Legacy of the Huns: Germanic and Turkic Kingdoms in Europe

In the aftermath of the Hunnic invasions, the geopolitical situation in Europe changed drastically. Between 370 and 453, the year of Attila’s death, many Germanic and even Iranic tribes such as the Visigoths, Gepids and Alans migrated into Roman lands. The Vandals conquered Carthage and Roman Africa in 439, while Illyria became Ostrogothic territory and Odoaker of the Turkilingi tribe took over Italy in 476. The Western Roman Empire was thus crumbling under external pressure. But the Hunnic Empire had also collapsed after the death of Attila, its last great king. The events further east, however, are often overlooked in contemporary history books. Unjustly so. Because the Huns did not suddenly “disappear“. On the contrary, the people who had migrated to Europe stayed, bringing with them their cultures from Central Asia. The result was the creation of several new state-like entities, from the Hungarian plains to the Danube-Caspian region. Among them was the Onogur Federation. Composed of