THE HUHS, from whom the kingdom .of Hungary derives its name, are the Hiong-nau of the Chinese, and were a na tion of Tartars, who had their ancient, perhaps their origi nal, seat in an extensive barren tract of country, immedi rtely on the north side of the great wall of China. But the valour of the Huns extended their dominions ; and their chiefs, who assumed the appellation of Tanjou, gradually became the sovereigns of a formidable empire. Towards the east, their victorious arms were stopped only by the ocean. On the west, near the head of the river lrtish, their enemies were numerous : in a single expedition, twenty-six nations or tribes are said to have been subdued. On the side of the north, they are said, but on dubious authority, to have ex tended their empire to the ocean ; it is more probable that the Lake Baikal was the limit of their conquests in this di rection. Towards the south, they were most desirous of extending their empire ; and, in the third century before the Christian xra, a wall of 1500 miles in length was con structed to defend the frontiers of China against the inroads of the Huns.
Their cavalry frequently consisted of 200,000 or 300,000 men, who managed their bows and their horses with match less dexterity ; they supported the inclemency of the weather with hardy patience ; and marched with incredible speed, being seldom checked by any obstacle. The Chi nese were unable to oppose them, or to protect their em pire, notwithstanding the defence of the great wall. A re gular payment of money and silk was stipulated as the con dition of a temporary and precarious peace ; and by a more disgraceful and degrading condition, a supply of women was annually given to the Huns ; and the Tanjou was unit ed in marriage with the imperial family of China. In the verses of a Chinese princess, who laments that she had been condemned by her parents to a distant exile under a barba rian husband, some particulars of the mode of life of the Huns at this period are given : she complains that sour milk was her only drink, raw flesh her only food, and a tent her only palace.
In the long reign of Vouti, the fifth emperor of the pow ful dynasty of the Han, which continued for the space of 54 years, from the year 141 to the year 87 before Christ, the Huns were frequently defeated by the Chinese. About the year 87, the camp of the Tanjou was surprised in the midst of sleep and intemperance, and though he cut his way through the ranks of his enemy, he left above 15,000 of his troops on the field of battle. But the power and empire of
the Huns were not weakened so much by their defeats, as by the policy pursued by the Chinese emperors of detach ing the tributary nations from their obedience; and these ge nerally became their inveterate and formidable opponents. The Tanjou himself was at last obliged to renounce the cha racter and privileges of an independent monarch, and to per form the duty of a respectful homage to the Emperor of Chi na. The monarchy of the Huns after this gradually declined, till, about A. D. 48, it was broken by civil dissension into two hostile and separate kingdoms. One of the princes re tired to the south with eight hords, which composed between 40,000 and 50,000 families : he fixed himself on the verge of the Chinese provinces, and attached himself to the service of that empire. The Huns of the north continued to languish about fifty years, till they were oppressed on every side by foreign and domestic enemies. The Sienpi, a tribe of orien tal Tartars, retaliated upon them their former injuries ; and, in the year A. D. 93, the power of the Tanjous, after a reign of 1300 years, was utterly destroyed. The emigra tions of the Huns now began : above 100,000 persons, the poorest of the people, were contented to remain in their native country, to renounce their name, and mix with their conquerors. Fifty-eight hords, about 200,000 men, retired towards the south, and claimed and received the protection of the Chinese emperors. But the most warlike and pow erful tribes of the Huns sought more distant countries, and moved westward in two great divisions. The first of these colonies established their dominion in the fruitful and extensive plains of Sogdiana, on the eastern side of the Cas pian Sea. Here their manners were softened, and even their features were sensibly improved ; and they obtained the ap pellation of White Huns, from the change of their com plexions. The only vestige of their ancient barbarism was the custom which obliged all, or nearly all, the companions who had shared the liberality of a wealthy lord, to be buried alive in the same grave. Their vicinity to the kingdom of Persia involved them in frequent and bloody contests, in the course of which they gained a memorable victory, but, un like their ancestors, they were moderate and mild in their use of it.