittogurs, Wends, Iazyges, Gepids, a small part of the Franks (who did not trust Aetius), and, of course, the Hunnic wars themselves. Aetius ruled the other part of the Franks, the Visigoths, the irreconcilable Ostrogoths, Alans, Saxons, Burgundians, Riparians, and Roman legions. According to German historian Jordan, the battle was one of the bloodiest and most brutal. Many modern historians believe that Aetius won the battle, but Gumilyov believes otherwise - the victory did not go to anyone: “Attila retreated, Aetius did not pursue him.” I believe that Gumilyov’s point of view is correct, because even if the Huns had suffered a serious defeat, they would not have attacked Italy in 452, a year after the battle.
And yet, Attila continued the war and took the strongest fortress of Aquileia, which, by the way, was built in the 2nd century. BC e. for protection against the Illyrians, Celts and Macedonians. Attila plundered Northern Italy until the Romans offered the conqueror a huge ransom in order to save their lives and the departure of the Hun leader from Italy.
In 453, Attila dies during his wedding night with Burgundy Ildiko(there is a version that she poisoned him). After this, the Hunnic empire quickly split, and the Huns themselves were surrounded in Pannonia, and they fought without the Ostrogoths and Gepids, since the latter became traitors and united against the nomads, for whom the massacre in Pannonia became their grave. About 30 thousand Huns and their loyal allies died. The survivors went to the Black Sea region. But their story is not over here either! Leaders Dengizikh and Irnik(the brothers of Ellak, the son of Attila, who died in Pannonia in the battle of the Nedao River) also resisted the Goths, Savirs, and Saragurs. Alan Aspar defeated Dengizikh and sent his head to Constantinople (the Huns were then vassals of Byzantium). It is at this moment that the history of the Hunnic route of several hundred years and several thousand kilometers ends.
In history, very often we see how nations appear, reach the peak of glory and... die. The Huns are an unpredictable strong ethnic group that took elements of Ugric and Turkic courage. I would like to note that the Hunnic empire came to naught only when it formed a chimera. I don’t know if the ethnogenic processes during the period of the Great Migration could have gone differently... Today in modern Russia there are descendants of the Huns - these are the Chuvash. And let them be proud of their great ancestors.
Alexander Belyaev, Eurasian Integration Club MGIMO (U)
References:
1. L. N. Gumilyov. "The Huns in Asia and Europe".
2. Foreigners K. A. “The Xiongnu and the Huns.”
3. E. Thompson. “The Huns. Terrible warriors of the steppes."
4. Nikolaev V.V. “History of the ancestors of the Chuvash.”
5. Otto J. Maenchen-Gelfen.”The World of the Huns. Research into their history and culture."
The Huns are nomadic tribes that at one time moved from Asia to Europe. Well, that’s all the knowledge about the Huns that most people have. But you can tell a lot of interesting things about them, and this is what the article is devoted to.
Who are the Huns?
These tribes begin their history from the 3rd century BC. e. Historians attribute the origin of the Huns to the Huns tribes who lived in the territory of modern China, on the banks of the Yellow River. The Huns are a people of Asian origin who were the first to create a nomadic empire in Central Asia. History says that in 48 BC. e. The Huns were divided into two clans: Southern and Northern. The Northern Huns were defeated in the war against China, their union disintegrated, and the remaining nomads migrated to the west. The connection between the Huns and the Huns can be traced by studying the heritage of material culture. The use of the bow was characteristic of both nations. However, at present, the ethnicity of the Huns is questionable.
At different times, the word “Huns” appears in history reference books, but this name most often refers to ordinary nomads who lived in Europe until the Middle Ages. In the present, the Huns are the conquering tribes who founded the great empire of Attila and provoked the Great Migration of Peoples, thereby accelerating the course of historical events.
Tribal Invasion
It was believed that the Huns, under the pressure of the emperor of the Han dynasty, were forced to leave their native lands and go west. Along the way, the refugees conquered the tribes they came across and included them in their horde. In 370, the Huns crossed the Volga, at which time they included Mongols, Ugrians, Turkic and Iranian tribes.
From this moment on, the Huns begin to be mentioned in chronicles. Most often they are spoken of as barbarian invaders, without denying their strength and cruelty. Nomadic tribes become the main root cause of important historical events. Even today, historians debate where the Huns actually came from. Some insist that these tribes were the ancestors of the Slavs and have nothing to do with Asia. Although at the same time the Turks claim that the Huns were Turks, and the Mongols say: “The Huns are Mongols.”
As a result of the research, it was only possible to find out that the Huns are close to the Mongol-Manchu peoples, as evidenced by the similarity of names and culture. However, no one is in a hurry to refute or confirm this with 100% certainty.
But no one belittles the role of the Huns in history. It is worth noting the peculiarities of the invasion of the Huns tribes into enemy territories. Their attacks were unexpected, like an avalanche, and their battle tactics threw the enemy into complete confusion. Nomadic tribes did not engage in close combat; they simply surrounded their enemies and showered them with arrows, while continuously moving from place to place. The enemy fell into bewilderment, and then the Huns finished him off, attacking with the entire cavalry army. If it came to hand-to-hand combat, they could wield swords masterfully, while the warriors did not think about their safety - they rushed into battle without sparing themselves. Their furious raids took the Romans, the tribes of the Northern Black Sea region, the Goths, the Iranians and representatives of other nationalities by surprise, who became part of the large Hunnic union.
Captured lands
The Huns were first mentioned in the chronicles of 376, when they captured the Alans of the North Caucasus. Later they attacked the state of Germanarich and completely defeated it, which provoked the beginning of the Great Migration. During their dominance in Europe, the Huns conquered a significant part of the Ostrogothic tribes, and pushed the Visigoths into Thrace.
In 395, the Huns crossed the Caucasus and entered the lands of Syria. The leader of the Huns at this time was King Balamber. In just a matter of months, this state was completely devastated, and the invading tribes settled in Austria and Pannonia. Pannonia became the center of the future Hunnic Empire. This was the starting point from which they began to attack the Eastern Roman Empire. As for the Western Roman Empire, the Hun tribes were their allies in wars against the Germanic tribes until the mid-5th century.
From Rugil to Atilla
All inhabitants of the conquered lands were forced to take part in military campaigns and pay taxes. By the beginning of 422, the Huns again attacked Thrace. Fearing war, the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire began to pay tribute to the leader of the Huns.
After 10 years, Rugila (the leader of the Huns) began to threaten the Roman Empire in breaking the peace agreements. The reason for this behavior was the fugitives who were hiding on the territory of the Roman state. However, Rugila never carried out his plan and died during the negotiations. The new rulers were the nephews of the late leader: Bleda and Atilla.
In 445, under unclear circumstances, Bleda died while hunting. Historians suggest that he could have been killed by Attila. However, this fact has not been confirmed. From this moment on, Attila is the leader of the Huns. He entered the pages of history as a cruel and great commander who wiped out all of Europe from the face of the earth.
The Hunnic Empire acquired its greatest greatness in 434-453 under the leader Atilla. During his reign, the tribes of the Bulgars, Heruls, Geids, Sarmatians, Goths and other Germanic tribes went to the Huns.
Reign of Attila
During Attila's sole reign, the state of the Huns grew to incredible proportions. This was the merit of their ruler. Atilla (leader of the Huns) lived in the territory of modern Hungary. From this place, his power extended to the Caucasus (east), the Rhine (west), the Danish islands (north) and the Danube (south).
Attila forced Theodosius I (ruler of the Eastern Roman Empire) to continue paying him tribute. He devastated Thrace, Media, Illyria, and subjugated the right bank of the Danube. Having reached the borders of Constantinople, he forced the emperor to pay off military operations and provide the Huns with the lands of the country on the southern bank of the Danube.
Having settled in Constantinople, Attila goes to Valentin III, the ruler of Western Rome, with a request to give his sister for him. However, the ruler of the Western Empire refuses such an alliance. Insulted by the refusal, Attila gathers an army and begins to move west. The leader of the Huns passes through Germany, crossing the Rhine, destroying Trier, Arras and many other cities.
In the autumn of 451, a grandiose battle of peoples began on the Cataluan Plain. One can even assume that this was the first large-scale battle in the history of our era. In this confrontation, the advance of the Huns was stopped by the united army of the Roman empires.
Death of Attila
Under King Atilla, a large political entity was formed, in which, until the 6th century, the bulk of the population were Sarmatians, Huns and other tribes. They all obeyed a single ruler. In 452, Attila's Huns entered the lands of Italy. Cities such as Milan and Aquelia were under the threat of military conflict. However, the troops retreat back to their territories. In 453, Attila dies, and due to misunderstandings regarding the new leader, the Huns are attacked by the Gepids, who led the uprising of the German tribes. Since 454, the power of the Huns becomes a historical past. This year, in the confrontation at the Nedao River, they are forced out to the Black Sea region.
In 469, the Huns made their last attempt to break into the Balkan Peninsula, but were stopped. They gradually begin to mix with other tribes arriving from the east, and the state of the Huns ceases to exist.
Housekeeping
The history of the Huns began and ended suddenly, in a short period of time an entire empire was formed that conquered almost all of Europe, and just as quickly it disappeared, mixing with other tribes that came to explore new lands. However, even this short period was enough for the Huns to create their own culture, religion and way of life.
Their main occupation, like most tribes, was cattle breeding, as Synya Qiang, a Chinese historian, says. The tribes constantly moved from place to place, living in mobile yurts. The main diet consisted of meat and kumiss. Clothes were made from wool.
An important part of life were wars, the main goal of which was initially to capture booty, and then to subjugate new tribes. In peacetime, the Huns simply followed the cattle, hunting birds and animals along the way.
Nomadic pastoralism consisted of all types of domestic animals, including the Bactrian camel and the donkey. Particular attention was paid directly to horse breeding. It was not only a reserve for military operations, but a kind of confirmation of social status. The greater the number of horses, the more honorable the nomad.
During the heyday of the Hunnic Empire, cities were founded where residents could lead a sedentary life. As a result of the excavations, it was clear that the tribes were engaged in agriculture for some time, and special places for storing grain were created in the cities.
In fact, the Huns were nomadic tribes and were engaged in cattle breeding, but one should not discount the presence of small pockets of sedentary farming. Within the state, these two ways of life existed harmoniously.
Social side of life
The Hun tribes had a complex social organization for that time. The head of the country was Shanyoi, the so-called “son of heaven” with unlimited power.
The Huns were divided into clans (clans), of which there were 24. At the head of each of them were “generation managers.” At the beginning of the wars of conquest, it was the managers who divided the new lands among themselves; later the shanyoi began to do this, and the managers became simple commanders over the horsemen, who numbered 10 thousand each.
Things weren't so simple in the army either. The temnik was responsible for the appointment of thousanders and centurions, as well as for the distribution of lands between them. On the other hand, the strengthened central power did not transform the empire into a monarchy or autocracy. On the contrary, there were popular assemblies and a council of elders in society. Three times a year the Huns gathered in one of the cities of their empire to make a sacrifice to Heaven. On such days, the heads of generations discussed state policy, watched horse racing or camel racing.
It was noted that in the society of the Huns there were aristocrats, all of whom were related by marriage to each other.
But, since the empire had many conquered tribes who were forcibly adapted to the society of the Huns, slavery flourished in some places. Mostly prisoners became slaves. They were left in the cities and forced to help in agriculture, construction or crafts.
The heads of the Hunnic state had a plan to unite all peoples, although Chinese and ancient sources constantly make them barbarians. After all, if they had not become a catalyst for the Great Migration of Peoples in Europe, it is likely that the crisis and the slave-owning mode of production would have lasted for several more centuries.
Cultural Organization Segment
The culture of the Huns takes its continuation from the Saxon tribes, includes their basic elements and continues to develop. Iron products were common among these tribes. The nomads knew how to use a loom, processed wood and began to engage in handicrafts.
The tribes had developed material culture and military science. Since the Huns made their living by raiding other states, they had highly developed battering technology, which helped destroy fortifications.
The Huns are a people of nomads. However, even in the world of perpetual motion there were sedentary agricultural oases that were used as wintering grounds. Some settlements were well fortified and could serve instead of a military fortress.
One of the historians, describing the refuge of Attila, said that his settlement was large, like a city. The houses were made of wood. The boards were nailed to each other so tightly that it was impossible to notice the joints.
They buried their fellow tribesmen on the banks of rivers. At the sites where nomads camped, mounds were built, surrounded by a fence in a circle. Weapons and horses were “buried” along with the dead. But the Hunnic mausoleums - groups of mounds with underground chambers - received more attention. Not only weapons, but jewelry, ceramics and even food were left in such mounds.
As for rock paintings, the most common ones you can see are drawings of a swan, a bull and a deer. These animals had their own sacred meaning. It was believed that the bull is the personification of power. The deer brings prosperity and shows the way to wanderers. The swan was the guardian of the hearth.
The art of the Huns is directly related to the artistic style of the Saxons, however, they paid more attention to inlay, and the animal style remained unchanged until the 3rd century, when it was replaced by polychrome monuments.
Religion
Like every self-respecting state, the Hunnic Empire had its own religion. Their main god was Tengri - the deity of Heaven. The nomads were animists, they revered the spirits of Heaven and the forces of nature. Protective amulets were made from gold and silver, and images of animals, mainly dragons, were engraved on the plates.
The Huns did not make human sacrifices, but they had idols cast in silver. Religious beliefs implied the presence of priests, sorcerers and healers. Among the ruling elite of the Huns one could often find shamans. Their duties included determining the favorable months of the year.
The deification of heavenly bodies, elements and roads was also characteristic of their religion. Horses were presented as blood sacrifices. All religious ceremonies were accompanied by military duels, which were a mandatory attribute of any event. In addition, when someone died, the Huns were obliged to inflict wounds on themselves as a sign of grief.
The role of the Huns in history
The invasion of the Huns had a great influence on the course of historical events. Unexpected raids on the tribes of Western Europe became the main catalyst that provoked changes in the situation of the nomads. The destruction of the Ostrogoths prevented the possibility of Germanization of the Sclavenians of Europe. The Alans retreated to the west, and the Iranian tribes of Eastern Europe were weakened. All this testifies to only one thing - only the Turks and Sklavens influenced the further development of historical events.
One can even say that the leader of the Huns, having invaded Europe, freed the Eastern Proto-Slavs from the Goths, Iranians, Alans and their influence on the development of culture. The Huns used the Sklaven troops as an auxiliary reserve for military campaigns.
During the reign of Attila, the territory of the Huns occupied unimaginable areas. Stretching from the Volga to the Rhine, the empire of the Hunnic conquerors reaches its maximum expansion. But when Attila dies, the great power disintegrates.
In many sources that describe the historical events of the Middle Ages, various nomadic tribes that are found in different parts of Eurasia are called Huns. However, no one has been able to prove their relationship with the European Huns. Some publications interpret the word simply as a term that means "nomadic tribe." Only in 1926, K. A. Inostrantsev introduced the concept of “Huns” to designate the European tribes of the state of Attila.
Thus, in conclusion, only one thing can be said: the Huns are not only nomadic tribes with an irresistible thirst for power, but also the key figures of their era, who caused many historical changes.
