Alani

Alans (in Latin - in Greek were a group of nomadic Scythians. The Alans are a people of Scythian , probably originating in Ossetia ( Alania : the country of the Alans in the Caucasus ). Besides, the Ossetians of today are as direct descendants of the Alans. These are riders nomads allied with the Sarmatians of Kyrgyzstan ^Introduction

Origin

Their first report is due to the historian Jew of the ^first century of the ancient Roman Flavius Josephus tells us that "... the Alans are a tribe of Scythians, living on the banks of the Tanais and the marshes of the Maeotis ..." ^{The Alans in Gaul}

These Alans crossed by the Rhine froze (?) near Mainz during the night of Saint-Sylvestre 406 / 07 , accompanied mainly quads (which are long wrongly confused with the Swabians due to a mistranslation of " Swabians "), and Vandals Hasdings and Silling , led by two different kings.

First allied tribes Vandals and quads, and led by their leader Goar , the clans Alani (around 50 000 people?) involved in the crash of auxiliary francs led by the Duke of Mainz. Alans also save the Vandals, who just lost their king, a huge massacre, alongside other invading Germanic , they devastate the Roman Gaul from 407 to 409 : Worms , Mainz, Strasbourg , Tournai , Arras , Amiens , Reims fall and are sacked. Paris , Orleans , Tours are threatened.

Then they cross the Loire at 408 (setting fire to the passage very Gallo - Roman of Meun-sur-Loire ). However, unlike their comrades in arms, the Alans are divided into several armed gangs in several clans, several historians establishing a number of approximately 3000 individuals per clan.

One of them, still led by Goar, obtained a treaty ( Foedus ) with the Roman Empire : Aetius allows them to settle on the Loire, around Orleans, but the Alans, turbulent, are very misunderstood by the indigenous. One day, feeling not being paid enough or fast enough, the Alans did not hesitate to kill senators Orleans.

Alans traveled in every direction the peninsula of Brittany that Aetius had abandoned them to save other parts of Gaul.

In 445 - 448 , the Alans under the authority of a certain Eochar suppress the revolt Bagaudes of Armorica on behalf of Rome : this is probably the Alans of Goar.

In 451 , while their leader is now Sangiban , these Alans are the center of the military set up against the forces of Attila the Champs Catalaunian (Campus mauriacus in Latin) near Moirey in the region of Troyes : the role is mainly due to the merits of the heavy cavalry Alaine (the cataphracti , real " tanks "of antiquity).

Alani clans, led by their chief Sambida , bind to the Rhone around Valencia (hence the probable origin of the name Allan ), their relations with their neighbors are as difficult as their cousins qu'entretiennent installed on board Loire.

The Alans in Hispania and North Africa

Finally, in 409 , some of Alans, led by Respendial , still follows the Vandals and quads until Hispania. There, they wander the highlands of central Iberian Peninsula , in the region of Tagus. One of the two tribes vandals and quads settle in Galicia while the Alans settled mostly in Lusitania. They are brutally evicted in 418 by the Visigoths , who massacred them.

Their journey with the Vandals then continues until Andalusia and clans Alain d'Hispania, very diminished by the attacks of the Visigoths, stand under the authority of the Vandals unified: in 428 , the Vandal king Genseric takes the title " King of the Vandals and Alans "and takes in 429 to 80 000 Barbarians who follow in North Africa. The history of the Alans is blended with that since the "Vandal kingdom in Africa" was founded in 429, the Vandal kingdom will Algiers in Carthage is destroyed by the troops of Byzantine in 533 / 534 , when ephemeral Byzantine reconquest of Africa.

Subsequently, all the clans Alani, less likely than other barbarians, were naturally and progressively integrated into the Berber people especially in neighboring regions of Kabylie in Algeria and Mostaganem in the fall of the Vandal kingdom and Alain.

One of the few traces of their passage and their fleeting presence in the West is also in Spain, where the Alans are the source of a breed of dogs robust imported by them, a race which has kept their name: the Alanos Spanish (es) .

To the east, their distant cousins, having survived the massacre of the Mongols or Tatars of Tamerlane at ^XIII / XIV ^century , and having assimilated other elements caucasophones, still live in the Caucasus under the name of Ossetians. They are mostly religious Orthodox , with a significant minority Muslim. A small portion of them allied with the Mongols, still live in Mongolia , where they bear the name of Asuda.

On the cultural , only the Alans ^I. - VI ^centuries are nomadic horsemen or semi-nomadic.

Evidence of the presence of the Alans in Gaul

As with most barbarous nations in migration , the Alans have left little trace of their presence on the ground Gallic, Hispanic, and African.

The "Alani de la Loire, present around Orleans, have been let by way of inheritance, their ethnonym originally the name of a hundred locations in France: Allaines , Alaigne , Allain , Allonnes , Allan etc. ..

In Normandy in the department of Calvados , the presence Alain is perhaps attested (but not in the names or in the onomastics in general) by a large funerary dated to the early ^fifth century, " the treasure of Airan. But perhaps this is there than a group of letes Sarmatian and Gothic. Found by chance Moult in 1876 , this treasury contains a number of pieces of silver polychrome attributed either to Alans, the Huns is. The tomb , located near two stations of the Roman Empire Lower part of the defense line up against the pirates Frisian and Saxon , has been that of a barbarian princess who has accompanied her husband, meanwhile Federated Rome. Nevertheless, the presence of Eastern Germanic elements ( fibula , chain) and Roman (copper belt buckle) alongside Alano-Sarmatian elements makes the original ethnic woman's impossible to determine. This tomb is classified by archaeologists in the group known as "Untersiebenbrunn" named after the place in Austria where a grave was found containing furnishings from various sources. There are several others: Ballers ( trigny , Burgundy) Hochfelden (Bas-Rhin), Frst (Bavaria), Altluheim (Baden-Wrttemberg), Beja (Portugal), etc..

The surname "Al (l) ain," in which he may need to seek the origin of the name "Alain", originally popular in Britain and used in Brittany in the sixth ^century, can still come from the name This barbaric tribe, but one etymology Celtic , more plausible, is suggested for this surname.

Their presence in the Byzantine Empire

Alans also appear as mercenaries or auxiliaries of the Byzantine Emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus , the early fourteenth ^century, as noted historian Catalan Ramon Muntaner tells when the shipment of Almogavres East. It is their chief George Gircon to rid the empire of Chief Almogavres, Roger de Flor , April 4, 1305, at Adrianople , obeying the orders of Michael IX , son of the emperor. These Alans were defeated later in 1306, and by Almogavres Gircon was killed and beheaded. It appears that did not Gircon Roger de Flor in his heart, because after a quarrel between the men of the Company and Alani, his son died, which was a source of hatred was wrong be satiated with the death of Caesar.

Their presence in Hungary and Moldova

Under the names Iass , Jason, Jassica, Jszok and Iai, Alans also appear XIV ^century as mercenaries in the Hungarian medieval (in which counties are granted to them by the king to the east of Buda : Jszsg around Bernyszls) and the principality vassal of Moldova , where the capital of their county : Aski, appears under the name of Civitas Iassiorum, Romanian Iasi. They are quickly assimilated the local population and are based among the Hungarians or the Romanians .

Their presence in China and Mongolia

After rallying from 1238, a portion of the invading Mongols Alani, alain troops were incorporated into the Mongol army, and even in the custody of the great Khan. They followed his army to the Far East. These Alans played a large role in the conquest of China by Kublai. At the beginning of the fourteenth ^century, the Mongol army had about 30,000 Alani, probably settled near Beijing. This community (if we add the families of soldiers) relatively large, had preserved the Christian religion (an embassy was sent in 1336 to Pope Benedict XII in Avignon). In 1368 after the overthrow of the dynasty Yuan , Alans followed the decline of the Mongols to Central Asia, where they gradually melted into the population .

Language

The language of the original should be speaking Alans Iranian north-eastern Caucasian (according Dumezil), probably similar to that of the Sarmatians. It evolves by following in their descendants the Caucasus to the Middle Ages to become virtually identical to the Ossetian current.

Civilization

The Roman soldier-historian Ammianus Marcellinus , an eyewitness who combines his observations with rumors (?) that it has agreed on the Barbarians, provides some information on the Alans of the North Caucasus, which information should be approached with caution .

It describes their physical appearance: the Alans are tall, have blond hair moderately, martial look and are more civilized in their manner of dress and feed themselves as Huns.

In terms of manners, he says, the Alans are warlike and courageous their ferocity and speed of their attacks have nothing to envy those Huns. They ignore slavery and despise the weak and elderly. They despise the old because for them (as with many other barbarian peoples), it is an honor to die in battle, but a disgrace to die of old age.

In terms of lifestyle, the Alans ignore work the land and use of covered wagons as a bark houses.

Ammianus Marcellinus also lends them the custom of scalping their enemies and to attach the hair to their mounts. They also make worship a god of war (identified in March) with a simple sword stuck in the ground and an altar (the worship of a sword "magical" is also lent to the Huns).

This information corresponds line for line legends traditionally associated peoples of the steppe horsemen by their sedentary neighbors: Ammianus Marcellinus wrote that he was even reported that some Alans Oriental would be cannibals.

Archaeological sources, meanwhile, indicate the existence of the Alans in one or more deities of fire and sun .

The art is essentially decorative Alans Wildlife: similar to Sacae until ^the second century , it is heavily loaded with polychrome decoration partitioned to ^Third and ^Fourth Centuries. These sets are spreading in the West during the great invasions ( ^IV - VI ^centuries ), especially over eastern Germanic peoples, many reasons to adopt the art of Scythian steppe (Goths, Burgundians, Vandals).

Subsequently, many cultural elements Sarmato-Alans are found among the Ossetians, until the ^fourteenth century.

According Dumzil , the Ossetians are present, linguistically and culturally, the descendants of the Alans most characterized. Their legends (cycle Narte ) show interesting similarities with other legends of the Indo-European, especially Celtic ( Arthurian legend ).

See also

ASUD

Notes