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The Huns were a confederation of Eurasian tribes who appeared in Europe in the 4th century, the most famous being Attila. It has also become a more general term for any number of Central Asian equestrian nomads or semi-nomads. Most of these peoples are recorded by neighboring peoples to the south, east, and west as having occupied Central Asia roughly from the 4th century to the 6th century (with some surviving in the Caucasus until the early 8th century).
Origins and research Ever since Joseph de Guignes in the 18th century identified the Huns with the Xiongnu or (H)siung-nu, the research and debate about the Asian ancestral origins of the Huns has continued. Philologists still debate to this day which ethnonym from Chinese, Persian or Armenian sources is is not identical with with the Latin Hunni or the Greek Chounnoi as evidence of the Huns identity. Walter Pohl (1999), "Huns" in Late Antiquity, editor Peter Brown, p.501-502 .. further references to F.H Bauml and M. Birnbaum, eds., Atilla: The Man and His Image (1993). Peter Heather, "The Huns and the End of the Roman Empire in Western Europe," English Historical Review 90 (1995):4-41. Peter Heather, The Fall of the Roman Empire (2005). Otto Maenchen-Helfen, The World of the Huns (1973). E. de la Vaissière, Huns et Xiongnu "Central Asiatic Journal" 2005-1 pp. 3-26 Recent genetic research shows that many of the great confederations of steppe warriors were not entirely of the same race, but rather tended to be ethnic mixtures of Eurasian, for example Turkic, Mongolian, Finno-Ugric, a small number of people from Transoxiana (includes Khwarezmian (Hephthalite) and Caucasian) clans. In addition, many clans may have claimed to be Huns simply based on the prestige and fame of the name, or it was attributed to them by outsiders describing their common characteristics, believed place of origin, or reputation. "All we can say safely", says Walter Pohl, "is that the name Huns, in late antiquity, described prestigious ruling groups of steppe warriors." . The genetic research is in contrast to traditional theories based on Chinese records, archaeology, linguistics and other indirect evidence. These theories contain various elements: that the name "Hun" first described a nomadic ruling group of warriors whose ethnic origins were in Central Asia, and was most likely in present day Mongolia; that they were possibly related to, or included in, the Xiongnu (the theory first suggested by Joseph de Guignes in the 18th century); that the Xiongnu were defeated by the Chinese Han Empire; and that this is why they left Mongolia and moved westward, eventually invading Europe 200 years later. Indirect evidence includes the transmission of the composite bow from Central Asia to the west. This traditional narrative, of a westward movement of people triggered by a Chinese war, is deeply ingrained in western (and eastern) historiography — but the evidence is often indirect or ambiguous (the Huns left practically no written records). For a timespan of 150 years, there is no record of what happened between the time they left China and arrived in Europe. The last mention of the northern Xiongnu was their defeat by the Chinese in 151 at the lake of Barkol, after which they fled to the western steppe at K’ang-chü (centered on Turkestan in Kazakhstan). Furthermore, the Chinese records between the 3rd and 4th century suggests that a small tribe called Yueban (which is described as the remnants of northern Xiongnu in texts) were distributed in the steppe of Kazakhstan. It is further challenged by the recent genetic research showing little support for a distinct Hun people (even further sparking contention, see "Modern Huns" below). One recent line of reasoning is in favor of the idea of a political and cultural link between the Huns and the Xiongnu. It is based on the fact that the Central Asian (Sogdian and Bactrian) sources of the 4th C. translate Huns as Xiongnu, and Xiongnu as Huns; in addition the Xiongnu and Hunnic cauldrons are virtually identical, and were buried on the same spots (river banks) in Hungary and in the Ordos. E. de la Vaissière, Huns et Xiongnu "Central Asiatic Journal" 2005-1 pp. 3-26. One school of thought is that the Huns were of Turkic origin. Kemal Cemal, a Turkish commentator,"Europe: The Origins of the Huns", by Kessler Associate, based on conversations with Kemal Cemal, Turkey, 2002 points to linguistic evidence, systems of governance, the existence of another similar empire, the Mughal Empire, which may have been Turkic, and who suggests other western European historians also believe the Huns were Turkic. Others who support this view include Hungarian historian Gyula Nemeth in his 1991 book Hungary. This article will not discuss the Hephtalites "White Huns" of Procopius, since while he calls them "Huns", there is an ongoing research on whether they were closely related to the "Huns" or not. History 2nd-5th centuries Dionysius Periegetes talks of people who may be Huns living next to the Caspian Sea in the second century AD. By 139 AD, the European geographer Ptolemaus Claudius writes that the Khuni are next to the Dnieper River and ruled by Suni. Ptolemy lists the "Chuni" as among the "Sarmatian" white huns tribes in the second century, although it is not known for certain if these people were the Huns. The fifth century Armenian historian Moses of Khorene, in his "History of Armenia," introduces the Hunni near the Sarmatians and goes on to describe how they captured the city of Balk ("Kush" in Armenian) sometime between 194 and 214, which explains why the Greeks call that city Hunuk. Following the defeat of the Xiongnu by the Han, there was a century without significant Xiongnu references, followed by attempts by the Liu family of southern Xiongnu Tiefu to establish a state in western China (see Han Zhao). Chionites (OIONO/Xiyon) appear on the scene in Transoxiana in 320 immediately after Jin Zhun overthrew Liu Can and sent the Xiongnu into chaos. Later Kidara came along to lead the Chionites into pressing on the Kushans. Back west, Ostrogoths came into contact with the Huns in 358 AD. The Armenians mention Vund c.370 -the first recorded Hunnish leader in the Caucasus region. The Romans invited the Huns east of the Ukraine to settle Pannonia in 361, and in 372, under the leadership of Balimir their king, the Huns pushed towards the west and defeated the Alans. Back east again, in the early 5th century Tiefu Xia is the last southern Xiongnu dynasty in Western China and the Alchon/Hunas appear in what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan. At this point deciphering Hunnish histories for the multi-linguist becomes easier with relatively well-documented events in Byzantine, Armenian, Iranian, Indian, and Chinese sources. European Huns Huns made an appearance in Europe in the Fourth Century AD, appearing first north of the Black Sea area possibly from Central Asia, forcing a large number of Goths to seek refuge in the Roman Empire; then later the Huns appear west of the Carpathians in Pannonia, probably sometime between 400 and 410, which was probably the trigger for the massive migration of Germanic tribes westward across the Rhine in December 406. The establishment of the 5th century Hun Empire is an early appearance of horseback migration in history. Under the leadership of Attila the Hun, these tribal people achieved military and diplomatic superiority over their rivals (most of them highly cultured) through weapons like the Hun bow and a system of pay-offs, financed by the plundering of wealthy Roman cities to the south, to retain the loyalties of a diverse number of tribes. Attila's Huns incorporated groups of unrelated tributary peoples. In the European case Alans, Gepids, Scirii, Rugians, Sarmatians, Slavs and Gothic tribes all united under the Hun family military elite. Some of Attila's Huns eventually settled in Pannonia after his death, but the Hun Empire would not survive Attila's passing. After his sons were defeated by Ardaric's coalition at the unidentified river Nedao in 454, the Hunnish empire ceased to exist. The memory of the Hunnish invasion was transmitted orally among the Germanic peoples and is an important component in the Old Norse Völsunga saga and Hervarar saga, and the Middle German Nibelungenlied, all portraying events in the Migrations period, almost one millennium before their recordings. In the Hervarar saga, the Goths make first contact with the bow-wielding Huns and meet them in an epic battle on the plains of the Danube. In the Völsunga saga and the Nibelungenlied, King Attila (Atli in Norse and Etzel in German) defeats the Frankish king Sigebert I (Sigurðr or Siegfried) and the Burgundian King Guntram I (Gunnar or Gunther), but is subsequently assassinated by Queen Fredegund (Gudrun or Kriemhild), the sister of the latter and wife of the former. Successor nations Many nations have tried to assert themselves as ethnic or cultural successors to the Huns. The Bulgarian khans, for instance, believed they were descended from Attila. Indeed, the language of Volga Bulghars, currently known as the Chuvash language, is the most divergent of all the Turkic languages, which testifies to its separate existence for centuries before the dissolution of the proto-Turkic unity happened. "Formerly, scholars considered Chuvash not properly a Turkic language at all but, rather, the only surviving representative of a separate subdivision of the Altaic languages probably spoken by the Huns". The Magyars also have laid claims to the Hunnish heritage. Considering that the Huns who invaded Europe represented a loose coalition of various peoples, it is not entirely out of the question that Magyars were present among those ethnic groups as well. In 2005, a group of about 2,500 Hungarians petitioned the government to be a recognized minority of direct descendants of Attila. It was a failed bid, but gained publicity for the group, who had been formed in the early 1990s, and appear to represent a special Hun(garian)-centric brand of mysticism. The self-proclaimed Huns are not known to possess more special knowledge about Hun culture or language than would be available from historical and modern-mystical Hungarian sources. While there is no question that the Huns left descendants all over Eastern Europe, the disintegration of the Hun empire after the death of Attila meant they never regained their lost glory. One reason was that the Huns never fully established the mechanisms of a State, such as bureaucracy and taxes, unlike the Magyars or Golden Horde, who did. Once disorganized, the Huns naturally were absorbed by more organized polities. Historiography The term "Hun" has been also used to describe peoples with no historical connection to what scholars consider "Hun". On July 27, 1901, during the Boxer Rebellion in China, Kaiser Wilhelm II gave the order to "make the name 'German' remembered in China for a thousand years, so that no Chinaman will ever again dare to even squint at a German". This speech, wherein Wilhelm invoked the memory of the 5th-century Huns, coupled with the Pickelhaube or spiked helmet worn by German forces until 1916, that was reminiscent of ancient Hun (and Hungarian) helmets, gave rise to the later derogatory English usage of the latter term for their German enemy during World War I. This usage was reinforced by Allied propaganda throughout the war, prompting hatred of the Germans by invoking the idea that they were brutal savages. The usage resurfaced during World War II. See also Notes Further reading | ||||||||
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