Barsils ~Barsilts (Greek: ΒαρσὴλτBarsilt;Old Turkic 𐰋𐰼𐰾𐰠 *Bersel[1] orBärsil/Barsïl;[2]Old Tibetan:Par-sil), were anOghurTurkic semi-nomadicEurasian tribe. Barsils might be identified withBagrasik.[3] Barsils are included in the list of steppe people living north ofDerbend in the Late AntiqueSyrian compilation ofZacharias Rhetor, and are also mentioned in documents from the second half of the 6th century in connection with the westward migration of theEurasian Avars. When the Avars arrived, according toTheophylact Simocatta, "the Barsilt (Barsilians),Onogurs, andSabirs were struck with horror (...) and honoured the newcomers with brilliant gifts."[4]
In 2017, Singaporean scholar Yang Shao-yun also identifiedBarsils with theTiele tribe 白霫Báixí[5] (<MC *bˠæk̚-ziɪp̚). The Baixi 白霫 were mentioned as simply Xi 霫 in the late 8th-century encyclopaediaTongdian as a detached stock of Xiongnu who dwelt near theTungusicMohe people in formerXianbei lands north of theYellow River. Baixi could field over 10,000 soldiers, their customs somewhat resembledGöktürks' customs and Baixi's leaders were titleirkin, vassals ofEastern TurkicKhaganXieli (頡利); however, Baixi later sent their irkin toChina in the middle of the reign ofEmperor Taizong of Tang (~ 636 CE) as a gesture of submission.[6] Much later, the 14th-century chronicleHistory of Liao associated Baixi 白霫 with theMongolicKumo Xi (< MC *kʰuoH-mɑk̚-ɦei; 庫莫奚) in Zhongjing (中京). An 8th-centuryOld Tibetan list, written by fiveTibetan explorers, possibly mentioned 庫莫奚Kumoxi and 白霫Baixi together asHe-tse (奚霫Xī-Xí inLiaoshi).[7][8][9] However, the same Tibetan source distinguished theHe-tse from thePar-sil and included Barsils in twelveTurkic tribes ruled byQapaghan Qaghan.[10][11]
Zuev (2002) also pointed out that Chinese records about theWestern Turkic Kaganate c. 630 mentioned a tribe named "leopard khan"Barsqan (拔塞幹 MC. *b'uat-sai-kan > Mand.Basaigan), led byTun-ashpa-[ra]-erkin, a member of five leaders of the "Nushibi" (弩失畢 <OT *Oŋ-Şadapït) right-wing tribes.[12]
In anArmenian geography of the 7th century, the Barsils are described as living on an island, distinct from theBulgars andKhazars and at odds with both nations. In addition, it describes them as possessing large flocks of sheep, supporting the notion that they were at least partly nomadic.Mikhail Artamonov theorized that "Barsilia" was located in northernDaghestan, but subsequent scholars have disputed this theory, as the sedentary local population of the relevant period and region appears to have been, for the most part, settled in permanent fortress-towns.
Some archaeologists believe that the Barsils lived near theVolga delta, which would explain the Armenian reference to them as island-dwellers. This is supported by Theophanes' statement that the "populous people of the Khazars came out from the innermost parts of Bersilia in Sarmatia Prima." If indeed they lived on thelower Volga, they were almost certainly conquered by theKhazars, whose capitalAtil was in the same region from the mid-8th century on.
Eventually at least part of the Barsil nation is believed to have settled inVolga Bulgaria. In the 10th century,ibn Rustah reported that the three nations of Volga Bulgaria were "Bersula", "Esegel", and "Bulgar". Thereafter the Barsils were likely assimilated by theVolga Bulgars.