Huns

Introduction

The Huns were a group of nomadic pastoral people who, appearing from beyond the Volga, migrated into Europe c.AD 370 and built up an enormous empire in Europe. They were possibly the descendants of the Xiongnu who had been northern neighbours of China three hundred years before and may be the first expansion of Turkic people across Eurasia. The origin and language of the Huns has been the subject of debate for centuries. The leading current theory is that their leaders at least may have spoken a Turkic language. Their main military technique was mounted archery (1).

The Huns may have stimulated the Great Migration, a contributing factor in the collapse of the Roman Empire. They formed a unified empire under Attila the Hun, who died in 453; their empire broke up the next year. Their descendants, or successors with similar names, are recorded by neighbouring populations to the south, east, and west as having occupied parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia roughly from the 4th century to the 6th century. Variants of the Hun name are recorded in the Caucasus until the early 8th century .

History

The Huns' origin is directly connected with two well-known peoples of ancient Middle East: the Sumerians and the Scythians, namely, in the kingdom founded by Nimrod. Even though they belong to the Japhetic stock and their most creditable ancestor is Magog, the Sumerian heritage has been kept by them more than by any other people, which implies that they are in fact the result of a mixed background. According to their own legendary accounts (legends that are anyway founded on true facts), it is very feasible that Magog's descent was under Nimrod's rule, and that they kept close ties with Sumerians even for a long time after the Sumerians disappeared from Mesopotamia as a national entity. The Huns were a group of Eurasian nomads who, appearing from beyond the Volga, migrated into Europe c. 370 CE and built up an enormous empire in Europe. Their main military technique was mounted archery. They were possibly the descendants of the Xiongnu who had been northern neighbours of China three hundred years before and may be the first expansion of Turkic people across Eurasia. The origin and language of the Huns has been the subject of debate for centuries. The leading current theory is that their leaders at least may have spoken a Turkic language (2).

Culture and customs of Huns

The Huns kept herds of cattle, horses, goats, and sheep.Their other sources of food consisted of wild game and the roots of wild plants. For clothes they had round caps, trousers or leggings made from goat skin, and either linen or rodent skin tunics. Ammianus reports that they wore these clothes until the clothes fell to pieces. In warfare they utilized the bow and javelin. The arrowheads and javelin tips were made from bone. They also fought using iron swords and lassos in close combat. The Hun sword was a long, straight, double-edged sword of early Sassanian ...