The Huns were the first major central Asian people to invade Europe and they made quite an impression. A warlike, nomadic people, the Huns had been repulsed by the Chinese (who knew them as the Hsing-Nu) in the 1st and 2nd century and began drifting west, pushing other peoples --like the Goths -- before them.. By the mid-4th century they were ensconced north of the Caspian Sea. Within about sixty years they had moved into to the Balkans, conquering everything in their path. Thus by the early 5th century they were poised to invade the Roman Empire itself. The Huns were hampered by their need for a strong leader. A new one, Attila , didn't come along until 433 AD. He expanded Hun control over most of the German and Slavic peoples, but was unable to comquer the Roman empire, being defeated at Chalons in 451. When Attila died in 453, his overstreached empire was quickly brought down by rebellions of his German and Slav subjects. There were never more than a hundred thousand Huns among several million Germans and Slavs. Many Huns were killed in the wars and the final rebellion. The rest either went back to Asia or merged with the local populations, and they disappeared as a people over the next century or so..