Avars - Abar (English spelling)

A Mongolian nomadic horse-riding people closely related to the Huns. They appeared in the mid-5th century on the northern shore of the Caspian Sea and in the lower Don River basin, and eventually migrated to Europe under pressure from the Turks. In the mid-6th century, they advanced into the Hungarian plains, destroyed the Gepids, and after the Lombards migrated to Italy, they established a large empire centered on the middle and lower Danube basin. They invaded Thuringia in 565-566 and repeatedly invaded the Byzantine Empire, but their power gradually declined from the mid-7th century. After the invasion of Bavaria in 788, Frankish King Charles launched a counterattack, and his son Pepin also attacked the stronghold of the Avars. In the 9th century, the Bulgarians rose to power and thoroughly defeated the remaining Avar forces, and at the end of the 9th century, the Avars disappeared when they were absorbed by the Magyars who invaded from the east.

[Shosuke Hirajo]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

フン人と近縁のモンゴル系遊牧騎馬民族。5世紀中葉カスピ海北辺、ドン川下流域に出現、やがてトルコ人に圧迫されてヨーロッパに移り、6世紀中葉にはハンガリー平原に進出、ゲピード人を滅ぼし、ランゴバルト人のイタリア移動後、ドナウ中・下流域を中心に大帝国を建てた。565～566年チューリンゲンに侵入、ビザンティン帝国領内にも侵入を繰り返したが、7世紀中葉よりしだいに勢力が衰えた。788年のバイエルン侵入を機に、フランク国王カールは反撃に転じ、息子のピピンもアバール人の本拠を攻めた。9世紀に入りブルガリア人が勃興(ぼっこう)、アバール人の残存勢力を徹底的に破り、9世紀末東方から侵入したマジャール人に吸収されて、アバール人は姿を消した。

［平城照介］

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