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Remarks on the Presence of Iranian Peoples in Europe and Their Asiatic Relations

Profile image of Marek Jan OlbrychtMarek Jan Olbrycht

2000

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45 pages

Abstract

Remarks on the Presence of Iranian Peoples in Europe and Their Asiatic Relations, in: J. Pstrusińska/A. T. Fear (eds.), Collectanea Celto-Asiatica Cracoviensia, Kraków 2000, 101-140. The scope of the problems involving the history of steppe Iranian¬speaking peoples in Europe is large and continues to grow as new information becomes available. For this reason this paper is limited to the most important aspects. The very significant role that the Scythians, Sauromatians, and various so-called “Sarmatian” tribes (including the Royal Sarmatians, Iazygs, Aorsi, and Alans) played in the history of Southeastern Europe has commonly been recognized. This is, however, not the case with their role in the history of Cen¬tral and Western Europe. In the 1st millenium B.C. and in the first centuries A.D., the native populations of Southeastern and Central Europe were faced with the expansion and movement of the Central Asian peoples pressing westwards. Some indig¬enous tribes retreated, setting in motion other peoples, others mingled with the newcomers, giving rise to new hybrid cultures. The contribution of Iranian peoples to the cultures of ancient Europe is discernible in many aspects, including Germanic religion, Celtic folk-poetry, and early Slavic civilization. The in¬flux of Iranian steppe peoples in Europe was linked with tribal movements in Central Asia. This was a consistent pattern, for we have evidence of several great migrations in the 1st millenium B.C. and the 1st millenium A.D. Already Herodotus (4.13), living in the 5th century B.C., had observed such processes: “Except the Hyperboreans, all these nations (and first the Arimaspians) ever make war upon their neighbours; the Issedones were pushed from their lands by the Arimaspians, and the Scythians by the Issedones, and the Cimmerians, dwell¬ing by the southern sea, were hard pressed by the Scythians and left their country” Most Iranian tribes entering Europe took possession of the last outpost of the Eurasian steppe in Central Europe: the Hungarian plain. Here, they underwent a number of changes and were transformed, both ethnically (as they mingled with the indigenous substratum) and economically (denomadicization). The interaction of these Iranian groups with the local populations of Europe was largely ignored by our written sources. However, archaeology points to considerable cultural interchange. The movements of many steppe tribes to¬ward Europe introduced new ethnic elements of Asiatic origin into this large area. Iranian groupings of the pre-Scythian period, the Scythians, the Sauromatians, various Sarmatian tribes, the Roxolani, the Aorsi, and the Alans contributed to the development of culture not only in the Ponto-Caspian steppes, but also in other areas as they were driven into many countries at different points in time. The history of Southeastern and Central Europe in the ancient period can be properly understood only within the context of the relations between the sedentary tribes and the Eurasian steppe nomads. Such a relationship is clearly visible in the medieval history of Rus, the Hungarians, the Bulgars, as well as in that of Poland.

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  1. The paper explores the historical impacts of Iranian-speaking peoples on Europe, particularly in cultural exchanges.
  2. Scythians, Sauromatians, and Sarmatians shaped Southeastern Europe's cultural landscape during the first millennium B.C.
  3. Archaeological evidence supports significant Iranian cultural influences on Germanic, Celtic, and Slavic civilizations.
  4. The 1st millennium B.C. saw transformative migrations of Iranian nomads into Central and Southeastern Europe.
  5. Key Iranian tribes contributed to cultural developments across various regions, including the Hungarian plain.
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What role did Iranian peoples play in ancient European cultures?add

The paper reveals that Iranian peoples significantly influenced cultures across Europe, notably in Germanic religion, Celtic folk-poetry, and early Slavic civilization, occurring from the 1st millennium B.C. to the 1st millennium A.D.

How did irruptions of Iranian nomads affect Central Europe?add

The study finds that migrations of Iranian nomads like the Scythians forced indigenous tribes in Central Europe to retreat or hybridize, significantly altering the cultural landscape even in regions such as the Hungarian plain.

What evidence links the Sauromatians to Iranian origins?add

Diodorus and Pliny both connect the Sauromatians to Iranian roots, stating they originated from Media around the 7th century B.C., with later classical sources affirming their presence near the Tanais/Don river area.

When did the first Sarmatian tribes emerge in classical literature?add

Classical references to Sarmatian peoples first appeared in the writings of Pseudo-Scylax around the 4th century B.C., although earlier sources suggest their presence as early as the 5th century B.C.

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Artifacts from the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex indicate a strong Eastern impact from Central Asia, evidencing the influence of nomadic Iranian tribes on the development of Central European cultures.

About the author
Marek Jan Olbrycht
University of Rzeszów, Faculty Member

ancient history

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Related papers

Interdisciplinary Approach to Alanic Studies // Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans: Iranian-Speaking Nomads of the Eurasian Steppes. International & Interdisciplinary Conference [Abstracts]. Autonomous University of Barcelona, 7-10 May 2007. P. 38–39.
Sergej Perevalov

1. Alemany, Agusti (Barcelona) -Arzhantseva, Irina (Moscow) Alanica Bilingua: Sources vs. Archaeology. The Case of East and West Alania 2. *Bais, Marco (Bologna-Roma) Alans in Armenian Sources after the 10th c. A.D. 3. Balakhvantsev, Archil (Moscow) The Date of the Alans' First Appearance in Eastern Europe 4. *Baratin, Charlotte (Paris) Le renouvellement des élites iraniennes au sud de l'Hindukush au premier siecle avant notre ere: Sakas ou Bactriens? 5. Bezuglov, Sergej (Rostov-na-Donu) La Russie meridionale et l'Espagne: a propos des contacts au début de l' époque des migrations 6. Borjian, Habib (Tehran) Looking

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Arsacid Iran and the Nomads of Central Asia – Ways of Cultural Transfer
Marek Jan Olbrycht

Complexity of Interaction along the Eurasian Steppe Zone in the First Millenium CE, Edited by Jan Bemmann, Michael Schmauder (Bonn Contributions to Asian Archaeology, Volume 7) Bonn 2015 [Vor- und Fruhgeschichtliche Archäologie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn], 2015

M.J. Olbrycht, Arsacid Iran and the Nomads of Central Asia – Ways of Cultural Transfer, in: Complexity of Interaction along the Eurasian Steppe Zone in the First Millenium CE, Edited by Jan Bemmann, Michael Schmauder (Bonn Contributions to Asian Archaeology, Volume 7) Bonn 2015 [Vor- und Fruhgeschichtliche Archäologie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn], 333-390. ABSTRACT Arsacid Iran and the Nomads of Central Asia – Ways of Cultural Transfer' One of history’s greatest paradoxes is the phenomenon of military needs serving as an essential spur to technological progress (thanks to the invention of new kinds of weaponry) and to the furtherance of numerous aspects of culture. Moreover, wars promote mutual contact and exchange between different peoples. This applies in particular to Iranian and Central Asian history, which has been determined to a great extent by warlike nomadic peoples. Arsacid Iran faced a number of invasions from Central Asia, and the invading tribes more than once brought new types of arms which were then adopted by the Parthians. Mutual influences also resulted from peaceful contacts (the Silk Road trade, diplomatic contacts, tributes, bridal exchange between royal houses). The Parthians were not averse to assimilating new military technologies, such as enhanced types of the bow (the Hunnic and Sasanian types), swords, daggers, and scabbard slides, developed by the nomads of South Siberia, Mongolia, and Central Asia, or created in China. The perennial contacts the Arsacids kept up with the steppe peoples and principalities under dynasties of steppe origin augmented the nomadic features in Parthia’s culture and aristocracy’s ethos. Principalities of this kind – the Indo-Saka of Greater Sakastan and the Kushans on the area of today’s Afghanistan and Pakistan – flanked Parthia on the east, while on the west the Parthians neighbored on Arab nomads, troublemakers in Babylonia penetrating right into northern Mesopotamia, where they set up their local power centers at Edessa and Hatra. The nomadic ethos, which remained strong even after the settlement of the Arab elites, made them ready to adopt salient elements of Parthian culture. Throughout the Parthian Empire and along its marches the lifestyle of the nomadic shepherds proliferated, but at the same time trade, craftsmanship, agriculture, and life in the cities flourished. The Arsacids managed to combine all these different social and ethnic building-blocks into the core of a vast cultural community which R. Ghirshman has called an “Oriental koine”, stretching from Syria to the borders of China, from the Crimea and Sarmatia to the Indo-Saka. The koine went well beyond the borders of the Parthian Empire. The culture of the ruling groups in the Arsacids’ vassal and neighboring states followed Parthian customs, hence the similarities in dress, arms, and ethos. We may speak of an peculiar network of elites looking up to and emulating the same cultural patterns.

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Cultural Interactions Between the Societies of the ‘Old Europe’ and the Steppe ‘Kurgan People’ During the Last Quarter of the 4th Millennium BC: Case Study of Serezlievka Local Group
Mykyta Ivanov

Archaeologia Lituana, 2022

Cultural interactions between the societies of Old Europe and the Steppe 'Kurgan people' played a significant role in the academic writings of Maria Gimbutas. In her texts, the interplay between mentioned human groups was described as a dichotomy and was put into a framework of violent struggle. Three waves of destructive intrusion of steppe pastorals were reconstructed and the determinative role of 'kurgan people' in the spread of Indo-European nations was described (Gimbutas, 1993). However, although Gimbutas' model is still influential and is used as a methodological framework for the most recent genomic studies (

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A Persian View of Steppe Iranians
Habib Borjian

Anabasis: Anabasis: Studia Classica et Orientalia, 2014

It gives a broad outline of the persistent presence of the Steppe Iranians in Persian history and culture, by bringing together two fields that have often been treated independently. After an overview of the history of interactions between Persia and the Iranian-speaking Steppe nomads, we will extend our attention to the Iranian national history to offer some insights on the myths and legends of the Shahnama that are originated from or influenced by the mutual relations between the Steppe nomads and the dynasties who ruled on the Iranian Plateau. Keywords: Eurasian Steppes, Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans, Persian Empire, Iranian national traditions, Avesta, Shahnama

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Zimonyi, István / Karatay, Osman (Hg.): Central Eurasia in the Middle Ages. Studies in Honour of Peter B. Golden. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2016. XX, 445 S. 8° = Turcologica 104. Hartbd. € 68,00. ISBN 978-3-447-10534-7
Márton Vér

Orientalistische Literaturzeitung, 2019

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Related topics

  • Ancient History
  • Archaeology
  • Iranian Studies
  • Iranian History
  • Archaeology of Caucasus
  • Turco-Iranian World
  • Scythian archaeology
  • Black Sea Region Archaeology
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