European Kingdoms

The Huns

These Asiatic horse warriors are understood to have originated from the Ordos region of Mongolia. Usually identified as the Hsiung-nu people in contemporary Chinese records, they began a migration towards the west in the fourth century. In the 360s, they left Scythia (also known as Samartia), the plains north of the Black Sea up to the Caspian Sea.

They first arrived in the West in around 370, when they clashed with the Goths and other barbarians on the northern borders of the Roman empire. They are described at this time as a loose confederation of nomadic tribes. Once they reached the Danube, they settled in Roman-named Pannonia (the Karpatian basin in modern Hungary), and eventually the region came to be known after their settlement there.

It is a matter of contention as to whether the Huns had a single, overall leader up until 374. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus, writing in circa 395 states that they had no kings, and that each group was lead by a 'primate'. Perhaps the greater chance of large-scale warfare in Europe forced them to accept a single leader.

(Information on AD 453 by Peter Klinko. Additional rulers' names (in red) by Kemal Cemal.)

372

The Huns burst into Scythia and stir up a wave of rumours and horror stories which sweep through Europe, and reach the ears of the Romans by 376. They clash with a group of steppe people called the Alans, defeating them. The Alans ally themselves with the Huns.

372 - 432

The Huns and Alans arrive in the territory north of the Danube. The region is nominally under the control of the Ostrogoths, and is peopled by Illirs (called Pannons by the Romans, they later gave their name to Illyria - the region at the top of the Adriatic Sea) and Avars, plus some Saxons who had settled in Dacia (later Transylvania). The Huns eventually unify and only then begin to threaten the Western Roman empire. They start by clashing with the Ostrogoths. In 376 they defeat the Visigoths.

374 - 400

Balamir

400 - 410

Uldiz / Uldin

Aided Stilicho to defeat a barbarian army in 406.

407

The Alans leave the Huns behind when they cross the Rhine along with the Suevi & Vandals.

410 - 415

Karaton / Karatun

415 - 422

Bendeguz / Muncuk

422 - 434

Rua / Rugila

Brother.

434 - 453

Attila

Son of Bendeguz. Died in bed.

434 - 445

Bleda / Buda

Brother. Joint ruler. Killed by Attila.

434 - 453

Although highly successful in his initial command of the Huns, Attilia never takes his people into the Roman empire to settle among the rich villa estates: the aim of all Barbarians. Instead he leads major incursions into Roman, Byzantine and Goth territory. There are also incursions into southern Lithuania around this time, suggesting the Huns or their allies also raid northwards.

451

To preserve their new domains, the Visigoths fight on the side of Rome to halt the advance of the Huns at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. It is Attila's first major defeat and it ends his reputation for invincibility.

452

By this time, the Hun headquarters are situated on the west bank of the Danube at Sicambria (Roman Aquincum, and modern Buda). Attila meets Pope Leo I and is persuaded not to attack and destroy Rome, and also to give up slaughtering Christians. Even so, his approach into Italy causes panic, and refugees from Aquileia and other cities escape into the lagoon marshes which become Venice.

453

Upon the death of Attila, his sons fight each other for control. The Huns dissolve as a cohesive entity. The Ostrogoths reassert power over the region (culminating in military victory in 455). Most Huns drift back to Scythia, but one group settles permanently in Dacia (the Szekelys). They find that Pannonia, secured by the Carpathians, is a perfect place in which to maintain their nomad lifestyle, with its wide open grazing lands.

453 - 454

Ilek

Son of Attila.

454 - 469

Dengisich / Dengizik

Brother. Maintained reduced territory on north bank of Danube.

456 - 457

The Ostrogoths defeat and rout Attila's sons in their fight for independence.

Irnek

Brother.

Irnek governs the surviving eastern territories, and is king of the Akathirs, a Turkic tribe within Roman territory.

896

The region, and whatever Hunnic descendants it still contains, is subjugated by the invading Magyars. The region retains its Hunnic-inspired name, even when the Magyars later form the kingdom of Hungary.