The Tarniach and the Kotzager were two peoples. They fled from the Göktürks into Europe and joined the khan of the Avars.[1] Theophylact Simocatta, the Byzantine historian of the emperor Maurice, records the flight at the end of his account of the Göktürks.[1] It was the second flight from the Göktürks to the Avars after the flight of the Avars themselves. It was also the last episode of the Göktürk–Rouran Wars.

The account of Theophylact

Theophylact tells of the flight after the khan’s letter to Maurice and the revolt of Turum, a kinsman of the khan.[2] At that time, he writes, the Tarniach and the Kotzager fled from the Göktürks. They also came from the Var and Chunni. On reaching Europe, they joined the followers of the Avar khan.[1] The Zabender too were said to come from the race of the Var and Chunni.[1] The Avars gained a force reckoned at ten thousand.[1]

In Theophylact’s account, the Avars of Europe descend from the Var and Chunni. A small part of them had fled in the reign of Justinian and taken the name of the Avars.[3] Modern accounts identify the Kotzager with the Kutrigurs.[4] They also class the Tarniach, the Kotzager and probably the Zabender as Var-Hun in origin.[5]

Date

Theophylact names no year.[6] Some scholars set the flight in 582, the year in which the revolt of Turum was put down.[7] Others date it to 598.[4] Still others identify Turum’s rising as a revolt of the Ogurs. They link the rising with this flight of Ogur tribes to the Avars in Pannonia.[8]

Significance

The Göktürks had claimed the first fugitives as their runaway slaves for twenty years. A generation later, more of their subjects took the same road west. The Avar khan in Pannonia gained ten thousand men from the Göktürk realm.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Theophylact Simocatta; Whitby 1986, p. 191
  2. ^ Theophylact Simocatta; Whitby 1986, p. 190–191
  3. ^ Theophylact Simocatta; Whitby 1986, p. 189–190
  4. ^ a b Marquart 1903, p. 504
  5. ^ Golden 1992, p. 109,111
  6. ^ Theophylact Simocatta
  7. ^ Whitby 1986, p. 191
  8. ^ Golden 1992, p. 133

Sources

Literature

  • Michael Whitby, Mary Whitby (trans.), The History of Theophylact Simocatta (1986)
  • Édouard Chavannes, Documents sur les Tou-Kiue (Turcs) occidentaux (1903)
  • Peter B. Golden, An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples (1992)
  • Josef Marquart, Osteuropäische und ostasiatische Streifzüge (1903)

Related

What links here6

Conflicts
The Göktürk–Rouran Wars
Battles & Events
Flight of the Avars (557) · Revolt of Turum
Peoples
Kotzager · Tarniach · Zabender

Cite this article

Yavuz, Emre-E. “Flight of the Tarniach and Kotzager.” Turkic Atlas, revised 8 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/events/flight-of-the-tarniach-and-kotzager/

Last revised: 8 November 2026