Bulgars

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The Bulgars (also Bolgars or proto-Bulgarians) are a people of Central Asian origin, probably originally Turkic, Iranian, or Ugrian. They spoke a Turkic language during their early history, though some of them were subsequently Slavicized. The Turkic etymology most often given for their name is Bulgha, meaning sable, and is apparently of totemistic origin.

1 History
2 List of Bulgar tribes
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

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History

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Migration to Europe

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In the 2nd century AD, some groups of Bulgars migrated to the European continent and settled on the plains between the Caspian and Black Seas. Between AD 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 AD, 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 AD 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 (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.

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 AD 568.

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Establishment of Great Bulgaria

United under Kubrat (Kurt, known to Arabs as Shahriar) of the Dulo clan, the Bulgars joined forces with the Onogur Avars and 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. The capital of the state was Phanagoria, on the Taman peninsula (see Tmutarakan).

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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 AD 665, the following Khazar expansion eventually led to the dissolution of Great Bulgaria.

The khan’s eldest son, Batbayan (Bayan, Boyan), 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 (see Volga Bulgaria). 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 AD 680, Asparukh's khanate conquered Moesia and Dobrudja and was recognised as an independent state under the subsequent treaty signed with the Byzantine Empire in AD 681. The same year is usually regarded as the year of the establishment of present-day Bulgaria (see History of Bulgaria).

A fourth group of Bulgars, under Kouber, 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 (also transliterated as 'Altsek' and 'Altzek'), led by Emnetzur, settled in Italy, northeast of Naples.

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Entries in the List of Bulgarian monarchs trace Bulgar history in more detail.

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