This article is about the specific polity Avar Khaganate and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
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The Pannonian Avars were an alliance of several groups of Eurasian nomads of various origins. They established the Avar Khaganate, which spanned the Pannonian Basin and considerable areas of Central and Eastern Europe from the late 6th to the early 9th century.
Establishment
January 563: The Avars conquered and incorporated various nomadic tribes - Kutrigurs and Sabirs - and defeated the Antes. By 562 the Avars controlled the lower Danube basin and the steppes north of the Black Sea.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
By 562 the Avars controlled the lower Danube basin and the steppes north of the Black Sea.
Was a war between the Kingdom of the Gepids on one side and the Lombards and the Avar Khaganate on the other side.
January 568: The Gepids were destroyed by the Avars and Lombards in 567. The Avars subsequently occupied "Gepidia", forming the Avar Khaganate.
2.1.Collapse of the Gepid Kingdom
The Gepids were defeated by the Avars and Lombards in 567 and their kingdom destroyed.
January 568: Sirmium and the Dalmatian coast reverted to the Byzantines.
Was the invasion of the italian Peninsula, recently reconquered by the Eastern Romans from the Ostrogoths, by the Germanic people of the Lombards.
3.1.Lombard conquests under king Alboin
Lombard conquests under king Alboin.
3.1.1.Lombards enter Italy
In 568 AD the Lombards entered Italy from the Isonzo area.
May 568: Having the dangerous Avars as neighbours, Lombard king Alboin decided to launch himself towards the plains of Italy, just devastated by the bloody Gothic war. In 568 the Lombards invaded Italy by crossing the Isonzo.
3.2.Lombard conquest of Ravenna
Lombard conquest of Ravenna.
January 752: The Longobard conquest of Ravenna in 751 was led by King Aistulf of the Lombards. This marked the end of Byzantine rule in the region and solidified Lombard control over much of Italy, including Istria.
Were a series of conflicts between the Byzantine Empire and the Avar Khaganate.
January 616: After 615, the Avars, led by their Khagan Bayan I, took advantage of the weakened Byzantine Empire and expanded their control over the undefended Balkans.
4.1.Avarian conquest of Sirmio
The Avars conquer Sirmio from the Byzantines.
January 581: In 580, the Avars, a nomadic people from Central Asia, conquered Sirmio, a town located in present-day Serbia. The Avars were led by their Khagan, Bayan I, who expanded their territory into the Balkans during this time.
4.2.Maurice's Balkan campaigns
Were a series of military expeditions conducted by Roman Emperor Maurice in an attempt to defend the Balkan provinces of the Roman Empire from the Avars and the South Slavs.
January 584: Avar raid into the Balkan Peninsula and the Peloponnese.
February 584: End of an Avar raid into the Balkan Peninsula and the Peloponnese.
January 585: The following year, the Avars conquered Singidunum (present-day Belgrade) and Viminacium.
January 586: Avar raid in Greece.
February 586: At Adrianople in 584/585, Byzantine Emperor Maurice forced the Slavs to retreat from Thrace and then pounce on defenseless Greece.
January 587: In 587, the Balkan Peninsula, Northern Greece, faced attacks from the Avar invaders. They successfully destroyed several cities including Ratiaria, Oescus, Durostorum, Marcianopolis, and Bononia. Thessaloniki was also besieged during this time, causing widespread destruction and chaos in the region.
February 587: End of the Avar raid in the Balkan Peninsula.
January 588: In 587, the Byzantine Empire's deployment in Thrace and Moesia, led by Emperor Maurice, was a failure. This allowed the Avars, a nomadic group from the Eurasian steppes, to advance towards the Sea of Marmara, threatening Byzantine territories in the region.
February 588: In 588, the Eastern Roman Empire deployed troops in Thrace and Moesia, but the operation was a failure. This allowed the Avars, a nomadic people from Central Asia, to advance towards the Sea of Marmara, posing a threat to the empire's territories in the region.
January 593: In 592 Roman troops recaptured Singidunum, which had been occupied again by the Avars.
June 593: Roman Emperor Maurice stopped the attacks of the Slavs on Moesia and defeated them several times before pursuing them across the Danube into today's Wallachia, where he managed to defeat Slavs despite the wooded and swampy area.
July 593: Roman Emperor Maurice stopped the attacks of the Slavs on Moesia and defeated them several times before pursuing them across the Danube into today's Wallachia, where he managed to defeat Slavs despite the wooded and swampy area.
January 594: Winter 593/594: Favored by the retreat of the Roman troops to the winter quarters in Odessos (today's Varna), the Slavs crossed the Danube again in the winter around the turn of the year 593/594, again plundering through Moesia and Macedonia.
February 594: Winter 593/594: Favored by the retreat of the Roman troops to the winter quarters in Odessos (today's Varna), the Slavs crossed the Danube again in the winter around the turn of the year 593/594, again plundering through Moesia and Macedonia.
January 596: Priskos was a Byzantine diplomat and historian who served as an envoy to the Avar Khaganate. The Avars, a nomadic people, decided to invade Dalmatia instead of engaging in direct conflict with Priskos.
February 596: Priskos was a Byzantine general and diplomat who was sent to negotiate with the Avars. The Avars, a nomadic people from Central Asia, decided to change their strategy and invaded Dalmatia instead of engaging in direct conflict with Priskos and the Eastern Roman Empire in 596.
December 597: The Avar Khaganate, led by Khagan Bayan I, launched a winter attack in 597-598 on the territories of Thrace and Moesia. The Avars were a nomadic people of Central Asian origin who frequently raided and plundered settlements in Eastern Europe during this time period.
January 598: The Avar winter attack of 597-598 in Thrace and Moesia was a military campaign by the Avar Khanate against the Eastern Roman Empire. The Avars, led by their Khan Bayan I, launched a devastating invasion during the harsh winter months, causing widespread destruction and plundering of the region.
September 599: In the summer of 599, the Romans broke the peace treaty. Priscus and Komentiolus took their armies downstream to nearby Viminacium and crossed the Danube from there. On the north bank they defeated the Avars for the first time in pitched battle on their own land.
October 599: In the summer of 599, the Romans broke the peace treaty. Priscus and Komentiolus took their armies downstream to nearby Viminacium and crossed the Danube from there. On the north bank they defeated the Avars for the first time in pitched battle on their own land.
January 603: In 602, the Slavs in Wallachia were decisively defeated by the Eastern Roman Empire under the leadership of Emperor Maurice.
February 603: The Roman army leaves Wallachia after decisively defeating the Slavs.
4.3.Avar annexation of Singidunum and Viminacium
The Avars conquered Sirmio Singidunum and Viminacium form the Byzantines.
January 585: When the Byzantines refused to increase the stipend amount as requested by Bayan's son and successor Bayan II (from 584), the Avars proceeded to capture Singidunum and Viminacium.
4.4.Avar attack on Constantinople
While negotiating with Emperor Heraclius beneath the walls of Constantinople in 617, the Avars launched a surprise attack on the city. While they were unable to capture the city centre, they pillaged the suburbs of the city and took 270,000 captives.
January 618: While negotiating with Emperor Heraclius beneath the walls of Constantinople in 617, the Avars launched a surprise attack. While they were unable to capture the city centre they pillaged the suburbs of the city and took 270,000 captives. Payments in gold and goods to the Avars reached the record sum of 200,000 solidi shortly before 626.
February 618: While negotiating with Emperor Heraclius beneath the walls of Constantinople in 617, the Avars launched a surprise attack. While they were unable to capture the city centre they pillaged the suburbs of the city and took 270,000 captives. Payments in gold and goods to the Avars reached the record sum of 200,000 solidi shortly before 626.
4.5.Avarian invasion of Thrace
The Avar Khaganate invaded Thrace.
January 623: Avarian invasion of Thrace.
February 623: The Avars leave Thrace.
With the death of Samo, some Slavic tribes that had been part of his Empire again came under Avar rule.
January 659: With the death of Samo, some Slavic tribes again came under Avar rule.
Were a series of conflicts fought between the Byzantines and Bulgarians which began when the Bulgars first settled in the Balkan peninsula in the 5th century, and intensified with the expansion of the Bulgarian Empire to the southwest after 680 AD.
6.1.Asparukh's war
Were the military campaigns of Bulgarian ruler Aspurah.
September 680: In the 670s they crossed the Danube into Scythia Minor, nominally a Byzantine province, in addition to the grazing grounds to the west of the Dniester River already under their control. In 680 the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IV (r. 668-685), having recently defeated the Arabs, led an expedition at the head of a huge army and fleet to drive off the Bulgars but suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of Asparuh at Onglos.
Was a military campaing by Bulgarian Khan Aspurah against the Byzantine Empire that resulted in the conquest of Moesia and Dobrugia.
January 681: Bulgar conquest of Moesia and Dobrugia.
Carinthia became a vassal of the Duchy of Bavaria.
January 744: In 743, Duke Odilo of Bavaria established vassalage over the Slavic princes of Carinthia, seeking protection from the Avar invaders. This marked the expansion of the Kingdom of the Bavarians into the region known as "Kärnet" on the map.
Were a series of military campaings of the Lombard King Aistulf against the Byzantine territories in Italy.
January 752: Having reorganized and strengthened the army, Astolfo immediately went on the offensive against the Italian territories still subject (albeit more in name than in fact) to the Byzantine Empire. In 750 he invaded the Exarchate from the north, occupying Comacchio and Ferrara. In the summer of 751 he managed to conquer Istria and then Ravenna itself, the capital and symbol of Byzantine power in Italy. He settled in the exarch's palace, which was equalized to the royal palace of Pavia as the center of the Lombard kingdom.
The Franks submitted the Avar Khaganate in 796 AD.
January 797: By 796, the Avar chieftains had surrendered and became open to the acceptance of Christianity. In the meantime, all of Pannonia was conquered by the Franks. According to the Annales Regni Francorum, the Avars began to submit to the Franks in 796.
January 569: To guarantee himself protection, Alboin made a new agreement with the Avars by offering them the lands occupied until then in Pannonia. However, if the invasion failed, the Lombards would have regained Pannonia.
January 611: The first Serbian ruler, without a name (known conventionally as "Unknown Archon") led the White Serbs to southeastern Europe and established Raska under the protection of Roman Emperor Heraclius. The Serbian state of Raska was located Between the rivers Sava, Vrbas and Ibar.
January 631: The State of Travunia was founded around 630, when the Byzantine emperor Heraclius called the Serbian and Croatian populations of central Europe led by the unknown viscount to help fight the Avars, and entrusted them with the lands they had taken from the enemy in vassalage.
January 631: The principality of Zaclumia was founded around 630, when the Byzantine emperor Heraclius called the Serbian and Croatian populations of central Europe to help fight the Avars and entrusted them with the lands they had taken from the enemy in vassalage.
January 632: Samo's Empire was a confederation of Slavic tribes, including Czechs, Slovaks, Sorbians and other western Slavic tribes along the Danube river, gathered around the Frankish merchant Samos.
January 659: Carantania, also known as Carentania, was a Slavic principality that emerged in the second half of the 7th century, in the territory of present-day southern Austria and north-eastern Slovenia. It was the predecessor of the March of Carinthia, created within the Carolingian Empire in 889.
January 671: The Bulgars of Asparuh moved westwards to what is now Bessarabia, subdued the territories to the north of the Danube in modern Wallachia, and established themselves in the Danube Delta.
January 682: Wallachia was under the control of the First Bulgarian Empire from its establishment in 681.
January 698: The birth of the Duchy of Venice is conventionally placed in 697.
Disestablishment
January 797: By 796, the Avar chieftains had surrendered and became open to the acceptance of Christianity. In the meantime, all of Pannonia was conquered by the Franks. According to the Annales Regni Francorum, the Avars began to submit to the Franks in 796.
Avar Khaganate
