Bulgars

Not to be confused with Bulgarians or Bulgarian Turks.

Bulgars led by Khan Krum pursue the Byzantines at the Battle of Versinikia (813)

The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari,[1] Proto-Bulgarians[2]) were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region between the 5th[3] and 7th centuries. They became known as nomadic equestrians in the Volga-Ural region, but some researchers trace Bulgar ethnic roots to Central Asia.[4]

During their westward migration across the Eurasian Steppe, the Bulgar tribes absorbed other tribal groups and cultural influences in a process of ethnogenesis, including Iranic, Finno-Ugric, and Hunnic tribes.[5][6][7][8][9][10] The Bulgars spoke a Turkic language, the Bulgar language of the Oghuric branch.[11] They preserved the military titles, organization, and customs of Eurasian steppes[12] as well as pagan shamanism and belief in the sky deity Tangra.[13]

The Bulgars became semi-sedentary during the 7th century in the Pontic-Caspian steppe, establishing the polity of Old Great Bulgaria c. 630–635, which was defeated by the Khazar Empire in 668 AD. In 681, Khan Asparukh conquered Scythia Minor, opening access to Moesia, and established the Danubian Bulgaria – the First Bulgarian Empire, where the Bulgars became a political and military elite. They merged subsequently with established Byzantine populations,[14][15] as well as with previously settled Slavic tribes, and were eventually Slavicized, thus becoming one of the ancestors of modern Bulgarians.[16]

The remaining Pontic Bulgars migrated in the 7th century to the Volga River, where they founded Volga Bulgaria; they preserved their identity well into the 13th century.[11] The modern Volga Tatars, Bashkirs and Chuvash people claim to have originated from the Volga Bulgars.[11][17][18]

  1. ^ Waldman, Mason 2006, p. 106.
  2. ^ Gi︠u︡zelev, Vasil (1979). The Proto-Bulgarians: Pre-history of Asparouhian Bulgaria text. pp. 15, 33, 38.
  3. ^ Golden 1992, p. 104.
  4. ^ Hyun Jin Kim (18 April 2013). The Huns, Rome and the Birth of Europe. Cambridge University Press. pp. 58–59, 150–155, 168, 204, 243. ISBN 9781107009066.
  5. ^ Golden 1992, p. 253, 256: "[Pontic Bulgars] With their Avar and Türk political heritage, they assumed political leadership over an array of Turkic groups, Iranians and Finno-Ugric peoples, under the overlordship of the Khazars, whose vassals they remained." ... "The Bulgars, whose Oguric ancestors ..."
  6. ^ McKitterick, Rosamond (1995). The New Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge University Press. p. 229. ISBN 9780521362924. The exact ethnic origins of the Danubian Bulgars is controversial. It is in any case most probable that they had enveloped groupings of diverse origins during their migration westwards across the Eurasian steppes, and they undoubtedly spoke a form of Turkic as their main language. The Bulgars long retained many of the customs, military tactics, titles and emblems of a nomadic people of the steppes.
  7. ^ Sophoulis 2011, pp. 65–66, 68–69: "The warriors who founded the Bulgar state in the Lower Danube region were culturally related to the nomads of Eurasia. Indeed, their language was Turkic, and more specifically Oğuric, as is apparent from the isolated words and phrases preserved in a number of inventory inscriptions." ... "It is generally believed that during their migration to the Balkans, the Bulgars brought with them or swept along several other groups of Eurasian nomads whose exact ethnic and linguistic affinities are impossible to determine... Sarmato-Alanian origin... Slav or Slavicized sedentary populations."
  8. ^ Brook 2006, p. 13: "Thus, the Bulgars were actually a tribal confederation of multiple Hunnic, Turkic, and Iranian groups mixed together."
  9. ^ "Bulgaria: Arrival of the Bulgars". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 3 June 2015. The name Bulgaria comes from the Bulgars, a people who are still a matter of academic dispute with respect to their origin (Turkic or Indo-European) as well as to their influence on the ethnic mixture and the language of present-day Bulgaria.[permanent dead link‍]
  10. ^ "Bulgar". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 3 June 2015. Although many scholars, including linguists, had posited that the Bulgars were derived from a Turkic tribe of Central Asia (perhaps with Iranian elements), modern genetic research points to an affiliation with western Eurasian populations.
  11. ^ a b c Waldman, Mason 2006, p. 106–107.
  12. ^ Waldman, Mason 2006, p. 108–109.
  13. ^ Waldman, Mason 2006, p. 109.
  14. ^ Waldman, Mason 2006, p. 108.
  15. ^ Golden 2011, p. 145, 158, 196.
  16. ^ Fiedler 2008, p. 151: "...ethnic symbiosis between Slavic commoners and Bulgar elites of Turkic origin, who ultimately gave their name to the Slavic-speaking Bulgarians."
  17. ^ Shnirelʹman 1996, p. 22–35.
  18. ^ D. M. Dunlop (1967). The History of the Jewish khazars. New Jersey. p. 34.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)