Octar
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Octar
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| succession = Chieftain of the Huns (co-rulership)
| reign = 420–430
| predecessor = Charaton
| successor = Rugila
| birth_date = Late 4th century or early 5th century
| birth_place =
| death_date = 430
| death_place = Rhineland
| burial_place =
| spouse =
| issue =
| father = Uldin
| religion =
| module =
}}
Octar or Ouptaros was a Hunnic ruler. He ruled in dual kingship with his brother Rugila, possibly with a geographical division, ruling the Western Huns while his brother ruled the Eastern Huns.
Etymology
The name is recorded in two variants, Greek Ούπταρος (Ouptaros), and Latin Octar.{{sfn|Pritsak|1982|p=440}} The change from -ct- to -pt- is characteristic of Balkan Latin.{{sfn|Pritsak|1982|p=440}}{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p=381}} Otto J. Maenchen-Helfen considered the name to be of unknown origin.{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p=441}} Omeljan Pritsak derived the name from Turko-Mongolic word *öktem (strong, brave, imperious; proud, boastful; pride) and verb ökte- / oktä- (to encourage).{{sfn|Pritsak|1982|p=440}} He argued that the deverbal Turkic-Mongolian suffix m was replaced in Turkic by z while in Mongolian by ri.{{sfn|Pritsak|1982|p=440}} The reconstructed form is appellative *öktä-r.{{sfn|Pritsak|1982|p=440}}
History
Octar ruled along with his brother Rugila as reported by Jordanes in his Getica: "...Mundzucus, whose brothers were Octar and Ruas, who were supposed to have been kings before Attila, although not altogether of the same [territories] as he".{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p=81}} Their brother Mundzuk was the father of Attila, but he was not a supreme ruler of the Huns.{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p=81}} According to Priscus their fourth brother Oebarsius was still alive in 448 AD.{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p=81}} Their ancestors and relation with previous rulers Uldin and Charaton are unknown.{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p=85}}
He ruled with his brother in dual kingship, possibly a geographical division where Rugila ruled over Eastern Huns while Octar over Western Huns, possibly like Attila and Bleda.{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p=85–86}}
According to Socrates of Constantinople, Octar, identified with Ouptaros, died in 430 near the Rhine, "[f]or the king of the Huns, Uptaros by name, having burst asunder in the night from surfeit, the Burgundians attacked that [the Huns of Uptaros] people then without a leader; and although few in numbers and their opponents many, they obtained victory".{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p=83}}
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book |last=Maenchen-Helfen |first=Otto J. |author-link=Otto J. Maenchen-Helfen |date=1973 |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_CrUdgzSICxcC |title=The World of the Huns: Studies in Their History and Culture |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520015968 }}
- {{cite book |last=Pritsak |first=Omeljan |author-link=Omeljan Pritsak |date=1982 |title=The Hunnic Language of the Attila Clan |url=http://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/huri/files/vvi_n4_dec1982.pdf |publisher=Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute |place=Cambridge, Massachusetts |volume=IV |issue=4 |issn=0363-5570 }}
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{{succession box | before = Charaton | title = Hunnic rulers | years = Joint rule with Rugila
? – 430 | after = Rugila}}
{{s-end}}
{{Huns}}
Category:5th-century monarchs in Europe