The nameUt(r)igur, recorded asΟὺτ(τ)ρίγουροι,ΟὺτούργουροιandΟὺτρίγου, is generally considered as a metathesized form suggested byGyula Némethof Turkic*Otur-Oğur, thus the*Uturğur mean "Thirty Oğurs (tribes)".[2]Lajos Ligetiproposedutur-(to resist),[3]whileLouis Bazinuturkar(the victors-conquerors),Quturgurandqudurmaq(the enrages).[4]
There has been little scholarly support for theories linking the names Kutrigur and Utigur to peoples such as theGuti/Qutiand/orUdi/Uti, of AncientSouthwest Asiaand theCaucasusrespectively, which have been posited by scholars such asOsman Karatay,[5]andYury Zuev.[6][7]No evidence has been presented that the Guti moved from their homeland in theZagros Mountains(modern Iran/Iraq) to theSteppes, and they are widely believed to have spoken anIndo-European(rather than Turkic) language. The Udi were mentioned byPliny the Elder(Natural History, VI, book, 39), in connection with theAorsi(sometimes jointly as theUtidorsi),[8]theSarmatiansand aScythiancaste/tribe known as theAroteres("Cultivators"), who lived "above the maritime coast of [Caucasian]Albaniaand the ... Udini" on the western shores of theCaspian Sea.[7]Neither is there general acceptance ofEdwin G. Pulleyblank's suggestion that the Utigurs may be linked to theYuezhi– an Indo-European people that settled inWestern Chinaduring ancient times.[9]
History
The origin of relative tribes Utigurs andKutrigursis obscure.[4]Procopiuswrote that "Beyond the Sagins dwell manyHunnish[nb 1]tribes. The land is called Evlisia and barbarians populate the sea-coast and the inland up to the so called lake ofMeotidaand the riverTanais. The people living there were calledCimmerians, and now they are called Utigurs. North of them are the populous tribes of theAntes."[12]They occupied the Don-Azov steppe zone, the Kutrigurs in the Western part and the Utigurs towards the East.[4]
Procopius also recorded a genealogical legend according to which:
...in the old days many Huns, called then Cimmerians, inhabited the lands I mentioned already. They all had a single king. Once one of their kings had two sons: one called Utigur and another called Kutrigur. After their father's death they shared the power and gave their names to the subjected peoples, so that even nowadays some of them are called Utigurs and the others - Kutrigurs.[12]
This story was also confirmed by the words of the Utigur ruler Sandilch, "it is neither fair nor decent to exterminate our tribesmen (the Kutrigurs), who not only speak a language, identical to ours, who are our neighbours and have the same dressing and manners of life, but who are also our relatives, even though subjected to other lords".[12]
..all of them are called in general Scythians and Huns in particular according to their nation. Thus, some are Koutrigours or Outigours and yet others are Oultizurs and Bourougounds... the Oultizurs and Bourougounds were known up to the time of the EmperorLeo(457–474) and the Romans of that time and appeared to have been strong. We, however, in this day, neither know them, nor, I think, will we. Perhaps, they have perished or perhaps they have moved off to very far place.[13]
When the Kutrigurs invaded the lands of the Byzantium Empire, EmperorJustinian I(527–565) through diplomatic persuasion and bribery dragged the Kutrigurs and Utigurs into mutual warfare.[14][15]Utigurs led by Sandilch attacked the Kutrigurs who suffered great losses.[15]According to Procopius, Agathias and Menander, the Kutrigurs and Utigurs decimated one another,[15]until they lost even their tribal names.[12]Some Kutrigur remnants were swept away by theAvarsto Pannonia, while the Utigurs remained in the Pontic steppe and fell under the rule of the Türks.[16]
Their last mention was byMenander Protector, who recorded among the Türk forces that attacked Bosporos in 576 an Utigur army led by chieftain Ανάγαιος (Anagai, Anağay).[17][18]Bosphoros fell to them c. 579 AD.[19]In the same year, Byzantine embassy to the Türks passed through the territory of Ἀκκάγας (Akagas,[20]Aq-Qağan[17]), "which is the name of the woman who rules theScythiansthere, having been appointed at that time by Anagai, chief of the tribe of the Utigurs".[17][18]
^The ethnonym of the Huns, like those of Scythians and Türks, became a generic term for steppe-people (nomads) and invading enemies from the East, no matter of their actual origin and identity.[10][11]