The Onoğurs or Oğurs (Ὀνόγουροι, Οὔρωγοι, Οὔγωροι; Onογurs, Ογurs; "ten tribes", "tribes"), were
Turkic nomadic equestrians who flourished in the
Pontic–Caspian steppe
The Pontic–Caspian steppe, formed by the Caspian steppe and the Pontic steppe, is the steppeland stretching from the northern shores of the Black Sea (the Pontus Euxinus of antiquity) to the northern area around the Caspian Sea. It extend ...
and the
Volga region
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 Russ ...
between 5th and 7th century, and spoke the
Oghuric language.
Etymology
The name ''Onoğur'' is widely thought to derive from ''On-Oğur'' "ten Oğurs (tribes)". Modern scholars consider Turkic terms for tribe
''oğuz'' and ''oğur'' to be derived from Turkic ''*og/uq'', meaning "kinship or being akin to". The terms initially were not the same, as ''oq/ogsiz'' meant "arrow", while ''oğul'' meant "offspring, child, son", ''oğuš/uğuš'' was "tribe, clan", and the verb ''oğša-/oqša'' meant "to be like, resemble". The
ethnonym Hungarian is thought to be possibly derived, among other hypotheses, from Onogurs (> (H)ungars).
Language
The Onoghuric or
Oghuric languages
The Oghuric, Onoguric or Oguric languages (also known as Bulgar, Pre-Proto-Bulgaric or Lir-Turkic and r-Turkic) are a branch of the Turkic language family. The only extant member of the group is the Chuvash language. The first to branch off fro ...
are a branch of the
Turkic languages
The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia ( Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turkic l ...
. Some scholars suggest
Hunnic had strong ties with Oghuric languages and refer to this extended
Oghuric grouping as Hunno-Bulgar languages.
History
The Onogurs were one of the first
Oghuric Turkic tribes that entered the Ponto-Caspian steppes as the result of migrations set off in Inner Asia. The 10th century
Movses Kaghankatvatsi Movses Kaghankatvatsi ( hy, Մովսէս Կաղանկատուացի ''Movses Kaġankatvac’i''), or Movses Daskhurantsi ( ''Movses Dasxuranc’i'') is the reputed author (or authors) of a tenth-century Classical Armenian historiographical work on C ...
recorded, considered late 4th century, certain ''Honagur'', "a Hun from the Honk" who raided Persia, which were related to the Onoghurs, and located near
Transcaucasia
The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...
and the
Sassanian Empire
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...
. Scholars also relate the ''
Hyōn'' to this account.
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 general ...
, in 463 the representatives of
Ernak's
Saraghurs (Oghur. ''sara'', "White Oghurs"), Oghurs and
Onoghurs came to the Emperor in Constantinople, and explained they had been driven out of their homeland by the
Sabirs
The Sabirs (Savirs, Suars, Sawar, Sawirk among others; el, Σάβιροι) were nomadic people who lived in the north of the Caucasus beginning in the late-5th -7th century, on the eastern shores of the Black Sea, in the Kuban area, and possibly ...
, who had been attacked by the
Avars in Inner Asia. This tangle of events indicates that the Oghuric tribes are related to the
Ting-ling and
Tiele people
The Tiele (, Mongolian ''*Tegreg'' " eople of theCarts"), also transliterated as Dili (), Chile (), Zhile (), Tele (), also named Gaoche or Gaoju (, "High Carts"), were a tribal confederation of Turkic ethnic origins living to the north of Chi ...
. It is considered they belonged to the westernmost Tiele tribes, which also included the
Uyghurs
The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghur ...
-
Toquz Oghuz
The Toquz Oghuz ( otk, 𐱃𐰸𐰆𐰔:𐰆𐰍𐰔, Toquz Oγuz; ; "Turks of Nine Bones") was a political alliance of nine Turkic-speaking Tiele tribes in Inner Asia, during the early Middle Ages. The Toquz Oghuz was consolidated and subordina ...
and the
Oghuz Turks, and were initially located in Western
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
and
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
.
Leo I the Thracian
Leo I (; 401 – 18 January 474), also known as "the Thracian" ( la, Thrax; grc-gre, ο Θραξ),; grc-gre, Μακέλλης), referencing the murder of Aspar and his son. was Eastern Roman emperor from 457 to 474. He was a native of Dacia ...
granted Ernak the lands of the treacherous
Karadach Karadach or Kuridach (in Greek Κουριδαχος, ''Kouridachos'', la, Curidachus) was an important chieftain of the Akatziri tribe of the Hunnic confederation during the reign of Attila. According to Priscus he rose to prominence when he was co ...
's
Akatziroi
The Akatziri or Akatzirs ( gr, Άκατίροι, Άκατζίροι, ''Akatiroi'', ''Akatziroi''; la, Acatziri) were a tribe that lived north of the Black Sea, though the Crimean city of Cherson seemed to be under their control in the sixth centu ...
roughly corresponding to 20th century Ukraine. Later kings of the Onogur Huns included Grod,
Mugel and
Sandilch
Sandilch (''Σάνδιλ'', ''Σάνδιλχος''; Turkic "boat) was a chieftain of the Utigur Bulgars in the 6th century. The origin of the name is probably Turkic."The Histories, Volume 2, Part 1", Agathias, https://books.google.bg/books?id=Pq ...
, whose
Utigurs
Utigurs were Turkic nomadic equestrians who flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe in the 6th century AD. They possibly were closely related to the Kutrigurs and Bulgars.
Etymology
The name ''Ut(r)igur'', recorded as , and , is generally con ...
were engaged in a civil war against the
Kutrigurs
Kutrigurs were Turkic nomadic equestrians who flourished on the Pontic–Caspian steppe in the 6th century AD. To their east were the similar Utigurs and both possibly were closely related to the Bulgars. They warred with the Byzantine Empire an ...
of
Khinialon Khinialon or Chinialon or Chinialus ( gr, Χινιαλών; undetermined origin) was chieftain of the Kutrigurs. In 551 he came from the "western side of the Maeotic Lake" to assist the Gepids at the war with Lombards with 12,000 Kutrigurs. Later a ...
.
The origin of the
Kutrigurs
Kutrigurs were Turkic nomadic equestrians who flourished on the Pontic–Caspian steppe in the 6th century AD. To their east were the similar Utigurs and both possibly were closely related to the Bulgars. They warred with the Byzantine Empire an ...
and
Utigurs
Utigurs were Turkic nomadic equestrians who flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe in the 6th century AD. They possibly were closely related to the Kutrigurs and Bulgars.
Etymology
The name ''Ut(r)igur'', recorded as , and , is generally con ...
, who lived in the vicinity of the Onoghurs and Bulgars, and their mutual relationship, is considered obscure. Scholars are unsure how the union between Onoghurs and Bulgars formed, imagining it as a long process in which a number of different groups merged. During that time, the
Bulgars may have represented a large confederation of which the Onoghurs formed one of the core tribes, together with the remnants of the Utigurs and Kutrigurs, among others.
Jordanes
Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history ('' Romana'') a ...
in ''
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 the o ...
'' (551) mentioned that the ''Hunuguri'' (believed to be the Onoghurs) were notable for the
marten skin trade.
In the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, marten skin was used as a substitute for minted money. This also indicates they lived near forests and were in contact with Finno-Ugrian peoples.
The Syriac translation of the
Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor is the designation used by modern scholarship for the anonymous 6th-century author who compiled a twelve-part history in the Syriac language around 569. It contains portions of the otherwise lost ''Ecclesiastical History'' of ...
's ''Ecclesiastical History'' (c. 555) in Western Eurasia records the ''Avnagur'' (Aunagur; considered Onoghurs), ''wngwr'' (Onoğur), ''wgr'' (Oghur).The author wrote following: "''Avnagur (Aunagur) are people, who live in tents. Avgar, sabir, burgar, alan, kurtargar, avar, hasar, dirmar, sirurgur, bagrasir, kulas, abdel and hephtalit are thirteen peoples, who live in tents, earn their living on the meat of livestock and fish, of wild animals and by their weapons (plunder)''". About the
Bulgars and
Alans
The Alans (Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval Iranian nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus – generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the A ...
, during the first half of 6th century, he added: "''The land Bazgun ... extends up to the Caspian Gates and to the sea, which are in the Hunnish lands. Beyond the gates live the Burgars (Bulgars), who have their language, and are people pagan and barbarian. They have towns. And the Alans - they have five towns.''" .
The Onoghurs (Oghurs), in the 6th and 7th century sources, were mentioned mostly in connection with the Avar and
Göktürk conquest of Western Eurasia. According to the 6th century
Menander Protector
Menander Protector (Menander the Guardsman, Menander the Byzantian; el, Μένανδρος Προτήκτωρ or Προτέκτωρ), Byzantine historian, was born in Constantinople in the middle of the 6th century AD. The little that is known of ...
, the "''leader of the Οὐγούρων''" had the authority of the Turk
Yabgu
Yabghu ( otk, 𐰖𐰉𐰍𐰆, yabγu,Entrabγu">"𐰖𐰉𐰍𐰆_[yabγuйабғұ"in_"Ethno-Cultural_Dictionary"_''Türik_Bitig''_),_also_rendered_as_Jabgu,_Djabgu_or_Yabgu,_was_a_state_office_in_the_early_Turkic_peoples.html" ;"title="abγuй ...
Khagan in the region of Kuban River to the lower Don River (Russia), Don.
In early 7th century Theophylact Simocatta, Theophylaktos Simokattes recorded that certain Onoghur city ''Βακάθ'' was destroyed by an earthquake before his lifetime. The
Sogdian name indicates it was situated in the vicinity of Iranian Central Asia.
Simokattes in the ''Letter of the Turk Qaγan (
Tamgan
Tumgan (also known as Turkshad, Turxanthos or Turksanf) was a shad (governor prince) of the Turkic Empire (also called Göktürk) in the late 6th century. According to Edward Gibbon his name may be a title rather than a proper name.
Background
In ...
) to the Emperor
Maurikios'' recorded a complex notice:
"...the Qaghan set off on another undertaking and subjugated all the ''Ὀγώρ''. This people is (one) of the most powerful because of their numbers and their training for war in full battle-gear. They have made their abodes towards the East, whence flows the river ''Τίλ'', which the Turks have the custom of calling the "Black". The oldest chieftains of this people are called ''Οὐάρ'' and ''Χουννί''."
According to the Qaghan, part of those ''Ouar'' (
Uar
The United Arab Republic (UAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية المتحدة, al-Jumhūrīyah al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 until 1971. It was initially a political union between Eg ...
) and ''Khounni'' (
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 tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...
) who arrived to Eastern Europe were mistook by the Onoghurs,
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 ...
,
Sabirs
The Sabirs (Savirs, Suars, Sawar, Sawirk among others; el, Σάβιροι) were nomadic people who lived in the north of the Caucasus beginning in the late-5th -7th century, on the eastern shores of the Black Sea, in the Kuban area, and possibly ...
and other tribes for the original Avars, and as such the Uar and Huns took advantage of the situation and began call themselves Avars. Simokattes also recounts "''when the Ogor, then, were brought completely to heel, the Qaγan gave over the chief of the ''Κὸλχ'' (Kolx) to the bite of the sword''", shows Oghurs resistance toward Turkic authority. Scholars consider if the ''Til'' is ''Qara Itil'' (Black Itil) i.e. Volga (Atil/Itil), then the mentioned ''Ὀγώρ'' would be the Oghurs, while if it is in Inner Asia, then it could be the Uyghurs.
Old Bulgaria
Kubrat
Kubrat ( el, Κοβρᾶτος, Kούβρατος; bg, Кубрат ) was the ruler of the Onogur–Bulgars, credited with establishing the confederation of Old Great Bulgaria in ca. 632. His name derived from the Turkic words ''qobrat'' — ...
organised the Onogurs under his Empire of Old Great Bulgaria in the Mid 7th century. From the 8th century, the Byzantine sources often mention the Onoghurs in close connection with the Bulgars. Agathon (early 8th century) wrote about the ''nation of Onoghur Bulgars''.
Nikephoros I (early 9th century) noted that
Kubrat
Kubrat ( el, Κοβρᾶτος, Kούβρατος; bg, Кубрат ) was the ruler of the Onogur–Bulgars, credited with establishing the confederation of Old Great Bulgaria in ca. 632. His name derived from the Turkic words ''qobrat'' — ...
was the lord of the ''Onoghundurs''; his contemporary
Theophanes referred to them as ''Onoghundur–Bulgars''. Kubrat successfully revolted against the Avars and founded the
Old Great Bulgaria
Old Great Bulgaria or Great Bulgaria (Medieval Greek: Παλαιά Μεγάλη Βουλγαρία, ''Palaiá Megálē Voulgaría''), also often known by the Latin names ''Magna Bulgaria'' and ''Patria Onoguria'' (" Onogur land"), was a 7th- ...
(''Magna Bulgaria''), also known as ''Onoghundur–Bulgars'' state, or ''Patria Onoguria'' in the ''
Ravenna Cosmography
The ''Ravenna Cosmography'' ( la, Ravennatis Anonymi Cosmographia, "The Cosmography of the Unknown Ravennese") is a list of place-names covering the world from India to Ireland, compiled by an anonymous cleric in Ravenna around 700 AD. Textu ...
''.
Constantine VII (mid-10th century) remarked that the Bulgars formerly called themselves ''Onogundurs''.
This association was previously mirrored in Armenian sources, such as the ''Ashkharatsuyts'', which refers to the ''Olxontor Błkar'', and the 5th century ''History'' by
Movses Khorenatsi
Movses Khorenatsi (ca. 410–490s AD; hy, Մովսէս Խորենացի, , also written as ''Movses Xorenac‘i'' and Moses of Khoren, Moses of Chorene, and Moses Chorenensis in Latin sources) was a prominent Armenian historian from the late a ...
, which includes an additional comment from a 9th-century writer about ''the colony of the Vłĕndur Bułkar''. Marquart and Golden connected these forms with the ''Iġndr'' (*Uluġundur) of
Ibn al-Kalbi
Hishām ibn al-Kalbī ( ar, هشام بن الكلبي), 737 AD – 819 AD/204 AH, also known as Ibn al-Kalbi (), was an Arab historian. His full name was Abu al-Mundhir Hisham ibn Muhammad ibn al-Sa'ib ibn Bishr al-Kalbi. Born in Kufa, he spent ...
(c. 820), the ''Vnndur'' (*Wunundur) of
Hudud al-'Alam (982), the ''Wlndr'' (*Wulundur) of
Al-Masudi
Al-Mas'udi ( ar, أَبُو ٱلْحَسَن عَلِيّ ٱبْن ٱلْحُسَيْن ٱبْن عَلِيّ ٱلْمَسْعُودِيّ, '; –956) was an Arab historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus ...
(10th century) and Hungarian name for Belgrad ''Nándorfehérvár'', the ''nndr'' (*Nandur) of
Gardīzī (11th century) and ''*Wununtur'' in the
letter
Letter, letters, or literature may refer to:
Characters typeface
* Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet.
* Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...
by the
Khazar
The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...
King
Joseph
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
. All the forms show the phonetic changes typical of late Oghuric (prothetic ''w-''; ''o-'' > ''wo-'', ''u-'', ''*wu-'').
See also
*
Turkic tribal confederations
The Turkic term ''oğuz'' or ''oğur'' (in z- and r-Turkic, respectively) is a historical term for "military division, clan, or tribe" among the Turkic peoples.
With the Mongol invasions of 1206–21, the Turkic khaganates were replaced by ...
*
Kutrigurs
Kutrigurs were Turkic nomadic equestrians who flourished on the Pontic–Caspian steppe in the 6th century AD. To their east were the similar Utigurs and both possibly were closely related to the Bulgars. They warred with the Byzantine Empire an ...
*
Utigurs
Utigurs were Turkic nomadic equestrians who flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe in the 6th century AD. They possibly were closely related to the Kutrigurs and Bulgars.
Etymology
The name ''Ut(r)igur'', recorded as , and , is generally con ...
*
Bulgars
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
Turkic peoples of Europe
Migration Period
Extinct Turkic peoples
{{Turkic peoples