Originally Posted by
NikeBG
You mean the Huns were a polyethnos? Well, as far as I know, that's not a theory, but widely regarded as a logical fact. All major powers on the steppe were a polyethnos - the Huns weren't just Huns, but also included Turkic, Iranic and Germanic tribes; the Avars weren't just Avars (and weren't even Avars at all - they were Rourans who adopted the Avar name without having any actual link to the original Avars), but also included Bulgars and Slavs (though the Slavs were a bit more segregated and distinguished); the Bulgars weren't just Bulgars, but also included Turkic, Iranic and possibly Finno-Ugric (Magyar) tribes as well; the Magyars weren't just Magyars, but also included Turkic (Khazar) and other tribes as well. So, indeed, as you say, the steppes were a melting pot of high mobility and no one was really homogeneous.