Buta-ul
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Buta-ul ("the son of Buta") was Avar noble, ruler of Banat and Bačka regions in the 8th century.
He buried a large treasure in northern Banat (near the present day village of Nakovo in Kikinda municipality, Serbia). The treasure was excavated in 1799, and today it is kept in Vienna cultural-historical museum.
The treasure contain an inscription, which can tell us who was its owner: "The great župan Buta-ul, ruler of two Getian lands, Targorska and Eciska, and across the Tisa".
The "great župan" (rendering veliki župan) is a traditional Slavic ruler's title, while "Getian land" was a designation for present day Banat. The land "across the Tisa" is obviously present day Bačka.
The treasure was probably buried in 796, when Pippin, the son of Frankish ruler Charlemagne, penetrated with his army into the centre of Avar caganate near the river Tisa. Buta-ul probably buried his treasure in great hurry before the Frankish army arrived, since the treasure was buried only half metre deep in the ground.
The people who excavated the treasure of Buta-ul in 1799 thought that it was a treasure of Attila the Hun, but the research showed that treasure was Avar.
[edit] Literature
- Milan Tutorov, Banatska rapsodija - istorika Zrenjanina i Banata, Novi Sad, 2001.