Turkic nomadic equestrian people who flourished on the Pontic-Caspian steppe in the 6th century, closely related to the neighbouring Utigurs and to the Bulgars; raided Byzantine Thrace repeatedly and warred with the Utigurs to their east.
Weakened by wars against Byzantium and the Utigurs; absorbed by the expanding Pannonian Avars towards the end of the 6th century under pressure from other Turkic groups.
The classic study of the post-Attila steppe peoples, including the Kutrigur Bulgars of the Pontic steppe.