Origin hypotheses of the Serbs
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TheSerbstrace their history to the 6th and 7th-centurySlavic migrations to Southeastern Europeof theEarly Slavs.Early Slavs absorbed the localByzantines,who were primarily descendants of differentpaleo-Balkan peoples,and other formerRoman citizens,and later established various states throughout theMiddle Ages.
Early historical records of the Serb name
[edit]
Various historical authors mentioned names ofSerbs(Serbian:Srbi) andSorbs(Upper Sorbian:Serbja;Lower Sorbian:Serby) in different variants: asCervetiis(Servetiis),gentis (S)urbiorum,Suurbi,Sorabi,Soraborum,Sorabos,Surpe,Sorabici,Sorabiet,Sarbin,Swrbjn,Servians,Sorbi,Sirbia, Sribia, Zirbia, Zribia,Suurbelant,Surbia,Serbulia/Sorbuliaamong others.[1][2][3]These authors used these names to refer to Serbs and Sorbs in areas where their historical (or current) presence was/is not disputed (notably in theBalkansandLusatia), but there are also sources that mention the same or similar names in other parts of the World (most notably in theAsiatic Sarmatiain theCaucasus). Attempts of various researchers to connect these names with modern Serbs produced various theories about the origin of the Serb people.
- Early historical mentions of an alleged "Serb" ethnonym in the Caucasus
- Pliny the Youngerin his workPlinii Caecilii Secundi Historia naturalisfrom the first century AD (69-75) mentioned people namedSerboi,who lived near theCimmerians,presumably on theBlack Seaand theSea of Azov.[4]
- In the 2nd century (around 175 AD), theEgyptianGreekscientistClaudius Ptolemymentioned in hisGeographypeople namedSerboi or Sirboi,who presumably lived behind theCaucasus,in the hinterland of theCaspian Sea.[4]
- Early historical mentions of other Serb-sounding names that some researchers are trying to connect with the Serb people
- In the same book where he mentioned people namedSerboi,Claudius Ptolemyalso mentioned city namedSerbinuminPannonia.[4]
- Ancient geographerStrabomentioned that riverXanthosinLyciawas formerly namedSirbis.[5]
- In the 10th century,Byzantine emperorConstantine VII Porphyrogennetos(912-959) mentioned in his bookDe Ceremoniis,apart from the SlavicCroatsandSerbs,there were two tribes named Krevatades (Krevatas) and Sarban (Sarbani), which some researches identified as Croats and Serbs.[6][7]These tribes were located in theCaucasusnear the riverTerek,betweenAlaniaandTsanaria.[8][9]The Sarban tribe in the Caucasus in the 10th century was also recorded by anArabgeographer.[10]
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People with nameSirbinear the estuary of the riverVolga,on Ptolemaic map from 1552. -
People with nameSirbinear the estuary of the riverVolga,on Ptolemaic map from 1598. -
People with name Serbi (Серби) near the estuary of the riverVolga,according to the map from the book of Jovan Rajić, printed in Vienna in 1794.
Migration of White Serbs to the Balkans
[edit]
According toDe Administrando Imperio(DAI), written by theByzantine emperorConstantine VII(912-959), the Serbs originated from the "White Serbs"who lived on the" other side of Turkey "(name used forHungary), in the area that they called "Boiki" (Bohemia).White Serbiabordered to the Franks andWhite Croatia.DAI claims that after two brothers inherited the rule from their father, one of them took half of the people and migrated to theByzantine Empire(i.e. to theBalkans), which was governed by EmperorHeraclius(610–641).[11][12][13]According to German historianLudwig Albrecht Gebhardi,the two brothers were sons ofDervan,thedux(duke) of theSurbi (Sorbs).[14]Another part of the White Serbs did not migrate southwards, but remained in theElberegion. Descendants of these White Serbs are the present day Lusatian Serbs (Sorbs), who still live in theLusatia(Lužica, Lausitz) region of easternGermany.There are also opinions that data from "De administrando imperio" that describes Serb migration to the Balkans is not correct and that Serbs came to the Balkans fromEastern Slaviclands, together with otherSouth Slavs.[15][16]
In theBalkans,Serbssettled firstan area near Thessalonikiand then area around riversTara,Ibar,DrinaandLim(in the present-day border region ofSerbia,MontenegroandBosnia and Herzegovina), and joined with surroundingSouth Slavictribes that came to the Balkans earlier (in the 6th century) and theByzantine populationconsisting from different people and tribes. Over time, the South Slavic mixed with the Serbs and also adopted Serb name as their own.[17][18]
The EmperorConstantine III(641) transferred a part of theSlavsfrom theBalkans(Vardarregion) toAsia Minor.There these migrants founded the city ofGordoservon,the name of which gives grounds for supposing that among its founders there wereSerbs,and was also known under names Gordoserbon and Servochoria.[19]
Theories
[edit]Iranian theory
[edit]
Theory about Iranian origin of the Serb ethnonym assumes that ancientSerbi / Serboifrom northCaucasus(Asiatic Sarmatia) were aSarmatian(Alanian) tribe.[20]The theory subsequently assumes that Alanian Serbi were subdued by theHunsin the 4th century and that they, as part of the Hunnic army, migrated to the western edge of theHunnic Empire(in the area ofCentral Europenear the riverElbe,later designated asWhite Serbiain what is nowSaxonyandThuringia(easternGermany), recorded byVibius SequesterasCervetiis(Servetiis).[21]After the Hunnic leaderAttiladied (in 453), Alanian Serbi presumably became independent and ruled in the east of the riverSaale(in modern-dayGermany) over the localSlavicpopulation.[21][20][22]Over time, they, it is argued, intermarried with the localSlavicpopulation of the region,[20][22]adoptedSlavic language,and transferred their name to the Slavs.[21][23]According toTadeusz Sulimirski,similar event could occur in theBalkansSerbia,settled bySlavswho came from the north and who were ruled by alreadyslavicizedSerboi.[21][22]
Deformed human skulls that are connected to the Alans are also discovered in the area that was later designated as "White Serbia".[21][23]According to Indo-European interpretation, different sides of theWorldare designated with different colors, thus, white color is a designation for the west, black color for the north, blue or green color for the east and red color for the south. According to that view,White SerbiaandWhite Croatiawere designated as western Serbia and western Croatia, and were situated in the west from some hypothetical lands that had same names and that presumably existed in the east.[24]
Autochthonic theory
[edit]This theory assumes that Serbs are anautochthonicpeople in theBalkansandPodunavlje,where they presumably lived before historical Slavic and Serb migration to the Balkans in the 6th–7th centuries.[25]Proponents of this theory (for exampleJovan I. Deretić,Olga Luković Pjanović[sr],Miloš Milojević) claimed that Serbs either came to the Balkans long before the 7th century or Serb 7th-century migration to the Balkans was only partial and Serbs who, according toDe Administrando Imperio,came from the north found in the Balkans other Serbs that already lived there.[25]It is suggested that the ancient city ofSerbinuminPannoniawas named after these hypothetical autochthonic Serbs. In mainstream historiography, this is considered to be afringe theory,and the methods used by its proponents are consideredpseudoscientific.[26]
Proto-Slavic theory
[edit]- Sporoi(Greek:Σπόροι) was according to Eastern Roman scholarProcopius(500–560) the old name of theAntaeandSclaveni,twoEarly Slavicbranches. Procopius stated that the Sclavenes and Antesspoke the same language,but did not trace their common origin back to theVenethibut to a people he called "Sporoi".[27]He derived the name to Greekσπείρω( "I scatter grain" ), because "they populated the land with scattered settlements".[28]According to Bohemian historianJosef Dobrovský(1753–1829) and Slovak historianPavel Jozef Šafárik(1795–1861) it was a corruption ofSrbi(Serbs).[citation needed]Šafárik deemed that it was the oldest generic name of the Slavs.[29]
- In the mid-9th century the so-calledBavarian Geographerwrote that people namedZeriuanihad so large kingdom that allSlavic peoplesoriginated from there (or from them).[30][31]According to one of interpretations, Zeriuani are identified with Serbs, and there are opinions that "Serbs" was an old name of all Slavic peoples.[32]However, according to other opinions, Zeriuani might be a name used forSeveriansorSarmatiansinstead for Serbs.[33]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Łuczyński, Michal (2017).""Geograf Bawarski" — nowe odczytania "[ "Bavarian Geographer" — New readings].Polonica(in Polish). XXXVII (37): 71.doi:10.17651/POLON.37.9.Retrieved4 August2020.
- ^Schuster-Šewc, Heinz."Порекло и историја етнонима Serb" Лужички Србин "".rastko.rs(in Serbian). Translated by Petrović, Tanja. Пројекат Растко - Будишин.
- ^Petković 1926,p. 9.
- ^abcAleksandar M. Petrović, Arheografija naroda jugoistočne Evrope, Beograd, 2006, page 19.
- ^Aleksandar M. Petrović, Arheografija naroda jugoistočne Evrope, Beograd, 2006, page 20.
- ^Parameśa Caudhurī, India in Kurdistan, Qwality Book Company, 2005, page 79.
- ^The Slavs: their early history and civilization, Francis Dvornik, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1959, page 28.
- ^De administrando imperio, Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (Emperor of the East), Gyula Moravcsik, Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetemi Görög Filológiai Intézet, 1949, page 115.
- ^Constantini Porphyrogenneti... libri duo De ceremoniis aulæ Byzantinæ. Prodeunt nunc primum Græce, cum Latina interpretatione et commentariis. Curarunt Io. Henricus Leichius et Io. Iacobus Reiskius..., VII Constantin, Gleditschius, 1754, page 397.
- ^The early medieval Balkans: a critical survey from the sixth to the late twelfth century, John Van Antwerp Fine, University of Michigan Press, 1991, page 56.
- ^Sava S. Vujić - Bogdan M. Basarić, Severni Srbi (ne)zaboravljeni narod, Beograd, 1998, pages 38-39.
- ^Petrović 1997,pp. 90–91.
- ^Vladimir Ćorović, Ilustrovana istorija Srba, knjiga prva, Beograd, 2005, page 61.
- ^Sava S. Vujić - Bogdan M. Basarić, Severni Srbi (ne)zaboravljeni narod, Beograd, 1998, page 40.
- ^Novaković 1992,p. 57.
- ^Nikola Jeremić, Srpska zemlja Bojka, Zemun, 1993, page 33.
- ^Sava S. Vujić - Bogdan M. Basarić, Severni Srbi (ne)zaboravljeni narod, Beograd, 1998, page 36.
- ^Sima M. Ćirković, SRBI MEĐU EUROPSKIM NARODIMA,(Serbs) 2008.http:// mo-vrebac-pavlovac.hr/attachments/article/451/Sima%20%C4%86irkovi%C4%87%20SRBI%20ME%C4%90U%20EVROPSKIM%20NARODIMA.pdf#page=26-27
- ^The Macedonian question: the struggle for southern Serbia, Đoko M. Slijepčević, American Institute for Balkan Affairs, 1958, page 50.
- ^abcMiodrag Milanović, Srpski stari vek, Beograd, 2008, page 81.
- ^abcdeSulimirski, Tadeusz(1970).The Sarmatians.Thames and Hudson. pp. 189–190.ISBN9780500020715.
- ^abcNovaković 1992,p. 46.
- ^abNovaković 1992,p. 48.
- ^Relja Novaković, Srbi, Zemun, 1993, page 61.
- ^abPetrović 1997,pp. 9–10.
- ^Petrović 1997,p. 8.
- ^Paul M. Barford (January 2001).The Early Slavs: Culture and Society in Early Medieval Eastern Europe.Cornell University Press. p. 36.ISBN978-0-8014-3977-3.
- ^Михайло Грушевський; Andrzej Poppe; Marta Skorupsky; Uliana M. Pasicznyk; Frank E. Sysyn (1997).History of Ukraine-Rus': From prehistory to the eleventh century.Kiyc Cius. p. 57.ISBN978-1-895571-19-6.
- ^Royal anthropological institute (1879).The Journal of the Anthropological institute.Vol. 8. p. 66.
- ^Petrović 1997,p. 90.
- ^Quaestiones medii aevi, Томови 1-4, Uniwersytet Warszawski. Instytut Historyczny, Polskie Towarzystwo Historyczne. Commission d'histoire médiévale, Éditions de l'Université de Varsovie, 1977, page 31.
- ^Lazo M. Kostić,O srpskom imenu, Srbinje - Novi Sad, 2000, pages 38-39.
- ^Prosvjeta, Том 16, Društvo hrvatskih književnika., 1908, page 216.
Sources
[edit]- Petrović, Aleksandar M. (1997).Kratka arheografija Srba: (Srbi prema spisima drevnih povesnica).Nevkoš.
- Petković, Živko D. (1926).Prve pojave srpskog imena.Štampa Tucović.
- Novaković, Relja (1992).Još o poreklu Srba.Miroslav.