The Aorsi, known in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

sources as the Aorsoi (Ἄορσοι), were an ancient

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

people of the

Sarmatian The Sarmatians (; ; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples who dominated the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe from about the 5th century BCE to the 4t ...

group, who played a major role in the events of the

Pontic Steppe Pontic, from the Greek ''pontos'' (, ), or "sea", may refer to: The Black Sea Places * The Pontic colonies, on its northern shores * Pontus (region), a region on its southern shores * The Pontic–Caspian steppe, steppelands stretching from n ...

from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD. They are often regarded as connected to the contemporaneous

Eurasian steppe The Eurasian Steppe, also called the Great Steppe or The Steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang, Kazakhstan, Siberia, Europea ...

state of '' Yancai'' (or ''Yentsai'') mentioned in ancient Chinese records. The

Alans The Alans () were an ancient and medieval Iranian peoples, Iranic Eurasian nomads, nomadic pastoral people who migrated to what is today North Caucasus – while some continued on to Europe and later North Africa. They are generally regarded ...

, first mentioned by Middle Eastern and European scholars in the 1st century AD, are regarded as successors of the Aorsi.

Name

The

ethnonym An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...

''Aorsi'' is generally linked to the

Avestan Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old ...

''auruša-'' and the Ossetic ''ūrs'' or ''ors'', meaning 'white'. The names '' Arsīyah'' and ''Arsā'', mentioned by

Al-Masudi al-Masʿūdī (full name , ), –956, was a historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus of the Arabs". A polymath and prolific author of over twenty works on theology, history (Islamic and universal), geo ...

and Al-Garnati in the 10–12th century AD, may also be related.

History

The Aorsi and an associated tribe, the

Siraces The Siraces (, , also ''Siraceni'' and ''Seraci'' ) were a hellenized Sarmatian tribe that inhabited Sarmatia Asiatica; the coast of Achardeus at the Black Sea north of the Caucasus Mountains, Siracena is mentioned by Tacitus as one of their ...

, are believed to have migrated during the late 5th century BC from

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

to areas north and west of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

. The territory of the Aorsi is believed to have extended eastwards as far as the

Aral Sea The Aral Sea () was an endorheic lake lying between Kazakhstan to its north and Uzbekistan to its south, which began shrinking in the 1960s and had largely dried up into desert by the 2010s. It was in the Aktobe and Kyzylorda regions of Kazakhst ...

. The most important contemporaneous source on the Aorsi was the

geographer

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

, in ''

Geographica The ''Geographica'' (, ''Geōgraphiká''; or , "Strabo's 17 Books on Geographical Topics") or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Greek in the late 1st century BC, or early 1st cen ...

'' (64/63 BC – c. AD 24). Strabo suggested that the Aorsi were located north-east of the

, who inhabited the area between

Lake Maeotis The Sea of Azov is an inland Continental shelf#Shelf seas, shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Ru ...

(Sea of Azov) and the Caspian. Furthest to the east lived the Upper Aorsi. They held the largest territory, dominating according to Strabo the Caspian coast, which enabled them to become the most numerous faction. The Upper Aorsi imported Indian and

Babylonia Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...

n merchandise by

camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

through

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

and

Media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

, which enabled them to become wealthy. They controlled the northern part of the Silk Route, known as the Northern Route. The Aorsi became famous for their wearing of

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

en ornaments. During the reign of Pharnaces II of the

Bosporan Kingdom The Bosporan Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus (; ), was an ancient Greco-Scythians, Scythian state located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus, centered in the present-day ...

, according to Strabo, king Spadines of the Aorsi along the Tanais could muster a force of 200,000 horsemen, while the Upper Aorsi could muster even more. In the ''

Annals Annals (, from , "year") are a concise history, historical record in which events are arranged chronology, chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction betw ...

'',

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

(c. AD 56 – after 117) writes that in the Bosporan War of 49 AD, the ''Adorsi'' king Eunones supported the Pro- Roman faction of

Tiberius Julius Cotys I Tiberius Julius Cotys I Philocaesar Philoromaios Eusebes, also known as Cotys I of the Bosporus (fl. 45–63 AD), was a Roman client king of the Bosporan Kingdom. Life Cotys I was the second son of Roman client rulers Aspurgus and Gepaepyri ...

, while the king Zorsines of the Siraces supported the anti-Roman

Tiberius Julius Mithridates Tiberius Julius Mithridates Philogermanicus Philopatris, also known as Mithridates III of the Bosporus (fl. 41 AD, died 68 AD), was a Roman client king of the Bosporus. Ancestry Mithridates was the first son of the Roman client king Aspurgu ...

. Together with Roman cohorts and Roman-armed Bosporans, the Aorsi besieged the poorly fortified town of the Siraces and massacred its population, forcing their king Zorsines to yield hostages and prostrate himself before the image of

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

. Facing inevitable defeat, Mithridates surrendered and threw himself before the feet of Eunones.Tacitus. The Annals.12.18 Eunones was deeply moved by Mithridates' plight, and sent envoys to Claudius supporting Mithridates' request to be executed without a triumph. Claudius agreed in a letter to Eunones, and although Mithridates was eventually brought to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

through Pontus, he was spared from execution and instead exiled.Tacitus. The Annals.12.21 After the Bosporan War the Siraces were significantly weakened while the Aorsi rose in strength.

Links to ''Yancai'' and Alans

Many scholars have equated both the Aorsi and Alans to the state of '' Yancai'', also known as ''Alanliao'', which was mentioned in earlier Chinese records. The 2nd century BC diplomat Zhang Qian (cited by

Sima Qian Sima Qian () was a Chinese historian during the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for the ''Shiji'' (sometimes translated into English as ''Records of the Grand Historian''), a general history of China cov ...

in Chapter 123 of the ''

Shiji The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st cen ...

''), reported that Yancai lay 2,000 li (832 km) north-west of the state of Kangju, in the Ferghana Valley, with which it shared similar customs. Yancai was centered near the Aral Sea and able to muster 100,000 mounted archers. This location on the

Eurasian Steppe The Eurasian Steppe, also called the Great Steppe or The Steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang, Kazakhstan, Siberia, Europea ...

was similar to that reported for the Aorsi by sources such as Strabo. A chronicle of the Later Han dynasty, the '' Hou Hanshu'' (88) – covering the period 25–220, but not completed until the 5th century, mentioned a report that ''Yancai'' had become a

vassal state A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to ...

of Kangju, and was now known as ''Alanliao'' (). Y. A. Zadneprovskiy suggests that the subjugation of Yancai by Kangju occurred in the 1st century BC. The westward expansion of Kangju obliged many of the Aorsi and other Sarmatians to migrate westwards. This migration contributed significantly to the

Migration Period The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, which played an important role in world history. In the 1st century AD, the Alans achieved a dominant position among the Sarmatians living between the Don River and the Caspian Sea. The Alans were a people from the east closely related to the Aorsi, whom they either absorbed or conquered. Some of the Aorsi appear to have migrated west to the north of

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

, where they maintained a semi-independent existence.

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

also speaks of the ''Alanorsi'', suggesting that a fusion of some sorts between them had occurred.

References

Bibliography

Primary sources

* *

Secondary sources

* * *{{cite book , last=Zadneprovskiy , first=Y. A. , chapter=The Nomads of Northern Central Asia After The Invasion of Alexander , editor1-last=Harmatta , editor1-first=János , editor1-link=János Harmatta , date=1 January 1994 , title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The Development of Sedentary and Nomadic Civilizations, 700 B. C. to A. D. 250 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9U6RlVVjpakC , publisher=

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

, pages=457–472 , isbn=9231028464 , access-date=7 June 2015 Alans History of the North Caucasus Ancient peoples of Ukraine Ancient peoples of Russia Nomadic groups in Eurasia Iranian nomads Sarmatian tribes