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Citation from
Mirfatyh Zakiev
Genesis of Türks and Tatars

ETYMOLOGY OF ETHNONYM “WHITE HUNS”

Abdaly (Ephthalites), Ak-hun-lar, Apakhtark, Apak-Türk, Aores, Aorses, Avars, Ephthalites, Güsan, Gushan, Gushana, Jujan, Juan-Juan, Kasan, Kashan, Kusan, Kushan, Kushana, Küsan, Oghondor (Ak-hun-lar), Oghondor Blkar, Olhontor-Blkar, Onogur, Tochar, Tohri, Unogun, Unogundur, Usun, White Huns, White Türks, Wusun, Wu-sun, Wu-sün, Yüeh-chih and others

Subdivisions and ethnic affiliates

Jujan < Susan, Susün (Water Süns),  =>Later

Geography

Parthia 2c BC

Parthia 14 AD
Kushan 2c AD
Kushan 3c AD
W Huns 5c AD
Jujans 5c AD
Kushan 6c AD
Kushan 6c AD
Avaria 6c AD
Avaria
ca 804 AD

Krum Bulgaria
ca 812

Krum Bulgaria
ca 814

           

Posting introduction

On etymology of the ethnonym “Avar” (550s AD) we have a definite statement that the European rendition “Avar” is a form otherwise known as 滑 Uar and War (M.&M. Whitby The History of Theophylact Simocatta). Powerful refugees from pursuing them Ashina Türks of the First Türkic Kaganate were a conglomerate of Uars and Huns, previously they controlled western part of the Central Asia adjacent to the Caspian and Aral seas. In Hunnic history, they were a part of the Huns who escaped control of Jujans, which allows to visualize the eastern border of the Uars and Huns, minus obscure barrier states that fell neither under Jujans, nor under Uars and Huns. In Uar history, they were in the orbit of the Ephthalite (Abdaly) Empire destroyed by the Ashina Türks of the First Türkic Kaganate, and fled from their control.

Undoubtedly, the motivation of the Uars and Huns was driven by dynastic ambitions and alliances. The events of 93-160 AD  largely decimated the Huns' traditional dynastic rule of Luanti and Uigurs, it was replaced by a union of the paternal Dulo dynasty and still unnamed maternal dynasty, who re-established the Hun's primacy in the western part of the Central Asia. The “old” maternal dynasty Kayi/Gilyans apparently followed the Hun refugees as an independent or autonomous confederation, and re-created their own state on the southwestern bank of the Caspian Sea, allied with another group of refugees from the western part of Central Asia, the Masguts aka Massagetes, called Saka Tigrakhauda (Saka Bonnet Hats) and "Kermikhions" (Rad Chions) by the Persians and "Melanchlaeni" (Black Mantle) by the Greeks, otherwise known as Alans. Under the Abdaly rule, Uars ived in the same general area as the Masguts. The Uars, Masguts, and Alans have transparent etymologies of their names: Uars from uaruar meaning “current”, “river” [Malyavkin, 1989, p. 265, note 598; Ch. Je-je/Ye-ye/Yeh-yeh/She-she, pyn. xi 錫], they must have occupied Syrdarya river valleys; Masguts from mas and gut (allophone of gur and guz) meaning “head” and “tribe” respectively, they were a “Leading Tribe”, as they were represented in the Classical sources, and occupied interfluvial area; Alans from alan meaning “field, open space, steppe”, which Chinese understood as “vast steppe”, an alternate name for the same people. The topographical semantics of the names, to which should be added the ethnonyms Tokhar from tag and ar meaning “mountain” and “men” respectively, for “Mountaineer”, and Suvar (Subaroi of Strabon) from su/suv and ar meaning “water, river” and “men” respectively, for “River People”,  indicate that these Middle Asian people were parts of the same ethnic community, possibly known under general ethnonyms As “people” or Hun “kins”, and speaking dialects belonging to the Ogur group of languages. Another western rendition of the ethnonym Uar had an allophonic form Aor. It should be expected that the retreat of Uars was led by the Abdaly's dynastic tribe headed by Khan Bayan. History of Eastern Europe and Western Asia peoples in the Late Antique period was potently defined by the confrontation and interplay between three dominant dynasties, Ashina, Dulo, and unnamed Abdaly's, with a sidekick of the Kayi dynasty.

Identification of the European Avars with the Abdaly Uars leaves out the conjectural identification of the Avars with the Jujans, which was a predominant scientific contrivance for most of the past hundred years. That identification does not help in resolving the ethnic origin of the Jujans 柔然 (蠕蠕/茹茹 “wriggling insects/fodder”), recently renamed into Rourans to reflect the Beijing Mandarin dialect; the ethnic origin of the Jujans must be resolved in its own right, without expediency of the unsubstantiated Avar paradigm.

The following extracts from M.Zakiev's fundamental monograph Genesis of Türks and Tatars illuminate general trends pertaining to the ethnonym Avar.

Origin of Türks, Introduction

7

The fifth type of Türks compose those Türkic-speaking tribes and peoples who lived long before the spread of the ethnonym Türk and had various names, including some phonetic variations of the word Türk. This testifies to the ethnonym Türk being formed and applied long before the 4th century AD, when it started spreading as the common ethnonym for many Türkic-speaking peoples. The pre-Türkic period tribes and peoples are: Abdaly (Ephthalites - White Huns), Avars (Aores, Engl. Aorses), Agadirs (Agathyrs)/Akatirs (Akathirs, Agach eri), Argippei, Ases (Az/Yas/Ash/Ish/Uz), Alans, Alvans, Angareyons (Kangars), Apasiaks, Apahtarks, Arimaspi, Asana, Bardy (Pardy > Parthy), Bi/Pi/Pey/Bey/Bek, Bunturk, Gelon (Yylan), Huns (Suns), Dagarma (Dagar, Tagar), Days, Jujan (Susün), Iirk (Iyi erkek > Iyi erk), Ishguza, Kangaras, Kangüy, Kaspi, Katiar, Kusan/Kushan/Kasan/Kazan, Küshe, Kimmer, Koman, Kuirk, Kunaksalan, Kuu Kiji, Kuerik, Massaget, Méí (Min), Onogur, Paralat, Roksolan, Sa, Sarmat, Saga, Sagadar, Sagay, Sak (Saka), Saha, Sakaliba (Saklab), Syanbi (Syanbi), Sindy, Skithe (Rus. Skif, Türk. Iskit, Europ. Scyth), Skolot, Sogdy (Sugdak, Sogdak), Suar, Sumer, Sé, Tabgach, Taur (Tohar, Tagar, Dagar, Dagarma), Tissaget, Tohri, Thrac (Rus. Frakiets), Traspi, Troya, Tursaka, Ud (As), Unu, Usun, Thissaget, Hangar, Hartesh, Hvaras (Suaras/Horasm), Horasan (Suar-As-Sün), Hunugur (Sonogur/Onogur), Eorpata, Etrusk, etc.

Origin of Türks, Second chapter
Detection Methods for the ethnic roots of the Türks

58

The word ak “white, pure, noble” also serves as definition in composite ethnonyms: Oguz from Akuz (Ak As) “White As/Uz” ; Ogur from Akar > Okor > Ogur “Noble People” ; Oghondor from ak-hun-lar ” White Huns”, Aknogay “Noble Nogay”, Apakhtark from Apak-Türk > Apahtark “White Türks”. Here the determinant component ak should not be confused with the ethnonym ok “tribe”.

60

As definitives of the secondary Türkic ethnonyms are the words expressing “mountain or wooded mountains” tau (with variations: tu, tuu, dag, tag). For example, the basic common ethnonym Türk historically goes back to Tu-erk > Tüerk > Türk. In the ethnonyms Tagar (Tochar), Dagar, Dagarma (-ìà is Hebrew plural affix), Taulas (Tauly As) the definitions of the primary ethnonyms Ar and As serve the words tau, dag “mountain”, tauly” mountainous”. In the ethnonym Khazar the definition hkaz comes from kas “rocky mountain” (compare Kafkas > Kavkaz (Eng. Caucasus) “white rocky mountains” ).

Origin of Türks, Third chapter
Ancient Türkic-speaking areas

96

A few words should be said now about several problems of the Kushans, who are tribes of the Central Asian Türkic-speaking area. In 1947 A.N.Bernshtam has published an article “Usun, Kushan and Tochar question” where he was proving that these tribes are the parts of one and the same people, and are related to Ephthalites (White Huns). Following a “tradition”, the author considers all of them Iranian-lingual [Bernshtam A.N., 1947, 41-47]. But the concrete facts stated in the same work attest to their Türkic language.

The people called Kusan (in the historical literature the term Kushan is more widespread) left a very large trace in history, in the 1st century BC they created a state, and in the 1st-3rd centuries AD this state occupied a huge territory covering significant parts of the Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northern India and Eastern Turkestan (called Sintszyan/Xinjiang, “New Territory”, since its occupation by the Chinese Communists in 1949).

Middle Asia in the 2nd century AD
1 - Direction of Hunnish migration; 2 - Borders of Kushan Kungdom ca. 106 AD; 3 - Sphere of influence of Kushan Kungdom
4 - Territory taken by Kanishka from China; 5 - Great Silk Road

Kushan Map 106 AD

The Russian official historical science considers them Iranian-lingual, ostensibly they were Turkified only in the 4th-7th centuries AD under the influence of newcomer nomads, Türks. In real life it is not the newcomer nomads who assimilate the local culture of settled peoples, but on the contrary the newcomers are assimilated by the settled aborigines. Therefore it would be more correct to recognize that from the very beginning the Kushans were Türkic-speaking. Besides, historical sources established that Kushans were one of the leading tribes of the Tochars, and the Tochar state was headed by the Usuns [Bernshtam A.N., 1947, 43]. Both Tochars and Usuns were certainly Türkic-speaking. On the other hand, the sources identified Kushans are with the White Huns, who have another common ethnonym Ephthalite [Procopius Caesarian, 1876, G.Distunis' comments, 60].

This record of the ancient sources is also supported by etymology of the ethnonym Kusan (Kushan): ku “light, white”, san from the Türkic Sün, i.e. Kusan  “White Huns”. It is well-known that the ethnonym Kusan has many phonetic variations: Küsan, Güsan, Gushan, Gushana, Kushan, Kushana, Kashan, Kasan, etc. Analyzing some variations, A.N.Bernshtam expresses his opinion that the ethnonym Kusan is just a Tocharian pronunciation the ethnonym Usun [Bernshtam A.N., 1947, 44]. The Usuns are Türks, the Tochars are Türks, hence, the Kusans are also Türks, also called White Huns. Naturally, the presence of the ancient Türkic-speaking area in the Central Asia is proved not only by these the Huns (Usuns, Tochars, White Huns ), but also by the history of the Huns (Süns) themselves. But the discourse about it follows below.

A weighty argument for the Khwarezmians (Horasmis), Sakas, Sogds (Sakady), Parthys (Rus. Parfyane), Kushans to be Türkic-speaking from the very beginning is that these peoples also preserved their ancient ethnonym. If from the very beginning they were Iranian-lingual, and under the influence of the “newcoming” Türks they switched to the Türkic language only in the 4th-7th cc., they would have accepted a new ethnonym during their assimilation among the Türks, namely the ethnonym of the “newcoming” Türks. Usually the assimilated people, if it did not create a state and does not rule it, always accepts the ethnonym of assimilator people.

That the Türks lived in the Central Asia long before our era witness the Türkic names of the geographical objects recorded by the ancient Greek travelers:
a) mountain ranges - Caucasus (Kaukas), Kroukas, Taur mountains (see previous) and Oksiy;
b) different rivers - Araks, Oks, Tanais, etc. [Piyankov I.V., 1997, 283-284].

These statements about Elamians, Horasmians, Parthes, Kushans, Sogds, Tochars, Usuns and the ancient Türkic toponyms of the Central Asia show convincingly enough that from before the 3rd millennium BC there lived Türkic tribes who settled the ancient Türkic-speaking area in the Central Asia and Kazakhstan.

114

The Ephthalites in another way are called by the world historical science “White Huns”. In the 4th-6th centuries AD they had their state in the Central Asia, Afghanistan, Northwestern India, and East Turkestan.

Abdaly (Ephthalite) territory in the 6th century AD

In India a part of the Ephthalites assimilates among the local people [Nehru Dj., 1975, 172, 173], and another part retains their Türkic language.

In the Russian and West-European historical science the Ephthalites, in defiance of the fact that they are White Huns, are considered to be Iranian-lingual.

Turkologists attribute Ephthalites to the Türkic-speaking peoples, but some of them at the same time add that once the Iranian-lingual Ephthalites switched to the Türkic language. In our opinion, the Ephthalites, like the Horasmis, Kushans, Parthys (Parthians), Usuns, Sogds from the very beginning were Türkic-speaking. The fact of the Ephthalites' (Türk.: Abdal, Abdally, Hantal, Korean Yeoptal 엽달 reflecting archaic Chinese form) Türkic-speaking is recognized in the Turkish and Hungarian Türkology [Seferoglu, Mudarrisoglu, 1986, 29; Rasonie L., 1993, 73].

Thus, we find ethnic roots of the Türks in the Huns and in other tribes and peoples closely related to them.

Now we shall pass to the more ancient and peripheral Türks.

Origin of Türks, Fourth chapter
Scytho-Sarmatian ethnic roots of Türks

It is important to note, that the German Indo-Europeists ascribed to the ancient Tochars a peculiar Iranian language. The matter is that at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries in the oases of the Eastern Turkistan (so called Sintszyan) were found monuments in a special western-Iranian dialect. The German Türkologist in the translation of the text from Sanskrit to Uigur found that the translation was done not directly from Sanskrit, but through a Tohri language. On the basis of that message, the other German scientists named these Persian texts “Tocharian”. “They linked the Uigur word “tohri” with the name of the “Tochars” people, attested by the ancients as living in Bactria... The term “Tocharian language” is lingering until now, despite strong protests of many scientists” [Krauze Â., 1959, 41, 44]. Here is clearly evident the break in the logic: the Uigur text does not say that Tohri/Tochars spoke Persian, most likely they were Türks, if the Uigurs took advantage of their language. Besides, we know that in antiquity, Tochars in the Central Asia were closely connected with the Sako-Massagets, who in the 5th-7th centuries are known as Türkic nations among the Türkic Ephthalites and other Türks. M.Kashgarly the Togars (Tochars) also lists as the Türks. The root of the word “Tocharistan has survived in the topo- and ethnonymy of the Uzbeks and Kazakhs” [Tolstova L.C., 1978, 10]. The Tochars actively participated in forming the Uzbeks. Such a people as Tochars, greatly widespread (from the Eastern Europe to the Central Asia), could not have gone Turkified so expeditiously, most likely the Tochars from the very beginning were Türks.

Origin of Tatars, Third Chapter
Linguo-ethnical distinction of the Itil Bulgars

349

That k'u in the ethnonym of the K'uchak/Kypchak (K'uman) has a meaning ‘white, reddish, blond-haired’, that is also evidenced by the white (yellow) and non-white (not yellow) peoples we observe among the multitude of the Türkic peoples. So, the White Huns, who were also called Ephthalites, in the 5th-6th centuries have formed their state in the Middle Asia territory, Afghanistan, Northwestern India and a part of the Eastern Turkestan. In the history are known White Tatars and Black Tatars, White Khazars and Black Khazars, White Kirgiz and other Kirgizes, Sary Uigurs, etc.

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In Memory Of Avar Kagans
Ephthalite Dateline
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