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Agathyrsi Scythians

Wikipedia article "Scythians"
Revision 20 August 2006, 18:58
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scythians&diff=prev&oldid=68754000

Introduction

This is a reprint of a section from the "Scythia" article posted in Wikipedia and later revised to remove any material contradicting the Scytho-Iranian concept. Because the vigilant editorial censorship by the proponents of the Scytho-Iranian concept makes the subject totally devoid of the substance, the full uncensored text as of 20 August 2006 is posted here for a record. Wikipedia materials are not copyrighted and can freely be used for educational purposes. In this posting, the Wikipedia formatting was not preserved.

This posting addresses only the Agathyrsi Scythians, and most importantly, contains the references to the sources, which constitutes a most disturbing aspect for the ardent proponents of the Scytho-Iranian hypothesis. For comparison, refer to the Turkic-free sanitized version currently on Wikipedia  Agathyrsi: No mentioning of Agach-eri etymology, no mentioning of well-documented historical events: Bulgarian/Agathyrs fight for supremacy in the European Hunnish state, Agathyrsi/Acatziri long-term presence in the Crimea, their exodus to Turkey after a fall of the Crimean Khanate, no mentioning of their exodus to the Safavid Azerbaijan, no mentioning of their present presence in Iran. Even the presence of Acatziri in the Hunnic confederation is not mentione. Is not mentioned the Slavic calque of their name, "Drevlyane", meaning "forest people", "agach-eri". neither is explained E.A. Thompson argumentation for outright rejection of identification of the people with the same name, in the same place, at the same time as being the same people, though, in his own words, "we cannot follow those numerous scholars who believe that Acatziri were not Huns (i.e., Türks)". A full quotation, in fact, says: "...obscure but valiant people called the Akatziri. 1 Who precisely they were we do not know for certain, although several conjectures have been offered: they were the Agathyrsi of Herodotus, or the Khazars, or the Magyars, and so on. These conjectures should be rejected: Priscus tell us that they were a tribe of the Huns, and we have no reason to doubt him" (page 104). E.A. Thompson's reasoning becomes clear: recognizing Akatziri identical with Herodotus Agathyrsi would immediately confirm that Agathyrsi were Huns (i.e., Türks, proto-Türks, Altaians or whatever euphemism is suitable for the purpose), because E.A. Thompson does accept Akatziri as Türkic-speaking  European Huns, and thus with a stroke of a pen defiantly negate the whole Scytho-Iranian Theory. And naturally, for a scholar of Rome Empire, E.A. Thompson is in no position to assert such a drastic heresy. That mental block, which was a heresy in 1950es European science, has to come down, and obvious evidence take its rightful place.

1 Note refers to the spelling of the name, Marquart corrects it to Akatiroi (Ακατιροι) instead of Ακατζιροι (Marquart "Streifzüge", p. 41, n.1).

Akatziri can't identified with the Khazars proper any more than Magyars can, they have quite different origin, but they both were members of the Khazar Kaganate in the period from the 660, when Khazars captured the overlordship of the N.Pontic, till the advent of the Badjanaks in the 913, when Magyars fled from Lebedia toward Pannonia. Akatziri remained in the N.Pontic, and for 150 years were a member of  N.Pontic Badjanak state, which did not make them Badjanaks any more than they were Khazars and Bulgars and Huns and Alans in the previous 660 years. They remained a Turkic-speaking, ethnically unique group that preserved its coherency and its language into present. The phrasing in the Wikipedia Agathyrsi article is misleading in trying to invert a simple story into a mumble jumble verbal detour. No sane scientist will equate with a straight face Akatziri with Khazars or Magyars, it is not a pertinent educational content of the Akatziri article. But they definitely mutually influenced Thracians and Slavs, and maybe it was them who brought first Turkic borrowings, now shared by all Slavic peoples, into the Slavic lexicon (vorota=gate, telega=cart, to name a couple).

Text of additional citations, references, and comments are highlighted in blue, to distinguish them from the body of the original Wikipedia text. Some of those materials may be reinstatement of the clauses removed during ethnic cleansing of the context.

Article

Scythians

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Revision as of 18:58, 20 August 2006
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scythians&oldid=70807486

Scythia comprised an area in Eurasia whose location and extent varied over time. Scythians at various times inhabited:

Contents

Agathyrsi Scythians

Herodotus (Herodotus 4.8-4.10) reported that Greeks viewed Agathyrsi, Genons, and Scythians as brothers. Agathyrsi is one of the two Scythian tribes that can be traced in literary sources from the 6th c. BC to the present. Herodotus provided description of the 6th c. BC great Scythian nomadic empire and Agathyrsi Scythians, and elaborately recounted the expedition (516 - 513 BC) of Persian king Darius Hystapes (522-486 BC) against Scythians in the N. Pontic (Herodotus 4.10, 4.48, 4.49, 4.78, 4.100, 4.102, 4.104, 4.119, 4.125). Herodotus mentioned Agathyrsi together with another tribe, Geloni. Agathyrsi, who were noted for their love of jewelry, refused to join a fight against Persians unless directly provoked, which highlighted the autonomy and voluntary association of the members of the Scythian confederation. The writer of 2nd c. AD Claudius Ptolemy places Agathyrs and Savars, another easily traceable tribe, in the N.Pontic. Ca. 380 AD, Ammianus Marcellinus in Res Gestae Ch. 22, 8 writes that beyond the palus Maeotis together with Geloni live Agathyrsi, among whom there is an abundance of adamantine stones. Further, he writes that over the border from Geloni are Agathyrsi, who tattoo their bodies and dye their hair blue, the common people with a few small, but the nobles with many large marks (Amm. 31, 2, 1-11). Ammianus also describes the Alanian empire that the Alans cobbled together before the end of the 2nd c. AD, that by repeated victories Alans incorporated under their own national name Geloni, Agathyrsi, Melanchlaeni, Anthropophagi, Amazons, and Seres.

On the etymology of the name "Agathyrsi" scholars show unanimity, among them Tomaschek, Marquart, and Kiessling all agree that the name is Old Turkic and means "Forest People" (Waldleute). <ref>Thompson, E.A. (1996), <i>The Huns</i>, The Peoples of Europe (Revised ed.), Oxford: Blackwell, ISBN 0631214437 , p.106, citing Tomaschek P.-W. s.v. "Akatziri; Marquart <i>Streifzüge</i>, pp. xxiv. 41, Kiessling P.-W. viii, 2604, K.H. Mengez, <i>Byzantion</i>, xvii, 1945, p. 261</ref>

An interesting tidbit comes from Servius on Aenid 4.v.146, that probably closer to 300 AD the Agathyrsi sent across a sea a contingent to Scotland, where it became identified with Picts, who were formidable warriors and seriously fatigued all who stood against them. Traditionally, the Picts are depicted as wearing conical hats and speaking language incomprehensible to local Indo-Europeans.

Next we find Akatziri mentioned by Prisco di Panion in Vol XI, 823, who encountered Agathyrs leading nomadic life north of Black Sea during the 5th century, and reported them as being Hunnic tribes. (E.A. Thomson commented on that that when Priscus says "Hun" he means it.) A bit later, Priscus in his Byzantine History finds Agathyrs as Hunnish subjects in pre-Attila time, and a main force of Hun's army in the Attila time. Moreover, Priscus directly declares Agathyrs (Acatziri) as Hunnic people, divided into several tribes and clans under their own leaders. <ref>Thompson, E.A. (1996), <i>The Huns</i>, citing  Priscus <i>Byzantine History</i>, p.298, 29 with a notation "we cannot follow those numerous scholars who believe that Acatziri were not Huns (i.e., Türks)", pp.15, 49</ref> In 447 AD under leadership of Attila (r. 434-453) Huns fought and subdued valiant Acatziri people. Jordanes located Acatziri south of Aesti (Estonians), placed Acatziri south of Aesti around the modern city Korosten (9th c. Iskorosten). Priscus also locates Acatziri in the N.Pontic not far from approaches to the Persian empire. <ref>Thompson, E.A. (1996), <i>The Huns</i>, The Peoples of Europe, p. 106, citing  Priscus <i>Byzantine History</i>, p.310, 31, p.341, 15, p. 346, 7, Jordanes  <i>Getica</i>, vol. 36, Marquart <i>Streifzüge</i>, p xxiipp</ref>, which was a capital of "Drevlyan"="Forest People" recorded in Slavic Annals. Though Ptolemy also places Akatziri east of the middle course of Dnieper,  E.A.Thompson thinks that they migrated north-west from the area near Azov Sea after 448. <ref>Thompson, E.A. (1996), <i>The Huns</i>, p. 106</ref>.

Attila appointed Karidach (Curidachus) as Akatzirs' Khan. Priscus describes at length how Byzantines tried to corrupt Akatziri leadership, and split them from the Huns, and how Karidach, one of the most prominent leaders Akatziri, disclosed the attempt to Attila, who sent a panitive expedition against conspirators, restored Karidach leadership, and appointed his eldest son Ellac to govern the rest of the Akatziri. <ref>Thompson, E.A. <i>The Huns</i>, p. 107, citing  Priscus <i>Byzantine History</i>, p.298, 30ff, Jordanes  <i>Getica</i>, vol. 36</ref>  The campaign against Akatziri was lead by Attila's second in command, Onegesius in Priscus and Hunagasius in German, who installed Ellac after suppressing Akatziri. <ref>Thompson, E.A. <i>The Huns</i>, pp. 205, 279, citing  Priscus <i>Byzantine History</i>, p.298, 30ff, and <i>Vita Lupi</i>, v, p. 298</ref>

 Jordanes, who quotes Priscus in Getica, described the European Agathyrs as extremely brave people. They knew nothing of agriculture, and like in Herodotus days, were nomads, living off their flocks and herds and by hunting<ref>Thompson, E.A. (1996), <i>The Huns</i>, p. 106, citing  Priscus <i>Byzantine History</i>, p.298, 29, Jordanes  <i>Getica</i>, vol. 36, Marquart <i>Streifzüge</i> l.c., p xxiipp</ref>

After the death of Attila and fracture of the Hunnish empire, a coalition of the Bulgariann tribes defeated Agathyrs in a battle for supremacy, and incorporated them in their empire, known in the 7th c. as "Great Bulgaria". In respect to Agathyrs, who regained their independence after the death of Attila in 453, they were conquered again around 465 AD by the Saraguri, members of the Bulgarian tribal confederation. <ref>Thompson, E.A. (1996), <i>The Huns</i>, p. 175, citing  Priscus <i>Byzantine History</i>, frags, 30, 41</ref> In the following centuries, the N.Pontic steppes were dominated in turns by Khazarss, Badjanaks, Oguzes, Kipchaks, Mongolo-Tatars, and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. During the Middle Ages, Agathyrs popped out again in the Seljuk Anatolia. In the 15th century a branch of Agach-Eriler (Türkic pl. of Agacher), who lived in the region of Marash-Elbistan in Central Anatolia, immigrated to Safavid (Azeri dynasty) Persia. Until nowadays this branch of Agachers has survived in Iran under the name Aghajari and Agatharias.

Follow-up (10/23/2012)
Древляне это Геродотовские Агациры, по-Туркски Агациры - это Древляне, и все то немногое что имеется в записях о них соответствует Тюркской лингвистике и этнологии. О судьбе Агациров мы отрывочно знаем до сегодняшнего дня, в 17 в. их компактная группа в Турции в районе Коньи разделилась, и многие переселились в Сафавидовскую Персию, где они опять обосновались 2мя компактными группами существующими в наше время. В 6м в. западные Булгары подчинились Аварам (War/Uar), и их вассальные Агациры оказались под главенством Аваров. В 7м в. граница между Аварией и Булгарией проходила как раз через земли Агациров в районе верховьев Буха и Днестра, и т.о. политически Агациры были поделены между Аварией и Булгарией. Власть Хазарии до них не дошла, до падения Аварии западные Агациры оставались под властью Аварии, и потом вошли в Булгарию Крума (Дунайская Булгария, нынешняя Болгария), южные Агациры в Крыму были под властью Хазарии, а восточные Агациры входили в государство Дуло, потом были независимые в восточной Галиции, и потом были захвачены Ольгой (Helga) и подчинились Киевской Руси. На этом история западных и восточных Агациров как этнически различимых груп заканчивается, а Крымские Агациры дожили до падения Крымского Ханства и разделились, часть бежала в Турцию и выжила до настоящего времени, а оствшиеся разделили судьбу Крымских Татар.


В свете судьбы Агациров, заключение Ю.Н. Дроздова о Тюркской принадлежности Древлян очень интересно. К сожалению, нет работы которая бы была посвящена истории Акациров. По моему, после анекдота о захвате Акациров они как Древляне исчезают из Славянских летописей.


В Галиции (и Паннонии) кочевые Акациры жили совместно с подневольным земледельческим населением, в основном верояно Кельтского происхождения (Галлы), и те и другие были разными смесями группы R1b, но Акациры также несли R1а, а Галлы также несли группы I и J. В составе сегодняшней Галиции и западной Украины их примесь неразличима.


 

 

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03/03/2009

Thompson, E.A. (1996), The Huns, The Peoples of Europe (Revised ed.), Oxford: Blackwell, ISBN 0631214437

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