The Onoghurs, Onoğurs, or Oğurs (Ὀνόγουροι, Οὔρωγοι, Οὔγωροι; Onογurs, Ογurs; "ten tribes", "tribes") were a group of Turkic nomadic equestrians who flourished in the

Pontic–Caspian steppe The Pontic–Caspian Steppe is a steppe extending across Eastern Europe to Central Asia, formed by the Caspian and Pontic steppes. It stretches from the northern shores of the Black Sea (the ''Pontus Euxinus'' of antiquity) to the northern a ...

and the Volga region between the 5th and 7th centuries, and spoke an 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 modern name of "

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

" (see name of Hungary) is usually believed to be derived from On-Oğur (> (H)Ungari).

Language

The Onoghuric or Oghuric languages are a branch of the

Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of more than 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 West Asia. The Turkic langua ...

. Some scholars suggest Hunnic had strong ties with Bulgar and to modern Chuvash and refer to this extended Oghuric grouping as separate Hunno-Bulgar languages. However, such speculations are not based on proper linguistic evidence, since the language of the Huns is almost unknown except for a few attested words and personal names. Scholars generally consider Hunnish as unclassifiable. Chuvash language is

agglutinative In linguistics, agglutination is a morphological process in which words are formed by stringing together morphemes (word parts), each of which corresponds to a single syntactic feature. Languages that use agglutination widely are called agglu ...

in the structure of grammar, phonetically it is synharmonic. Some scholars consider the Chuvash as the sole living representative of Volga Bulgar language. while others support the idea that Chuvash is another distinct Oghur Turkic language. Chuvash is sometimes considered to share a linguistic connection with the Khazar language although the classification of Khazar language debated among scholars. Chuvash has two to three dialects. Chuvash language is

in the structure of grammar, phonetically it is synharmonic. In this respect, it's almost no different from other

. Oghuric family is distinguished from the rest of the Turkic family by sound changes and it has a special place. The Oghuric languages are also known as "-r Turkic" because the final consonant in certain words is ''r'', not ''z'' as in Common Turkic. - - - . Hence the name '' Oghur'' corresponds to ''Oghuz'' "tribe" in Common Turkic. Other correspondences are Com. ''š'' : Oghur ''l'' (''tâš'' : ''tâl'', 'stone'); ''s'' > ''š''; ''*č'' > ''ś''; ''k/q'' > ''ğ''; ''y'' > ''j, ś''; ''d, δ'' > ''δ'' > ''z'' (10th cent.) > ''r'' (13th cent.)"; ''ğd'' > ''z'' > ''r'' (14th cent.); ''a'' > ''ı'' (after 9th cent.). The shift from ''s'' to ''š'' operates before ''i'', ''ï'', and ''iV'', and

Vladimir Dybo Vladimir Antonovich Dybo (; 30 April 1931 – 7 May 2023) was a Soviet and Russian linguist, Doctor Nauk in Philological Sciences (1979), Professor (1992), Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences (2011). A specialist in comparative ...

calls the sound change the "Bulgar palatalization".

Denis Sinor Denis Sinor (born Dénes Zsinór, April 17, 1916 in Kolozsvár (Austria-Hungary, now Cluj-Napoca, Romania) – January 12, 2011 in Bloomington, Indiana) was a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Central Asian Studies at the Department of C ...

believed that the differences noted above suggest that the Oghur-speaking tribes could not have originated in territories inhabited by speakers of

Mongolic languages The Mongolic languages are a language family spoken by the Mongolic peoples in North Asia, East Asia, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe mostly in Mongolia and surrounding areas and in Kalmykia and Buryatia. The best-known member of this languag ...

, given that Mongolian dialects feature the ''-z'' suffix. Peter Golden, however, has noted that there are many loanwords in Mongolic from Oghuric, such as Mongolic ''ikere'', Oghuric ''*ikir'', Hungarian ''iker'', Common Turkic ''*ikiz'' 'twins', and holds the contradictory view that the Oghur inhabited the borderlands of Mongolia before the 5th century. The Oghuric tribes are also connected with the

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

, whose exo-ethnonym is usually believed to be derived from '' On-Oğur'' (> ''(H)Ungari''). ''Hungarians'' -> ''Hun Oghur'' -> (''ten oghur tribes''): On ogur -> up. chv. Won ogur -> dow. chv. Wun ogur -> belor. Wugorac -> rus. Wenger -> slove. Vogr, Vogrin -> cheh. pol. Węgier, Węgrzyn, -> lit. Veñgras. The Hungarians are culturally of mixed Ugrian / Turkic heritage, with Oghuric-Bulgar and Khazar influences, even though much of the modern-day Hungarian gene pool also has strong Slavic, Germanic, and Iranic influences. Hungarian has many borrowings from Common Turkic and Oghuric languages: Hung. ''tenger'', Oghur. ''*tengir'', Comm. ''*tengiz'' 'sea', Hung. ''gyűrű'', Oghur. ''*ǰürük'', Comm. ''*yüzük'' 'ring', and terms of equestrian culture ''ló'' 'horse', ''nyereg'' 'saddle', ''fék'' 'bridle', ''ostor'' 'whip'. A number of Hungarian loanwords were borrowed before the 9th century, shown by ''sz-'' (< Oğ. ''*ś-'') rather than ''gy-'' (< Oğ. ''*ǰ-''), for example Hung. ''szél'', Oghur. ''*śäl'', Chuv. ''śil'', Comm. ''*yel'' 'wind', Hung. ''szűcs'' 'tailor', Hung. ''szőlő'' 'grapes'. In the

Oghuz languages The Oghuz languages are a sub-branch of the Turkic language family, spoken by approximately 108 million people. The three languages with the largest number of speakers are Turkish, Azerbaijani and Turkmen, which, combined, account for more ...

as azer. tur. ''öküz'' means ''ox'' (

totem A totem (from or ''doodem'') is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage (anthropology), lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system. While the word ...

ic animal), and is a reflection of the Chuvash language w''ăkăr'' where rhotacism is used, in the

Kipchak languages The Kipchak languages (also known as the Kypchak, Qypchaq, Qypshaq or the Northwestern Turkic languages) are a sub-branch of the Turkic language family spoken by approximately 30 million people in much of Central Asia and Eastern Europe, spanni ...

it is ''ögiz.''

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 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 West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...

and the

Sassanian Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

. Scholars also relate the '' Hyōn'' to this account. According to

Priscus Priscus of Panium (; ; 410s/420s AD – after 472 AD) was an Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician (or sophist)...: "For information about Attila, his court and the organization of life generally in his realm we have the ...

, 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, 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 ( zh, c=鐵勒, p=Tiělè),, Mongolian ''*Tegreg'' " eople of theCarts" also transliterated as Chile ( zh, c=敕勒, links=no), Dili ( zh, c=狄歷, links=no), Zhile ( zh, c=直勒, links=no) and Tele ( zh, c=特勒, links=no), who wer ...

. It is considered they belonged to the westernmost Tiele tribes, which also included the

Uyghurs The Uyghurs,. alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as the ti ...

- Toquz Oghuz and the

Oghuz Turks The Oghuz Turks ( Middle Turkic: , ) were a western Turkic people who spoke the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family. In the 8th century, they formed a tribal confederation conventionally named the Oghuz Yabgu State in Central Asia ...

, and were initially located in Western

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

and

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

Leo I the Thracian Leo I (; 401 – 18 January 474), also known as "the Thracian" (; ), was Eastern Roman emperor from 457 to 474. He was a native of Dacia Aureliana near historic Thrace. He is sometimes surnamed with the epithet "the Great" (; ), probably to ...

granted Ernak the lands of the treacherous Karadach's Akatziroi roughly corresponding to 20th century Ukraine. Later kings of the Onogur Huns included Grod,

Mugel Mugel (or Muageris) succeeded his brother Grod (or Grodas), a Hunnic ruler in Patria Onoguria. Grod converted to Christianity on a visit to Constantinople and was established as a Byzantine puppet ruler, but when he began to melt down idols f ...

and Sandilch, whose Utigurs were engaged in a civil war against the Kutrigurs of Khinialon. The origin of the Kutrigurs and Utigurs, 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 The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic peoples, Turkic Nomad, semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region between the 5th and 7th centu ...

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 (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on R ...

in ''

Getica ''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''The Origin and Deeds of the Getae''), 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 ori ...

'' (551) mentioned that the ''Hunuguri'' (believed to be the Onoghurs) were notable for the

marten A marten is a weasel-like mammal in the genus ''Martes'' within the subfamily Guloninae, in the family Mustelidae. They have bushy tails and large paws with partially retractile claws. The fur varies from yellowish to dark brown, depending on ...

skin trade. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, 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'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

and

Alans The Alans () were an ancient and medieval Iranian peoples, Iranic Eurasian nomads, nomadic pastoral people who migrated to what is today North Caucasus – while some continued on to Europe and later North Africa. They are generally regarded ...

, 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, the "''leader of the Οὐγούρων''" had the authority of the Turk Yabgu Khagan in the region of Kuban River to the lower Don. In early 7th century 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) 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 552 Bumin ...

) 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) and ''Khounni'' (

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

) who arrived to Eastern Europe were mistook by the Onoghurs, Barsils, Sabirs 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.

Avar Khaganate

By 568 the Avars, under Khagan

Bayan I Bayan I reigned as the first khagan of the Avar Khaganate between 562 and 602. As the Göktürk Empire expanded westwards on the Eurasian Steppe during the 6th century, peoples such as the Avars (also known as the ''Pseudo-Avars'', ''Obri'', ...

established an empire in the

Carpathian Basin The Pannonian Basin, with the term Carpathian Basin being sometimes preferred in Hungarian literature, is a large sedimentary basin situated in southeastern Central Europe. After the Treaty of Trianon following World War I, the geomorphologic ...

that lasted for 250 years. Related peoples from the east arrived in the Avar Kaganate several times: around 595 the Kutrigurs, and then around 670 the Onoghurs. The

Avar Khaganate The Pannonian Avars ( ) were an alliance of several groups of Eurasian nomads of various origins. The peoples were also known as the Obri in the chronicles of the Rus' people, Rus, the Abaroi or Varchonitai (), or Pseudo-Avars in Byzantine Empi ...

collapsed after 822, a few decades later,

Álmos Álmos (), also Almos or Almus ( 820 – 895), was—according to the uniform account of Hungarian chronicles—the first head of the "loose federation" of the Hungarian tribes from around 850. Whether he was the Sacred king, sacred ruler (''k ...

and his son Árpád conquered the Carpathian Basin around 862–895. The Hungarian conquerors together with the Turkic-speaking

Kabar The Kabars (), also known as Qavars (Qabars) or Khavars, were Khazar rebels who joined Magyar tribes and the Rus' Khaganate confederations in the 9th century CE. Sources The Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII is the principal source of the Kaba ...

s integrated the Avars and Onoghurs.

Old Bulgaria

Kubrat 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 Nikephoros I (; 750 – 26 July 811), also known as Nicephorus I, was Byzantine emperor from 802 to 811. He was General Logothete (finance minister) under Empress Irene, but later overthrew her to seize the throne for himself. Prior to becomi ...

(early 9th century) noted that Kubrat 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 (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-century Turkic noma ...

(''Magna Bulgaria''), also known as ''Onoghundur–Bulgars'' state, or ''Patria Onoguria'' in the ''

Ravenna Cosmography The ''Ravenna Cosmography'' (, "The Cosmography of the Unknown Ravennese") is a work describing the Ecumene, known world from India to Ireland, compiled by an anonymous cleric in Ravenna around 700 AD. It consists of five books describing ...

''.

Constantine VII Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Byzantine emperor of the Macedonian dynasty, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, an ...

(mid-10th century) remarked that the Bulgars formerly called themselves ''Onogundurs''. Onoghur-Bulgars who settled on the

Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

river in the 7th century AD and converted to Islam in 922 during the missionary work of Ahmad ibn Fadlan, inhabited the present-day territory of

Tatarstan Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is a part of the Volga Federal District; and its capital city, capital and largest city i ...

. After the Batu Khan invasions of 1223–1236, the Golden Horde annexed Volga Bulgaria. Most of the population survived, and a certain degree of mixing between it and the

Kipchaks The Kipchaks, also spelled Qipchaqs, known as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Russian annals, were Turkic nomads and then a confederation that existed in the Middle Ages inhabiting parts of the Eurasian Steppe. First mentioned in the eighth cent ...

of the Horde ensued. Onoghur-Bulgar group as a whole accepted the

exonym An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...

"Tatars." 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 ( 410–490s AD; , ) was a prominent Armenians, Armenian historian from late antiquity and the author of the ''History of Armenia (book), History of the Armenians''. Movses's ''History of the Armenians'' was the first attempt at ...

, 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 (c. 820), the ''Vnndur'' (*Wunundur) of

Hudud al-'Alam The ''Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam'' (, "Boundaries of the World," "Limits of the World," or in also in English "The Regions of the World") is a 10th-century geography book written in Persian by an anonymous author from Guzgan (present day northern Afg ...

(982), the ''Wlndr'' (*Wulundur) of

Al-Masudi al-Masʿūdī (full name , ), –956, was a historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus of the Arabs". A polymath and prolific author of over twenty works on theology, history (Islamic and universal), geo ...

(10th century) and Hungarian name for Belgrad ''Nándorfehérvár'', the ''nndr'' (*Nandur) of Gardīzī (11th century) and ''*Wununtur'' in the letter by the

Khazar The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, an ...

King

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "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 modern-day Nordic count ...

. All the forms show the phonetic changes typical of late Oghuric (prothetic ''w-''; ''o-'' > ''wo-'', ''u-'', ''*wu-'').

Notes

References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Onogurs Turkic peoples Migration Period