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106-621: It encompasses the city of Pirot and the following municipalities: According to the 2011 census results, the Pirot District has a population of 92,479 inhabitants. The first mention of Pirot was from the second century A.D. In its vicinity is a church from the thirteenth century, the Church of St. Petka, and the monastery of St. John the Theologist from the late fourteenth century. They are fine examples of medieval architecture. Medicinal water from

212-720: A hemorrhage on his wedding night. After Attila's death in 453, the Hunnic Empire faced an internal power struggle between its vassalized Germanic peoples and the Hunnic ruling body. Led by Ellak , Attila's favored son and ruler of the Akatziri , the Huns engaged the Gepid king Ardaric at the Battle of Nedao , who led a Germanic coalition to overthrow Hunnic imperial authority. The Amali Goths would revolt

318-637: A nomadic people who lived in Central Asia , the Caucasus , and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part of Scythia at the time. By 370 AD, the Huns had arrived on the Volga, causing the westwards movement of Goths and Alans . By 430, they had established a vast, but short-lived, empire on

424-521: A connection. The issue remains controversial, but recent archaeogenetic studies show some Hun-era individuals to have DNA similar to populations in ancient Mongolia. Their relationships with other entities, such as the Iranian Huns and the Huna people of South Asia , have also been disputed. Very little is known about Hunnic culture, and very few archaeological remains have been conclusively associated with

530-437: A fixed rank with fixed duties. Kim affirms the importance of the logades for Hunnic administration, but notes that there were differences of rank between them, and suggests that it was more likely lower ranking officials who gathered taxes and tribute. He suggests that various Roman defectors to the Huns may have worked in a sort of imperial bureaucracy. Unlike the Iranian Huns , who quickly began to mint their own coinage,

636-532: A genetic study of individuals from the around the Tian Shan mountains of central Asia dating from the late second century CE, Damgaard et al. 2018 found that these individuals represented a population of mixed East Asian and West Eurasian origin. They argued that this population descended from Xiongnu who expanded westward and mixed with Iranian Sakas . This population in the Tian Shan mountains may be connected to

742-709: A group of Huns and Alans fighting against Radagaisus in defense of Italy. Uldin was also known for defeating Gothic rebels who troubled the East Romans around the Danube and for beheading the Goth Gainas around 400–401. The East Romans began to feel the pressure from Uldin's Huns again in 408. Uldin crossed the Danube and pillaged Thrace. The East Romans tried to buy off Uldin, but his sum was too high so they instead bought off Uldin's subordinates. This resulted in many desertions from Uldin's group of Huns. Uldin himself escaped back across

848-725: A horse takes him on his back". They appear to have spent so much time riding that they walked clumsily, something observed in other nomadic groups. Roman sources characterize the Hunnic horses as ugly. It is not possible to determine the exact breed of horse the Huns used, despite a relatively good description by the Roman writer Vegetius . Sinor believes that it was likely a breed of Mongolian pony. However, horse remains are absent from all identified Hun burials. Based on anthropological descriptions and archaeological finds of other nomadic horses, Maenchen-Helfen believes that they rode mostly geldings . Apart from horses, ancient sources indicate that

954-694: A legend developed based on medieval chronicles that the Hungarians , and the Székely ethnic group in particular, are descended from the Huns. However, mainstream scholarship dismisses a close connection between the Hungarians and Huns. Modern culture generally associates the Huns with extreme cruelty and barbarism. The origins of the Huns and their links to other steppe people remain uncertain: scholars generally agree that they originated in Central Asia but disagree on

1060-537: A people who practiced artificial cranial deformation as evidence of Hunnic agriculture. Kim similarly argues that all steppe empires have possessed both pastoralist and sedentary populations, classifying the Huns as "agro-pastoralist". As a nomadic people, the Huns spent a great deal of time riding horses: Ammianus claimed that the Huns "are almost glued to their horses", Zosimus claimed that they "live and sleep on their horses", and Sidonius claimed that "[s]carce had an infant learnt to stand without his mother's aid when

1166-442: A plural suffix "supposedly meaning 'people'", qun (force), and hün (ferocious). Maenchen-Helfen dismisses all of these Turkic etymologies as "mere guesses" and proposes an Iranian etymology, from a word akin to Avestan hūnarā (skill), hūnaravant- (skillful). He suggests that it may originally have designated a rank rather than an ethnicity. Robert Werner has advanced an etymology from Tocharian ku (dog), suggesting—as

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1272-532: A ranking hierarchy, much like Germanic societies. Denis Sinor similarly notes that, with the exception of the historically uncertain Balamber , no Hun leaders are named in the sources until Uldin , indicating their relative unimportance. Thompson argues that permanent kingship only developed with the Huns' invasion of Europe and the near-constant warfare that followed. Regarding the organization of Hunnic rule under Attila, Peter Golden comments "it can hardly be called

1378-604: A rich culture, with notable Orthodox church buildings, including the Church of St. Petka , and the monastery of St. Georges and St. John the Theologian from the late 14th century, both of which display an example of medieval architecture. Pirot is known for its traditional woven carpet, the Pirot carpet ( Pirot ćilim ). The municipality of Pirot covers an area of 1,235 km (476.84 sq mi), with over seventy settlements, including

1484-539: A state, much less an empire". Golden speaks instead of a "Hunnic confederacy". Kim, however, argues that the Huns were far more organized and centralized, with some basis in organization of the Xiongnu state. Walter Pohl notes the correspondences of Hunnic government to those of other steppe empires, but nevertheless argues that the Huns do not appear to have been a unified group when they arrived in Europe. Ammianus wrote that

1590-514: A variety of genetic signatures. Maróti et al. 2022 showed that the genomes of nine Hun-era individuals who lived in the basin varied from European to Northeast Asian connections, with those individuals showing associations with Northeast Asia being most similar to groups found in Mongolia such as the Xiongnu and the Xianbei . An analysis of Hun-era genomes by Gnecchi-Ruscone et al. 2022 likewise found

1696-519: A wide range of genetic variability, with two individuals showing a connection to ancient Northeast Asians and others showing European ancestry. The history of the Huns in the fourth century is not very clear, and the Huns left no sources themselves. The Romans became aware of the Huns when the latter's invasion of the Pontic steppes forced thousands of Goths to move to the Lower Danube to seek refuge in

1802-557: Is evidence that hajduks of the region participated. Many locals from the region fled northwards with Patriarch Arsenije IV . The first known literary monument, influenced by Torlakian dialects is the Manuscript from Temska Monastery from 1762, in which its author, the Monk Kiril Zhivkovich from Pirot, considered his language as "simple Bulgarian". In 1768, the town is described as half in ruins. From 1761 to 1878, Pirot

1908-562: Is likewise disputed, but probably in 406/407 and 431/433 respectively. Otherwise, the Huns made no attempt to conquer or settle on Roman territory. Following Attila's death, the Huns were driven out of Pannonia and some appear to have returned to the Pontic Steppe, while one group settled in Dobruja . One of the only written sources for the size of Attila's domain is given by the Roman historian Priscus. Priscus refers to Attila ruling as far as

2014-415: Is therefore futile to speculate about identity or blood relationships between H(s)iung-nu, Hephthalites, and Attila's Huns, for instance. All we can safely say is that the name Huns , in late antiquity, described prestigious ruling groups of steppe warriors. Today, there is "no general consensus" and "scholarship is divided" on the issue of a Hun-Xiongnu connection. Recent supporters of a connection between

2120-611: The Kerch Strait into Crimea . Discovering the land fertile, they then attacked the Goths. Jordanes ' Getica relates that the Goths held the Huns to be offspring of "unclean spirits" and Gothic witches ( Getica 24:121). Since Joseph de Guignes in the 18th century , modern historians have associated the Huns who appeared on the borders of Europe in the 4th century AD with the Xiongnu who had invaded numerous Central Plain polities from

2226-564: The Mongolian Plateau between the 3rd century BC and the 2nd century AD . After the devastating defeat by the Han dynasty , the northern branch of the Xiongnu retreated north-westward; their descendants may have migrated through the Eurasian Steppe and consequently they may have some degree of cultural and genetic continuity with the Huns. Scholars also discussed the relationship between

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2332-549: The Nišava , Jerma , Rasnička Reka, Temštica, and Visočica. Pirot also has four lakes: Lake Zavoj, Lake Berovacko, Lake Krupac, and Lake Sukov. Pirot has a Temperate oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification : Cfb ) with warm summers and cold winters. During the rule of Roman Emperor Tiberius (14–37), Ponišavlje was part of Moesia , and during Vespasian (69–79) it was, as the rest of Serbia, organized into Upper Moesia (as opposed to most of Bulgaria, Lower Moesia ). At

2438-594: The North Caucasian Huns , were genuine Huns. The rulers of various post-Hunnic steppe peoples are known to have claimed descent from Attila in order to legitimize their right to the power, and various steppe peoples were also called "Huns" by Western and Byzantine sources from the fourth century onward. The Huns have traditionally been described as pastoral nomads , living off of herding and moving from pasture to pasture to graze their animals. Hyun Jin Kim, however, holds

2544-663: The Peace of Anatolius with the two Hun kings. Bleda died in 445, and Attila became the sole ruler of the Huns. In 447, Attila invaded the Balkans and Thrace. The war came to an end in 449 with an agreement in which the East Romans agreed to pay Attila an annual tribute of 2100 pounds of gold. Throughout their raids on the Eastern Roman Empire , the Huns had maintained good relations with the Western Empire. However, Honoria , sister of

2650-706: The Sabirs . In 463, the Saragurs defeated the Akatziri, or Akatir Huns, and asserted dominance in the Pontic region. The western Huns under Dengizich experienced difficulties in 461 when they were defeated by Valamir in a war against the Sadages , a people allied with the Huns. His campaigning was also met with dissatisfaction from Ernak , ruler of the Akatziri Huns, who wanted to focus on

2756-656: The Sogdian merchants under their rule, who were involved in the trade along the Silk Road to China. Atwood notes that Jordanes describes how the Crimean city of Cherson , "where the avaricious traders bring in the goods of Asia", was under the control of the Akatziri Huns in the sixth century. Hunnic governmental structure has long been debated. Peter Heather argues that the Huns were a disorganized confederation in which leaders acted completely independently and that eventually established

2862-543: The Western Roman province of Gaul , where they fought a combined army of Romans and Visigoths at the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields , and in 452, they invaded Italy. After the death of Attila in 453, the Huns ceased to be a major threat to Rome and lost much of their empire following the Battle of Nedao (c. 454). Descendants of the Huns, or successors with similar names, are recorded by neighboring populations to

2968-503: The Yakut or Tungus . He notes that archaeological finds of presumed Huns suggest that they were a racially mixed group containing only some individuals with East Asian features. Kim similarly cautions against seeing the Huns as a homogenous racial group, while still arguing that they were "partially or predominantly of Mongoloid extraction (at least initially)." Some archaeologists have argued that archaeological finds have failed to prove that

3074-609: The 1370s the region of Pirot was included in the Serbian state. Pirot was part of Prince Lazar 's state , in which it was an important strategical point. The city was captured by the Ottomans in 1386. The name of the city, Pirot, dates to the 14th century and is derived from Greek pirgos ("tower"). At the beginning of the 15th century, the region of Pirot was one of the centres of the Uprising of Konstantin and Fruzhin . A significant blow to

3180-616: The Balkans. By the mid-6th century Slavs had settled the area. In 679 the Bulgars crossed the Danube into Lower Moesia, and eventually expand to the west and south. Since the beginning of the 9th century the region of Pirot is part of the First Bulgarian State . The Byzantine emperor Basil II (r. 960–1025) reconquered the Balkans from the Bulgars. In 1153, Arab geographer Burizi crossed

3286-487: The Battle of Chalons (451), "the vast majority" of Attila's entourage and troops appears to have been of European origin, while Attila himself seems to have had East Asian features. Genetic data is difficult to apply to steppe nomad societies, because they frequently migrated, intermixed, and were assimilated into each other. Nevertheless, genetics can supply information on migrations from East Asia to Europe and vice versa. In

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3392-637: The Carpathian Mountains, have been attributed to the time of Attila and associated with the nomadic milieu of the Huns. While scholars have speculated about direct Hunnic control and settlement here, it is entirely unclear what kind of relationship the population of these regions had to the Huns. The Huns ruled over numerous other groups, including Goths , Gepids , Sarmatians , Heruli , Alans , Rugii , Suevi , and Sciri , alongside other groups where they occasionally asserted control. Peter Heather suggests that some of these groups were resettled along

3498-592: The Chinese called the Xiongnu dogs—that the dog was the totem animal of the Hunnic tribe. He also compares the name Massagetae , noting that the element saka in that name means dog. Others such as Harold Bailey, S. Parlato, and Jamsheed Choksy have argued that the name derives from an Iranian word akin to Avestan Ẋyaona , and was a generalized term meaning "hostiles, opponents". Christopher Atwood dismisses this possibility on phonological and chronological grounds. While not arriving at an etymology per se , Atwood derives

3604-418: The Danube by the Huns. Subject peoples of the Huns were led by their own kings. Those recognized as ethnic Huns appear to have had more rights and status, as evidenced by the account of Priscus. One of the principal sources of information on Hunnic warfare is Ammianus Marcellinus , who includes an extended description of the Huns' methods of war: They also sometimes fight when provoked, and then they enter

3710-510: The Danube, after which he is not mentioned again in history. Hunnish mercenaries are mentioned on several occasions being employed by the East and West Romans, as well as the Goths, during the late 4th and 5th century. In 433 some parts of Pannonia were ceded to them by Flavius Aetius , the magister militum of the Western Roman Empire . From 434 the brothers Attila and Bleda ruled

3816-479: The Danubian frontier of the Roman empire in Europe. Either under Hunnic hegemony , or fleeing from it, several central and eastern European peoples established kingdoms in the region, including not only Goths and Alans, but also Vandals , Gepids , Heruli , Suebians and Rugians . The Huns, especially under their King Attila , made frequent and devastating raids into the Eastern Roman Empire . In 451, they invaded

3922-520: The European Huns by individual burials that contains objects stylistically related to those used by the European Huns, although this could be a sign of the exchange of goods and the connections between elites rather than a sign of migration. As of 2023, there is little genetic data from the Carpathian basin in the Hunnic period (5th century), and the population living there during the Hunnic period shows

4028-604: The European Huns did not strike their own coins. The extent of Hunnish control in Barbarian Europe is poorly understood, as it is not much covered in Roman sources. It is generally assumed that they established an empire that stretched as far West as the Rhine and perhaps as far north as the Baltic, though it is difficult to establish its boundaries with certainty. Some scholars, such as Otto Maenchen-Helfen and Peter Golden, believe that

4134-537: The Huns and Romans, and the Huns overcame a weak Roman army to raze the cities of Margus, Singidunum and Viminacium . Although a truce was concluded in 441, two years later Constantinople again failed to deliver the tribute and war resumed. In the following campaign, Hun armies approached Constantinople and sacked several cities before defeating the Romans at the Battle of Chersonesus . The Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II gave in to Hun demands and in autumn 443 signed

4240-434: The Huns and Xiongnu include Hyun Jin Kim and Etienne de la Vaissière . De la Vaissière argues that ancient Chinese and Indian sources used Xiongnu and Hun to translate each other, and that the various "Iranian Huns" were similarly identified with the Xiongnu. Kim believes that the term Hun was "not primarily an ethnic group, but a political category" and argues for a fundamental political and cultural continuity between

4346-515: The Huns are known to have practiced a form of nomadic pastoralism . As their contact with the Roman world grew, their economy became increasingly tied with Rome through tribute, raiding, and trade. They do not seem to have had a unified government when they entered Europe but rather to have developed a unified tribal leadership in the course of their wars with the Romans. The Huns ruled over a variety of peoples who spoke numerous languages, and some maintained their own rulers. Their main military technique

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4452-523: The Huns had any "Mongoloid" features at all, and some scholars have argued that the Huns were predominantly " Caucasian " in appearance. Other archaeologists have argued that "Mongoloid" features are found primarily among members of the Hunnic aristocracy, which, however, also included Germanic leaders who were integrated into the Hun polity. Kim argues that the composition of the Huns became progressively more "Caucasian" during their time in Europe; he notes that by

4558-565: The Huns had small eyes and flat noses. The Roman writer Priscus gives the following eyewitness description of Attila: "Short of stature, with a broad chest and a large head; his eyes were small, his beard thin and sprinkled with grey; and he had a flat nose and tanned skin, showing evidence of his origin." Many scholars take these to be unflattering depictions of East Asian (obsolete " Mongoloid ") racial characteristics. Maenchen-Helfen argues that, while many Huns had East Asian racial characteristics, they were unlikely to have looked as Asiatic as

4664-423: The Huns having several kings, with one being the "first of the kings". Ammianus also mentions that the Huns made their decisions in a general council ( omnes in commune ) while seated on horseback. He makes no mention of the Huns being organized into tribes, but Priscus and other writers do, naming some of them. The first Hunnic ruler known by name is Uldin . Thompson takes Uldin's sudden disappearance after he

4770-443: The Huns of his day had no kings, but rather that each group of Huns instead had a group of leading men ( primates ) for times of war . E.A. Thompson supposes that, even in war, the leading men had little actual power. He further argues that they most likely did not acquire their position purely hereditarily. Heather, however, argues that Ammianus merely meant that the Huns didn't have a single ruler; he notes that Olympiodorus mentions

4876-558: The Huns together. Attila and Bleda were as ambitious as their uncle Rugila . In 435 they forced the Eastern Roman Empire to sign the Treaty of Margus , giving the Huns trade rights and an annual tribute from the Romans. When the Romans breached the treaty in 440, Attila and Bleda attacked Castra Constantias, a Roman fortress and marketplace on the banks of the Danube . War broke out between

4982-420: The Huns traded their horses for what he considered to have been "a very considerable source of income in gold", he is otherwise skeptical of Thompson's argument. He notes that the Romans strictly regulated trade with the barbarians and that, according to Priscus, trade only occurred at a fair once a year. While he notes that smuggling also likely occurred, he argues that "the volume of both legal and illegal trade

5088-417: The Huns used wagons for transportation. Maenchen-Helfen suggests that these wagons were mainly utilized to carry their tents, loot, as well as the elderly, women, and children. The Huns received a large amount of gold from the Romans, either in exchange for fighting for them as mercenaries or as tribute. Raiding and looting also furnished the Huns with gold and other valuables. Denis Sinor has argued that at

5194-409: The Huns. They are believed to have used bronze cauldrons and to have performed artificial cranial deformation . No description exists of the Hunnic religion of the time of Attila, but practices such as divination are attested, and the existence of shamans is likely. It is also known that the Huns had a language of their own ; however, only three words and personal names attest to it. Economically,

5300-565: The Pontic Steppe north of the Black Sea. They had conquered the Hungarian Plain in stages. The precise date that they conquered the north bank of the Danube is unclear. Maenchen-Helfen argued that they may have already taken control of it in the 370s. The dates when they gained control of the Roman territory south of the Middle Danube, Pannonia Valeria and the other provinces of Pannonia ,

5406-731: The Roman Empire in 376. The Huns conquered the Alans , most of the Greuthungi or Eastern Goths, and then most of the Thervingi or Western Goths, with many fleeing into the Roman Empire . In 395 the Huns began their first large-scale attack on the Eastern Roman Empire . Huns attacked in Thrace, overran Armenia , and pillaged Cappadocia . They entered parts of Syria , threatened Antioch , and passed through

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5512-544: The Serbian-Ottoman war in 1878 the population of Pirot changed via emigration process of Muslim population. In 1884. Pirot had 77,922 inhabitants, 76,545 being Serbs and 36 Turks. On 16 December 1877, during the Serbian-Ottoman War (1876–1877) , the Serbian army entered Pirot. This raised a conflict between the Serbian authorities and the local Bulgarian citizens led by Evstatiy of Pelagonia  [ bg ] ,

5618-672: The Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III , sent Attila a ring and requested his help to escape her betrothal to a senator. Attila claimed her as his bride and half the Western Roman Empire as dowry. Additionally, a dispute arose about the rightful heir to a king of the Salian Franks . In 451, Attila's forces entered Gaul . Once in Gaul, the Huns first attacked Metz , then their armies continued westward, passing both Paris and Troyes to lay siege to Orléans . Flavius Aetius

5724-430: The Xiongnu and the European Huns, as well as between the Xiongnu and the "Iranian Huns". The name Hun is attested in classical European sources as Greek Οὖννοι ( Ounnoi ) and Latin Hunni or Chuni . John Malalas records their name as Οὖννα ( Ounna ). Another possible Greek variant may be Χοὖνοι ( Khounoi ), although this group's identification with the Huns is disputed. Classical sources also frequently use

5830-459: The Xiongnu, the Huns, and a number of people in central Asia who were also known as or came to be identified with the name "Hun" or " Iranian Huns ". The most prominent of these were Chionites , the Kidarites , and the Hephthalites . Otto J. Maenchen-Helfen was the first to challenge the traditional approach, based primarily on the study of written sources, and to emphasize the importance of archaeological research. Since Maenchen-Helfen's work,

5936-447: The Zvonce Spa ( Zvonačka Banja ), a health resort, was used in ancient times, and natural beauties of this region are renowned throughout Serbia . The oldest craft, today an industry, is Rug making : the weaving trade, by which this region has gained its worldwide fame. Pirot Pirot ( Serbian Cyrillic : Пирот ) is a city and the administrative center of the Pirot District in southeastern Serbia . According to 2022 census,

6042-471: The archaeological investigations, the town back then, surrounded by forts and fortified walls, also included an early Christian basilica, thermae (public baths), a necropolis , and other facilities. Beside the military fortress, a civil settlement ( vicus ) existed on the site called Majilka . By the late 6th century and early 7th century, successive barbarian invasions had broken through the Byzantine Danube frontier, and Slavs settled in large numbers across

6148-422: The assistance of the settled agricultural population at the edge of the steppe they could not have survived". He argues that the Huns were forced to supplement their diet by hunting and gathering. Maenchen-Helfen, however, notes that archaeological finds indicate that various steppe nomad populations did grow grain; in particular, he identifies a find at Kunya Uaz in Khwarezm on the Ob River of agriculture among

6254-485: The battle drawn up in wedge-shaped masses, while their medley of voices makes a savage noise. And as they are lightly equipped for swift motion, and unexpected in action, they purposely divide suddenly into scattered bands and attack, rushing about in disorder here and there, dealing terrific slaughter; and because of their extraordinary rapidity of movement they are never seen to attack a rampart or pillage an enemy's camp. And on this account you would not hesitate to call them

6360-429: The bishop of the Bulgarian Exarchate 's Nishava eparchy. Pirot and its region were part of liberated Bulgaria according to Treaty of San Stefano . The Treaty of Berlin (1878) saw Pirot and Vranje ceded to Serbia. A part of the local Bulgarians left the town and settled in Bulgaria . The 1879 Serbian regional population census registered that Pirot had a population of 76,892 people, and 11,005 households. It

6466-418: The border towards Pirot (in Ottoman hands). After the Serbian Revolution , some of the population in the area migrated to avoid Ottoman retribution. It was estimated in 1836 that there were 6–8,000 inhabitants. Carpetry was the main occupation, there were many shops and cafés in the centre, the population was mixed, and it was the domain of the sister of the Sultan. On 24 May 1836 a rebellion broke out in

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6572-458: The city of Pirot. According to the 2002 census report, in the municipality of Pirot lived 63791 residents. Around 45,000 people live in the city itself and about 22,000 people live in the villages around the city. The river Nišava divides the Pirot into two districts: Tijabara and Pazar. Pirot has several mountains in the vicinity, including Stara Planina , Vlaška planina , Belava , and Suva Planina . The following rivers flow through Pirot:

6678-420: The city territory covers over 70 settlements: According to the 2011 census results, the city of Pirot has a population of 57,928 inhabitants. The ethnic composition of the municipality: Notable brands of Pirot include the Pirot carpet , Pirot opanak , Pirot cheese , and ironed sausage . On the territory of the city of Pirot operates tire manufacturer Tigar Tyres which is one of top Serbian exporters in

6784-473: The country, and recorded the place of Atrubi at the site of old Turres, describing it as situated by a small river which arrives from the Serbian mountains and was a tributary of the Morava. In 1182–83 the Serbian army led by Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja conquered Byzantine territories from Niš to Sofia. The Serbians were expelled by the Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelus in 1190. Pirot and Bela Palanka (Remesiana) were not mentioned as they were in ruin since

6890-453: The cursed Turkish rule in their city would end, and even less, because they always felt that they are Bulgarians, that they would belong to the Principality of Serbia". . During the Exodus of Muslims from Serbia in 1862 , some Turkish families moved from Belgrade to Pirot. In 1877. The urban population of Pirot consisted of 29,741 Christian and 5,772 Muslim males, with total number of 3,000 Serbian houses and 400 Muslim houses. However, after

6996-418: The efforts of the Bulgarian princes for the restoration of the Bulgarian state was imposed by the Ottoman ruler Sulejman, who conquered the Bulgarian fortress of Temsko, near today's village of Temska , to the north of Pirot. Its Turkish name, Şehirköy (meaning "city, town village" ), is first mentioned in 1443. It was organized into the Sanjak of Niš . In 1469, the body of Serbian king Stefan Milutin

7102-435: The empire. Besides, travellers could sleep here overnight, as well as get refreshments and new horses or vehicles. In time, the settlement advanced because of the important road passing through. It was also disturbed very persistently by invasions of the Gothic tribes throughout the 4th century, as well as the Huns in the 5th century. According to the written accounts On Buildings by Procopius of Caesarea , writing during

7208-425: The end of the 4th century the basin of the Nišava was organized into the province of Dacia Mediterranea . The Roman settlement of Turres (Latin for "towers"), which was a military residence, is mentioned in the first half of the 3rd century. Later, the Byzantine town of Quimedava is mentioned here, with remains that have survived. The town was set to enable control and defence of the main road in this part of

7314-462: The extant of Attila's empire has been exaggerated and he probably only controlled Pannonia and some adjacent areas. In the 390s, the majority of the Huns were probably based around the Volga and Don on the Pontic Steppe. But by the 420s, the Huns were based on Great Hungarian Plain , the only large grassland near the Roman empire capable of supporting large numbers of horses. However, Aleksander Paroń believes that they likely continued to control

7420-505: The help of his bucellarii , then attacked the quarreling Goths and Huns, defeating them. In 469, Dengizich was defeated and killed in Thrace. After Dengizich's death, the Huns seem to have been absorbed by other ethnic groups such as the Bulgars . Kim, however, argues that the Huns continued under Ernak, becoming the Kutrigur and Utigur Hunno- Bulgars . This conclusion is still subject to some controversy. Some scholars also argue that another group identified in ancient sources as Huns,

7526-402: The high civilian officers Gennadius Avienus and Trigetius, as well as Pope Leo I , who met Attila at Mincio in the vicinity of Mantua , and obtained from him the promise that he would withdraw from Italy and negotiate peace with the emperor. The new Eastern Roman Emperor Marcian then halted tribute payments, resulting in Attila planning to attack Constantinople. However, in 453 Attila died of

7632-427: The hinge upon which the entire administration of the Hun empire turned": he argues for their existence in the government of Uldin, and that each had command over detachments of the Hunnic army and ruled over specific portions of the Hunnic empire, where they were responsible also for collecting tribute and provisions. Maenchen-Helfen, however, argues that the word logades denotes simply prominent individuals and not

7738-450: The identification of the Xiongnu as the Huns' ancestors has become controversial. Additionally, several scholars have questioned the identification of the "Iranian Huns" with the European Huns. Walter Pohl cautions that none of the great confederations of steppe warriors was ethnically homogenous, and the same name was used by different groups for reasons of prestige, or by outsiders to describe their lifestyle or geographic origin. [...] It

7844-462: The incoming Oghur speaking peoples. Dengizich attacked the Romans in 467, without the assistance of Ernak. He was surrounded by the Romans and besieged, and came to an agreement that he would surrender if his people were given land for their herds and his starving forces given food. During the negotiations, a Hun in service of the Romans named Chelchel persuaded the enemy Goths to attack their Hun overlords. The Romans, under their General Aspar and with

7950-609: The islands in the "ocean" ( Ὠκεανός ), but it is unclear if this meant the Baltic Sea or the world-encircling Ocean that the Greeks and Romans believed in. In either case, the description of Attila ruling as far as the islands in the "ocean" may be hyperbole. Archaeology is often used to argue for an area having been under Hunnic control; however, nomadic peoples often control territories beyond their immediate settlement. A large number of major finds from Silesia and Lesser Poland , north of

8056-507: The meat of these animals, with Maenchen-Helfen arguing, on the basis of what is known of other steppe nomads, that they likely mostly ate mutton, along with sheep's cheese and milk. They also "certainly" ate horse meat, drank mare's milk, and likely made cheese and kumis . In times of starvation, they may have boiled their horses' blood for food. Ancient sources uniformly deny that the Huns practiced any sort of agriculture. Thompson, taking these accounts at their word, argues that "[w]ithout

8162-522: The monastery and terrorized the surrounding population, as inscribed by a priest on the church walls. That year, many locals fled northwards with Patriarch Arsenije III . During the Austro-Turkish War (1737–39) the Austrian army took Pirot on 23 July 1737. In 1739, upon Ottoman return, the town was burnt down and its churches destroyed (one transformed into a mosque). 140 houses were burnt down which

8268-497: The most terrible of all warriors, because they fight from a distance with missiles having sharp bone, instead of their usual points, joined to the shafts with wonderful skill; then they gallop over the intervening spaces and fight hand to hand with swords, regardless of their own lives; and while the enemy are guarding against wounds from the sabre-thrusts, they throw strips of cloth plaited into nooses over their opponents and so entangle them that they fetter their limbs and take from them

8374-545: The name from the Ongi River in Mongolia, which was pronounced the same as, or similarly to, the name Xiongnu, and suggests that it was originally a dynastic name rather than an ethnic name. Most of the ancient descriptions of the Huns stress their strange appearance from a Roman perspective. These descriptions typically caricature the Huns as monsters. Jordanes stresses that the Huns were short of stature, had tanned skin and round and shapeless heads. Various writers mention that

8480-469: The names of older and unrelated steppe nomads instead of the name Hun , calling them Massagetae , Scythians , and Cimmerians , among other names. The etymology of Hun is unclear. Various proposed etymologies generally assume at least that the names of the various Eurasian groups known as Huns are related. There have been a number of proposed Turkic etymologies, deriving the name variously from Turkic ön , öna (to grow), qun (glutton), kün , gün ,

8586-620: The pastures may vary, the winter quarters always remained the same. This is, in fact, what Jordanes writes of the Hunnic Altziagiri tribe: they pastured near Cherson on the Crimea and then wintered further north, with Maenchen-Helfen holding the Syvash as a likely location. Ancient sources mention that the Huns' herds consisted of various animals, including cattle, horses, and goats; sheep, though unmentioned in ancient sources, "are more essential to

8692-819: The period from 2013 to 2017. As of September 2017, Pirot has one of 14 free economic zones established in Serbia. The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018): На запад по-значителни опорни точки на царството били Сталак (дн. Сталач на сръбски), Соколица (дн. Сокобаня), Свърлиг, Ниш, Пирот, Белоградчик, Вратица (дн. Враца), Каменец (при Плевен) и др. ва дни благовернаго цара . Иоана . Асена : и при господине Бе(лауре).. Средином 70-тих година XIV века пиротски краj изгледа улази у оквир старих српских земља под влашћу кнеза Лазара па затим закључуjе "да jе ово било значаjно место у Бугарскоj и да су овде живели кнезови" Huns The Huns were

8798-553: The province of Euphratesia . At the same time, the Huns invaded the Sasanian Empire . This invasion was initially successful, coming close to the capital of the empire at Ctesiphon ; however, they were defeated badly during the Persian counterattack. During their brief diversion from the Eastern Roman Empire, the Huns may have threatened tribes further west. Uldin , the first Hun identified by name in contemporary sources, headed

8904-460: The rebellions in the 940s. Since the end of the 12th century the region of Pirot was part of the restored Bulgarian state . The region was for some time in the domains of Bulgarian noble sevastokrator Kaloyan . In 1331-1332 Church of St. Petka in Staničenje was built - at the time of Bulgarian Emperor Joan Asen (Ivan Alexander) and Vidin master Belaur . Some authors suggest that during

9010-521: The reign of the emperor Justinian I (527 – 565), the emperor ordered the reconstruction of thirty fortresses in the area from Niš to Sofia , including the towers of Pirot. He also gave the detailed description of those construction works. In times when the Slavs and Avars were invading the Balkans, the settlement was named Quimedava, and was situated on the southern slope of the Sarlah Hill. Corresponding to

9116-462: The same year under Valamir , allegedly defeating the Huns in a separate engagement. However, this did not result in the complete collapse of Hunnic power in the Carpathian region, but did result in the loss of many of their Germanic vassals. At the same time, the Huns were also dealing with the arrival of more Oghur Turkic-speaking peoples from the East, including the Oghurs , Saragurs , Onogurs , and

9222-550: The slaves would have been used to manage the Huns' herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. Priscus attests that slaves were used as domestic servants, but also that educated slaves were used by the Huns in positions of administration or even architects. Some slaves were even used as warriors. The Huns also traded with the Romans. E. A. Thompson argued that this trade was very large scale, with the Huns trading horses, furs, meat, and slaves for Roman weapons, linen, and grain, and various other luxury goods. While Maenchen-Helfen concedes that

9328-564: The south, east, and west as having occupied parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia from about the 4th to 6th centuries. Variants of the Hun name are recorded in the Caucasus until the early 8th century. In the 18th century, French scholar Joseph de Guignes became the first to propose a link between the Huns and the Xiongnu people, who lived in northern China from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Since Guignes's time, considerable scholarly effort has been devoted to investigating such

9434-405: The specifics of their origins. Classical sources assert that they appeared in Europe suddenly around 370. Most typically, Roman writers' attempts to elucidate the origins of the Huns simply equated them with earlier steppe peoples. Roman writers repeated a tale that the Huns had entered the domain of the Goths while they were pursuing a wild stag, or else one of their cows that had escaped, across

9540-469: The steppe nomad even than horses" and must have been a large part of their herds. Sheep bones are frequently found in Hun period graves. Additionally, Maenchen-Helfen argues that the Huns may have kept small herds of Bactrian camels in the part of their territory in modern Romania and Ukraine, something attested for the Sarmatians. Ammianus Marcellinus says that the majority of the Huns' diet came from

9646-524: The term "nomad" to be misleading: [T]he term 'nomad', if it denotes a wandering group of people with no clear sense of territory, cannot be applied wholesale to the Huns. All the so-called 'nomads' of Eurasian steppe history were peoples whose territory/territories were usually clearly defined, who as pastoralists moved about in search of pasture, but within a fixed territorial space. Maenchen-Helfen notes that pastoral nomads (or "seminomads") typically alternate between summer pastures and winter quarters: while

9752-505: The time of Attila, the Hunnic economy became almost entirely dependent on plunder and tribute from the Roman provinces. Civilians and soldiers captured by the Huns might also be ransomed back, or else sold to Roman slave dealers as slaves. The Huns themselves, Maenchen-Helfen argued, had little use for slaves due to their nomadic pastoralist lifestyle. More recent scholarship, however, has demonstrated that pastoral nomadists are actually more likely to use slave labor than sedentary societies:

9858-420: The time of the report of Olympiodorus, the Huns at some point developed a system of ranked kings, including a senior king by the time of Charaton . Priscus also speaks of "picked men" or logades ( λογάδες ) forming part of Attila's government, naming five of them. Some of the "picked men" seem to have been chosen because of birth, others for reasons of merit. Thompson argued that these "picked men" "were

9964-514: The town and described it as " Schiarchici , a town called by the Orthodox as Pirot, but is not surrounded by walls and inhabited by Turks and Rascians " (Rasciani according to the author were even the citizens of Sofia , Ihtiman etc.). In 1664, Austrian deputy Leslie and English nobleman John Burberry visited the town, the latter noting that there were three churches, one of which was earlier Dominican . In 1688 Ottoman renegade Yegen Pasha resided in

10070-599: The town, which was suppressed by early June, and then another one broke out in August, also unsuccessful. The rebels corresponded with Prince Miloš Obrenović. The Niš Uprising (1841) , which included the Pirot area, was also suppressed by the Ottomans. In 1846–1864 Pirot was administratively part of the Niš Eyalet . During this period, in 1863, first branch of Ziraat Bank , largest bank of modern Turkey specializing in agricultural banking,

10176-550: The town. During the Great Turkish War , after taking Niš on 25 September 1689, Austrian general Piccolomini with his army of Serb volunteers and some Germans chased Turks towards Sofia. Arriving at Pirot, the town was empty of Turks, and he reported that the town was in flames and some parts in ash. In August 1690 a large Ottoman army took Pirot, defended only by 100 Germans, and then besieged Niš, taking it after three weeks. Hungarian detachments retreating via Temska ravaged

10282-564: The urban area of the city has a population of 34,942, while the population of the city administrative area has 49,601 inhabitants. The city has rich geographical features, including the mountains of Stara Planina , Vlaška Planina , Belava , Suva Planina ; rivers which flow through the town, including Nišava , Jerma , Rasnička Reka, Temštica and the Visočica; and four lakes, the Zavoj Lake, Berovacko Lake, Krupac Lake and Sukovo Lake. It also has

10388-560: Was mounted archery . The Huns may have stimulated the Great Migration , a contributing factor in the collapse of the Western Roman Empire . The memory of the Huns also lived on in various Christian saints' lives , where the Huns play the roles of antagonists, as well as in Germanic heroic legend , where the Huns are variously antagonists or allies to the Germanic main figures. In Hungary ,

10494-451: Was apparently modest". He does note that wine and silk appear to have been imported into the Hunnic Empire in large quantities, however. Roman gold coins appear to have been in circulation as currency within the whole of the Hunnic Empire. Christopher Atwood has suggested that the purpose of the original Hunnic incursion into Europe may have been to establish an outlet to the Black Sea for

10600-561: Was given the duty of relieving Orléans by Emperor Valentinian III. A combined army of Roman and Visigoths then fought the Huns at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains . The following year, Attila renewed his claims to Honoria and territory in the Western Roman Empire . Leading his army across the Alps and into Northern Italy, he sacked and razed a number of cities. Hoping to avoid the sack of Rome, Emperor Valentinian III sent three envoys,

10706-673: Was opened in Pirot. With the establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate in 1870 Pirot was the part of the Nishava eparchy  [ bg ] . Jérôme-Adolphe Blanqui , traveling across Bulgaria in 1841, describes the population of the Sanjak of Niš as Bulgarians. In the 19th century Johann Georg von Hahn stated that the Christian population of Pirot is Bulgarian. Philipp Kanitz claimed that some inhabitants "Did not imagine that six years later

10812-636: Was part of the Morava Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia . During World War II Bulgaria occupied the so-called Western Outlands , as well as Pirot and Vranje . After the Second World War , these regions were returned to Yugoslavia. After the dissolution of Yugoslavia , these areas remained within the Serbian state. Pirot was granted city status in February 2016. Aside from the city of Pirot itself,

10918-757: Was temporarily occupied by the Bulgarian army after the Serbo-Bulgarian War , between 15 November and 15 December 1885 [O.S.]. During World War I , the Bulgarian army entered Pirot on 14 October 1915 and occupied the city as well as the whole Pomoravlje region. In the Interwar period , the Internal Western Outland Revolutionary Organization engaged in repeated attacks against the Yugoslav police and army . From 1929 to 1941, Pirot

11024-626: Was the seat of the Metropolitan of Nišava. In 1806, during the First Serbian Uprising (1804–13), Hajduk-Veljko attacked Bela Palanka . Ibrahim Pasha , unable to enter Serbia cross Aleksinac and Deligrad , planned to attack from Pirot and Lom with the intent to clash with the Serbian army before Niš; the Serbian army went to stop this and defeated him in the mountains between Pirot, Knjaževac and Chiprovtsi . Rebel leaders from Pirot included Mita and Marinko, who were tasked to defend

11130-521: Was transferred via Pirot. In 1561, hieromonk Isaija from Pirot visited Hilandar where he contributed a book. Hilandar had dependencies in Pirot up until the 19th century. Travel writer Stephen Gerlach (fl. 1578) recorded that Pirot Christians claimed that the town was the earlier estate of Miloš Obilić , the slayer of Sultan Murad at Kosovo. He also noted that Pirot was a significant place in Bulgaria . In 1659, Austrian deputy August von Mayern visited

11236-492: Was unsuccessful at war as a sign that the Hunnic kingship was "democratic" at this time rather than a permanent institution. Kim, however, argues that Uldin is actually a title and that he was likely merely a subking. Priscus calls Attila "king" or "emperor" ( βασιλέυς ), but it is unknown what native title he was translating. With the exception of the sole rule of Attila, the Huns often had two rulers; Attila himself later appointed his son Ellac as co-king. Heather argues that by

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