The Alans (
Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval
Iranian
Iranian may refer to:
* Iran, a sovereign state
* Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran
* Iranian lan ...
nomadic pastoral people of the
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...
– generally regarded as part of the
Sarmatians
The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic peoples of classical antiquity who dominated the Pontic steppe from about the 3rd century BC to the 4th cen ...
, and possibly related to the
Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the Alans with the
Central Asian
of
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...
sources and with the
Aorsi
The Aorsi, known in Greek sources as the Aorsoi (Ἄορσοι), were an ancient Iranian people of the Sarmatian group, who played a major role in the events of the Pontic Steppe from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD.
They are often reg ...
of
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
sources.
Having migrated westwards and becoming dominant among the Sarmatians on the
Pontic–Caspian steppe, the Alans are mentioned by Roman sources in the . At that time they had settled the region north of the
Black Sea and frequently raided the
Parthian Empire and the
Caucasian provinces of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
.
From the
Goths broke their power on the Pontic Steppe.
Upon the
Hunnic defeat of the Goths on the Pontic Steppe around , many of the Alans migrated westwards along with various
Germanic tribes. They
crossed the
Rhine in 406CE along with the
Vandals and
Suebi, settling in
Orléans and
Valence. Around 409 CE they joined the Vandals and Suebi in crossing the
Pyrenees into the
Iberian Peninsula, settling in
Lusitania
Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province located where modern Portugal (south of the Douro river) and
a portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and the province of Salamanca) lie. It was named after the Lusitani or Lus ...
and
Hispania Carthaginensis
Hispania Carthaginensis was a Roman province segregated from Hispania Tarraconensis in the new division of Hispania by emperor Diocletian in 298.
The capital of the new province was settled in Carthago Nova, now Cartagena.
It encompassed the ...
.
The Iberian Alans, soundly defeated by the
Visigoths
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...
in 418 CE, subsequently surrendered their authority to the
Hasdingi Vandals.
In 428CE, the Vandals and Alans crossed the
Strait of Gibraltar into
North Africa, where they founded a
kingdom
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
which lasted until its conquest by forces of the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
Emperor
Justinian I in 534.
Those Alans who remained under Hunnic rule eventually founded the powerful kingdom of
Alania
Alania was a medieval kingdom of the Iranian Alans (proto-Ossetians) that flourished in the Northern Caucasus, roughly in the location of latter-day Circassia, Chechnya, Ingushetia, and modern North Ossetia–Alania, from its independence from t ...
in the
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...
in the 9th century; it survived until the
Mongol invasions
An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing co ...
of the 13th century CE. Various
Ossetian scholars regard these Alans as the ancestors of the modern Ossetians.
The Alans spoke an
Eastern Iranian language
The Eastern Iranian languages are a subgroup of the Iranian languages emerging in Middle Iranian times (from c. the 4th century BC). The Avestan language is often classified as early Eastern Iranian. As opposed to the Middle Western Iranian dial ...
which derived from
Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into the modern
Ossetian language
Ossetian (, , ), commonly referred to as Ossetic and rarely as Ossete (), is an Eastern Iranian language that is spoken predominantly in Ossetia, a region situated on both sides of the Greater Caucasus. It is the native language of the Osseti ...
.
The name ''Alan'' represents an
Iranian
Iranian may refer to:
* Iran, a sovereign state
* Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran
* Iranian lan ...
dialectal form of ''
Aryan
Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
''.
Name
The Alans were documented by foreign observers from the 1st century CE onward under similar names: ; el, Ἀλανοί '; zh, 阿蘭聊 ' (
Pinyin; ''Alan'' + ''Liu'') in the 2nd century, ' in the 3rd century, later ''Alanguo'' ();
Parthian and
Middle Persian ''Alānān'' (plural);
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
''Alān'' (singular);
Syriac Syriac may refer to:
*Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic
*Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region
* Syriac alphabet
** Syriac (Unicode block)
** Syriac Supplement
* Neo-Aramaic languages ...
''Alānayē'';
Classical Armenian
Classical Armenian (, in Eastern Armenian pronunciation: Grabar, Western Armenian: Krapar; meaning "literary anguage; also Old Armenian or Liturgical Armenian) is the oldest attested form of the Armenian language. It was first written down at ...
''Alank;
Georgian ''Alaneti'' ('country of the Alans');
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
''Alan'' (pl. ''Alanim''). Rarer Latin spellings include ''Alauni'' or ''Halani''. The name was also preserved in the modern
Ossetian language
Ossetian (, , ), commonly referred to as Ossetic and rarely as Ossete (), is an Eastern Iranian language that is spoken predominantly in Ossetia, a region situated on both sides of the Greater Caucasus. It is the native language of the Osseti ...
as ''Allon''.
The
ethnonym ''Alān'' is a dialectal variant of the
Old Iranian *''Aryāna'', itself derived from the root ''arya''-, meaning '
Aryan
Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
', the common self-designation of
Indo-Iranian peoples.
It probably came in use in the early history of the Alans for the purpose of uniting a heterogeneous group of tribes through the invocation of a common, ancestral 'Aryan' origin. Like the
name of Iran
In the Western world, ''Persia'' (or one of its cognates) was historically the common name used for Iran. On the Nowruz of 1935, Reza Shah officially asked foreign delegates to use the Persian term ''Iran'' (meaning the land of Aryans in Persian) ...
(*''Aryānām''), the adjective *''aryāna'' appears to be related to ''
Airyanəm Waēǰō'' ('stretch of the Aryas'), the mythical homeland of the early Iranians mentioned in the ''
Avesta
The Avesta () is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language.
The Avesta texts fall into several different categories, arranged either by dialect, or by usage. The principal text in the litu ...
''.
Some other ethnonyms also bear the name of the Alans: the ''
Rhoxolāni'' ('Bright Alans'), an offshoot of the Alans whose name may be linked to religious practices, and the ''Alanorsoi'' ('White Alans'), perhaps a conglomerate of Alans and
Aorsi
The Aorsi, known in Greek sources as the Aorsoi (Ἄορσοι), were an ancient Iranian people of the Sarmatian group, who played a major role in the events of the Pontic Steppe from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD.
They are often reg ...
. The personal names ''
Alan
Alan may refer to:
People
*Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname
* Alan (given name), an English given name
** List of people with given name Alan
''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.''
* ...
'' and ''
Alain'' (from Latin ''Alanus'') may have been introduced by Alan settlers to Western Europe during the first millennium CE.
The Alans were also known over the course of their history by another group of related names including the variations ''Asi'', ''As'', and ''Os'' (
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
** Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
**Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...
',
Bulgarian ',
Hungarian ',
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
* Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and p ...
',
Georgian '). It is this name at the root of the modern ''
Ossetian''.
History
Timeline
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Bardata =
bar:Africa text:"Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
"
bar:Gaul text: Gaul
bar:Danube text: Danube
bar:Ciscaucasus text: Ciscaucasus
bar:Caucasus text: Caucasus
Plotdata =
bar:Ciscaucasus from:start till:375 color:sovereign $wide
bar:Ciscaucasus at:20 text:"Ancient Alan kingdoms"
bar:Ciscaucasus at:375 text: Huns
bar:Ciscaucasus from:375 till:455 color:subject $wide
bar:Danube from:start till:175 color:sovereign $wide
bar:Danube at:30 text:" Roxolani & Iazyges"
bar:Danube from:380 till:480 color:subject $wide
bar:Danube at:385 text:"Alans settled in Pannonia"
bar:Gaul from:406 till:499 color:semi $wide
bar:Gaul at:406 text:"Alan kingdoms at~Orléans and Valence"
bar:Africa from:429 till:534 color:sovereign $wide
bar:Africa at:430 text:"Kingdom of the~ Vandals and Alans"
bar:Ciscaucasus from:455 till:1239 color:sovereign $wide
bar:Ciscaucasus from:721 till:965 color:semi $wide
bar:Ciscaucasus at:750 text:" Khazars"
Bar:Ciscaucasus at:1000 text:"Medieval Alania"
bar:Ciscaucasus from:1239 till:1440 color:subject $wide
bar:Ciscaucasus at:1245 text: Mongols
bar:Ciscaucasus from:1440 till:1774 color:semi $wide
bar:Ciscaucasus from:1774 till:end color:subject $wide
bar:Ciscaucasus at: 1810 text:"North Ossetia
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
~ /Alania"
bar:Danube from:1318 till:end color:subject $wide
bar:Danube at:1500 text:" Jassic (Jazones) in Hungary"
bar:Caucasus from:1239 till:1440 color:subject $wide
bar:Caucasus from:1440 till:1804 color:semi $wide
bar:Caucasus at:1500 text:
bar:Ciscaucasus at:1500 text:" Iron~ Digor"
bar:Caucasus from:1804 till:1991 color:subject $wide
bar:Caucasus at:1922 text:"South Ossetia
South Ossetia, ka, სამხრეთი ოსეთი, ( , ), officially the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania, is a international recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partially recognised Landlocked country, ...
"
bar:Caucasus from:1991 till:end color:subject $wide
Origin
The Alans were formed out of the merger of the
Massagetae, a Central Asian Iranian nomadic people, with some old tribal groups. Related to the
Asii
The Asii, Osii, Ossii, Asoi, Asioi, Asini or Aseni were an ancient Indo-European people of Central Asia, during the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE. Known only from Classical Greek and Roman sources, they were one of the peoples held to be responsible ...
who had invaded
Bactria
Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, southwe ...
in the 2nd century BCE, the Alans were pushed west by the
Kang-chü people (known to Graeco-Roman authors as the in Greek, and the in Latin), the latter of whom were living in the
Syr Darya basin, from where they expanded their rule from Fergana to the Aral Sea region.
Early Alans
The first mentions of names that historians link with the ''Alani'' appear at almost the same time in texts from the Mediterranean, Middle East and China.
In the 1st century CE, the Alans migrated westwards from
Central Asia, achieving a dominant position among the Sarmatians living between the
Don River
The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire.
Its ...
and the
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asi ...
.
The Alans are mentioned in the Vologases inscription which reads that
Vologases I
Vologases I ( xpr, 𐭅𐭋𐭂𐭔 ''Walagash'') was the King of Kings of the Parthian Empire from 51 to 78. He was the son and successor of Vonones II (r. 51). He was succeeded by his younger son Pacorus II, who continued his policies.
Name
...
, the Parthian king between around 45 and 78 CE, in the 11th year of his reign (62 CE), battled
Kuluk, king of the Alani. The 1st century CE Jewish historian
Josephus supplements this inscription. Josephus reports in the ''Jewish Wars'' (book7, ch.7.4) how Alans (whom he calls a "
Scythian" tribe) living near the
Sea of Azov crossed the
Iron Gates
The Iron Gates ( ro, Porțile de Fier; sr, / or / ; Hungarian: ''Vaskapu-szoros'') is a gorge on the river Danube. It forms part of the boundary between Serbia (to the south) and Romania (north). In the broad sense it encompasses a rou ...
for plunder (72CE) and defeated the armies of
Pacorus, king of
Media, and
Tiridates, King of
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
, two brothers of
Vologeses I (for whom the above-mentioned inscription was made):
The fact that the Alans invaded
Parthia through
Hyrcania shows that at the time many Alans were still based north-east of the Caspian Sea.
By the early 2nd century CE the Alans were in firm control of the
Lower Volga
The Volga Region (russian: Поволжье, ''Povolzhye'', literally: "along the Volga") is a historical region in Russia that encompasses the drainage basin of the Volga River, the longest river in Europe, in central and southern European R ...
and
Kuban.
These lands had earlier been occupied by the
Aorsi
The Aorsi, known in Greek sources as the Aorsoi (Ἄορσοι), were an ancient Iranian people of the Sarmatian group, who played a major role in the events of the Pontic Steppe from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD.
They are often reg ...
and the
Siraces
The Siraces ( gr, Sirakoi, lat, Siraci, also ''Siraceni'' and ''Seraci'' ) were a hellenized Sarmatian tribe that inhabited Sarmatia Asiatica; the coast of Achardeus at the Black Sea north of the Caucasus Mountains, Siracena is mentioned by Ta ...
, whom the Alans apparently absorbed, dispersed and/or destroyed, since they were no longer mentioned in contemporaneous accounts.
It is likely that the Alans' influence stretched further westwards, encompassing most of the Sarmatian world, which by then possessed a relatively homogenous culture.
In , the Alans made a huge raid into
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
via the Caucasus, ravaging Media and Armenia.
They were eventually driven back by
Arrian
Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; )
was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period.
''The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best so ...
, the
governor of
Cappadocia, who wrote a detailed report (''Ektaxis kata Alanoon'' or 'War Against the Alans') that is a major source for studying Roman
military tactics
Military tactics encompasses the art of organizing and employing fighting forces on or near the battlefield. They involve the application of four battlefield functions which are closely related – kinetic or firepower, Mobility (military), mobil ...
.
From 215 to 250, the
Germanic Goths expanded south-eastwards and broke the Alan dominance on the
Pontic Steppe.
The Alans however seem to have had a significant influence on the culture of the Goths, who became excellent horsemen and adopted the Alanic animal style art.
(The Roman Empire, during the chaos of the 3rd century civil wars, suffered damaging raids by the Gothic armies with their heavy cavalry before the
Illyrian Emperors
The ''Illyriciani'' or Illyrian emperors were a group of Roman emperors during the Crisis of the Third Century who were of Illyrian origins and hailed from the region of Illyricum (in the western Balkans), and were raised chiefly from the ranks ...
adapted to the Gothic tactics, reorganized and expanded the Roman heavy cavalry, and defeated the Goths under
Gallienus,
Claudius II
Marcus Aurelius Claudius "Gothicus" (10 May 214 – January/April 270), also known as Claudius II, was Roman emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alemanni and decisively defeated the Goths at the Battle o ...
and
Aurelian
Aurelian ( la, Lucius Domitius Aurelianus; 9 September 214 October 275) was a Roman emperor, who reigned during the Crisis of the Third Century, from 270 to 275. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited ...
.)
After the Gothic entry to the steppe, many of the Alans seem to have retreated eastwards towards the Don, where they seem to have established contacts with the
Huns.
Ammianus writes that the Alans were "somewhat like the Huns, but in their manner of life and their habits they are less savage."
Jordanes contrasted them with the Huns, noting that the Alans "were their equals in battle, but unlike them in their civilisation, manners and appearance".
In the late 4th century,
Vegetius
Publius (or Flavius) Vegetius Renatus, known as Vegetius (), was a writer of the Later Roman Empire (late 4th century). Nothing is known of his life or station beyond what is contained in his two surviving works: ''Epitoma rei militaris'' (also r ...
conflates Alans and Huns in his military treatise ''Hunnorum Alannorumque natio'', the "nation of Huns and Alans"and collocates Goths, Huns and Alans, ''exemplo Gothorum et Alannorum Hunnorumque''.
The 4th century Roman historian
Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (preceding Procopius). His work, known as the ''Res Gestae ...
noted that the Alans were "formerly called
Massagetae," while
Dio Cassius wrote that "they are Massagetae."
It is likely that the Alans were an amalgamation of various
Iranian peoples, including
Sarmatians
The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic peoples of classical antiquity who dominated the Pontic steppe from about the 3rd century BC to the 4th cen ...
, Massagetae and
Saka
The Saka (Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae ( Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who hist ...
s.
Scholars have connected the Alans to the nomadic state of
mentioned in
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...
sources.
The Yancai are first mentioned in connection with late 2nd century BCE diplomat
Zhang Qian's travels in Chapter 123 of ''
Shiji'' (whose author,
Sima Qian, died c. 90 BCE).
The Yancai of Chinese records has again been equated with the
Aorsi
The Aorsi, known in Greek sources as the Aorsoi (Ἄορσοι), were an ancient Iranian people of the Sarmatian group, who played a major role in the events of the Pontic Steppe from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD.
They are often reg ...
, a powerful Sarmatian tribe living between the
Don River
The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire.
Its ...
and the
Aral Sea, mentioned in
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
records, in particular
Strabo.
Link to ''Yancai'' (奄蔡) / ''Hesu'' (闔蘇) / ''Alan'' (阿蘭)
The Later
Han dynasty Chinese chronicle, the ''
Hou Hanshu'', 88 (covering the period 25–220 and completed in the 5th century), mentioned a report that the ''Yancai'' nation (奄蔡 lit "Vast Steppes" or "Extensive Grasslands" <
LHC
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle collider. It was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) between 1998 and 2008 in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists and hundred ...
*''ʔɨam
B''-''sɑ
C''; a.k.a. ''Hesu'' (闔蘇), compare
Latin ''Abzoae'', identified with the
Aorsi
The Aorsi, known in Greek sources as the Aorsoi (Ἄορσοι), were an ancient Iranian people of the Sarmatian group, who played a major role in the events of the Pontic Steppe from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD.
They are often reg ...
(
Ancient Greek ''Αορσιοι'')) had become a vassal state of the
Kangju and was now known as ''Alan'' (< LHC: *''ʔɑ-lɑn'' 阿蘭)
Y. A. Zadneprovskiy suggests that the Kangju subjugation of Yancai occurred in the 1st century BCE, and that this subjugation caused various Sarmatian tribes, including the Aorsi, to migrate westwards, which played a major role in starting the
Migration Period.
The 3rd century
Weilüe
The ''Weilüe'' () was a Chinese historical text written by Yu Huan between 239 and 265. Yu Huan was an official in the state of Cao Wei (220–265) during the Three Kingdoms period (220–280). Although not a formal historian, Yu Huan has been h ...
also notes that Yancai was then known to be Alans, although they were no longer vassals of the Kangju.
Dutch Sinologist
A. F. P. Hulsewé
Anthony François Paulus Hulsewé (31 January 1910 – 16 December 1993) was a Dutch Sinologist and scholar best known for his studies of ancient Chinese law, particularly that of the Han dynasty (220AD206).
Life and career
Anthony François ...
noted that:
Migration to Gaul
Around 370, according to Ammianus, the peaceful relations between the Alans and Huns were broken, after the Huns attacked the Don Alans, killing many of them and establishing an alliance with the survivors.
These Alans successfully invaded the Goths in 375 together with the Huns.
They subsequently accompanied the Huns in their westward expansion.
Following the Hunnic invasion in 370, other Alans, along with other
Sarmatians
The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic peoples of classical antiquity who dominated the Pontic steppe from about the 3rd century BC to the 4th cen ...
, migrated westward.
One of these Alan groups fought together with the Goths in the decisive
Battle of Adrianople
The Battle of Adrianople (9 August 378), sometimes known as the Battle of Hadrianopolis, was fought between an Eastern Roman army led by the Eastern Roman Emperor Valens and Gothic rebels (largely Thervings as well as Greutungs, non-Gothic ...
in 378CE, in which
emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (emp ...
Valens was killed.
As the Roman Empire
continued to decline, the Alans split into various groups; some fought for the Romans while others joined the Huns,
Visigoths
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...
or
Ostrogoths.
A portion of the western Alans joined the
Vandals and the
Suebi in their invasion of Roman
Gaul.
Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florent ...
mentions in his ''
Liber historiae Francorum
''Liber Historiae Francorum'' ( en, link=no, "The Book of the History of the Franks") is a chronicle written anonymously during the 8th century. The first sections served as a secondary source for early Franks in the time of Marcomer, giving a ...
'' ("Book of
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
History") that the Alan king
Respendial Respendial or Respindal was king of a group of Alans in western Europe in the early 5th century CE. After the Crossing of the Rhine in 405 or 406, Respendial's Alans invaded the Roman Empire. The other group of Alans was led by Goar, who joined the ...
saved the day for the
Vandals in
an armed encounter with the
Franks at the
crossing of the Rhine
The crossing of the Rhine River by a mixed group of barbarians which included Vandals, Alans and Suebi is traditionally considered to have occurred on the last day of the year 406 (December 31, 406). The crossing transgressed one of the Late ...
on December31, 406). According to Gregory, another group of Alans, led by
Goar
Goar (born before 390, died between 446 and 450) was a leader of the Alans in 5th-century Gaul. Around the time that the Vandals and other Alans under Respendial crossed the Rhine in 405 or 406, Goar's band of Alans quickly joined the Romans, and ...
, crossed the Rhine at the same time, but immediately joined the Romans and settled in Gaul.
Under Beorgor (), they moved throughout Gaul, till the reign of
Petronius Maximus
Petronius Maximus ( 39731 May 455) was Roman emperor of the West for two and a half months in 455. A wealthy senator and a prominent aristocrat, he was instrumental in the murders of the Western Roman ''magister militum'', Aëtius, and the ...
, when they crossed the
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
in the winter of 464, into
Liguria, but were there
defeated, and Beorgor slain, by
Ricimer, commander of the Emperor's forces.
In 442, after it became clear to
Aetius that he could no longer rely upon the
Huns for support, he turned to
Goar
Goar (born before 390, died between 446 and 450) was a leader of the Alans in 5th-century Gaul. Around the time that the Vandals and other Alans under Respendial crossed the Rhine in 405 or 406, Goar's band of Alans quickly joined the Romans, and ...
and persuaded him to move some of his people to settlements in the
Orleanais in order to control the
bacaudae
Bagaudae (also spelled bacaudae) were groups of peasant insurgents in the later Roman Empire who arose during the Crisis of the Third Century, and persisted until the very end of the Western Empire, particularly in the less-Romanised areas of Gal ...
of
Armorica
Armorica or Aremorica (Gaulish: ; br, Arvorig, ) is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul between the Seine and the Loire that includes the Brittany Peninsula, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic Coast. ...
and to keep the
Visigoths
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...
from expanding their territories northward across the
Loire.
Goar
Goar (born before 390, died between 446 and 450) was a leader of the Alans in 5th-century Gaul. Around the time that the Vandals and other Alans under Respendial crossed the Rhine in 405 or 406, Goar's band of Alans quickly joined the Romans, and ...
settled a substantial number of his followers in the
Orleanais and the area to the north and personally moved his own capital to the city of
Orleans.
Under Goar, they allied with the
Burgundians
The Burgundians ( la, Burgundes, Burgundiōnes, Burgundī; on, Burgundar; ang, Burgendas; grc-gre, Βούργουνδοι) were an early Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared in the middle Rhine region, near the Roman Empire, and ...
led by
Gundaharius
Gundaharius or Gundahar (died 437), better known by his legendary names Gunther ( gmh, Gunther) or Gunnar ( non, Gunnarr), was a historical king of Burgundy in the early 5th century. Gundahar is attested as ruling his people shortly after they ...
, with whom they installed the Emperor
Jovinus :''Jovinus is a Roman cognomen, most often used for a 5th-century Roman usurper emperor. This article is about the Roman usurper. For the saint, see Saint Jovinus. For the Frankish duke, see Jovinus of Provence.'' For the 4th century Roman gener ...
as usurper. Under Goar's successor
Sangiban Sangiban was a fifth-century Alan king at the time of Attila's invasion of Gaul (451). He was the successor of Goar as king of the Alan ''foederati'' settled in the region around Aurelianum (modern-day Orléans). According to Jordanes, Sangiban had ...
, the Alans of
Orléans played a critical role in repelling the invasion of
Attila the Hun at the
Battle of Châlons. In 463 the Alans defeated the
Goths at the
battle of Orléans, and they later defeated the
Franks led by
Childeric in 466. Around 502–503
Clovis attacked
Armorica
Armorica or Aremorica (Gaulish: ; br, Arvorig, ) is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul between the Seine and the Loire that includes the Brittany Peninsula, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic Coast. ...
but was defeated by the Alans. However, the Alans, who were
Chalcedonian
Chalcedonian Christianity is the branch of Christianity that accepts and upholds theological and ecclesiological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held in 451. Chalcedonian Christianity accepts the Christolo ...
Christians like Clovis, desired cordial relations with him to counterbalance the hostile
Arian
Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...
Visigoths
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...
who coveted the land north of the
Loire. Therefore, an accord was arranged by which Clovis came to rule the various peoples of Armorica and the military strength of the area was integrated into the Merovingian military.
Hispania and Africa
Following the fortunes of the
Vandals and
Suebi into the
Iberian peninsula (
Hispania, comprising modern Portugal and Spain) in 409, the Alans led by Respendial settled in the provinces of
Lusitania
Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province located where modern Portugal (south of the Douro river) and
a portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and the province of Salamanca) lie. It was named after the Lusitani or Lus ...
and
Carthaginensis
Hispania Carthaginensis was a Roman province segregated from Hispania Tarraconensis in the new division of Hispania by emperor Diocletian in 298.
The capital of the new province was settled in Carthago Nova, now Cartagena.
It encompassed the ...
. The Kingdom of the Alans was among the first
Barbarian kingdoms
The barbarian kingdoms, also known as the post-Roman kingdoms, the western kingdoms or the early medieval kingdoms, were the states founded by various non-Roman, primarily Germanic, peoples in Western Europe and North Africa following the collap ...
to be founded. The
Siling Vandals settled in
Baetica
Hispania Baetica, often abbreviated Baetica, was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula). Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis. Baetica remained one of the basic di ...
, the Suebi in coastal
Gallaecia
Gallaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a Roman province in the north-west of Hispania, approximately present-day Galicia, northern Portugal, Asturias and Leon and the later Kingdom of Gallaecia. The Roman cities include ...
, and the
Asding Vandals in the rest of Gallaecia. Although the newcomers controlled Hispania they were still a tiny minority among a larger Hispano-Roman population, approximately 200,000 out of 6,000,000.
In 418 (or 426 according to some authors), the Alan king,
Attaces Addac or Attaces (died 418) was king of the western Alans in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula, modern Spain and Portugal). In 409, the Alans settled in the provinces of Lusitania and Carthaginiensis: ''Alani Lusitaniam et Carthaginiensem provincias, ...
, was killed in battle against the Visigoths, and this branch of the Alans subsequently appealed to the Asding Vandal king
Gunderic to accept the Alan crown. The separate ethnic identity of Respendial's Alans dissolved. Although some of these Alans are thought to have remained in
Iberia, most went to North Africa with the
Vandals in 429. Later the rulers of the
Vandal Kingdom in North Africa styled themselves ''Rex Wandalorum et Alanorum'' ("King of the Vandals and Alans").
There are some vestiges of the Alans in Portugal, namely in
Alenquer (whose name may be Germanic for the ''Temple of the Alans'', from "Alan Kerk", and whose castle may have been established by them; the
Alaunt
The Alaunt is an extinct type of dog which came in different forms, with the original possibly having existed in North Caucasus, Central Asia and Europe from ancient times.
This type of dog may have been developed by the Alans, and was renowne ...
is still represented in that city's coat of arms), in the construction of the castles of
Torres Vedras
Torres Vedras () is a municipality in the Portuguese district of Lisbon, approximately north of the capital Lisbon in the Oeste region, in the Centro of Portugal. The population was 83,075, in an area of .
History
In 1148, Afonso I took ...
and
Almourol
Almourol is an islet in the Tagus river, in the civil parish of Praia do Ribatejo, Center Region, Portugal. The small island lies in the middle of the Tagus, a few meters below its confluence with the Zêzere River.
The castle of Almourol, ...
, and in the city walls of
Lisbon, where vestiges of their presence may be found under the foundations of the
Church of ''Santa Luzia''.
In the Iberian peninsula the Alans settled in
Lusitania
Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province located where modern Portugal (south of the Douro river) and
a portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and the province of Salamanca) lie. It was named after the Lusitani or Lus ...
(
Alentejo
Alentejo ( , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond () the Tagus river" (''Tejo'').
Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo and Baixo Alent ...
) and the Cartaginense provinces. They became known in retrospect for their massive hunting and fighting running
mastiff
A mastiff is a large and powerful type of dog. Mastiffs are among the largest dogs, and typically have a short coat, a long low-set tail and large feet; the skull is large and bulky, the muzzle broad and short (brachycephalic) and the ears dr ...
-type dogs, the
Alaunt
The Alaunt is an extinct type of dog which came in different forms, with the original possibly having existed in North Caucasus, Central Asia and Europe from ancient times.
This type of dog may have been developed by the Alans, and was renowne ...
, which they apparently introduced to Europe. The breed is extinct, but its name is carried by a Spanish breed of dog still called ''
Alano'', traditionally used in
boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is n ...
hunting and
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...
herding. The Alano name, however, has historically been used for a number of dog breeds in a few European countries thought to descend from the original dog of the Alans, such as the German mastiff (
Great Dane) and the French
Dogue de Bordeaux
The Dogue de Bordeaux, Bordeaux Mastiff, French Mastiff or Bordeauxdog is a large French mastiff breed. A typical brachycephalic mastiff breed, the Bordeaux is a very powerful dog, with a very muscular body. This muscular breed has been put to ...
, among others.
Medieval Alania
The Alans who remained in their original area of settlement north of the Caucasus (and for a time east of the
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asi ...
as well), came into contact and conflict with the
Bulgars
The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region during the 7th century. They became known as nomad ...
, the
Gökturks, and the
Khazars, who drove most of them from the plains and into the mountains.
The Alans converted to
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
Orthodoxy in the first quarter of the 10th century, during the patriarchate of
Nicholas I Mystikos
Nicholas I Mystikos or Nicholas I Mysticus ( el, Νικόλαος Α΄ Μυστικός, ''Nikolaos I Mystikos''; 852 – 11 May 925) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from March 901 to February 907 and from May 912 to his death ...
.
Al-Mas‘udi reports that they apostasized in 932, but this seems to have been short-lived. The Alans are collectively mentioned as Byzantine-rite Christians in the 13th century.
The Caucasian Alans were the ancestors of the modern
Ossetians
The Ossetians or Ossetes (, ; os, ир, ирæттæ / дигорӕ, дигорӕнттӕ, translit= ir, irættæ / digoræ, digorænttæ, label=Ossetic) are an Iranian ethnic group who are indigenous to Ossetia, a region situated across the no ...
, whose ethnonym derives from the name ''Ās'' (very probably the ancient ''Aorsi''; al-Ma'sudi mentions ''al-Arsiyya'' as guards among the Khazars, and the Rus' called the Alans ''Yasi''), a sister tribe of the Alans. The ''Armenian Geography'' uses the name ''Ashtigor'' for the most westerly located Alans, a name which survives as ''Digor'' and still refers to the western division of the Ossetians. Furthermore, in Ossetian, ''Asi'' refers to the region around
Mount Elbrus, where they probably formerly lived.
Some of the other Alans remained under the rule of the Huns. Those of the eastern division, though dispersed about the steppes until late
medieval times, were forced by the
Mongols into the Caucasus, where they remain as the Ossetians. Between the 9th and 12th centuries, they formed a network of tribal alliances that gradually evolved into the Christian kingdom of
Alania
Alania was a medieval kingdom of the Iranian Alans (proto-Ossetians) that flourished in the Northern Caucasus, roughly in the location of latter-day Circassia, Chechnya, Ingushetia, and modern North Ossetia–Alania, from its independence from t ...
. Most Alans submitted to the
Mongol Empire in 1239–1277. They participated in
Mongol invasions of Europe and
the Song dynasty in Southern China, and the
Battle of Kulikovo
The Battle of Kulikovo (russian: Мамаево побоище, Донское побоище, Куликовская битва, битва на Куликовом поле) was fought between the armies of the Golden Horde, under the command ...
under
Mamai of the
Golden Horde.
In 1253, the Franciscan monk
William of Rubruck
William of Rubruck ( nl, Willem van Rubroeck, la, Gulielmus de Rubruquis; ) was a Flemish Franciscan missionary and explorer.
He is best known for his travels to various parts of the Middle East and Central Asia in the 13th century, including the ...
reported numerous
Europeans in Central Asia. It is also known that 30,000 Alans formed the royal guard (
Asud
The Asud (Mongolian Cyrillic: , IPA: //) were a military group of Alani origin. The Mongol clan Asud is the plural of As, the Arabic name for the Alans.
Against the Alans and the Cumans (Kipchaks), the Mongols used divide and conquer tactics by ...
) of the
Yuan court in
Dadu (Beijing).
Marco Polo
Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...
later reported their role in the Yuan dynasty in his book ''
Il Milione''. It is said that those Alans contributed to a modern Mongol clan,
Asud
The Asud (Mongolian Cyrillic: , IPA: //) were a military group of Alani origin. The Mongol clan Asud is the plural of As, the Arabic name for the Alans.
Against the Alans and the Cumans (Kipchaks), the Mongols used divide and conquer tactics by ...
.
John of Montecorvino
John of Montecorvino or Giovanni da Montecorvino in Italian (1247 – 1328) was an Italian Franciscan missionary, traveller and statesman, founder of the earliest Latin Catholic missions in India and China, and archbishop of Peking. He converte ...
, archbishop of Dadu (Khanbaliq), reportedly
converted many Alans to Roman Catholic Christianity in addition to
Armenians in China. In Poland and Lithuania, Alans were also part of the powerful
Clan of Ostoja
The Clan of Ostoja (old Polish: ''Ostoya'') was a powerful group of knights and lords in late-medieval Europe. The clan encompassed families in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (including present-day Belarus and Ukraine), Hungary and Upper Hu ...
.
According to the missionary
Pian de Carpine, a part of the Alans had successfully resisted a Mongol siege on a mountain for 12 years:
This twelve-year-old siege is not found in any other report, however the Russian historian A. I. Krasnov connected this battle with two
Chechen folktales he recorded in 1967 that spoke of an old hunter named Idig who with his companions defended the
Dakuoh mountain for 12 years against Tatar-Mongols. He also reported to have found several arrowheads and spears from the 13th century near the very mountain the battle took place at:
Against the Alans and the Cumans (Kipchaks), the Mongols used divide-and-conquer tactics by first telling the Cumans to stop allying with the Alans and, after the Cumans followed their suggestion, the Mongols then attacked the Cumans after defeating the Alans. Alans were recruited into the Mongol forces with one unit called "Right Alan Guard" which was combined with "recently surrendered" soldiers, Mongols, and Chinese soldiers stationed in the area of the former
Kingdom of Qocho and in Besh Balikh the Mongols established a Chinese military colony led by Chinese general Qi Kongzhi (Ch'i Kung-chih).
Alan and Kipchak guards were used by Kublai Khan.
In 1368 at the end of the Yuan dynasty in China Toghan Temür was accompanied by his faithful Alan guards.
Mangu enlisted in his bodyguard half the troops of the Alan prince, Arslan, whose younger son Nicholas took a part in the expedition of the Mongols against Karajang (Yunnan). This Alan imperial guard was still in existence in 1272, 1286 and 1309, and it was divided into two corps with headquarters in the Ling pei province (Karakorúm).
The French-Flemish monk and traveler William of Rubruck mentions Alans numerous times in the account of his 1253–1255 journey through
Eurasia to the
Great Khan, e.g. Alans living as Mongol subjects in
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a po ...
,
Old Astrakhan, the Khan's capital
Karakorum
Karakorum (Khalkha Mongolian: Хархорум, ''Kharkhorum''; Mongolian Script:, ''Qaraqorum''; ) was the capital of the Mongol Empire between 1235 and 1260 and of the Northern Yuan dynasty in the 14–15th centuries. Its ruins lie in the ...
, and also still as freemen in their Caucasian homeland ("the Alans or Aas, who are Christians and still fight the Tartars"). The reason why the earlier Persian word tersa was gradually abandoned by the Mongols in favour of the Syro-Greek word arkon, when speaking of Christians, manifestly is that no specifically Greek Church was ever heard of in China until the Russians had been conquered; besides, there were large bodies of Russian and Alan guards at Peking throughout the last half of the thirteenth and first half of the fourteenth century, and the Catholics there would not be likely to encourage the use of a Persian word which was most probably applicable in the first instance to the Nestorians they found so degenerated.
The Alan guards converted to Catholicism as reported by Odorico.
They were a "Russian guard".
It is believed that some Alans resettled to the North (
Barsils
Barsils ~ Barsilts (Greek: Βαρσὴλτ ''Barsilt''; Old Turkic 𐰋𐰼𐰾𐰠 *''Bersel'' or ''Bärsil''/''Barsïl''; Old Tibetan: ''Par-sil''), were a semi-nomadic Eurasian tribe of Turkic linguistic affiliation. Barsils might be identified ...
), merging with
Volga Bulgars
Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria, was a historic Bulgar state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now European Russia. Volga Bulgaria was a multi-ethnic state ...
and
Burtas
Burtas (russian: Буртасы, ''Burtasy''; cv, Пăртассем, ''Părtassem''; tt-Cyrl, Бортаслар, , ) were a tribe of uncertain ethnolinguistic affiliation inhabiting the steppe region north of the Caspian Sea in medieval times ( ...
, eventually transforming to
Volga Tatars. It is supposed that the Iasi, a group of Alans founded a town in the northeast of Romania (about 1200–1300), near the Prut river, called
Iași. The latter became the capital of
Moldavia in the Middle Ages.
Alan mercenaries were involved in the affair with the
Catalan Company
The Catalan Company or the Great Catalan Company (Spanish: ''Compañía Catalana'', Catalan: ''Gran Companyia Catalana'', Latin: ''Exercitus francorum'', ''Societas exercitus catalanorum'', ''Societas cathalanorum'', ''Magna Societas Catalanorum' ...
.
Later history
Descendants of the Alans who live in the autonomous republics of Russia and Georgia speak the
Ossetian language
Ossetian (, , ), commonly referred to as Ossetic and rarely as Ossete (), is an Eastern Iranian language that is spoken predominantly in Ossetia, a region situated on both sides of the Greater Caucasus. It is the native language of the Osseti ...
which belongs to the
Northeastern Iranian language group and is the only remnant of the
Scytho-Sarmatian dialect continuum, which once stretched over much of the
Pontic steppe and
Central Asia. Modern Ossetian has two major dialects: ''Digor'', spoken in the western part of North Ossetia; and ''Iron'', spoken in the rest of Ossetia. A third branch of Ossetian, ''
Jassic'' (''Jász''), was formerly spoken in Hungary. The literary language, based on the
Iron dialect
Iron (Ossetic: Ирон, ''Iron'' or Ирон ӕвзаг, ''Iron evzag'') is one of the two main dialects of the Ossetic language along with DigorThordarson, Fridrik. 1989. Ossetic. Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum, ed. by Rudiger Schmitt, 456-7 ...
, was fixed by the
national poet,
Kosta Khetagurov
Konstantin (Kosta) Khetagkaty ( Ossetian: Хетӕгкаты Леуаны фырт Къоста, – ) was a national poet of the Ossetian people who is generally regarded as the founder of Ossetian literature. He was also a talented painte ...
(1859–1906).
Physical appearance
The fourth-century Roman historian
Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (preceding Procopius). His work, known as the ''Res Gestae ...
wrote this on the appearance of the Alans:
Genetics
In a study conducted in 2014 by V. V.Ilyinskyon on bone fragments from 10 Alanic burials on the Don River, DNA could be abstracted from a total of seven. Four of them turned out to belong to yDNA Haplogroup G2 and six of them had mtDNAI. The fact that many of the samples share the same y- and mtDNA raises the possibility that the tested individuals belonged to the same tribe or even were close relatives. Nevertheless, this is a strong argument for direct Alan ancestry of
Ossetians
The Ossetians or Ossetes (, ; os, ир, ирæттæ / дигорӕ, дигорӕнттӕ, translit= ir, irættæ / digoræ, digorænttæ, label=Ossetic) are an Iranian ethnic group who are indigenous to Ossetia, a region situated across the no ...
, competing with the hypothesis that Ossetians are alanized Caucasic speakers, since the major Haplogroup among Ossetians is G2 also.
In 2015, the Institute of Archaeology in Moscow conducted research on various Sarmato-Alan and Saltovo-Mayaki culture Kurgan burials. In this analysis, the two Alan samples from the 4th to 6th century CE had yDNAs G2a-P15 and R1a-z94, while from the three Sarmatian samples from 2nd to 3rd century CE two had yDNA J1-M267 and one possessed R1a.
Also, the three Saltovo-Mayaki samples from 8th to 9th century CE turned out to have yDNAs G, J2a-M410 and R1a-z94 respectively.
A genetic study published in ''
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are p ...
'' in May 2018 examined the remains of six Alans buried in the
Caucasus from ca. 100 CE to 1400 CE. The sample of Y-DNA extracted belonged to
haplogroup R1
Haplogroup R1, or R-M173, is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. A primary subclade of Haplogroup R (R-M207), it is defined by the SNP M173. The other primary subclade of Haplogroup R is Haplogroup R2 (R-M479).
Males carrying R-M173 in modern populat ...
and
haplogroup Q-M242. One of the
Q-M242 samples found in Beslan, North Ossetia from 200 CE found 4 relatives among
Chechens
The Chechens (; ce, Нохчий, , Old Chechen: Нахчой, ''Naxçoy''), historically also known as ''Kisti'' and ''Durdzuks'', are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group of the Nakh peoples native to the North Caucasus in Eastern Europe. "Europe ...
from the Shoanoy Teip. The samples of mtDNA extracted belonged to
HV2a1,
U4d3,
X2f,
H13a2c,
H5, and
W1.
Archaeology
Archaeological finds support the written sources. P. D. Rau (1927) first identified late Sarmatian sites with the historical Alans. Based on the archaeological material, they were one of the Iranian-speaking nomadic tribes that began to enter the Sarmatian area between the middle of the 1st and the 2nd centuries.
Language
The ancient language of the Alans was an
Eastern Iranian dialect either identical, or at least closely related, to ancient Eastern Iranian languages. This is confirmed by comparison of the word for horse in various Indo-Iranian languages and the reconstructed Alanic word for horse:
Religion
Prior to their Christianisation, the Alans were Indo-Iranian
polytheists
Polytheism is the belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, the ...
, subscribing either to the poorly understood
Scythian pantheon or to a polytheistic form of
Zoroastrianism. Some traditions were directly inherited from the Scythians, like embodying their dominant god in elaborate rituals.
In the 4th5th centuries the Alans were at least partially Christianized by Byzantine missionaries of the
Arian
Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...
church. In the 13th century, invading
Mongol hordes pushed the eastern Alans further south into the Caucasus, where they mixed with native Caucasian groups and successively formed three territorial entities each with different developments. Around 1395,
Timur
Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...
's army invaded the
Northern Caucasus
The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...
and massacred much of the Alanian population.
As time went by,
Digor in the west came under
Kabard
The Kabardians ( Highland Adyghe: Къэбэрдей адыгэхэр; Lowland Adyghe: Къэбэртай адыгэхэр; russian: Кабардинцы) or Kabardinians are one of the twelve major Circassian tribes, representing one of t ...
and
Islamic influence. It was through the
Kabard
The Kabardians ( Highland Adyghe: Къэбэрдей адыгэхэр; Lowland Adyghe: Къэбэртай адыгэхэр; russian: Кабардинцы) or Kabardinians are one of the twelve major Circassian tribes, representing one of t ...
ians (an East
Circassia
Circassia (; also known as Cherkessia in some sources; ady, Адыгэ Хэку, Адыгей, lit=, translit=Adıgə Xəku, Adıgey; ; ota, چرکسستان, Çerkezistan; ) was a country and a historical region in the along the northeast ...
n tribe) that
Islam was introduced into the region in the 17th century. After 1767, all of Alania came under Russian rule, which strengthened
Orthodox Christianity in that region considerably. A substantial minority of today's Ossetians are followers of the traditional Ossetian religion, revived in the 1980s as
Assianism
Assianism (, ''Watsdin'') is a modern Pagan religion derived from the traditional mythology of the Ossetians, modern descendants of the Scythians of the Alan tribes, believed to be a continuation of the ancient Scythian religion. The religion ...
(Ossetian: ''Uatsdin'' = 'true faith').
See also
*
Roxolani, possibly a sub-set of the Alans
*
List of ancient Iranian peoples
Notes
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
Bernard S. Bachrach, ''A History of the Alans in the West, from their first appearance in the sources of classical antiquity through the early Middle Ages'',
University of Minnesota Press, 1973
*
*
* Castritius, H. 2007. Die Vandalen.
Kohlhammer Verlag
W. Kohlhammer Verlag GmbH, or Kohlhammer Verlag, is a German publishing house headquartered in Stuttgart.
History
Kohlhammer Verlag was founded in Stuttgart on 30 April 1866 by . Kohlhammer had taken over the businesses of his late father-in-law ...
.
*
*
Golb, Norman and
Omeljan Pritsak
Omeljan Yosypovych Pritsak ( uk, Омелян Йосипович Пріцак; 7 April 1919, Luka, Sambir County, West Ukrainian People's Republic – 29 May 2006, Boston) was the first Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History at Harv ...
, ''Khazarian Hebrew Documents of the Tenth Century.'' Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press, 1982.
*
* Hill, John E. 2003. "Annotated Translation of the Chapter on the Western Regions according to the ''Hou Hanshu''." 2nd Draft Edition
* Hill, John E. 2004. ''The Peoples of the West from the Weilüe'' 魏略 ''by Yu Huan'' 魚豢'': A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265 AD.'' Draft annotated English translation
* Yu, Taishan. 2004. ''A History of the Relationships between the Western and Eastern Han, Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Western Regions''. Sino-Platonic Papers No. 131 March 2004. Dept. of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania.
*
*
External links
Strabo and ''Hou Han Shu''references discussed
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