Encyclopedia
The
Bulgars were a seminomadic
asiatic people who since the
2nd century inhabited the
steppe north of
Caucasus and the banks of river Itil, now named
Volga after them.
Ethnic origin and linguistic affiliations
The dominant and more widely accepted theory is that the Bulgar language, now extinct, belonged to the
Turkic linguistic family. It is broadly classified as Old Turkic whose only living related tongue is modern Chuvash.
The base for this 19th century
Turkic theory is the fact that Bulgars used an
alphabet similar to the
Orkhon script and the number of Turkic words, mainly military terms, contained in the few . Those inscriptions were sometimes written in
Greek or
Cyrillic characters thus allowing the scolars to surely identify some of the words.
On the other hand, there is a certain frequency of
Iranian words and clues about the grammar which point to Iranian origin for the Bulgar language. The suporters of this newer
Iranian theory claim that Bulgar language was originaly Iranian and was consecquently influenced by Turkic as a result of
Hunnic military domination. They also argue that Bulgars wrote from left to right unlike the Turkic people. In support to this theory is the fact that the ancient authors always made clear difference between Turks and Bulgars. They reffered to the Bulgars as Huns,
Sarmatians and
Scythians but never as Turks. Until more written records become available this dispute will remain open.
The
anthropological data collected from early Bulgar
necropolises from
Bulgaria and the Ukrainian steppe shows that Bulgars were a high statured
Caucasoid people which had artificially deformed skulls of the brachicephalic type with slight
mongoloid features. The same anthropological type and burial rite is also found in Central Asia between the rivers
Syr Darya and
Amu Darya. The area was known to the ancient
Greeks as
Bactria and to the locals as
Bukhara, Bokhara or Balhara. It is the presumed land of origin of the Bulgars.
History
Migration to Europe
In the early
2nd century, some groups of Bulgars migrated from
Central Asia to the European continent and settled on the plains between the
Caspian and
Black Seas. Between 351 and 389, some of these crossed the
Caucasus and settled in
Armenia.
Toponymic data testify to the fact that they remained there and were eventually assimilated by the
Armenians.
Swept by the
Hunnish wave at the beginning of the
4th century, other Bulgar tribes broke loose from their settlements in central Asia to migrate to the fertile lands along the lower valleys of the
Donets and the Don rivers and the
Azov seashore, assimilating what was left of the
Sarmatians. Some of these remained for centuries in their new settlements, whereas others moved on with the
Huns towards
Central Europe, settling in
Pannonia.
Those Bulgars took part in the Hun raids on
Central and
Western Europe between 377 and 453. After the defeat of the
Huns in the
Battle of Chalons on September 20, 451, and the subsequent disintegration of the Hunnish empire, the Bulgar tribes dispersed mostly to the eastern and southeastern parts of Europe.
At the end of the
5th century they fought against the
Ostrogoths as allies of the
Byzantine emperor Zeno. From 493 they carried out frequent attacks on the western territories of the
Byzantine Empire. Later raids were carried out at the end of the
5th century and the beginning of the
6th century.
In the middle of the
6th century, war broke out between the two main Bulgar tribes, the Kutrigur and Utigur. At the end of the
6th century, the Kutrigur allied with the
Avars to conquer the Utigur. The Bulgars fell under the domination of the
Gokturk Khanate in 568.
Establishment of Great Bulgaria
United under Kubrat or Kurt of the Dulo clan, the joined forces of the Onogur and Kutrigur Bulgars broke loose from the Turkic khanate in the 630s. They formed an independent state, often called by
Byzantine sources ‘the Old Great Bulgaria’, between the lower course of the
Danube to the west, the
Black and the
Azov Seas to the south, the Kuban River to the east, and the
Donets River to the north. It is assumed that the state capital was Phanagoria, an ancient city on the Taman peninsula . However, the archeological evidence shows that the city became predominantly Bulgarian only after Kubrat's death and the consequent disintegration of his state.
Subsequent migrations
On his death-bed, Khan Kubrat had his sons gather sticks and bring them to him, which he then bundled together and told his eldest son Boyan to break the bundle. Boyan failed under the strength of the combined sticks, and, after the rest of the sons failed this test as well, Kubrat took the sticks back, separated each one, and broke them all one-by-one even in his weakened state. He told his sons the slogan "Unity Gives Strength", which has become a very popular Bulgarian slogan and is on the modern Bulgarian crest. Kubrat's sons, however, did not heed these very specific words, and thus after the death of Kubrat around 665, the following Khazar expansion eventually led to the dissolution of Great Bulgaria.
The khan’s eldest son, Batbayan , remained the ruler of the land north of the
Black and the
Azov Seas, which was, however, soon subdued by the
Khazars. Those Bulgars converted to
Judaism in the
9th century, along with the
Khazars, and were eventually assimilated. A different theory claims that the Balkars in
Kabardino-Balkaria may be the descendants of this Bulgar branch.
Another Bulgar tribe, led by Kubrat’s second son Kotrag, migrated to the confluence of the
Volga and
Kama Rivers in what is now the
Russian Federation . The present-day republics of
Tatarstan and
Chuvashia are considered to be the descendants of
Volga Bulgaria in terms of territory and people, though only Chuvash is thought to be similar to old Bolgar language.
A third Bulgar tribe, led by the youngest son Asparukh, moved westward, occupying today’s southern
Bessarabia. After a successful war with Byzantium in 680, Asparukh's khanate conquered
Moesia and
Dobrudja and was recognised as an independent state under the subsequent treaty signed with the
Byzantine Empire and emperor Constantine IV Pogonatus in 681. The same year is usually regarded as the year of the establishment of modern
Bulgaria .
A fourth group of Bulgars, under Kouber, initially moved to Pannonia and subsequently settled in western Macedonia and eastern
Albania where it formed a khanate, which joined
Slavs to attack the Byzantine Empire.
The fifth and smallest group, Alcek , led by Emnetzur, settled in
Italy, northeast of
Naples.
Entries in the Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans trace Bulgar history in more detail.
List of Bulgar tribes
Tribes thought to have been Bulgar in origin include:
- Utigur
- Kutrigurs
- Onogurs
- Kuber’s Horde
- Asparukh’s Horde
- Altasek’s Horde
- The Unok-vndur federation
See also
References
External links
