346 



HUNGARY. 



History. 



Ancient 



Conquests 



before 



Christ. 



Wars with 

 the Chi- 

 nese. 



L IIF. Huns, from whom the kingdom of Hungary de- 

 rives its name, are the Hiong-nau of the Chinese, and 

 were a nation of Tartars, who had their ancient, per- 

 haps their original, scat in an extensive barren tract of 

 country, immediately on the north side of the great 

 wall of China. But the valour of the Huns extended 

 their dominions ; and their chiefs, who assumed the 

 appellation of Tanjou, gradually became the sovereigns 

 of a formidable empire. Towards the east, their victo- 

 rious arms were stopped only by the ocean. On the 

 west, near the head of the river Irtish, their enemies 

 were numerous: in a single expedition, twenty-six na- 

 tions or tribes are said to have been subdued. On the 

 side of the north, they are said, but on dubious autho- 

 rity, to have extended their empire to the ocean ; it 

 is more probable that the Lake Baikal was the limit 

 of their conquests in this direction. Towards the south, 

 they were most desirous of extending their empire ; and, 

 in the third century before the Christian sera, a wall of 

 1500 miles in length was constructed, to defend the 

 frontiers of China against the inroads of the Huns. 



Their cavalry frequently consisted of 200,000 or 

 300,000 men, who managed their bows and their hor- 

 ses with matchless dexterity ; they supported the in- 

 clemency of the weather with hardy patience ; and 

 marched with incredible speed, being seldom checked 

 by any obstacle. The Chinese were unable to oppose 

 them, or to protect their empire, notwithstanding the 

 defence of the great wall. A regular payment of mo- 

 ney and silk was stipulated as the condition of a tem- 

 porary and precarious peace ; and by a more disgrace- 

 ful and degrading condition, a supply of women was 

 annually given to the Huns ; and the Tanjou was 

 united in marriage with the imperial family of China. 

 In the verses of a Chinese princess, who laments that 

 sne h a d been condemned by her parents to a distant 

 exile under a barbarian husband, some particulars of 

 the mode of life of the Huns at this period are given : 

 she complains that sour milk was her only drink, raw 

 flesh her only food, and a tent her only palace. 



In the long reign of Vouti, the fifth emperor of the 

 powerful dynasty of the Han, which continued for the 

 space of 54 years, from the year 141 to the year 87 be- 

 DeS at d b ^ ore Christ, l ^ e Huns were frequently defeated by the 

 tfte "chines* Chinese. About the year 87, the camp of the Tanjou 

 before was surprised in the midst of sleep and intemperance, 



Christ 87. and though he cut his way through the ranks of his 

 enemy, he left above 15,000 of his troops on the field 

 of battle. But the power and empire of the Huns 

 were not weakened so much by their defeats, as by the 

 policy pursued by the Chinese emperors of detaching 

 the tributary nations from their obedience ; and these 

 generally became their inveterate and formidable op- 

 ponents. The Tanjou himself was at last obliged to 

 renounce the character and privileges of an independ- 

 ent monarch, and to perform the duty of a respectful 

 homage to the Emperor of China. The monarchy of 

 fftheir mo- the Huns after this finally declined, till, about A. 

 uarchy, A. D. 48, it was broken by civil dissension into two hos- 

 tile and separate kingdoms. One of the princes retired 

 to the south with eight hords, which composed between 

 40,000 and 50,000 families : he fixed himself on the 

 verge of the Chinese provinces, and attached himself 

 to the service of that empire. The Huns of the north 



Mode of 

 life at this 

 period. 



D. 48. 



continued to languish about fifty years, till they were History, 

 oppressed on every side by foreign and domestic ene- v^-y^^ 

 mies. The Sietipi, a tribe of oriental Tartars, retalia- Their emi- 

 ted upon them their former injuries ; and, in the year fj a g ns> ** 

 A. D. 93, the power of the Tanjous, after a reign of 

 1300 years, was utterly destroyed. The emigrations 

 of the Huns now began: above 100,000 persons, the 

 poorest of the people, were contented to remain in 

 their native country, to renounce their name, and mix 

 with their conquerors. Fifty-eight hords, about 

 200,000 men, retired towards the south, and claimed 

 and received the protection of the Chinese emperors. 

 But the most warlike and powerful tribes of the Huns 

 sought more distant countries, and moved westward in 

 two great divisions. The first of these colonies esta- 

 blished their dominion in the fruitful and extensive 

 plains of Sogdiana, on the eastern side of the Caspian 

 Sea. Here their manners were softened, and even 

 their features were sensibly improved ; and they ob- 

 tained the appellation of White Huns, from the change White 

 of their complexions. The only vestige of their an- Huns, 

 cient barbarism was the custom which obliged all, or 

 nearly all, the companions who had shared the liberali- 

 ty of a wealthy lord, to be buried alive in the same 

 grave. Their vicinity to the kingdom of Persia in- 

 volved them in frequent and bloody contests, in the 

 course of which they gained a memorable victory, but, 

 unlike their ancestors, they were moderate and mild in 

 their use of it. 



The second division of the Huns gradually advan- Huns of 

 ced towards the north-west ; and, by their intercourse 'he north- 

 with tribes more savage than themselves, their native wesu 

 fierceness was exasperated. As late as the 1 3th cen- 

 tury, their transient residence on the eastern banks of 

 the Volga was attested by the name of Great Hungary. 

 In the winter they descended with their flocks and 

 herds towards the mouth of that river. 



It is impossible to give even an outline of the histo- 

 ry of the Huns from this period till they became known 

 to the Romans ; but there is reason to believe that the 

 same force which had driven them from their native 

 seats, still continued to impel their march towards the 

 frontiers of Europe. In their first irruption into the 

 Roman empire, they are mentioned by ancient histo- 

 rians under a variety of appellations, all comprised un- 

 der the general name of Ugri or Httnni. The more Different 

 general distinction, however, was the Nephthalite or fibes. 

 White Huns, who possessed a rich country on the north 

 of Persia; and the Sarmatian or Scythian Huns. The 

 latter are exhibited to us under the character of sava- 

 ges, without faith, laws, or any form of religion : living 

 in the open air vvithout houses or huts, which they de- 

 nominated the sepulchres of the living ; quite unac- Manners 

 quainted with the use of fire, their only food being ml appear- 

 roots and raw meat, and their only clothing the skins ance- 

 of animals. They were also distinguished by their 

 broad shoulders, flat noses, small black eyes deeply 

 buried in the head, and the want of beards. This 

 race, inured to all manner of hardships and deprivations, 

 and having no fixed settlements, were delighted with 

 the first accounts which they received of the rich and 

 fertile kingdoms of the west. Crossing, therefore, the 

 Volga under Balamir, one of their chiefs, they over- 

 whelmed the Alans and Goths, who inhabited the ex- 





