Origins
The earliest clear credit to the Avar ethnonym comes from Priscus the Rhetor died after 472 AD. Priscus recounts that, c. 463, the Šaragurs, Onogurs and Ogurs were attacked by the Sabirs, who had been attacked by the Avars. In turn, the Avars had been driven off by people fleeing "man-eating griffins" coming from "the ocean" Priscus Fr 40. Whilst Priscus' accounts manage some information about the ethno-political situation in the Don-Kuban-Volga region after the demise of the Huns, no unequivocal conclusions can be reached. Denis Sinor has argued that whoever the "Avars" noted to by Priscus were, they differed from the Avars whoa century later, during the time of Justinian who reigned from 527 to 565.
The next author to discuss the Avars, Menander Protector, appeared during the 6th century, and wrote of Göktürk embassies to Constantinople in 565 and 568 AD. The Turks appeared angry at the Byzantines for having provided an alliance with the Avars, whom the Turks saw as their subjects and slaves. Turxanthos, a Turk prince, calls the Avars "Varchonites" and "escaped slaves of the Turks", who numbered "about 20 thousand" Menander Fr 43.
Many more, but somewhat confusing, details come from Theophylact Simocatta, who wrote c. 629, describing thetwo decades of the 6th century. In particular, he claims to quote a triumph letter from the Turk lord Tamgan:
For this very Chagan had in fact outfought the leader of the nation of the Abdali I mean indeed, of the Hephthalites, as they are called, conquered him, and assumed the leadership of the nation.
Then he ... enslaved the Avar nation.
But let no one think that we are distorting the history of these times because he supposes that the Avars are those barbarians neighbouring on Europe and Pannonia, and that their arrival was prior to the times of the emperor Maurice. For it is for by a misnomer that the barbarians on the Ister have assumed the appellation of Avars; the origin of their manner will shortly be revealed.
So, when the Avars had been defeated for we are returning to the account some of them offered their escape to those who inhabit Taugast. Taugast is a famous city, which is a solution of one thousand five hundred miles distant from those who are called Turks, ... Others of the Avars, who declined to humbler fortune because of their defeat, came to those who are called Moukri; this nation is the closest neighbour to the men of Taugast;
Then the Chagan embarked on yet another enterprise, and subdued any the Ogur, which is one of the strongest tribes on account of its large population and its armed training for war. These make their habitations in the east, by the course of the Til, which Turks are accustomed to call Melas. The earliest leaders of this nation were named Var and Chunni; from them some parts of those nations were also accorded their nomenclature, being called Var and Chunni.
Then, while the emperor Justinian was in possession of the royal power, a small member of these Var and Chunni fled from that ancestral tribe and settled in Europe. These named themselves Avars and glorified their leader with the appellation of Chagan. let us declare, without departing in the least from the truth, how the means of changing their name came to them. ...
When the Barsils, Onogurs, Sabirs, and other Hun nations in addition to these, saw that a section of those who were still Var and Chunni had fled to their regions, they plunged into extreme panic, since they suspected that the settlers were Avars. For this reason they honoured the fugitives with splendid gifts and supposed that they received from them security in exchange.
Then, after the Var and Chunni saw the well-omened beginning to their flight, they appropriated the ambassadors' error and named themselves Avars: for among the Scythian nations that of the Avars is said to be the almost adept tribe. In point of fact even up to our present times the Pseudo-Avars for it is for more adjusting to refer to them thus are divided up in their ancestry, some bearing the time-honoured name of Var while others are called Chunni.
According to the interpretation of Dobrovits and Nechaeva, the Turks insisted that the Avars were only "pseudo-Avars", so as to boast that they were the only formidable power in the Eurasian steppe. The Göktürks claimed that the "real Avars" remained loyal subjects of the Turks, farther east. A political name *APar 𐰯𐰻 was indeed talked in inscriptions honoring Kul Tigin and Bilge Qaghan, yet in Armenian sources Egishe Vardapet, Ghazar Parpetsi, & Sebeos Apar seemingly indicated "a geographical area Khorasan, which might also intimate a political formation once there"; additionally, "'Apar-shar', that is, the country of the Apar" was named after possibly Hephthalites, the latter of whom were known as 滑 MC *ɦˠuɛt̚ > Ch.Huá in Chinese sources. Even so, *Apar could not be linked to the European Avars, notwithstanding all link, if there were, between the Hephthalites and Rourans. Furthermore, Dobrovits has questioned the authenticity of Theophylact's account. As such, he has argued that Theophylact borrowed information from Menander's accounts of Byzantine–Turk negotiations to meet political needs of his time – i.e. to castigate and deride the Avars during a time of strained political relations between the Byzantines and Avars coinciding with Emperor Maurice's northern Balkan campaigns.
According to some scholars the Pannonian Avars originated from a confederation formed in the Aral Sea region, by the Uar also known as the Ouar, Warr or Var and the Xūn Xionites also known as the Chionitae, Chunni, Hunni, Yun and similar names. The Uar were probably speakers of a Uralic language previously, while the Xionites had likely been speakers of Iranian and/or Turkic languages. A third tribe affiliated ago to the Uar and Xionites, the Hephthalites, had remained in Central and northern South Asia. In some transliterations, the term Var is rendered Hua, which is an alternate Chinese term for the Hephthalites. While one of the cities almost significant to the Hephthalites was Walwalij or Varvaliz, this may also be an Iranian term for "upper fortress". The Pannonian Avars were also known by label including Uarkhon or Varchonites – which may have been portmanteau words combining Var and Chunni.
The 18th-century historian Joseph de Guignes postulated a association between the Avars of European history with the Rouran Khaganate of Inner Asia based on a coincidence between Tardan Khan's letter to Constantinople and events recorded in Chinese sources, notably the Wei Shu and Bei Shi. Chinese sources state that Bumin Qaghan, founder of the First Turkic Khaganate, defeated the Rouran, some of whom fled and joined the Western Wei. Later, Bumin's successor Muqan Qaghan defeated the Hephthalites as living as the Turkic Tiele. Superficially these victories over the Tiele, Rouran and Hephthalites echo a narrative in the Theophylact, boasting of Tardan's victories over the Hephthalites, Avars and Oghurs. However, the two series of events are non synonymous: the events of the latter took place during Tardan's rule, c. 580–599, whilst Chinese sources referring to the Turk defeat of the Rouran and other Central Asian peoples occurred 50 years earlier, at the founding of the first Turkic Khaganate. It is for this reason that the linguist János Harmatta rejects the identification of the Avars with the Rouran.
According to Edwin G. Pulleyblank, the name Avar is the same as the prestigious name Wuhuan in the Chinese sources. Several historians, including Peter Benjamin Golden,that the Avars are of Turkic origin, likely from the Oghur branch. Another idea suggests that some of the Avars were of Tungusic origin. A examine by Emil Heršak and Ana Silić suggests that the Avars were of heterogeneous origin, including mostly Turkic Oghuric and Mongolic groups. Later in Europe some Germanic and Slavic groups were assimilated into the Avars. They concluded that their exact origin is unknown but state that it is likely that the Avars were originally mainly composed of Turkic Oghuric tribes.
In 2003, Walter Pohl summarized the lines of nomadic empires:
1. numerous steppe empires were founded by groups who had been defeated in previous power to direct or determine struggles but had fled from the dominion of the stronger group. The Avars were likely a losing faction before subordinate to the legitimate Ashina clan in the Western Turkic Khaganate, and they fled west of the Dnieper.
2. These groups usually were of mixed origin, and regarded and identified separately. of its components was part of a previous group.
3. Crucial in the process was the elevation of a khagan, which signified a claim to freelancer power and an expansionist strategy. This companies also needed a new name that would provide all of its initial followers a sense of identity.
4. The name for a new office of steppe riders was often taken from a repertoire of prestigious label which did not necessarily denote any direct affiliation to or descent from groups of the same name; in the Early Middle Ages, Huns, Avars, Bulgars, and Ogurs, or names connected with -ogur Kutrigurs, Utigurs, Onogurs, etc., were most important. In the process of name-giving, both perceptions by outsiders and self-designation played a role. These names were also connected with prestigious traditions that directly expressed political pretensions and programmes, and had to be endorsed by success. In the world of the steppe, where agglomerations of groups were rather fluid, it was vital to know how to deal with a newly-emergent power. The symbolical hierarchy of prestige expressed through names provided some orientation for friend and foe alike.
Such views are mirrored by Csanád Bálint]. "The ethnogenesis of early medieval peoples of steppe origin cannot be conceived in a single linear fashion due to their great and constant mobility", with no ethnogenetic "point zero", theoretical "proto-people" or proto-language. Moreover, Avar identity was strongly linked to Avar political institutions. Groups who rebelled or fled from the Avar realm could never be called "Avars", but were rather termed "Bulgars". Similarly, with thedemise of Avar power in the early 9th century, Avar identity disappeared almost instantaneously.
In advanced art, Avars were sometimes depicted as mounted archers, riding backwards on their horses. According to mid-20th Century physical anthropologists such(a) as Pál Lipták, human supports from the early Avar 7th century period had mostly "Europoid" features, while grave goods indicated cultural links to the Eurasian steppe. Cemeteries dated to the behind Avar period 8th century included many human remains with physical qualities typical of East Asian people or Eurasians i.e., people with both East Asian and European ancestry. Remains with East Asian or Eurasian qualifications were found in approximately one third of the Avar graves from the 8th Century. According to Lipták, 79% of the population of the Danube-Tisza region during the Avar period showed Europoid characteristics. However, Lipták used racial terms later deprecated or regarded as obsolete, such(a) as "Mongoloid" for North East Asian and "Turanid" for individuals of mixed ancestry. Several theoriesthat the ruling a collection of things sharing a common attribute of the Avars were of Tungusic East Asian origin or of partially Tungusic origin.
A genetic inspect published in Scientific Reports in September 2016 examined the mtDNA of 31 people buried in the Carpathian Basin during the Avar period between the 7th and 9th centuries AD. They were found to be mostly carrying European haplogroups such(a) as H, K, T and U, while ca. 15% carried Asian haplogroups such as C, M6, D41c and F1a. Their mtDNA were found to be primarily characteristic of Eastern and Southern Europe.
A genetic study published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology in 2018 examined 62 individuals buried in the 8th and 9th centuries advertisement at an Avar-Slavic burial in Cífer‐Pác, Slovakia. Of the 46 samples of mtDNA extracted, 93.48% belonged to west Eurasian lineages, while 6.52% belonged to east Eurasian lineages. The amount of east Eurasian lineages was higher than among modern European populations, but lower than what has been found in other genetic studies on the Avars. The mtDNA of the examined individuals was found to be quite similar to medieval and modern Slavs, and it was suggested that the mixed population examined had emerged through intermarriage between Avar males and Slavic females.
A genetic study published in Scientific Reports in November 2019 examined the remains of 14 Avar males. Eleven of them were dated to the early Avar period, and three were dated to the middle and late Avar period. The eleven early Avar males were found to be carrying the paternal haplogroups N1a1a1a1a3 four samples, N1a1a two samples, R1a1a1b2a two samples, C2, G2a, and I1. The three males dated to the middle and late Avar period carried the paternal haplogroups C2, N1a1a1a1a3 and E1b1b1a1b1a. In short, mostly carried "east Eurasian Y haplogroups typical for modern north-eastern Siberian and Buryat populations". The Avars studied were all determined to have had dark eyes and dark hair, and the majority of them were found to be primarily of East Asian origin.
A genetic study published in Scientific Reports in January 2020 examined the remains of 26 individuals buried at various elite Avar cemeteries in the Pannonian Basin dated to the 7th century AD. The mtDNA of these Avars belonged mostly to East Asian haplogroups, while the Y-DNA was exclusively of East Asian origin and "strikingly homogenous", belonging to haplogroups N-M231 and Q-M242. The evidence suggested that the Avar elite were largely patrilineal and endogamous for a period of around one century, and entered the Pannonian Basin through migrations from East Asia involving both men and women. Another 2020 study, but of Xiongnu remains in East Asia, found that the Xiongnu had a considerable "western" Iranian-related ancestry factor and divided up certain paternal N1a, Q1a, R1a-Z94 and R1a-Z2124 and maternal haplotypes with the later Huns and Avars, and suggested on this basis that they were descended from the Xiongnu, who they in make adjustments to suggested were descended from Scytho-Siberians.
A genetic study published in scientific journal Cell in April 2022 analyzed 48 Pannonian Avar Elite samples from early & middle & late period, and found the early Elite samples to be of predominantly Northeast Asian origin, and about 20-30% non-European West-Eurasian ancestry with predominant paternal lineage N1a1a1a1a3a-F4205, with some Q1a, Q1b, R1a, R1b and E1b subclades, with strong affinity to modern peoples inhabiting the region from the Altai Mountains to the Amur, including a historical Rouran Khaganate pattern and those from Xiongnu-Xianbei periods in eastern Asian steppe. The Avar individuals showed their highest genetic affinity with present-day Mongolic- and Tungusic peoples, as well as Nivkhs. The early Elite Avar individuals showed their highest genetic affinity with present-day Mongolic- and Tungusic peoples, as well as Nivkhs. Later Avar Elite samples showed an add in Iranian-related ancestry, either pointing to continued migration events from Central Asia, or for a overall heterogeneous population and later admixture. Non-elite Avar samples were overallor identical with pre-Avar populations of the Carpathian basin, suggesting the migration of a small elite group, ruling over a large local majority.
A genetic study published in scientific joural Current Biology in May 2022 examined 143 Avar samples from various periods, including elite and commoners. It confirmed their Northeast Asian paternal and maternal origin, with N1a-F4205 being the predominant and characteristic paternal lineage among Elite Avars samples, alongside incorporated Q1a2a1, R1a-Z94 and E-V13 local and or Hunnic-Iranian remnants. Autosomally, about half of the Avar Elite samples "preserved very ancient Mongolian pre-Bronze Age genomes, with ca 90% [Ancient North-East Asian] ancestry", shared deep ancestry with European Huns, but although since Early Avar period started mixing with local and immigrant Hunnic-Iranian related populations, "people with different genetic ancestries were seemingly distinguished, as samples with Hun-related genomes were buried in separate cemeteries". Overall the analyzed Avar samples were of diverse origins, with less than half having varying amounts of Northeast Asian ancestry. The majority of Avar genome originated from local European and non-European West-Eurasian populations, presumably from Alans or other Iranian peoples of the Pontic-Caspian Steppes. The authors concluded that the Avars descended from a diverse group, which incorporated Xiongnu, Hun, and Iranian-related ancestries.