EurasianStudies_0110..

January-March 2010 JOURNAL OF EURASIAN STUDIES Volume II., Issue 1.
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Some questions regarding the chronology of the Hun Empire
It is evident from the historical sources, that Huns had significant role in world history. The steppe or
bow stretching people – Scythians and Huns – established the biggest empires of the ancient period,
which were greater than the Roman Empire or Alexander the Great’s occupied territory. The empires of
Scythians and Huns had survived longer than the above mentioned two big ones. We know from the
historical sources, that the united Hun Empire lasted until the 1 st century BC, divided states from Ordos
via Northern India to Caucasus existed until the 8 th century AD. 10 As late antique sources reveal, their
power was preserved in the Carpathian Basin, too. 11 Therefore it is clearly stated that the Hun state and
civilisation determined the commonwealth of the Eurasian steppe belt for at least thousand years.
Some scholars opine that the establishment of the Hun state happened only in 209 BC, when Maodun
became the supreme king, or shanyu of the Huns, but the Chinese sources do not prove this. As Shi Ji
recorded, the event of 209 BC was only a coup, when Maodun (or Baatar) grabbed the power from his
father, Touman. Moreover, Chinese sources recorded that the title of the Hun supreme king, shanyu,
existed well before this date, e.g. 265 BC. 12 The great Chinese chronicler, Sima Qian himself recorded
several times that Huns had an ancient history. He wrote that the Huns had derived from the ancient
Xia-dynasty, whose last king, Chunwei escaped to north and he became the king of the Huns. Sima Qian
summarised the early history of the Huns as the follows: “More than thousand years past from Chunwei
to Tou-man, during that time tribes divided parts, their numbers increased. That is why it is impossible
to record the descendants of Hun leaders.” 13
The above cited dates also show us that the Hun state had already been established before the
officially accepted date — 209 BC. It is best possible that we would not get any exact date to determine
the beginning due to the lack of accurate historical sources. When the Huns did appear in the Chinese
chronicles, they already had a well-developed state.
Tribal organisation
The first significant monograph, which deals with steppe society, was written by B. Vladimircov, who
analysed the Early Mongolian social structure. 14 According to him, mounted-nomads are engaged in
breeding animals like horse, cattle and others, live in round-shaped tents, and developed tribal-clan
organisation. They are able to create big empires on the Eurasian steppe belt during the course of history.
They have a special way of life, with some variations. István Erdélyi showed samples and he
summarised some of them, and concluded his research with showing what varieties can be found in
Inner and Central Asia. We can find “classical” pasture change way of life, pastoral breeding in the
mountains, or the semi-nomadic form. 15 The life-style greatly depended on the weather conditions of the
10 New data on Huns in Caucasus: Gmirya, 1995. 4. Survival of the Hunnic tribes in Carpathian Basin: Obrusánszky, 2009. 27-34.
11 DeGroot, 2006. 21.
12 Shi Ji 81. In: Csornai, 2007. 44.
13 Shi Ji. 110.
14 Vladimircov, 1934.
15 Erdélyi, 2000.9-10.
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