4th Century to 469
Balkans, and Central Asia
The Huns were nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part of Scythia at the time; the Huns' arrival is associated with the migration westward of an Iranian people, the Alans. By 370 AD, the Huns had arrived on the Volga, and by 430 the Huns had established a vast, if short-lived, dominion in Europe, conquering the Goths and many other Germanic peoples living outside of Roman borders, and causing many others to flee into Roman territory.
The origin of the Huns and their relationship to other peoples identified in ancient sources as Iranian Huns such as the Xionites, the Alchon Huns, the Kidarites, the Hephthalites, the Nezaks, and the Huna, has been the subject of long-term scholarly controversy.
Uldin, the first Hun identified by name in contemporary sources, headed a group of Huns and Alans fighting against Radagaisus in defense of Italy.
Balamber was ostensibly a chieftain of the Huns, mentioned by Jordanes in his Getica.
The history of the Huns spans the time from before their first secure recorded appearance in Europe around 370 AD to after the disintegration of their empire around 469.
The Huns conquered most of the Germanic Scythian barbarian tribes outside of the borders of the Roman Empire. They also launched invasions of both the Asian provinces of Rome and the Sasanian Empire in 375.
The Romans became aware of the Huns when the latter's invasion of the Pontic steppes forced thousands of Goths to move to the Lower Danube to seek refuge in the Roman Empire in 376.
In 395 the Huns began their first large-scale attack on the Eastern Roman Empire.
The Battle of Faesulae was fought in 406 AD as part of the Gothic invasion of the Western Roman Empire.
The Huns launched the first unsuccessful large-scale raid into the Eastern Roman Empire in Europe in 408.
Charaton was one of the first kings of the Huns. At end of 412 or the beginning of 413, Charaton received the Byzantine ambassador Olympiodorus sent by Honorius.
In 412, the Huns launched a new raid into Thrace.
In 412 or 413, the Roman statesman and writer Olympiodorus of Thebes were sent on an embassy to "the first of the kings"the Huns, Charaton.
From the 420s, the Huns were led by the brothers Octar and Ruga, who both cooperated with and threatened the Romans.
The Huns again raided in 422, apparently under the command of a leader named Ruga. They reached as far as the walls of Constantinople.
He was a ruler who was a major factor in the Huns' early victories over the Roman Empire.
Upon Ruga's death in 435, his nephews Bleda and Attila became the new rulers of the Huns.
He was a Hunnic ruler, the brother of Attila the Hun. As nephews to Rugila, Attila and his elder brother Bleda succeeded him to the throne. Bleda's reign lasted for eleven years until his death.
The Romans breached the treaty in 440, Attila and Bleda attacked Castra Constantias, a Roman fortress and marketplace on the banks of the Danube.
The Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II gave in to Hun demands and in autumn 443 signed the Peace of Anatolius with the two Hun kings.
Attila appears to have killed his brother and became sole ruler of the Huns in 445.
Attila, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central and Eastern Europe.
The next eight years, Attila launched a devastating raid on the Eastern Roman Empire in 447.
The Battle of the Utus was fought in 447 between the army of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, and the Huns led by Attila at what is today the Vit River in Bulgaria. It was the last of the bloody pitched battles between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Huns.
The war came to an end in 449 with an agreement in which the Romans agreed to pay Attila an annual tribute of 2100 pounds of gold.
Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, took place on June 20, 451 AD, between a coalition - led by the Roman general Flavius Aetius and by the Visigothic king Theodoric I - against the Huns and their vassals - commanded by their king Attila.
The campaigns of the Huns under Attila in Europe, leading to their defeat at the Catalaunian Plains in 451 AD.
The Sack of Aquileia occurred in 452 and was carried out by the Huns under the leadership of Attila.
The pastoral letter by Pope Leo the Great to the church of Aquileia indicates that Christian slaves taken from there by the Huns in 452 were forced to participate in Hunnic religious activities.
Ellac was the oldest son of Attila and Kreka. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his Empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons, Ellac, Dengizich, and Ernak. He ruled shortly.
Dengizich was a Hunnic ruler and son of Attila. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his Empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons, Ellac, Dengizich, and Ernak.
Ernak was the last known ruler of the Huns and the third son of Attila. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his Empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons, Ellac, Dengizich, and Ernak.
The western Huns under Dengizich experienced difficulties in 461.
In 463, the Saragurs defeated the Akatziri, or Akatir Huns, and asserted dominance in the Pontic region.
The Battle of Bassianae was a battle between the Ostrogoths and the Huns in 468.
The Hunnic language, was the language spoken by Huns in the Hunnic Empire.
In 1757, Joseph de Guignes first proposed that the Huns were identical to the Xiongnu.
Archaeological finds have produced a large number of cauldrons that have since the work of Paul Reinecke in 1896 been identified as having been produced by the Huns. Although typically described as "bronze cauldrons". the cauldrons are often made of copper.
