The origin and genetic ties of the Alans

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

S. Yatsenko came to the opinion that there are seven concepts of the origin of the Alans. These are the Scythian, Aorian, Massagetan, Alanian, Yuechzhian-Tocharian, Usun, and the seventh, which considers the Alans to be an interethnic squad organization.

The scientist proposes an eighth concept and points to forty innovative phenomena that appear in the Sarmatian monuments. According to the researcher, the ancestral home of the Alans was located south of the Altai Mountains. The Protoalans are associated with the Usun union.

According to S. Yatsenko, the Alans developed in four stages. The first, associated with the resettlement of the Usuns in Semirechye, the second - with the transformation into a serious force in Central Asia, the third - with the entry into the sphere of influence of Kangyuy, the fourth - with the advance to the west and the defeat of the Aorses by the Alans. The main areas where the Alans settled were the lower reaches of the Don and Volga, as well as the Middle Kuban. S. Yatsenko distinguishes between two groups of Alans. He points to the existence of Scythian Alans and Massaget Alans.

V. Abaev believed that the Alans were generated by the eastern branch of the Sako-Massaget environment. V. Minorsky spoke in favor of the fact that the ethnonyms "Aors" and "Alans" are identical. He connected the change of name from Yantsai to Alanya with the transfer of power to another tribe or clan. Alans, according to the scientist, lived beyond the Caspian Sea south of the Aral Sea.

F. Gutnov notes that yantsai is not only the Aral lands, but also the western territories. The Chinese were simply the most familiar areas in the Aral and Caspian regions. The Aors appeared in Europe as a result of pressure from more eastern tribes. However, for the first time the Aorses moved from the Caspian lands to the west already in the 3rd century. BC e. and in the classical sources were noted as a strong tribe. Monuments of the Zubovo-erection group in the North Caucasus are associated with the Alans, and the pressure of the Huns became a factor in the emergence of new ethnic groups in the west. Anthroponyms with farn appear. In Europe in the III-II century. BC e. Roxolans appear, which some researchers associated with the Alans and the massaget tribes.

F. Gutnov himself did not consider the Yantsai-Aorses to be Alans, but noted that a part of the Aorses took part in the ethnogenesis of the early Alans. Kangyuy was involved in the formation of the Alans. The Farn cult was present among the Kangyuis. There is a Kangyui trace in the archaeological sites of the Northern Black Sea region. They were also associated with the early Alans and Usun-Asia and Yuezhi-Tokhars. Some researchers compare the Alans-Digors with the Tochars. An early Alanian tribal union was formed in the southeastern Aral Sea region and was connected with the lower and middle reaches of the Syr Darya. All large ethnosocial organisms in the region were multi-ethnic, which refers to Kangyu and Usun. Even the territories of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan have preserved traces of the presence of the Alans. Some of them remained in Central Asia (in the terminology of F. Gutnov, in Central Asia), while the other part migrated to the west.

T. Gabuev believes that the Asians, who were part of the Yuechzhi (Tocharian) tribal union, are part of the Usuns who were carried away by the Yuechzhi in Greco-Bactria. Asia are Alans. The ruling was the Yuezhi Wen dynasty, which stood at the head of the Kangyu, who subdued the Yantsai, and that, in turn, after being subjugated by the Kangyu, was renamed Alanya. Two components played a role in the formation of the Alans - Yuezhi-Tokhara and Usun-Asia. These tribes took part in the formation of the Kangyui state. The influence of the Massagets on the formation of the Alans, which took place on the territory of Kangyui, is noted. The Alans were carriers of the ethnonym Aruana, with which they distinguished other peoples from themselves. In Iranian languages, aryana passed into Alana. From the 2nd century. n. e. the ethnonym "Alans" supplanted the names of the Sarmatian tribes. Tsutsiev points out that the fate of the early Alanian ethnos is connected with Kangyu and Yantsai. The beginning of the Alanian history is associated with Kangyuy. Before the renaming of Alanya, the Yantsai possession in the Eastern Aral Sea region was inhabited by the Massagets, who also appeared in Chinese writings as the Se, that is, the Scythians.

The scientist attributes the conquest of Yantsai by the Kanguy Alans to 25-50 years. n. e. The Alans invaded Yantsai from the territory of Kangyui, which was inhabited by the Late Saki and other Iranian-speaking nomadic tribes. Yantsai was renamed Alanna and became dependent on Kangyui, which was based on the Late Saki and related tribes. The proximity of the Kangyu people to the Yantsai and Yuechzha is noted. The Jetyasar culture can be compared with Yantsai, and the Otrar-Karatau and Kuanchin cultures with Kangyu.

The movement of the Alans from Central Asia to the west was associated with the strengthening of the Kan principality. The areas of active roaming of the Alans included the Eastern Caspian Sea region, Ustyurt, and the southeastern Aral Sea region. Xiongnu activation in the 3rd century n. e. sets in motion the nomads of Kangyuy. The population of the Middle Syr Darya is shifting to the Bukhara region. The Huns put pressure on Kangyui from the east and north. Dzhetyasar settlements perish in the fire in the 3rd-4th centuries. n. e.

In Europe, Alans appear in the second half - the end of the 1st century. n. e. In the Lower Don, the Alans subdued the Aorses, and in the Central Kuban, the Siraks and Meots. The second wave of Alans came to the North Caucasus from the north in the 2nd-3rd centuries. n. e., and this is related to the spread of burials with catacombs. This group of nomads from the regions of Bukhara and Fergana came through Khorezm to the Urals and the Lower Volga region. T. Gabuev believes that there were several groups of Alans. B. Kerefov said that the formation of the early Alans was due to the interaction of the Tochars, Asians and the tribes of the Sako-Massaget circle. V. Gutschmid and F. Hirt argued that the Yantsai Aors were proto-Alanian tribes. J. Marquart supported them, but spoke in favor of the fact that Yantsai is also the name of the Massagets.

GENETIC LINKS WITH OTHER PEOPLES

L. Nechayeva and D. Machinsky wrote about the genetic connection of the Alans with the Massagetae, V. Saintmartin, E. Charpentier, R. Fry and N. Lysenko wrote about the links between the Alans and the Usuns. The latter considered the Alans to be the descendants of the population of the possessions of Usun and Kangyui. R. Bleichteiner wrote about the connection between the Alans and the Sakas. According to G. Vernadsky, the Alans were partially associated with the Yuechj, and their ruling dynasty was from the Usuns. The Alans were the strongest of the Sarmatian tribes and were different from the Asians, but then merged with them. T. Sulimirsky considered the Alans as the rearguard of the Iranian-speaking tribes, which were moving westward under pressure from the Xiongnu. I. Marquart called the Eastern Alans the descendants of the Upper Aorses, who, in turn, considered the descendants of the Massagets. V. Struve believed that the Alans are identical with the Massagets-Dakhs, whom he compares with the Sakas beyond Sogd and the Sakas beyond the sea of ancient Persian royal inscriptions. V. Miller and V. Kulakovsky connected the Alans with the Scythians. N. Berlizov also accepted this point of view. M. Abramova spoke about the Scythian stage in the formation of the Ossetians and Alans.

A. Tuallagov suggests that the Usuns were part of the Alanian union. The Alans occupied Yantsai during the Kangyu conquest of Yantsai. He connects the movement of the Alans to the west with the intensification of the foreign policy of the Sogyu principality. Alans were also represented by the Yuechji groups of Tochars and Asians. He compared the ethnonym Tochar with the ethnonym Digor. The Lower Don kurgans of the Alans had much in common with the monuments of the tooth-erection type, and those, in turn, with the monuments of the Yuezhi. A. Skripkin believes that the ancestors of the Alans were part of the Sarmatian tribes and took part in the advancement of the Sako-Massagets to the east, and then appeared as part of the Yuezhi in Central Asia. They were in close relations with the Aors and the formation of the Alans as an ethnic group took place in the South Ural and Aral steppes. Finally, the Alans formed in the Sako-Massaget environment.

A. Nagler and L. Chipirov believed that the term "Alans" was used to designate the ruling elite among the Sarmatians. A similar opinion was expressed by M. Shchukin, who considered the Alans to be a druzhina stratum among the Sarmatian tribes.

There was no consensus among scientists about the time of the appearance of the Alans in the North Caucasus. V. Miller attributed this event to the 1st century. n. e. V. Vinogradov believed that the Alans appeared in the region immediately after the Aorian-Sirak war of 49 AD. e. According to B. Raev, Alans appeared in the Caucasus between 49 and 65 AD. e. Y. Gagloty argued that the Alans took part in the Ibero-Albanian-Parthian conflict in 35 AD. e. He did not exclude the participation of the Alans in the Mithridates wars in the 1st century. BC e. and at the same time considered the Roksolans to be a part of the Alans. V. Kuznetsov said that the Alans took part in the events of 35 AD. e., and believed that they descended from the Massagetae, who at the turn of the era settled to the Caucasus. From a point of view about AD 35 e. S. Perevalov also agrees as to the time of the appearance of the Alans in the Caucasus. The Sarmatians mentioned in the sources could only be Alans, since they used a new tactic of a frontal cavalry attack with pikes and swords. M. Shchukin believed that the Romans received news about the Alans during the reign of Emperor Augustus. According to A. Tuallagov, Alans appeared in Eastern Europe in the 2nd century. BC e. He does not separate the Roxolans from the Alans. The first campaign to the South Caucasus - in 69 BC. e. The political center of Alania was located on the Lower Don. Alan settlements were settlements on the Lower Don, in the Kuban and in the Azov region. The ruling dynasty was the Aravelian dynasty. A new wave of Alans came in the middle of the 1st century. n. e. Central Asian newcomers who establish their dominance from the Don to the Volga and Kuban. This population can be associated with the widespread popularity of the ethnonym "Alans". This ethnonym displaces others, previously known.

SETTLEMENT

The Alans settled in a significant mass along the lower reaches of the Don and Volga, as well as in the expanses of the Azov region to the Kuban. The presence of the Alans is also recorded in the region of the Caucasian Mineral Waters and Nadterechye. In 35-36 years. mysterious nomads participated in the Ibero-Parthian war on the side of the Iberian king Farasman. They can probably be identified with the Aors, which some researchers perceive as part of the Alans. They acted in this war as allies of the Iberians and Caucasian Albanians against the Parthians. Tacitus referred to them as Sarmatians, and Josephus as Scythians. The king of Armenia Tiridates I a little later reported to the Roman emperor Nero about the threat from the Alans not only to the South Caucasus, but also to the Roman provinces in Asia Minor and Syria. In 72, the Alans invaded the South Caucasus, and Armenia and Atropatena were plundered.

According to Josephus Flavius, the Alans invaded thanks to the Hyrcanian (Iberian) king, who opened the pass for them. The Armenian army was defeated by the Alans, and Tiridates himself miraculously was not captured. Leonty Mroveli, apparently, talks about these events, talking about the Ovs leaders Bazuk and Ambazuk, and Movses Khorenatsi, most likely, talks about this, talking about the deeds of Artashes and his clash with the Alans. In 72, Parthia raised the issue of protection from the Alans before the Roman emperor Vespasian. In 132 AD, Flavius Arrian wrote to Emperor Hadrian about the need for Roman intervention in the Azov region, caused by the complication of the situation in the region. In 135 AD, the Alans invaded Parthia, as well as Armenia and Roman Cappadocia. The king of Parthia, Vologuez, according to Dion Cassius, paid off. In Cappadocia, the Alans were frightened by the governor of the province, Flavius Arrian, who later developed the treatise "Disposition against the Alans", which indirectly indicates a possible collision of the Romans with the Alans. It should be noted that in the first centuries of our era, the Alans maintained active ties with the Georgians of Iberia and entered into political alliances and dynastic marriages with them. However, under King Amazasp, the Georgians fought with the Alans, who decided to attack the capital of Iberia, but were defeated in the battle on the Liakhvi River. These events took place in the years 236-238. After that, the Alans entered into an anti-Persian alliance with the Iberian ruler Rev and the Armenian king Trdat.

In the Northwestern Caucasus, the Sarmatians were engaged in the Iranization of the Meots, the Aors and the Siraks took an active part in the political life of the Bosporus. The Alans were also neighbors of the Bosporus. Inismey of the Alans ruled the Bosporus in 239-276. Fofors from the Savromat dynasty of the Bosporus kingdom in the 90s. III century. with the help of the Alans, he invaded Lazika and went as far as the Galis River (modern Kyzylirmak River) in Asia Minor. Diocletian called on the Chersonesites for help, and they forced the attackers to return to their lands.

Alans posed a threat to the Romans even during the Marcomanian Wars. Later, in 242, the Alans defeated the troops of Gordian in Thrace. In 270-273 years. Alans in alliance with the Gothic king Kannaba fight against the Romans on the Danube. The position of the Alans in the Gothic state was privileged. In the middle of the III century. n. e. under the blows of the Alans, the Late Scythian kingdom falls and the Scythian Naples is destroyed. In the years 236-239. a threat loomed over Tanais and Gorgipia, and by the middle of the century they were lost to the Bosporus forever. In 335, all the same Alans unsuccessfully stormed Phanagoria.

Before the invasion of the Huns, S. Yatsenko counted five groups of European Alans - Basils, Massagets (Maskuts), Terek Alans, Tanaite Alans and Crimean Alans. In 372 the Huns attacked the Alans-Tanaits. In 376, they, together with the allied Alans, appeared on the Danube border of Rome, and in 378 Alanian cavalry detachments as part of the Gothic army at Adrianople (the modern city of Edirne in Turkey, - ed.) Defeated the Romans. In 402 and 405. Alans in the service of Stilicho took part in the defeat of the Germans by the Romans. The Alans were settled as federates in Pannonia. In 407, the Alans, who joined the Vandals and Suevi, broke through the Rhine border and settled in Gaul and Spain.

Thus, we came to the following conclusions. The Alans were a complex conglomerate of Iranian-speaking tribes. They represented both the Sarmatian tribes of the Aors and Siraks, and the Central Asian tribes of the Alans and the Sako-Massagk circle, as well as the Yuezhi. The appearance of the Alans in the North Caucasus can be dated no earlier than the middle of the 1st century. n. e. Actually the Alanian campaign was 72 AD. B. C., campaign 35 A. D. had to implement the aorses. The increase in the aggressiveness of the Alans in the III century. n. e. can be associated with the formation of new groups of the Alanian population in the Eastern European and North Caucasian steppes.