Burtas
Burtas were a tribe of uncertain ethnolinguistic affiliation inhabiting the steppe region north of the Caspian Sea in medieval times. They were subject to the Khazars.
The ethnic identity of the Burtas is disputed, with several different theories ranging from them being a Uralic tribal confederacy, and therefore perhaps the ancestors of the modern Moksha people, or that they were an Iranic tribe, possibly the ancestors of the modern Mishars.
Recently, some scholars have suggested that the Burtas were actually Alans or another Iranian ethnolinguistic group. An Alanic origin would also explain their name as furt/fort and the Alanic endonym as, cf. Ossetians and Jasses.Literature
