Hun, Alan, Avar, and other Steppe Nomad Movements

[Alanus]

What about the Chionitae and the Kidaritae? Were they Sarmatians or Altaics in your opinion? And what do you think of possible mentions of the Huns in the middle East? The Huns of Central Asia and the Caucasus are often called Massagetae by the Byzantines (although Masguts or Massagetae were Sarmatians). It is known the names of the Hunnic groups (Sabir, Saragur, Akatir, Ultinzur, Tongur, Bitugur, Iligur, Bazgur, Alpilcur.....

Hi, Evan

I'm less knowledgeable of the Uralic, Altaic, and proto-Turkic tribes, and consider them as "late." As a laugh, I placed the Magyars at Aktobe in my 499AD novel (Demon's Door Bolt), which is a long way from Hungary but where they may have been several centuries earlier. Procopious and later Byzantines referred to the White Huns (Ephthalites) and maybe the Avars (Juan-Juan) as "Massagetae," just like they labeled the Goths as "Scythians." The Chinese called the Avars the "Ron-Ron," which I just spelled phonetically not correctly. (film viewing hints-- Zhau Wai stars in a new version of Mulan, not the Disney jobbie. Mulan fights the "Ron-Ron." Also, view Painted Skin II for a really great fantasy story.) Most of these tribes were post-Sarmatian, so I'm just not up on them. We can thank the Avars for stirrups and the Magyars for Czaba Grozer! :wink:

PS: get the BlueRay versions, They're crystal clear, especially Painted Skin II.