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The Gepidae, a branch of the Old Germanic peoples who at the beginning of the first millennium AD were living along the shores of the Baltic Sea, started to migrate southward in the mid-third century. They settled in the region of the upper course of the Tisza (Rum. Tisa). Most of them remained in their places during the Hunnish domination and regained their independence in 453. In 471, they occupied the town Sirmium at the shore of the Sava and made it the residence of their kings. In the following century, they ruled over a large territory from the Sava to the eastern Carpathian mountains. In 567, the Avars, in coalition with the Longobards, defeated the Gepidae and abolished their kingdom. Gepidae are, however, mentioned in historical records even later. Theophylaktos Simokattes related that Priskos, the Byzantine general, when fighting the Avars in the Banat in 601 AD, found three Gepidic villages there. According to Theophanes, Priskos defeated the Avars and collected 9.000 prizoners, of whom 3000 were Avars, 800 Slavs, 3.200 Gepidae, and 2.000 Abarbarians@. Archaeological excavations revealed material remains of the Gepidae which date as late as from the mid-seventh century.

Gepidia extended, according to Iordanes, from the plains between the Danube and the Tisza to the east, as far as to the river AFlutausis@ (probably the Olt). This record was confirmed by archaeological finds. Two periods may be distinguished: the first is that of the Gepidic kingdom (475B567 AD). Characteristic are the settlements with large dwelling places with cottages around (MoreŐtiBMalomfalva, Ôeica Mic| BKissejk, Porumbenii MiciBKisgalambfalva) and the cemeteries of inhumation, with rows of tombs (ClujBCardoŐ, LechinŰa de MureŐBMaroslekence, MoreŐtiBMalomfalva, SomeŐeniBSzamosfalva, etc.). There are many objects typical of the Gepidic settlements, such as combs, fibulae with 3 or 5 buttons, clasps, sometimes decorated by the pattern of an eagle-head, arms, sickles, fusaiol-s (cf. above, p. 168, note 3), earthenware made on a wheel or by hand, etc. Weapons are rare in the tombs. The orientation of the tombs in a west to east direction and certain Christian symbols, for example on a breast-plate found at ClujBSomeŐeni suggest the presence of Christianity at the end of the 5th century and in the 6th. The first period ended in 567 AD, when the Gepidic kingdom was defeated by the Avars. In the following, second period, the Gepidic material remains show a different character. This period is characterized by large cemeteries with hundreds of tombs (BandBMezĹbánd, BrateiBBaráthely, NoŐlac B Nagylak). The fibulae disappear, there are sets of belts, more lances and bows; inlay of iron with silver (Tauschierung) was used; among earthenware pieces, pear-formed vases dominate. New funeral rites appear: horses are being put into the tombs. In this period, the Gepidae were ruled by the Avars and a part of the new material culture was probably induced by Avar influence.
The Gepidae pursued agriculture and raised cattle; workrooms of silversmiths and of weaving were discovered at Band and at MoreŐti, respectively.

The Avars



Probably coming from Mongolia, the Avars occupied the steppes of southern Russia some time before the 6th century. In 558, they sent an envoy to Byzantium, offering their services in exchange for certain territories and for money. In 567, the Avars attacked the Gepidae, defeated them and occupied their country. During the second half of the 6th century and the first three decades of the 7th, Byzantium suffered many invasions from the Avars, who reduced Sirmium after a siege of three years. In alliance with the Persians, the Avars laid siege to Constnatinople but were driven back.

At the height of their power, the Avars reigned over a vast territory between the Alps, the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea. The main sources concerning the ethnic composition of the Avar Empire are the writings of Byzantine authors, who recorded Avars, Gepidae, and Slavs. Several successfull uprisings of Slavic tribes are recorded, for example the revolt of the Vends in 623.

A large number of Avar settlements and cemeteries were found, particularly in Hungary. Fortifications are described in historical records. Best known are the cemeteries: more than 30.000 tombs were excavated. Characteristic of the material in this tombs is, among other things, that the waist-belt replaces the fibula of earlier periods. This is explained by the fact that the Avars were equestrians and a waist-belt is more effective in holding the clothes together when riding. The men were laid down in the tombs with their horses, arms and horse-trappings. Up to the end of the 7th century, the art reflected by these objects was being characterized by geometrical ornaments pressed upon a print. It shows a certain degree of Byzantine influence. After a transition period of about 40 years, i.e., after 720 AD, the motives changed. Figures of plants and of animals were used more frequently and they were cast and decorated. This new art shows Asian features. The cause of this change is probably that a new population coming from the east took the place of the earlier one.

Their centre of power being in the Great Hungarian Plain, the Avars penetrated into Transylvania along the valleys of the great rivers. Archaeological remains were described from Dumbr|veni (Erzsébetváros), Corund (Korond), Tg. Secuiesc (Kézdivásárhely), etc., as well as from the Banat and from CriŐana. Specific Avar objects from around 700 AD were also found along the MureŐ and some of its tributaries at Aiud (Nagyenyed), GâmbaŐ (Marosgombás), TeiuŐ (Tövis), and Câmpia Turzii (Aranyosgyéres), mostly in tombs. These tombs also contain objects of the Byzantine style, particularly fibulae and ear-rings.

Thus, according to archaeological evidence, the Avars populated the Banat, CriŐana, and parts of Transylvania. Their number in Transylvania does not seem to have been very high, but this is difficult to estimate. As in other territories, they probably lived together with Slavic tribes.

The power of the Avars was broken in 795B796, when the Franks destroyed the residence of the kaganat (the hring). The chronicle of Nestor affirms that all Avars died, but it is known that part of them retired to the territories east of the Tisza whence the Franks did not follow them. The last reliable mention of Avars in Central Europe is from the year 822, and from 873 there is a record of uncertain character. However,



...elements of Avar material culture continue to exist in the course of the 9th century AD but it is not known whether these indicate the real existence of Avars or only the preservation of some cultural influence.

What is known about the Slavs in Transylvania derives mostly from archaeology. Slavic tribes came to this territory probably as early as during the period of the Gepidae, in the 5th century; a number of them were apparently settled there by the Avars in the 6th century. The first specific Slavic object, a klebec (a kind of baking-plate) was found in the Avar cemetery found at Band (Hung. MezĹbánd). It dates from the period between 600B630 AD. These Slavs came probably from their original homeland at the beginning of the 7th century to the upper course of the MureŐ. Approximately in the same period migrated other Slavic tribes to the territory of present day Covasna county, where an unusually high number of placenames and river names of Slavic origin are still found in the Hungarian (Szekler) toponymy (such as Csernáton, cf. Slavic …erna ´black´, or the river name Feketeügy, translated from Slavic …erna voda, etc.). In the 7th century, the Slavs populated also the valleys of the rivers Târnava (Hungarian KüküllĹ), and the name of these rivers was transferred to Rumanian and Transylvanian Saxon (Kokel); the Hungarians translated it. Slavic cemeteries with the rite of cremation appeared in Transylvania during the 7th century. The largest of these is that found at Bratei, cemetery No 2, which started to be used in the early 8th century. There, 210 tombs of cremation were found. Avar remains include 34 tombs of inhumation, 2 tombs with horses, as well as objects typical of the Avars (stirrups, bridles, decorations of girdles of cast bronze, vases, etc.) are found together with material remains of the Slavs. Most of the Slavic cemeteries in Transylvania show the rite of cremation, but a small number of the tombs contain bones. The rite of cremation was used also in the large cemeteries found at NuŐfal|u (Szilágynagyfalu) and SomeŐeni (Szamos- falva). As shown by the style of some metal objects, these cemeteries date from the period between the early 8th century and the end of the 9th century. A number of objects show analogies in tombs found in present day northern Hungary and southern Slovakia (Érsekújvár, Slovakian Nové Zámky), GyĹr, Komárom, etc. According to István Bóna (in Erdély története I p. 187B188), the Slavs living here came from the northeast. IR 1960 considered, on the basis of metal objects of the type Keszthely (western Hungary), wooden buckets of the same type as those found in Hungary and in Moravia, pottery decorations (bands of horizontal and wave-lines) typical of the Slavs who lived along the middle course of the Danube, that the population here belonged to western Slavic groups.

starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin...sort=prnum


Protoform ba:j
Altaic etymology Altaic etymology
Meaning 1 rich, noble 2 many, numerous
Old Turkic baj 1 (Orkh., Yen., OUig.), Karakhanid baj 1 (MK, QB), Middle Turkic baj 1, Turkish baj 1, Azeri baj 1, Gagauz baj 1 Turkmen ba:j 1, Khaladzh -, Salar -, Sary-Yughur pa"j 1 , Tatar baj 1, bajtaq 2, Kirghiz baj 1, Kazakh baj 1, Noghai baj 1 Balkar baj 1, Kumyk baj 1, Karakalpak baj 1, Uzbek bo|j 1, Uighur baj 1, Bashkir baj 1, Khakassian paj 1, Tuva-Tofalar Baj 1, Altai baj 1, bajtaq 2, Shor -, Chuvash pojan 1, Yakut ba:j 1, Dolgan ba:j, ba:jdak, ba:jdyk 1

Comments

EDT 384, VEWT 56, TMN 2, 259, ÝÑÒß 2, 27-29, 36, Ëåêñèêà 304, 332, Stachowski 55, 56. Turk. > Mong. bajan 'rich' (KW 29, Ùåðáàê 1997, 103), whence Ewk. bajan etc. (TMN ibid., Doerfer MT 37). NB.

Naravno to samo po sebi ne dokazuje da je bio Baian turcin ali dodajmo jos:
1. Baian je bio "khaghan" sto je druga rec iz tog perioda. Verovatno nema dvojbe da je ta rec Altajska.
BTW, nasao sam na netu neki izvor koji navodi imena ovako:

Quote:

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AVAR KHANATE
Sarosios (while still in the Ukraine)........fl. early 6th cent.
?
Bayan...........................................c. 565-602
N-- ...............................................602-630
??
Tudun..............................................795-803
Zodan..............................................803-805
Subject to the Carolingian Empire from 805
Theodore......................................805-814
Abraham.......................................fl. 810's
Tutun......................................fl. c. 826
Territories not absorbed by the Carolingians were divided between Bulgaria and Moravia.

Teofilakt Simokata kaze da su Avari Oghuri a Menander Ughuri. Oghuri barem na prvi pogled trebali bi da su neki turkijski narod - ako uzmemo u obzir On Oghure. Po imenu bi mogli cak zakljuciti da su Chuvashko turkijski narod. Ako su Bolgar (Volga Bugari) Chuvashi, a Bugari On Oghur, onda bi Oghuri mogli biti Chuvashki Turci ili tkz. r-turkijski narod. OK, to bi sad morali analizirati na avarskom jeziku, t.j. jeziku kojeg gotovo da nema. Nema ga ni toliko da proverimo kakvu vezu imaju sa Avarima sa Kavkaza.

Dosli su sa teritorija koji su kontrolirali Turci - Turski Khaghanat.
====================
Ako to zbrojimo, sve nam ukazuje na Turkijski narod. Nije bas prima facie dokaz ali tesko moze tko da ospori kako ovi dokazi stvarno ukazuju prema Turcima.

OK, ostali su jos skeleti i kosturi. Probat cu naci nesto o tome - stvar je stvarno intrigantna.

Quote:

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Sary-Yughur pa"j; Khakassian paj; Chuvash pojan; Turk. > Mong. bajan 'rich'
Slovenin, u vezi onog naseg Apar, primijeti ove oblike na paj-. Abar bi dakle zaista dijalektalno bilo Apar.

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Pojavljuje se i kao paj-. To je zanimljivo u vezi sa A-pa/Aba(r). Samo mi iz onih gornjih tekstova bas nije jasno koja je bila funkcija onih A-pa izmedju ostalih turaka pa ne bih jos pravio prebrze zakljucke. U svakom slucaju imas pravo, kot turkijskih jezika promena pa-/ba- postoji. Sad bi trebali o tome vise znati da nam to nesto kaze. Morali bi Avare dovesti u vezu sa Sary-Yughur, Khakassian i Chuvash. Oko Chuvasha vec ja nesto "bajam" gore ( ). Oghor/Ughur -> On Oghur -> Bugari -> Volga Bugari -> Chuvash

Pa onda Avarski "Baian" -> Chuvashki "Pojan"
Sad, kada i kako p->b ili b->p, to vec nemamo pojma. Ko kaze da je "p" oblik stariji? Nisam siguran dali su vec rascistili jel Chuvashki jezik stariji oblik od Ughurskog, ili je nastao iz Ughurskog ili su se i jedan i drugi razvili iz proto oblika?

Sary-Yughur -> (Y)ughur??? Samo nagadjam, pojma nemam.

Pit graves, artificial skull deformation, Sarmatians

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The main difficulty in utilising archaeology in the study of the Proto-Bulgarian history arises from the fact that till the beginning of the 8-th century most of them lived nomadic life, with no permanent settlements or necropolises and they had left scarce archaeological material. Furthermore, very often they had borrowed or even appropriated elements of the material culture of their more advanced settled neighbours, which impedes even more the recognition of their material remains.
Nevertheless, even at that early stage there are some faetures characteristic for the Proto-Bulgarians. First, the burial practices distinguish them from the neighbouring peoples and, as the results show, they was established long before their settling down. Typical to some extend are also their dwellings and pottery. And finally, despite of the very active mixing at times with other peoples, Proto-Bulgarians had preserved a certain physical characteristics, and this also helps in their archaeological recognition.

Inhumation was the most common way of burial. However, a part of the Proto-Bulgarians or most probably, some of the accompanying them to the Balkans tribes, practised cremation. The Proto-Bulgarian necropolises, investigated up to now on the territory of the former USSR, contain almost exclusively inhumations. The (usually) stretched bodies of the dead rest in rectangular, not too deep pits, most often on their backs. In the Soviet literature this type of burial is called 'yamnij' (pit graves) [1]. Very characteristic is the scarcity of the accompanying objects - one, rarely two, earthenware pots and a spot of meat. Sacrificed animals - dogs and horses, are exceptions. The first researches of the pit burials had explained their scaricity with the low social status of the buried people. But the subsequent archaeological excavations revealed that such are all of the burials in some necropolises, and that these necropolises outline clear-cut territories. Thus the pit burials represent an ethnographic characteristic of that population and reflect the religious ideas about 'the other world', where the souls of the dead have everything they need. Sometimes there is a primitive sarcophagus built of rock or thick wooden slabs, or a cover of boards or stones. Rarely there is a niche dug along one of the faces of the burial pit, and the dead is laid inside it. It is Important that the pit burials followed strictly a given orientation. In some of them it is western (the dead's head points to the west), and in others - northern. A classical example of the burial rituals of the Proto-Bulgarians in Eastern Europe is the Zlivka necropolis near the village of Ilichevki, the district of Doneck [2].

All of the buried pertain to a single anthropological type - brachiocranic europoids with small Mongoloid admixtures. Specific to the Danube Proto-Bulgarians is also the artificial deformation of the skulls, in some necropolises found in 80% of the material.

While still nomads, the Proto-Bulgarians lived in portable leather tents - 'jurts'. When they started to settle down and to built permanent dwellings of clay and wood, these still followed the old forms and internal design, and are again called jurts. Later, under foreign influence, the oval jurts were abandoned at the expense of more comfortable quadrangular dwellings, usually semi-dugouts, while the characteristic open fire-place at the centre was preserved for much longer. Strong foreign influence is also seen in the produced ceramic articles. Specific to the Proto-Bulgarians were the earthen cauldrons with inner lugs, which are not found among the neighbouring peoples and could be used for determination of the etnical origin of archaeological finds where such cauldrons occur [3].

Using the above specific features of the material culture of the Proto-Bulgarians, which were established in archaeological remainsfrom the in VIII-IX c., but doubtless representing earlier beliefs and practices (especially the funeral rites), it is worth trying to trace out their (eventual) earlier occurences. We must focus our attention on the regions of the Eastern Fore-Caucasus and the Lower Volga region. First, it is there where the documentary evidence locates the Proto-Bulgarians for first time. Almost all researches consider the influence of the Sarmatians, who had inhabited the lands of the Northern Caspian and the Lower Volga region, as the main factor shaped the Proto-Bulgarian material culture [4]. Some historians (A.P. Smirnov, V.T. Sirotenko, Al. Burmov) even claim Proto-Bulgarians to be of Sarmatian origin [5]. Also, it must be taken into account that in their later history in Eastern Europe the close cohabitation of the Proto-Bulgarians with the Alans - another Iranian-speaking group, led to the formation in the VIII-IX c. of their common Saltovo-Majack culture.

There are three stages in the development of the Sarmatian culture according to the Soviet archaeological literature - a) Early Sarmatian (IV-II c. BC); b) Middle Sarmatian (I c. BC - I c. AD); c) Late Sarmatian (II-IV c. AD). The Proto-Bulgarians appeared in these places during the Late Sarmatian period. Exactly at that time profound changes in the material culture of the Lower Volga Sarmatians occurred. Most affected were the structure of the graves and burial rites. The type of the graves was unified, and then it represented predominantly narrow pit graves with a niche dug along one of the long faces of the burial pit, and seldom - by catacombs. The orientation of the graves also changed to northern. Wide spread became the practice of artificial deformation of the skulls, in more than the half of the skulls in some places. In several necropolises, as that at Kalinovka, sprinkling of chalk on the grave's bottom - one of the most characteristic features of the Sarmatian burials of the earlier period, ceased [6]. Simultaneously, the Sarmatian contacts with Central Asia intensified. Archaeologically detected is the introduction of Central Asian objects - weapons, luxury goods and pottery, especially red-clay polished pottery, similar to that of the Kushans. It is important that the newly adopted burial practices are characteristic for Central Asia since the end of the first millennium BC. Graves with niches and examples of artificial skull deformation are attested in a number of necropolises in Central Asia - near Tien-Shan and Pamir-Altaj [7], in the Talas valley and in Khoresm. Thus the changes in the Sarmatian culture point to a penetration and settling of Central Asian peoples.

Despite these abrupt changes, K.F. Smirnov considers the group of Alano-Aoric tribes in Lower Volga to have preserved its ethnical purity, but the work of L.G. Nechaeva [8] on the catacombs and the pit graves with niches, advanced well-grounded arguments that there are principal differences between these two types of grave structures. Only the catacombs could be considered as belonging to Alans, the burials in niches must be connected with the penetration of new ethnical groups. Examining several similar to that from Lower Volga graves with northern orientation from the lower course of the river Kuban (stanitsa Novo-Labinskja), she comments that these burials confirm the early penetration of a tribe of the Hunnish tribal union, which after the collapse of the Huns settled in Kuban and led to the formation of the Kuban Proto-Bulgarians. V.P. Shilov joins the opinion that in a Late Sarmatian time (II-IV c. AD) groups of Central Asian tribes penetrated the Lower Volga region, bringing with them the peculiarities of their burial practices [9]. It is confirmed by the anthropological studies of V.V. Ginsburg from Lower Volga - in the Late Sarmatian there was a considerable change in the racial type, evidencing a penetration of people of anthropological type characteristic for the region between the rivers Amu Darya and Sur Darya - brachiocrany, wide-spread artificial skull deformation, in some cases - weakly expressed Mongoloid features [1 .

All this is found at the classical Proto-Bulgarian necropolis at Zlivka. Very important are also the archaeological excavations of several necropolises in the Bishkek valley in Southern Tajikistan, in the basin of the river Kafir-nigan, a right tributary of Amu-Darya. Most of the graves show striking similarities with that from Lower Volga [11]. A niche had been dug along one of the longer faces of the graves and the entrance to the nichehad been carefully blocked by rock slabs. Sometimes the grave pit, which itself serves as an entrance to the niche, is completely filled with stones. In all cases there are stones above the grave pit, forming a peculiar lid, closing the grave. That double 'shutting' of the dead reveals the religious ideas trying to prevent dead man's soul from escaping the grave and harming the live, i.e. it was a kind of 'making harmless' the soul of the dead, especially widely practised among the Turkic peoples. Seldom another type of graves is found - quadrangular pits with no niches, but with a lid of stones at the top, sometimes with a primitive sarcophagus. Sometimes along the long sides of the pit there are widenings, steps, which are also very characteristic for the Volga Bulgars [12].


A sketch of a pit grave with a niche from the Bishkek valley, Tajikistan.
(After D.Dimitrov, The Proto-Bulgarians north and west of the Black Sea, Varna, 1987, p. 63)

Another important site is the Babashov necropolis, located on the right bank of Amu Darya, not far from the Bishkek valley. All graves are oriented to the north and usually they are individual. The objects accompanying the dead are few - one or two earthenware pots, and little meat (almost exclusively mutton). About 50% of the skulls are artificially deformed. The buried are mesobrachiocranic europeids with slight Mongoloid features [13]. Thus the necropolises in Central Asia (Northern Bactria) have much in common with those from Lower Volga. Another very important moment is that the excavations of the Old Bulgarian necropolis No 1 near Devnja, Bulgaria found a grave (No 91), strikingly similar to these from the Amu Darya basin.


A sketch of a pit grave No 91 with a niche from Devnja necropolis No1, Bulgaria. (The lid of stones had been removed before drawing the sketch.)
(After D.Dimitrov, The Proto-Bulgarians north and west of the Black Sea, Varna, 1987, p. 64)

The grave is covered by stone lid, there is a niche with the dead on the western side of the northerly oriented grave. The skull is artificially deformed, the niche - tightly closed by big stones with sheep bones laying nearby [14].



The necropolises in Northern Bactria are well dated. Those in the Bishkek valley had existed from the end of II c. BC till the beginning of I c. AD, the Babashnov necropolis - from I c. BC till III c. AD [15].



A map of the Amu Darya - Caucasus region.
(The map was produced using XEROX Map Viewer)

They are attributed to unidentified nomads who at the end of the II c. BC attacked the Greko-Bactrian kingdom and put an end to its existence. According to Mandel'shtam they had come from the northern or north-eastern parts of Central Asia. These necropolises ceased to function during the II-III c. AD, exactly during the time when profound transformations of the material culture and burial rites of the late Sarmatians in Lower Volga took place. This makes us conclude that during the general unrest among the nomadic peoples, which followed the rout of the empire Hu-Nu (the eastern Huns), the population maintaining these necropolises moved westwards and settled in the lands north of the Caspian Sea. There they entered in very active relations with the local Sarmatian population. If we accept the authenticity of the identification of the people bu-gu/pu-ku, who according to Chinese documents inhabited the basin of Amu Darya during the first centuries AD [16], then we could attribute at least part of the Late Sarmatian material remains in Lower Volga to penetrated from south-east ancestors of the Proto-Bulgarians. Subjected to an intensive process of Sarmatization, in result they became bearers of an essentially Sarmatian culture with some elements of Central Asian, especially Kushan, culture [17].

The anthropological data can be interpreted as pointing to assimilation processes between the local population and the newcomers. It seems that in the first half of the IV c. AD a heavily Sarmatized Turkic people moved to the steppes of eastern Fore-Caucasus, where they became known as Unogundurs/Unogurs-bulgars or only Bulgars. It is quite possible that the Hajlandurs (hajlandurkh), who according to Egishe occupied the lands of Northern Dagestan, are part of the same Unogundurs. The information of the Armenian historian about the active contacts of the Hajlandurs with the Kushans is also indicative.

IZVOR:
members.tripod.com/~Grozn.../index.htm

www.ozturkler.com/data_en..._11_05.htm

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Traces left by Avar People in Europe


However, it has been observed that the Avar influence kept going in Europe. The traces of their mementoes include the title of "Ban" that was one of the highest military-governmental titles among the Croatian people (Baga in Gok-Turk language and Bagan in Avar language that was present among the Bulgarians and Hungarians) and the titles such as Boyar and Yugru, etc. and and the name of the cities such as Navarino in Greece (=Pylos, with the original form of Avarino), and Antivari in Albania (=Br, with its ancient form of Civitas Avarorum). Furthermore, the archaeological works pertaining to the Avar period that were excavated in Hungary (the cast tools and horse harnesses with the animal fight descriptions upon these materials) are accepted as the examples of the Turkish art in Europe (animal style) that originally developed in the Central Asia and the traces of this style can also be observed in France in the period of Movergin family.

The Protsotvats golden treasury in Albania pertains to Avar people. Additionally, the archaeological researches have also displayed the influence of Avar Turkish art over the Germanic and Slavic arts. A treasure composed of 23 units of golden pots with Turkish inscriptions on them was found in the site of Nagy Szent in the Central Hungary in the year of 1799 and the question about the Turkish tribe to which this treasure belonged is a still debated issue. However, it has been alleged that this famous treasure belonged to the period of Avar people.

As a consequence; the domination of Avar people in Europe for more than two centuries is of great significance for several reasons in respect of the European history. First of all, the Slavic tribes had lived under the long-term Turkish domination for the first time and they found the opportunity to advance from the stage of "tribal" life to the stage of state organisation due to the influence of Turkish state and military organisations. Secondly, the Turks had much more blended with various Germanic (Frank) groups. This relation has been mostly composed of reciprocal struggles; however, both tribes were forced to resolve a state of modus vivendi in the capacity of neighbouring groups.

Nego, kad smo vec kod Bayana - i kumanski je jezik kao jezik tkz. Kipchaka (u medjuvremenu nabavio sam i Kumanski recnik) poznavao rec bayan u znacenju bogat covek, princ. Rec je ocigledno opste prihvacena u svim turskim jezicima sto niposto ne znaci da nije izvorno iranska. Jer teritoriji gde se vrsila etnogeneza turskih naroda leze u susedstvu iranskih naroda. Jos je i danas taj teritorij Turkestana naseljen turskim i iranskim narodima. Pa su tako drevna Sogdiana i Baktrija kao verovatno kulturno i politicki vise razvijene zemlje vrsile jak utecaj na turske narode koji su se u to doba formirali.

A Kovacevic ...

Pa tako, stvarno tamo pise, da je postotak mongoloidnih skeleta u kasnoavarskim grobovima puno veci od ranoavarskih grobova. Ali ni u kom slucaju ti grobovi nisu dominirajuci ni u ranom a isto tako ni u kasnom avarskom kaganatu.

Kovacevic ipak ne smatra da je iz toga moguce izvuci zakljucak kako su Avari ranog i kasnog kaganata bili razliciti narodi. Stavise, on smatra kako se u doba posle 626 i avarskog kraha kod Carigrada avarski kaganat podelio na dva dela - istocni i zapadni. Da se rastezala moc Avara sve do Kavkaza i Volge, Kovacevic dokazuje arheoloskom gradjom. I taj je istocni avarski kaganat bio u konstantnom kontaktu sa utecajima iz istocne Azije te su razliciti klanovi istocnih Avara kad su migrirali u Panoniju doneli novu kulturu sa sobom. A pogotovo je ta migracija, po Kovacevicu, u vezi sa porastom moci novog kaganata na istoku - Hazara. Ti su naime srusili vlast istocnog Avarskog kaganata, pa su klanovi istocnih Avara tako izvrsili jaku kolonizaciju Panonije i uneli neke nove elemente u Avarsku kulturu. Doduse, prema Kovacevicu izgleda da su neki istocno Avarski klanovi vec i pre velikog porasta Hazarske moci migrirali prema zapadu i potisnuli su (opet prema Kovacevicu na bazi arheoloske gradje) avarske klanove iz starijeg perioda.

Jer Kovacevic pise veoma nejasno - pretezno europeidne rasne tipove smenili su mongoloidni rasni tipovi (tako na str. 84). Pa onda nabaraja pet najcescih tipova (jos uvek str. 84) pa da bi dalje ustvrdio da postoje dva prelazna tipa cije je rasprostranjenje narocito znacajno: turanoidni-juznosibirski i uralski-pamirski). O % Kovacevic ne govori. Ali lepo pise kako su u ranom avarskom kaganatu avarske nekropole pripadale stanovnistvu sa pretezno evropeidnim rasnim karakterom. A ima tu i tip II sa brahikranijom koga svrstava pod dinarski, prednjeazijski, alpski) a u kasnom kaganatu javlja se tip srednjeg rasta sa brahikranijom koji je oznacen kao turanoidni (str. 85) Tome dodajmo jos podatak sa stran 213 gde se navodi, da od cca. 35.000 avarskih grobova i slucajnih nalaza gotovo da nema nekropola koje bi bile celovito i sistematski te metodoloski istrazene! On upozorava da postoje dve teorije o nestanku Avara:
1. teorija unistenja
2. teorija docekivanja Madjara
Ta druga teorija se dalje razvlaci i na hipotezu da su govorili Avari u drugom kaganatu ugrofinski jezik a ne turski, pa su se tako onda lako stopili sa Madjarima.
Kovecevic se do te hipoteze ne opredeljuje ali prema arheoloskoj gradji sumnja da je neki znacajan broj Avara docekao Madjare.
A sad dalje, ugrofinski bi znaci govorio sloj drugog Kaganata, koji bi istovremeno imao jace mongoloidne poteze koji su tipicni za turanoidne ili cak mongolske tipove? A u prvome Kaganatu ziveli bi europeidni tipovi a govorili bi turski?

U debati oko Kovacevica pojavilo se veoma zanimljivo pitanje u vezi sa antropologijom Avara. Da li je moguce poverovati tvrdnjama Kovacevica o vise izrazenim mongoloidnim karakteristikama kod Avara "drugog kaganata"? Da bi saznao nesto vise u vezi sa tim pitanjem, nabavio sam sledecu knjigu:
Pál Lipták, Avars and Ancient Hungarians, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest 1983

U toj je knjizi moguce procitati neke zanimljive podatke u vezi sa antropologijom Avara. U nastavku iznosim neke od njih:

1. Liptak se poziva na autora Simonyia, koji tvrdi da su se elementi Proto-Bugara pojavili u Karpatskom bazenu vec u 5. stol. To znaci, da su Bugari derivat Huna.

2. Liptak tvrdi, da postoje dokazi o duzem prisutstvu Avara u Panoniji nego sto se to opcenito tvrdi. Neka groblja koja su arheologi smestali u 8. stol. pokazala su se kao starija - 6. ili 7. stol. a druga mladja - 9. stol. Ti dokazi demantiraju dosadasnje teorije o depopulaciji Karpatskog bazena u 5-6. stol. i jos jedanput u 9. stol.

3. Sa arheoloskog stajalista je primetljivo kako grupa koja se karakterizira sa grifonima i vinovom lozom na pojasnim kopcama i vecinom smesta u 8. vek, pokazuje vise mongoloidnih znakova nego grupa koja se karakterizira kao rani Avari. To vazi i za tkz. konjska groblja - t.j. sahrane konjanika zajedno sa konjem.

4. Prema Liptaku poznata je cinjenica kako su se Gepdi i Langobardi u velikom broju asimilirali u Avarskoj populaciji. Svi su ti stanovnici preuzeli znakove Avarske kulture i tako nije moguce praviti etnicku distinkciju na bazi arheoloskih nalaza.

5. Avari su najverovatnije govorili turskim jezikom ali su sigurno obuhvatali i druge etnicke grupacije. Sa imenom Avari treba oznacavati etnicko heterogenu populaciju tkz. Avarskog perioda.

6. Liptak dalje prezentira podatke o iskopavanju nekropole Alattyán u severnom delu medjurecja Dunava i Tise. Ta je nekropola bila iskopana izmedju 1934-38 i smatra se da je bila obradjena oko 90%. Na tom groblju naislo se na ostatke od 718 individuma. Neki su kosturi bili lose sacuvani pa je tako prva analiza obuhvatila samo 244 lobanje i 141 celi skelet. Sve u svemu, radi se o najvecoj Avarskoj nekropoli. Liptak je tu nekropolu obradio pomocu taksonomicne analize u koju je ukljucio 111 skeleta (59 muskaraca i 52 zene). Rezultati su:
Brachycranic group M 16 Z 27
Cromagnoids M 18 Z 6
Mediterraneans M 10 Z 8
Nordoids M 12 Z 6
Protomorphic Europids M 2 Z 3
Mongoloids M 1 Z 2

Na groblju je moguce skelete svrstiti u tri grupe:
- najranija grupa (nista nije iskopano)
- druga grupa (nepotpuno iskopana sa dosta unistnih grobova); prema grobnim dodacima ta bi se grupa identifikovala kao ranoavarska
- treca grupa; ta bi se grupa prema grobnim dodacima identifikovala kao kasnoavarska

Tu ipak treba napomenuti, da su sva tri skeleta sa mongoloidnim karakteristikama svrstena u tkz. ranoavarsku grupu (iako ni ta datacija jos nije sasvim sigurna). Dve su zene tkz. Baikalo-mongoloidnog tipa a jedan muskarac tkz. Uralo-mongoloidnog tipa.

Ima jos nekih zapazanja:
- tkz. Pamirski brahikranijski tipa je uglavnom ogranicen na zensku populaciju kasnoavarske grupe
- muskarci ranoavarske grupe su uglavnom mediteranski i koromagnoidni tip a zene ranoavarske grupe su uglavnom brahikranijske
- muskarci kasnoavarske grupe su vecinom veoma visoki te ravnog i izduzenog lica (nordoidni elementi).
- zene kasnoavarske grupe su vecinom brahikranijske sa puno Pamirskog tipa.

Socijalna stratifikacija je istrazivana samo kod muskih skeleta. U grobovima muskaraca viseg ranga (onih sa pojasevima), mnogo je cesca brahikranija. Toj grupi pripada i jedini mongoloidni muskarac. U siromasnijim grobovima mnogo su cesci Nordijsko-kromagnoidni tipovi ali ima i tu relativno mnogo brahikranijskih tipova u kasnoavarskim grobovima. U svakom slucaju Liptak napominje da je stratifikacijska analiza prilicno nesigurna.

7. Groblje iz Tiszaderzsa je proucio Lebzelter. Predmet analize bila su 33 skeleta. Na tom groblju dominantni tip bio je nordijski. Vise podataka kod Liptaka nema.

8. Kod Újkécske-Óbög iskopano je 10 skeleta. Izmedju njih bilo je moguce antropoloski analizirati samo dva, koja se svrstavaju u mongoloidni tip.

9. Tiszavárkony nalaziste je puno znacajnije. Tu je vecina nalaza datiranih u ranoavarski period (7. stol.). Na zalost, to je groblje iskopano samo delomicno. Predmet analize je tako bilo samo 23 muskaraca i 9 zena. Antropoloski karakter tog ranoavarskog groblja je gotovo iskljucivo Europidni. Da se radi o Avarima nagadja se i prema imenu mesta - Várkony (Varchonites).

10. Háros Szigetszentmiklós - tu su pronasli 4 skleta koji su bili sposobni za antropolosku analizu. Groblje se datira u prvu polovinu 7. stol. Lubanje su tkz. Brahikranijskog-Armenoidnog tipa, sto ukazuje na istocno poreklo populacije.

11. Csákberény - nekropola je sadrzavala cak 452 grobova ali su za analizu bili upotrebljivi samo 21 skelet muskaraca. Mongoloidnih tragova gotovo da nema. Groblje se datira u 6. do 7. vek.

12. Znacajno je groblje Szeged-Kundomb. Za analizu je bilo upotrebljivih 133 skeleta (M 62, Z 71). Najbrojniji tip je brahikranijski a slede cromagnoidni in nordoidni. Posebno se istice prisutstvo hameokranijske grupe sa arheomorfnim tragovima, ponekad u kombinaciji sa mongoloidnim tipom. Prema antropoloskom sustavu, populacija Szeged-Kundomb najvise slici populaciji Alattyána.

13. Liptak dalje navodi veci broj nekropola koje su bile uglavnom unistene pa su spaseni tek pokoji skelet ili lubanja. Kod tih uzoraka ponekad prevladava europoidni tip, a ponekad mongoloidni tip. U svakom slucaju, mongoloidni tip je u manjini ali se ne navodi datacija tih nekropola.

14. Fehértó - je drugo najvece nalaziste Avarskog perioda. Za antropolosku analizu bilo je upotrebljivih 151 skelet (M 75, Z 76) a taksonomicna analiza vrsena je samo sa 127 skeleta. Rezultati su taksonomicne analize su:
Brahikranija M 11 Z 25
Mediteranski tip M 14 Z 6
Cromagnoidi M 12 Z 9
Hamekranijski europoidi M 0 Z 3
Mongoloidi M 1 Z 2
Nordoidi M 26 Z 18
Na zalost nemamo dataciju nekropole

15. Sükösd-Ságod - upotrebljivih je bilo 23 muskih i 30 zenskih skeleta. Dominira Mediteransko-nordoidni tip i cromagnoidni tip. Ima samo jedan mongolodini-sinidni primerak. Datacije namamo.

16.Mélykút es Sáncdűlő je nekropola uglavnom iz ranoavarskog preioda. Za analizu upotrebljivih je bilo 19 skleta (M 11, Z 8). Uglavnom je prisutan gracilni mediteranski tip in pamirski (brahikranijski) tip. Mongoloidni tip je prisutan kod samo jednog skeleta.

17. Makkoserdő - nekropola iz kasnoavarskog perioda. Metricnomorfoloska analiza vrsena je na 60 lubanja (M33, Z27) a taksonomicna analiza na M21,Z17. Najznacajniji element je cromagnoidni (cca. 37%) ali su znacajni i brahikranijski i mediteranski elementi. Mongoloidnih tipova ima 16%.

18. Fülöpjakab dűlő - kasnoavarska je nekropola. Za analizu upotrebljenih je 23 muska skleta. Samo je jedan skelet europoidni. Od mongoloida glavni je bajkalski tip. Ali prevladavaju ipak europo-mongoloidni tipovi.

19. Posebno zanimljiva je analiza nekropole Kiskőrös jer je radjena prema ranoavarskom i kasnoavarskom periodu. Tako imamo:

Pamirski i brahikranijski tip:
kasnoavarski period M5 i Z3; ranoavarski period M1 i Z8
Armenoidni tip:
kasnoavarski period M3 i Z2; ranoavarski period M2 i Z7
Alpinski tip:
kasnoavarski period M2 i Z6; ranoavarski period M2 i Z1
Nordoidni i atlantskomediteranski tip:
kasnoavarski period M5 i Z2; ranoavarski period M7 i Z4
Iranski tip:
kasnoavarski period 0; ranoavarski period M7
Gracilno mediteranski tip:
kasnoavarski period M1; ranoavarski period M3 i Z6
Cromagnoid:
kasnoavarski period M5 i Z2; ranoavarski period M1 i Z6
Ostalo (tu su ukljucene i neke mongoloidne karakteristike):
kasnoavarski period 0; ranoavarski period M1 i Z2

Tu je primetljiv veci broj nordoida kod ranoavarskog perioda. Mongoloidi su zanemarljivi. Tog elementa u kasnoavarskom periodu uopste i nema!

20. Bakonykoppány - pronadjene su samo cetri lubanje - M2 i Z2. Ta je grupa znacajna zbog jakog mongoloidnog utecaja. Muske su lubanje bajakaskog tipa, jedna zenska centralnoazijskog mongoloidnog tipa a druga jenisejskog tipa. Nekropola je kasnoavarska.

21. Üllő-Disznójárś - ova je nekropola znacajna zbog neuobicajno visokog % mongoloida. Za analizu bilo je upotrebljivih 82 skeleta. To je jedina veca Avarska nekropola kod koje Mongoloidni element ima dominantan ulog. Cak 41% analiziranih skeleta je mongoloidnih. Ali se tu u vecini slucajeva radi o zenskim skeletima. Radi se vecinom o tkz. Sinidskom i Sayanskom tipu mongoloida. U ranoavarskom delu nekropole prevladava europoidni tip sa vecinom mediteranoida, nordoida i cromagnoida-A te 21% mongoloida. U kasnoavarskom delu cak je 46% mongoloida, a od zenskih skeleta cak je 82% mongoloidnih.

22. Liptakova sinteza:
- ranoavarski grobovi su retki i daleko jedan od drugoga
- ranoavarski grobovi su lose istrazeni
- ranoavarske i kasnoavarske nekropole se cesto nalaze jedna do druge
- nema dvojbe o centralnoazijskom izvoru Avara
- cista Avarska groblja karakterizira visi % mongoloidnih elemenata
- visi stratum ranoavarskih groblja karakterizira mongoloidni element, iako je moguce naici i na groblja kod kojih prevladava europoidni element (???)
- groblja kasnoavarskog perioda nisu nista manje heterogena - i tu je moguce naici na pretezito mongoloidne nekropole kao i europoidne nekropole
- zanimljiv je fenomen kod mesovitih rano-kasnih nekropola. Kod Kiskőrös I groblja moguce je tvrditi kako su muskarci i zene ranoavarske nekropole bili razlicitih rasnih tipova. Muskarci su vecinom Iranskog tipa (Mediteranski tip). To je moguce povezati sa Heftalitskom hipotezom o izvoru Avara. Slicno vazi i za Alattyán. Sa druge strane je Kiskőrös I grupa kasnoavarske nekropole pretezito Europoidna i brahikranijska. Isto vazi i za Homokmégy-Halom. No, pravi su Avari bili Mongoloidi i ima puno nekropola koje sadrze takve tipove. Avarski su gospodari po izvoru iz Trans-Bajkalske regije. Tek su kasnije migrirali u juznu centralnu Aziju. Tu su ziveli u simbiozi sa agrarnom populacijom a kasnije su ih Turci potisnuli prema zapadu. Prema zapadu su naravno krenuli samo konjanici.

Jos o antropologiji ranih Madjara ...

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OK, i ovo je prema Liptaku. Jeste, deda je Madjar ali to imam u ruci ... U svakom slucaju je stvar zanimljiva za nas - i sto se odnosi na Avare i sto se odnosi na Slovene:

1. Kao za Avare i kod Madjarskih groblja podaci su nepotpuni zbog nestrucnih arheoloskih iskopavanja u ranijim vremenima.

2. Od 10. - 13. stol. cca. 95% populacije Madjarske bilo je Europidne. Od tih 95% vecina bila je Nordoidna (31%), a sledi Mediteranski tip (28%), Cromagnoidi (22%), Brahikranijski tip (13%) te ostali. Za taj period nije moguce identificirati pravi mongoloidni tip. Postoji samo neki Europo-Mongolidi u grobljima od 9. - 10. stol. Npr. Szarvas-Kakapuszta-Kettoshalom. Europo-Mongolidi tu sacinjavaju do 5%, od toga je polovina Turanidna.

3. Za tkz. period osvajanja moguce je izdvojiti tri strata:
a) vladajuci sloj - vodje klanova
b) srednji sloj vojnika
c) obican narod

Od vladajuceg sloja vecina (33%) je Turanida a slede Pamirski i Uralski tip. Ima i nekih elementa izduzenih lubanja (Nordoidi i Mediteranski tip). Srednji sloj se sasvim razlikuje od vladajuceg sloja jer tu nema Turanida i Uralskog tipa. Mnogo je izrazitiji Nordoidni i Mediteranski tip. Ovi poslednji su prevladujuci i kod obicnog naroda, s tim da tu ima i prilicno dosta Cromagnoida (vise ima tipa A).

Marija Gimbutas: The Slavs, Thames and Hudson, London 1971

str. 119 - 122:

The largest of these cemeteries, at Devinska Nova Ves on the lower Morava north-west of Bratislava, was excavated by Eisner. It had nearly 1,000 graves dated by the excavator to the period form c. AD 625 to c. 800. There were 27 cremation graves, the others were inhumations, some of which may belonged to the Avars. The cemetery was located on the western edge of Avar territory and Avar influence can be inferred from such finds as bridle-bits with S-shaped cheek-pieces, stirrups, sabre-daggers, spears with narrow points, and three-barbed arrowheads in the men's graves. Other Devinska graves were equipped with Slavic artifacts of a non-nomadic type, i.e., iron knives and sickles, axes, bows and arrows, iron or bronze buckles. Women's graves were characterized by ear-rings ending in an S-curve, and glass beads. The earliest pottery in Devinska was of the Prague type, undecorated and hand-made; but here was also wheel-made ware with inverted rims and ornamented with com-like impressions. This Eisner calls "Danube type" and it is typical of the Avar culture in Austria, Pannonia, and the Tisza basin. Meat was laid in graves; the bones of sheep and horses and somtimes of pigs and stags were found. Egg shells and hen bones also appeared. these burial customs are well known form medieval and later Slavic cemeteries. The pottery of the ninth century in Slovakia was hand- and wheel-made and ornamented with wavy and horizontal lines.

In addition to the cemetery of Devinska Nova Ves and one at Zitavska Ton in eastern Slovakoa, excavated in the 1940's, seven large cemeteries were excavated in Slovakia during the last two decades [...]

[...] In all of the above menitoned cemeteries burial rites were relatively uniform: inhumation predominated and skeletons were placed in structures imitating timber huts. They were covered with boards, or lay within timber cists; and in some cases only traces of timber posts were found. The dead lay with the head facing NW or SW and very rarely were placed in any other direction. Cremation graves appear as exceptions after the mid-seventh century. the change in burial rites together with the increase of population oan of objects having oriental and Byzantine analogies, indicates a complex development of Slavic settlement in the Middle Danube region. Strong Avar and Byzantine art influence is clear: griffin and plant motifs on ornamental plates which decorated belts of Asiatic nomad type have analogies as far east as Altai and Samarkand. Horse burials and stirrups, reflex bows and several types of jewellery are of oriental, nomadic origin. Ornamental plaques and a series of ear-rings (including the star-shaped and bean-shaped typs) point to late Archaic workshops. Archeological finds reflect great movemanets of peoples and mixtures of stylistic elements.

The people buried in the Middle Danubian cemeteries will never be identified with complete cerainty. It would be unreasonable to assume that the hundreds and even thousands of graves belonged to Slavic-speaking people only. Archaelogists generally agree that they represent mixed populations consisting of Slavs, Avars and perhaps Germanic-speaking peoples who stayed on during the Avar domination. The agricultural tools indicate that the population was settled in character and probably a large proportion of the people in the course of a hundred years or so became Slavonicised. This assumption is supported by the fact that there is no break in cultural development, not even in grave types, between archaelogical remains form the "Avar period" and those of the Moravian Empire in the ninth century.

The complexity of the ethnic problem revealed by the investigation of the numerous cemeteries in the Middle Danube region of the seventh and eight centuries has led to a great deal of discussion and division between Czech and Hungarian scholars. The Czech scholars support the "Slav theory", the Hungarian basically the "Avar theory". The truth may well lie between the two since neither pure Slavs nor pure Avars were buried in most of these cemeteries. Only few Mongoloid skeleton types have been identified, and from historic records it is known that Avar hordes comprised various ethnic groups and only their leaders were Asiatic horsemen. Very rich graves with oriental jewellery and weapons appear in seventh-century cemeteries but are absent from those of a later date. The decline of weapons and belt plates of nomadic character in these later cemeteries is also conspicuous. Among burial customs evidenced by the cemeteries dating from the seventh to ninth centuries was the furnishing of the dead with food. Sheep, goat, horse, cattle, pig, stag and hen bones as well as egg shells were quite frequently found in graves. In some cases there were from five to eight eggs to a grave. Meat and eggs were laid in graves by the Slavs throughout the Middle Ages and later historic periods, indeed almost up to the present time. Very probably they indicate the Slavic ethnic element in the "Avaro-Slavic" cemeteries. In sum, there is a great deal of evidence speaking for the presence of Slavs in the Middle Danube region between the sixth and ninth centuries AD. If Slavs were in fact buried in these cemeteries, however, their culture must have been highly Avarized; in addition to which they were exposed to Byzantine and Germanic influences. All these elements moulded the Slavic material culture which was later to become that of the Moravian Empire.

M. Gimbutas kaze ovako:

The people buried in the Middle Danubian cemeteries will never be identified with complete cerainty. It would be unreasonable to assume that the hundreds and even thousands of graves belonged to Slavic-speaking people only. Archaelogists generally agree that they represent mixed populations consisting of Slavs, Avars and perhaps Germanic-speaking peoples who stayed on during the Avar domination. The agricultural tools indicate that the population was settled in character and probably a large proportion of the people in the course of a hundred years or so became Slavonicised. This assumption is supported by the fact that there is no break in cultural development, not even in grave types, between archaelogical remains form the "Avar period" and those of the Moravian Empire in the ninth century.

The complexity of the ethnic problem revealed by the investigation of the numerous cemeteries in the Middle Danube region of the seventh and eight centuries has led to a great deal of discussion and division between Czech and Hungarian scholars. The Czech scholars support the "Slav theory", the Hungarian basically the "Avar theory". The truth may well lie between the two since neither pure Slavs nor pure Avars were buried in most of these cemeteries. Only few Mongoloid skeleton types have been identified, and from historic records it is known that Avar hordes comprised various ethnic groups and only their leaders were Asiatic horsemen. Very rich graves with oriental jewellery and weapons appear in seventh-century cemeteries but are absent from those of a later date. The decline of weapons and belt plates of nomadic character in these later cemeteries is also conspicuous. Among burial customs evidenced by the cemeteries dating from the seventh to ninth centuries was the furnishing of the dead with food. Sheep, goat, horse, cattle, pig, stag and hen bones as well as egg shells were quite frequently found in graves. In some cases there were from five to eight eggs to a grave. Meat and eggs were laid in graves by the Slavs throughout the Middle Ages and later historic periods, indeed almost up to the present time. Very probably they indicate the Slavic ethnic element in the "Avaro-Slavic" cemeteries. In sum, there is a great deal of evidence speaking for the presence of Slavs in the Middle Danube region between the sixth and ninth centuries AD. If Slavs were in fact buried in these cemeteries, however, their culture must have been highly Avarized; in addition to which they were exposed to Byzantine and Germanic influences. All these elements moulded the Slavic material culture which was later to become that of the Moravian Empire.

For anyone who is interested the Chinese character for Avar is 滑 used as a sound only but having no meaning. The modern pronunciation is Hua, but the 15thC. pronunciation was Huar and reconstructors believe pronunciation 1000 years earlier was pervaps Huer/Hver. According to chinese sources they are first recorded as inhabitents of Henan prior to the Chin dynasty.

Avar language in Dagestan and Kabard language in Kabardino-Balkaria still have some affinity with Sino-Tibetan languages. Perhaps the Avars who entered Europe were a Turkicised branch.

There is no mention of Avar in any original Magyar document. However the terms Kavar/Kabar appear frequently and they were settled in Transylvania -the last Avar stronghold.

It is interesting to me that the names Kuber/Kover Kovrat/Kubrat are also reminicient (Kovrat works as 'Avar Father'). Also Hrvat, Hvrizm & Hiva are possible candidates for researching a connection.

www.ozturkler.com/data_en...001_11.htm

Ispostavio bih sledece:

Quote:

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The Byzantine historian Th. Simokattes (2nd quarter of the 7th century) had stated that a group composed of nearly 20 thousands of people immigrated to the west pursuant to the abolition of the Ju-an-Juan State in Mongolia (in the beginning of the 4th century- 552/555) by the Gok-Turk State. This statement caused the establishment of a relation between the group that sent an envoy from the eastern borders of the Byzantine in the year of 558 and applied for allowance and residential lands for settlement and the groups that oriented from the Central Asia towards the west and then to the central regions of Europe. The general and mistaken consideration of the Juan-Juan as "Avar" and mostly "Asian Avar People" reinforced this opinion of relevance.
On the other hand, since Juan-Juan people were considered as Mongolians, it was natural that the European Avar people were of the same race. In the end of the previous century, a trible named as Var-guni (Bar-guni) was determined to exist in Mongolia that reminded the European Avar People. In addition, it was stated that the human skeletons that were excavated from the tombs pertaining to the Avar era in Hungary were mostly Mongoloid. Furthermore, the allegation stating that Bayan that was the name of Avar Ruler was a Mongolian word reinforced this conviction.

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Posto imamo gore informaciju o mongoloidnosti Avara, bit ce da su ovi ÖzTürkleri ovo malo prikrojili ...

Quote:

---

In order to illuminate the state of affairs in brief, it should be beneficial to determine these 3 issues stated below:
a) 100 years before the collapse of Juan-Juan domination in the Central Asia (the events in 461-465, see Sabar people, Ogur people), the Byzantine historian Priskos (in the middle of the 5th century) dealt with the "Avar" tribe that existed in the western Siberian region. Another resource (Zakharias Rhetor, in the years of 550) cited about an "Avar" community in the west before the occurrence of the Mongolian events. In addition to these facts, the ancient Greek geographer, Strabon (1st century DC) stated that he dealt with "Abar-noi" people in his work and that the name of "Abaris" was used in combination with he Greek legends in the very ancient histories.

b) According to these records, it is obvious that the relevant Avar (Abat) people did not have any relation or relevance with the Mongolian Juan-Juan people that were totally abolished in the year of 555 DC.

c) Actually, it is of significance that the Byzantine historian Th. Simokattes (2nd quarter of the 7th century) had made a classification about Avar people such as "Real Avar" and "Fake Avar". According to the results obtained from the researches carried out upon this record, the group called as "Fake Avar" was composed of Warkhon (in other words, Var and Hund: in Simokattes) people that were the neighbours of the Oguz tribes living in the region between the Western Turkestan- Northern Caucasus and within the environs of Don-Idyll (Volga) Rivers and that were named as ""Avar" in the Byzantine resources (Menandros, the end of 6th century).

These two Turkish groups that used to speak Turkish with Y like Gokturk, Hun peoples, etc. deserted from the government of Juan-Juan family that they were subject to after the year of 350 and they turned towards the west. These two tribes participated in the establishment of Ak Hun (Eftalit) State in Turkestan- Afghanistan- Northern India. Then, they got separated from the foreign domination in Mongolia pursuant to the defeats of Juan-Juan people against the Tabgaç armies in the years of 458-459. These War (var) and Hun tribes that came to the region of Caspian Sea-the north of Lake Aral constituted a Turkish tribal union and they were collectively named as Apar (Abar, Avar) in accordance with the occupations that they had.

Therefore, the founders and the dominant majority of the European Avar Khanate were composed of the crowded Turkish groups that came from the central regions of Asia and united with the Ogur tribes that they encountered in the plain lands of the southern Russia and the other Iranian foreign elements such as Mongolian, Alan people, etc. that retreated towards the west under pressure due to the political expansion of the Gok- Turk State.

Some of the Turkish administrative offices that were present in the Avar Khanate were essentially named with Turkish idioms (the titles such as Tudun, Yugruş, Tarhan, Boyar, Ban, etc.). Similarly, it is beyond doubt that the Avar statesmen that made history were of Turkish origin. Additionally, the name of the famous ruler Bayan was a Turkish name.

The statement that the Mongoloid type was dominant in the skeletons excavated from the tombs pertaining to the Avar period is not convincing. Actually, some archaeological excavations pertaining to Avar period were carried out in the regions that were within the domination fields of the Avar Empire (Hungary, Albania, Croatia, Czechoslovakia, Austria, the southern Germany) until the year of 1970s. As a result of these excavations, it has been determined that the Turkish type (brachycephalic) had a significant level among various types such as Germanic, Slav, Iranian, Finno-Ugrian, etc.

in relation with the human skeletons excavated in these studies. Similarly, it has been stipulated that even the "Andronovo-type" that represented the real Turkish lineage" was observed with a high level of 10-15% in some places of findings.

---

Zar nisu bili mongoloidni?

Quote:

---

However, it has been observed that the Avar influence kept going in Europe. The traces of their mementoes include the title of "Ban" that was one of the highest military-governmental titles among the Croatian people (Baga in Gok-Turk language and Bagan in Avar language that was present among the Bulgarians and Hungarians) and the titles such as Boyar and Yugruş, etc. and and the name of the cities such as Navarino in Greece (=Pylos, with the original form of Avarino), and Antivari in Albania (=Br, with its ancient form of Civitas Avarorum). Furthermore, the archaeological works pertaining to the Avar period that were excavated in Hungary (the cast tools and horse harnesses with the animal fight descriptions upon these materials) are accepted as the examples of the Turkish art in Europe (animal style) that originally developed in the Central Asia and the traces of this style can also be observed in France in the period of Movergin family.

The Protsotvats golden treasury in Albania pertains to Avar people. Additionally, the archaeological researches have also displayed the influence of Avar Turkish art over the Germanic and Slavic arts. A treasure composed of 23 units of golden pots with Turkish inscriptions on them was found in the site of Nagy Szent in the Central Hungary in the year of 1799 and the question about the Turkish tribe to which this treasure belonged is a still debated issue. However, it has been alleged that this famous treasure belonged to the period of Avar people.

As a consequence; the domination of Avar people in Europe for more than two centuries is of great significance for several reasons in respect of the European history. First of all, the Slavic tribes had lived under the long-term Turkish domination for the first time and they found the opportunity to advance from the stage of "tribal" life to the stage of state organisation due to the influence of Turkish state and military organisations. Secondly, the Turks had much more blended with various Germanic (Frank) groups. This relation has been mostly composed of reciprocal struggles; however, both tribes were forced to resolve a state of modus vivendi in the capacity of neighbouring groups. [/qoute]


OK, opet malo turske propagande ...

www.ozturkler.com/data_en..._11_06.htm

Quote:

---

Therefore, various Slavic tribes were directed towards today's Czechoslovakia and the banks of Elbe River, the coasts of Dalmatia and the Balkans. In the years of 750, it was cited that there was some Slav people that were called as "Avar" within the environs of Athens. In the same periods, the names of the leaders that led the Croatian people to the Adriatic coasts were listed as follows: Kiıliik, Lobel (Alp-el?), Kösenci (Koşuncu), Buga, Tugay. It has been alleged that there were some Avar beys that became Slavs who were the laders of 9th Pannonia (Western Hungary) and Morva Slav groups. On the other hand, it has been declared that the German tribes abandoned their homelands in the Czech country as a result of the pressure of Avar leaders rather than Slav people that were so weak in respect of war capabilities.

---

Kösenci ili Koşuncu?

www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Post/124390

The Slavs (12 posts)

Social Structure
The previously mentioned zadrugas combined to form clans, called rodu. A clan was the usual unit which controlled certain forests or pastures. Their members pledged blood vengeance in defense of one another. Clans were combined into tribes, called pleme, the territory of whom was called a zupa. The leader of a zupa was a zupan or starsina (depending on the location). The leaders actually had little personal power, they were rather dependent on their council (the druzina) as was typical of the Indo-europeans. The society contains kings (knez, knjaz, or vladika), nobles, the free-born, freedmen, and slaves (xolpu or orbu). Polabian and Pomeranian Slavs had a class of military aristocracy called vitiezi, who were always seen on horseback. The status of being on horseback was an admiration picked up during Scythian times. Property distinctions carried the terms bogatu (wealthy), ubogu (poor), and nebogu (unfortunate). When a chieftain showed enough strength and efficiency to subdue a number of other tribes, his territory became a state called a zemlja (land) and he became a 'grand duke'. Slaves were fairly well treated and considered as part of the family. Unfortunately, as is the wife, slaves were sometimes cremated with the deceased father of the family.

KEYWORDS:
z^upan, (Romanian) jupan, jupân,
(Hungarian) ispán, (German) Gespan; (German family names)
Schup(p)an, Zschup(p)an
za CYBALIST:
groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/

>not only this. there is the "oa" beofre "a" in the next syllable.

>Czech pán. From Polish presumably Lithuanian ponas, Ukrainian pan.
>The Old Czech is hpán, which seems to point to *gUpa:nU, a form
>somehow connected to South Slavic z^upan (< *geUpa:nU), of, I'm told,
>ultimately Iranian origin.
>=======================
>Miguel Carrasquer Vidal

The z^upan in Hungarian was <ispán> ['iSpa:n]. Its translation
into German: <Gespan> [g&'Spa:n]. According to the sources
cited by this author (Reinhold Grether):
www.netzwissenschaft.de/gdg/nom1.htm

<<(Bei Hoffer heißt es S.44: "So hat sich zum Beispiel eine alte Überlieferung erhalten, nach der der erste Göd mit 'Zupan', das ist kroatisch und bedeutet 'oberster Richter', oder 'Ispan', was auf Ungarisch dasselbe bedeutet, angeredet wird." Die Parallelstelle bei Schmeller S. 223: "Gespan-Gaugraf, Anführer der Burggrafschaftsmiliz und oberster Richter, ungarisch "ispan" von slawisch "zupan"")>>

[i.e., Hoffer says <zhupan> is a Croatian word meaning "supreme judge", the same valid for Hung. <ispán>. Apud Schmeller: <Gespan> also <Gaugraf> "count/earl of a Gau = region"]

>I would like to know exactly in which N slav languages [beside Polish] exists the word PAN with the meaning of leader/sir/etc. ? Does anybody has an etymology for this PAN [given in a Polish dictionary for example] ?

Czech pán. From Polish presumably Lithuanian ponas, Ukrainian pan. The Old Czech is hpán, which seems to point to *gUpa:nU, a form somehow connected to South Slavic z^upan (< *geUpa:nU), of, I'm told, ultimately Iranian origin.


That guy from Banat in the 70s interpreted the word "zoapan"
as the Romanian "tz(e)ap&n," in an allegedly Banate variant
"tzoap&n" (here in the sense of "mighty, powerful"). I vaguely
remember that he interpreted the 1st word "boila" as a similar
word of Latin extraction meaning "boss" (I can't remember it).
And the last one TAISE he read as "tăte" in the Banat sub-dialect:
"tăcie" ['t&-Sje] ("all" | Lat. "tot--").

In your text variant, the 1st word looks like "buiela," while in
Vassil's transscript it looks rather like "bula". (Well, Bulă is
also a... Romanian mythic character. ;=))

>It seems is the same as the inscription found on a cup
>which was found in 1799 in the village Sa[n]nicolaul Mare.

It's the same text (supplement 1, no. 7; on Vassil's page, the
Greek characters are of the nice antiqua kind; those in your
GIF seem to imitate the original ones.

I'd rather doubt that the German(ic) word "Bann" prompted the
creation of "ban", as a title/rank/profession. I'd rather expect
the "ban" to be a mere variant of "pan" and "zhupan".
...
George
---------------------------
Well, I would say that PAN is excluded because the S Slavs [croats, serbs] do not have it their vocabulary.

Zhupan is a separate discussion; among the croats existed Zhupan_Grand Zhupan in the same time with the BAN. If you can demonstrate linguistically a contraction ZHUPAN (ie JUPan)_Ban I would be more than glad to see your arguments.

In 200 years [~620-~80 a lot of leaders of the S Slavs are known and among them are a lot of zhupan_Grand Zhupan's. But the BAN emerge only after the contact with the Carolingian Empire. The croats are not the only example; as I said on 9 May, there are other 2 cases where this phenomena occurred.
**************
>since DEX means that the new one "jupan" is from Slavic
>"ZupanU", the feminine form "jupãniTa" is from
>Slavic "jupanica" but not from Polish.

Of course, since "zhupan" was known to Romanians
much earlier - centuries prior to those Moldavian
noble scribblers (Miron Costin etc.) attended schools
in Poland.

But the question refers to "ban", which in
Hungarian is "bán" [ba:n]. And we know that
this title (belonging in certain periods of time
to high-rank nobility) was chiefly used in the
Serbo-Croat areas and in the Hungarian
neighboring provinces only (Croatia and
certain Serbian areas were included in the
Hungarian kingdom too). Romanians also
had sort of a duke, "the ban", of their own
only in the realm of Oltenia, starting in the
13th century -- possibly because
the possession included the former banate
of Severin (Szörényi Bánság), that belonged
to Hungary and played some major role
exactly on the eve of the creation of a greater
important Romanian state between the
Carpathians and the Danube -- a state that
engulfed Oltenia too (the rulers of the greater
state were at the same acknowledged feudal
lords over some regions in Southern
Transylvania as well).

So, what kind of word is "ban"? Turkic (Avar
or Protobulgarian)? Or Slavic? (I guess that
Hungarians either borrowed it from the
South Slavs or from the... Turkish language
of the ruling class of the incipient Hungarian
nation - 8th-9th centuries.)
******************
In Polish this is a loan I guess, other ways Piotr should have had
explained to you from the begining that is a Slavic word , this is not a
Slavic or Avar word. The word "jupân" in Rom. is the older one. The
reborrowed word from Slavs iz "jupan" with "/a/ and not with /â/ and it
was borrowed I guess from Polish in middle age trough the Wallachian and
Moldavian shcolars who learned in Poland. ( in fact almost all learned
in Polen from the wellknown Rom. "cronicars").Maybe Piotr can tel us
about the Polish form of the word since DEX means that the new one "
jupan" is from Slavic "ZupanU", the feminine form "jupãniTa" is from
Slavic "jupanica" but not from Polish. It won't fit historicaly since in
the Middle Age as this word exprimed already a certain status of the big
"bojars" there was no "slavic" anymore but there have been already the
specific Slavic language of today.This is an intersting thing as well as
the name of one of the witnesses by the testament of Karl der Grosse was
a certain "Walah", thank you for remembering it to me.
The old word "jupân" with femine "jupâneasã" is given by DEX with
unknown etymology.

www.hennersdorf.at/ortsgeschichte5.html

Archäologen des Bundesdenkmalamtes haben in Vösendorf bei Wien ein awarisches Gräberfeld aus dem 7. bis 9. Jahrhundert gefunden, das neue Erkenntnisse über die österreichische Frühgeschichte liefert. Die Ausgrabungen beweisen, dass Awaren und Slawen am selben Raum zusammen lebten.

In den bisher 150 entdeckten Gräbern wurden Skelette von Männern, Frauen und Kindern gefunden, die aufgrund ihrer Trachtbestandteile - also Ringe, Ohrgehänge, Ketten oder Gürtelschnallen - als Awaren bestimmt werden können.
Auf dem Gräberfeld wurden aber auch Skelette gefunden, die slawische Trachtbestandteile trugen. Dass Awaren und Slawen gleichzeitig den selben Raum besiedelt haben, wurde entgegen der bisherigen Geschichtsschreibung von einigen Historikern zwar bereits vermutet, Beweise gab es dafür aber keine.

791 bis 803 wurde das Reich der Awaren in den Kriegen von Karl dem Großen vernichtet. Danach - so wurde bisher angenommen - kam es zu einer massiven Zuwanderung von Slawen. Der Gräberfund in Vösendorf könnte jetzt einen anderen Ablauf der Geschichte nachzeichnen.

Franz Sauer, Grabungsleiter des Bundesdenkmalamtes: "In Wirklichkeit war es vielleicht so, dass die Slawen schon vorher hier gelebt haben, aber awarische Trachtbestandteile getragen haben. Irgendwann in der zweiten Hälfte des 8. Jahrhunderts sind sie wieder zu ihren Wurzeln zurückgekehrt und haben wieder slawische Trachtbestandteile angenommen."

Awaren
Die Awaren lebten ursprünglich als Nomaden in Asien, vermutlich in Westturkestan. 552 n. Chr. wurden sie von den Türken bedrängt und wichen nach Westen aus. Von 568 an hatten sie etwa 250 Jahre lang die Alleinherrschaft in Pannonien, wo sie sesshaft wurden und Viehzucht und Ackerbau betrieben. Sie waren gefürchtete Reiterkrieger, die mit Reflexbogen, Reitersäbel und Stoßlanze vernichtende Kämpfe führten. Den Europäern vermittelten sie unter anderem den eisernen Steigbügel.

Die Awaren, ein früh-mittelalterliches Reitervolk, besetzten 568 das Karpatenbecken und hatten bis Anfang des 7. Jh. auch die Oberherrschaft über weite Bereiche Mittel- und Ost-Europas inne. Ihre reiche archäolog. Hinterlassenschaft findet sich im Karpatenbecken und seinen Randbereichen, vornehmlich im Wr. Becken und im Nord-Burgenland. Die Funde zeigen zwar starke reiternomadische Traditionen, jedoch auch german. und bes. byzantin. Komponenten. Mit der starken awarischen Macht im Hintergrund erfolgte die slawische Besiedlung des heutigen Kärnten, der Steiermark und NÖ. Nach der erfolglosen Belagerung von Konstantinopel 626 büßten die Awaren ihre Vormachtstellung ein. In dieser Schwächeperiode gründete der fränkische Kaufmann Samo ein Slawenreich, wohl in Böhmen und Mähren, vielleicht reichte es auch noch in das heutige Österreich. Auch die Alpenslawen, im 8. Jh. Karantaner genannt, werden sich zu dieser Zeit von den awarischen Ansprüchen frei gemacht haben.

Im 8. Jhdt. kam es offenbar zu einem Versuch, die awarische Oberherrschaft über den Alpenraum wiederzuerrichten. Die Karantaner unterwarfen sich daher dem Baiernherzog und akzeptierten auch die nun einsetzende Missionierung.

Hzg. Tassilo III. suchte bei den Awaren Rückhalt gegen Karl den Grossen. Nach seiner Niederlage kam es zu den Awaren -Kriegen (791-96), die mit der Zerstörung des Awaren -Reichs endeten. Zumindest bis 728 bestand ein abhängiges, von den Karolingern eingerichtetes Fürstentum der Awaren "zwischen Steinamanger und Carnuntum" unter getauften Khaganen.

What is the 535 Catastrophe theory?

This article revolves around the case presented by David Keys in his book "Catastrophe: An investigation into the origins of the modern world", which suggests that the "modern age" started in 535 AD with an eruption of Krakatoa. This eruption caused widespread climate change, resulting in floods, droughts and extreme low temperatures. In the aftermath, plague spreadacross the world. These factors destabilised old regimes all over the world, creating power vacuums into which new empires arose. Keys links this to the rise of Islam, the migration of the Avar to Europe (and the displacement of other people in the process), the rise of the Turks, the decline of Britain and Teotihuacan, the reunification of China and the rise of Buddhism in Japan.

"Catastrophe" is a great book, and I'm barely scratching the surface of it here. Buy a copy for every room in your house.


The eruption.

First off, the scientific facts. That there was huge climactic upheaval around the world after 535 AD is unquestionable- it's backed up by extensive dendrochronological evidence from all round the world. It's also highly likely to have been due to a volcanic eruption, going by the significant traces of volcanic action in ice-core samples dating from that time.

The question of where the eruption took place is actually fairly unimportant. After all, we all know the eruption of Tambora in the 19th century caused widespread climactic disruption around the world, but how many of us could pinpoint Tambora on a map? I couldn't. However, going by the historical records it's safe to go for East or South-East Asia, and most likely the "Ring of Fire" in the region of Indonesia. In that area, there's on infamous contender for the role- Krakatoa.

Krakatoa is a real oddball, and a dangerous one at that. It blew itself to smithereens in the explosion of 1883, but a new volcanic cone (Anak Krakatau) quickly rose in its place. The pattern of eruption appears to be a rapidly-growing cone, followed by mant centuries in a dormant state caused by plugging of the vent. Then an extremely violent eruption, followed by an underwater collapse of the caldera. Put simply, it's a very, very big bang.

So how could Krakatoa have caused such devastation in 535AD when the Tambora eruption of 1815 didn't? Tambora holds the official title as the largest ejection of volcanic matter into the atmosphere in recorded history- throwing out an estimated 100 cubic kilometres of matter into the air. However, it's estimated that the 535 eruption, based on observations of the caldera crater (see www.ees1.lanl.gov/Wohletz/Krakatau.htm for a detailed summary) threw up twice as much matter. Additionally, the undersea caldera collapse would also have thrown up a colossal amount of water vapour into the upper atmosphere, contributing to both greatly-increase cloud cover and extraordinarily heavy rainfall. Thirdly- Krakatoa explodes much more violently than Tambora (Tambora's blast was heard 2000 miles away, compared to 4000 miles away for the technically smaller Krakatoa blast of 1883), giving it the potential to hurl matter even higher into the atmosphere, causing more acute impacts on distant areas.

However, while this might all sound very convincing, in isolation it doesn't provide any sort of proof that this eruption actually had much impact on history. So for the next step you need to take a look at what was happening around the world up to a century after 535 AD....

Timeline of key events


Roman Empire

535 AD- Procopius writes of a year with no sunshine.

536 AD- Slavic invasions of Roman territory, sparked by Slavic poitical instability.

541-3 AD- Justinian Plague.

545 AD- Second Slavic invasion.

550 AD- Third Slavic invasion.

557 AD- the resurgent Avar reach Eastern Europe.

558 AD- Slavs, displaced by Huns (and indirectly by the Avar), invade Roman territory.

568 AD- Avar now control Eastern Europe

578 AD- Avar capture Sirmium. Romans now paying regular tribute to the Avar.

608 AD- Civil war spaked by Phocas.

626 AD- Constantinople surrounded by Avar, Slavs and Persians.

630 AD- recovery under Heraclius.


Britain

535- 555 AD- Dendrochronology records indicate a 20-year period of intense bad weather.

547 AD (or 549 AD)- Maelgwyn Hir dies of plague.

549 AD- Annals of Ulster record plague killing kings.

552 AD- Cynric's Saxons take Old Sarum. After a 40-year stalemate, Saxons push west.

550's- Rise of the Ui Neill in Ireland

577 AD- Battle of Dyrham. Ceawlin conquers British kingdom of Dumnonia. Saxons control England.


France

536 AD- Lothar (Merovingian) saved due to battle being interrupted by giant hailstones.


Spain

535-547 AD- three Visigoth kings assassinated in political turmoil

550 AD- Cordoba revolts against Visigoths.

555 AD- rise of Roman Spain.


China

535AD- "There was twice the sound of thunder"- Nan Shi chronicle.

535AD- Drought, famine "yellow dust rained down like snow" (from the Nan Shi Chronicle).

536 AD- Falls of yellow dust recorded in Sui-Shi chronicle (Southern China). Bei Shi annals report famines and cannibalism in Northern China.

537 AD- Nan Shi chronicle records Frosts and snow in August.

538- 551 AD- Tax amnesty in place due to widespread famine. Tax system collapses.

541 AD- Li Fen revolt around Hanoi area.

540's- Revolts in Northern China in the face of droughts and famine.

547 AD- Hou Jing (Northern General) defects to South, but is betrayed. Starts a major rebellion in the South.

548 AD- Hou Jing captures Southern capital Jiankang (Nanjing). Southern China begins to disintegrate.

575 AD- Northern state of Zhou attacks the South.

581 AD- Sui Dynasty begins in Northern China.

588 AD- North Chinese empire conquers Southern China. Re-unification of China.


South-East Asia

535AD- The Pustaka Raja Purwa chronicle records "a mighty roar of thunder" coming from a mountain in the Sunda Straits, that separates Java from Sumatra.

Mongolia/Steppes

545AD- Turkish revolt against Avar

552AD- Avar leave Mongolia and head West.

Rise of Qarluq Turkish empire on the steppes.

985 AD- Oghuzi (Seljuk) Tuks convert to Islam.


Korea

535-536AD- Massive storms and flooding recorded in the Korean history (the Samguk Sagi)

535 AD- Kingdom of Silla converts from paganism to Buddhism. Launches on an expansionist policy.

536 AD- start of the Konwon era ("the initiated beginning").

550- 576 AD- Silla territories triple in size.

675 AD- Korean unification under Silla.


Japan

536 AD- Nihonshoki chronicle records famine and terrible cold weather. Also plague (believed to be smallpox or measles).

538 AD- King Senka allows the Soga clan to convert to Buddhism as an experiment in the face of climactic upheaval.

540AD- Nihonshoki chronicle suggests increased immigration from Korea. Entries also suggest that Japan less troubled by famine than Korea and China. However, pestilence increases and is blamed on Buddhism. King Senka is assassinated (first royal assassination in Japanese history).

540's- King Kimmei is backed by the Soga clan.

587- Soga clan massacre the anti-Buddhist Mononobe clan.

580- Soga clan murders King Sujun. The pro-Soga Suiko is placed on the throne. Buddhists control Japan. Birth of proto-modern Japan.



South/Central America

535- 565AD- 30 years of drought. Skeletons recovered from Teotihuacan demonstrate signs of malnutrition and an abnormally short life expectancy. Teotihuacano civilisation declines. In South America, the Nasca culture declines too.

In the aftermath of the droughts, widespread irrigation projects take place- a key factor in the later growth of the Huari and Inca empires.


North America

Dendrochronology reveals near-zero tree growth in 536 and 542-3. Tree growth does not resume normal levels until 557AD.


Africa

Conjecture- increased rainfall causes surge in rodent population.

Mid 6th century- abandonment of the "great Metropolis" of Rhapta in west Africa (near Lake Victoria).


Middle East

c. 536-540 AD- Ibn Ishaq (writing 150 years laters) records severe famine in Mecca, relieved by Amr (grandfather of Mohammed) obtaining food from as far afield as Syria. This was also reported by the 6th century poet Wahb ibn Abd Qusayy.

540 AD- Plague hits the Saba civilisation in Yemen.

540's- Plague spreads across Arabian peninsula.

c. 545 AD- Marib Dam bursts after ten years of silting (18 times higher levels than the preceding century).

c. 555 AD- Marib Dam burst again. Irrigation complex largely abandoned. City of Marib unable to feed its population, population levels falling by 80% in next 40 years. Saba civilisation goes into decline. Power vacuum in the area.

575 AD- Birth of Mohammed.

610AD- Beginning of Mohammed's ministry.



Summaries of key events (according to 535 Catastrophe theory)


The Steppes

Dominated by the Avar, with the Turks being vassals. When drought hit the steppes in the climactic upheaval, the Avar (whose economy and military power revolved around horses) were hit hard as their horses starved. Meanwhile the Turks were predominantly cattle-herders, and the miracles of the bovine digestive system allowed the Turks to carry on much as before on the poor grass. The result was that the balance of power shifted and the Turks overthrew the Avar to become the dominant power in the area.

The Avar headed west into exile. As the droughts passed on their migration, the Avar's stength recovered and their horse numbers increased. By the time they hit Europe, they were a force to be reckoned with, as the Romans found out.


Constantinople.

Predictably, the Romans rode out the climactic upheaval better than most. Though their records note crop failures, their extensive trade network meant they could simply look further afield for food supplies, and they turned to Africa to trade extensively with Egypt. Egypt was also looking further afield for food- to the West African trading cities such as Rhapta. However, Rhapta is very close to the infamous "hot zone" around Lake Victoria that has given the world many horrible plagues, such as Ebola and Marburg. In 536AD, it was bubonic plague that came out of the zone into Rhapta- possibly exacerbated by a surge in the rodent population after heavy rains caused increased grain yields the following years (Africa seems to have been relatively lightly affected by climate change).

Plague spreads up the trade routes to Egypt, then to Constantinople in 541AD. The Romans are significantly weakened, and in the power vacuum that followed repeated incursions by Slavs and Avar further damage the Empire.


Britain.

The 40 year stalemate between the Britons and Saxons is ended after plague arrives. The Britons had extensive trade links with the Roman Empire and were hit hard by plague. The Saxons had very little to do with the Romans and got off fairly lightly. Several strong British leaders die of plague, including Maelgwyn Hir (the real King Arthur, according to me). This shifts the balance of power in favour of the Saxons, and by 577AD Britain is a Saxon country.


Middle East.

Massively abnormal silting destroys the Marib Dam and wrecks the irrigation that the Saba culture relies on. The Saba culture declines. Meanwhile, the status of Mohammed's family soars in the droughts that hit Mecca, setting the scene for Islam to rise in the power vacuum left by the fall of Saba.


China

Terrible drought strikes the divided China. In the South, this causes severe political instability which weakens the state. The North seizes the upper hand and by 588AD the North controls China. China is re-unified.

Limitations of the theory


Why isn't Catastrophe theory widely accepted? Firstly, it's the theory of dilettantes, not "serious historians". A "serious historian" specialises in a certain nation or culture to a tremendous degree, but can miss the big picture when it comes to global events. Meanwhile, a dilettante who dabbles in a bit of everything takes one look at everything that happened in the 50 years after 535AD and goes "Whoa! Bloody hell!".

Secondly, there's there inherent flaw with determinism- where do you stop? Why was it 535AD that caused this, and not something in 534 or earlier? Why must everything follow something else? If you go looking for magic causes, you tend to find them whether they're actually relevant or not.

Nothing happens in isolation. In most cases, none of the affected civilisations fell as an unquestionable 100% entire result of the eruption. Instead they were weakened and declined, creating power vacuums in which new empires rose. It requires looking at a complex series of interactions, and all I can see is that wherever you look you tend to see Krakatoa's fingerprints. While it may not have been the sole cause, it certainly was a cause- and a cause all over the world.

Thirdly, to really buy into 535 Catastrophe theory requires looking at a mix of disciplines- namely history, vulcanology and epidemiology (coincidentally, I was already interested in all three- which may explain why I'm such a sucker for the theory). This is particularly true when looking at the effects on Northern Europe, where one is required to accept that the Justinian Plague was an indirect result of the eruption. That's the biggest leap of faith in the theory.

If you study epidemiology, you became familiar with "Hot Zone" theory. Viruses tend to lurk quietly in isolated little areas of the world such as Lake Victoria in Africa (a notorious Hot Zone, linked with Ebola, Marburg and AIDS). In hot, humid conditions where animals and humans are in close proximity, the virus can jump species. Then the establishment of new/improved transport links to the area spreads the plague, just as the construction of the Kinshasa Highway brough AIDS out of the jungle. With the Romans facing disastrous crop failures in Europe and turning to trade links further south, a plague gateway is established.

There are two suggested factors that would link the eruption with the plague. Firstly, the increased trade movements to far-afield regions. We know the Romans had trade links to Western Africa- it's where their ivory came from. Increased trade movement would increase the chances of contagions spreading, and with the Romans looking further afield for food supplies this is a possibility.

The second epidemiological case comes from situations where animals and humans come into closer contact. I have not been able to locate dendrochronological evidence regarding the climate in West Africa at the time, though there are a number of posibilities. David Keys suggests that in the face of increased rainfall in 535AD, followed by relatively mild after-effects (as with the Japanese example) there could have been bumper cereal crops in the following years. This would have produced a very rapid rise in the rodent population, which often causes migrating swarms of rodents looking for new food sources- and rodents are the principle carriers of plague.
Alternatively, if the weather was severe in West Africa it could have caused humans to migrate looking for food, bringing them into plague zones. Upheaval causes plague to spread, so whichever way the weather went there could be links to the eruption.

There's no denying that the climactic upheaval affected culture all over the globe. Some seem to have got off fairly lightly, such as Japan and Africa. However others were hit very hard, such as Teotihuacan and the Avar. The real hinging point for the theory is whether you buy into the notion that the Justinian Plague of 541AD was caused by the 535 eruption. Having studied "Hot Zone" theories of epidemiology, I find it a very plausible explanation- though I can understand others having reservations. If you accept the plague as a result of the eruption, you get the fall of Britain, French dynastic implications and a huge impact on the Roman Empire too.


So that's the theory. Even if you don't buy the Justinian Plague angle, if you take a look at the world's history in the century after 535 AD, you have to admit it was one hell of a time.