Attila (b. 406 – d. 453) is the ruler of the Hun Empire. His father is Muncuk Han. His uncle Roa found him trying to live alone in the steppe after his father died and took him with him. Attila, who allied himself with the Roman Empire against the Visigoths, went to Rome for a while as the guest of Flavius ​​Aetius. While everything was going well, he received the news of Roa’s death. He returned and became joint ruler of the Hun Empire with his brother Bleda. Bleda died in 445, which made Attila the sole ruler of the Hun. Attila, who later married the captive girl (Nakara) he fell in love with, had a son, and his wife Nakara died during the birth.
It dominated more than two-thirds of the European continent and would extend the state’s borders to Asia. During his reign, Attila, who frequently invaded the Western and Eastern Roman empires with his army, is known for his ruthlessness in medieval sources. For this reason, it is referred to as the “Whip of God” (English: Scourge of God, Italian: Flagello di Dio, French: Fléau de Dieu) in European languages.
With the intervention of the Pope (kneeling in front of Pope Attila and asking for forgiveness) while traveling to the Western Roman Empire, Attila did not conquer Rome and bind it to taxes. Attila was killed by his last wife on the wedding night in 453.
The whereabouts of his grave are unknown. Those who attended his funeral were killed so that the location of the grave was unknown. But there is a widespread belief among historians that the riverbed of the Danube was changed for a while and that Attila with its treasures was buried under the river, and then the riverbed was restored. Due to the excessive length of the river and passing through many countries, there will be bureaucratic problems, so excavation work cannot be done.
Nowadays, Attila is taken as the hero for some (especially in Turkish and Hungarian culture) and for others as the ancestor of the barbarians (in European culture). But Attila was not barbarian because the Huns brought important elements and features of Asian civilization to Europe.