In the early Middle Ages, a prayer was popular in which they asked God to save those praying from the Magyars, Normans and Avars. The Magyars defeated by Otto formed the Kingdom of Hungary. The Normans, in addition to creating Sweden, Norway and Denmark, played a significant role in the history and formation of such states as France, England and Russia. The fate of the Avars was the most deplorable. They just disappeared.

The Avars (the Slavs called them obrams) were a Turkic-speaking nomadic tribe that originally lived on the Volga and the Caspian Sea. Together with the Uighurs conquered in 461, they formed a kind of confederation in the steppes of the Volga. After the collapse of the Hun Empire in the VI century. they invaded the steppes of the Western Caspian and further into the Northern Black Sea region, the Danube region and the Balkans. In Pannonia, between the Danube and the Carpathians, headed by Khan Boyan, the state of the Avar Khaganate was created with numerous fortified ring-shaped camps - rings. The capital ring was located on the site of the modern Bulgarian city of Preslav. It was fortified with nine successive walls.

The subjects of the kagan did not abandon the nomadic life. Most of the income was brought by the robbery of European countries and peoples. The peak of the power of the Avar Khaganate fell on the first 70 years of its existence. There were major victories in Dalmatia, Illyria and Moesia, campaigns against Antian (probably Slavic) tribes on the territory of present-day Ukraine. Avars reached Constantinople, seriously influencing political events in Byzantium. The best military leaders were sent to fight the kagan. Byzantium was forced to pay a large tribute to the Avars.

A number of sensitive defeats were inflicted by the nomads and the Franks. King Sigibert II was captured by the kagan and was released only in exchange for a promise to marry his son Dagobert to the Avar princess Rihali. The newlyweds received a lot of seaside town, later named La Rochelle and became famous as the center of heretical movements in medieval France.

The raids of the Avars were devastating and cruel, they terrified the peoples of Europe even at that harsh time. However, in the 20s of the VII century. the situation changes somewhat. In 626, the Byzantine emperor managed to inflict a very serious defeat on the Avars, who had besieged his capital. Against the Avar yoke, an uprising was organized by an alliance of West Slavic tribes, led by the merchant Samo, the ruler of a short-lived Slavic state entity in Central Europe. When on the Danube in the 70s of the VII century. the Bulgars appear, they do not meet serious resistance from the recently still powerful nomads and limit the influence of the kagan in Pannonia, forming their own kingdom. Most of the Slavic population on the Balkan Peninsula recognized the dominance of the Bulgars, because they found it less difficult than the Avar. On the part of the Franks, the fight against the entrenched on the territory of modern Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania and Yugoslavia in the middle of the 7th century. the Avars were led by Major Arnulf Geristalsky.

However, the honor of the final defeat of the Avar Khaganate fell to the lot of the brilliant conqueror Charlemagne and his generals, who were steadily moving east. After the conquest of Bavaria, the turn of the kaganate came. In 788, the Avars made a devastating raid on the lands of the Franks, and three years later it was the turn of Charles to answer this audacity. In the summer of 791, the army of the Frankish ruler invaded the country of the Avars from three sides and reached the Vienna Woods, where their fortifications were located. They fled inland, pursued by the Franks to the confluence of the Rab River with the Danube. The chase stopped only because of the massive loss of horses that began in the army of Charlemagne. The Frankish army returned to Regensburg loaded with booty.

For a while, Karl was distracted by endless Saxon problems. Meanwhile, the Khorutan prince Voinomir resumed the war against the Avars, took their fortified ring and captured rich booty. In the summer of 796, the son of Charles Pepin and the commander Eric from Friuli again led the army to the Avar. The country was devastated, and the capital ring was destroyed to the ground. The treasury of the Avars, all the treasures captured by them over two hundred years, the tribute of the Byzantines, etc., ended up in the hands of the victors. Khagan Tudun was baptized in Aachen, and Charles himself was the godfather. According to the exaggerated, but not unfounded stories of the chroniclers, in Pannonia at the end of the 8th century. there was not a single person left, there were no traces of human activity in the place of the rings. Indeed, the Avars ceased to play any role in European history. They were probably completely assimilated by the peoples of the Western Black Sea and Danube regions. Chronicles have preserved the story of another decisive defeat of the Avars. In 867, the extermination of this once powerful people was completed by the Bulgarians.

A nomadic empire that existed in Eastern Europe in the 6th-9th centuries, created by the Khagan Bayan, the leader of the Turkic Avars tribe. At first, the kaganate was the westernmost province of the huge Turkic khaganate, and after the collapse it became a separate power. The territory of the Avar Khaganate was quite large for that time. The Avars owned the territories of modern Hungary, Austria, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro and partly Switzerland. The Avars were excellent warriors, so many states of Europe, including the Byzantine Empire, sought to conclude an alliance with them. Byzantium, concluding an alliance with the Avars, provided them with their best lands, in exchange for an alliance and protection of the empire from the attacks of its neighbors. The Avars fought on the side of Byzantium against the Slavs, Germans, Franks, Goths, Gepids. But the kagans, replacing each other on the throne, also changed their policy. Some khagans even broke off the alliance with Byzantium and attacked Constantinople. For example, in 626, the Avars supported the Persians in the Byzantine-Persian War. When the Byzantine army fought with Persia, the Avars, in alliance with the Slavs, stormed some cities and towns of the Byzantines, then besieged Constantinople, but unsuccessfully.

Civil strife, constant wars with neighbors, the suppression of uprisings of conquered peoples, the defeat at the walls of Constantinople in 626 and the attack of the Franks from the west significantly weakened the Khaganate. The unsuccessful assault on the capital of Byzantium was especially strong, the Avars lost many people, and the army was significantly weakened. The Avar Khaganate begins to disintegrate, first the Turkic tribe of the Bulgars separates from the empire. A few years later they create their own Khaganate. After the Bulgars, the Croats separated. Taking advantage of the weakening of the Khaganate, the king of the Franks, Charlemagne, makes a campaign in the country of the Avars. The Avars decided not to give up and make an alliance with the Saxons. The Saxons decided to make an uprising behind enemy lines. However, such a move did not help the Avars, in the kaganate there were internecine warriors between the heirs. The Franks took the Avars by surprise and defeated their army, captured the horde of the kagan. The Franks took away all the treasures collected by the Avars over the centuries. The remaining Avars fled, but after a short time they revolted against the Frankish empire. Charlemagne had to repeat the campaign in the country of the Avars and pacify them. The last Avar Khagan swore allegiance to the king of the Franks and converted to Christianity. The former Avar possessions along the Danube were conquered by the Bulgarian Khan Krum.

Thus, the once formidable Avar Khaganate, which had instilled fear in all of Europe for several centuries, was destroyed.

Avar Khaganate, Khring

In the middle of the 6th - the end of the 13th century, the state formation of the Avars appeared on the territory of Pannonia - the Avar Khaganate. The founder is the commander Khan Bayan. The Khaganate became an association of nomadic tribes on a system of military fortresses. All of them carried out periodic raids on neighbors with the aim of robbery.

Avars appeared in Pannonia in 568, and in 630 captured Dalmatia and defeated the Pangobards and Franks in Italy. In the south, the Avar Khaganate reached Constantinople, and the western borders were limited by the Enns River in Avstalia. It was a classic barbarian empire based on extensive nomadic animal husbandry and spoils of war. It was the division of the latter that led to bloody internal strife. The heyday of the kaganate was during the numerous victories of Bayan and his successors. Later, he began to fade and lose his power. At the beginning of the 7th century, a series of defeats occurred in Byzantium, on the territory of the Slavs, Franks and Bulgarians. Already in the middle of the same century, the Avar Khaganate lost the Northern Black Sea region. In Pannonia they controlled the Bulgarian kingdom on the Danube, founded in 680.

The Avar Khagan in 787 asked for help from the Bavarian Duke Tassilon, the nephew of Pepin the Short, who was trying to get freedom from Charlemagne. However, this step did not save the Khaganate from a severe defeat in 796 before the son of Charlemagne Papin and Count Erich of Friul. The main fortresses of the Avars fell, including the main one on the banks of the Tisza. Thus, the Avar Khaganate ceased to exist.

Administrative management

At the head of the Avar Khaganate was a Khagan, who was elected by the people's assembly. Separate parts of the country were ruled by tuduns, governors of the kagan. Tribute in the country was collected by a special nobility - tarkhan. In the state hierarchy, after the Tarkhans, there were tribal leaders. Tribal elders played an insignificant role in the life of the tribes and the kaganate. The terms clearly trace the Turkic etymology. The Avar Khaganate was a multi-ethnic state.

Economy

The economy of the Khaganate was based on nomadic pastoralism, which greatly weakened it. Agriculture did not develop, and the population existed at the expense of dependent tribes.

The Avars did not use slavery. At the end of VI alone, more than 10,000 people were captured and killed. The conquered tribes on the Balkan Peninsula gained freedom. The kagan appointed his prince to them and considered them to be a separate people and a military-tribal division of the kaganate.

The Byzantines paid tribute to the Khaganate "for peace" annually at 120,000 solidi. By 626, the total amount of payments from Byzantium amounted to 25 tons of gold in minted coins. They were melted down into gold jewelry and divided among the leaders.

Art

The found jewelry speaks of the high development of jewelry art. The Avars were not only engaged in the artistic processing of wood, bone and silver. They were famous for their fabrics, embroidery and carpets. In Europe, Avar belts with a metal headset were famous. The Avar culture had proto-Turkic, Iranian, Byzantine and Chinese features. It was a continuation of the "Scythian animal style" with fantastic animals and small plastics. The Avars collected many items made of precious metals, which developed the art in the Khaganate.

Success in military operations was achieved thanks to organized plate cavalry. The Avars showed Europe iron stirrups and single-edged blades, which became the prototype of sabers.

Military tactics consisted of wearing down the enemy with endless maneuvers without close combat. Long-range bows were used for salvo shots. Heavily armed cavalry cut through enemy formations and demoralized the enemy. A deceptive representation of defeat and the proximity of victory were created. The enemy was constantly forced to retreat and evade. The methods of the Avars were recognized as the most effective and formed the basis of the military tactics of many peoples.

The peoples who left the historical map in the last millennium often did not leave behind written sources. The only evidence for their existence is archaeological evidence. This is the case with the history of the Avar Khaganate. Much in the life of the people and their state remains mysterious.

The emergence of the Avars in Europe

The Avars settled in the Carpathian region. This was facilitated by the Great Migration. On the territory of modern Hungary, the tribe had a strong political power. Information about the Avars was preserved only in the chronicles of Byzantium and the Frankish state.

It is known that in 568 the Lombards moved to the territory of Northern Italy, forming Lombardy there. To their former place on both banks Danube river Avars came. It was they who at one time helped the Lombards to oust the Germanic tribe of the Gepids from the desired lands.

Avar envoys first came to Europe in 558. They wanted to enter the territory of the Byzantine Empire. To do this, the envoys asked for help from the ruler of the Alans. A little later, the ambassadors arrived in Constantinople. Sources note that men wore hairstyles with ribbons of different tones woven into their hair. It was a distinctive attire for nomads. The Avars' ambassador offered the Byzantine emperor military assistance in exchange for land grants.

At that time, the main rival of Byzantium was the state of the Franks. Another danger was the appearance of the Slavs in the Carpathian basin. The Avars became a profitable ally for Constantinople.

Before you find out when the Avar Khaganate was founded, it is worth understanding the territory of the tribe. At first, the Avars were offered land on the site of modern Serbia, but they refused them. They asked to settle in Dobruja, which lay along the banks of the Danube. The plain was more suitable for the nomadic people. But the tribe did not stay here for long. Then there was the already well-known alliance with the Lombards and a settlement in Pannonia. The formation of the state began.

Avar Khaganate: creation

After fixing on the new territory, the tribe created its own state association. It was called "Avar Khaganate". Bayan is considered the first known ruler. Neighboring tribes also fell under his control: Gepids, Slavs. By the end of the 6th century, other peoples joined the kaganate, for example, the Kutrigurs, the Zabenders.

Since Byzantium was occupied with the war with the Persians, the Avars with the Slavs carried out devastating raids on the lands of the lower Danube. They were owned by Constantinople. In 591, the Avars were driven out of the Balkan lands. Military skirmishes between the Khagan Bayan and the Byzantines were of an alternate nature.

In the 7th century, a state was established on the western border side of the Avar Khaganate. It lasted thirty-five years, but brought a lot of harm to the Avars and Franks. It was founded by the Slavs in alliance with the Frankish merchant Samo. The collapse of the warlike state was associated with the death of its head.

In the middle of the 7th century, a crisis occurred in the Khaganate itself due to the termination of the previous dynasty. The Kutriguro-Bulgarians were aiming for the throne. They raised an uprising within the state, which the Avars managed to suppress. As a result, the Kutriguro-Bulgarians were ousted from the lands of the Khaganate.

In the seventies, the Proto-Bulgarians settled along the Danube. They created a separate state association called Great Bulgaria. The Avar Khaganate maintained friendly relations with them. The country existed until the 9th century. There is evidence that the son of the Bulgarian Khan Kuvrat moved with his people to the lands of the Avars. This was due to the appearance of the Khazars in the southern Russian steppes. The tribes mixed with each other, which could not but affect the ethnic type of the Avars. The Khazar and Avar Khaganates existed at the same time. Only the state of the Khazars lasted until the 11th century.

Origin of the people

There are several versions of the origin of the Avars. According to one of them, the tribes came from Central Asia. There they were known as Juan-Juan. According to the second - the tribes came out of Central Asia.

Many researchers believe that the Avars were not isolated, they were an ethnically mixed people. This is evidenced by the found graves. In some, large burial grounds were arranged with a separate burial of people and horses (the customs of the Mongoloids), in others, the legs and skulls of horses were found (typical of the Iranian peoples).

The study of the skulls also showed that Avars with Mongoloid and Caucasoid features lived at the same time. The Avars entered into a marriage alliance with all peoples. They could well have mixed with the Sarmatians who lived on the territory of Hungary, as well as with the Slavs. They called themselves obrovs.

Society

The society is known thanks to the research of burials, which are located on the territory of modern Hungary and neighboring powers.

Approximate hierarchy in society:

• the kagan was in power;
• katun - the first wife of the ruler;
• tudun, yugur - governors of the ruler who ruled over certain lands;
• tarkhans - tribute collectors in the country;
• leaders of tribes, clans;
• warriors are the largest part of the population.

Judging by the late burials, a strong stratification began in society. There are many graves with scarce inventory. Wealthy nobles were sometimes buried in wooden coffins. Ordinary residents were wrapped in material that rotted in the ground.

The Avars did not have a developed institution of slavery. For domestic work, they could use captured warriors from other tribes or ruined fellow tribesmen.

Settlement and occupation

Several hundred settlements have been found that date back to the 7th-9th centuries. The most impressive excavations were carried out near Dunaujváros in Hungary. The remains of thirty-seven dwellings were found there. They looked like semi-dugouts with wooden walls. Inside each house there was a stove-heater. Many dwellings are equipped with grain pits. In such settlements, the Avars lived during the cold season, when they returned from summer pastures. In warm weather, they grazed cattle, moving from place to place, so they used easily portable yurt-like structures.

The Avars were engaged in semi-nomadic cattle breeding. Gradually they settled down, turning to agriculture.

Horses played an important role in their lives. The animals were of eastern origin, they were fast, suitable for movement on the steppes and sandy soils. The tribe also raised sheep, chickens, goats. The remains of the shell are found during excavations. From plant crops, millet, wheat, and later - rye and oats were grown.

culture

The Avars knew runic writing, but there is no evidence that they used it for correspondence. Symbols were carved in order to protect themselves from troubles or to designate the owner of a particular item.

The language can only be judged by the names of kagans, ambassadors and titles. They are of Turkish origin. However, it was not the Avars who could give such names and titles, but those who wrote about them.

Beliefs

Almost nothing is known about the beliefs of the peoples of the Avar Khaganate. According to the sources, they were idolaters, they had shamans. Judging by the burials, they believed in the afterlife. The deceased person was left food, weapons and a horse. For a ritual purpose, a quiver with ten arrows was left to the soldiers.

Art

Representatives of the kaganate were famous for their ability to cut bones. They also created carpets, fabrics, carried out artistic processing of gold and silver. The creations of the Avars have not been preserved. During the excavations, decorations were found, but they are attributed to the work of the masters of the East.

Men wore belts with plaques. These attributes are different. The quiver, the sword of the leader were covered with gold, the rest of the soldiers - with silver. Vegetation, figures of people, an image of a struggle between animals were used as an ornament.

The Avars made pottery, including potter's wheel, burned it in ovens. But the ornament was almost not applied to it.

Franco-Avar War

Charlemagne became the leader of the Franks in 768. His power began to grow. They conquered the Saxons, part Slavic tribes. He began the forcible introduction of Christianity among the population. For the Franks, the Avars remained the most dangerous opponents. Two strong states tried to live in peace, in 780 they exchanged embassies.

But this did not prevent the Khaganate in 788 from concluding an alliance against the Franks with the Bavarian prince Tassilo. Allied troops were defeated. This accelerated the defeat of the Avar Khaganate. Karl decided to deal with the unfaithful neighbors as soon as possible. He took up the fortification of cities, including Regnsburg.

In 791, the army of Charles opposed the Avars. The Kaganate was attacked from two sides: Pepin (son of Charles) led troops from Italy, the leader of the Franks was heading along the Danube. The Saxons decided to come to the aid of the Avars. They raised an uprising, flooding the rear of the Franks with blood. But strife began within the kaganate. This led to the death of the kagan.

Fall of the Khaganate

In 796, the Avar ambassadors swore allegiance to Charlemagne. But until 803 there were protests against the Franks. At the same time, the Bulgarian Khan Krum attacked the lands of the Khaganate. So the Avar state was completely defeated. The conquered people accepted Khan Krum as their ruler and assimilated with the Proto-Bulgarians.

The defeat of the Avar Khaganate (9th century) endowed the Franks with western lands, and the Bulgarians with eastern territories. The winners drew the border along the middle Danube. The remnants of the conquered people dissolved in stronger states.

However, references to the Avar kingdom are found in sources from the middle of the 9th century, for example, in the Treaty of Verdun in 843. In it, the kingdom is called part of the empire of Charles.

The history of the origin of the Avar Khaganate is connected with Great Migration of Nations. The state association forced even Byzantium to reckon with itself. The state existed for two centuries, preserving many settlements and graves on the territory of modern Hungary and other neighboring countries. They are also mentioned in the "Tale of Bygone Years" as a proud people who were waiting for death.