Europe in 600 AD, showing the Onogurs and their neighbors.

The Onogurs were a horde of equestrian nomads that wandered the Eurasian plains in the 5th?8th centuries. They lived in North Caucasian steppe east of Don River (Russia).

The 7th century tribal alliance of Old Great Bulgaria was also known as Onogundur-Bulgar Empire (or in its western version Onoguria). Some scholars identify the Onogundurs with the Onogurs, considering them as one of the leading tribe of the confederation. Others reject the identification of the two names.^[1]

It is presently believed that the origin of the name "Hungarian" and "Hungary" does not come from the Central Asian nomadic invaders called the Huns, but rather originated either from the name of the Onogurs or from that of the seventh century tribal alliance.

Etymology

The word On means Ten, and Ok means Arrow in modern Turkish. On Ok (Ten Arrows) is the modern Turkish plural form. Similarly, On-Ogur in Old Turkic could mean "Ten Arrows" or "Ten Tribes".^[2][3]

See also

• Bulgars
• Huns
• Hungarians
• Khazars
• Kutrigurs
• Onoguria
• Utigurs

References

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