Pannonian Avars sayfasının kaynağını görüntüle

{{About||the modern ethnic group native to the North Caucasus|Avars (Caucasus)|other uses|Avar (disambiguation)}}

The '''Pannonian Avars''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|v|ɑr|z}} also known as the '''Obri''' (in [[Ruthenia]]n chronicles), the '''Abaroi''' and '''Varchonitai''' (Warhonits)  (in [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] sources),<ref name=eou>[http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CA%5CV%5CAvars.htm Avars] at the [[Encyclopedia of Ukraine]]</ref> and the '''"Pseudo-Avars"''' <ref> According to Grousset, Empire of the Steppes, page 171,[[Theophylact Simocatta]] called them pseudo-Avars because he thought the true Avars were the [[Rouran Khaganate|Rouran]].</ref> and '''Varchonites''' (by the [[Göktürks]]), were a group of  [[Eurasian nomads]] of unknown origin<ref name="EB_Avar">{{cite web |url=http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/45428/Avar |title=Avar |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |date= |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica (company)|Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=May 14, 2015 |quote=Avar, one of a people of undetermined origin and language...}}</ref><ref name=EOBE>{{cite book |last=Frassetto |first=Michael |last2= |first2= |authorlink1= |authorlink2= |ref=harv |title=Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation |language= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yW-GfElbafQC |accessdate=28 May 2015 |date=1 January 2003 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |location= |isbn=1576072630 |pages=54–55 |quote="The exact origins of the Avars remain uncertain..."}}</ref><ref name=WM>{{cite book |last=Waldman |first=Carl |last2=Mason |first2=Catherine |authorlink1= |authorlink2= |ref=harv |title=Encyclopedia of European Peoples |language= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kfv6HKXErqAC |accessdate=5 May 2013 |year=2006 |publisher=[[Infobase Publishing]] |location= |isbn=1-4381-2918-1 |pages=46–49 }}</ref><ref name="Beckwith390">{{harvnb|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."</ref><ref name="Kyzlasov">{{harvnb|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 Turkic group."</ref> during the early [[Middle Ages]].<ref>{{harvtxt|Pritsak|1983|p=359}}</ref> The name Pannonian Avars (after [[Pannonian Basin|the area]] in which they eventually settled), is used to distinguish them from the [[Avars (Caucasus)|Avars of the Caucasus]] – who may or may not have been an unrelated people.

They established the [[Avar Khaganate]], which spanned the [[Pannonian Basin]] and considerable areas of [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]] from the late 6th to the early 9th century.<ref name="Pohl26">Walter Pohl, ''Die Awaren: ein Steppenvolk im Mitteleuropa, 567–822 n. Chr'', C.H.Beck (2002), ISBN 978-3-406-48969-3, p. 26-29.</ref> They were ruled by a [[khagan]], who was assisted by an entourage of professional warriors.

Although the name ''Avar'' first appeared in the mid-5th century, the Pannonian Avars entered the historical scene in the mid-6th century,<ref name=Curta2006>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YIAYMNOOe0YC&pg=RA2-PA100|title=Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1250 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |series=Cambridge medieval textbooks |year=2006 |accessdate=2009-11-20 |last=Curta |first=Florin |ISBN=978-0-521-81539-0 }}</ref> on the [[Pontic-Caspian steppe]], as a band of a North-Tungusic clan and warriors who wished to escape the rule of the [[Göktürks]].

The language or languages spoken by the Avars are now unknown.<ref name="EB_Avar"/><ref name=WM/><ref name="Beckwith390"/><ref name="Kyzlasov"/> [[Denis Sinor]] states that most of the Avar words used in contemporaneous Latin or Greek texts, appear to have their origins in Siberian languages, especially [[Tungusic languages]] and [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]].<ref name="inner asia">Denis Sinor, 1990, ''The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia, Volume 1'', Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, p. 221</ref> According to Sinor, many of the titles and ranks used by the Pannonian Avars were also used by the [[Turkish people|Turks]], [[Proto-Bulgars]], [[Uighurs]] and/or [[Mongols]], including ''[[khagan]]'' (or ''kagan''), ''[[Khan (title)|khan]], [[Kavhan|kapkhan]], [[tudun]], [[tarkhan]]'', and ''[[khatun]]''.<ref name="inner asia"/>  There is also evidence, however, that ruling and subject clans spoke a variety of languages. Proposals by scholars include [[Languages of the Caucasus|Caucasian]],<ref name=WM/> [[Iranian languages|Iranian]],<ref name="Curta">{{cite journal |last=Curta |first=Florin |author-link=Florin Curta |date=2004 |title=The Slavic lingua franca (Linguistic notes of an archaeologist turned historian) |url=http://www.academia.edu/227792/The_Slavic_lingua_franca_Linguistic_notes_of_an_archaeologist_turned_historian_ |journal=East Central Europe/L'Europe du Centre-Est |volume=31 |issue= |pages=125–148 |doi= |access-date=29 May 2015 |quote=By contrast, there is very little evidence that speakers of Slavic had any significant contact with Turkic. As a consequence, and since the latest stratum of loan words in Common Slavic is Iranian in origin, [[Johanna Nichols]] advanced the idea that the Avars spoke an Iranian, not a Turkic language.}}</ref> [[Tungusic languages|Tungusic]],<ref name=Futaky2001>{{cite book|last=Futaky|first=I.|title=Nyelvtörténeti vizsgálatok a Kárpát-medencei avar-magyar kapcsolatok kérdéséhez. Mongol és mandzsu-tunguz elemek nyelvünkben|year=2001|location=Budapest|language=Hungarian}}</ref><ref name=Helimski2000a>{{cite book|last=Helimski|first=Eugene|title=Folia Orientalia 36 (Festschrift for St. Stachowski)|year=2000|pages=135–148|authorlink=Eugene Helimski|language=Russian|chapter=Язык(и) аваров: тунгусо-маньчжурский аспект}}</ref><ref name=Helimski2000b>{{cite journal|last=Helimski|first=Eugene|title=On probable Tungus-Manchurian origin of the Buyla inscription from Nagy-Szentmiklós (preliminary communication)|journal=Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia|year=2000|issue=5|pages=43–56}}</ref> [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|date=2016-11-12|title=Kettős honfoglalás|url=https://hu.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kett%C5%91s_honfoglal%C3%A1s&oldid=18133161|journal=Wikipédia|language=hu}}</ref> and [[Turkic languages|Turkic]].<ref name=eou/><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.ma/books?id=I-RTt0Q6AcYC&redir_esc=y|title=Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages: An Introduction to Early Hungarian History|last=Róna-Tas|first=András|date=1999-01-01|publisher=Central European University Press|year=|isbn=9789639116481|location=|pages=116|language=en|via=}}</ref> A few scholars suggest that [[Proto-Slavic]] became the [[lingua franca]] of the Avar Khaganate.<ref name=Curta2004>{{Cite journal|last1=Curta|first1=Florin|year=2004|title=The Slavic ''lingua franca'' (Linguistic Notes of an Archeologist Turned Historian)|url=http://www.academia.edu/227792/The_Slavic_lingua_franca_Linguistic_notes_of_an_archaeologist_turned_historian_|format=PDF|journal=East Central Europe/L'Europe du Centre-Est|volume=31|issue=1|pages=132–148}}</ref> According to [[Gyula László]], the late 9th century Pannonian Avars spoke a variety of [[Old Hungarian language|Old Hungarian]], thereby forming an Avar-Hungarian continuity with then newly arrived [[Hungarians]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tankonyvtar.hu/hu/tartalom/historia/82-01/ch01.html|title=História 1982-01{{!}}Digitális Tankönyvtár|website=www.tankonyvtar.hu|language=hu-HU|access-date=2016-11-30}}</ref>

==Early literary sources==
The earliest clear reference to the Avar ethnonym comes from [[Priscus|Priscus the Rhetor]] (died after 472 AD). Priscus recounts that, c. 463, the Šaragurs, [[Onogurs]] and Ogurs were attacked by the [[Sabirs]], who had been attacked by the Avars. In turn, the Avars had been driven off by people fleeing "man-eating [[griffins]]" coming from "the ocean" (''Priscus Fr 40'').<ref>{{harvtxt|Maenchen-Helfen|1976|p=436}}</ref> Whilst Priscus' accounts provide some information about the ethno-political situation in the [[Don River (Russia)|Don]]-[[Kuban]]-[[Volga Delta|Volga]] region after the demise of the [[Huns]], no unequivocal conclusions can be reached. Denis Sinor has argued that whoever the "Avars" referred to by Priscus were, they differed from the Avars who appear a century later, during the time of [[Justinian]] (who reigned from 527 to 565).<ref name="Dobrovits 2003">{{harvtxt|Dobrovits|2003}}</ref>

The next author of late antiquity to discuss the Avars, [[Menander Protector]] in the 6th century, details [[Göktürks|Gokturk]] embassies in [[Constantinople]] in 565 and 568 AD. Each time, the Turks appear angered at the Byzantines for having made an alliance with the Avars, whom the Turks saw as their subjects and slaves. [[Turxanthos]], a Turk prince, calls the Avars "Varchonites" and "escaped slaves of the Turks", who numbered "about 20 thousand" (''Menander Fr 43'').<ref>{{harvtxt|Whitby| 1986|p= 226, footnote 48}}</ref>

Many more, but somewhat confusing, details come from [[Theophylact Simocatta]], who wrote c. 629, but detailed the final two decades of the 6th century. In particular, he claims to quote a triumph letter from the Turk lord [[Tamgan]]:

{{quote|text=For this very [[Khagan|Chagan]] had in fact outfought the leader of the nation of the [[Durrani|Abdeli]] (I mean indeed, of the [[Hephthalites]], as they are called), conquered him, and assumed the rule of the nation.
Then he .. enslaved the Avar nation.

But let no one think that we are distorting the history of these times because he supposes that the Avars are those barbarians neighbouring on Europe and [[Pannonia]], and that their arrival was prior to the times of the [[emperor Maurice]]. For it is by a misnomer that the barbarians on the Ister have assumed the appellation of Avars; the origin of their race will shortly be revealed.

So, when the Avars had been defeated (for we are returning to the account) some of them made their escape to those who inhabit [[Tuoba|Taugast]]. Taugast is a famous city, which is a total of one thousand five hundred miles distant from those who are called Turks,.. Others of the Avars, who declined to humbler fortune because of their defeat, came to those who are called [[Goguryeo|Mucri]]; this nation is the closest neighbour to the men of Taugast;

Then the Chagan embarked on yet another enterprise, and subdued all the [[Ogur]], which is one of the strongest tribes on account of its large population and its armed training for war. These make their habitations in the east, by the course of the [[Manavgat River|river Til]], which Turks are accustomed to call [[Manavgat River|Melas]]. The earliest leaders of this nation were named [[Uar|Var]] and [[Huns|Chunni]]; from them some parts of those nations were also accorded their nomenclature, being called Var and Chunni.

Then, while the emperor Justinian was in possession of the royal power, a small section of these Var and Chunni fled from that ancestral tribe and settled in Europe. These named themselves Avars and glorified their leader with the appellation of Chagan. Let us declare, without departing in the least from the truth, how the means of changing their name came to them....
When the [[Barsils]], [[Onogurs]], [[Sabir people|Sabirs]], and other Hun nations in addition to these, saw that a section of those who were still Var and Chunni had fled to their regions, they plunged into extreme panic, since they suspected that the settlers were Avars. For this reason they honoured the fugitives with splendid gifts and supposed that they received from them security in exchange.

Then, after the Var and Chunni saw the well-omened beginning to their flight, they appropriated the ambassadors' error and named themselves Avars: for among the Scythian nations that of the Avars is said to be the most adept tribe. In point of fact even up to our present times the Pseudo-Avars (for it is more correct to refer to them thus) are divided in their ancestry, some bearing the time-honoured name of Var while others are called Chunni....}}

[[File:Avaric - Drinking Bowl - Walters 57565 - Profile.jpg|thumb|250px|Gold Avar bowl, found in modern [[Albania]].]]
According to the interpretation of Dobrovits and Nechaeva, the Turks insisted that the Avars were only pseudo-Avars, so as to boast that they were the only formidable power in the Eurasian steppe. The Gokturks claimed that the "real Avars" remained loyal subjects of the Turks, farther east.<ref name="Dobrovits 2003"/><ref>{{harvtxt|Nechaeva|2011}}</ref>

Furthermore, Dobrovits has questioned the authenticity of Theophylact's account. As such, they{{who|date=March 2015}} have argued that Theophylact borrowed information from Menander's accounts of Byzantine-Turk negotiations to meet political needs of his time – i.e. to castigate and deride the Avars during a time of strained political relations between the Byzantines and Avars (coinciding with Emperor Maurice's north Balkan campaigns). By calling the Avars "Turkish slaves" and "pseudo-Avars", Theophylact undermined their political legitimacy.<ref name="Dobrovits 2003"/>

==Postulated links to the Uar, Rouran and other Central Asian peoples==
According to some scholars the Pannonian Avars originated from a confederation formed in the [[Aral Sea]] region, by the [[Uar]], also known as the ''Var'' or ''Warr'' (who were probably a [[Uralic people]]) and  the [[Xionites|Xūn]] or Xionites (also known as the ''Chionitae'', ''Chunni'', ''Hunni'', ''Yun'' and similar names);<ref>Гулямов Я. Г., История орошения Хорезма с древнейших времен до наших дней, Ташкент, 1957.</ref><ref>Муратов Б.А. Аланы, кавары и хиониты в этногенезе башкир//Урал-Алтай: через века в будущее: Материалы Всероссийской научной конференции. Уфа, 27 июня 2008.</ref> the Xionites were most likely [[Iranian languages|Iranian]]-speaking. A third tribe affiliated previously to the Uar and Xionites, the [[Hephthalites]], had remained in [[Central Asia|Central]] and [[South Asia]]. In some transliterations, the term ''Var'' is rendered ''Hua'', which is an alternate Chinese term for the Hephthalites. (While one of the cities most significant to the  Hephthalites was [[Walwalij]] or ''Varvaliz'', this may also be an [[Iranian languages|Iranian]] term for "upper fortress".<ref name="Harmatta 2001"/>) The Pannonian Avars were also known by names including ''Uarkhon'' or ''Varchonites'' – which may have been [[portmanteau word]]s combining  ''Var'' and ''Chunni''.

The 18th century historian [[Joseph de Guignes]] postulates a link between the Avars of European history with the [[Rouran Khaganate|Rouran]] (''Ju-juan'') of [[Inner Asia]] based on a coincidence between Tardan Khan’s letter to Constantinople and events recorded in [[Chinese people|Chinese]] sources, notably the ''Wei-shi'' and ''Pei-shi''.<ref name="Harmatta 2001">{{harvtxt|Harmatta|2001}}</ref> Chinese sources state that [[Bumin Qaghan]] (''T’u-men khan''), founder of the [[Turkic Khaganate]] defeated the Rouran, some of whom fled and joined the [[Western Wei]]. Later – according to another Chinese source – [[Muqan Qaghan]] (''Mu-han khan''), Bumin's successor, defeated the Hephthalites (Chinese name: ''I-ta'') as well as the Turkic [[Tiele people|Tiele]] (''Tieh-le''). Superficially these victories over the Tiele, Rouran and Hephthalites echo a narrative in the ''Theophylact'', boasting of Tardan’s victories over the Hephthalites, Avars and Oghurs. However, the two series of events are not synonymous: the events of the letter took place during Tardan’s rule, c. 580–599, whilst Chinese sources referring to the Turk defeat of the Rouran and other Central Asian peoples occurred 50 years earlier, at the founding of the [[Gokturks|Turk khanate]] by [[Bumen]]. It is for this reason that the linguist [[Janos Harmatta]] rejects the identification of the Avars with the Rouran.
According to [[Edwin G. Pulleyblank]] the name Avar is the same as the prestigious name Wuhuan in the Chinese sources.<ref>THE PEOPLES OF THE STEPPE FRONTIER IN EARLY CHINESE SOURCES, Edwin G. Pulleyblank, pages 35, 44[hrcak.srce.hr/file/161177]</ref>

==Steppe empire dynamics and ''ethnogenesis''==
Contemporary scholars are less inclined to view the tribal groupings mentioned in historical texts as monolithic and long-lived '[[nation]]s', but were rather volatile and fluid political formations whose dynamic depended on the sedentary civilizations they bordered as well as internal power struggles within the barbarian lands.

In 2003, [[Walter Pohl]] summarized the formation of [[nomadic empire]]s:<ref>{{harvtxt|Pohl| 2003| pp=477–78}}</ref>

{{quote|text=
1. Many steppe empires were founded by groups who had been defeated in previous power struggles but had fled from the dominion of the stronger group. The Avars were likely a losing faction previously subordinate to the (legitimate) [[Ashina (clan)|Ashina clan]] in the [[Western Turkic Khaganate]], and they fled west of the [[Dnieper]].

2. These groups usually were of mixed origin, and each of its components was part of a previous group.

3. Crucial in the process was the elevation of a khagan, which signified a claim to independent power and an [[expansionist]] strategy. This group also needed a new name that would give all of its initial followers a sense of identity.

4. The name for a new group of steppe riders was often taken from a repertoire of prestigious names which did not necessarily denote any direct affiliation to or descent from groups of the same name; in the [[Early Middle Ages]], [[Huns]], Avars, [[Bulgars]], and Ogurs, or names connected with -(o)gur ([[Kutrigur]]s, [[Utigurs]], [[Onogurs]], etc.), were most important. In the process of name-giving, both perceptions by outsiders and self-designation played a role. These names were also connected with prestigious traditions that directly expressed political pretensions and programmes, and had to be endorsed by success. In the world of the steppe, where agglomerations of groups were rather fluid, it was vital to know how to deal with a newly-emergent power. The symbolical hierarchy of prestige expressed through names provided some orientation for friend and foe alike}}

Such views are mirrored by [[Csanád Bálint]]. "The [[ethnogenesis]] of early medieval peoples of steppe origin cannot be conceived in a ''single linear'' fashion due to their great and constant mobility", with no ethnogenetic "point zero", theoretical "proto-people" or proto-language.<ref>{{harvtxt|Balint|2010|p=150}}</ref>

Moreover, Avar identity was strongly linked to Avar political institutions. Groups who rebelled or fled from the Avar realm could never be called "Avars", but were rather termed "Bulgars". Similarly, with the final demise of Avar power in the early 9th century, Avar identity disappeared almost instantaneously.<ref>{{harvtxt|Pohl|1998}}</ref>

==Anthropological evidence==
[[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 [[Eurasian (mixed ancestry)|Euro-Mongoloids]].<ref>
"Acta archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae", Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, 1 Jan 1967, Page 86 [https://books.google.com/books?id=HCIrAQAAIAAJ&q=Avars++mongoloids&dq=Avars++mongoloids&hl=en&ei=s6_OTrv0CMTc8AOUwpT0Dw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&redir_esc=y]
</ref> Mongoloid and Euro-Mongoloid types compose about one-third of the total population of the Avar graves of the eighth century.<ref>Russian Translation Series of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology ... – Page 21 [https://www.google.co.uk/search?newwindow=1&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=bks&q=Mongoloid+types+which+compose+about+one-third+of+the+total+population+of+the+Avar&oq=Mongoloid+types+which+compose+about+one-third+of+the+total+population+of+the+Avar&gs_l=serp.12...18207.18207.0.18873.1.1.0.0.0.0.90.90.1.1.0....0...1c.2.23.serp..1.0.0.KtebOtHxPt0]</ref>
According to [[Pál Lipták]] the early Avar anthropological material was almost exclusively [[Europoid]] in the 7th century, while grave-goods indicated [[Central Asian]] and North-East-Asian parallels.<ref name="Fóthi"/> On the other hand, cemeteries dated for the 8th century contained Mongoloid elements among others. He analysed population of the [[Danube-Tisza midland region]] in the Avar period and found that 79% of them showed Europoid characteristics.<ref name="Fóthi">
Erzsébet Fóthi, Anthropological conclusions of the study of Roman and  Migration periods, [http://www2.sci.u-szeged.hu/ABS/Acta%20HP/44-87.pdf Acta Biologica Szegediensis], Volume 44(1–4):87–94, 2000</ref> The "Turanid" was most common Europoid type among the Avars graves. [[Pál Lipták]] (1955) the "Turanid" type is a "Caucasoid" type with significant Mongoloid admixture, arising from the mixture of the Andronovo type of Europoid features and the Oriental (Mongoloid).<ref>Lipták, Pál. ''[http://opac.regesta-imperii.de/lang_en/anzeige.php?aufsatz=Recherches+anthropologiques+sur+les+ossements+avares+des+environs+d%27%C3%9Cll%C3%B6&pk=772686 Recherches anthropologiques sur les ossements avares des environs d'Üllö]'' (1955) – In: Acta archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, vol. 6 (1955), pp. 231–314</ref> Avars are sometimes depicted as mounted archers riding backwards on their horses<ref>[https://books.google.bg/books?id=iQUUAQAAMAAJ&q=archers+riding++reverse&dq=archers+riding++reverse&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwie7O7G0L_OAhUK1xQKHf5PDpE4ChDoAQg5MAY ''Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi'', Vol. 4]. Otto Harrassowitz, 1984</ref>

==Social and tribal structure==
{{See also|Avar Khaganate}}
[[File:Klosz Gyorgy Ozora-Totipuszta.jpg|thumb|200px|Avar findings from Ozora-Tótipuszta, Hungary]]
The [[Carpathian basin]] was the centre of the Avar power-base. The Avars re-settled captives from the peripheries of their empire to more central regions. Avar material culture is found south to [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]]. However, to the east of the Carpathians, there are next to no Avar archaeological finds, suggesting that they lived mainly in the [[western Balkans]]. Scholars propose that a highly structured and hierarchical Avar society existed, having complex interactions with other "barbarian" groups. The khagan was the paramount figure, surrounded by a minority of nomadic aristocracy.

A few exceptionally rich burials have been uncovered, confirming that power was limited to the khagan and a close-knit class of "elite warriors". In addition to hoards of gold coins that accompanied the burials, the men were often buried with symbols of rank, such as decorated belts, weapons, stirrups resembling those found in central Asia, as well as their horse. The Avar army was composed from numerous other groups: Slavic, Gepidic and Bulgar military units. There also appeared to have existed semi-independent "client" (predominantly Slavic) tribes which served strategic roles, such as engaging in diversionary attacks and guarding the Avars' western borders abutting the [[Frankish Empire]].

Initially, the Avars and their subjects lived separately, except for Slavic and Germanic women who married Avar men. Eventually, the Germanic and Slavic peoples were included in the Avaric social order and culture, itself Persian-Byzantine in fashion.<ref name="History of Transylvania">History of Transylvania</ref> Scholars have identified a fused, Avar-Slavic culture, characterized by ornaments such as half-moon-shaped earrings, Byzantine-styled buckles, beads, and bracelets with horn-shaped ends.<ref name="History of Transylvania"/> [[Paul Fouracre]] notes, "[T]here appears in the seventh century a mixed Slavic-Avar material culture, interpreted as peaceful and harmonious relationships between Avar warriors and Slavic peasants. It is thought possible that at least some of the leaders of the Slavic tribes could have become part of the Avar aristocracy".<ref>''The New Cambridge Medieval History''. Paul Fouracre</ref> Apart from the assimilated [[Gepids]], a few graves of west Germanic ([[Carolingian]]) peoples have been found in the Avar lands. They perhaps served as mercenaries.<ref name="History of Transylvania"/>

==Language==
The ethnolinguistic affiliation of the Avars is uncertain.<ref name="EB_Avar"/><ref name=WM/> Although there is sparse knowledge about the Avar language, scholars have suggested that the Avars could have spoken     [[Iranian languages|Iranian]],<ref name="Curta"/> [[Mongolic languages|Mongolic]],<ref name=WM/> [[Tungusic languages|Tungusic]],<ref name=Futaky2001/><ref name=Helimski2000a/><ref name=Helimski2000b/>  and [[Turkic languages|Turkic]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>Price, Glanville. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=CPX2xgmVe9IC&pg=PA68&dq=avars+turkic&hl=en Encyclopedia of the Languages of Europe]'' (2000) p 68.</ref><ref>Marcantonio, Angela. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Cp-tB08yd2EC&pg=PA24&dq=avars+turkic&hl=en The Uralic Language Family]'' (2002) p 24.</ref> A few historians influenced by panslavism suggest that over time [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] became the [[lingua franca]] of the Avars.<ref name=Curta2004/>

== Gyula Lászlo's Avar-Hungarian continuity theory ==
[[Gyula László]], a Hungarian archaeologist suggests that late Avars, arriving to the qaganate in [[670|A.D 670]] in great numbers lived through the time between the destruction and plunder of the Avar state by the [[Franks]] during [[791]]–[[795]] and the arrival of the [[Hungarians|Magyars]] in [[895]]. László points out that the settlements of the Hungarians (Magyars) did not replace but complement those of the Avars. Avars remained on the plough fields, good for agriculture while Hungarians took the river banks and river flats, suitable for pastoring. He points that meanwhile the Hungarian graveyards consist 40–50 graves in average, the Avars contains 600–1000. According to this findings the Avars not just survived the end of the Avar polity but lived in great masses and far outnumbered the Hungarian conquerors of [[Árpád]]. He also shows that Hungarian occupied only the centre of the [[Pannonian Basin|Carpathian-basin]], but Avars lived in a larger territory. Looking at those territories where only the Avars lived one can find Hungarian geographical names, neither [[Slavic languages|Slavic]], nor [[Turkic languages|Turkic]]. This is also an evidence for the Avar-Hungarian continuity. Names of the Hungarian tribes, chieftains and the words used for the leaders etc. suggest that at least the leaders of the Hungarian conquerors were Turkic speaking. But today's Hungarian is not a Turkic tongue, so they must have assimilated by the Avars that outnumbered them. László's Avar-Hungarian continuity theory states that Hungarians speak Avar.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A "kettős honfoglalás"|last=László|first=Gyula|publisher=Magvető Könyvkiadó|year=1978|isbn=|location=Budapest, Hungary|pages=|quote=|via=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbAG8vmUXdw|title=Documentary with Gyula László|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=Duna Television|access-date=}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Commons category|Eurasian Avars}}
* [[Avar Khaganate]]
* [[Huns]]
* [[Keszthely culture]]
* [[Pannonian Romance]]
* [[Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós]]

==Notes==

===Citations===
{{Reflist|2}}

===Sources===
* {{cite book |last=Beckwith |first= Christopher I. |authorlink=Christopher I. Beckwith |date=16 March 2009 |title=Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5jG1eHe3y4EC |location= |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |page= |isbn=	0691135894 |access-date=29 May 2015 |ref=harv}}
* E. Breuer, "Chronological Studies to Early-Medieval Findings at the Danube Region. An Introduction to Byzantine Art at Barbaric Cemeteries." (Tettnang 2005).
*{{cite book
  | last = Curta
  | first = Florin
  | title = Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1250.
  | publisher = Cambridge Medieval Textbooks
  | year = 2006
  | isbn = 0-521-81539-8}}
*{{cite book
  | last = Fine, Jr
  | first = John V.A
  | title = The Early Medieval Balkans; A critical survey from the sixth to the late twelfth century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0NBxG9Id58C&lpg=PA41&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false
  | publisher = The University of Michigan Press
  | year = 1991
  | isbn = 0-472-08149-7}}
*Bruno Genito & Laszlo Madaras (eds.), (2005) "Archaeological Remains of a Steppe people in the Hungarian Great Plain: The Avarian Cemetery at Öcsöd 59. Final Reports. Naples". {{ISSN|1824-6117}}
*László Makkai & András Mócsy, editors, 2001. ''[http://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/41.html History of Transylvania'', II.4, "The period of Avar rule"]
*László Gyula: A "kettős honfoglalás"  Magvető Könyvkiadó, 1978
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbAG8vmUXdw Documentary with Gyula László in Hungarian, on state television channel Duna.
*{{cite book|title=The World of the Huns: Studies in Their History and Culture|last=Maenchen-Helfen|first=Otto|publisher=University California Press|year=1976|isbn=9780520015968}}
*{{cite book|title=Regna and Gentes: The Relationship Between Late Antique and Early Medieval Peoples and Kingdoms in the Transformation of the Roman World
|last1 = Jarnut |first1=Jorg|last2=Pohl|first2=Walter|year=2003|publisher=Brill|isbn=90 04 12524 8}}
*{{cite book|title= Debating the Middle Ages: Issues and Readings|editor=Rosenwein|author=Pohl|chapter=Conceptions of Ethnicity in Early Medieval Studies
|publisher=Blackwell|year=1998|isbn=9781577180081}}
*{{cite book |last1=Kyzlasov |first1=L. R. |author-link1= |chapter=Northern Nomads |editor1-last=Litvinsky |editor1-first=B. A. |editor1-link= |date=1 January 1996 |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC |location= |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |pages=315–325 |isbn=9231032119 |access-date=29 May 2015 |ref=harv}}
*{{citation|last=Dobrovits|first=Mihaly|title="They called themselves Avar" – Considering the pseudo-Avar question in the work of Theophylaktos|journal=Transoxiana Webfestschrift Series I Webfestschrift Marshak 2003|year=2003}}
*{{citation|title=The Slavs and the Avars|first=Omeljan|last=Pritsak|year=1982|place=Spoleto}}
*{{cite book|title=The History of Theophylact Simocatta: An English Translation with Introduction and Notes| author= Michael & Mary Whitby|year= 1986|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-822799-X }}
*{{cite book|title= Romans, Barbarians, and the Transformation of the Roman World: Cultural Interaction and the Creation of Identity in Late Antiquity
|year=2011|publisher=Ashgate|editor=Ralph W. Mathisen, Danuta Shanzer|chapter= The "Runaway" Avars and Late Antique Diplomacy|author= Ekaterina Nechaeva}}
*{{citation|title=The letter sent by the Turk Khagan to the Emperor Mauricius|author= Janos Harmatta| journal = Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae|year=2001|volume=41|pages=109–118}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avar}}
<!--Categories-->
[[Category:Eurasian Avars| ]]
[[Category:First Bulgarian Empire]]
[[Category:Ancient peoples of Russia]]
[[Category:Romania in the Early Middle Ages]]
[[Category:Moldova in the Early Middle Ages]]
[[Category:6th century in the Byzantine Empire|Avars]]
[[Category:Migration Period]]
[[Category:Medieval ethnic groups of Europe]]