I find the Bulgars to be one of the most fascinating and interesting Turkic peoples
The
Bulgars (also
Bolgars,
Bulghars, Proto-
Bulgarians,
[1] Huno-Bulgars[2]) were a semi-nomadic
Turkic people who flourished in the
Pontic Steppe and the
Volga basin in the 7th century AD.
[3][4] Ethnically, the Bulgars are thought to have been
Oghur Turkic, with
Scytho-Sarmatian[5][6] and Sarmatian-
Alan[7][8] elements. There is a discussion whether these Sarmatian elements in the cultural characteristics of the Proto-Bulgars are based on Sarmatized Turks or Turkicized Sarmatians.
[9] They had also enveloped other ethnic groups by their migration westwards across the
Eurasian steppe.
[10][11] In their ethnogenesis Indo-European (Iranian) groups, Altaic groups (Stoyanov 1997) and probably Uralic (Finno-Ugric) groups (Artamanov 1962) have participated.
[12]
Emerging as
nomadic equestrians in the
Volga-Ural region, their roots can be traced, according to some researchers to Central Asia.
[13] They became sedentary during the 7th century into the
Pontic-Caspian steppe, establishing the polity (khanate) of
Old Great Bulgaria c. 630 AD. However it was absorbed by the
Khazar Empire in 668 AD. In 680 AD Khan
Asparukh conquered
Scythia Minor, opening access to
Moesia, and established the
First Bulgarian Empire, which was however
slavicized by the 10th century. Another state called
Volga Bulgaria was established on the middle Volga circa 670 AD. Volga Bulgars preserved their national identity well into the 13th century by repelling the first
Mongol attacks in 1223. But they were eventually subdued, and their capital
Bolghar city became one of major cities of the Mongol
Golden Horde. Later, the Volga Bulgars adopted the
Kipchak language (with some or no Kipchak admixture) and became the
Volga Tatars of the
Khanate of Kazan and later modern
Tatarstan.
Etymology
The etymology of the name
Bulgar is not fully understood; there are claims that it derived from the
Turkic verb
bulğa ("to mix", "shake, "stir") and its derivative
bulgak ("revolt", "disorder") by some authorities.
[14][15] A minority hypothesis derives it from
bel gur ("five
clans").
[16]
Hunnic Empire
The early Bulgars (or "Proto-Bulgars") may have been present in the Pontic Steppe from the 2nd century, identified with the
Bulensii in certain
Latin versions of
Ptolemy's
Geography, shown as occupying the territory along the northwest coast of
Black Sea east of
Axiacus River (Southern Bug).
[17][18][19]
In the early 4th century, the Bulgars would have been caught up in the
Hunnic migrations, moving to the fertile lands along the lower valleys of the rivers
Donets and
Don and the
Azov seashore, and assimilating some remainders 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 Hunnic raids on Central and Western Europe between 377 and 453. After the death of
Attila in 453, and the subsequent disintegration of the
Hunnic Empire, the Bulgar tribes dispersed mostly to the eastern and southeastern parts of Europe.
At the end of the 5th century (probably in the years 480, 486, and 488) 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.
Bulgar Khanate
In the middle of the 6th century, war broke out between the two main Bulgar tribes, the
Kutrigur and
Utigur. To the west, the Kutrigurs fell under
Avar dominion and became influential within the Khaganate. The eastern Utigurs fell under the western
Göktürk empire in 568. The Bulgars took the city of
Corinth in the middle of the 7th century.
[20] United under
Kubratof the
Dulo clan (identical to the ruler mentioned by
Persian chronicler
Tabari under the name of Shahriar), the joined forces of the Utigur and Kutrigur Bulgars, and probably the Bulgar
Onogurs, broke loose from the Turkic khanate in the 630s. They formed an independent state, the Onogundur-Bulgar (
Oghondor-blkar or
Olhontor-blkar) Empire, often called by
Byzantine sources "the
Old Great Bulgaria". The empire was situated between the lower course of the
Danube to the west, the
Black Sea and the
Azov Sea 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 (
see Tmutarakan). However, the archaeological evidence shows that the city became predominantly Bulgar only after Kubrat's death and the consequent disintegration of his state.
Bulgars - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia