BLACK HUNS CONTINUED

 

The existence of the realm established by Balamber in what had been the Greuthungian Kingdom of the Goths (modern Ukraine) is disputed by some historians. These historians have suggested that Balamber is a mythological character that was intended by the Huns to fill the role of an ancestor-founder of the ruling dynasty that ran from Uldin to Attila, and that the steppes between the Dniester and Don rivers north of the Black Sea were part of the Hunnic Empire from its beginnings (i.e., the eastern part of the realm of Uldin). Others think it was initially a separate realm, but only became part of the empire during the reign of Rugila or Attila. Still others suggest the borders of the Hunnic Empire may have extended as far east as the Volga or Ural rivers. Unfortunately, I think there really isn't enough evidence to decisively resolve this issue. All we know for certain is that by 448-449 CE, when Attila sent his son Ellak to subdue an uprising by the Akatziri (a Sarmatian group that lived on the steppes north of the Black Sea), it was assumed at the time that the steppes between the Dniester and Don rivers (roughly, modern Ukraine) was part of the Hunnic Empire. By the early sixth century, this easternmost territory of the Hunnic Empire was divided between two groups—the Kutrigurs (Dniester-Dnieper steppe) and Utigurs (Dnieper-Don steppe)—and these hordes were believed by later Byzantine writers to have been named after the two sons (Kutrigur and Utigur) of an enigmatic king that had once ruled over all the Huns. It is likely that this king was either Ellak or Ernak (or they could possibly be descendants of Balamber, if he or they actually existed). If it was Ernak, it may be further evidence that he established himself north of the Black Sea in 469 CE, after his failed attack on the Balkans. However, Ernak's fate after his return to the Pontic-Caspian steppe is ultimately unknown. On firmer historical ground, we know that the Kutrigur king, Khinialon/Chinialon/Chinialus, led 12,000 Hunnic cavalry to aid the Gepids in 551 CE, as the Gepids (an East Germanic group) resisted the encroachments of the Langobardians/Lombards (a West Germanic group) into western Gepidia. After defeating the Langobardians, the Kutrigurs and Gepids crossed the Danube and raided the Byzantine provinces in the Balkans. In response, the Byzantine emperor, Justinian I (527-565 CE), bribed the king of the Utigurs (Sandilich) into attacking the Kutrigur homeland on the Dniester-Dnieper steppe, forcing Khinialon to abandon his Balkan enterprise and return home to fight the Utigurs. The Utigurs and Kutrigurs apparently mauled each other, Khinialon was killed in battle, and his successor, Sinnion (551-558 CE), was forced to petition Justinian for peace—in return for the emperor's support, Sinnion sent 2,000 Hunnic horsemen, with their families, to be resettled in Thrace as Byzantine federates. Without Byzantine support, Sandilich was apparently unable to continue fighting on his own and was forced to accept a cessation of hostilities. Justinian had promised military aid to help the Utigurs crush the Kutrigurs, but the aid was never forthcoming, and thus the result of the war was that both groups (Kutrigurs and Utigurs) were weakened, and the Kutrigur attack on the Balkans was thwarted (probably Justinian's goal all along). Sandilich apparently protested to Justinian about the apparent betrayal, but his protest fell on deaf ears. However, in the winter of 558 CE, Sinnion's successor as king of the Kutrigurs, Zabergan, led another army of 7,000 horsemen and an unknown number of Slavic allies across the frozen Danube into Byzantine territory, raiding throughout the Balkan Peninsula—probably in retaliation for Justinian's earlier machinations. In March 559 CE, as Zabergan approached the walls of Constantinople, his army was ambushed near the village of Melantias by the Byzantine general, Belisarios (500-565 CE). Belisarios defeated Zabergan and forced the Kutrigurs and Slavs to return to the steppes (this is one of the episodes that built Belisarios' reputation as a canny general, since he was said to have had only 300 Byzantine main battle troops, backed by an unknown number of auxiliaries). Thereafter, we have very little information on the Kutrigurs and Utigurs. There was another series of westward migrations of Hunnic peoples (Bulgars, Sabirs, and Avars) from beyond the Volga and Ural rivers into eastern Europe (ca. 250-562 CE), and this upset the socio-political balance of power on the Pontic-Caspian steppes. Due to the resulting confusion and tumult, Byzantine writers seem to have had a hard time keeping up with the changing situation, and the historical record for the Pontic-Caspian steppes during this period is far from comprehensive. The Bulgars arrived in the Kuban region to the east of the Black Sea in about 480 CE, where they formed some sort of federated union with the Onogurs/Ogurs (Onogundur-Bulgaria). The combined Bulgar-Onogur federation put pressure on the Utigurs until the coming of the Avars into eastern Europe (ca. 557 CE). Sometime between then and the arrival of the Avars on the Danube frontier of Byzantium (ca. 562 CE), the Bulgars-Onogurs, Kutrigurs, and Utigurs fell under the dominion of the Avars. Thereafter, they were forced to provide auxiliaries to the Avars during the Avar-Byzantine Wars (568-626 CE). The Avar khagan, Bayan I (562-602 CE), resettled 10,000 Kutrigurs in southern Pannonia (ca. 568-569 CE), although some Kutrigurs seem to have continued to occupy the Dniester-Dnieper steppe. Bayan also commanded the Utigur king, Anagai/Anagay, to attack the Byzantine province of the Bosphoros in the Crimean Peninsula (ca. 576-579 CE)—the southern half of the peninsula was part of the Byzantine province of the Bosphoros, while the northern half of the peninsula was inhabited by the Crimean Goths, an enigmatic group that was probably composed of Greuthungian and Herul refugees from the Hunnic conquest in the fourth century. The Goths had been allies of the Utigurs from the time of their war with the Kutrigurs (ca. 551 CE), and the Utigur invasion was apparently performed with the assistance of the Goths. The invasion seems to have been at least partially successful, pushing the Byzantines into their coastal cities and leaving the Utigurs and Goths in possession of the rest of the peninsula. According to a group of Byzantine envoys that passed through the Crimea soon thereafter (on their way to the court of the Western Göktürks), Anagai appointed a woman named Akagas to rule over the resulting Utigur-Goth kingdom in the Crimea (presumably a vassal-state of the Avars). Following a failed siege of the Byzantine imperial capital—Constantinople—by the Avars in 626 CE, the Bulgar-Onogur federation led a coalition of Pontic tribes (Bulgars, Onogurs, Kutrigurs, Utigurs, and Goths) in rebellion. By 630 CE, the allies seem to have gained their independence from the Avars, but under the kings, Gostun (630-632 CE) and Kubrat (632-665 CE), the Bulgar-Onogur federation forced the Kutrigurs, Utigurs, and Goths into submission. The resulting Bulgar-Onogur state (Byzantine Greek, Pelaia Megale Voulgaria, "Old Great Bulgaria") stretched from the Kuban region to the east of the Black Sea to the Dniester River in the west (the northern frontier is more difficult to define, but it probably did not extend beyond the steppe into the taiga). By the time of the disintegration of Great Bulgaria (ca. 668 CE), the Kutrigurs, Utigurs, and Onogurs disappear as distinct groups (although the Goths remained in the Crimea until the fourteenth century). Kubrat was succeeded by his eldest son, Batbayan (665-668 CE), but Batbayan was defeated and killed by the Khazars (one of the subgroups of the Western Göktürk Khaganate). Batbayan's four younger brothers then divided the remaining folk of the Bulgar state into four hordes—Kotrag/Kazarig (668-700 CE) led one horde to the northeast, settling between the headwaters of the Volga and Kama rivers and establishing what would become known as the Kingdom of Volga-Bulgaria (668-1236 CE); Kuber/Kouber/Kuver led another horde to the west, becoming vassals of the Avars in Pannonia (ca. 668-680 CE); Alcek/Alzeco led another horde even further west, ultimately finding their way into Italy where they became vassals of the Lombard Kingdom of Italy (ca. 668-774 CE); and Asparuh/Asparukh led the final group into the lower Danube Basin, wrested the region from the Byzantines, and founded the First Bulgarian Empire (681-1018 CE).

 

To the east of the Don, we are even less sure about the socio-political lay of the land between the initial Hunnic conquest (ca. 370-375 CE) and the collapse of Hunnic power in Central Europe (ca. 454-469 CE). There is evidence of a formidable Hunnic presence north of the Caucasus before the foundation of the Hunnic Empire—in 395 CE, a large army of Huns led by two chieftains named Basich and Kursich forced the Derbent/Derbend Pass through the Caucasus Mountains into the southern Caucasus region, then sent hordes raiding into Roman Anatolia and Persian Mesopotamia (ca. 396-398 CE). These hordes were separately defeated by the Romans and Persians, but they withdrew north of the Caucasus with much plunder. Unfortunately, our sources simply do not identify the groups that participated in this invasion (i.e., they are referred to as "Huns," but no other specifics are provided), and the chieftains Basich and Kursich are mentioned nowhere else. As mentioned above, some historians believe that the Hunnic Empire extended all the way to the Volga, or even the Ural River, although others believe the eastern Pontic-Caspian steppes were likely settled by disparate groups of Huns—Onogurs/Onoghurs/Ogurs (Kuban region), Saragurs/Saraghurs (Kalmykia-Astrakhan region), and Bulgars/Bulghars (Volga-Ural steppe)—as well as groups that were heavily influenced by the Huns like the Alans (Circassia and Ossetia)(see my Western Aryan Nomads gallery), the Sarmatians (Don-Volga steppe), and the Magyars (Bashkiria)(see my Finns, Balts, and Ugrians gallery). The most likely candidates for the raid-in-force in 395 CE are the Onogurs and Saragurs, although we do not know for certain how early these groups may have been established in the regions cited above. The Onogurs, Saragurs, Bulgars, and Magyars are first attested as living in the regions cited above in 463 CE, when a delegation representing the Onogurs and Saragurs reached the court of the Byzantine emperor, Leo I (557-567 CE), seeking help due to an invasion of the Pontic-Caspian steppes by the Sabirs/Savirs/Suars/Sawars. The envoys claimed that the Sabirs had been driven across the Ural River into Europe by another group called the Avars (the Sabirs and Avars are believed to be the last of the Hunnic peoples to migrate out of Kazakhstan into Europe). It is certainly possible that this was the emergency that drew Ernak to his eastern border in 469 CE—after raiding as far west as the Don, the Sabirs settled in the lands formerly held by the Bulgars (the Volga-Ural steppe), forcing the Bulgars to migrate into the territory of the Onogurs in the Kuban (discussed above). The Sarmatian tribes that had been living on the Don-Volga steppe disappear from history at this time, and it is likely they were conquered and assimilated by the Sabirs. In 469 CE the Saragurs again sought an alliance with the Byzantines to help them repel the Sabirs (Byzantine sources claim an alliance between the empire and the Saragurs was formed, but they do not detail whether or how this alliance took shape). However, between 504 and 515 CE, 20,000 Huns led by a king named Zilgibis again forced the Derbent Pass into the southern Caucasus and raided the northern frontier of Sassanid Persia. The Sassanid emperor, Kavad I (488-496 & 498-591 CE), was at that time engaged with the Byzantines for control of the Caucasus (the Anastasian War, ca. 502-506 CE), and the Hunnic invasion forced him to negotiate a quick end to the conflict so that he could refocus his army on defeating the Huns. Some historians think this Hunnic army was composed of Sabirs, but I think it makes much more sense to see it as being the Saragurs—at that time, the Saragurs were living in the Kalmykia-Astrakhan region, not far north of the Derbent Pass, and it could be that their timely invasion of Persia during the Anastasian War was due to the alliance they formed with the Byzantines in 469 CE (i.e., the Byzantines had perhaps helped them stay independent of the Sabirs after 469, and the invasion of Persian territory in 504 was a quid pro quo). The Persians ultimately repelled the Hunnic attack by 515 CE, and there is some evidence that the Saragurs remained independent north of the Caucasus until at least 555 CE, although soon thereafter they were likely conquered by the Sabirs.

 

The origins and ultimate fate of the Sabirs are probably the most obscure of all the Hunnic peoples. My personal opinion is that the Sabirs were most likely descended from those groups of Black Huns and Alans that remained east of the Ural River after the initial Hunnic invasion of eastern Europe (ca. 370-463 CE). The traditional explanation for the sudden Sabir invasion of eastern Europe is that they were being pressured by the Avars (ca. 463 CE), although our knowledge of the Avars before they too entered Europe (ca. 557 CE) is poor. There are various theories regarding the origins of the Avars. My preference is for the following timeline—the Uar/Var tribes were living on the steppes around the Aral Sea prior to the ethnogenesis of the Black Huns in northern Kazakhstan (ca. 300-432 CE); although we have no direct historical evidence for it, it seems likely that the Uar/Var living north of the Aral Sea seem to have formed a Hunnic tribal federation (probably including Xiongnu and Samoyed groups) that may have called itself Avar (a name probably derived from Var, possibly indicating that the Uar/Var were the dominant group in this federation)(ca. 432-500 CE); this Avar federation likely put pressure on the Sabirs in northwestern Kazakhstan (ca. 463 CE), and this led to the invasion of eastern Europe by the Sabirs (ca. 463-557 CE); the Avar federation absorbed Xionite/Blue Hun refugees following the Hephthalite/White Hun conquest of the Xionite realm in Transoxania-Ferghana (ca. 500-557 CE), and during this period the Avar federation was also sometimes referred to by the name of Varkhonites (a name that seems to have been a combination of Var and Xionite); the Avar/Varkhonite federation came under pressure from the Göktürks out of western Mongolia (ca. 554-571 CE), who also made an alliance with the Sassanid Dynasty of Persia that led to the destruction of the Hephthalite Empire (ca. 557-563 CE), and Hephthalite refugees thereafter also joined the Avar federation; in 557 CE, the Avars sent a diplomatic mission to the Byzantine Empire making the extraordinary offer to conquer the "unruly peoples" of the Pontic-Caspian steppes (i.e., the Kutrigurs, Utigurs, Onogurs/Ogurs, Bulgars, Saragurs, Sabirs, and Slavs) on behalf of the Byzantines; whatever their initial purpose may have been, by 571 CE the Avars seem to have realized they were not going to stave off the Göktürks in Kazakhstan, which led to a full-scale migration into eastern Europe. After the Sabirs were driven into eastern Europe by the Avars (ca. 463-469 CE), they drove the Bulgars (discussed above) from the Volga-Ural steppe and raided as far west as the Don River. As stated above, this is likely the event that caused Attila's heir, Ernak, to abandon his attack on the Balkans and rush to the steppes north of the Black Sea to face a threat to the eastern frontier of his empire. Also as stated above, the Bulgars were driven into the Kuban region east of the Balck Sea, where they formed a union with the Onogurs/Ogurs (ca. 463-480 CE). By 520 CE, the Sabir realm north of the Caspian Sea was said to have 100,000 inhabitants divided into 13 tribes, with an army of 20,000 horsemen. Throughout the sixth century, Sabir contingents served as mercenaries in both Byzantine and Persian armies, and they were a constant menace to the Saragurs and Onogur-Bulgars, although they seem to have formed an alliance with the Alans in the northern Caucasus (further evidence that at least some of the Sabir groups may have been related to the Alans?). During the Lazic War (541-562 CE), fought between Byzantium and Persia for control of the Georgian kingdom of Lazica (formerly Colchis, located at the eastern end of the Black Sea in the western Caucasus Mountains)—Sabir and Alan mercenaries formed a major part of the forces of Gubazes II (541-555 CE), king of Lazica, and his Byzantine allies. One of the interesting things about Sabir armies is the fact that they often had a sizeable contingent of infantry (during the Lazic War, the Sabir infantry contingent was several thousand strong)—something that Hunnic steppe-based armies generally lacked—and these infantrymen are credited with providing the Sabirs with some skill in siegecraft and naval warfare. The Hunnic Empire generally relied on Germanic auxiliaries as infantrymen and to assault fortifications, while the Kutrigurs used Gepid allies and Slavic auxiliaries in the same capacity, and the Utigurs and Onogur-Bulgars used both Slavic and Crimean Goth auxiliaries for these purposes. The Sabirs had access to no such allies or subject peoples that we know of—the steppes to the north of the Caspian Sea were devoid of urban centers, as were the coastal areas of the northern Caspian Sea. The Alans, who lived to the south of the Sabirs, dominated the Georgian tribes of the northern Caucasus and recruited infantry auxiliaries from them, and it is certainly possible that the Sabirs might have done the same with Finno-Ugrian tribes in the southern Ural Mountains region (as did the Volga Bulgars when they came to live in the region in the seventh century). Many modern historians have assumed that the Sabir infantrymen described in period sources were dismounted Sabir cavalrymen, but I lean toward the theory that they were dedicated infantrymen that were probably recruited from the Finno-Ugrian tribes (e.g., the Ostiaks, Voguls, Mordvins, and Cherimi all would have lived near the Sabirs at that time period). Byzantine and Sassanid sources describe the Sabir infantrymen as being ferocious fighters, and despite being armed primarily with a bow and arrows, they were equally comfortable fighting in close combat with spear, axe, and long fighting knife (some apparently carrying shields as well)—this all sounds alot like Finno-Ugrian warbands, and it is doubtful that Byzantine and Sassanid writers would have been able to tell the difference between Sabirs and Finno-Ugrians (i.e., they tended to view them all as fur-clad barbarians). At the Battle of Nokalakevi/Archaeopolis (551 CE) the Sabir infantry defeated the elite Daylamite infantry of the Persians (the Daylamites were an Iranian people from the Alborz Mountains), and although it is certainly possible that cavalrymen fighting in an unaccustomed role as infantrymen could still manage to best elite dedicated infantrymen, it seems unlikely. Also, we know that after the Sabirs fell under the domination of the Avars, the Sabirs built and employed boats during the Avar siege of Constantinople (ca. 626 CE), and the description of these boats in Byzantine accounts of the siege make them sound alot like the dugout canoes (Greek, monoxyla) that were used by the Slavs, Finns, and Ugrians on the waterways of Russia. The only hole in this theory—that the Sabir infantrymen were Finno-Ugrian auxiliaries—is that the Sabir infantry were described as being experts at siegecraft, and the Finno-Ugrian tribes would have had absolutely no experience in that area of martial endeavor. For that matter, however, no one has come up with a convincing theory to explain how the Sabirs would have gained experience as siege engineers and artillerists—as mentioned above, the steppes that they inhabited both before and after entering Europe were devoid of urban centers. It could simply be that their service in Byzantine and Persian armies taught them siegecraft, and because they had sizeable contingents of infantry they were better able to exploit these new skills. By the mid sixth century (ca. 558-560 CE), almost a century after their initial expansion into Europe, the Sabirs had expanded their territories to include the Don-Volga steppe (to the north of the Onogur-Bulgars and east of the Utigurs), and they are believed to have conquered and assimilated the Saragurs in the Kalmykia-Astrakhan region of the northern Caucasus (to the east of the Onogur-Bulgars and north of the Alans)(ca. 555-557 CE). Their empire proved short-lived, however, and when the Avars swept into eastern Europe (ca. 557-580 CE) and conquered the "unruly" Hunnic peoples of the western steppes, the Sabirs were forced to join the Onogur-Bulgars, Saragurs, Utigurs, and Kutrigurs in a westward migration that ultimately led to the foundation of the Avar Khaganate in Pannonia (modern Hungary), Gepidia (modern Romania), and the steppes north of the Black Sea (modern Moldavia and Ukraine)(ca. 580-630 CE). The Avars were followed into eastern Europe by the Göktürks (ca. 567-576 CE) and Khazars (ca. 630-969 CE), and remnant groups of the Saragurs, Utigurs, Kutrigurs, and Sabirs were assimilated by these peoples, forming new overtly Turkic groups thereafter (e.g., the Sawars/Suars, Barsils/Barsilts/Balkars, Bilars, Baranjars/Balanjars, Burtas, and possibly the Bashkirs)