Huns
From Wikinfo
Huns is a general term meant to refer to any number of Central Eurasian equestrian nomads or semi-nomads. Most of these peoples are recorded by neighboring countries to the East south and west to have occupied Central Asia from the late 1st century CE to the mid 5th century CE. Prior to this time, only the Xiongnu written of in Chinese records bare enough semblance to have been considered Chinese Huns. However, the identification of the 混夷, Hun'i, (mixed archers) to the west of China with the Huns is much more sensible. To avoid confusion this article will not deal with the Aparni "White Huns" (Akhun only in modern Turkish) of Procopius since only he calls them Huns while it is clear that they were of quite a different cultural & physical stock.
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Origins
From no-where they suddenly appear in a Chinese legend from the early 2nd millenium BC. According to traditions which were eventually recorded, the last Emperor of 夏, China's earliest dynasty's 17th member, was removed from his throne due to his evil ways. His son Xia Chunwei (夏淳維 c.1800-1766 BC)returned with 500 members of his 夏 nationality to his relatives the Hun. Later rulers over the Chinese Huns will be called "Shanyu" reminding of this man. For more than 1000 years we hear next to nothing, then an inscription on the walls of the royal palace in Persepolis about about Darius's empire mentions the Hunae. Mediaeval Armenian sources (Armenian Patriarch John) mention an ancient town of Hunor's Foundation (Hunorcerta) in the Otene region. The next we hear of them from China is with the Tangrigut lists dating back to 270 BC listing the known rulers over the Xiongnu (Serfs of the Xiong -"Xiong" meaning "Ferocious" and "Nu" meaning "serfs"). by the 2nd century BC their rise in power was enough to dislodge numerous central Eurasian peoples (like the Yue Chi Kushans) to put pressure on the teritory of Iran. Please read the Xiongnu article for full details. The most important event in Xiongnu history in relation to the possible genesis of the central Eurasian Huns known from the late 1st century is with the secession of the Southern Xiongnu from their Northeastern overlords in 48 CE. The Southern Xiongnu's independence reached its peak in 91 CE when the Hunnoi first appeared in the west near the Caspian Sea as a result of the great Chinese General Pan Chao (班超)'s campaign to drive away china's rivals once and for all. By 139 AD, the European geographer Ptolemaus Claudius writes that the Khuni (Huns) and Suni (Shanyu) are now next to the Dnyper River. Though we can gather from Chinese sources that there were at least 4 Hun rulers in the year 98 CE, soon 萬氏尸逐侯提 stablized power and the Tangriquts continued to rule until the Southern Xiongnu was partitioned into the Wu Hu in 215. Various ethnicities in China will continue to be remembered as once Xiongnu, but in the vicinity of China at least, Hun dominion is no longer identifiable.
3rd-5th centuries
Dionisus Periegetes talks of Huns living next to the Caspian Sea in 200 CE which is coroborated in 214 CE by Choronei Mozes in his "History of Armenia" who introduces the Hunni near the Sarmatians and goes on to describe how they captured the city of Balk (which is Kush in Armenian) sometime between 194 & 214 explaining why the Greeks call that city Hunuk. With the Xiongnu out of the way, we meet a century of lull, then following attempts by the Liu (meaning Dragon in the Xiongnu language) family of Tiefu Huns to re-establish Hunnish states in western China (see Han Zhao) Chionites (OIONO/Xiyon) appear on the scene in Transoxiana as Kidara's Huns begin to press on the Kushans in 320 and the Jie ethnicity Hou/Later Zhao kingdom competes against the Liu family. Back west, 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 push toward the west and defeat the Alans. Back east again, in the early 5th century Tiefu Xia is the last Hunnish dynasty in Western China and we meet the Alchon and Huna in Afghanistan & 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.
Last remnants
Until recently the last comment about contemporary Huns was around 850 by the Armenian Agathangelus mentions also that there are Huns living amongst the peoples of the Caucasus Mtns. However, as this news article http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4435181.stm shows things have changed.
European Dynasty
Ever since since Pan Chao drove a portion of the Huns settled in the Chu valley to the north of the Caspian sea, Huns had been heard of in Europe. Their affairs, however, were of no concern to Europe until the Romans invited them to settle Pannonia in 361. Kama was a legendary ancestor-King, mentioned in Eastern sources, particularly among those who formed the Altyn Oba Horde. There is no one among the Xiong rulers whose name sounds much like "Kama Tarkhan", but if he existed, his realm may have spread from the Kuban Steppes to Bactria.
| 352-? | Kama Tarkhan |
| fl. ?-370 | Balamber |
| fl. 370's-380s | Alypbi |
| c. 390 ?-c. 411 | Uldin (Khan of the Western Huns) |
| ? -412 | Donatus (Khan of the Eastern Black Sea Huns & beyond) |
| c. 411 | Charaton |
| ? - ? | Octar |
| fl. 432 | Ruga |
| c. 437-c. 444 | Bleda with... |
| c. 437-453 | Attila (Idil) |
| 453-c. 455 | Ellac |
| fl. c. 457 | Tuldila |
| ?-469 | Dengizich with... |
| ?- < 469 | Hernach |
| fl. late 5thC. | Tingiz with... |
| fl. late 5thC. | Belkermak |
| fl. late 490s | Djurash |
| fl. early 500s | Tatra |
| ? | Boyan Chelbir |
| fl. early500s - mid500s | Sandilch (Khan of the Utrigurs).
|
| fl. 560s | Zabergan (Khan of the Kutrigurs) |
| c. 565-c. 600 | Bayan (Avar Khagan) 1 (of the Avars) |
Avars
Chaotic conditions followed the rise of Avar power in Europe in the 550s, and the time of the Huns came to a close and the Hunno-Bulgars triumphed.
The Avar Onoghur dynasty (580s-685) had mixed Avar-Bulgar heritage, but the name Onogur possibly comes from the name "Hun". The English name "Hungary" derives from Onogur, allowing some space for their inclusion in the list of Hun Dynasties.
Germany
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.
See also
Further reading
- J. Otto Mänchen-Helfen (ed. Max Knight): The World of the Huns: Studies in Their History and Culture (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1973)
- J. Otto Mänchen-Helfen: Huns and Hsiung-Nu (published in Byzantion, vol. XVII, 1944-45, pp. 222-243)
- J. Otto Mänchen-Helfen: The Legend of the Origin of the Huns (published in Byzantion, vol. XVII, 1944-45, pp. 244-251)
- E. A. Thompson: A History of Attila and the Huns (London, Oxford University Press, 1948)
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Western view
The Huns are thought by many historians to be the first Turkic people mentioned in history. References in Chinese sources to a people called the Xiongnu (Hsiung-nu) go back to 1200 BC, and these people may be the ancestors of the later, better-known (to western scholars) Huns, though not all scholars agree.
A group called the European Huns and led by Attila the Hun is considered, with little certainty, to be the western extension of the Huns. Establishment of the first Hun state is one of the first well-documented appearances of the culture of horseback migration in history. These tribespeople achieved superiority over their rivals, most of whom were highly cultured, by the help of their splendid state of readiness and amazing mobility. According to traditional Hungarian history, the Huns, Magyars, and Avars were all part of the same people.
Subsequently the term "Huns" became a derogatory term for Germans. It was common among the Allied Forces during World War I and World War II, but this usage has declined recently. (See also Kraut.)
Eastern and Chinese view
The earliest reference in Chinese sources to a people called the Xiongnu (Hsiung-nu) goes back to early 12th century BC , in writings about the campaign by King Wuding (武丁 wu3 ding1) of the Shang Dynasty against the Gui Fang 鬼方 (gui3 fang1) tribe, which is regarded as another name of the Huns. This account is supported by some vague archeological sources but has yet to be proven. Bronze incriptions and oracle turtle-back bones on polytheistic worship prove the historical existence of the campaign but the Gui Fang may not be Huns.
Many scholars believe that the Xiongnu and Huns were the same group of people because of similar descriptions of their appearance and living habits. (more input here....) Other scholars argue that their appearance and habits can also be found in other tribes residing on the Mongolian steppes, rather than being identified as characteristics of the Xiongnu and Huns. Nevertheless all agree that the two peoples shared aspects that are more than a coincidence.
See also: Wu Hu
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Huns" http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huns August 21, 2003
