| Avar Khaganate | ||||
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| Capital | Not specified | |||
| Language(s) | Turkic Avar | |||
| Religion | Tengriism | |||
| Government | Khaganate | |||
| Khagan | ||||
| - 562-602 | Bayan I | |||
| History | ||||
| - Established | 557 | |||
| - Disestablished | 804 | |||
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars ( /ˈævɑːrz/) were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups. Although the name Avar first appeared in the mid-fifth century, the Avars of Europe enter the historical scene in the mid-sixth century AD, when they established a pax spanning considerable areas of Central and Eastern Europe. Avar rule over much of the Pannonian Plain persisted until the early 9th century.
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The origin of the Eurasian Avars is unclear. Information about origins is derived primarily from the works of Byzantine historians Menander Protector and Theophylact Simocatta. John of Ephesus used the term "those, who are called "Avars", because of their long hair". The confusion is compounded by the fact that many clans carried a particular name because they believed it to be prestigious, or it was attributed to them by outsiders describing their common characteristics, believed place of origin or reputation. Such a case has been seen repeatedly for many nomadic confederacies.
According to the research of historian András Róna-Tas,[2] the ethnic Avars formed in central Asia in the classical age through a fusion of several tribal elements. Róna-Tas suggests that Turkic Oghurs migrated to the Kazakh steppe, possibly moving south to inhabit the lands vacated by the Huns. Here they interacted with a body of Indo-European-speaking Iranians, forming the Xionites (Hunas). In the 460s, they were subordinated by the Rouran tribe. The Rourans imposed their own rulers, referred to as Uar, at the head of the confederacy. Eventually the Oghurs rose to prominence within the tribal confederacy.
The 6th century historian Menander Protector noted that the language of the Avars (which he called Ouarkhonitai "Vakonites") was the same as (possibly meaning similar to) that of the Huns. If language is an indicator of origin, this supports the theory that they might have been an Oghuric Turkic people.[3] Recently some scholars have proposed that they were an Iranic-speaking group.[4] The discovery of Mongolic skulls in Avar graves has prompted some scholars to suggest that the European Avars' ruling core was Mongolic, although this has been disputed by others.[5]
Early in the sixth century, the confederacy was conquered by the Göktürk empire (the Göktürks were previously yet another vassal tribal element under Rouran supremacy). In his History of the World, Theophylact Simocatta noted that the Göktürks "enslaved the Ohgur tribe, which was one of the most powerful...and was accomplished in the art of war." One body of people, perhaps wishing to evade Göktürk rule, escaped and migrated to the northern Caucasus region c. 555 CE. According to Simocatta, their new neighbours believed them to be the true Avars. They established diplomatic contact with the Byzantines, and the other nomadic tribes of the steppes lavished them with gifts. However, the Göktürks later persuaded the Byzantines that these nomads were not the real Avars, but were instead a group of "fugitive Scythians" who had fled from the Göktürks and stolen the prestigious name of Avar.[6] Hence they have subsequently been called pseudo-Avars.
For all the theories, historian Walter Pohl asserted in 1998, instancing the detailed attempts made by H. W. Haussig in 1953[7] and K. Czeglèdy in 1983[8] and his own methodological objections[9]: "It is pointless to ask who exactly the forefathers of the European Avars were. We only know that they carried an ancient, very prestigious name (our first hints to it date back to the times of Herodotus); and we may assume that they were a very mixed group of warriors who wanted to escape domination by the Göktürks."[10] If the Avars were ever a distinct ethnic group, that distinction does not seem to have survived their centuries in Europe. Being an 'Avar' seems to have meant being part of the Avar state (in a similar way that being 'Roman' ceased to have any ethnic meaning). What is certain, by the time they arrived in Europe, the Avars were a heterogeneous, polyethnic people.[6][11] Modern research shows[12] that each of the large confederations of steppe warriors (such as the Scythians, Huns, Hungarians, Bulgars, Avars, Khazars, Cumans, Mongols, etc.) were not ethnically homogeneous, but rather unions of multiple ethnicities. Anthropological research has revealed few skeletons with Mongoloid-type features, although there was continuing cultural influence from the Eurasian nomadic steppe. The late Avar Period shows more hybridization resulting in higher frequencies of Europo-Mongolids.[13] Mongoloid and Euro-Mongoloid types which compose about one-third of the total population of the Avar graves of the eighth century. But as more Europids population becomes conquered by Avars, the percentage of Europids in Avars becomes much higher.
According to Pál Lipták the early Avar anthropological material was almost exclusively Europid in the 7th century, while grave-goods indicated Middle and Central Asian parallels.[14] On the other hand there were cemeteries dated for the 8th century that contained Mongoloid elements among others. He analysed the Avar Period population of the Danube-Tisza midland region and stated that 80% of them was of Europid character.[14]
They are also found in Western India as ahirs.
The Avars arrived in the northern region of Caucasia in 557; they sent an embassy to Constantinople, marking their first contact with the Byzantine Empire. In exchange for gold, they agreed to subjugate the "unruly gentes" on behalf of the Byzantines. They conquered and incorporated various nomadic tribes - Kutrigur Bulgars, Onogur/Utigur Bulgars, Sabir. They also defeated Antes. By 562 they controlled the steppes north of the Black Sea, and the lower Danube basin.[15] By the time of their arrival into the Balkans, the Avars were a heterogeneous group of c. 20,000 horsemen.[6] Having been bought off by the Emperor Justinian I, they pushed northwest into Germania. However, further expansion was halted by Frankish opposition.
Seeking rich pastoral lands, they initially demanded land south of the Danube River (in present-day Bulgaria), but this was denied them by the Byzantines, who used their contacts with the Göktürks as a threat against Avar aggression. They thus turned their attention to the Carpathian plain and the natural defenses it afforded.[16] However, the Carpathian basin was then occupied by the Gepids. In 567, the Avars signed an alliance with the Lombards, who were the enemies of the Gepids, and together they destroyed much of the Gepid Kingdom. The Avars then persuaded the Lombards to move into northern Italy, an invasion that marked the last Germanic mass movement in the Migration Period.
Continuing their successful policy of turning the various barbarians against each other, the Byzantines convinced the Avars to attack the Sclavenes in Scythia Minor - for their land was rich with booty and had never been conquered before.[17] After devastating much of the Sclavenes' land, the Avars returned to Pannonia, but not before many of the khagan's subjects deserted to the Byzantine Emperor. By 600 AD, the Avars had established a nomadic empire stretching from modern-day Austria in the west to the Pontic steppes in the east, ruling over a multitude of peoples.
By about 580 the Avar Khagan, Bayan, established supremacy over majority Slavic, Hunno-Bulgar, and Germanic tribes.[18] When the Byzantine Empire was unable to pay subsidies or hire Avar mercenaries, the Avars raided the Byzantines' Balkan territories. According to Menander, to sack Dalmatia in 568, Bayan commanded 10,000 Kutrigur Bulgar, effectively cutting Byzantium's land link with North Italy and the West. By 582, the Avars had captured Sirmium, an important fort in the former Roman province of Pannonia. When the Byzantines refused to increase the stipend amount as requested by Bayan's son and successor Bayan II (from 584), the Avars proceeded to capture Singidunum and Viminacium. However, during Maurice's Balkan campaigns in the 590s, Avars experienced setbacks. Being defeated in their homeland, some Avars defected to the Byzantines in 602,[19] but Emperor Maurice decided against returning home as was customary. He maintained his army camp beyond the Danube throughout the winter, which caused the army to revolt (602). This gave the Avars a desperately needed respite. The ensuing civil war prompted a Persian invasion and after 615 gave the Avars a free hand in the undefended Balkans. They attempted an invasion of northern Italy in 610. Payments in gold and goods reached the record sum of 200,000 solidi shortly before 626.[20]
In 626, the joint Avar and Sassanid Persian siege of Constantinople failed. Following this defeat, the Avars' prestige and power declined. The Byzantines and Franks[21] document a war between the Avars and their Wends (west Slavs) clients. In the 630s, Samo, the ruler of the first historically known Slavic polity - Samo's Tribal Union (or Samo's realm) - increased his authority over lands to the north and west of the khanate, at the expense of the Avars. He succeeded to rule over his realm till his death in 658.
The history of the empire after Samo's death in 658 or 659 is largely unclear. It is generally assumed that it disappeared with Samo's death. Archaeological findings show that the Avars returned to their previous territories (at least to southernmost part of present-day Slovakia) and entered into a symbiosis with the Slavs, whereas territories to the north of the Avar empire were purely Wends territories. The first specific thing that is known about the fate of these Slavs and Avars in this area, is the existence of the Moravian and Nitrian principalities (see Great Moravia) in the late eighth century which were attacking the Avars, and the defeat of the Avars by the Franks under Charlemagne in 799 or 802–3.
At about the time of Samo's realm, the Great Khan Kubrat (Kurt), of the Dulo clan, led a successful uprising to end Avar authority over the Pannonian Plain, establishing what the Byzantines used to call Old Great Bulgaria. The civil war, possibly a succession struggle in Onoguria, between the joint Avar/Kutrigur Bulgar parties and Kubrat's Utigur Bulgar forces raged from 631-632. The power of the joint Avar and Kutrigur Bulgar forces was shattered and the Avars came under the control of "Patria Onoguria" ("the homeland of Onogurs", also known as Old Great Bulgaria. Chronicler Fredegarius recorded that 9,000 Bulgars sought asylum and fled to Bavaria, only to be slaughtered by King Dagobert I of the Franks. However, an element in Onoguria remained and came to be known as Cozariks (still noted in Transylvania even as late as the time of Menumorut). Following Khan Kubrat's death, they would vie for control again. One group on the eastern side of Onoguria migrated north up the Volga River where they established their own state of Volga Great Bolgary. Those remaining between Transylvania and the Ukraine were assimilated by the Khazars. Nevertheless, after their 7th-century struggles, the Avars managed to come out on top yet again; the Hrpt clan inherited rule over Onoguria and, in the face of Khazar expansion, in 677 control shifted from Balt-Avar to Bács.
The Carpathian basin was the centre of the Avar power base. The Avars re-settled captives from the peripheries of their empire to more central regions. Avar material culture is found south to Macedonia. However, to the east of the Carpathians, there are next to no Avar archaeological finds, suggesting that they were mainly in the western Balkans. Scholars propose that a highly structured and hierarchical Avar society existed, having complex interactions with other 'barbarian' groups. The khagan was the paramount figure, surrounded by a minority of nomadic aristocracy.
A few exceptionally rich burials have been uncovered, confirming that power was limited to the khagan and a close-knit class of 'elite warriors'. In addition to hoards of gold coins that accompanied the burials, the men were often buried with symbols of rank, such as decorated belts, weapons, stirrups resembling those found in central Asia, as well as their horse. The Avar army was composed from numerous other groups - Slavic, Gepidic and Bulgar military units - who did the bulk of the fighting for little reward. There also appeared to have existed semi-independent "client", predominantly Slavic, tribes which served strategic roles, such as engaging in diversory attacks and guarding the Avars' western borders abutting the Frankish Empire. Yet other tribes were equals and allies of the Avars, such as Khan Zabergan's Kutrigur Bulgars and Ardagastus' Slavs, which often conducted autonomous offensives into Byzantine land.
Initially, the Avars and their subjects lived separately, except for Slavic and Germanic women who were married to Avar men. Eventually, the Germanic and Slavic peoples were included in the Avaric social order and culture, which itself was Persian- Byzantine in fashion.[22] Scholars have identified a fused, Avar-Slavic culture, characterized by ornaments such as half moon-shaped earrings, Byzantine-styled buckles, beads, and bracelets with horn-shaped ends.[22] Paul Fouracre notes, “[T]here appears in the seventh century a mixed Slavic-Avar material culture, interpreted as peaceful and harmonious relationships between Avar warriors and Slavic peasants. It is thought possible that at least some of the leaders of the Slavic tribes could have become part of the Avar aristocracy”.[23] Apart from the assimilated Gepids, a few graves of west Germanic (Carolingian) peoples have been found in the Avar lands. They perhaps served as mercenaries.[22]
The Great Khan Kubrat, the ruler of Great Old Bulgaria, died in 665 and was succeeded, in what is present-day Ukraine, by Khan Batbayan of Bulgaria. By 670, the Khazars had shattered the unity of the Onogur Bulgar confederation, causing some of the Utigur Bulgars to leave Ukraine and migrate west. The Viennese chronicle states 677 as the year when the "Hungar"/(Onogur Bulgar) ethnicon established itself decisively in Pannonia. This new ethnic element (marked by hair clips for pigtails; curved, single-edged sabres; broad, symmetrical bows) marks the middle Avar-Bulgar period (670-720 AD). One group of Onogur Bulgars, led by Khan Kuber, after defeating the Avars in Sirmium, moved south and settled in the present-day region of Macedonia. Another group of Onogur/Utigur Bulgars, led by Khan Asparukh (the father of Khan Tervel), had already settled permanently in the Balkans (c. 679-681), forming Bulgaria. Although the Avar empire had diminished to half its original size, they consolidated their rule over the central parts of the mid-Danubian basin and extended their sphere of influence west to the Viennese Basin. With the death of Samo, some Slavic tribes again fell under Avar rule. New regional centers appeared, such as those near Ozora and Igar (county Fehér/Hungary). This strengthened the Avars' power base, although most of the Balkans now lay in the hands of Slavic tribes, since neither the Avars nor Byzantines were able to reassert control.
In the early 8th century, a new archaeological culture appeared in the Carpathian basin: the so-called "griffin and tendril" culture. Some scholars (such as the “double conquest” theory of archaeologist Gyula László) attempt to attribute it to the arrival of new settlers (such as early Magyars), however, it is still under debate. Hungarian archaeologists Laszló Makkai and András Móczy attribute this to an internal evolution of Avar culture, resulting from the integration of the Bulgar émigrés from the previous generation (i.e., 670s): "the material culture — art, clothing, equipment, weapons — of the late Avar/Bulgar period evolved autonomously from these new foundations". Many regions that had once been important centres of Avar empire had lost their significance, whilst new ones arose. Whilst Avaric material culture found over much of the northern Balkans might indicate an existing Avar presence, it probably more accurately represents the presence of independent Slavs who had adopted Avaric customs.[22]
The gradual decline of Avar power was brought to a rapid crash within a decade. A series of Frankish campaigns in the 790s led by Charlemagne ended with their conquest of the Avar realm, taking most of Pannonia up to the Tisza River. While fighting the Avars, the Franks had called for Slavic-Croatian support.[24] Croatian prince Vojnomir of Pannonian Croatia launched a joint counterattack with the help of Frankish troops under Charlemagne in 791.[25] The offensive was successful and the Avars were driven out of Croatia and Pannonia.[25] Later during the 790s, when Charlemagne again campaigned against the Avars, he won a major victory in 796.[26]
The song "De Pippini regis Victoria Avarica" celebrating the defeat of the Avars at the hands of Pepin of Italy in 796 survives. The Franks baptised many Avars and integrated them into the Frankish Empire (...(sc. Avaros) autem, qui obediebant fidei et baptismum sunt consecuti...). In 804, the First Bulgarian Empire conquered the southeastern Avar lands — Transylvania and southeastern Pannonia to the Middle Danube River. Many Avars became subjects of the Bulgarian Empire. The Franks turned the Avar lands under their control into a military march. The eastern half of this march was then granted to the Slavic Prince Pribina, who established the Balaton principality in 840 AD. The western part of Awarenmark continued to exist until 871, when it was integrated into the Carantanian and Eastern marches.
After the fall of the Avar Empire, the name Avar, and the self-identified constructed ethnicity it carried, disappeared within a generation. An Avar presence in Pannonia is certain in 871, but thereafter the name is no longer used by chroniclers: "It simply proved impossible to keep up an Avar identity after Avar institutions and the high claims of their tradition had failed."[27] The Avars had already been mixing with the more numerous Slavs for generations. In turn, they came under the rule of external polities — that of the Franks, Bulgaria, and Great Moravia.[28] But while by the middle of the 9th century all remains of the Avar polity had disappeared, the Avars in the region known as solitudo avarorum (currently called the Alföld) as a people vanished in an arc of three generations. They slowly merged with the Slavs to create a bilingual Turkic–Slavic-speaking people who were subjected to Frankish domination; it is this composite people that the invading Magyars found in the late 9th century.[29]
Avars arrived in western region of India with saka invasion and some of them merged with Scythian. Today's AHIR(Abhira,Abiria, ancient avar ) settlement in western India includes today's Pakistan with Indo-Scythian. Avars merger with Yadavas are also believed most possibilities with Hindu religion.
Although direct evidence is lacking, scholars generally posit that the extinct language of the Eurasian Avars belonged to the Oghur-Turkic subgroup,[30][31][32] and the language itself is referred to as Turkic Avar in order to distinguish it from the North-Caucasian Avar spoken by the modern Caucasian Avars.[33][34]
Bruno Genito, Madaras, Laszlo (eds.) (2005) "Archaeological Remains of a Steppe people in the Hungarian Great Plain: The Avarian Cemetery at Öcsöd 59. Final Reports. Naples". ISSN = 1824-6117
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