The Avar Khaganate
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Avari
During the reign of Justinian, the Roman Empire was able to maintain a secure hold on its Danube Limes thanks to the presence of two large Germanic states- the Pannonian Lombards and the Gepids of the Hungarian plain. Unfortunately for the Empire, this balance of power was shattered towards the end of the 550s by the arrival onto the scene of a new power, which quickly destroyed the Gepids and forced the Lombards to flee west into Italy. These invaders were the Avars.
The Avars were a militarised equestrian people, who had themselves originally been forced west by the rise of the Gok Turks to power on the Eurasian steppe from 552 onwards (an account by the Emperor Constantine VII of them being known to the Romans as far back as the 460s is probably not to be trusted). The identity of the Avars, like the Huns before them, is not certain; some historians hypothesise that they were the remnants of the Juan-Juan Mongolians whom the Gok Turks had overthrown, while others suggest that they were themselves of Turkic origin. Whatever their origin, and despite their fugitive status, the Avars were very quickly able to establish themselves as the most powerful kingdom in barbarian Europe since the time of Attila the Hun 150 years previously.
Perhaps the key to the Avars' success lay in their innovation. Unlike their Hunnic and Sarmatian predecessors, elite Avar cavalry fought most effectively with the lance rather than the bow, allowing them to go head to head against heavy infantry with much more success. They were of course proficient horse archers too, and they brought a decisive new military innovation to Europe with them- the stirrup. Avar cavalry were thus far more capable in combat than any steppe force the Romans and their neighbours had encountered before. So dreadful was their reputation that a scratch-raised army of Tiberius II simply ran away rather than face the Avars in open battle in 574.
Menander the Guardsman tells us that in the last years of Justinian's reign attempts had been made to work the Avars into the system of divide-and-rule diplomacy and foreign aid designed to hold the Danube line in place, but that this shaky progress towards agreement was quickly shattered by the belligerent and parsimonious attitude taken by Justin II from 565 onward. Stung by Roman provocation, the Avars quickly began to turn their attention away from the Germanic kingdoms of the Great Hungarian Plain and towards the Roman diocese of Illyricum, which made up roughly all of the modern Balkans besides European Turkey and Bulgaria. By 570 they had established overlordship over Germanic and Slavic peoples from Pannonia to the Black Sea, and in 581 they captured Sirmium, establishing it as their capital. The following year Avar raiding parties roamed across Imperial provinces with impunity, sacking Athens and looting the property of the senatorial class in Thrace. With Constantinople locked into campaigns in the East against the Iranians and unable to seriously intervene, the lands of Roman Europe looked to have a new master- the Avar Khagan.
Officers
The Captain the General and the Khagan
The Units
Herdsmen
Avar Herdsmen
Though some crops can be grown, the harsh landscape of the Great Eurasian steppe,
with its vast grasslands and generally low rainfall makes pastoral herding the main form of agriculture for
its residents.
Contrary to the reports of the fourth century Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus,
steppe nomads do not move around at random, but instead tend to travel between
known pastures two or three times a year, in a regular cycle- the Avars are no exception.
Herdsmen therefore make up the backbone of the Avar economy. They must be tough and hardy men
to fight off the unwelcome attention of predators of their flocks on the steppe,
both animal and human.
Herdsmen, therefore, are not strangers to shedding blood- but they should not be expected to triumph in battle against seasoned professional warriors.
Horse Archers
Horse archers were the basic soldiers of the Avar army. Swarming from out of the steppe, warriors such as these have been the bane of the soldiers of more sedentary cultures for thousands of years, and on a number of occasions well-executed attacks by horse archers have devastated much larger and better equipped armies. Their secret is speed and mobility, showering their enemies in arrows while staying out of harm’s way.
Avar Horse Archers
The author of the Strategikon notes that the Avars “have been brought up on horseback, and owing to their lack of exercise they simply cannot walk about on their own feet.” Although this is clearly hyperbole, cavalry tactics were central to Avar warfare. As inveterate horsemen, the Avars depend on horse archers capable of devastating the enemy troops from afar, and able to move quickly to exploit weak points and avoid danger. These are such warriors.
Their horses would be small and swift, not the large thoroughbreds needed for nobles with their heavy armor. Horse archers in fact wear little armor, as it serves only to slow them down. Ideally they will not need it as they will stay away from the fray, devastating their enemies with arrows from a distance. Ideally, once the horse archers have done their work and killed or scattered the enemy the heavy cavalry will charge and finish off the foes. Sometimes the horse archers will charge if the enemy is very disorganized or about to break, but these horsemen cannot be expected to hold out long in hand-to-hand fighting.
Bagaturs
Bagaturs
The word "Bagatur" means 'hero' in several nomadic languages. In the Avar Khaganate, men who had excelled in battle or were veterans of many wars were referred to as Bagaturs. During the years of campaigning they had either recieved better armour from the Khagan or stolen it from the dead enemy. They are to be regarded as middle-ranking cavalry, better than the regular tribal members, but still inferior to Avar Nobles.
Lancers
Avar Lancers
The author of the Strategikon notes that the Avars “have been brought up on horseback, and owing to their lack of exercise they simply cannot walk about on their own feet.” Although this is clearly hyperbole, cavalry tactics were central to Avar warfare. As inveterate horsemen, the Avars depend on cavalry capable of breaking the enemy in a direct charge. These are such warriors. The elite of the Avar army, they have some of the finest horses, weapons, and armor. Tasked with breaking the enemy battle line, they have a high status within the Avar army, and upon their deaths they were honored with fine graves, some of which are still being found today. These graves show that they wore armor, carried a variety of weapons, and used stirrups in order to enhance their ability to charge the enemy. According to the Strategikon, not only do they wear armor themselves, but their horses are also covered in front with iron or felt.
The lancers are the professional warriors in the Avar army, specially trained to switch from bow to lance to sword quickly as the need arose. In the Strategikon, the Avar cavalry lance is said to have been equipped with thongs in the middle of the shaft so that the Avar warriors could sling the lances over their shoulders while they used their bows. Indeed, the Strategikon notes: "in combat most of [the Avars] attack doubly armed; lances slung over their shoulders and holding bows in their hands, they make use of both as need requires." The ability of the Avar horsemen to switch rapidly from bow to lance, making them versatile warriors. In general, the Avar would probably devastate their enemy with arrows and frustrate and frighten them by staying out of combat. Then they would charge with their lancers and other elite cavalry, hoping that this would cause the enemy to panic, flee, and get run down. If not, the lancers would have their work cut out for them, fighting hand to hand to try to kill or route the enemy. Their manner of war was effective and widely copied. Indeed, the Strategikon recommends that Roman cavalrymen be outfitted in the manner of Avars, with similar weapons, clothing, and horse armor and gear.
The workings of the Avar military are a subject of some controversy. For example, the historian Bernard Bachrach has denied that the Avars used either swords or lances or armor, and did not practice cavalry charges, but instead acted only as horse archers. This is somewhat contradicted, however, by the fact that Avar graves have been found to contain, in addition to bow equipment, swords, armor plates, and battle axes. Lances are rarer in Avar graves, but some have been found, and there is a correlation between graves with lance heads and stirrups, suggesting that the Avars lancers used both in order to create a cavalry charge that would have been devastating to their opponents.
Indeed, one theory about the origin of the stirrups is that the Avars brought them to Europe. The stirrup would have been an effective tool, though its impact is often heavily exaggerated; many earlier innovations, such as four-horned saddles used by the Romans, were engineered to allow a rider to use a lance in a cavalry charge. The Avars themselves used an enveloping saddle which held the rider in place. Stirrups, however, may have become necessary for horsemen wearing large amounts of armor, because such armor would make a warrior become top-heavy and the stirrups would prevent them from falling from their horses. Thus it is possible that the Avars had an advantage in the amount of armor their riders could wear.
The earliest stirrups in Europe can be dated to the early seventh century, though some from graves appearing to belong to Avars may possibly be earlier. The Strategikon mentions stirrups (calling them “skala”- “steps”) for Roman soldiers, suggesting that stirrups were already in use by the Roman army in the sixth-century. Though the Strategikon does not mention stirrups when it discusses the Avars, it does list them among a series of Avar tools and methods that Roman cavalrymen should adopt.
Another historical controversy has been the Avar horses. Some historians, such as Walter Goffart, have asserted that Avars rode ponies, not full-sized horses. This again is somewhat contradicted by Avar graves, some of which contain horses that on average were about the same size as contemporary horses used by Frankish cavalry. The largest and best horses, of course, would be reserved for the wealthy and for those who would act as lancers.
Khagan's Guard
Avar Khagan Guards
The guards of the Avar Khagan, known to the Romans as the "Epitedeioi", represent the highest elite of Avar society and are, outside the Roman Empire, certainly the most powerful men in late sixth century eastern Europe.
Equipped with the very finest equipment and armour, these men can even boast the resources to be able to afford to arm even their mounts with defensive armour. Clothed in sumptuous textiles and adorned with jewellery made from melted down gold, the Khagan's guard are fearsomely powerful warriors, both on and off the battlefield.
Bulgar Spearmen
Bulgar Spearmen
The Bulgar tribes probably entered Europe as a constituent group of the Hun confederation. Part of the reason why scholars have a hard time determining the racial make-up of the Huns is that they assimilated their conquered tribes. Even if they were originally of Mongol stock (and this is a big if, they could equally have been Turkic or Iranian), by the time they reached Western Europe, Huns were composed of a confederation of Bulgars, Goths, Sarmatians and others. To make matters still more confusing, it did not take long at all for Huns to start adopting Germanic names and fashions. In any case, following Hun collapse, the Bulgars began to emerge as a power in their own right.
With their stout spears, thick armour, and heavy shields these men are well equipped to fight against horsemen. Their status in the Avar army, however, is not usually among the highest; the peoples of the steppe value horses and horsemen, not the poor man stuck in the mud with a spear! Often spearmen are recruited from the lesser, conquered peoples that have been overrun in the past. Clever commanders, however, recognise there can sometimes be a need for balanced forces, and use these men to anchor their battle line on the defensive and to take and hold ground on the attack.
Bulgar Cavalry
Bulgar Cavalry
The Bulgar tribes probably entered Europe as a constituent group of the Hun confederation. Part of the reason why scholars have a hard time determining the racial make-up of the Huns is that they assimilated their conquered tribes. Even if they were originally of Mongol stock (and this is a big if, they could equally have been Turkic or Iranian), by the time they reached Western Europe, Huns were composed of a confederation of Bulgars, Goths, Sarmatians and others. To make matters still more confusing, it did not take long at all for Huns to start adopting Germanic names and fashions. In any case, following Hun collapse, the Bulgars began to emerge as a power in their own right.
These men represent the warrior elite of the Bulgars, who fought alongside their Avar overlords for a share in the bounty reaped from plundering Roman cities south of the Danube. Ultimately, the Bulgars would outlast the Avars, and, unlike them, succeed in carving out a Khaganate of their own on Roman soil.
Pannonian Milites
Pannonian Milites
Among the native peoples living under the rule of the Avar Empire were Romanized peoples known as the Keszthely culture, centered around the fortified village of Castellum (now Keszthely) near Lake Balaton in what was formerly Roman Pannonia. Since the fall of the Western Roman Empire, a population of Roman Pannonians remained in the region, living under the rule of the various outside people who conquered the area. Their knowledge of Roman ways of fighting and craftsmanship makes them sought after soldiers and artisans among their foreign rulers.
Among the most important sites of the Keszthely culture are the impressive late Roman castle (Keszthely-Fenekpuszta- or Castellum as it was probably called to its people) and the cemetery at nearby Dobogo with approximately 4,000 graves. Several other Keszthely cemetaries also survive, such as the Alsopahok with around 1,500 graves. These cemetaries have yielded a number of objects which are characteristic of the Keszthely-culture. The region was a crossroad and important trading region between Western Europe and Byzantium, and extraordinary Greek, Frankish, and even Saxon jewelry have been found in the cemeteries.
Castellum seems to have been sacked in the seventh century, probably after its population supported the wrong side in an Avar civil war, but the settlement nevertheless remained populated, and its people survived and resisted assimilation by the Avars. They continued to make inscriptions in Latin and are identified by unique grave goods reflecting “Byzantine” artistic styles. Among their graves there are 6,000 artisan tombs, which include many finely made artifacts, a number made from gold. Female graves include earrings with basket-shaped pendants, disc brooches with early Christian motifs, and dress-pins. The early Christian symbols include crosses, bird-shaped brooches and pins decorated with bird figures. The Avars may have left this population in place as a reserve of skilled Roman artisans. They survived to be incorporated into Charlemagne’s empire in the ninth century.
Gepid Infantry
Gepid Infantry
These men are recruited from the lowest ranks of the tribal society. Their entire purpose is to distract the enemy and protect heavier troops in battle.
Battle Shots
Avari vs Sclaveni
Credits
Deutschland - Mod Leader - Alkimachos
Alkimachos - Unit Models
Pseudo-Methodios - Senior Historian
Giorgios - Junior Historian and writer
The Byzantine - 2D Art
TGC Team - Horses and various other stuffs