Blockade of Istanbul by Avar People in 626           

        The principal core of the army of the Avar Khanate was composed of Turks and this army was supported by the crowded backup troops that were recruited from various Slav and Germanic tribes. It has been understood that the Avar Khanate tried to maintain the safety and security of the principal market cities and the trade routes. The important military attempts of the Avar people in the course of their domination in Europe for a period of 200 years were the military blockades of Istanbul. The first blockade (in 617 or 619) was carried out by Avar people upon the collaboration with Sasani State and this blockade was so impressive that even the Emperor Herakleios (610-641) thought of the abandoning the capital city and going to Kartaca. Pursuant to this first blockade, the second operation was carried out jointly with the cooperation of the Sasani Empire again (626). In these years, the Iranian-Byzantine wars became more severe and cruel and the Sehinshah Husrev II (590-628) captured the entire el-Cezire, Palestine and Syria.

 

        Under these circumstances, the emperor Herakleios who was in the coasts of the Eastern Black Sea went to Tbilisi in order to provide military help and assistance from the Khazar Turks. At the same time, the Iranian army under the command of Şahrvaraz passed through the entire Anatolia and reached to Bosphorus. Concurrently, the Avar army that was supported by the Bulgarian forces passed over the Balkans and Thrace and came in front of the city walls of Istanbul. The actual military blockade was carried out by the Avar army (in July-August 626). This operation that aroused great excitement in the capital city that was defende by the Patriarch Sergios and Patricius Bonos left historical memoirs behind. The day that was declared as a "holiday" for the commemoration of the salvation (on Saturday in the 5th week of the the "Great Fast") was memorialised in the form of ceremonies organised in the churches for centuries and it has been understood that the hymn of "Akathistos" was related with this Avar blockade.

 

         The military blockade failed due to the lack of a navy and therefore, the Avar army had to retreat under difficult situations without the attainment of any result. This situation caused the khanate to lose its influence and prestige and the advance towards the decline. The backup troops got dispersed. Particularly after the death of the ruler in the year of 630, the subject groups rebelled upon the encouragement and support of the Byzantine. As a result of the long struggles, the Balkans were captured by the Bulgarians. The region of Danube-Sava was left to the Slav tribes such as Croatian, Slovenian, etc. and the Bohemian region was abandoned to the ancestors of the Czech people. Therefore, the Avar Khanate was surrounded within the circle of hostile states and it lost its economical opportunities and facilities.

 

          It gradually lost power during the 8th century. As a result of the attacks and raids of Frank Empire (Ka-rolus Magnus= the period of Carlemagne: 768-814)-with a severe and cruel holy war- that lasted incessantly for 15 years since the year of 791 (the fortified capital city of Avar people in the Central Hungary was captured in the period of Pepin in 776), the Avar Khanate was totally abolished (805). The Avar groups that got disintegrated spread within the Eastern Hungary and the Balkans. Within a short period, they became Christians and they got assimilated within the native people.