North Caucasian Huns

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The North Caucasian Huns were a branch of the Huns that established a polity in Daghestan in the 500s and 600s CE. The North Caucasian Huns probably incorporated numerous indigenous Caucasian tribes following their settlement in the area.

In 535 or 537, an Armenian missionary team headed by the bishop Kardost baptized many among the North Caucasian Huns ^[1]. The Syriac source reporting this event also indicates that a writing system for Hunnic was developed.^[2]

In 682 Bishop Israel of Caucasian Albania led an unsuccessful delegation to convert Alp Iluetuer, the ruler of the Caucasian Huns, to Christianity. It has been suggested that "Iluetuer" is actually a corruption of the Khazar title "elteber", or client-ruler, suggesting that this people was subordinate to the Khazars from at least the mid to late 600s. They are frequently described as being allied with the Khazars in their various wars of the period, particularly against the Caliphate.

Little is known about their fate after the early 700s. It is likely that they became incorporated into the Khazar Khaganate. However, it is likely that they survived in some form or another for several centuries, possibly even until the 11th century.

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