Eurasian Avars - Origins

Origins

The origin of the Eurasian Avars is unclear. Information about origins is derived primarily from the works of the Byzantine historians Menander Protector and Theophylact Simocatta. John of Ephesus used the term "those, who are called "Avars," because of their long hair."

The confusion is compounded by the fact that many clans carried a particular name because they believed it to be prestigious, or it was attributed to them by outsiders describing their common characteristics, believed place of origin or reputation. Such a case has been seen repeatedly for many nomadic confederacies.

According to the research of historian András Róna-Tas, the ethnic Avars formed in central Asia in the classical age through a fusion of several tribal elements. Róna-Tas suggests that Turkic Oghurs migrated to the Kazakh Steppe, possibly moving south to inhabit the lands vacated by the Huns. Here, they interacted with a body of Indo-European-speaking Iranians, forming the Xionites (Hunas). In the 460s, they were subordinated by the Rouran tribe. The Rourans imposed their own rulers, referred to as Uar, at the head of the confederacy. Eventually, the Oghurs rose to prominence within the tribal confederacy.

The 6th-century historian Menander Protector noted that the language of the Avars (which he called Ouarkhonitai "Vakonites") was the same as (possibly meaning 'similar to') that of the Huns. If language is an indicator of origin, this supports the theory that they might have been an Oghuric Turkic people. Recently, some scholars have proposed that they were an Iranic-speaking group. The discovery of Mongolic skulls in Avar graves has prompted some scholars to suggest that the European Avars' ruling core was Mongolic, although this has been disputed by others.

Early in the sixth century, the confederacy was conquered by the Göktürk empire (the Göktürks were previously yet another vassal tribal element under Rouran supremacy). In his History of the World, Theophylact Simocatta noted that the Göktürks "enslaved the Oghur tribe, which was one of the most powerful...and was accomplished in the art of war." One body of people, perhaps wishing to evade Göktürk rule, escaped and migrated to the northern Caucasus region c. 555 CE. According to Simocatta, their new neighbours believed them to be the true Avars. They established diplomatic contact with the Byzantines, and the other nomadic tribes of the steppes lavished them with gifts. However, the Göktürks later persuaded the Byzantines that these nomads were not the real Avars, but were instead a group of "fugitive Scythians" who had fled from the Göktürks and stolen the prestigious name of Avar. Hence they have subsequently been called pseudo-Avars.

For all the theories, historian Walter Pohl asserted in 1998, instancing the detailed attempts made by H. W. Haussig in 1953 and K. Czeglèdy in 1983 and his own methodological objections: "It is pointless to ask who exactly the forefathers of the European Avars were. We only know that they carried an ancient, very prestigious name (our first hints to it date back to the times of Herodotus); and we may assume that they were a very mixed group of warriors who wanted to escape domination by the Göktürks." If the Avars were a distinct ethnic group, that distinction does not seem to have survived their centuries in Europe. Being an 'Avar' seems to have meant being part of the Avar state (in a similar way that being 'Roman' ceased to have any ethnic meaning). What is certain, by the time they arrived in Europe, the Avars were a heterogeneous, polyethnic people. Modern research shows that each of the large confederations of steppe warriors (such as the Scythians, Huns, Hungarians, Bulgars, Avars, Khazars, Cumans, Mongols, etc.) were not ethnically homogeneous, but rather unions of multiple ethnicities.

Whatever the origin of the initial group of nomadic warriors, the Avars rapidly intermixed with the Slavic population on the lower Danube basin and Pannonian Plain. Some authors argued that Slavic was likely used as a lingua franca within the khaganate amongst the disparate peoples. Anthropological research has revealed few skeletons with Mongoloid-type features, although there was continuing cultural influence from the Eurasian nomadic steppe. The late Avar Period shows more hybridization resulting in higher frequencies of Europo-Mongolids. Mongoloid and Euro-Mongoloid types compose about one-third of the total population of the Avar graves of the eighth century, but as more Europoid populations were conquered by the Avars, the percentage of Europoids amongst the Avars became much higher.

According to Pál Lipták the early Avar anthropological material was almost exclusively Europoid in the 7th century, while grave-goods indicated Middle and Central Asian parallels. On the other hand there were cemeteries dated for the 8th century that contained Mongoloid elements among others. He analysed the Avar Period population of the Danube-Tisza midland region and stated that 80% of them was of Europoid character.