Bulgars

Bulgars (also Bolgars or proto-Bulgarians) - a people of Central Asia, probably originally Pamirian, whose branches became Slavicized and Turkic over time. The Turkic etymology most often given for their name is Bulgha meaning Sable and is of totemistic origin.

History

Migration to Europe

In the 2nd century AD, some groups of Bulgars migrated to the European continent and settled on the plains between the Caspian and the Black Sea. Between 351 and 389 AD, 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 Bulgarian 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 AD. After the defeat of the Huns in the Battle of Chalons on September 20, 451 AD, and the subsequent disintegration of the Hunnish empire, the Bulgar tribes dispersed mostly to eastern and southeastern parts of Europe.

At the end of the 5th century (probably in the years 480, 486, 488) they fought against the Ostrogoths as allies of the Byzantine emperor Zenon. From 493 they started frequent attacks over the western territories of the Byzantine Empire, where consecutive raids were undertaken at the end of the 5th century and the beginning of the 6th century.

In the middle of the 6th century, two main Bulgar tribes (Kutrigur and Utigur) started an internal war. At the end of the 6th century the Utigur were conquered by the Avars, while the Kutrigur allied with them. The Bulgars fell under the domination of the Turkic Khanate in 568 AD.

Establishment of Great Bulgaria

United under Kubrat (Kurt) 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).

Subsequent migrations

The death of khan Kubrat around 665 AD and the following Khazar expansion eventually led to the dissolution of Great Bulgaria.

The khan's oldest 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 descents of this Bulgar tribe 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 descendents 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 Asparuh, moved westward, occupying today’s southern Bessarabia. After a successful war with Byzantium in 680 AD, Asparuh’s khanate conquered Moesia and Dobrudja and was recognised as an independent state under the subsequent treaty signed with the Byzantine Empire in 681 AD. 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 launched joint attacks on the Byzantine Empire with the Slavs. The fifth and smallest group, led by Alcek (also known as 'Altsek' and 'Altzek'), settled in Italy, northwest of Naples.

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

List of Bulgar tribes

Tribes thought to have been Bulgaric in origin include: