1.
Avars (Caucasus)
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The Avars constitute a Caucasus native ethnic group, the most predominant of several ethnic groups living in the Russian republic of Dagestan. The Avars reside in a known as the North Caucasus between the Black and Caspian Seas. Alongside other ethnic groups in the North Caucasus region, the Caucasian Avars live in ancient villages located approximately 2,000 m above sea level, the Avar language spoken by the Caucasian Avars belongs to the family of Northeast Caucasian languages and is also known as Nakh–Dagestanian. Sunni Islam has been the religion of the Avars since the 13th century. According to 19th-century Russian historians, the Avars neighbors usually referred to them by the exonyms Lezgins, vasily Potto wrote that those to the south usually knew them as Tavlins and their neighbors on the other side of the mountains, in Georgia referred to them as Lezgins. The words in different languages have the same meaning, no single ethic group was known as Lezgins prior to the Russian Revolution, and the name was not usually used by the Lezgins themselves. However, Lezgin was originally a Turkish term for highland resident, the name Tavlin is believed to be from the Turkic tau, meaning mountain. Those known as Tavlins usually have origins in the parts of two tributaries of the Sulak River, the Andiyskoe Koisu and Avarskoye Koisu. Potto also claimed that members of the Avar tribe also often referred to themselves by the alternate endonym maarulal, according to the historian Sergey Tolstov, the Avars originated in Khurasan, south-east of the Caspian Sea, and migrated to the Caucasus. These geographical origins apparently link them to the Hurrians of Subartu, there is circumstantial evidence for this in human Y-DNA chromosomes, Haplogroup J1 typical of Avar males are also common in the area formerly occupied by Subartu. However, there are distribution and other haplogroups, each ethnic group of the Avars there are several haplogroups that both are identical to each other and different. For example, in most Bagvalal grafting - R1b, and related to them by language Chamalal - J1. The earliest mention of the Avars in European history is by Priscus, the legation claimed that in 461 their peoples had been displaced by the Sabirs, as a result of pressure from the Avars. The modern Arab Encyclopaedia states that the Magyars originated in this area, the Avar invasion of the Caucasus resulted in the establishment of an Avar ruling dynasty in Sarir, a medieval Christian state in the Dagestani highlands. During the Khazar wars against the Caliphate in the 7th century, surakat is mentioned as their Khagan around 729–30 AD, followed by Andunik-Nutsal at the time of Abu Muslima, then Dugry-Nutsal. Sarir suffered a partial eclipse after the Arabs gained the upper hand and it confronted the weakened Khazars and conducted a friendly policy towards the neighbouring Christian states of Georgia and Alania. In the early 12th century, Sarir disintegrated, to be succeeded by the Avar Khanate, the only extant monument of Sarir architecture is a 10th-century church at the village of Datuna. The Mongol invasions seem not to have affected the Avar territory, in the 15th century the Horde declined, and the Shamkhalate of Kazi-Kumukh rose to power
2.
Ravenna
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Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the city of the Western Roman Empire from 402 until that empire collapsed in 476. It then served as the capital of the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths until it was re-conquered in 540 by the Eastern Roman Empire. Afterwards, the city formed the centre of the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna until the invasion of the Lombards in 751, although an inland city, Ravenna is connected to the Adriatic Sea by the Candiano Canal. It is known for its well-preserved late Roman and Byzantine architecture, the origin of the name Ravenna is unclear, although it is believed the name is Etruscan. Some have speculated that ravenna is related to Rasenna, the term that the Etruscans used for themselves, the origins of Ravenna are uncertain. Ravenna consisted of houses built on piles on a series of islands in a marshy lagoon – a situation similar to Venice several centuries later. The Romans ignored it during their conquest of the Po River Delta, in 49 BC, it was the location where Julius Caesar gathered his forces before crossing the Rubicon. Later, after his battle against Mark Antony in 31 BC and this harbor, protected at first by its own walls, was an important station of the Roman Imperial Fleet. Nowadays the city is landlocked, but Ravenna remained an important seaport on the Adriatic until the early Middle Ages, during the German campaigns, Thusnelda, widow of Arminius, and Marbod, King of the Marcomanni, were confined at Ravenna. Ravenna greatly prospered under Roman rule, Emperor Trajan built a 70 km long aqueduct at the beginning of the 2nd century. During the Marcomannic Wars, Germanic settlers in Ravenna revolted and managed to seize possession of the city, for this reason, Marcus Aurelius decided not only against bringing more barbarians into Italy, but even banished those who had previously been brought there. In AD402, Emperor Honorius transferred the capital of the Western Roman Empire from Milan to Ravenna, at that time it was home to 50,000 people. However, in 409, King Alaric I of the Visigoths simply bypassed Ravenna, after many vicissitudes, Galla Placidia returned to Ravenna with her son, Emperor Valentinian III and the support of her nephew Theodosius II. The late 5th century saw the dissolution of Roman authority in the west, Odoacer ruled as King of Italy for 13 years, but in 489 the Eastern Emperor Zeno sent the Ostrogoth King Theoderic the Great to re-take the Italian peninsula. After losing the Battle of Verona, Odoacer retreated to Ravenna, Theoderic took Ravenna in 493, supposedly slew Odoacer with his own hands, and Ravenna became the capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy. Both Odoacer and Theoderic and their followers were Arian Christians, but co-existed peacefully with the Latins, Ravennas Orthodox bishops carried out notable building projects, of which the sole surviving one is the Capella Arcivescovile. Theoderic allowed Roman citizens within his kingdom to be subject to Roman law, the Goths, meanwhile, lived under their own laws and customs
3.
Heraclius
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Heraclius was the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 610 to 641. He was responsible for introducing Greek as the Eastern Roman Empires official language and his rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas. Heracliuss reign was marked by military campaigns. The year Heraclius came to power, the empire was threatened on multiple frontiers, Heraclius immediately took charge of the Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628. Soon after, he initiated reforms to rebuild and strengthen the military, Heraclius drove the Persians out of Asia Minor and pushed deep into their territory, defeating them decisively in 627 at the Battle of Nineveh. The Persian king Khosrau II was overthrown and executed by his son Kavadh II and this way peaceful relations were restored to the two deeply strained empires. Heraclius soon experienced a new event, the Muslim conquests, emerging from the Arabian Peninsula, the Muslims quickly conquered the Sassanid empire. In 634 the Muslims marched into Roman Syria, defeating Heracliuss brother Theodore, within a short period of time, the Arabs conquered Mesopotamia, Armenia and Egypt. Heraclius entered diplomatic relations with the Croats and Serbs in the Balkans and he tried to repair the schism in the Christian church in regard to the Monophysites, by promoting a compromise doctrine called Monothelitism. The Church of the East was also involved in the process, eventually, however, this project of unity was rejected by all sides of the dispute. Heraclius was the eldest son of Heraclius the Elder and Epiphania, of an Armenian family from Cappadocia, beyond that, there is little specific information known about his ancestry. His father was a key general during Emperor Maurices war with Bahrām Chobin, usurper of the Sassanid Empire, after the war, Maurice appointed Heraclius the Elder to the position of Exarch of Africa. In 608, Heraclius the Elder renounced his loyalty to the Emperor Phocas, the rebels issued coins showing both Heraclii dressed as consuls, though neither of them explicitly claimed the imperial title at this time. Heracliuss younger cousin Nicetas launched an invasion of Egypt, by 609, he had defeated Phocass general Bonosus. Meanwhile, the younger Heraclius sailed eastward with another force via Sicily, when he reached the capital, the Excubitors, an elite Imperial Guard unit led by Phocass son-in-law Priscus, deserted to Heraclius, and he entered the city without serious resistance. When Heraclius captured Phocas, he asked him Is this how you have ruled, Phocass reply—And will you rule better. —so enraged Heraclius that he beheaded Phocas on the spot. He later had the genitalia removed from the body because Phocas had raped the wife of Photius, a powerful politician in the city. On October 5,610, Heraclius was crowned for a time, this time in the Chapel of St. Stephen within the Great Palace, at the same time he married Fabia
4.
Avar Khaganate
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The Avar Khaganate was a khanate established in the Pannonian Basin region in 567 by the Avars, a nomadic people of uncertain origins and ethno-linguistic affiliation. As the Göktürk Empire expanded westwards, the Khagan Bayan I led a group of Avars and Bulgars out of their reach, in 557 the Avars sent an embassy to Constantinople, marking their first contact with the Byzantine Empire—presumably from the northern Caucasus. In exchange for gold, they agreed to subjugate the unruly gentes on behalf of the Byzantines and they conquered and incorporated various nomadic tribes—Kutrigurs and Sabirs—and defeated the Antes. By 562 the Avars controlled the lower Danube basin and the north of the Black Sea. By the time they arrived in the Balkans, the Avars formed a group of about 20,000 horsemen. After the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I bought them off, they pushed northwestwards into Germania, however, Frankish opposition halted the Avars expansion in that direction. The Avars turned their attention to the Carpathian Plain and to the natural defenses it afforded, however, the Carpathian basin was then occupied by the Gepids. In 567 the Avars formed an alliance with the Lombards—enemies of the Gepids—and together they destroyed much of the Gepid Kingdom, the Avars then persuaded the Lombards to move into northern Italy, an invasion that marked the last Germanic mass-movement in the Migration Period. After devastating much of the Sclavenes land, the Avars returned to Pannonia after many of the Khagans subjects deserted to the Byzantine Emperor. By 600 the Avars had established a nomadic empire ruling over a multitude of peoples, by about 580, the Avar Khagan Bayan I had established supremacy over most of Slavic, Bulgar, Vlachs and Germanic tribes living in Pannonia and the Carpathian Basin. When the Byzantine Empire was unable to pay subsidies or hire Avar mercenaries, according to Menander, Bayan commanded an army of 10,000 Kutrigur Bulgars and sacked Dalmatia in 568, effectively cutting the Byzantine terrestrial link with North Italy and Western Europe. By 582, the Avars had captured Sirmium, an important fort in Pannonia, when the Byzantines refused to increase the stipend amount as requested by Bayans son and successor Bayan II, the Avars proceeded to capture Singidunum and Viminacium. They suffered setbacks, however, during Maurices Balkan campaigns in the 590s, after being defeated in their homeland, some Avars defected to the Byzantines in 602, but Emperor Maurice decided not to return home as was customary. He maintained his army camp beyond the Danube throughout the winter and this gave the Avars a desperately needed respite. They attempted an invasion of northern Italy in 610, the ongoing Byzantine civil war prompted a Persian invasion and after 615, the Avars enjoyed a free hand in the undefended Balkans. When now the Wendish army went against the Huns, the merchant Samo accompanied the same, and so the Samo’s bravery proved itself in wonderful ways and a huge mass of Huns fell to the sword of the Wends. While negotiating with Emperor Heraclius beneath the walls of Constantinople in 617, while they were unable to capture the city centre they pillaged the suburbs of the city and took 270,000 captives. Payments in gold and goods to the Avars reached the sum of 200,000 solidi shortly before 626
5.
Byzantine Empire
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It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
6.
Eurasian nomads
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The Eurasian nomads were a large group of nomadic peoples from the Eurasian Steppe, who often appear in history as invaders of Europe, the Middle East and China. The generic title encompasses the varied ethnic groups who have at times inhabited the steppes of Central Asia, Mongolia, Early periods in Chinese history involved conflict with the nomadic Rong and Xiongnu peoples to the west of the Wei valley. Iron and bronze was supplied from China, the Roman army hired Sarmatians as elite cavalrymen. The earliest example of an invasion by a people may have been by the Proto-Indo-Europeans themselves. Cimmerian is the first invasion of equestrian steppe nomads that is known from historical sources and their military strength was always based on cavalry, usually marked by prowess as mounted archers. Kurgan is a term for steppe burial mounds, which sometimes contained very elaborate burials. J. R. R. Tolkiens Rohirrim may be seen as an idealised Germanic people influenced by these romantic notions, Tolkiens Wainriders of eastern Rhûn recall ancient steppe peoples like the Scythians. Similarly, George R. R. Martins nomadic Dothraki people are influenced by the lifestyles and cultures of historical horse people. Nomadism persists in the steppelands, though it has generally been disapproved of by modern regimes, chronologically, there have been several waves of invasions of either Europe, the Near East, India and/or China from the steppe. Mongols, Turks, and others, Eurasian nomads and the sedentary world, Early riders, The beginnings of mounted warfare in Asia and Europe. Nomads and their neighbours in the Russian Steppe, Turks, Khazars, warriors of the steppe, A military history of Central Asia,500 B. C. to A. D.1700. New York, Sarpedon Publishers,1997, Cambridge, MA, korotayev, Dmitri Bondarenko, V. de Munck, and P. K. Vladivostok, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, reprinted in, The Early State, ed. by Leonid Grinin et al. Nomadism, Evolution, and World-Systems, Pastoral Societies in Theories of Historical Development, journal of World-System Research 8, 368–388. In Nomadic Pathways in Social Evolution, kradin, Dmitri Bondarenko, and T. Barfield. Moscow, Center for Civilizational Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nomads of Inner Asia in Transition. Littauer, Mary A. Crouwel, Joost H. Raulwing, selected writings on chariots and other early vehicles, riding and harness. Shippey, Thomas Tom A. Goths and Huns, The rediscovery of Northern culture in the century, in The Medieval legacy
7.
Huns
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The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia between the 1st century AD and the 7th century AD. In 91 AD, the Huns were said to be living near the Caspian Sea, by 370, the Huns had established a vast, if short-lived, dominion in Europe. In the 18th century, the French scholar Joseph de Guignes became the first to propose a link between the Huns and the Xiongnu people, who were neighbours of China in the 3rd century BC. Since Guignes time, considerable effort has been devoted to investigating such a connection. However, there is no consensus on a direct connection between the dominant element of the Xiongnu and that of the Huns. Numerous other ethnic groups were included under Attilas rule, including very many speakers of Gothic and their main military technique was mounted archery. The Huns may have stimulated the Great Migration, a factor in the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. They formed an empire under Attila the Hun, who died in 453. Variants of the Hun name are recorded in the Caucasus until the early 8th century, the Huns were a confederation of warrior bands, ready to integrate other groups to increase their military power, in the Eurasian Steppe in the 4th to 6th centuries AD. Most aspects of their ethnogenesis are uncertain, walter Pohl explicitly states, All we can say safely is that the name Huns, in late antiquity, described prestigious ruling groups of steppe warriors. Jerome associated them with the Scythians in a letter, written four years after the Huns invaded the eastern provinces in 395. The equation of the Huns with the Scythians, together with a fear of the coming of the Antichrist in the late 4th century. This demonization of the Huns is also reflected in Jordaness Getica, written in the 6th century, otto J. Maenchen-Helfen was the first to challenge the traditional approach, based primarily on the study of written sources, and to emphasize the importance of archaeological research. Thereafter the identification of the Xiongnu as the Huns ancestors became controversial among some, the similarity of their ethnonyms is one of the most important links between the two peoples. A Sogdian merchant described the invasion of northern China by the Xwn people in a letter, Étienne de la Vaissière asserts both documents prove that Huna or Xwn were the exact transcriptions of the Chinese Xiongnu name. Christopher P. Atwood rejects that identification because of the very poor match between the three words. For instance, Xiongnu begins with a velar fricative, Huna with a voiceless glottal fricative, Xiongnu is a two-syllable word. However, according to Zhengzhang Shangfang, Xiongnu was pronounced in Late Old Chinese, the Chinese Book of Wei contain references to the remains of the descendants of the Xiongnu who lived in the region of the Altai Mountains in the early 5th century AD
8.
Pannonian Basin
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The Pannonian Basin or Carpathian Basin is a large basin in Central Europe. It is a subsystem of the Alps-Himalaya system. Most of the consists of the Great Hungarian Plain and the Little Hungarian Plain. The Pannonian Basin lies in the part of Central Europe. It forms a discrete unit set in the European landscape, surrounded by imposing geographic boundaries - the Carpathian Mountains, the Alps, the Dinarides. The Rivers Danube and Tisza divide the basin roughly in half and it extends roughly between Vienna in the northwest, Zagreb in the southwest, Belgrade in the southeast and Satu Mare in the northeast. The name Pannonian comes from Pannonia, a province of the Roman Empire, in English, the terms Pannonian Basin and Carpathian Basin are used synonymously. The name Pannonian is taken from that of Pannonia, a province of the Roman Empire, the historical province overlapped but was not coterminous with the geographical plain or basin. Pannonia Inferior covered much of the half of the basin. Pannonia Superior included the western fringe of the basin as well as part of the Eastern Alps, the southern fringe of the basin was in Dalmatia and Moesia. The eastern half of the basin was not conquered by the Romans, likewise, the parts north of the Danube were not in the empire, they were considered part of Germania, inhabited by the Quadi. The term Pannonian Plain refers to the parts of the Pannonian Basin as well as those of some adjoining regions like Lower Austria, Moravia, Bosnia. The lands adjoining the plain proper are also called peri-Pannonian. In Hungarian geographical literature various subdivisions of the Carpathian Mountains are also considered parts of the Carpathian Basin on the basis of traditional geopolitical divisions, julius Pokorny derived the name Pannonia from Illyrian, from the Proto-Indo-European root *pen-, swamp, water, wet. For its early settlers, the plain offered few sources of metals or stone, thus when archaeologists come upon objects of obsidian or chert, copper or gold, they have almost unparalleled opportunities to interpret ancient pathways of trade. The Pannonian plain is divided into two parts along the Transdanubian Mountains, the northwestern part is called Western Pannonian plain and the southeastern part Eastern Pannonian plain. The plain was named after the Pannon named Medes, various different peoples inhabited the plain during its history. In the first century BC, the parts of the plain belonged to the Dacian state
9.
Central Europe
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Central Europe lies between Eastern Europe and Western Europe. The concept of Central Europe is based on a historical, social and cultural identity. Central Europe is going through a phase of strategic awakening, with such as the CEI, Centrope. While the regions economy shows high disparities with regard to income, elements of unity for Western and Central Europe were Roman Catholicism and Latin. According to Hungarian historian Jenő Szűcs, foundations of Central European history at the first millennium were in connection with Western European development. The keyword of Western social development after millennium was the spread of liberties and autonomies in Western Europe and these phenomena appeared in the middle of the 13th century in Central European countries. There were self-governments of towns, counties and parliaments, in 1335 under the rule of the King Charles I of Hungary, the castle of Visegrád, the seat of the Hungarian monarchs was the scene of the royal summit of the Kings of Poland, Bohemia and Hungary. They agreed to cooperate closely in the field of politics and commerce, in the Middle Ages, countries in Central Europe adopted Magdeburg rights. Before 1870, the industrialization that had developed in Western and Central Europe, even in Eastern Europe, industrialization lagged far behind. Russia, for example, remained rural and agricultural. The concept of Central Europe was already known at the beginning of the 19th century, an example of that-time vision of Central Europe may be seen in J. Partsch’s book of 1903. On 21 January 1904, Mitteleuropäischer Wirtschaftsverein was established in Berlin with economic integration of Germany, another time, the term Central Europe became connected to the German plans of political, economic and cultural domination. The bible of the concept was Friedrich Naumann’s book Mitteleuropa in which he called for a federation to be established after the war. The concept failed after the German defeat in World War I, the revival of the idea may be observed during the Hitler era. According to Emmanuel de Martonne, in 1927 the Central European countries included, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, italy and Yugoslavia are not considered by the author to be Central European because they are located mostly outside Central Europe. The author use both Human and Physical Geographical features to define Central Europe, the interwar period brought new geopolitical system and economic and political problems, and the concept of Central Europe took a different character. The centre of interest was moved to its eastern part – the countries that have appeared on the map of Europe, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, however, the conflict of interests was too big and neither Little Entente nor Intermarium ideas succeeded. The interwar period brought new elements to the concept of Central Europe, after the war, the Eastern part of Central Europe was placed at the centre of the concept
10.
Eastern Europe
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Eastern Europe, also known as East Europe, is the eastern part of the European continent. There is no consensus on the area it covers, partly because the term has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, cultural. There are almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region, a related United Nations paper adds that every assessment of spatial identities is essentially a social and cultural construct. One definition describes Eastern Europe as an entity, the region lying in Europe with main characteristics consisting in Byzantine, Orthodox. Another definition was created during the Cold War and used more or less synonymously with the term Eastern Bloc, a similar definition names the formerly communist European states outside the Soviet Union as Eastern Europe. Historians and social scientists generally view such definitions as outdated or relegating, several definitions of Eastern Europe exist today, but they often lack precision or are extremely general. These definitions vary both across cultures and among experts, even scientists, recently becoming more and more imprecise. The Ural Mountains, Ural River, and the Caucasus Mountains are the land border of the eastern edge of Europe. Eurovoc, a multilingual thesaurus maintained by the Publications Office of the European Union, provides entries for 23 EU languages, of these, those in italics are classified as Eastern Europe in this source. Other official web-pages of the European Union classify some of the countries as strictly Central European. The East–West Schism is the break of communion and theology between what are now the Eastern and Western churches which began in the 11th century and lasts until this very day and it divided Christianity in Europe, and consequently the world, into Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. Since the Great Schism of 1054, Europe has been divided between Roman Catholic and Protestant churches in the West, and the Eastern Orthodox Christian churches in the east, due to this religious cleavage, Eastern Orthodox countries are often associated with Eastern Europe. A cleavage of this sort is, however, often problematic, for example, Greece is overwhelmingly Orthodox, the fall of the Iron Curtain brought the end of the East–West division in Europe, but this geopolitical concept is sometimes still used for quick reference by the media. The Baltic states have seats in the Nordic Council as observer states and they also are members of the Nordic-Baltic Eight whereas Eastern European countries formed their own alliance called the Visegrád Group. Estonia Latvia Lithuania The Caucasus nations may be included in the definitions of Eastern Europe, the extent of their geographic or political affiliation with Europe varies by country and source. All three states are members of the European Unions Eastern Partnership program and the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, on 12 January 2002, the European Parliament noted that Armenia and Georgia may enter the EU in the future. Georgia — in modern geography, Georgia has been classified as part of Eastern Europe. Under the European Union’s geographic criteria, Georgia is viewed as part of Eastern Europe and is the only Caucasus country to be actively seeking EU membership and it is a member of Council of Europe and Eurocontrol
11.
Priscus
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Priscus of Panium was a 5th-century Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician. Priscus was born in Panion between 410-420 AD, in 448/449 AD, he accompanied Maximinus, the head of the Byzantine embassy representing Emperor Theodosius the Younger, on a diplomatic mission to the court of Attila the Hun. While there, he met and conversed with a Greek merchant, dressed in Scythian fashion, the trader explained to Priscus that after the sack of Viminacium, he was a slave of Onegesius, a Hunnic nobleman, but obtained his freedom and chose to settle among the Huns. Priscus ultimately engaged in a debate with the Greek defector regarding the qualities of life, after an interlude in Rome, Priscus traveled to Alexandria and the Thebaid in Egypt. He last appeared in the East, circa 456, attached to the staff of Euphemios as Emperor Marcians magister officiorum, Priscus was the author of an eight-volume historical work, written in Greek, entitled the History of Byzantium, which was probably not the original title name. The History probably covered the period from the accession of Attila the Hun to the accession of Emperor Zeno, priscuss work currently survives in fragments and was very influential in the Byzantine Empire. Priscuss writing style is straightforward and his work is regarded as a contemporary account of Attila the Hun, his court. Priscus recount of a dinner with Attila the Hun Priscus recount of a dinner with Attila the Hun was at, but this one was said to be supposedly greater than the rest. Made for celebration due to it being constructed of polished wood. Priscus entered the house the following day bearing gifts to Attilas wife and her name was Kreka who had three sons. The dinner was at three O’clock, Priscus and the embassy of Western Romans, were placed at the end of the table farthest from Attila but still in his presence, this was to show a means of Attila being greater than the Roman guest. That to Priscus, Attila considered his people were more important than Prius, as Priscus and the Western Roman embassy stood, they followed the cultural tradition of being given tea from the cupbearers. They were to pray and have a drink before having a seat at the table, Attila sat in the middle of the couch, with the seats being arranged linear to the walls. As the seating arrangement went on the side of Attila was held for the Chiefs in honor. With the everyone else including Priscus and the Roman embassies on the left, following the seating, everyone was to raise a glass to pledge one another with wine. Once the Cupbearers left another attendant came in with a plate of meat, followed by other items of food such as bread, all of the food was served on plates of silver and gold. Prius also notes that Attila didn’t use any silver or gold plates but instead used a cup made of wood, once the first round was finished, they stood and then drank again to the health of Attila. Once evening arrived torches were lite and songs that were composed of Attilas victories were sung, the remaining works of Priscus are currently published in four collections, Given, John
12.
Onogurs
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The Onoğurs or Oğurs, were Turkic nomadic equestrians who flourished in the Pontic-Caspian steppe and the Volga region between 5th and 7th century, and spoke Oğhuric language. The name Onoğur is most often derived as On-Oğur ten Oğurs, modern scholars consider Turkic tribal terms oğuz and oğur to be derived from Turkic *og/uq, meaning kinship or being akin to. The terms initially were not the same, as oq/ogsiz meant arrow, while oğul meant offspring, child, son, oğuš/uğuš was tribe, clan, and this tangle of events indicates that the Oğuric tribes are related to the Ting-ling and Tiele people. It is considered they belonged to the westernmost Tiele tribes, which included the Uyghurs-Toquz Oghuz and the Oghuz Turks. In early 7th century Theophylaktos Simokattes recorded that certain Onoğur city Βακάθ was destroyed by an earthquake before his lifetime, the Sogdian name indicates it was situated in the vicinity of Iranian Central Asia. Scholars also relate the Hyōn to this account, the Oğurs and Onoğurs, in the 6th and 7th century sources, were mentioned mostly in connection with the Avar and Türks conquest of Western Eurasia. According to the 6th century Menander Protector, the leader of the Οὐγούρων had the authority of the Türk Yabgu Khagan in the region of Kuban River to the lower Don. Simokattes in the Letter of the Türk Qaγan to the Emperor Maurikios recorded a complex notice. the Qağan set off on another undertaking and this people is of the most powerful because of their numbers and their training for war in full battle-gear. They have made their abodes towards the East, whence flows the river Τίλ, the oldest chieftains of this people are called Οὐάρ and Χουννί. Simokattes also recounts when the Ogor, then, were brought completely to heel, scholars consider if the Til is Qara Itil i. e. Volga, then the mentioned Ὀγώρ would be the Oğurs, while if is in Inner Asia, then could be the Uyghurs. Jordanes in Getica mentioned that the Hunuguri were notable for the skin trade. In the Middle Ages, marten skin was used as a substitute for minted money and this also indicates they lived near forests and were in contact with Finno-Ugrian peoples. From the 8th century, the Byzantine sources often mention the Onoğurs in close connection with the Bulgars, agathon wrote about the nation of Onoğurs Bulğars. Nikephoros I noted that Kubrat was the lord of the Onoğundurs, Kubrat successfully revolted against the Avars and founded the Old Great Bulgaria, also known as Onoğundur–Bulğars state, or Patria Onoguria in the Ravenna Cosmography. Constantine VII remarked that the Bulğars formerly called themselves Onoğundurs, all the forms show the phonetic changes typical of later Oğuric. The origin of the Kutrigurs and Utigurs, who lived in the vicinity of the Onoğurs and Bulgar, scholars consider unclear how the union between Onoğurs and Bulgars formed, viewing it as a long process in which a number of different groups were merged. During that time, the Bulgars may have represented a confederation of which the Onoğurs formed one of the core tribes. Kutrigurs Utigurs Bulgars Maenchen-Helfen, Otto John, The World of the Huns, Studies in Their History and Culture, University of California Press, ISBN9780520015968 Golden, Peter Benjamin
13.
Sabir people
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The Sabirs were numerous Turkic tribes who lived in the north of the Caucasus, on the eastern shores of the Black Sea, in the Kuban area, and possibly came from Western Siberia. They were skilled in warfare, used siege machinery, had an army and were boat-builders. They switched sides in the Byzantine–Sasanian wars, as they favored the Byzantines, it laid the basis for the later Khazars-Byzantine alliance. Al-Masudi recorded that the Khazars name is in Persian, while in Turkic it is Sabir, implying the same semantic meaning, walter Bruno Henning considered to have found them in the Sogdian Nafnamak long after the 5th century. Some scholars related their name to the name of Siberia, with the far Eastern Xianbei, the ancient historians related and differed them from the Huns, implying their mixed descent. Possibly some Hungarian group derived from the Sabirs as their name is reflected in Szavard, and personal clan name Zuard. In 463 AD, Priscus mentions that the Sabirs attacked the Saragurs, Ogurs and Onogurs, probably in present day Kazakhstan and it is considered that the nomadic motion began with the Chinese attack in 450-458 against the Rouran Khaganate. It is considered that the 20,000 Huns led by Zilgibis were Sabirs and she ruled over 100,000 people, and could field 20,000 strong-men army. At the Battle of Satala, a mixed Persian army led by Mihr-Mihroe consisted of three thousand Sabirs. In December 531, many Sabirs were summoned by the Persians to plunder around Euphratesia, Cyrrhus, Cilicia, during the Lazic War, in 548, along the Alans they allied with Gubazes II of Lazica and conquered the Petra from the Persians. In 556, two thousand Sabirs served as heavy infantry mercenaries of the Byzantine Empire against the Sasanian Empire and they were led by Balmaq, Kutilzis and Iliger. They won against the three thousand Dilimnites near Archaeopolis, eight hundred Dilimnites were killed in a failed rush. In the same year, some five thousand Sabirs allied to the Persians were killed by three thousand Roman horsemen, as part of the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 572–591, in 572–573, Sabirs lost as part of the Sasanian mixed army against the Marcian near Nisibis. In 578, some eight thousand Sabirs and Arab allies were on the side of the Persians, the Syriac translation of the Pseudo–Zacharias Rhetors Ecclesiastical History in Western Eurasia recorded thirteen tribes, including the sbr. The Armenian and Arabic sources placed them in the North Caucasus, near Laks, Alans, Filān, Masqat, Sāhib as-Sarīr, by the late 6th century, the coming of the Avars into Europe terminated the Sabir union in North Caucasus. According to Theophylact Simocatta, when the Barsils, Onogurs and Sabirs saw the invading Var, menander Protector placed the events between 558-560. They were assimilated into the Khazars and Bulgars confederations, the tribe Suwāz in Volga Bulgaria is related to the city Suwār in the same state, and North Caucasian kingdom Suwār. However, it is whether these Suwār i. e. Ahmad ibn Fadlan recorded that in the 10th century they still had own leader with the title Wirgh
14.
Griffin
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The griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion, the head and wings of an eagle, and an eagles talons as its front feet. Because the lion was considered the king of the beasts and the eagle the king of birds. The griffin was thought of as king of all creatures. Griffins are known for guarding treasure and priceless possessions, in Greek and Roman texts, griffins and Arimaspeans were associated with gold. Indeed, in later accounts, griffins were said to lay eggs in burrows on the grounds, in antiquity it was a symbol of divine power and a guardian of the divine. The derivation of this remains uncertain. It could be related to the Greek word γρυπός, meaning curved, also, this could have been an Anatolian loan word, compare Akkadian karūbu, and similar to Cherub. A related Hebrew word is כרוב, Most statuary representations of griffins depict them with bird-like talons, although in some older illustrations griffins have a lions forelimbs, they generally have a lions hindquarters. Its eagles head is given prominent ears, these are sometimes described as the lions ears, but are often elongated. Infrequently, a griffin is portrayed without wings, or a wingless eagle-headed lion is identified as a griffin, in 15th-century and later heraldry, such a beast may be called an alce or a keythong. In heraldry, a griffin always has forelegs like an eagles hind-legs, there is evidence of representations of griffins in Ancient Iranian and Ancient Egyptian art dating back to before 3000 BC. In Egypt, a griffin can be seen in a cosmetic palette from Hierakonpolis, known as the Two Dog Palette, which is dated to ca. In Iran, griffins appeared on seals from Susa as early as 3000 BC. Griffin depictions appear in the Levant, Syria. Early depictions of griffins in Ancient Greek art are found in the 15th century BC frescoes in the Throne Room of the Bronze Age Palace of Knossos and it continued being a favored decorative theme in Archaic and Classical Greek art. In Central Asia, the griffin appears about a years after Bronze Age Crete, in the 5th–4th centuries BC. The Achaemenids considered the griffin a protector from evil, witchcraft, the modern generalist calls it the lion-griffin, as for example, Robin Lane Fox, in Alexander the Great,1973,31 and notes p. The Pisa Griffin is a bronze sculpture that has been in Pisa in Italy since the Middle Ages. It is the largest bronze medieval Islamic sculpture known, at three feet tall, and was probably created in the 11th century in Al-Andaluz
15.
Don River (Russia)
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The Don is one of the major rivers of Russia and the 5th longest river in Europe. The Don basin is between the Dnieper basin to the west, the Volga basin to the east, and the Oka basin to the north. The Don rises in the town of Novomoskovsk 60 kilometres southeast of Tula, from its source, the river first flows southeast to Voronezh, then southwest to its mouth. The main city on the river is Rostov on Don and its main tributary is the Seversky Donets. In antiquity, the river was viewed as the border between Europe and Asia by some ancient Greek geographers, during the times of the old Scythians it was known in Greek as the Tanaïs and has been a major trading route ever since. Tanais appears in ancient Greek sources as both the name of the river and of a city on it, situated in the Maeotian marshes, pliny gives the Scythian name of the Tanais as Silys. According to Plutarch, the Don River was also home to the legendary Amazons of Greek mythology, the area around the estuary is speculated to be the source of the Black Death. While the lower Don was well known to ancient geographers, its middle, the Don Cossacks, who settled the fertile valley of the river in the 16th and 17th centuries, were named after the river. The fort of Donkov was founded by the princes of Ryazan in the late 14th century and it is shown as Donko in Mercators Atlas, Donkov was again relocated in 1618, appearing as Donkagorod in Joan Blaeus map of 1645. Both Blaeu and Mercator follow the 16th-century cartographic tradition of letting the Don originate in a great lake, Mercator still follows Giacomo Gastaldo in showing a waterway connecting this lake to Ryazan and the Oka River. In modern literature, the Don region was featured in the work And Quiet Flows the Don of Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, at its easternmost point, the Don comes near the Volga, and the Volga-Don Canal, connecting the two rivers, is a major waterway. The water level of the Don in this area is raised by the Tsimlyansk Dam and this facility, with its dam, maintains sufficient water level both in its section of the Don and in the lowermost stretch of the Seversky Donets. This is presently the last lock on the Don, below Kochetovsky lock, the sufficient depth of the navigation waterway is maintained by dredging
16.
Kuban
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The settlement of Kuban and of the adjacent Black Sea region occurred gradually for over a century, and was heavily influenced by the outcomes of the conflicts between Russia and Turkey. In the mid-18th century, the area was settled by the mountainous Adyghe tribes. After the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774, the population of the area started to show more pro-Russian tendencies. In order to stop Turkish ambitions to use Kuban region to facilitate the return of the Crimea, after the Russian annexation of the Crimea, right-bank Kuban, and Taman in 1783, the Kuban River became the border of the Russian Empire. New fortresses were built on the Kuban in the 1780s–1790s, until the 1790s, these fortresses and the abandoned Cossack settlements on the Laba River and in Taman remained the only indication of Russian presence in the area. More intensive settlement started in 1792–1794, when Black Sea Cossack Host, in the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries, the right bank of the Kuban River was settled. At the same time, first settlements appear on the coast of the Black Sea, during the second half of the 19th century, the settlement rate intensified, and the territory was administratively organized into Kuban Oblast and Black Sea Okrug. The location of the territory along the border had a significant effect on its administrative division, which incorporated the elements of civil and military governments
17.
Volga Delta
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The delta is located in the Caspian Depression—the far eastern part of the delta lies in Kazakhstan. The delta drains into the Caspian approximately 60 km downstream from the city of Astrakhan, the Volga Delta has grown significantly in the past century because of changes in the level of the Caspian Sea. In 1880, the delta had an area of 3,222 km², today the Volga Delta covers an area of 27,224 km² and is approximately 160 km across. It has a delta pattern. The delta lies in the climate zone, characterized by very little rainfall. The region receives less than one inch of rainfall in January, strong winds often sweep across the delta and form linear dunes. Along the front of the delta, one will find muddy sand shoals, mudflats, the changing level of the Caspian Sea has resulted in three distinct zones in the delta. The higher areas of the first zone are known as Baers mounds and these mounds are linear ridges of clayey sands, ranging from 5 to 22 m in height and 400 m to 10 km in length. These depressions, called ilmens, used to part of the early, very deep river delta. Because of their isolation from the waters of the Volga. Together they form a vast and extremely diverse area of western substeppe ilmens which, because of the degrees of wetness and salinization, house a wealth of flora. The second zone, in the proper, generally has very little relief. The third zone is composed of a platform extending up to 60 km offshore. The delta has been protected since the early 1900s, with one of the first Russian nature preserves having been set up there in 1919, much of its local fauna is considered endangered. The delta is a staging area for many species of water birds, raptors. Although the delta is best known for its sturgeons, catfish, industrial and agricultural modification to the delta plain has resulted in significant wetland loss. Between 1984 and 2001, the delta lost 277 km² of wetlands, or an average of approximately 16 km² per year, from natural, the Volga discharges large amounts of industrial waste and sediment into the relatively shallow northern part of the Caspian Sea. The added fertilizers nourish the algal blooms that grow on the surface of the sea, allowing them to grow larger
18.
Justinian I
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Justinian I, traditionally known as Justinian the Great and also Saint Justinian the Great in the Eastern Orthodox Church, was a Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the empires greatness, because of his restoration activities, Justinian has sometimes been called the last Roman in modern historiography. This ambition was expressed by the recovery of the territories of the defunct western Roman Empire. His general, Belisarius, swiftly conquered the Vandal kingdom in North Africa, the prefect Liberius reclaimed the south of the Iberian peninsula, establishing the province of Spania. These campaigns re-established Roman control over the western Mediterranean, increasing the Empires annual revenue by over a million solidi, during his reign Justinian also subdued the Tzani, a people on the east coast of the Black Sea that had never been under Roman rule before. A still more resonant aspect of his legacy was the rewriting of Roman law, the Corpus Juris Civilis. His reign also marked a blossoming of Byzantine culture, and his building program yielded such masterpieces as the church of Hagia Sophia, a devastating outbreak of bubonic plague in the early 540s marked the end of an age of splendour. Justinian was born in Tauresium around 482, a native speaker of Latin, he came from a peasant family believed to have been of Illyro-Roman or Thraco-Roman origins. The cognomen Iustinianus, which he later, is indicative of adoption by his uncle Justin. During his reign, he founded Justiniana Prima not far from his birthplace and his mother was Vigilantia, the sister of Justin. Justin, who was in the guard before he became emperor, adopted Justinian, brought him to Constantinople. As a result, Justinian was well educated in jurisprudence, theology, Justinian served for some time with the Excubitors but the details of his early career are unknown. Chronicler John Malalas, who lived during the reign of Justinian, tells of his appearance that he was short, fair skinned, curly haired, round faced, another contemporary chronicler, Procopius, compares Justinians appearance to that of tyrannical Emperor Domitian, although this is probably slander. When Emperor Anastasius died in 518, Justin was proclaimed the new emperor, during Justins reign, Justinian was the emperors close confidant. As Justin became senile near the end of his reign, Justinian became the de facto ruler, Justinian was appointed consul in 521 and later commander of the army of the east. Upon Justins death on 1 August 527, Justinian became the sole sovereign, as a ruler, Justinian showed great energy. He was known as the emperor who never sleeps on account of his work habits, nevertheless, he seems to have been amiable and easy to approach. Around 525, he married his mistress, Theodora, in Constantinople and she was by profession a courtesan and some twenty years his junior
19.
Constantinople
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Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine Empire, and also of the brief Latin, and the later Ottoman empires. It was reinaugurated in 324 AD from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, Constantinople was famed for its massive and complex defences. The first wall of the city was erected by Constantine I, Constantinople never truly recovered from the devastation of the Fourth Crusade and the decades of misrule by the Latins. The origins of the name of Byzantion, more known by the later Latin Byzantium, are not entirely clear. The founding myth of the city has it told that the settlement was named after the leader of the Megarian colonists, Byzas. The later Byzantines of Constantinople themselves would maintain that the city was named in honour of two men, Byzas and Antes, though this was likely just a play on the word Byzantion. During this time, the city was also called Second Rome, Eastern Rome, and Roma Constantinopolitana. As the city became the remaining capital of the Roman Empire after the fall of the West, and its wealth, population, and influence grew. In the language of other peoples, Constantinople was referred to just as reverently, the medieval Vikings, who had contacts with the empire through their expansion in eastern Europe used the Old Norse name Miklagarðr, and later Miklagard and Miklagarth. In Arabic, the city was sometimes called Rūmiyyat al-kubra and in Persian as Takht-e Rum, in East and South Slavic languages, including in medieval Russia, Constantinople was referred to as Tsargrad or Carigrad, City of the Caesar, from the Slavonic words tsar and grad. This was presumably a calque on a Greek phrase such as Βασιλέως Πόλις, the modern Turkish name for the city, İstanbul, derives from the Greek phrase eis tin polin, meaning into the city or to the city. In 1928, the Turkish alphabet was changed from Arabic script to Latin script, in time the city came to be known as Istanbul and its variations in most world languages. In Greece today, the city is still called Konstantinoúpolis/Konstantinoúpoli or simply just the City, apart from this, little is known about this initial settlement, except that it was abandoned by the time the Megarian colonists settled the site anew. A farsighted treaty with the emergent power of Rome in c.150 BC which stipulated tribute in exchange for independent status allowed it to enter Roman rule unscathed. The site lay astride the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and had in the Golden Horn an excellent and spacious harbour. He would later rebuild Byzantium towards the end of his reign, in which it would be briefly renamed Augusta Antonina, fortifying it with a new city wall in his name, Constantine had altogether more colourful plans. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and hence from the armies and the imperial courts, yet it had been the capital of the state for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that the capital be moved to a different location. Constantinople was built over 6 years, and consecrated on 11 May 330, Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis
20.
Theophylact Simocatta
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Theophylact Simocatta was an early seventh-century Byzantine historiographer, arguably ranking as the last historian of Late Antiquity, writing in the time of Heraclius about the late Emperor Maurice. Simocatta is best known as the author of a history in eight books, of the reign of the emperor Maurice and he mentions the war of Heraclius against the Persians, but not that against the Arabs, so it is likely that he was writing around 630. Among his sources he used the history of John of Epiphania, edward Gibbon wrote, His want of judgement renders him diffuse in trifles and concise in the most interesting facts. This notwithstanding, Simocattas general trustworthiness is admitted, the history contains an introduction in the form of a dialogue between History and Philosophy. Nicolaus Copernicus translated Greek verses by Theophylact into Latin prose and had his translation, dedicated to his uncle Lucas Watzenrode and it was the only book that Copernicus ever brought out on his own account. Simocatta was also the author of Physical Problems, a work on natural history, Simocatta also provided cursory information about the geography of China along with its customs and culture, deeming its people idolatrous but wise in governance. He also related how the ruler was named Taisson, the meaning of which was Son of God and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed
21.
Khagan
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Khagan or Qagan is a title in the Mongolian language equal to the status of emperor and used to refer to someone who rules a khaganate or empire. The title was adopted by Ögedei Khan from the Turkic title kaɣan and it may also be translated as Khan of Khans, equivalent to King of Kings. In modern Mongolian, the title became Khaan with the g sound becoming almost silent or non-existent, since the division of the Mongol Empire, emperors of the Yuan dynasty held the title of Khagan and their successors in Mongolia continued to have the title. Kağan and Kaan are common Turkish names in Turkey, the common western rendering as Great Khan, notably in the case of the Mongol Empire, is translation of Yekhe Khagan. In the speech one of the Murongs general named Yinalou addressed him as kehan, the Rouran Khaganate was the first people to use the titles Khagan and Khan for their emperors, replacing the Chanyu of the Xiongnu, whom Grousset and others assume to be Turkic. However, many believe the Rouran were proto-Mongols. The Avar Khaganate, who may have included Rouran elements after the Göktürks crushed the Rouran ruling Mongolia, the Avars invaded Europe, and for over a century ruled the Carpathian region. Westerners Latinized the title Khagan into Gaganus or Cagan, Khagan or Khaan refers to Emperor or King in the Mongolian language, however, Yekhe Khagan means Great Khagan or Grand Emperor. Thus, the Yuan is sometimes referred to as the Empire of the Great Khan, coexisting with the independent Mongol khanates in the west, including the Chagatai Khanate, only the Ilkhanate truly recognized the Yuans overlordship as allies. Later Yuan emperors made peace with the three khanates of the Mongol Empire and were considered as their nominal suzerain. The nominal supremacy, while based on nothing like the foundations as that of the earlier Khagans, did last for a few decades. After the breakdown of Mongol Empire and the fall of the Yuan dynasty in the mid-14th century, dayan Khan once revived Emperors authority and recovered its reputation in Mongolia, but with the distribution of his empire among his sons and relatives as fiefs it again caused decentralized rule. The last Khagan of the Chahars, Ligdan Khan, died in 1634 while fighting the Qing dynasty founded by the Manchu people, in contemporary Mongolian language the word Khaan and Khan have different meanings, while English language usually does not differentiate between them. The title is used as a generic term for a king or emperor. Minor rulers were rather relegated to the title of khan. Khagan is the title of Safavid and Qajar shahs of Iran. For example, Agha Muhammad Khan Qajar, Fath Ali Shah, the nickname of Shah Ismail and other Safavid shahs is Kagan-i Suleyman shan. Emperor Taizong of Tang was crowned Tian Kehan, or heavenly Khagan after defeating the Tujue, a later letter sent by the Tang court to the Yenisei Kirghiz Qaghan explained that the peoples of the northwest had requested Tang Taizong to become the Heavenly Qaghan
22.
Durrani
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Durrani or Abdali is the name of a prominent Sarbani Pashtun tribal confederation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Originally known by their ancient name Abdali & Madhyaal, which may derive from the more ancient Ebodalo and they have been called Durrani since the beginning of the Durrani Empire in 1747. The number of Durrani is estimated to be roughly 16% of the population of Afghanistan or 5 million individuals. Durrani are found throughout Afghanistan and Pakistan, although large concentrations are found in southern Afghanistan, they are found to a lesser extent in east, west. Many Durranis are found in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces of Pakistan, the Durrani Pashtuns of the Afghan capital Kabul are usually bilingual in Pashto and Dari Persian. The ruling Sadozai and Barakzai dynasties of Afghanistan were originally from the Durrani, the Pashtuns believe that they are descended from the common ancestor Qais Abdur Rashid. In the case of the Tareen, they believe they are descended from his first son, Sarban, his son Sharkhbun, and his son Tareen, Tareen had a number of sons, who correspond with the major divisions of the tribe. One was named Bor Tareen, later renamed Abdali, who is the founder of the Durrani tribe. Thus, the Abdali/Durrani are in effect descended from the elder Tareen lineage and they were known in the past as Abdalis, from approximately the 7th century until the mid-18th century when Ahmad Shah Durrani was chosen as the new Emir and the Durrani Empire was established. One of Ahmad Shahs first acts as Emir was to adopt the title padshah durr-i durran and he united the Pashtun tribes following a loya jirga in western Kandahar and changed his own name from Ahmad Shah Abdali to Ahmad Shah Durrani. Since that period, the kings of Afghanistan have been of Durrani extraction, the origin of the Abdali is probably the Hephthalites. The Zirak line begins with Sulaiman Zirak Khan, Zirak was father of Popalzai, Barakzai, and Alakozai. The Durranis were the most divided Pashtun tribe during the rule of the Ghilji, according to Hayat Khans history of Afghanistan from their progenitor Bor Tarin, otherwise known as Abdal, are descended their two main divisions the Zirak and the Panjpai. The term Abdal, however, gradually superseded that of Bor Tareen and came into prominence when Ahmad Shah Abdali Sadozai/Popalzai commonly known as Durrani. Since then, their organization has remained distinct and it is still used, though sparingly, for the Achakzai, who have become localised in Toba and are regarded as a separate political unit from the rest of the Tarin/Tareens. The Musahiban also branch from Durrani, Sadozai Abdali tribe is the tribe Ahmad Shah Abdali was from. The Durrani Tareen tribe is divided into two branches Panjpai and Zirak, Durrani tribes of the Zirak branch include Popalzai, Alikozai, Barakzai, Bamozai, Badozai, and Achakzai. The Panjpai branch are mainly found in the western Kandahar, Helmand and Farah area, and they include Alizai, Noorzai, Ishakzai or Sakzai, and Maku
23.
Hephthalite Empire
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Hephthalites was the Latinised exonym for a people commonly known in Chinese sources by names such as Yada. They were a confederation of peoples in Central Asia who expanded their domain westward and southward during the 5th century and they included both nomadic and urban, settled communities. It is not clear whether the Hephthalites or a related people, the modern Abdali or Durrani, a Pashtun tribal confederation in Afghanistan and Pakistan, are widely believed to descend from the Hephthalites. The stronghold of the Hephthalites was Tokharistan on the slopes of the Hindu Kush. By 479, the Hephthalites had conquered Sogdia and driven the Kidarites westwards, and by 493 they had captured parts of present-day Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin in what is now Northwest China. India was invaded during the 5th century by a known in South Asia as the Hunas – possibly an alliance broader than the Hephthalites and/or Xionites. The Hunas were initially defeated by Emperor Skandagupta of the Gupta Empire, by the end of the 5th century, however, the Hunas had overrun the part of the Gupta Empire that was to their southeast and had conquered Central and North India. Gupta Emperor Bhanugupta defeated the Hunas under Toramana in 510, the Hunas were driven out of India by the kings Yasodharman and Narasimhagupta, during the early 6th century. The name Hephthalites originated with Ancient Greek sources, which referred to them as Ephthalite. In Ancient India, names such as Hephthalite were unknown, the Hephthalites were apparently part of, or offshoots of, people known in India as Hunas or Turushkas, although these names may have referred to broader groups or neighbouring peoples. To the Armenians the Hephthalites were Haital, to the Persians and Arabs they were Haytal or Hayatila, in Chinese chronicles, the Hephthalites are usually called Ye-ta-i-li-to, or the more usual modern and abbreviated form Yada. The latter name is given various Latinised renderings, including Yeda, Ye-ta, Ye-Tha, Ye-dā. The corresponding Cantonese and Korean names Yipdaat and Yeoptal are more consistent with the Greek Hephthalite, older Chinese sources refer to them as Hua or Hudun, and describe the Hephthalites as a tribe living beyond the Great Wall, in Dzungaria. Some Chinese chroniclers suggest that the root Hephtha- was technically a title equivalent to emperor, beckwith, referring to Étienne de la Vaissière, say that the Hephthalites were not necessarily one and the same as the White Huns. According to de la Vaissiere, the Hephthalites are not directly identified in classical sources alongside that of the White Huns, there are several theories regarding the origins of the White Huns, with the Turkic and Iranian theories being the most prominent. According to B. A. Litvinsky, the names of the Hephthalite rulers used in the Shahnameh are Iranian. According to Xavier Tremblay, one of the Hephthalite rulers was named Khingila, which has the root as the Sogdian word xnγr. The name Mihirakula is thought to be derived from mithra-kula which is Iranian for the Sun family, with kula having the root as Pashto kul
24.
Pannonia
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Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Julius Pokorny believes the name Pannonia is derived from Illyrian, from the Proto-Indo-European root *pen-, swamp, water, the Ionian Danube fleet reached as far as Boio-Aria, populated until the late 8th century CE by Celts and Slavs under Aryan rulers. Pliny the Elder, in Natural History, places the eastern regions of the Hercynium jugum and he also gives us some dramaticised description of its composition, in which the close proximity of the forest trees causes competitive struggle among them. But even he—if the passage in question is not an interpolated marginal gloss—is subject to the legends of the gloomy forest and he mentions unusual birds, which have feathers that shine like fires at night. Medieval bestiaries named these birds the Ercinee, the first inhabitants of this area known to history were the Pannonii, a group of Indo-European tribes akin to Illyrians. From the 4th century BC, it was invaded by various Celtic tribes, little is heard of Pannonia until 35 BC, when its inhabitants, allies of the Dalmatians, were attacked by Augustus, who conquered and occupied Siscia. The country was not, however, definitively subdued by the Romans until 9 BC, when it was incorporated into Illyricum, the frontier of which was thus extended as far as the Danube. After the rebellion was crushed in AD9, the province of Illyricum was dissolved, the date of the division is unknown, most certainly after AD20 but before AD50. The proximity of dangerous barbarian tribes necessitated the presence of a number of troops. Some time between the years 102 and 107, between the first and second Dacian wars, Trajan divided the province into Pannonia Superior, and Pannonia Inferior. According to Ptolemy, these divisions were separated by a line drawn from Arrabona in the north to Servitium in the south, later, the whole country was sometimes called the Pannonias. Pannonia Superior was under the legate, who had formerly administered the single province. Pannonia Inferior was at first under a praetorian legate with a single legion as the garrison, after Marcus Aurelius, it was under a consular legate, the frontier on the Danube was protected by the establishment of the two colonies Aelia Mursia and Aelia Aquincum by Hadrian. In the 4th-5th century, one of the dioceses of the Roman Empire was known as the Diocese of Pannonia. It had its capital in Sirmium and included all four provinces that were formed from historical Pannonia, as well as the provinces of Dalmatia, following the Migrations Period in the middle of the 5th century, Pannonia was ceded to the Huns by Theodosius II. After the collapse of the Hunnic empire in 454, large numbers of Ostrogoths were settled by Emperor Marcian in the province as foederati, afterwards, it was again invaded by the Avars in the 560s, the Slavs, who first settled c. This language and the culture became extinct with the arrival of the Magyars. The native settlements consisted of pagi containing a number of vici, the cities and towns in Pannonia were, The country was fairly productive, especially after the great forests had been cleared by Probus and Galerius
25.
Maurice (emperor)
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Maurice was Eastern Roman Emperor from 582 to 602. A prominent general in his youth, Maurice fought with success against the Sassanid Persians, Maurice campaigned extensively in the Balkans against the Avars – pushing them back across the Danube by 599. He also conducted campaigns across the Danube, the first Roman Emperor to do so in two centuries. In the West, he established two large provinces called exarchates, ruled by exarchs, or viceroys, of the emperor. In Italy, Maurice established the Exarchate of Ravenna in 584, with the creation of the Exarchate of Africa in 590, he further solidified the power of Constantinople in the western Mediterranean. His reign was troubled by financial difficulties and almost constant warfare, in 602, a dissatisfied general named Phocas usurped the throne, having Maurice and his six sons executed. This event would prove cataclysmic for the Empire, sparking a twenty-six year war with Sassanid Persia which would leave both empires devastated prior to the Muslim conquests and his reign is a relatively accurately documented era of Late Antiquity, in particular by the historian Theophylact Simocatta. The Strategikon, a manual of war which influenced European and Middle Eastern military traditions for well over a millennium, is attributed to Maurice. Maurice was born in Arabissus in Cappadocia in 539, the son of a certain Paul and he had one brother, Peter, and two sisters, Theoctista and Gordia, later the wife of the general Philippicus. He is recorded to have been a native Greek speaker, unlike previous emperors since Anastasius I Dicorus and he may have been a Cappadocian Greek, or a Hellenized Armenian. This issue cannot be determined in any way, the historian Evagrius Scholasticus records a descent from old Rome. Maurice first came to Constantinople as a notarius, and came to serve as a secretary to the comes excubitorum Tiberius, when Tiberius was named Caesar in 574, Maurice was appointed to succeed him as comes excubitorum. At about the time, he was raised to the rank of patricius. He scored a victory against the Persians in 581. A year later, he married Constantina, the Emperors daughter, on 13 August, he succeeded his father-in-law as Emperor. Upon his ascension he ruled a bankrupt Empire, at war with Persia, paying extremely high tribute to the Avars, and the Balkan provinces thoroughly devastated by the Slavs, the situation was tumultuous at best. Maurice had to continue the war against the Persians, in 586, his troops defeated them at the Battle of Solachon south of Dara. Despite a serious mutiny in 588, the managed to continue the war
26.
Tuoba
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Tuoba was a clan of the Xianbei in ancient China. In the Old Turkic language, they were referred to as Tabgach, the Tuoba founded the Northern Wei around the Yellow River delta and became increasingly sinicized. As a result, from 496, the name Tuoba disappeared by an edict of Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei, the ruling families of the Western Wei and Northern Zhou dynasties that followed the fall of Northern Wei were also of Tuoba ethnicity. They established the state of Dai from 310-376 CE and ruled as the Northern Wei from 386-536, the Tuoba states of Dai and Northern Wei also claimed to possess the quality of earth in the Chinese Wu Xing theory. All the chieftains of the Tuoba were revered as emperors in the Book of Wei, in the opinion of Peter Boodberg, much of the Tuoba vocabulary was essentially Turkish with a certain admixture of Mongolian elements. On the other hand, Edwin Pulleyblank concluded that it was Mongolian, chen Sanping observes that the Tuoba language had both elements. On the other hand, Liu Xueyao stated that Tuobas may have had their own language which should not be assumed to be identical with any other known languages, the Rourans considered that Tuoba and Rourans descended from common ancestors. Also a historian of the Northern Wei noted that Rourans descended from Xianbei, the Northern Wei started to arrange for Han Chinese elites to marry daughters of the Xianbei Tuoba royal family in the 480s. Some Han Chinese exiled royalty fled from southern China and defected to the Xianbei, Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Weis sister the Shouyang Princess was wedded to The Liang dynasty ruler Emperor Wu of Liangs son Xiao Zong 蕭綜. When the Eastern Jin dynasty ended Northern Wei received the Han Chinese Jin prince Sima Chuzhi 司馬楚之 as a refugee, a Northern Wei Princess married Sima Chuzhi, giving birth to Sima Jinlong 司馬金龍. Northern Liang Xiongnu King Juqu Mujians daughter married Sima Jinlong, Chinese sovereign History of China Jin dynasty Khitan people Ethnic groups in Chinese history Zuev Yu. A. Ethnic History Of Usuns, Works of Academy of Sciences Kazakh SSR, History, Archeology And Ethnography Institute, Alma-Ata, Vol. VIII,1960, research of To-pa language, Toung Pao, 39/4-5,1950 Subject, Toba Tatar language Boodberg P. A. The Language of the To-pa Wei, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, lOrigine de Tou-kiue, nom chinoise des Turks, Toung Pao,1915, p.689 Pelliot P. A. LOrigine de Tou-kiue, nom chinoise des Turks, Journal Asiatic,1925, No 1, p. 254-255 Pelliot P. A. LOrigine de Tou-kiue, nom chinoise des Turks, Toung Pao, 1925–1926, pp. 79–93, Clauson G. Turk, Mongol, Tungus, Asia Major, New Series, Vol.8, Pt 1,1960, pp. 117–118 Grousset R. The Empire of the Steppes, A History of Central Asia, Rutgers University Press,1970, p.57, 63-66,557 Note 137, ISBN 0-8135-0627-1
27.
Goguryeo
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Goguryeo was an active participant in the power struggle for control of the Korean peninsula and was also associated with the foreign affairs of neighboring polities in China and Japan. The Samguk Sagi, a 12th-century text from Goryeo, indicates that Goguryeo was founded in 37 BCE by Jumong, a prince from Buyeo, after its fall, its territory was divided among the states of Later Silla, Balhae and Tang China. The name Goryeo, a form of Goguryeo, was adopted as the official name in the 5th century. In the geographic monographs of the Book of Han, the word Goguryeo was first mentioned in 113 BCE as a region under the jurisdiction of the Xuantu Commandery, page 33. In the Old Book of Tang, it is recorded that Emperor Taizong refers to Goguryeos history as being some 900 years old, in 75 BCE, a group of Yemaek who may have originated from Goguryeo made an incursion into Chinas Xuantu Commandery west of the Yalu. At its founding, the Goguryeo people are believed to be a blend of people from Buyeo and Yemaek, as leadership from Buyeo may have fled their kingdom and integrated with existing Yemaek chiefdoms. The Records of the Three Kingdoms, in the section titled Accounts of the Eastern Barbarians, implied that Buyeo, the earliest mention of Jumong is in the 4th century Gwanggaeto Stele. Jumong is the modern Korean transcription of the hanja 朱蒙 Jumong, 鄒牟 Chumo, the Stele states that Jumong was the first king and ancestor of Goguryeo and that he was the son of the prince of Buyeo and daughter of the Yellow River deity Habaek. The Samguk Sagi and Samgungnyusa paint additional detail and names Jumongs mother as Yuhwa, Jumongs biological father was said to be a man named Haemosu who is described as a strong man and a heavenly prince. The river god chased Yuhwa away to the Ubal River due to her pregnancy, Jumong was well known for his exceptional archery skills. Eventually, Geumwas sons became jealous of him, and Jumong was forced to leave Eastern Buyeo, the Stele and later Korean sources disagree as to which Buyeo Jumong came from. The Stele says he came from Buyeo and the Samgungnyusa and Samguk Sagi say he came from Eastern Buyeo, Jumong eventually made it to Jolbon, where he married Soseono, daughter of its ruler. He subsequently became king himself, founding Goguryeo with a group of his followers from his native country. A traditional account from the Annals of Baekje section in the Samguk Sagi says that Soseono was the daughter of Yeon Tabal, a wealthy influential figure in Jolbon and married to Jumong. However, the same source states that the king of Jolbon gave his daughter to Jumong. She gave her husband, Jumong, financial support in founding the new statelet, Jumongs given surname was Hae, the name of the Buyeo rulers. According to the Samgungnyusa, Jumong changed his surname to Go in conscious reflection of his divine parentage, Jumong is recorded to have conquered the tribal states of Biryu in 36 BCE, Haeng-in in 33 BCE, and Northern Okjeo in 28 BCE. Goguryeo developed from a league of various Yemaek tribes to an early state, in the time of Taejodae in 53 CE, five local tribes were reorganized into five centrally ruled districts
28.
Yugra
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The name Yugra also gave rise to the modern adjective Ugric. In summers the days are very long there, so that the Sun does not set for forty days, as the merchants say, but in winters the nights are equally long. The merchants report that Darkness is not far, and that the people of Yura go there and enter it with torches, but on top of the tree there sits a large creature, they say it is a bird. The first reports of the Golden Lady are found in the 14th-century Novgorod Chronicles, next, the golden idol is mentioned in the 16th century by the subjects of the Grand Duke of Moscow, commissioned to describe the trade and military routes of the expanding Russia. The first non-Russian we know of to comment on the lady is Mathias from Miechov. The golden idol appeared on Sigismund von Herbersteins map of Moscovia published on 1549, and on a number of maps, e. g. Gerhard Mercators Map of the Arctic. Actually, no European has ever seen that idol and most probably it never existed in the described form. Novitsky also describes a site for worshipping this World Surveyor or Ob Master, arms - bows, arrows, spears, armour, etc - were laid beside him. According to their belief they say about the collected arms that he often has to fight in the water and conquer other vassals. The Christianization of the Mansi en masse started at the beginning of the 18th century, novitsky describes the Christianization of the Pelym Mansi in 1714 and the Konda Mansi in 1715. Other smaller idols nearby which were placed lower were called the servants of the real idol, then we will decorate and build a church with all the icons ourselves, as a custom goes, and we will place ours also among these. Many of these totems were not destroyed, but were hidden, even during repression in the 1930s many of these sacred sites remained undiscovered by the authorities and some can be found today. There are three or four known proto-states of the Yugran inhabitants, both Khanty and Mansi, the Principality of Pelym was located in the basin of the Konda river and stretched from the mouth of the Sosva River near Tavda up to Tabory. Near the sacred tree was a storehouse with five idols of human figure. The bones of animals were stored in a separate building. The Principality of Konda formed a large semi autonomous part of the Pelym principality, the treasures of Prince Agai of Konda who was imprisoned by the Russians in 1594 gives us a good picture of the wealth of the Yugran nobles of this period. Namely, the Russians confiscated two silver crowns, a spoon, a silver beaker, a silver spiral bracelet, precious drapery and numerous pelts. The third part of the Pelym principality was the region of Tabary, preceding the coming of the Russians the Mansi of this region were farmers and according to the tradition Yermak collected tribute in the form of grain
29.
Manavgat River
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There are many caves in the river watershed area, the most interesting being the Altınbeşik cave. The maximum flow of the Manavgat River is 500 m³/second, with an average of 147 m³/second, using the average flow as a measure, the Manavgat River accounts for a very small amount of the water flowing into the Mediterranean. There are two dams over the river, Oymapınar Dam and the Manavgat Dam, studies have shown that water drains into the Manavgat River basin from its surface watershed and also from endorheic basins, especially those to the east of the river. In 1992, the Turkish State Hydraulics Work was given the job of developing a water project for domestic use from the Manavgat river
30.
Uar
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The Uar or Warr were an Ugric people who lived in the Aral Sea region during the 1st millennium CE. According to some scholars the Uar later merged with the Xionites, the ancestors of Uar were the population of Post-Kelteminar stage of Suyurganovo culture, which according to most researchers were ethnically Ugrian tribes. By the end of the 1st millennium BCE, elements of the Uar had reportedly joined an Iranian-speaking nomadic tribe, the ethnonym Uar is usually considered to be derived from one or two sources, the Ugra region, and/or Warr, an Iranian word for river
31.
Albania
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Albania, officially the Republic of Albania, is a country in Southeastern Europe. It has a population of 3.03 million as of 2016, Tirana is the nations capital and largest city, followed by Durrës and Vlorë. The country has a coastline on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, the Adriatic Sea to the west. Albania is less than 72 km from Italy, across the Strait of Otranto which connects the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea. In antiquity, the area of Albania was home to several Illyrian, Thracian. After the Illyrian Wars, it part of the Roman provinces of Dalmatia, Macedonia and Moesia Superior. In 1190, the first Albanian state, the Principality of Arbanon was established by archon Progon in the region of Krujë, the territory of Albania was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, of which it remained part of for the next five centuries. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in Europe, following the Balkan Wars, the Kingdom of Albania was invaded by Italy in 1939, which formed Greater Albania, before becoming a Nazi German protectorate in 1943. The following year, a socialist Peoples Republic was established under the leadership of Enver Hoxha, Albania experienced widespread social and political transformations in the communist era, as well as isolation from much of the international community. In 1991, the Socialist Republic was dissolved and the Republic of Albania was established, Albania is a democratic and developing country with an upper-middle income economy. The service sector dominates the economy, followed by the industrial. After the fall of communism in Albania, Free-market reforms have opened the country to foreign investment, especially in the development of energy, Albania has a high HDI and provides universal health care system and free primary and secondary education to its citizens. Albania is a member of the United Nations, NATO, WTO, World Bank, the Council of Europe, the OSCE and it is also an official candidate for membership in the European Union. Albania is one of the members of the Energy Community, Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. It is home to the largest lake in Southern Europe and one of the oldest lakes in Europe, Albania is the Medieval Latin name of the country. The name may have a continuation in the name of a settlement called Albanon and Arbanon. During the Middle Ages, the Albanians called their country Arbëri or Arbëni, Albanians today call their country Shqipëri. As early as the 17th century the placename Shqipëria and the ethnic demonym Shqiptarë gradually replaced Arbëria, the two terms are popularly interpreted as Land of the Eagles and Children of the Eagles
32.
Aral Sea
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The Aral Sea was an endorheic lake lying between Kazakhstan in the north and Uzbekistan in the south. The name roughly translates as Sea of Islands, referring to over 1,100 islands that once dotted its waters, in the Turkic languages aral means island, the Aral Sea drainage basin encompasses Uzbekistan and parts of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Satellite images taken by NASA in August 2014 revealed that for the first time in history the eastern basin of the Aral Sea had completely dried up. The eastern basin is now called the Aralkum Desert, in an ongoing effort in Kazakhstan to save and replenish the North Aral Sea, a dam project was completed in 2005, in 2008, the water level in this lake had risen by 12 m compared to 2003. Salinity has dropped, and fish are found in sufficient numbers for some fishing to be viable. The maximum depth of the North Aral Sea is 42 m, the shrinking of the Aral Sea has been called one of the planets worst environmental disasters. The regions once-prosperous fishing industry has been destroyed, bringing unemployment. The Aral Sea region is heavily polluted, with consequential serious public health problems. The historical documents of the development of the Aral Sea have added by UNESCO to its Memory of the World Register as a source to study this environmental tragedy. The Aral Sea formed about 5.5 million years ago due to a fall in sea level, the Syr Darya formed a large lake in the Kyzyl Kum during the Pliocene known as the Mynbulak depression. Most of the area around the Aral Sea was inhabited by nomads who left few written records. However, the Oxus delta to the south has a history under the name of Khwarezm. It used to be the westernmost border of Tang dynasty China, Russian naval presence on the Aral Sea started in 1847, with the founding of Raimsk, which was soon renamed Fort Aralsk, near the mouth of the Syr Darya. Soon, the Imperial Russian Navy started deploying its vessels on the sea, owing to the Aral Sea basin not being connected to other bodies of water, the vessels had to be disassembled in Orenburg on the Ural River, shipped overland to Aralsk, and then reassembled. The first two ships, assembled in 1847, were the two-masted schooners named Nikolai and Mikhail, the former was a warship, the latter was a merchant vessel meant to serve the establishment of the fisheries on the great lake. In 1848, these two surveyed the northern part of the sea. In the same year, a warship, the Constantine, was assembled. Commanded by Lt. Alexey Butakov, the Constantine completed the survey of the entire Aral Sea over the two years
33.
Uralic peoples
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The Uralic peoples or Uralic speaking peoples are the peoples speaking Uralic languages, divided into two large groups, Finno-Ugric peoples and Samoyedic peoples. The Samoyeds consists of Northern Samoyed, Nenets, Enets and Nganasan, the Finno-Ugric group contains two branches, Ugric including Ob-Ugric peoples i. e. the Mansi and Khanty and the Hungarians. The Finnic group has four sub-divisions, The Sami, considered to have been not a Finno-Ugric people who adopted a Finnic language. The Baltic Finns, Finns proper, Karelians, Ingrians, Vepsians, Votians, Estonians and Livonians, and the Volga Finns, the Mordvins subdivided into Moksha and Erza and the Mari, and the Permians. According to the recent understanding of Uralic studies, the establishment of Proto-Uralic peoples goes back to the Stone Age in the 5th millennium BC, then, Proto-Ural divided into Proto-Samoyed and Proto-Finno-Ugric. The latter is the carrier of Pit–Comb Ware culture, Samoyed, Khanty and Mansi have bred reindeer around the tundra between the Ob River and the Yenisei and made it available as various tools of life, from food sources to the means of transportation. Komi has been engaged in the life and reindeer breeding. Sami, by contacting with the Scandinavian agrarian society from ancient times, has been conducting high-intensive animal husbandry by trade, in Finland, Estonia and Hungary, they worked as a remarkable bearer of modern states based on agriculture and industry. The genetics characterizing Uralic peoples is haprogroup N1c, 97% of Nenets, 92% of Nganasans, 63% of Finns, 47% of saami and 41% of Estonians belong to this haplogroup. Haplogroup N originated in the part of China in 20,000 -25,000 years BP and spread to the north Eurasia. A subgroup N1c1 is frequently seen in Finno-Ugric people, N1c2 in Samoyedic peoples, in addition, haprogroup Z, found with low frequency in saami, Finns and Siberia, is related to Uralic peoples’ migration. The Urheimat, the location of the most ancient habitat of the Uralic peoples, is considered by various theories, laszlo has placed the origin in the forest zone between the Oka river and Central Poland. The writings of E. N. Setala and M. Zsirai place the homeland in the Middle of the Volga. According to E. Itkonen, the area extended to the Baltic sea, P. Hajdu has suggested the Uralic homeland being in Western and North-western Siberia. In recent genetic analysis of ancient human bones excavated from the remains of Liao civilization, haplogroup N1 was found with high frequency of 71%, so, a new possibility arose that the Urheimat of Uralic peoples is the Liao river region. The oldest Pit–Comb Ceramic, related to Finno-Ugric peoples, is found in Liao civilization, the Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia
34.
Xionites
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Xionites, Chionites, or Chionitae, or Hunni, Yun or Xūn, were probably an Iranian-speaking people who were prominent in Transoxania and Bactria. The Xionites are first mentioned with Kushans by Ammianus Marcellinus who spent the winter of 356-57 CE in their Balkh territory and they arrived with the wave of immigration from Central Asia into Iran in late antiquity. They were influenced by the Kushan and Bactrian cultures, while patronizing the Eastern Iranian languages and it is difficult to determine the ethnic composition of the Xionites. They followed their versions of Buddhism and Shaivism mixed with animism, shahbazi, the Xionites were a Hunnic people who by the early 4th century had mixed with north Iranian elements in Transoxiana, adopted the Kushan-Bactrian language, and threatened Persia. Xionite campaigns are better documented in connection with the history of Central Asia and they organised themselves into Northern Black, Kidarites or Southern Red, Eastern Blue, and Western Hephthalites or White hordes. Artefacts found from the area they inhabited dating from their period indicate their totem animal seems to have been the deer, an inscription on the walls of the royal palace in Persepolis about Dariuss empire calls them Hunae. It appears that a combination of both the Battle of Ikh Bayan and Ban Chaos efforts are responsible for their first appearance in the West, according to the Armenian sources their capital was at Balkh. Their most famous rulers were called the Kidarites, at the end of the 4th century AD, a new wave of Hunnic tribes invaded Bactria, pushing the Kidarites into Gandhara. Alchon or Alχon became the new name of the Xionites in 460 when Khingila I united the Uar with the Xionites under his Hephthalite ruling élite, at the end of the 5th century the Alchon invaded northern India where they became known as the Huna. In India the Alchon were not distinguished from their immediate Hephthalite predecessors, perhaps complimenting this term, Procopius wrote that they were white skinned, had an organized kingship, and that their life was not wild/nomadic but that they lived in cities. The Alchon were called Varkhon or Varkunites by Menander Protector literally referring to the Uar, around 630, Theophylact Simocatta wrote that the European Avars were initially composed of two nations, the Uar and the Hunnoi tribes. He wrote that. the Barsilt, the Unogurs and the Sabirs were struck with horror, and honoured the newcomers with brilliant gifts. When the Avars first arrived in their lands in 555AD, Alchon Huns refers to a tribe which minted coins in Bactria in the 5th and 6th centuries. They imitated the style of their Hephthalite predecessors, the Kidarite Hun successors to the Kushans. In particular the Alchon style imitates the coins of Kidarite Varhran I, in the Avestan tradition the Xiiaona were characterized as enemies of Vishtaspa, the patron of Zoroaster. In the later Pahlavi tradition, the Red Huns and White Huns are mentioned, the Red Huns of the Pahlavi tradition have been identified by Harold Walter Bailey as the Kermichiones or Ermechiones. According to Bailey the Hara Huna of Indian sources are to be identified with the Karmir Xyon of the Avesta, similarly he identifies the Sveta Huna of Indian sources with the Spet Xyon of the Avesta. Bailey argues that the name Xyon was transferred to the Huna owing to similarity of sound, later, the Armenian Patriarch John mentions an ancient town of Hunors foundation in the Utik region, suggesting a connection to the Utigur
35.
Iranian languages
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The Iranian languages or Iranic languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, which in turn are a branch of the Indo-European language family. The speakers of Iranian languages are known as Iranian people, historical Iranian languages are grouped in three stages, Old Iranian, Middle Iranian, and New Iranian. Of the Old Iranian languages, the better understood and recorded ones are Old Persian and Avestan, Middle Iranian languages included Middle Persian, Parthian, and Bactrian. As of 2008, there were an estimated 150–200 million native speakers of Iranian languages, ethnologue estimates there are 86 Iranian languages, the largest among them being Persian, Pashto and Kurdish. The term Iranian is applied to any language which descends from the ancestral Proto-Iranian language, Iranian derives from the Persian and Sanskrit origin word Arya. The use of the term for the Iranian language family was introduced in 1836 by Christian Lassen, robert Needham Cust used the term Irano-Aryan in 1878, and Orientalists such as George Abraham Grierson and Max Müller contrasted Irano-Aryan and Indo-Aryan. Some recent scholarship, primarily in German, has revived this convention, the Eastern Iranian languages subdivided into, Southeastern, of which Pashto is the dominant member, Northeastern, by far the smallest branch, of which Ossetian is the dominant member. All Iranian languages are descended from an ancestor, Proto-Iranian. In turn, and together with Proto-Indo-Aryan and the Nuristani languages, the Indo-Iranian languages are thought to have originated in Central Asia. The Andronovo culture is the candidate for the common Indo-Iranian culture ca.2000 BC. It was situated precisely in the part of Central Asia that borders present-day Russia. Of that variety of languages/dialects, direct evidence of two have survived. These are, Avestan, the two languages/dialects of the Avesta, i. e. the liturgical texts of Zoroastrianism, Old Persian, the native language of a south-western Iranian people known as Persians. Indirectly attested Old Iranian languages are discussed below, Old Persian is the Old Iranian dialect as it was spoken in south-western Iran by the inhabitants of Parsa, who also gave their name to their region and language. The language of the Avesta is subdivided into two dialects, conventionally known as Old Avestan, and Younger Avestan. These terms, which date to the 19th century, are slightly misleading since Younger Avestan is not only much younger than Old Avestan, the Old Avestan dialect is very archaic, and at roughly the same stage of development as Rigvedic Sanskrit. Unlike Old Persian, which has Middle Persian as its known successor, such hypothetical Old Iranian languages include Carduchi and Old Parthian. Additionally, the existence of unattested languages can sometimes be inferred from the impact they had on neighbouring languages, such transfer is known to have occurred for Old Persian, which has a Median substrate in some of its vocabulary
36.
Central Asia
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Central Asia stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China in the east and from Afghanistan in the south to Russia in the north. It is also referred to as the -stans as the five countries generally considered to be within the region all have names ending with the Persian suffix -stan. Central Asias five former Soviet republics are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Central Asia has historically been closely tied to its nomadic peoples and the Silk Road. It has acted as a crossroads for the movement of people, goods, the Silk Road connected Muslim lands with the people of Europe, India, and China. This crossroads position has intensified the conflict between tribalism and traditionalism and modernization, in pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, Central Asia was predominantly Iranian, peopled by Eastern Iranian-speaking Bactrians, Sogdians and Chorasmians and the semi-nomadic Scythians and Parthians. Central Asia is sometimes referred to as Turkestan, the idea of Central Asia as a distinct region of the world was introduced in 1843 by the geographer Alexander von Humboldt. The borders of Central Asia are subject to multiple definitions, historically built political geography and geoculture are two significant parameters widely used in the scholarly literature about the definitions of the Central Asia. The most limited definition was the one of the Soviet Union. This definition was also used outside the USSR during this period. However, the Russian culture has two terms, Средняя Азия and Центральная Азия. Since then, this has become the most common definition of Central Asia, the UNESCO general history of Central Asia, written just before the collapse of the USSR, defines the region based on climate and uses far larger borders. An alternative method is to define the region based on ethnicity and these areas include Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the Turkic regions of southern Siberia, the five republics, and Afghan Turkestan. Afghanistan as a whole, the northern and western areas of Pakistan, the Tibetans and Ladakhi are also included. Insofar, most of the peoples are considered the indigenous peoples of the vast region. Central Asia is a large region of varied geography, including high passes and mountains, vast deserts. The vast steppe areas of Central Asia are considered together with the steppes of Eastern Europe as a geographical zone known as the Eurasian Steppe. Much of the land of Central Asia is too dry or too rugged for farming, the Gobi desert extends from the foot of the Pamirs, 77° E, to the Great Khingan Mountains, 116°–118° E. Central Asia has the following geographic extremes, The worlds northernmost desert, at Buurug Deliin Els, Mongolia, the Northern Hemispheres southernmost permafrost, at Erdenetsogt sum, Mongolia, 46°17′ N
37.
South Asia
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Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian Plate, which rises above sea level as Nepal and northern parts of India situated south of the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush. South Asia is bounded on the south by the Indian Ocean and on land by West Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, the current territories of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka form the countries of South Asia. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is an economic cooperation organisation in the region which was established in 1985, South Asia covers about 5.1 million km², which is 11. 51% of the Asian continent or 3. 4% of the worlds land surface area. The population of South Asia is about 1.749 billion or about one fourth of the worlds population, overall, it accounts for about 39. 49% of Asias population and is home to a vast array of peoples. The area of South Asia and its extent is not clear cut as systemic. Aside from the region of South Asia, formerly part of the British Empire, there is a high degree of variation as to which other countries are included in South Asia. Modern definitions of South Asia are consistent in including Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar is included by some scholars in South Asia, but in Southeast Asia by others. Some do not include Afghanistan, others question whether Afghanistan should be considered a part of South Asia or the Middle East, the mountain countries of Nepal and Bhutan, and the island countries of Sri Lanka and Maldives are generally included as well. Myanmar is often added, and by various deviating definitions based on often substantially different reasons, the British Indian Ocean Territory, the common concept of South Asia is largely inherited from the administrative boundaries of the British Raj, with several exceptions. The Aden Colony, British Somaliland and Singapore, though administered at various times under the Raj, have not been proposed as any part of South Asia. Additionally Burma was administered as part of the Raj until 1937, the 562 princely states that were protected by but not directly ruled by the Raj became administrative parts of South Asia upon joining Union of India or Dominion of Pakistan. China and Myanmar have also applied for the status of members of SAARC. This bloc of countries include two independent countries that were not part of the British Raj – Nepal, and Bhutan, Afghanistan was a British protectorate from 1878 until 1919, after the Afghans lost to the British in the Second Anglo-Afghan war. The United Nations Statistics Divisions scheme of sub-regions include all eight members of the SAARC as part of Southern Asia, population Information Network includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as part of South Asia. Maldives, in view of its characteristics, was admitted as a member Pacific POPIN subregional network only in principle, the Hirschman–Herfindahl index of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific for the region includes only the original seven signatories of SAARC. The British Indian Ocean Territory is connected to the region by a publication of Janes for security considerations, the inclusion of Myanmar in South Asia is without consensus, with many considering it a part of southeast Asia and others including it within South Asia. Afghanistan was of importance to the British colonial empire, especially after the Second Anglo-Afghan War over 1878–1880, Afghanistan remained a British protectorate until 1919, when a treaty with Vladimir Lenin included the granting of independence to Afghanistan. Following Indias partition, Afghanistan has generally included in South Asia
38.
Kunduz
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Kunduz is a city in northern Afghanistan, which serves as the capital of Kunduz Province. It is sometimes spelled as Kundûz, Qonduz, Qondûz, Konduz, Kondûz, Kondoz, the city of Kunduz has a population of about 268,893, while Kunduz District has a population of 304,600. It is about the 5th largest city of Afghanistan, Kunduz is located in the historical Tokharistan in the region of Bactria. It is linked by highways with Mazar-e Sharif to the west, Kabul to the south, Kunduz is at an elevation of 391 metres above sea level. The land use of the city is largely agricultural, residential land comprises nearly half of the built-up land area with 29,877 dwellings. Alternative derivations also include Turkic kündüz, from Proto-Turkic kün, day/sun, interestingly, until the 1960s, the city served as the capital to the now-defunct province of Qataqan, itself meaning Old/Ancient city. Kunduz is the site of the ancient city of Drapsaka and it was a great center of Buddhist learning and very prosperous during the 3rd century AD. The city used to be called Walwalij and the name Kuhandiz began to be used from the Timurid time and it was part of The Great Game between the British and Russians. This khanate was finally destroyed by Afghanistan in 1859, between one hundred and two-hundred thousand Tajiks and Uzbeks fled the conquest of their homeland by Russian Red Army and settled in northern Afghanistan. In the early 20th century, under the governance of Sher Khan Nasher and this was mainly due to Nashers founding of the Spinzar Cotton Company, which continues to exist in post-war Afghanistan. Kunduz is the most important agricultural province which produces wheat, rice, millet, Kunduz is the centre for the north east provinces, and was the stronghold of the Taliban during its regime. It was the last major city held by the Taliban before its fall to US-backed Afghan Northern Alliance forces on November 26,2001. The city is important because it is the only way connecting Takhar province and Badakhshan provinces. During the summer of 2015, the Taliban and Afghan forces battled for control of the city, tens of thousands of inhabitants were displaced internally in Afghanistan by the fighting. On 28 September 2015 the Taliban flag was raised in the city center. Kunduz has a cold climate with hot summers and cold winters. Precipitation is generally low except from January to April, with summers almost always rainless, the city of Kunduz has a population of about 268,893, while Kunduz District has a population of 304,600. Kunduz has a mixed population, including Tajiks, Pashtuns, Uzbeks, Khowar, Arabs
39.
Portmanteau
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In linguistics, a portmanteau is defined as a single morph that represents two or more morphemes. A portmanteau also differs from a compound, which not involve the truncation of parts of the stems of the blended words. For instance, starfish is a compound, not a portmanteau, of star and fish, whereas a hypothetical portmanteau of star and fish might be stish. Humpty Dumpty explains the practice of combining words in various ways by telling Alice, for instance, take the two words fuming and furious. Make up your mind that you will say both words, but leave it unsettled which you will say first … if you have the rarest of gifts, in then-contemporary English, a portmanteau was a suitcase that opened into two equal sections. The etymology of the word is the French porte-manteau, from porter, to carry, in modern French, a porte-manteau is a clothes valet, a coat-tree or similar article of furniture for hanging up jackets, hats, umbrellas and the like. It has also used especially in Europe as a formal description for hat racks from the French words porter. An occasional synonym for portmanteau word is frankenword, an autological word exemplifying the phenomenon it describes, blending Frankenstein, many neologisms are examples of blends, but many blends have become part of the lexicon. In Punch in 1896, the word brunch was introduced as a portmanteau word, in 1964, the newly independent African republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar chose the portmanteau word Tanzania as its name. Similarly Eurasia is a portmanteau of Europe and Asia, a scientific example is a liger, which is a cross between a male lion and a female tiger. Jeoportmanteau. is a category on the American television quiz show Jeopardy. The categorys name is itself a portmanteau of the words Jeopardy, responses in the category are portmanteaus constructed by fitting two words together. The term gerrymander has itself contributed to portmanteau terms bjelkemander and playmander, oxbridge is a common portmanteau for the UKs two oldest universities, those of Oxford and Cambridge. Many portmanteau words receive some use but do not appear in all dictionaries, for example, a spork is an eating utensil that is a combination of a spoon and a fork, and a skort is an item of clothing that is part skirt, part shorts. On the other hand, turducken, a made by inserting a chicken into a duck. Similarly, the word refudiate was first used by Sarah Palin when she misspoke, though initially a gaffe, the word was recognized as the New Oxford American Dictionarys Word of the Year in 2010. The business lexicon is replete with newly coined portmanteau words like permalance, advertainment, advertorial, infotainment, a company name may also be portmanteau as well as a product name. By contrast, the public, including the media, use portmanteaux to refer to their favorite pairings as a way to. giv people an essence of who they are within the same name and this is particularly seen in cases of fictional and real-life supercouples
40.
Rouran Khaganate
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The Rouran Khaganate, Ruru, or Tantan was the name of a state established by proto-Mongols, from the late 4th century until the middle 6th century. Rouran is a Classical Chinese transcription of the endonym of the confederacy, ruanruan and Ruru remained in usage despite being derogatory. They derived from orders given by the Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei, according to René Grousset, Ju-juan – an alternate Chinese name for the Rouran – was a disparaging pun derived from Juan-Juan, unpleasantly wriggling insects. The power of the Rouran was broken in 555 by an alliance of Göktürks, the states of Northern Qi and Northern Zhou, and tribes in Central Asia. The Rouran were a confederation led by Xianbei people who remained in the Mongolian steppes after most Xianbei migrated south to Northern China and they considered the Tuoba and Rourans to be descended from common ancestors. Also some contemporary historians studying the history of Northern Wei, like Kwok Kin Poon and they were first noted as having defeated the Tiele and establishing an empire extending all the way to the Hulun, an alliance in eastern Inner Mongolia. During the reign of Yujiulü Shelun, Rouran became a powerful empire, to the west of the Rouran Khaganate was the Hephthalite Empire, which was a vassal of the Rouran until the beginning of the 5th century. The Hephthalites and Rouran had close contact, although they had different languages and cultures, in particular, the title “Khan“, which according to McGovern was original to the Rouran, was borrowed by the Hephthalite rulers. The reason for the migration of the Hephthalites southeast was to pressure from the Rouran. Further, the Hephthalites defeated the Yuezhi in Bactria and their leader Kidara led the Yuezhi to the south. The Rouran controlled the area of Mongolia from the Manchurian border to Turpan and, perhaps, the east coast of Lake Balkhash and their ancestor Mugulu is said to have been originally a slave of the Tuoba tribes, situated at the north banks of Yellow River Bend. Mugulus descendant Yujiulü Shelun is said to be the first chieftain who was able to unify the Rouran tribes and to found the power of the Rouran by defeating the Tiele and Xianbei. Shelun was also the first of the peoples to adopt the title of khagan in 402. The Rouran Khaganate arranged for one of their princesses, Khagan Yujiulü Anaguis daughter Princess Ruru, the Rouran and the Hephthalites had a falling out and problems within their confederation were encouraged by Chinese agents. In 508, the Tiele defeated the Rouran in battle, in 516, the Rouran defeated the Tiele. Within the Rouran confederation was a Turkic tribe noted in Chinese annals as the Göktürks, after a marriage proposal to the Rouran was rebuffed, the Göktürks joined the Western Wei, successor state of the Northern Wei, and revolted against the Rouran. In 555, they beheaded 3,000 Rouran, a better date for their defeat may be 552. Some scholars claim that the Rouran then fled west across the steppes and became the Avars, the remainder of the Rouran fled into China, were absorbed into the border guards, and disappeared forever as an entity
