The Huns were a Mongoloid people.
The Huns were members of a Mongoloid people who, in the 5th century , dominated the region between the Danube and Volga rivers. Although their origin is not clear, it is believed that they emerged on the Asian continent and that they spoke an Altaic language.
The Huns were nomadic and settled in huts. Regarding their food production activities, they were mainly dedicated to hunting and livestock farming. Through looting and commercial activity they managed to obtain what they did not produce.
Attila, king of the Huns
The role of the king or leader represented the highest authority of the Hun people. The most famous was precisely the last great leader: Attila , who ruled between 434 and 453 and came to lead the largest empire in Europe in his time.
Under Attila , the Huns besieged Constantinople , invaded the Balkans , and came close to capturing Rome . The king of the Huns is usually described by historians as a bloodthirsty, cruel and rapacious man, although some versions allude to his nobility. When Attila died in 453 , the Huns eventually separated and ceased to exist as a unit .
Under the guidance of King Attila, the Huns managed to expand their domains.
Empire development
For the formation of the Hunnic empire of the 5th century , there was first an advance through Central Asia , from the current region of Turkmenistan towards India , progressing through the northwest. In approximately the year 370 , the Huns began to advance into European territory, destabilizing the barbarian peoples of Central and Eastern Europe . With Attila 's accession to power , the various Hun settlements were united into a great empire that came to plunder Roman domains.
Upon the death of Attila , Elak , his eldest son, assumed command, who was confronted by his brothers Ernak and Dengizik . Given this scenario, rebellions began among the conquered tribes. In 469 , with the death of Dengizik ( Elak 's successor), the Hunnic empire ceased to exist.
The origin of the Huns
Returning to the topic of its origin , it is important to note that it is the focus of a long debate. Throughout Antiquity, the theologian Eusebius Hieronymus , whom we also know by the name Jerome , linked the Huns with the ancient Scythians, a group of nomadic peoples. This went hand in hand with the identification of the Huns with demons and witches, or with descendants of such diabolical creatures.
Currently, the origin of this town continues to give rise to controversy among historians. Since the 18th century, thanks to the work of the French orientalist Joseph de Guignes , the Huns who populated the European continent throughout the 4th century have been associated with the Xiongnu people, who appear in the records of Chinese history of the dynasty Han and are believed to have formed a political entity of great importance in the steppe region of present-day Mongolia.
Since the 1950s, some authors began to be skeptical about such an approach, based especially on the observation of sources from paleoanthropology and archaeology. For Otto Maenchen-Helfen , among other authors, the supposed relationship between the Huns and the Xiongnu does not have the necessary support, mainly because the evidence indicates that they existed at different times in history .
If there really had been a connection between the two, experts point out that it is probably simply a matter of cultural affinity and not ethnic continuity. Maenchen-Helfen examined the finds from many tombs from the two towns and concluded that they did not correspond at all. One of the main points that serves to draw a clear difference is the deformation of the skull practiced by the Huns, never observed in the Xiongnu remains.