Zabergan

Zabergan (Greek: Ζαβεργάν) was the chieftain of the Kutrigurs, a nomadic people of the Pontic–Caspian steppe. His name is Iranian.^[1] Either under pressure by incoming Avars,^[2] or in revolt against Byzantine Empire, in the winter of 558, he led a large Kutrigur army who crossed frozen Danube, and was divided into three sections; one raided south far as Thermopylae, while two others the Thracian Chersonesus and the periphery of Constantinople.^[3] In March 559 Zabergan attacked Constantinople, and one part of his forces consisted of 7,000 horsemen.^[4]

The transit of such big distances in short period of time shows that the Kutrigurs were mounted warriors,^[3] and Zabergan's raiders were already encamped near the banks of the Danube.^[3] However, once again Emperor Justinian I (527–565) managed to persuade the Utigur chieftain Sandilch to attack the Kutrigurs, which resulted with decimation of one another.^[2] It is unknown if is related to the general Zabergan who in 586 defended fortress Chlomaron against the Romans.^[1]

Honours

Zabergan Peak in Antarctica is named after Zabergan.

References

Sources

• Maenchen-Helfen, Otto J. (1973). "Chapter IX. Language: 5. Iranian names". The World of the Huns: Studies in Their History and Culture. University of California Press. p. 392. ISBN 9780520015968. 
• Golden, Peter Benjamin (1992). An introduction to the History of the Turkic peoples: ethnogenesis and state formation in medieval and early modern Eurasia and the Middle East. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. ISBN 9783447032742. 
• Golden, Peter B. (2011). Studies on the Peoples and Cultures of the Eurasian Steppes. Editura Academiei Române; Editura Istros a Muzeului Brăilei. ISBN 9789732721520. 
• Curta, Florin (2015). "Avar Blitzkrieg, Slavic and Bulgar raiders, and Roman special ops: mobile warriors in the 6th-century Balkans". In Zimonyi István; Osman Karatay. Eurasia in the Middle Ages. Studies in Honour of Peter B. Golden. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. pp. 69–89.