Origin hypotheses of the Serbs

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by WikiEditor2004 (talk | contribs) at 12:18, 5 July 2005 (→‎Traces and possible migrations of Serbs). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Jump to navigation Jump to search

Origin of Serbs

Serbs are South Slavic people, living mainly in Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. There are several theories about the origin of the Serbs, which could be roughly divided into Slavic theory and non-Slavic theories. Among the non-Slavic theories, most widely accepted is the Iranian theory, thought the first mention of the Serbs (Serboi) in history locates them in the northern Caucasus among the Iranian peoples.

Earliest historical records of the Serbian name

Here are a few of the earliest quotations from well known ancient geographers and historians:

Strabon (63 - 19. BC) "...the river Ksant is called Srbika by the natives." ( Strabonis rerum geographicarum libri septendicini, Basileza 1571 s. 763)

Plinius (69-75 AD) "... beside the Cimerians live Meotics, Valians, Serbs (Serboi), Zingians, Psesians." ("On Nature" "A Cimmerio accolunt Meadici, Vali, Serbi, Zingi, Psesii - Plinius Ceacilius Secundus Historia naturalis, VI, c. 7 & 19 Leipzig 1975)

Claudius Ptolomei (150 AD) - geographer " ... between the Keraunian mountains and the river Pa, live the Orineians, Valians and Serbs." (Claudius Ptolomaius, Geographica... V, s. 9). Ptolomei also mention the city named Serbinum in Pannonia (present day Bosanska Gradiška in Republika Srpska).

The Slavic theory about the origin of Serbs

There is theory that name Serbs was designation for all Slavic peoples in history. However, this theory has failed to explain that Serbs are first time in history mentioned as a tribe living among the Iranian peoples.

The Iranian theory about the origin of Serbs

Migration of Serbs

The original Serbs and Croats were probably Sarmatian (Iranian) tribes, who lived in Eastern Europe (Sarmatia Asiatica), in the north of the Caucasus. The earliest historical record about these Sarmatian Serbs dates from the 1st century AD, in the book of geographer Plinius. In the fourth century AD, these Sarmatian Serbs, together with Huns and Alans, moved to Central Europe, and we found them to live near river Elbe, in a land designated as White Serbia, in what is now Saxony and Western Poland. The Sarmatian Serbs, it is argued, intermarried with the indigenous Slavs of the region, adopted their language, and transferred their name to the Slavs.

Byzantine sources report that part of Serbs migrated southward in the seventh century A.D. and eventually settled in the lands that now make up southern Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, and Herzegovina. Rival chiefs, or zupani, vied to control the Serbs for five centuries after the migration. Zupan Vlastimir formed a Serbian principality under the Byzantines around 850, and the Serbs soon converted to Eastern-rite Christianity. The Serbs had two political centers in the eleventh century: Zeta, in the mountains of present-day Montenegro, and Raska, located in modern southwestern Serbia.

Other part of Serbs, which didn’t move southward, remained in Elba region. Descendants of these Serbs are present say Lusatian Serbs/Sorbs, which still live in Luzica/Lusatia region of eastern Germany.

The proto-Serbs were probably part of the Caucasian Race much like the Alans, Caucasian Albanians, Georgians, Armenians, Mingrelians, Lezgins, Ingush, and spoke an Iranian language similar to Ossetian. At some point in the history of the Serbs, this Old Serb language stood side by side with the Slavic language in White Serbia (Porphyrogenitus) and likely even in the first 300 years leading up to the formation of the Serb state on the Balkans in the 9th century. Even to this day, the Serbian language has at least a third as many words in its vocabulary than other Slavic languages. This is because of the influence of Old Serb and Illyrian as well as Turkish on the Slavic language spoken by Serbs today.

What was the origin of Sarmatian Serbs? Since the modern Ossetian language derived from ancient Sarmatian, we can search for the origin of Sarmatians if we compare relationships between languages of Iranian stock. Ossetian language is part of Eastern Iranian branch, along with Pashtun, Yaghnobi and languages of Pamir. The original homeland of Sarmatians was probably in the region where these eastern Iranian languages are spoken today, somewhere between Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan.

Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos, in his Book Of Ceremonies66, calls the Croats and Serbs "Krevatas and Sarban", who were located between Alania and Tsanaria. This information that Serbs were mentioned under name Sarbans is important because there is Pashtun tribal group in Afghanistan named Sarbans, and that could mean that these Pashtun Sarbans are ancestors of the Serbs. There is old Pashtun legend which say that father Pathan (Pashtun) had 4 sons: Sarban (Serb), Batan, Ghurghusht and Karan (Croat?). This legend could confirm that Sarmatian Serbs and Croats were actually descendants of Pashtun tribes.

Traces and possible migrations of Serbs

File:1729.jpg
"Serbi" located near the mouth of the Volga, based on Greek literary sources, in a map printed in London, ca 1770

The Serbs were mentioned by Plinius the Younger in the first century AD (69-75) as living on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov as Serboi in his Geographica. In the 2nd century, Herodotus writes in his Persian Wars that Serbs (Serboi, Sirboi - Serboi, Sirboi) live behind the Caucasus, near the hinterland of the Black Sea. In the fourth century the Carpathians are mentioned as Montes Serrorum (Serb mountains?) by the Roman emperor Licinius.

In the Caucasus, the homeland of the Sarmatian Serbs, they left their traces around the river Volga (Araxes in Greek). In modern Georgian, that river is called "Rashki". This name was used by Balkan Serbs as a name for their first state and is found wherever the name Serb is found in clusters indicating settlements. It is often used to designate hydronyms and likely meant 'river' or 'water' in Old Serb.

The Serbs possible migrated in two directions from the Caucasus, northwest and northeast. Those who went northwest became overlords to the Slavs. There they established a mighty empire and became slavicized. Konstantine Porfirogenitus called this "White Serbia". Their descendants are known as Lusatian Serbs today and despite immense Germanization, there are still a few thousand left. These we can also call 'White Serbs'.

There is theory that the other branch of Sarmatian Serbs maybe moved northeast to the southern base of the Urals, settled there for a period of time. We can call them 'Volga Serbs'. They possible moved to the east and went deep into Siberia and left its traces in the names of cities and towns along the coast of the Sea of Japan. They faded out with onslaught from the Mongols. These we can call 'Siberian Serbs'. It seems likely that Siberia was named after this Old Serb tribe.

File:Serb lands03.jpg
Serb lands in the 9th century, according to De administrando imperio
File:Kpdai30.gif
Greek map of Serb lands in the 9th century, according to De administrando imperio

White Serbs were probably completely Slavicized by the 6th century. The descendants of these Slavicized White Serbs are today's Lusatian Sorbs. One branch of these White Serbs have left White Serbia, and according to Porfirogenitus, came to the Balkans (7th century), invited by Heracleus, defeated the Avars and were given Macedonia to inhabit. There they took the already settled Slavs (who began arriving in the 5th and 6th centuries) under their control and mixed with them to form modern Serb nation.

These Slavs who came before the Serbs had already assimilated the Illyrians, who were an Indo-European people. Many historians agree that the old Serbs were no Slavs, but a non-Slavic caste ruling over Slavs, thought Serbs, which entered Balkans in the 7th century, were mainly Slavs, which adopted Serbian name.

Republic of Georgia

Azerbaijan

Connections between toponyms and possible migrations

There are also many Serb toponyms found in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Czech and Slovak Republics, Poland, Germany, which can maybe show possible ways of the migration of Serbs from the Caucasus to Central Europe and to their present location in the Balkans.

At first we find the Serb name in the above mentioned locations in the Caucasus. Then we find the Serb name breaking into two directions with one branch shifting NORTHWEST out of the Caucasus region into southern Russia towards the Ukraine and Central Europe. We find the Serb name moving across the Ukraine and along the Carpathians into Central Europe. It is appropriate to note that the in the third century Roman emperor Licinius referred to the Carpathians as 'Serb mountains'.

We find another row of Serb toponyms moving northeast from the Caucasus towards the base of the Ural mountains. At the base of the Ural mountains we find a cluster of Serb toponyms. We maybe can conclude that one branch of Sarmatian Serbs settled there for a period of time. Then we notice Serb toponyms moving in two directions. One going eastbound deep into Asia moving along the Kama river and the other going WESTBOUND following the river Volga into Ukraine and Poland. This group, which possible moved WESTBOUND, eventually met up with the first group of Serbs which immediately left the Caucasus for Central Europe, as the direction of toponyms shows. Their land eventually became to be called 'White Serbia' by Konstantine Porphyrogenitus. Since the white colour was designation for the west, name 'White Serbia' actually could mean 'Western Serbia'.

We can conclude based on the distance of toponyms one from the other that they are the most dense in the modern Czech Republic, Western Ukraine, and southern Poland as well as Eastern Germany. This may have been the size of the 'White Serbia' which Porphyrogenitus spoke of. It would have been even by modern standards a large European nation. South of it was 'White Croatia' as we can tell by Croatian toponyms in Slovak and Hungarian lands.

Having migrated from the southern Caucasus to the north, as we can conclude by the shift in the toponyms northward, we see other Serb toponyms moving eastward towards the Ural mountains and the Kama river and we even find Serb toponyms along Russia's border with China. It would appear that when the Serbs left the Caucasus region they maybe split into two groups moving in separate directions. One moved into the southern Ukraine and along the Carpathians into Central Europe the other eastbound to the base of the Ural mountains. We see a string of Serb toponyms from there moving westbound along the Volga and another string on the same longitude moving eastbound deep into Siberia. Along the coast of the Sea of Japan there are two towns named 'Serbia' and two other towns named after the Serb toponym Rashka (a name the Serbs took to them wherever they went; it is possible Serb and not Slavic, it might have meant river, this would explain the many hydronyms derived from 'Rash' in Poland, Germany and Russia where Old Serbs settled).

Serb toponyms aren't thrown around Europe and Asia randomly, they are often in rows and lines one after the other, moving in a particular direction:

1. northwest from the Caucasus along present the Carpathians into Central Europe.

2. northeast from the Caucasus to the Urals into Siberia.

3. from the Urals westbound to Central Europe.

We can maybe conclude that diverging Serb toponyms mark the path various Serb tribes took while they were migrating from the Caucasus to Europe and Asia. Interestingly the migrations are not in accordance to Slavic migrations, thus implying that Serbs were overlords to the Slavs and migrated and existed together with the Slavs.

Locations of Serb toponyms in alphabetical order

Locations of "RASH" toponyms in order of appearance

Georgia

From here, the Serbs might move to two directions: one NORTHEAST towards the Urals, the other NORTHWEST towards Central and Eastern Europe.

Russia

(behind the Urals)

Here is where there is a cluster of Serb toponyms as well. This is the place where one Serb tribe maybe settled for a period of time. But then, one branch possibly moved EASTBOUND deep into Siberia, to the coast of the Sea of Japan.

Here we find two cities named Serbia and two named after Rashka.

Ukraine

Poland

We see a row of Serb toponyms throughout northern Poland and Russia. It is possible that when the Volga Serbs split into two separate tribes moving in two separate directions, the row of Serb toponyms moving through northern Russia and Poland and Ukraine may have been the route taken by this westbound group of Volga Serbs to meet up wit the first group of Serbs which immediately moved from the Caucasus into Central Europe.

Possible connection with names of Sarmatians and Sabars

Some historians suggest the connection between the name of Serbs and names of Sarmatians and Sabars, thought these theories are controversial.

Name of Sarmatians

Some suggest that the name "Serb" is e neologism from the ancient homeland of Serbs, Sarmatia, an ancient country between the Vistula River and the Caspian Sea, occupied by the Sarmatians [Lat. Sarmatae] from the 3d cent. B.C. through the 2d cent. A.D. The term is vague and is also used to refer to the territory along the Danube and across the Carpathians where the Sarmatians were later driven by the Huns. The Sarmatians, who until c.200 B.C. lived E of the Don River, spoke an Indo-Iranian language and were a nomadic pastoral people related to the Scythians (see Scythia), whom they displaced in the Don region. The main divisions were the Rhoxolani, the Iazyges, and the Alans or Alani. They came into conflict with the Romans but later allied themselves with Rome, acting as buffers against the Germans. They were scattered or assimilated with the Germans by the 3d cent. A.D.

The common Indo-European phonetic mutation possible allowed -m > -mb > -b from Sarmoi > Serboi. The name of Sarmatians maybe derived from PIE Root / lemma: ker-6 and k̂er- : 'dark colour; dirt, etc'. ahd. horo, Gen. horawes, mhd. hor, hurwe `ordure, smut' (*kr̥-u-); ags. horh, Gen. horwes, ahd. horg `dirty, filthy' (*kr̥-k-u̯-o); aisl. horr m. ` nasal mucus, snot, smut'; ags. hrot m. ` snot ', ahd. hroz ds., asächs. hrottag `snotty'; ahd. ruoz, rouz, mhd. ruoz, ruost, asächs. hrot `smut'; ags. hrum m. `smut', asächs. hrum, mhd. PN Rum-olt;

Maybe Sarmoi > Serboi, Srb from lit. sarma `gray, white weasel' [common PIE b > w mutation]. Both root names Hrv (Croat) and Srb (Serb) are interchangeable: s > h, b > v phonetic mutations. Srb (Serb) could be the origin of the latter Hrv (Croat).

lit. šir̃vas `gray, greyish-blue' (*k̂r̥-u̯o-s), šir̃mas ds. (*k̂r̥-mo-s), lett. sirms `gray' (compare ai. śyā-má- `black, dark' besides śyā-vá- ds.); lit. šir̃vis `hare'; in addition lit. šarmà f. ` hoarfrost', lett. sarma, serma ds., lit. šarmuõ, šermuõ `ermine' (:ahd. harmo, ven.-illyr. carmō); šarmuonỹs m. `weasel', with ablaut ostlit. širmuonė̃lis ds., lett. sermulis m. `ermine'; The Indo-European root/lemma Root / lemma: ker-6 and k̂er- : 'dark colour; dirt, etc' could be a collective name for Sarmatea 'dark people'.

The origin of the name Sarmat could be also an Indo-European interpretation of Sabar (Sabat) common PIE b > mb > m phonetic mutation].

Serbs and Croats would retain their sumptuous Iranian names. Bosnia was populated by an Illyrian tribe called Besoi. Montenegro would be called by Serbs as Crna Gora 'black mountain'.

The origin of the name Serb from an Indo-European root seems most probably. Serbian toponyms in their homeland in Caucasus are often remote to Slavic tongues, but close to Iranian.

Both names Serboi and Hrvat (Croat) seem to have originated in ancient Iran. Even today, there is Pashtun tribe in Afghanistan named Sarbans. They could be most probably ancestors of the old Serbs.

Most probably, the origin of Serbs and Croats is Indo-European. Although they adopted the language of the Slavs and mixed with them, they preserved their original Iranian names. Franks, a Germanic tribe who had conquered Gaul also lost its ancient language against numerically superior native population.

Name of Sabar

Some suggest that the names of Turkic Asian tribes Sabar and Kavar (*Havar) Avar derived from the same root [common shift b > v, also allophones s/ h]. Thus, Sabars and Avars could be also descendants of Iranian Serbs (*Sabar) and Croats (Hrvat).

The remnant of Sabar, Avar excellent horsemanship in Turkish language was stamped in the cognate: tr. süvari ' cavalier, cavalry, cavalryman, chevalier, mounted troops, man'.

In the mid 5th C., Priskos Rhetor was the first to deal with the Sabar tribe which existed in the West Siberian region. This supports the theory of Sabar origin from the Balkhash region which is further supported by the Chinese records concerning the related Hua tribes. According to Priscos's account, the Avar-Huns forced the Sabirs out of this land and over the Volga around 461-463CE because "a fog rose from the sea scaring people" and this was followed by countless "vultures descending upon the people". Then in 550, Zakharias Rhetor the church historian mentioned an "Avar" community in the west. Also in the mid 6th century, Menandros wrote about Avars. At the same time Procopius made a distinction in his History of the Wars, Books I and II, between White Huns and European Huns which Simokattes in the early half of the 7thC. defines as the real- and pseudo- avars respectively.

Based upon Simokattes's and other information, the Avars who entered Europe are thought to have been a combination of a (Uighur people called Hund(?) and (because of the anthropological evidence as well as etymology on Avar Khagaan names like Bayan meaning "prosperous" in Mongol but meaning female in most western Altaic tongues) a Mongolian people called Var(?) who united around Balk sometime between 410-470CE.

It has been determined through the unorganized information in various foreign resources that Sabar Turkish community had played an important role in the Western Siberia and the northern region of the Caucasus in the 5th-6th centuries DC. This Turkish community was named as Sabar, Sabir, and Savir in the Byzantine resources and as Savır, Sabr, S(a)bir, Sibir, etc. in the Armenian, Syrian Christian, and Islamic resources.

The are allegations, which stating that the Sabar people were of Slav or Mongolian or Finno-Ugrian origin. Recently, it has been suggested that they were Turks in origin in respect of the names that they hold and the historical and cultural characteristics. As a result of the labial attraction in various languages, the word of Sabar has been observed in various forms.

However, it is not very likely that the name of the Sabars come from the names of Sarbans or Serbs, which have Indo-European roots. The word of Sabar can be identified with Turkish language, and it was formulated as the addition of the suffix of +ar to the verb of "sab+ar" (=sap-ar= sapmak/ violate, deviate) (Some other examples are: Khazar, Bulgar, Kabar, etc). It has the meaning of "deviationist, defector, uncontrolled, free" and it is in compliance with the naming procedures among the Turks. Furthermore, the personal names pertaining to Sabar people are also Turkish. Balak, İlig-er, Bo-arık =Buğ-arık, etc.

Literature

  • Aleksandar M. Petrovic, Kratka arheografija Srba, Novi Sad, 1994.
  • Zivko D. Petkovic, Prve pojave srpskog imena, Beograd, 1996.
  • Lazar Sebek, Stari Srbi, Serbi sveske 2, Izdavac: Krim, Beograd, Lozionicka 4.
  • Lazo M. Kostic, O srpskom imenu, Srbinje - Novi Sad, 2000.
  • Sava S. Vujic - Bogdan M. Basaric, Severni Srbi (ne)zaboravljeni narod, Beograd, 1998.
  • Nikola Jeremic, Srpska zemlja Bojka, Zemun, 1993.
  • Relja Novakovic, Balticki Sloveni u Beogradu i Srbiji, Beograd, 1985.
  • Relja Nogvakovic, Jos o poreklu Srba, Beograd, 1992.
  • Relja Novakovic, Srbi, Beograd, 1993.
  • Relja Novakovic, Srbi i njihovi pradavni srodnici, Beograd, 2000.

See also

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Origin_hypotheses_of_the_Serbs&oldid=18187246"