Dengizich

Dengizich (spelled Δεγγιζίχ/Dengizikh in Priscus' account; spelled Dikkiz on a silver plate;^[1] died 468^[2] or 469^[3]), was a son of Attila and the ruler of the Utigurs (Onogurs) who he relocated from Itil on the river Volga in the 460s AD according to Zacharias Rhetor.^[4] Priscus is more clear stating that in 463 AD a mixed Saragur, Urog and Unogur embassy asked Byzantium for an alliance, having been dislodged by the Avars' drive towards the west to conquer the Akatziroi in the area of Southern Ukraine^[5] thereby establishing the Crimean Kingdom of the Huns. Dengizich was finally defeated by the roman general Anagast and his head was brought in triumph to Constantinopolis.

Name

The other forms of his name are Denzic (Marcellinus Comes, Chronicon, s. a. 469) and Dintzic (Jordanes, Getica 272). The form recorded by Priscus may include the title "wise", for Dikkiz ükü reduced to Dikkizuk.^[6] The word Dengizich means "little sea" in old Turkic (*Däŋiziq, where *-iq is the diminutive suffix^[7]). This is also said to be the root of the name Genghis. The word is also similar to Mongolian language word "tengis" meaning "ocean/sea." It could be translated as Turkish, "Dokuz ok (Nine tribes)" which is possibly a mis-interpretation of his nation instead of personal name.

References