Alliance of various Eurasian nomads – 6th to 9th centuries
For the modern ethnic group native to the North Caucasus, see Avars (Caucasus). For other uses, see Avar (disambiguation).
Avar Khaganate
567 – after 822[1]
576
FIRST TURKIC KHAGANATE
SASANIAN EMPIRE
ALCHONS
CHALU- KYAS
NORTH. ZHOU
NORTH. QI
CHEN
BYZANTINE EMPIRE
AVAR KHAGANATE
Khitans
Paleo-Siberians
Tungus
GOGU- RYEO
MERO- VINGIANS
VISIGOTHS
TARUMA
The Avar Khaganate () and main contemporary polities c. 576
The Avar Khaganate and surroundings circa 602.
Common languages
Turkic, Mongolic and/or Tungusic languages (ruling class)[2][3][4][page needed]
Proto-Slavic (possibly late lingua franca)[5]
Religion
Originally shamanism and animism, Christianity after 796
Government
Khanate
Khagan
History
• Established
567
• Defeated by Pepin of Italy
796
• Disestablished
after 822[1]
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Lombards
Kingdom of the Gepids
Hunnic Empire
Byzantine Empire under the Justinian dynasty
Samo's Empire
Frankish Empire
First Bulgarian Empire
Samo's Empire
Pannonian Slavs
Avar March
The Pannonian Avars (/ˈævɑːrz/) were an alliance of several groups of Eurasian nomads of various origins.[8][9][10][11][12][13] The peoples were also known as the Obri in chronicles of Rus, the Abaroi or Varchonitai[14] (Greek: Βαρχονίτες, romanized: Varchonítes), or Pseudo-Avars[15] in Byzantine sources, and the Apar (Old Turkic: 𐰯𐰺) to the Göktürks (Kultegin Inscription: Apar – Avars were called "Apar"). They established the Avar Khaganate, which spanned the Pannonian Basin and considerable areas of Central and Eastern Europe from the late 6th to the early 9th century.[16]
The name Pannonian Avars (after the area in which they settled) is used to distinguish them from the Avars of the Caucasus, a separate people with whom the Pannonian Avars may or may not have had links. Although the name Avar first appeared in the mid-5th century, the Pannonian Avars entered the historical scene in the mid-6th century,[17] on the Pontic–Caspian steppe as a people who wished to escape the rule of the Göktürks. They are probably best known for their invasions and destruction in the Avar–Byzantine wars from 568 to 626 and influence on the Slavic migrations to Southeastern Europe.
Recent archaeogenetic studies indicate that the Pannonian Avars were of primarily Ancient Northeast Asian ancestry similar to those of modern-day people from Mongolia and the Amur River region in Manchuria, pointing to an initial rapid migration of nomadic tribes into the centre of Europe from the Eastern Eurasian Steppe. The Pannonian Avars' core may have been descended from the remnants of the Rouran Khaganate, which were accompanied by other Steppe groups.[18][19][20][21][22][23][note 1] Linguistic evidence suggests that the later Avar population shifted to Slavic as lingua franca.[24][25][26]
^Waldman & Mason 2006, p. 769.
^Curta 2004, pp. 125–148.
^Helimski 2004, pp. 59–72.
^de la Fuente 2015.
^Curta 2004, p. 132.
^Some sources claim that Khagan Theodorus and his predecessor Zodan were one and the same; that is, Zodan assumed the name Thedours after converting to Christianity.
^The name of Khagan Isaac appears to have been corrupted into Latin as Canizauci princeps Avarum ("Khagan Isaac, Prince of the Avars").
^Encyclopædia Britannica & Avar.
^Frassetto 2003, pp. 54–55.
^Waldman & Mason 2006, pp. 46–49.
^Beckwith 2009, pp. 390–391: "... the Avars certainly contained peoples belonging to several different ethnolinguistic groups, so that attempts to identify them with one or another specific eastern people are misguided."
^Kyzlasov 1996, p. 322: "The Juan-Juan state was undoubtedly multi-ethnic, but there is no definite evidence as to their language... Some scholars link the Central Asian Juan-Juan with the Avars who came to Europe in the mid-sixth century. According to widespread but unproven and probably unjustified opinion, the Avars spoke a language of the Mongolic group."
^Pritsak 1982, p. 359.
^Encyclopedia of Ukraine & Avars.
^Grousset 1939, p. 171:According to Grousset, Theophylact Simocatta called them pseudo-Avars because he thought the true Avars were the Rouran.
^Pohl 2002, pp. 26–29.
^Curta 2006.
^Neparáczki & Maróti 2019.
^Csáky & Gerber 2020.
^Gnecchi-Ruscone et al. 2022.
^Maróti, Neparáczki & Schütz 2022.
^David 2022.
^Saag & Staniuk 2022, pp. 38–41.
^Curta, Florin (2004). "The Slavic lingua franca (Linguistic notes of an archaeologist turned historian)". East Central Europe/L'Europe du Centre-Est. 31: 125–148. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
^Wihoda, Martin (2021-10-27), "After Avars: The Beginning of the Ruling Power on the Eastern Fringe of Carolingian Empire", Rulership in Medieval East Central Europe, Brill, pp. 63–80, ISBN 978-90-04-50011-2, retrieved 2024-01-16
^Rady, Martyn (2020), Curry, Anne; Graff, David A. (eds.), "The Slavs, Avars, and Hungarians", The Cambridge History of War: Volume 2: War and the Medieval World, Cambridge History of War, vol. 2, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 133–150, ISBN 978-0-521-87715-2, retrieved 2024-01-16
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).
with whom the PannonianAvars may or may not have had links. Although the name Avar first appeared in the mid-5th century, the PannonianAvars entered the...
Look up Avar, Avars, avar, ahir, or avars in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Avar(s) or AVAR may refer to: Avars (Caucasus), a modern Northeast Caucasian-speaking...
others possibly migrated west and became the PannonianAvars (known by such names as Varchonites or Pseudo Avars), who settled in Pannonia (centred on modern...
Eurasian Avars may refer to: Avars (Caucasus), a people from the North East Caucasus Avar Khanate, Caucasus PannonianAvars, a nomadic people who lived...
may refer to: Avar Khanate of the Caucasian Avars in the Caucasus Avar Khaganate of the medieval PannonianAvars in the Pannonian Basin Avar March Avaria...
Pannonia, inhabited mainly by Pannonian Slavs. Territories of the remaining Avarian princes were fully incorporated, and Avars eventually disappeared from...
tribes, notably the Franks, Goths, Alemanni, Alans, Huns, early Slavs, PannonianAvars, Bulgars and Magyars within or into the territories of the Roman Empire...
allowed it to create a local trade monopoly with Norse, Cumans, and PannonianAvars. The origin of the early Bulgars is still unclear. Their homeland is...
as the Pseudo-Avars, Obri, Abaroi and Varchonites) and the Bulgars migrated into Central and the Southeast Europe. Bayan I led the Avars (along with many...
The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large sedimentary basin situated in southeast Central Europe. After the WW1 and Treaty of Trianon, the...
by a time in the sphere of influence of the Lombards and later the PannonianAvars, when Slavs formed the majority of the region's population. From the...
tribes to the Southern and Western regions as far the boundary with the PannonianAvars. Scholars consider that the absence of any source recording the Slavic...
the 580s, Antean soldiers fought in various Byzantine campaigns. The PannonianAvars attacked the Antes at the beginning of the 7th century, when the Antes...
first conflicts between the Avars and the Franks occurred in the 560s, shortly before the Avar conquest of the Pannonian Basin. Armed conflicts between...
pushed the migration of the Early Slavs, who were also led by the PannonianAvars. The Slavs who settled in Southeast Europe comprised two groups: the...
Gepids, falling in the Lombard–Gepid War (567) against the Lombards and PannonianAvars. The Gepids had held the important city of Sirmium (now Sremska Mitrovica...
Utigurs. Towards the end of the 6th century they were absorbed by the PannonianAvars under pressure from the Türks. The name Kutrigur, also recorded as...
Lombard-Gepid War in 567, Pannonia was invaded by Avars who subsequently conquered almost entire Pannonian Plain (568). Although it is possible that some...
791 to ca. 810.[citation needed] He is believed to have fought the PannonianAvars during their occupation of what is today northern Croatia; according...
Hungarians, Celts (particularly the Boii), Old Prussians, and the PannonianAvars. The West Slavs came under the influence of the Western Roman Empire...
the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Zhou dynasty. The appearance of the PannonianAvars in the West has been interpreted as a nomadic faction fleeing the westward...