Barsils ~ Barsilts (

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 ...

: Βαρσὴλτ ''Barsilt'';

Old Turkic Old Siberian Turkic, generally known as East Old Turkic and often shortened to Old Turkic, was a Siberian Turkic language spoken around East Turkistan and Mongolia. It was first discovered in inscriptions originating from the Second Turkic Kh ...

𐰋𐰼𐰾𐰠 *''Bersel'' or ''Bärsil''/''Barsïl'';

Old Tibetan Old Tibetan refers to the earliest attested form of Tibetan language, reflected in documents from the adoption of writing by the Tibetan Empire in the mid-7th century to the early 9th century. In 816 CE, during the reign of Tibetan King Sadnaleg ...

: ''Par-sil''), were an Oghur Turkic semi-

nomad Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

n tribe. Barsils might be identified with Bagrasik. Barsils are included in the list of steppe people living north of

Derbend Derbent, also historically known as Darband, or Derbend, is the southernmost city in Russia. It is situated along the southeastern coast of the Republic of Dagestan, occupying the narrow gateway between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus Mountai ...

in the Late Antique

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

n compilation of

Zacharias Rhetor Zacharias of Mytilene (Ζαχαρίας ό Μιτυληναίος; c. 465, Gaza City, Gaza – after 536), also known as Zacharias Scholasticus or Zacharias Rhetor, was a bishop and ecclesiastical historian. Life The life of Zacharias of Mytile ...

, and are also mentioned in documents from the second half of the 6th century in connection with the westward migration of the Eurasian Avars. When the Avars arrived, according to

Theophylact Simocatta Theophylact Simocatta (Byzantine Greek: Θεοφύλακτος Σιμοκάτ(τ)ης ''Theophýlaktos Simokát(t)ēs''; ) was an early seventh-century Byzantine historiographer, arguably ranking as the last historian of Late Antiquity, writing in ...

, "the Barsilt (Barsilians),

Onogurs The Onoghurs, Onoğurs, or Oğurs (Ὀνόγουροι, Οὔρωγοι, Οὔγωροι; Onογurs, Ογurs; "ten tribes", "tribes") were a group of Turkic nomadic equestrians who flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region ...

, and

Sabirs The Sabirs (Savirs, Suars, Sawar, Sawirk among others; ,) were a nomadic Turkic equestrian people who lived in the north of the Caucasus beginning in the late-5th–7th century, on the eastern shores of the Black Sea, in the Kuban area, and possi ...

were struck with horror (...) and honoured the newcomers with brilliant gifts." In 2017, Singaporean scholar Yang Shao-yun also identified ''Barsils'' with the Tiele tribe 白霫 ''Báixí'' (< MC *''bˠæk̚-ziɪp̚''). The Baixi 白霫 were mentioned as simply Xi 霫 in the late 8th-century encyclopaedia

Tongdian The ''Tongdian'' () is a Chinese institutional history and encyclopedia text. It covers a panoply of topics from high antiquity through the year 756, whereas a quarter of the book focuses on the Tang dynasty. The book was written by Du You from ...

as a detached stock of Xiongnu who dwelt near the Tungusic

Mohe people The Mohe, Malgal, Mogher, or Mojie were historical groups of people that once occupied parts of what is now Northeast Asia during late antiquity. The two most well known Mohe groups were known as the Heishui Mohe, located along the Amur River, ...

in former

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were an ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. The Xianbei were likely not of a single ethnicity, but rather a multiling ...

lands north of the

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

. Baixi could field over 10,000 soldiers, their customs somewhat resembled

Göktürks The Göktürks (; ), also known as Türks, Celestial Turks or Blue Turks, were a Turkic people in medieval Inner Asia. The Göktürks, under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan (d. 552) and his sons, succeeded the Rouran Khaganate as the main powe ...

' customs and Baixi's leaders were title ''irkin'', vassals of Eastern Turkic

Khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Middle Mongol:; or ''Khagan''; ) or zh, c=大汗, p=Dàhán; ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan, Khaqan, Xagahn, Qaghan, Chagan, Қан, or Kha'an is a title of empire, im ...

Xieli (頡利); however, Baixi later sent their irkin to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in the middle of the reign of

Emperor Taizong of Tang Emperor Taizong of Tang (28January 59810July 649), previously Prince of Qin, personal name Li Shimin, was the second emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649. He is traditionally regarded as a co-founder of the dynasty fo ...

(~ 636 CE) as a gesture of submission. Much later, the 14th-century chronicle

History of Liao History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

associated Baixi 白霫 with the Mongolic

Kumo Xi The Kumo Xi (Xu Elina-Qian, p.296b), also known as the Tatabi, were ancient steppe people located in current Northeast China from 207 AD to 907 AD. After the death of their ancestor Tadun in 207, they were no longer called Wuhuan but joined the ...

(< MC *''kʰuoH-mɑk̚-ɦei''; 庫莫奚) in Zhongjing (中京). An 8th-century

list, written by five Tibetan explorers, possibly mentioned 庫莫奚 ''Kumoxi'' and 白霫 ''Baixi'' together as ''He-tse'' (奚霫 ''Xī-Xí'' in Liaoshi). However, the same Tibetan source distinguished the ''He-tse'' from the ''Par-sil'' and included Barsils in twelve Turkic tribes ruled by

Qapaghan Qaghan Qapaghan or Qapghan Qaghan (, meaning "the conqueror", , Xiao'erjing: ٿِيًا شًا, Dungan: Чяншан, , also called Bögü Qaghan () in Bain Tsokto inscriptions) was the second khagan of the Second Turkic Khaganate during Wu Zetian's ...

. Zuev (2002) also pointed out that Chinese records about the Western Turkic Kaganate c. 630 mentioned a tribe named "

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

khan" ''Barsqan'' (拔塞幹 MC. *''b'uat-sai-kan'' > Mand. ''Basaigan''), led by ''Tun- ashpa- aerkin'', a member of five leaders of the "

Nushibi Nushibi (Nu-shibi, ; Middle Chinese: *''nuoXɕiɪt̚piɪt̚'') was a Chinese collective name for five tribes of the right (western) wingYu. Zuev, ''"The Strongest tribe - Izgil"''//Historical And Cultural Relations Between Iran And Dasht-i Kipc ...

" (弩失畢 < OT *''Oŋ-Şadapït'') right-wing tribes.Yu. Zuev, ''"The Strongest tribe - Izgil"''//Historical and Cultural Relations Between

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and Dasht-i Kipchak in the 13th through 18th Centuries, Materials of International Round Table, Almaty, 2004, p. 53, In an

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 ...

n geography of the 7th century, the Barsils are described as living on an island, distinct from the

Bulgars The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic peoples, Turkic Nomad, semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region between the 5th and 7th centu ...

and

Khazars The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, a ...

and at odds with both nations. In addition, it describes them as possessing large flocks of sheep, supporting the notion that they were at least partly nomadic. Mikhail Artamonov theorized that "Barsilia" was located in northern Daghestan, but subsequent scholars have disputed this theory, as the sedentary local population of the relevant period and region appears to have been, for the most part, settled in permanent fortress-towns. Some archaeologists believe that the Barsils lived near the

Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

delta, which would explain the Armenian reference to them as island-dwellers. This is supported by Theophanes' statement that the "populous people of the Khazars came out from the innermost parts of Bersilia in Sarmatia Prima." If indeed they lived on the lower Volga, they were almost certainly conquered by the

, whose capital

Atil Atil, also Itil, was the capital of the Khazar Khaganate from the mid-8th century to the late 10th century. It is known historically to have been situated along the Silk Road, on the northern coast of the Caspian Sea, in the Volga Delta region of ...

was in the same region from the mid-8th century on. Eventually at least part of the Barsil nation is believed to have settled in

Volga Bulgaria Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria (sometimes referred to as the Volga Bulgar Emirate) was a historical Bulgar state that existed between the 9th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now Europea ...

. In the 10th century,

ibn Rustah Ahmad ibn Rusta Isfahani (), more commonly known as ibn Rusta (, also spelled ''ibn Roste''), was a tenth-century Muslim Persian explorer and geographer born in Rosta, Isfahan in the Abbasid Caliphate. He wrote a geographical compendium known ...

reported that the three nations of Volga Bulgaria were "Bersula", "

Esegel Esegels (aka ''Izgil'' (), ''Äsägel'', ''Askel'', ''Askil'', ''Ishkil'', ''Izgil'') were an Oghur Turkic dynastic tribe in the Middle Ages who joined and would be assimilated into the Volga Bulgars. Numerous records about Esegels in sources and ...

", and " Bulgar". Thereafter the Barsils were likely assimilated by the

Volga Bulgars Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria (sometimes referred to as the Volga Bulgar Emirate) was a historical Bulgar state that existed between the 9th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now Europea ...

Notes

References

*Zakhoder B.N. ''Caspian corpus on Eastern Europe, Gorgan, and Volga Region in the 9th-10th Centuries'', Moscow, 1967, Part 2, p. 102 ''In Russian''

Notes

References

See also