The Hunnic queen Boa and Justinian: Christianization behind the scenes of diplomatic protocol

The article examines the message of the Byzantine chronicler John Malalas (ca. 491-578) about the treaty of alliance concluded in 527/528 between Emperor Justinian I (527-565) and the Queen of the Huns-Sabirs Boa, which had been directed against the Huns, who were the allies of the Persians. The author considers this agreement in the context of the history of the Christianization of the Azov Huns, which is reported by John Malalas. The author raises the question of the possible participation of Empress Theodora, the wife of Justinian, in this Christianization. The author, relying on the research of modern sinologists and his own arguments, proves the Xianbei origin of Queen Boa and suggests that the Sabirs and the Azov Huns were Buddhists who underwent an unsuccessful attempt to convert to Christianity. The author believes that the treaty of Justinian and Boa became an important diplomatic precedent, on which a century later Emperor Heraclius (610-641) relied when he concluded an alliance with the Western Turkic Khagan Tun-Jabgu (618-630) against the Persians and arranged the marriage of the Khagan with his daughter from his first marriage, Augusta Epiphania.