In order to illuminate the state of affairs in
brief, it should be beneficial to determine these 3 issues stated below:a) 100 years before the collapse of Juan-Juan domination
in the Central Asia (the events in 461-465, see Sabar people, Ogur people), the Byzantine
historian Priskos (in the middle of the 5th century) dealt with the "Avar" tribe
that existed in the western Siberian region. Another resource (Zakharias Rhetor, in the
years of 550) cited about an "Avar" community in the west before the occurrence
of the Mongolian events. In addition to these facts, the ancient Greek geographer, Strabon
(1st century DC) stated that he dealt with "Abar-noi" people in his work and
that the name of "Abaris" was used in combination with he Greek legends in the
very ancient histories.
b) According to these records, it is
obvious that the relevant Avar (Abat) people did not have any relation or relevance with
the Mongolian Juan-Juan people that were totally abolished in the year of 555 DC.
c) Actually, it is of significance that
the Byzantine historian Th. Simokattes (2nd quarter of the 7th century) had made a
classification about Avar people such as "Real Avar" and "Fake Avar".
According to the results obtained from the researches carried out upon this record, the
group called as "Fake Avar" was composed of Warkhon (in other words, Var and
Hund: in Simokattes) people that were the neighbours of the Oguz tribes living in the
region between the Western Turkestan- Northern Caucasus and within the environs of
Don-Idyll (Volga) Rivers and that were named as ""Avar" in the Byzantine
resources (Menandros, the end of 6th century).
These two Turkish
groups that used to speak Turkish with Y like Gokturk, Hun peoples, etc. deserted from the
government of Juan-Juan family that they were subject to after the year of 350 and they
turned towards the west. These two tribes participated in the establishment of Ak Hun
(Eftalit) State in Turkestan- Afghanistan- Northern India. Then, they got separated from
the foreign domination in Mongolia pursuant to the defeats of Juan-Juan people against the
Tabgaç armies in the years of 458-459. These War (var) and Hun tribes that came to the
region of Caspian Sea-the north of Lake Aral constituted a Turkish tribal union and they
were collectively named as Apar (Abar, Avar) in accordance with the occupations that they
had.
Therefore, the
founders and the dominant majority of the European Avar Khanate were composed of the
crowded Turkish groups that came from the central regions of Asia and united with the Ogur
tribes that they encountered in the plain lands of the southern Russia and the other
Iranian foreign elements such as Mongolian, Alan people, etc. that retreated towards the
west under pressure due to the political expansion of the Gok- Turk State.
Some of the Turkish
administrative offices that were present in the Avar Khanate were essentially named with
Turkish idioms (the titles such as Tudun, Yugruş, Tarhan, Boyar, Ban, etc.). Similarly,
it is beyond doubt that the Avar statesmen that made history were of Turkish origin.
Additionally, the name of the famous ruler Bayan was a Turkish name.
The statement that the
Mongoloid type was dominant in the skeletons excavated from the tombs pertaining to the
Avar period is not convincing. Actually, some archaeological excavations pertaining to
Avar period were carried out in the regions that were within the domination fields of the
Avar Empire (Hungary, Albania, Croatia, Czechoslovakia, Austria, the southern Germany)
until the year of 1970s. As a result of these excavations, it has been determined that the
Turkish type (brachycephalic) had a significant level among various types such as
Germanic, Slav, Iranian, Finno-Ugrian, etc.
in relation with the
human skeletons excavated in these studies. Similarly, it has been stipulated that even
the "Andronovo-type" that represented the real Turkish lineage" was
observed with a high level of 10-15% in some places of findings.
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