A member of a nomadic people who invaded Europe in the 4th century.
Member of any of a number of nomad Mongol peoples who were first recorded historically in the 2nd century BC, raiding across the Great Wall into China. They entered Europe about AD 372, settled in the area that is now Hungary, and imposed their supremacy on the Ostrogoths and other Germanic peoples. Under the leadership of Attila they attacked the Byzantine Empire, invaded Gaul, and threatened Rome. After Attila’s death in 453 their power was broken by a revolt of their subject peoples. The White Huns, or Ephthalites, a kindred people, raided Persia and N India in the 5th and 6th centuries.