Avars Discussion

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Pannonian Avars were a nomadic people who settled the former Roman province of Pannonia including modern day Hungary, Slovakia and Austria. In 557, the Avars send an embassy to the Byzantine Empire. In exchange for gold, they agreed to subjugate barbarians on behalf of the Byzantines. They conquered and incorporated various nomadic tribes. By 562, the Avars controlled the lower Danube basin and the steppes north of the Black Sea. Upon arrival in the Balkans, the Avars had 20,000 horsemen. Emperor Justinian paid them to head into Germania, but this was bloked by Frankish opposition. The Avars aligned with the Lombards in 567 to destroy the Gepids, and then convinced the Lombards to move into northern Italy. Avars would periodically raid the Balkans when the Byzantines failed to pay a stipend. Frankish invasions in the 790s led to the collapse of the Avar Khanate in Pannonia.