To this day, the great battle between the Huns of Attila and the Visigoths of Rome under the command of Aetius, which remained in history under the name of the "Battle of the Peoples", is hotly debated. Opinions also differ about the deaths in the Catalan field, according to some information the battle allegedly took place on June 20, and according to other data after June 20. Some historians say that 165 thousand people died, others say that 300 thousand people died. As though did not speak, the basic reason of great resettlement which has rendered huge influence on development of a civilization doubtless causes interests. In this regard, we offer to your attention some excerpts from R. Akhmetov's book "From Scythians to Tatars".
The procession of the Huns
The domination of the Huns on the Volga-Ural territory began to intensify. Neighboring tribes obeyed them. The tribes of the middle and lower Volga region (the “Idel” community), the clans originating from the Scythian-Saks and the Kipchaks close among themselves, were subordinate to the Huns. The Sarmatians began to retreat to the west, partly to the south. The territory, subject to the Huns, for 150 years expanded from the Baltic to the Caspian (Hun Sea). The state of the Huns in the middle of the fourth century was closely interwoven with the Empire of Ostrogoths, which included the Slavic and most of the Ugro-Finnish tribes.
The similarity of many Turkic and Old German cuneiform (but not sounding) is possible due to the mixing of the Ostrogoths first with the Scythians (Saka-Saxons) then with the Huns. The first encounter with the Ostrogoths developed into an active uprising of the Huns in the west. In 375 the Huns subordinated all the steppe territories of the Black Sea region. Sarmatians, resisting the Huns, continued to move westward. They were forced to adhere to Byzantium and Rome until the last. In the end, most of the Sarmatians mingled with the Franks, according to some reports with the ancestors of the Scots. Part of the Alans separated from the Huns. The Alan cavalry, together with the Visigoths and Vandals, traveled to Northern Italy and Africa, Portugal and Spain. It was from this time that horse troops appeared in the Western European and North African states. Many Bedouins moved from camels to horses. The spread of Islam originally came with the help of the Arab cavalry. The above-mentioned Alans mixed with many peoples. But, most of them were part of the Union of Huns. At the end of the IX century the descendants of these Alans separated from the Khazar Kaganate and created their own state, which existed before the Mongol invasion. Their modern descendants are the Ossetians. And the rest of the Alans mixed with the Bulgarians and Khazars.
The birth of new peoples
After the departure of the main part of the Huns from the Volga region, a significant part of them (Suwas, Chuvash) remained there and formed the basis of the ancestors of the present Chuvash. From the Huns of 155 in the Chuvash language could have remained the ancient Mongolian words. The fact that the Chuvash always lived in the north-west of the Turkic world, saved the Chuvash language from confusion with other related languages. The same situation was with the Sakha. Many of the words of ancient Turkic and Scythian-Hun-Bulgarian languages have survived from these two peoples. The absence of influence on these languages of Arabic and Persian languages is important in the study of the ancient Turkic language and history.
After the departure to the West of the main part of the Huns, some tribes could form new clans. The Huns, moving westwards carried with them from the dense forests of Southern Siberia the Scythians and Saks to the highlands of the Altai and Tien Shan. And the nomadic tribes of the Kipchaks, then the Yenisei Kirghiz, began to settle in the remaining lands after them. Saks and Massagetae, moving south from the banks of the Amudarya and the Syrdarya, founded the Seljuk state. Karluks from Kashgariya settled on their land, mixing with the indigenous population of that land they founded the present Uzbeks.
The Huns brought cross in Europe
The state of the Huns became a powerful force in the times of Rugila. After the death of Rugila (433), power passed into the hands of his nephew Attila. In the era of his rule the Huns became a mighty empire. Most of the Turkic-speaking tribes and peoples took part in the campaigns of Attila. However, special impressions left only the victories of the Hunnish troops. Enraged oxen, harnessed to carts covered with steel armor, armed with spears and daggers with a curved blade (in the Scythians daggers were straight) cavalry archers caused fear among the peoples of Central Europe. In many Western European written testimonies of those times, Attila and the Huns were called the "Scourge of God". During the Hun-Turkic Kaganate in Western Europe, military terms were accurately translated based on the Turkic language (commander, headquarters, attack, maneuver, parade, etc.). In general, the term "attack" means "rapid approaching on a horse, attack". Perhaps the ancestors of the French and other Western Europeans heard a lot of the battle cry of the Huns "Attaku" (attakau). Now in Kazakhstan you can find similar words, written on the posters "attan" (sit on the horse, trek).
Parade: "pa" - in the Persian-Turkish languages, the affix that gives meaning to "big, important, solemn, high, etc." (patsha, pasha, padeshah, Pamir) and "rad" means a series, separation, group, line up in a row. Then the word "parade" means: to be built in a solemn order. Rome and Constantinople carefully studied the achievements of the Hun army. For example, Aetius (commander of the Roman army during the Battle of Catalonia) in his youth lived for some time in the palace of Rugila. But, still, Western Europe was not yet ready to recognize the military art of the Huns. Western Europe still slanders them, trying to justify their helplessness before the army of the Huns. However, it was the Huns who "put on trousers and boots on Europeans", "taught to use a fork at the table".
Cross - the sign of Tengri depicted on the victorious banners of the Huns became the "beginning of the calculation" of the Christian crosses.
The new horde of Attila
Huns crossed the Carpathian Mountains and settled in Hungary and Yugoslavia. In the new horde of Attila were multi-storey palaces and wooden houses. Tents, framed with colorful fabrics, were used. Nowhere is it indicated that in the external appearance of the Huns there are exact similarities with the Mongoloids. Of course, even now their traces can be traced to the peoples that have mixed with them (Hungarians, Germans, Russian Ugro-Finns, Finns). These similarities between Germans and Finns could have remained from the Saxons of the Baltic, if the Finns were descended from the Scythian-Saks. Usually they are of a strong constitution, black-haired, with deep-set narrow eyes (this may be because they often mixed with ancient Koreans and Chinese) and have a concave nose. Women decorated clothes for kopecks and jewelry. Usually this is typical of the Huns. They were called "white Huns".
Giving grace to the Eternal City
The purpose of Attila was to destroy the indestructible power of the Roman-Byzantine Empire. In the decisive battle on the Catalan Field (northeastern France) on June 22, 415, the Huns failed to break through the line of the Roman army. There were difficulties with provisions. Attila was forced to dissolve the Allied army. In this battle, the greatest losses were suffered by the Germans and Goths, who fought on two flanks. Many historians consider this campaign one of the greatest campaigns in the history of mankind. Despite such a failure, the next year the Huns with a small army conquered Italy. Everyone thought that "Rome fell." The Pope of Rome, asking for mercy for the Romans and the "eternal" city, went out to meet Attila. The weak point of the Huns was that they could provide themselves with food and fodder. The Romans used the drought of that year as a defense method, they fortified themselves in one city, and the provisions in the remaining territories were destroyed. The Huns, having conquered the city in Northern Italy and did not find food there, were forced to return back, never having won the "eternal city". The best armies of the West fell under the Battle of Catalan. But, during the preparation of a new campaign, in the year 453, Attila suddenly dies.
Defeated before the victors
Because of the disagreement between the sons of Attila the empire began to disintegrate. In 454, during the battle on the bank of the Nedao River, the heir of Attila Ellak perishes. The second son Irnik in the 454-456 leads the Huns from the western Carpathians in the Black Sea region. In the 463rd year the Eastern Huns (translated from the Mongolian language "white warriors") were defeated by Ugro-Finnish tribes, formerly their subordinate allies. "Madi-ary" (People of Madi) was the leading tribe of the Eastern Huns. The Union of the defeated Huns and the Ugro-Finns were the ancestors of today's Hungarians. It is necessary to pay attention that, in the new name, the victorious tribe first names the name of the defeated tribe. The second name is the Magyars. This is an indicator of the authority and glory of the Huns. Along with the campaigns of the Huns, the names of subordinate Bulgarian are mentioned several times.
The Western Huns settled in the Black Sea region (tribesmen of Attila) in the 467th year were defeated by these Bulgarian. Another son of Attila – Dengiz hastily tried to unite the remaining Huns, but he himself perishes. His head was taken to Constantinople in 469th year. Together with the defeat of the Huns in China, the Hun Empire in Europe also perished. However, the ups and downs of both peoples do not refute the fact that they did not lose touch, contributed to each other. Compared with the western and Chinese Huns, Ephtalites spent the next two centuries waging wars in the south of Eurasia and were looking for a "place under the sun". Perhaps in the 472nd year they led their army to the Caspian Sea to help their northwestern brothers. But, realizing that they were late, they returned to Central Asia, Afghanistan and India. In the golden age, the Turkic state (the Huns, khanate) took under its wing the vast territory of Central Eurasia. Despite the large space separating their Turkic-speaking tribes and clans, they were always in touch with each other, powerful subordinate authorities that could stop the civil strife.
Translated by Raushan MAKHMETZHANOVA
