The Saragurs or Saraguri ( gr, Σαράγουροι, syr, s.r.w.r.g.wr, Šarağurs) was a

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

n Oghur (Turkic) nomadic tribe mentioned in the 5th and 6th centuries. They may be the Sulujie (蘇路羯, ''suoluo-kjɐt'') mentioned in the Chinese ''

Book of Sui The ''Book of Sui'' (''Suí Shū'') is the official history of the Sui dynasty. It ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written by Yan Shigu, Kong Yingda, and Zhangsun Wuji, with Wei Zheng as the lead author. ...

''. They originated from Western Siberia and the Kazakh steppes, from where they were displaced north of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

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 ...

. Around 463 AD, the

Akatziri 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 ...

and other tribes that had been part of the Hunnic union were attacked by the Saragurs, one of the first Oghur tribes that entered 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 ...

as the result of migrations set off in Inner Asia by the Uar attacking the

Kidara Kidara I (Late Brahmi script: ''Ki-da-ra'') fl. 350-390 CE) was the first major ruler of the Kidarite Kingdom, which replaced the Indo-Sasanians in northwestern India, in the areas of Kushanshahr, Gandhara, Kashmir and Punjab. Reign Kidara him ...

(a sub-group of the

Xiyon Xionites, Chionites, or Chionitae (Middle Persian: ''Xiyōn'' or ''Hiyōn''; Avestan: ''Xiiaona''; Sogdian language, Sogdian ''xwn''; Zoroastrian Middle Persian, Pahlavi ''Xyon'') were a nomadic people in the Central Asian regions of Transoxiana ...

. The Akatziri had lived north of the Black Sea, west of

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 pop ...

. 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

Ernakh Ernak was the last known ruler of the Huns, and the third son of Attila. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his Empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons, Ellac, Dengizich and Ernak. He succeeded his older brother Ellac in 454 AD, a ...

and

Dengizich Dengizich (died in 469), was a Hunnic ruler and son of Attila. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his Empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons, Ellac, Dengizich and Ernak. He succeeded his older brother Ellac in 454 AD, and prob ...

sent the representatives of Saragurs, Oghurs (or Urogi, perhaps a Byzantine error for

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 ...

) and

Onogurs The Onoğurs or Oğurs (Ὀνόγουροι, Οὔρωγοι, Οὔγωροι; Onογurs, Ογurs; "ten tribes", "tribes"), were Turkic nomadic equestrians who flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region between 5th and 7th cen ...

to the Emperor in Constantinople, and explained they had been driven out of their homeland by the

, who had been attacked by the Avars in Inner Asia. In 469, the Saragurs requested and received Roman protection. In the late 500s, the Saragurs, Kutrigurs,

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 ...

and

held part of the steppe north of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

. In 555, Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor mentions the Saragurs as one of thirteen nomadic tribes north of

, however, it is uncertain if the tribe still existed at this time. Between 630 and 635, Khan Kubrat managed to unite the Onogur Bulgars with the tribes of the Kutrigurs and

, and probably the Saragurs, under a single rule, creating a powerful confederation which was referred to by the

medieval 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 ...

authors in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

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- ...

Patriarch Nikephoros I of Constantinople Nikephoros I or Nicephorus I (c. 758 – 5 April 828) was a Byzantine writer and patriarch of Constantinople from 12 April 806 to 13 March 815. Life He was born in Constantinople as the son of Theodore and Eudokia, of a strictly Orthodox fa ...

, ''Historia syntomos, breviarium'' or ''Patria Onoguria''. According to some scholars, it is more correctly called the Onogundur-Bulgar Empire. Saraγur or Šara Oγur means "yellow" or "white," and can even be translated as "western".D. Sinor, "Autour d’une Migration de Peuples au Ve siècle" in Journal Asiatique, 1946-1947, p. 5

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* * * * * * {{Turkic peoples Turkic peoples of Europe 5th-century people 6th-century people Extinct Turkic peoples

See also

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