Octar or Ouptaros was a
Hunnic ruler. He ruled in dual kingship with his brother
Rugila
Rugila or Ruga (also Ruas; died second half of the 430s AD),Lee, A.D. (2013) ''From Rome to Byzantium AD 363 to 565: The Transformation of Ancient Rome''. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 118-119. was a ruler who was a major factor in th ...
, possibly with a geographical division, ruling the Western Huns while his brother ruled the Eastern Huns.
History
Octar ruled along with his brother
Rugila
Rugila or Ruga (also Ruas; died second half of the 430s AD),Lee, A.D. (2013) ''From Rome to Byzantium AD 363 to 565: The Transformation of Ancient Rome''. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 118-119. was a ruler who was a major factor in th ...
as reported by
Jordanes
Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Goths, Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history (''Romana ...
in his ''
Getica
''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''The Origin and Deeds of the Getae oths'), commonly abbreviated ''Getica'', written in Late Latin by Jordanes in or shortly after 551 AD, claims to be a summary of a voluminous account by Cassiodorus of th ...
'': "''...Mundzucus, whose brothers were Octar and Ruas, who were supposed to have been kings before Attila, although not altogether of the same
erritoriesas he''". Their brother
Mundzuk Mundzuk was a Hunnic chieftain, brother of the Hunnic rulers Octar and Rugila, and father of Bleda and Attila by an unknown consort. Jordanes in ''Getica'' recounts "''For this Attila was the son of Mundzucus, whose brothers were Octar and Ruas, wh ...
was the father of
Attila
Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...
, but he was not a supreme ruler of the Huns. According to
Priscus
Priscus of Panium (; el, Πρίσκος; 410s AD/420s AD-after 472 AD) was a 5th-century Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician (or sophist)...: "For information about Attila, his court and the organization of life generall ...
their fourth brother
Oebarsius
Oebarsius or Aybars (died after 448) was a Hun nobleman, brother of Mundzuk and uncle of Bleda and Attila.
He was held in great honor, and sat next to Attila at royal banquets. Oebarsius was probably never a king, and had no dominion of his own. H ...
was still alive in 448 AD. Their ancestors and relation with previous rulers
Uldin
Uldin, also spelled Huldin (died before 412) is the first ruler of the Huns whose historicity is undisputed.
Etymology
The name is recorded as ''Ουλδης'' (Ouldes) by Sozomen, ''Uldin'' by Orosius, and ''Huldin'' by Marcellinus Comes. On the ...
and
Charaton
Charaton (Olympiodorus of Thebes: ''Χαράτων'') was one of the first kings of the Huns.
History
In the end of 412 or beginning of 413, Charaton received the Byzantine ambassador Olympiodorus sent by Honorius. Olympiodorus travelled to Cha ...
are unknown.
He ruled with his brother in dual kingship, possibly a geographical division where Rugila ruled over Eastern Huns while Octar over Western Huns, possibly like Attila and
Bleda
Bleda () was a Hunnic ruler, the brother of Attila the Hun.
As nephews to Rugila, Attila and his elder brother Bleda succeeded him to the throne. Bleda's reign lasted for eleven years until his death. While it has been speculated by Jordanes th ...
.
According to
Socrates of Constantinople
Socrates of Constantinople ( 380 – after 439), also known as Socrates Scholasticus ( grc-gre, Σωκράτης ὁ Σχολαστικός), was a 5th-century Greek Christian church historian, a contemporary of Sozomen and Theodoret.
He is the ...
, Octar, identified with Ouptaros, died in 430 near the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
, "''
r the king of the Huns, Uptaros by name, having burst asunder in the night from surfeit, 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 ...
attacked that
he Huns of Uptaros
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
people then without a leader; and although few in numbers and their opponents many, they obtained victory''".
Etymology
The name is recorded in two variants, Greek ''Ούπταρος'' (Ouptaros), and Latin ''Octar''. The change from ''-ct-'' to ''-pt-'' is characteristic of Balkan Latin.
Otto J. Maenchen-Helfen
Otto John Maenchen-Helfen (German: Otto Mänchen-Helfen; July 26, 1894 – January 29, 1969) was an Austrian academic, sinologist, historian, author, and traveler.
From 1927 to 1930, he worked at the Marx-Engels Institute in Moscow, and from 193 ...
considered the name to be of unknown origin.
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 Harvar ...
derived the name from
Turkic-
Mongolian word ''*öktem'' (strong, brave, imperious; proud, boastful; pride) and verb ''ökte-'' / ''oktä-'' (to encourage). He argued that the deverbal Turkic-Mongolian suffix ''m'' was replaced in Turkic by ''z'' while in Mongolian by ''ri''. The reconstructed form is appellative ''*öktä-r''.
References
Sources
*
*
{{Huns
Hunnic rulers
5th-century monarchs in Europe
5th-century Hunnic rulers
430 deaths