Alans

The Alans were an ancient and medieval Iranic nomadic pastoral people, generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians. They migrated to the North Caucasus, with some continuing into Europe and North Africa. Mentioned by Roman sources in the 1st century CE, they settled north of the Black Sea and raided the Parthian and Roman Empires. After Hunnic defeat of the Goths around 375 CE, many Alans migrated west, crossing the Rhine in 406 CE and later the Pyrenees into the Iberian Peninsula. They then crossed into North Africa in 428 CE, founding a kingdom that lasted until 534 CE. Those Alans who remained in the North Caucasus established the kingdom of Alania in the 9th century, which survived until the Mongol invasions of the 13th century. They are considered ancestors of the modern Ossetians.