History of Bulgars descends to ancient times. But fragmental evidence
of the officially recognized sources do not give a complete picture of the ancient Bulgars'
statehood. Reclamation of the true story of the ancient and existing now Bulgar people is hampered by
usual viewing their past through the prism of their
current state, which greatly distorts the past situation. In addition, the nations
dominating now have created myths about their past greatness, ignoring that
their greatness came later, and was often based on the achievements of other nations.
Everything is fluid in this world.
However, exist officially unrecognized Bulgar
Chronicle “Djagfar Tarihi”, which in a tangle of historical facts shows unknown pages
of the Bulgars' history, and
fits fairly logically into the overall historical canvas of the Europe and Asia. In their basic outline
the events described in “Djagfar Tarihi” do not contradict
recognized officially sources, and even find confirmation there. The Chronicle, naturally,
reflects history of the Bulgars fuller and in detail. It provides clear understanding
of those records about Bulgars that are found in the official sources that can't be explaned logically.
Bulgar State Idel
Like the histories of other peoples, the Bulgars' history has two interrelated parts - a
mythological and a historical. Leaving aside mythology of the Bulgars' history,
although possibly there can be found echoes of real events in the life of
the people that in antiquity was involved in great events, this canvasses the historical part. Based on
“Djagfar Tarihi”, we can presume that the first historically plausible state was the
Bulgars' kingdom Idel (from “jide il” - “seven countries”) (Note
the Ogur “j” in “jide”, which the author is using in his native Kazan Tatar language to
render “ide”). It covered a territory
from the modern Moscow to Enisei. The kingdom was ruled by a number of dynasties.
For example, between the 8th c. BC to the 1st century AD Idel was ruled by a Sarmat
dynasty, and the country was accordingly called Sarmatia, and the Bulgars were called Sarmatians. In
the 1st-2nd centuries the state was headed by the Alan dynasty, in the 2nd-5th centuries ruled a Hunnic dynasty, then
from 6th to 7th centuries the kingdom was ruled by a Suvar dynasty. That was an accepted
norm at that time - the name of the clan that stood at the head of the country was the name
for all people in the state,
even though among themselves they clearly knew who belonged to which clan and tribe.
The Idel kingdom was an early feudal state, it was divided into autonomous principalities
(beyliks), headed by Princes (Biy). Their responsibilities included collection of
taxes from the dependent peasants (igenchi). The collected funds the Biys were sending as a tribute
to the royal treasury, retaining their share. Artisans and merchants were required to pay
to the royal treasury a part of their income.
Bulgars also lived outside of the Idel realm. The desire of the Idel kings to join
to their State the neighboring lands inhabited by Bulgars seemed legitimate then. Bulgars occupied
territory from northern China to Asia Minor. The Bulgar king Burtas
(7th c. BC) of the Sarmatian dynasty was persistently uniting Bulgar tribes into one nation. His
son Azak with his army reached Lake Balkhash and annexed to Idel the Indo-Aryan tribes of
northern Sakas (Kypchaks). Another branch of the Sakas, that lived south of Kipchaks,
the Massagets (Masguts), did not submit to Azak and began attacking its northern tribesmen,
in apparent revenge for submitting to Idel. Kypchaks at their request
were reloicated to the northern Pontic region, which was already inhabited by
Cimmerians, the Germanic tribes (Goths, Cimbri, Teutons, etc.), whom Bulgars called
“Kamyrs”. The Kamyrs resisted the resettlement of the Kypchaks. King Azak had to fight a war with them.
The Cimmerians were defeated and fled to the Middle East. Idel had to repulse a response attack
from the Middle Eastern Persians, who created a powerful state and could not
admit a rise of someone else in their neighborhood. Particularly dangerous was the
attack of the Persians against Idel in the 516-514 BC. However, the Idel king Timer
repelled the attack.
The Hun period of the Bulgars' statehood
In the 1st c. AD an Alan dynasty came to power in Idel, their court in the city Suvar was in the lower
course of the Itil. In the middle of the 2nd century, the power in Idel inherited Er-Tash
(Stone Warrior? Man?),
who was married to Massaget women. The influence of their relatives angered the old Idel
nobility. At Idel throne The Bulgar nobles secretly invited a Hun king Agardja Dulo. When
Er-Tash learned about that, he and his army went to meet the pretender to his throne. Most of the Bulgar
feudal lords switched to the Agardja side. The contention was resolved by a single combat
between the kings won by Dulo. By the conditions of the fight, he became an Idel king.
A sister of Er-Tash, who perished in combat, was married to Agardja Dulo.
The Huns of Agardja Dulo were descendants of the Northern China Bulgars, the Syanbi
(Ch. Xianbei). They
called Idel Bulgars “Bulyar” (Bilyar), and Bulgars called their Asian relatives
Serbians. A part of the Serbians settled among the Finno-Ugric peoples, amalgamated with them,
and formed a new ethnic group of the Bulgars, which the Ruses called “Vedas”, and then
“Mountain Cheremisses”, later for them stuck a name “Chuvashes”.
In the 4th c. after a death of the Idel King Kama-Batyr, among his sons broke out a war for the
throne of their father. As almost always happens in such cases, the end winner was a Hunnic warlord
Bulümar (Balamber). He married the daughter of Kama-Batyr Turan-bika and founded an Atil
dynasty. However, his descendants continued to identify themselves as Dulo dynasty. Balamber sided with Persia against the Eastern Roman Empire. For the Idel King the war was successful, and he annexed to his dominions the lands of the Greek allies, the principality Alania, founded in the western part of the North Caucasus and in
the Lower Don by the members of the Alanian dynasty who fled from Idel; the Gothic principality
in the lower Dnieper, and the Greek cities of the Black Sea. With the Balamber's victories over Byzantium in the Black Sea began the Hunnic conquest of the Western Europe. A Balamber descendant Attila (434-453) created
a powerful Hunnic state in Europe. His state extended from the Itil to France. The Idel court kept moving further to the west: first Balamber established aul Hon Balyn (at the future site of Kyiv)
(Hon = Hun, Balyn = Volyn = land of Slavs in the Carpathian area), then on the territory of the future Hungary, and then beyond to Germanic lands. The military victories ofAttila allowed him to collect tribute from the Eastern and Western Roman Empire. After the death of Attila between hisdescendants flaired a fight for the inheritance of theirfather. Greeks and Romans took advantage of theturmoil. The Hunno-Bulgarians lost territories in the Central and Western Europe. Attila's son Bel-Kermek, who became the Idel king, retained only the eastern lands of the empire.
Bel Kermek Bulgaria
ca 460 AD
Collapse of the unified Bulgar state Idel
A Kermek descendant, Idel king Bulyak, in alliance with Persia, tried to recover the
Black Sea lands from Byzantium. In 516 the king's son As-Terek led troops, consisting
mostly of the Suvars (Savirs) of the lower Itil Bulgars, entering Armenia, then the Asia
Minor. However, in the east emerged a threat, the Türkic Kaganate that demanded that the
Idel king Bulyak paid it a tribute, that forced As-Terek turn the army around and return
back to his country. Bulyak died in 520, and to the throne ascended his son As-Terek. The
Türkic Kagan concluded with the Byzantine Empire an anti-Persian alliance and demanded
As-Terek to stop military actions against it. The Idel king did not satisfy the Turkut
demands (That was a general Bulgarian name for the population of the Türkic Kaganate).
Then, by court intrigues, the Turkut helped a younger wife of Bulyak Boyarkyz, an
ethnically Suvarian and a supporter of closer alliance with the Türkic Kaganate, to seize power in Idel . To
the power in Idel came a Suvarian
dynasty. Boyarkyz physically removed Bulyak's sons from other wives, but not everyone.
Jumbuk, Bulyak's second son from his senior wife, fled to Crimea. Initially, he served
for the Greeks, then he founded a Bulgar beylik (principality) in Azak (Taman, Sea of Azov, and Eastern Crimea). At the site of the ancient Greek city Phanagoria
(In the opinion of some Turkologists, named after the local
Scythian confederation On-Ogur = Ten Tribes) Jumbuk founded
the capital of the state, calling it Echke-Bulgar (Bungar) (Echke
= Old). In the beylik were other large
cities, such as Banjà-Kepe (Agardja) at the place of the modern city Kerch,
Tamya-Tarhan (Tmutarakan), and others. Soon, the boundaries of the new state expanded: they
embraced the northern Black Sea region with the Middle Dnieper, and North Caucasus,
inhabited by Bulgars, Alans, and the Anchians (Ants), the ancestors of the modern
Ukrainians. Within Idel remained the Suvar beylik, which included territory of the
Itil area, Southern Urals and Western Siberia.
Altyn Oba ca 600 AD
Great Bulgaria
In 558, the Bulgar beylik suffered a disaster. The Bulgars were unable to withstand the
onslaught of the nomadic Avars, who were expelled from the Asia by the Turkuts
(Ashina Türks). The Avars
with Ugrians fought their way across Bulgaria, obliging her to pay tribute and, creating
the Avar Kaganate, settled in the Middle Danube (territory of the modern Hungary). The Türkic Kaganate was
going through a struggle for power by various factions. The Oguzes seized the power, and
a considerable part of the Türkic Kaganate
Bulgars, led by a biy (Prince) Askal (Askil) in 563 left from Turkestan
to the Great Bulgaria (Bulgar beylik). The prince of the Bulgar beylik Tamya-Tarhan adopted
his tribesmen and settled them in the Hon-Balyn province (area of modern Kyiv), after which that settlement
was renamed Askal.
Askal married a daughter of Tamya-Tarhan, their son Alvar inherited power in the
Bulgar beylik (Great Bulgaria, as the Greeks called it later). Alvar entered into an alliance with
Byzantine Empire, which was also supported by his successors. After a death of Alvar from the
hands of his brother, who was in Avar servce, his younger brother Bu-Ürgan (Organa) ascended the throne. In 619, to strengthen
his alliance with Byzantium, Bu-Ürgan
with part of the Bulgars adopted Orthodox Christianity in the Greek city of Chersonese
(Korsun), which Bulgars called Kryashen. Bulgars were Tengrians, and Bu Ürgan's baptism caused
their discontent, which ended with him being forced to cede
power in the Great Bulgaria to his nephew Kubrat (Kurbat), a son of Alvar. In 620 Kubrat
instructed his younger brother Shambat to construct in Askal a fortress, which was named Bashtu
(later Kyiv). In Bashtu lived Bulgars, Anchians (Slavs), Greeks and others, as reflected
in the later Arabo-Persian historical and geographical compositions. Shambat went on a
successful campaign against Avars, annexed to his possessions a vast territory
that belonged to the Avars, and announced a creation of his own state called Duloba
(oba = habitat, habitat of the clan Dulo), which Slavs called Duleba. Kubrat demanded from his brother to
return to the bosom of the Great Bulgaria, but Shambat refused his demand, for which he
earned a nickname Kyi, i.e. “Separated”. As a separate state, Duloba existed from 623 to
658 (In the West European historiography, it goes under a name
Samo state, and is billed as a first Slavic state in history. In contrast, in Slavic
histories it is completely ignored, and even the Slavic term "Duloba" passes without any
explanations and with somewhat negative connotations. Not a single Slavic state
celebrates a creation of the first Slavic state in history. There are no heroic operas, no heroic cantatas).
Kubrat closely followed events in the Türkic Kaganate jarred by internecine wars in the
struggle for power. In 629, the Türkic Kaganate broke up into two parts: the eastern
Balasagun - and western Khazar. Immediately after these events Kubrat subdued the Suvar
beylik and proclaimed Bulgaria a single state. From that time, Idel was just the
Itil-Kama water system. The country changed its name, as reflected in the Byzantine
chronicles. The Greeks began calling the country of Bulgars a Great Bulgaria. While the Greeks
called the country of the Bulgars a Great Bulgaria, the Bulgars themselves called it Kara-Bulgar,
which is the same thing, because the word “kara” in Bulgar language at
that time meant not only “black” but also “great, big, mighty”. Hence the
“Kara Dingez”, i.e. Black Sea (“Kara” is also “west” and
“western”, thus “Kara Dingez” is also Western Sea. Probably, the “Western Sea” was its
original meaning).
Events at that turbulent time were evolving rapidly, especially among people who had nomadic
or semi-nomadic lifestyle. In 658 Shambat was defeated by a coalition of Franks and Avars,
and was forced to turm to Kubrat for help. Kubrat accepted his brother under his arm, making him
an Ulugbek
(Governor) (Great Bek) of Bashtu, but in punishment ordered
him to be called Kyi (“cut off, distant”),
hence the modern name of the city Kyiv; in addition, the fortress was called after its
founder, Shambat.
Kurbat Bulgaria
ca 650 AD
In 668, Kagan (king) Kubrat died, the throne was inherited by his eldest son, Bat-Boyan. Three
years later Shambat, supported by his younger brother Asparuh
(Asparuh, a younger brother of Bat-Boyan, was Shambat's nephew), who was
an Ulugbek of Bars-ile (Itil-Urals and Siberia)(Hence, the name
Barsilia), campaigned against Bat-Boyan in order to seize the Bulgar throne.
Asparuh captured Burdjan (North Caucasus). Bat-Boyan with the support of the Khazars,
with whom he formed an alliance, defeated the Asparuh army. Asparuh fled to Kyiv to
his uncle Shambat. Later, Asparuh with his tribes migrated to the Balkans and there,
together with Southern Slavs, created a new state, the Danube Bulgaria.
At the head of the Khazar Kaganate were Central Asian Bulgars from the Ashina clan,
i.e. “Wolf Clan” (Since Chinese annals state that Türks 突厥 were
a branch of Saka 塞, that makes the
“Central Asian Bulgars” Sakas,
which herein are called Kipchaks vs. Ashina Türks. Whoever compiled this history trusted too much the propaganda of the historical manipulators). Khazars
were constantly expanding the limits of their state. Soon, the former Bulgar territory became
a part of the Khazar Kaganate. The Khazars were a people closely
related to the Bulgars, so no conflicts arose in the state on an ethnic basis, moreover
there were Bulgar states where everyone could move to. The center of the Khazar
Kaganate was the Bulgarian city Itil (After it was involuntarily
moved from Semender). The emergence and consolidation of the Khazar Kaganate coincided with the establishment of the Arab Caliphate, which
conducted many wars,
including in the North Caucasus. Initially, the Khazars and Bulgars resisted the advance of
the Arabs. But in 737, the Khazar armies were defeated by the Arabs in the territory of
the Khazar Kaganate. Under the terms of an Arab-Khazar treaty, Kagan allowed anyone who
wanted to
to accept Islam. A considerable number of Burdjan Bulgars (in particular, the ancestors of
the modern Balkars, Karachais and Kumyks) accepted Islam. From that time Islam began
spreading among the Bulgars (Danube Bulgars converted to
Orthodox Christianity).
Bulgaria in Khazaria at its maximum
Kara-Bulgaria
In the first period of the Khazar Kaganate the center of the Bulgar political life became the city
Bashtu (Kyiv). When at the beginning of the 9th c. Khazar Kagan Obadia with his court
converted to
Judaism and began persecution of Muslims, many of them fled to the Bulgar king Aidar
(815-855) in Bashtu (Kyiv). Aidar settled them in the territory of the modern Ukraine. In 820 king Aidar, with a part of
Kara Bulgars (Black or Western Bulgars) converted to Islam. In response, Obadia broke his alliance with Bulgaria and went to war
against her. Bulgars defeated the Khazar army, in that
they had great help of the Ugric Madjars (Magyars), settled by the Khazar Kagan
by the Azov Sea, who at
decisive moment of the battle switched over to the Bulgars. To ensure security of the
country, king Aidar concluded an alliance with Badjinaks (Bosnians/Patzinaks) and married
a Badjinak Bika
(Princess). Their son, Djilki (Horse, in Ogur form) also converted to Islam and adopted a Muslim name Gabdulla
(“Djagfar Tarihi” is very diplomatically nearly silent on the
Badjinaks, their migration, and disaster that they brought on the Bulgarian people and
state ).
Aidar decided to fight the Khazar Kaganate economically. He forbade the Bulgar and Western merchants to go to Khazaria on trade business, and
established a new trade route - “from the
Varangians to the Greeks”. The road from Scandinavia to Byzantium and South Caucasus run
through the Slavic lands: along Volkhov and Dnieper, crossed the Bulgar beylik, Black Sea and
on to Asia Minor. This arrangement contributed to flourishing of the Kara Bulgar
state.
In 855 Aidar died, the Bulgar throne was inherited by his son Gabdulla Djilki, who in
his affairs primarily relied on the Muslim nobility, which caused dissatisfaction of the
Bulgars-Tengrians. A younger brother of Gabdulla, Lachin (Rurik), aspiring to take the throne of
his father, became a head of the Tengrians unhappy with his brother's policy. Byzantium and
Khazar Kaganate sided
with Lachin (Rurik) in his fight for the throne, naturally for their own interests. In Kara-Bulgars broke out
a civil war. Initially, success was on the
side of Gabdulla: he defeated the army of Lachin and his Khazar allies. Against the other
Lachyn's ally Gabdulla sent Bulgar fleet in 860, which reached Constantinople and
ravaged its suburbs. At the head of the fleet were a chief of Anchians (ancestors of
modern Ukrainians) Djir (Dir, the name is given in Ogur form) and
à leader of the Scandinavian mercenaries (Vikings/Varangians) Askold.
In 864, when Gabdulla was at his summer court (batavyl) Horysdan (Putivl), Lachin
attacked him. The king hastened to take refuge in Bashtu (Kyiv). But the people of Kyiv,
headed by Askold, isolated Djir (Dir), who was loyal to Gabdulla, and did not let the king into the
capital. The King repulsed Lachin's attack, captured Kyiv, and banished Askold from the capital.
The disloyalty of the Kyivans caused him to move in 865 the capital of Bulgaria to the city
Bulgar at the
confluence of the Kama and Itil. Gabdulla divided Kara-Bulgaria into two allodial beyliks
with the border along the Dnieper river: the eastern part became Kara
Bulgar beylik, headed by the king-appointed his son Almysh (Djafar), the western part
was named a Kyiv beylik and was headed by his loyal Bek Djir (Dir).
The foreign policy of Bulgaria in the 9th - mid of the 10th centuries was defined by the rivalry with the Khazar Kaganate
for the influence in the Eastern
Europe. Khazars persistently sought to seize the Kyiv beylik from Bulgaria. On the
other hand, expelled from the country Askold sought to seize power in Kyiv, in 870 he came
to Kyiv with a Varangian retinue. The Kyivans accepted him as a co-ruler of Ulugbek Djir and deported
Mikail Bashtu, a Gabdulla's Kyiv viceroy and a great Bulgarian medieval poet, to the Bulgar
at Itil. In 875, Askold raised in Kyiv an anti-Bulgarian revolt, organizing for that the
Anchians (Slavs). The Kara Bulgar Ulugbek Almysh could not suppress the rebellion:
Khazars intervened in the affair and supported Askold. Gabdulla started preparing a big
campaign on Kyiv.
Djilki prepared for the campaign a large force. Bulgars and Badjinaks were to move to Kyiv
from the east, and from north from Yan Galidj (Great Novgorod) was coming Salahbi (“Oleg the
Wise, Oleg the Seer”). In 882 Gabdulla suddenly died, and a planned campaign was began by his son Bat-Ugyr
Mumin (882-895), a new king of Bulgar. The Bulgar troops came to Kyiv from the north and east at the
same time. The Kyivans without resistance accepted Salahbi
(“Oleg the Seer”) as a Prince. Askold was captured and executed. Inspired by his success, Mumin began
preparing a campaign against the hostile Khazar Kaganate. Khazars moved to conclude a peace with
Bulgar. However, the threat to Bulgar from Khazaria has not passed yet.
In the 890 Khazars helped Almysh's eldest son Arbat to overthrow his father, and seize
the power in the Kara Bulgar beylik. Arbat was helped in this not only by the Khazars, but
also by the Ugrs (Magyars), because his mother was a Magyar. Almysh fled to Kyiv, where he became
a Salahbi co-regent. After the seizure of power, Arbat together with Ugrians took part in
the Khazar's campaign against Badjinaks. Badjinaks were defeated, one part of them fled to the
Bulgar (city?) and another part occupied the lands in
the Sea of Azov area, which formerly belonged to
the Ugrs. Arbat campaigned against the Danube Bulgars, tried to recapture the Ugrian lands from
the Badjinaks, but did not succeed. The failures forced him to retreat with his Kara
Bulgar and Magyar warriors to the Avaria. There, together with the Avar's Ugrians, Arbat
(Arpad), established his own Hungarian State.
Itil Bulgaria
Kara-Bulgars ended up near the restless Badjinaks, which was not pleasing them, and they
convinced Almysh to take them to the Itil Bulgaria. Almysh agreed to lead the
immigrants with a hope of eventually take his father's throne. The Almysh arival in the head
of the
immigrants coincided with an Oguz campaign against Bulgaria, when they just crossed the Bulgar border.
The Oguz Khan concluded a treaty with Almysh. The Bulgar nobles, frightened by such turn
of events, enthroned Almysh (895-925), who promised to protect Bulgar from the Oguzes (Turkmens).
Based on a military force, a skillful foreign policy of Almysh forced Byzantium to abandon
its support for the Khazar Kaganate. The Khazar Kagan found support in the Central Asian Samanid
state. The Samanid emir told the subjected to him Central Asian Oguzes-Turkmens to attack
Bulgar. In response, in 910 Almysh ordered the Bulgarian Varangians to attack the
Caspian possessions of the Samanids. In 911 a huge united army of the Khazars and Turkmen
attacked Bulgar. Almysh barely managed to repel the attack (From
305 until 995 AD Chorasmia was ruled by the native Afrighid dynasty, not Samanids.
Khazaria found or bought support in Chorasmia, which at that time was populated by Karluks, Oguzes, Kangars,
and Badjinaks).
Apparently, thoughts about necessity of unity of the Bulgar people in one centralized
state in the face of external danger of enslavement led Almysh to the idea of adopting a
religion that would ideologically ensure that unity. Especially in front of him were vivid
examples of the power of the Arab Caliphate and Samanid state, spiritually bonded by Islam.
He himself has long been a Muslim, and many Bulgarians professed Islam, but many
Bulgarians still worshiped Tengri. To confirm Islam in the country, it had to
be declared a state religion. In 921 a Bulgarian diplomat Abdallah ibn Bashtu, a son of the poet Mikail Bashtu, overcoming
on assignment of the king Almysh himself the difficulties of the travel, reached the court of the Baghdad
Caliph, and informed Caliph about the desire of the Bulgar
king to establish Islam as a state religion, and to form an alliance against Khazar Kagan as
an enemy of Islam. In the same year a long-awaited embassy of the Caliph,
headed by Ambassador Susan al-Rasi, departed from Baghdad. A counselor at the embassy was Ahmed ibn Fadlan,
whose notes about those events reached our time.
However, not all Biys were happy with the arrival of the embassy and the prospect of the
pronouncement of Islam a state religion. A part of Tengrians Biys organized conspiracy,
they conjured the Almysh middle son Mikail-Yalkau and offerred him to overthrow his
father and seize the Bulgar throne. The conspirators, under a guise of celebrating Sabantui,
assembled in the Bulyar city. People supported the conspirators, for an Almysh tax increase shortly beforehand angered many people
(Tax is a good excuse, but would not Christians, Catholics,
Protestants, etc be more upset by prospect of a forced conversion from the religious
brunch
of their ancestors then the taxes?). Mikail-Yalkau did not join the
conspirators, which caused some confusion among them. The rebels hid in the
Bulyar fortress and limited their actions to occasional forays.
On May 12, 922 the Great Embassy from Baghdad, which Abdallah ibn Bashtu brought through all the vicissitudes,
entered the capital city Bolgar of the country. Almysh agreed to resolve the
conflict without bloodshed. The rebels surrendered and were forgiven by the Muslim king, which
in the eyes of the people raised even more the profile of Islam. In addition, the rebels,
Biys and their people, were warriors, and Almysh needed warriors to wage a war against the Khazar Kagan.
The Bulgar
king weas gathering forces for jihad (holy war for the faith). From the Yan Galidj (Great Novgorod) for participation in the war
against the Khazars came Salahbi (“Oleg the Seer”), expelled from the Kyiv by the Lachin
(Rurik) son Ugyr (Igor), who proclaimed the Kyiv beylik a Rus
principality independent of Bulgaria. The dynasty of Urus-Aydar, which included Ugyr (Igor),
was called “Urusian” in the
Bulgar, or “Rusian” in Slavonic. And the Kyiv Bulgarians also called themselves the
“Urus-Bulgars”.“Urus” at that time meant “great.” Quite naturally, Ugyr (Igor)
did not disdain this epithet. Thus arose the ancient Rusian state Kyivan Rus. Upon
arrival to the Bulgar, Salahbi (“Oleg the Seer”) suddenly died. Without his fleet, with only cavalry on
hand, Almysh did not dare to start a campaign against the Khazars.
After an official adoption of Islam, Almysh introduced a number of reforms, both in government
and in economic life of the country. Ahmed Ibn Fadlan was appointed a Seid, i.e. a religious head of the
country's Muslims. Across the country were built fortresses and cities. Started minting
of the Bulgar metal (I.e. silver) coins. The state
was divided into provinces, headed by the king-appointed Ulugbeks (governors), instead of
autonomous beyliks. The local nobility, tarhans, reported to them. Was instituted Islamization
of the pagan (I.e. Tengriist) tribes. All that
facilitated an emergence of united Bulgarian people. The feudal exploitation of the people
also increased. The state peasants
(igencheis), called Chirmyshes, in connection with the construction
that unfolded in the country, were levied additional duties. Slavery also existed in Bulgaria.
The slaves were mostly captured enemy soldiers, or they were bought at slave markets,
where they brought over by foreign merchants. After 6 years of work for the owner, or in
a case of acceptance of Islam, a slave was becoming free.
After the death of Almysh, Bulgaria was ruled by his son Gasan (Hassan) (925-930). He always
respected Samanids, and immediately after accession to the throne concluded an aliance with Samanid Emirate
(Bukhara ? Khoresm was not a Samanid Emirate at that time), thus
abandoning plans of his father to finish with the Khazar Kaganate. Gazan n could not
fail to know that Samanids supported the Khazar Kaganate. Domestically, Gazan n increased oppression of
igencheis (peasants), and distributed a part of igenchei land to his retinue (jurs). So
in the country appeared large feudal landowners, who could pass by inheritance the lands
received from the king. They were called kazancheys, i.e. Gazan n's people. Ahmad ibn Fadlan, who
during Gazan n reign also became a Vizier (Prime Minister), fully supported initiatives of
his favorite.
In the winter of 930-931, Gazan n personally went to the mountain side of
Bulgaria (right bank of Itil) to collect taxes (Personal tax
collection by the ruler was his duty, to hold court sessions, render judgements, receive
petitions, and confirm appointments. At the same time was held a regional fair; the right bank of Itil
was populated by dependent Mari Finns, also called Burtases = Beekeeper Ases). The winter was
severe and famished. By an order of the king from the igencheis were taken their last
reserves. The people rebelled. Gasan was killed by peasants who
attacked him. A severed head of the king was impaled on a pike and placed in the
center of Atryach (Village Atryachi in Ala/Russ. Pestr/Eng.
Motley district of modern Tatarstan). The new king Mikail-Yalkau (931-944) brutally crushed the rebels and
renamed the center of the uprising city Atryach to Shongyt
(Atryach is identical with the Türkic name of the Anatolian
city called in Greek Troja, Eng. Troy). Ahmad ibn Fadlan
apparently sympathized with the rebels, was arrested as a personal enemy of Mikail and
placed in zindan (dungeon), where he died.
Mikail appointed his teacher and mentor Abdallah ibn Bashtu as a Vizier, on his advice the king
separated Muslem Chirmyshes as a privileged layer of state igencheis,
called “subash”. The subashes paid firmly established taxes that were less heavy and motivated
them to develop grain production. The king retained inheritable lands for kazancheys, since they (subashes) constituted
a main striking force of the Bulgar troops, the
cavalry of heavily armed knights called ulans, and it did not make sense to
quarrel with them. In foreign policy, Mikail was sluggish in defending the Kara Bulgar beylik
from the claims of the Kyiv prince Igor (Ugyr). Basically, That issue was mostly handled
by the Kara-Bulgar Biy Mal, a youngest son of Almysh.
After the death of Mikail-Yalkau in 943, his son Mohammed (Ahmed) became a king of Bulgaria.
A protege of kazanchies, he paid little attention to the state affairs. Having surrounded
himself with loyal nobles, he indulged in his favorite entertainments - hunting, feasts,
etc. All affairs in the state were handled by a seid Nasyr, a son of Ahmad ibn Fadlan.
The whims of
the king cost a lot of money, the treasury quickly emptied, new taxes ravaged
the nation. The Kyivan Rus took advantage of the blunders in the Bulgar government's foreign policy. In 945
Kyiv Prince Igor (Ugyr) attacked the capital Horysdan (Korosten, Putivl) of the Kara Bulgar beylik. But things
did not go according to the calculations of the Kyiv Prince. Igor's
army was crushed by the Bulgars, and he himself died. A few years later, his wife Olga
with a help of the
Byzantines and Khazars, and also Kara-Bulgar Kovuys subdued the Kara Bulgar beylik to the
Kyivan Rus. Mal switched to the service to Olga, who settled those Kara-Bulgars who
followed him on the right bank of the Dnieper, there Mal founded a new city under a former
name Horysdan (Korosten), and they started to be called
Berendeis. The Bulgars that remained in the Kara-Bulgar beylik later joined the Chernigov
(Karadjar) principality. With the weakening of the central authority,
Bulgaria borders were poorly guarded. Attacks by the Khazars and Turkmen became more
frequent. Finally, Mohammed realized the gravity for the country of the impending disaster, and ordered the king
Hassan's son Talib Mumin to lead the defense of the
south-eastern borders. Talib proved himself an outstanding military
commander and politician. He managed to ensure that the protected provinces began paying
to Bulyar, where he settled, a
tribute for their safety. With that money, Talib created a 6,000-strong standing army, “kursybai”,
of the Muslim volunteers who suffered the Turkmen raids, and an army of igenchei
construction workers from the areas devastated by the raids.
Itil Bulgaria ca. 970
Under direction of Talib, in the most critical sections of the border the workers
built fortresses, ramparts, moats, and abatises, leaving only a few corridors for the enemy in case of
an attack, terminated with prepared ambushes. Talib
attained an institution of a law on subashes in the country, according to which those igencheis who converted to Islam were
transfered into the category
of subashes, which facilitated blossoming of agriculture in the country, and
reinforced its
defense capability. In addition, Talib created a new category of government
conscripts igencheis, the ak-chirmysh. In a wartime, they were obliged to participate in
the
wars, and in a peacetime were paying the same rate of tax as subashes. Other igencheis (peasants)
fell into non-khight level: kara-chirmyshes were the state non-Muslim igencheis paying
high taxes and bearing heaviest duties associated with the construction of the forts,
roads, bridges, etc.; at the lowest level were kurmyshes, the igencheis paying
high taxes to the feudal lords. All these reforms resulted that the Turkmen war ended with a complete victory for
Bulgaria. The growing popularity and business acumen of Talib were appreciated by the king
Mohammed. Talib was appointed a Vizier. A high state office allowed him to continue his
reform efforts. Talib limited the kazanchi land possessions, and most of the lands
in the
central part of Bulgaria gave to subashes and ak-chirmyshes, who from that time became a
mainstay of the Bulgar state. His main task in foreign policy Talib held an
implementation of the Almysh plan: to bring the fight with the Khazar Kaganate to its complete
elimination, which would give Bulgaria an opportunity to become a master of the whole
Itil road to the
Caspian Sea, i.e., to take over the fairly lucrative European-Asian trade.
In 964, Talib concluded a treaty with Ugyr's (Igor) son Barys (Svyatoslav) about a
joint campaign against Khazar Kaganate and its ally Byzantine Empire. The treaty was
concluded about Bulgar consent to the loss of provinces Djir (Rostov) and Balyn (Suzdal),
which shortly beforehand Svyatoslav annexed to his possessions. In the summer of 965 the
Rus troops captured Bulgarian district Azak (Azov), siezed by Khazaria and Byzantium.
Talib moved his “kursybai” army to the northern periphery of the Khazar Kaganate.
The residents of these areas,
spooked by the Rus offensive, asked Talib to relocate them to the Bulgaria interior.
Talib consented to that request. The settlers were mostly merchants and craftsmen. They
carried with
them all their belongings, leaving only houses with bare walls. When Svyatoslav with his
army came to those cities, he did not find there expected booty, which angered
him. The vexed Svyatoslav sent half of his troops against Talib, but the Rus troops were defeated. Then Svyatoslav
marched to the southern districts of Khazaria. Numerous Bulgarian
and Jewish Khazarian merchants fled the Rus ravages from of those areas to the cities of
ther
Samanid state. Subsequently, they became a base for Bulgar trade in the Middle Asia.
In 968 Svyatoslav, leaving Rus garrisons in the siezed Khazar cities,
set out for a war with the Danube Bulgaria. Talib took advantage of that. He regained the Djir
province (Rostov) and annexed to Bulgaria the territory of the busted Khazar Kaganate
under a name of Saksin Il (No professional etymology of the name Saksin
exists, the subject is avoided at all costs; the Saksin location in the middle course of
Itil is frequently misrepresented as located in the Volga easuary, even though
contemporaries located it in the middle course of Itil. The unspoken etymology is
transparent: “sak” stands for “Saka”, like in “Sakaliba” = “White Saka” = “Kypchak” =
“White Sak”, “Saksin Il” = “Saka's land” or “Saka's country”; Ibn Fadklan calls
population of Bulgaria by generic “Sakaliba”, i.e. he classed them as generic Kypchaks;
Giovanni da Pian del Carpine directly stated that Saksins were Kumans, another name for
Kypchaks, with the same adjective “Ku = “White; how sinister must be the machinators to
fake ignorance against all facts and testimonies; against to confise the issue, Saksin and Saklab are frequently disgised as Saqsin and Saqlab). However, Talib did not want to break with Kyivan Rus
that was at war with Byzantium, it was in the Bulgaria interests. Talib sent ambassadors to
Svyatoslav in Kyiv, they held talks with him and concluded a peace treaty. Under the
treaty, the Kyiv prince recognized the incorporation by Bulgaria of
the Khazaria territory, and returned to it the Azak area (Az) captured from the Byzantines. In
their turn, Bulgaria pledged to send to the Svyatoslav help her fleet, and in case of
success in the Balkans to send ground forces. The Bulgarian ships, whose crews consisted mainly of the
Varangian Vikings, really helped Svyatoslav.
After a death of Mohammed Talib was raised to the Bulgar throne (976-981), effectively
he ruled the country form 960. Talib paid a special attention to the commercial matters. Bulgarian merchants
were given large privileges, which they greatly enriched them. The wealth of the merchants was also the
wealth of the state, because they paid taxes. Under Talib, Bulgaria completed its form of a feudal system, which
suited best the conditions of those days, an had a
beneficial effect on the economic and political development of the country. During Talib
time, Bulgaria became a powerful world power to be reckoned with by close and distant neighbors.
When Talib died, to the throne ascended the eldest son of Mohammed Timar Badjinak (981-1004). However,
Timar's younger brothers, Ibrahim and Masgut, unhappy with that, started agitating against him
(The succession from Mohammed to Talib, and from Talib to Timar
follows a Lateral Succession order, when the eldest in the ruling dynasty takes the
reigns. In accordance with the general Türkic tradition traceable from the Eastern Hunnic
times, a candidate must be a descendent from a ruling Kagan, in case of Talib from king
Hassan, all within the ruling Dulo clan. Timar's name appears to be an ingenious Türkic
name, instead of Arabic borrowing, which points to a non-Muslim tradition, it means
“iron”, and is a cognate of Tamiris, Timer, and Timur). In 985 Ibrahim concluded an alliance with
the Kyiv Prince Vladimir, with whom he was even earlier on friendly terms, and attacked
Timar joining
his forces with the Ruses. Vladimir approached Bulgaria by Itil, he
seized Djir (Rostov), then took the city Djunne Kala (later - city
Ibrahim, the Brahimov of Rus chronicles). Timar, coming from the south, seized the city Bulyar.
Timar managed to reach a peace accomodation with Ibrahim, yeilding Bulyar to him. Vladimir,
ignorant of that, landed
near Bulgar city, and was surrounded by the Timar's kazancheys. However, the
affair ended with a conclusion of a peace treaty.
According to the Bulgar-Rus Treaty of 985, Rus returned to Bulgaria the Djir (Rostov)
province and
Djunne Kala (later at that site was founded a Rus city Nijny Novgorod). For
the Kara Bulgar beylik captured by the Ruses, Vladimir took an obligation to pay an annual tribute to Bulgaria.
In addition, the Treaty provided for the adoption of by the Rus of Islam as a state religion. To
seal the contract, Vladimir married the daughter of Timar Boz-bi
(The marriage made Timar a Vladimir's father-in-law, establishing his seniority in the
family and in the politics. The son-in-law/father-in-law relationship was a customary
modus operandi in the Eastern Europe within the Türkic sphere). However, already after five
years Vladimir formed an alliance with Byzantium, and adopted Orthodox Christianity as a
state religion.
Violation of the Bulgar-Rus Treaty of 985 on the Vladimir side provoked a war between
Bulgaria and Rus. On the southern front against Kyiv was sent a Bulgar “kursybai”
army and allied Badjinaks. Vladimir lost several battles. However, for reasons unknown
to us, Timar fell out with the commander (Sardar) of the kursybai and disbanded
that most
efficient Bulgarian army. As a result, the Bulgar troops in the south could not capture Kyiv, and in the north were forced to
yeild Djir (Rostov) to the Rus. Under a new
Bulgar-Rus Treaty (Treaty of 990?), Vladimir obligated to pay an annual tribute for
the Djir (Rostov), which remained in the Rus. In turn, Timar abandoned his goal of Islamizing Rus.
In 1004 Timar was killed in an internecine struggle, his
brother Masgut came to power in Bulgaria (1,004-1,006) (The name
indicates a tribal affiliation of his mother, Masgut/Massaget, a superethnic term
according to Ammianus Marcellinus bk. XXXI, 12 and other sources; naming wives by their
ethnic origin was apparently limited to the wives coming from outside of the dynastic
marital union; their children bore the ethnic description of their mothers; generally speaking, the children of secondary wives were not eligible for succession). However, the new king did not enjoy à support among the people, and soon he was deposed by his brother Ibrahim, and fled to the Bulgarian city Kan-Mardan (Murom)
(Kan is a Bulgarian phonetical form of Kagan with silent ĝ,
Kaĝan, also observed among other Türkic dialects and in Mongolia; Chingiz-khan was Kaan). After becoming
à king, Ibrahim (1,006-1,025) further cemented his old
friendship with Vladimir. Under à new treaty with Rus, Bulgar merchants lost their
right to a preferential trade in the rural areas of the Rus, that right remained only for
the urban markets. During Ibrahim reign, Bulgaria provided great assistance to the Rus
with bread,
especially in the subjugation of the north-eastern lands of the Rus (Rostov province) and
during famine years. Vladimir made a reciprocal gesture: he returned to Bulgaria the Azak
(Azov) province.
In 1014, Ibrahim once again tried to persuade Vladimir to accept Islam, promising him
certain concessions. However, this turn of events was not to the liking of the Vladimir's son
Mstislav (his mother was a daughter of a Khazar prince, who switched to the Kyiv service and
was a convert to Judaism). He killed his father (Vladimir) and fled to Byzantium, which
gave him a re-conquered from Bulgaria Azak (Azov) principality. A new Kyiv Prince became Vladimir's
son Yaroslav, who in the war against Mstislav was an ally of Bulgaria
(Yar is a Türkic word meaning “saint, sanctified, solemn”,
Slav is a Türkic word “süläü” meaning “speakãîâîðèòü”; by the 8th c. it became an
ethnicon initially meaning “Türkic-speaking Balts”; thus Yaroslav is “Reverent Slav”,
“Sainty Slav” in both Rus and Türkic). Domestically,
Ibrahim maintained order established by Talib, which ensured the country's well-being.
After a death of Ibrahim, the throne inherited Timar's son Ashraf (Sharaf) Baluk (1,025,
1,028-1,061) (Lateral Succession, an elder son of elder brother
succeeds younger brothers of his father). In thàò same year, Masgut's son
Asgar took Bulgar
city, and forced Ashraf to leave to Bulyar. In 1,028 Ashraf deposed Asgar (1,025-1,028, 1,061) and became
a king again. From then on, the descendants of Baluk Ashrafids, and descendants of Masgut
Masgutids fought continuously for the Bulgar throne. (Ashraf) Baluk,
after regaining power, began conducting an active domestic and foreign policy. He defeated Mstislav,
and Azak
(Azov), for the n-th time once again become a Bulgar possession. He started a tough war with Kyivan Rus. And
when the kursybai warriors began to grumble because of they had to wage ceaseless wars, Baluk disbanded
the elite army. He also reduced rights of the service feudal lords.
Instead of Bulgar warriors, into the army were hired Kipchaks (Kyrgyz-Kumans)
(In today's lingo Kyrgyz-Kumans are Kazakhstan Kumans, which
makes sense only in a sense of “Kumans originally from Kazakhstan”).
But the mercenaries were not as loyal and steadfast warrior as were the Bulgars. In addition,
the maintenance of the mercenary army required huge funds that were collected from igencheis, merchants and craftsmen. That angered the Bulgar population. In addition, began
inter-ethnic conflicts. The Saksin Oguzes (Torks in Rus lingo, a distorted form of
Türks), refused to yield their lands for relocation of the mercenary Kypchaks. Baluk ordered to brutally suppress
the rebellion. The
leaders of the rebellion were captured and executed. A mass of Torks fled to the Kyivan
Rus, where they were settled on the (Dnieper) right bank of the country
(The right bank belonged to Badjinaks, Rus could not place Oguz
Türks in the Badjinak state. Besides, the Oguz Türks were much stronger then Rus, and
would not be ordered around).
Itil Bulgaria ca. 1000
A strong dissatisfaction among the Bulgar population with the Baluk's domestic and foreign policy provoked a
popular
uprising. The rebellion was led by Asgar. He was raised to the Bulgarian throne by the
insurgent people. Soon, however, Asgar was killed during a hunt, and his son Ahad Moskha
was proclaimed a king (1,061-1,076) (Moskha is a name of the river
where in 1,147 was established Moskow, it means "Cow river"; on the Moskha left bank lived
Finns, on the right bank lived Türks; Ahad's appellative Moskha must point to his
possession, and used to distinguish him from other Ahads). Baluk's son Adam fled to Saksin in the
lower course of the Itil, where Ulugbek was a Sharyk-khan, who refused to submit to the new king
(Adam is Türkic generic for "human, man"; naming a Türkic person
Adam in Türkic is impossible, but naming a Türkic person with the Arabic Adam, which
ascends to the Hebrow Adam, which ascends to the Türkic Adam in the sence "primogenitor
man" is curvy, but real). Ahad quelled that rebellion, and Sharyk-khan with the last Saksin Kipchaks fled to the Black Sea area. And Adam with a detachment of Saksin Oguzes departed to the homeland of his mother
in Middle Asia, to the possessions of the Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan. The Seljukids were a dynasty Bulgarian in
origin.
In 1071, Adam took part in a war of Sultan Alp Arslan against Byzantium. In a battle
at the town Men-Chokyr (Manzikert) an attack of the Adam Bulgarian detachment routed the Byzantines, and
Sultan won a dicisive victory over the enemy army. The Asia Minor was conquered
by Seljuks, and the Bulgars and Turkmen Oguzes later formed a single Turkish people. In
their turn, Seljuks helped Adam, who was married the daughter Aisylu of Alp Arslan, to
return to Bulgaria in 1,076, overthrow Ahad, and become a king. Ahad enlisted into Adam
service, but there was no understanding between them. He tried to escape from the king away
to the west. Finally, Ahad ended up in the Batysh (Vyatka) domain, where in the dense
forests on the bank of one of many rivers he founded a fortress of Moskha, which later
became Moscow (And the Ahad's appellative Moskha must be a later
addition to his name).the
The rich Bulgar was a tasty morsel, not only for the Ruses, but also for the Türkic
tribes related to Bulgars. During Adam reign started ceaseless attacks on Bulgar by the nomadic tribes: from the
west attacked Kumans, and from the east - Oimeks, the Eastern Kypchaks. Bulgaria,
which stretched from the Middle Itil to the Caspian Sea, was in the
middle in respect to them. The gaining power North-Eastern Rus was also trying to get their
hands on the Bulgarian western lands, especially Djir (Rostov land) and adjacent territory. To protect the country
in the northwest, Adam's son Shamgun (Sham-Sain) in 1,103, established a new
fortress Uchel (Oshel of Rus chronicles), “Three fortresses (cities)”, next to
Bish-Balta, founded a hundred years before.
The Rus princes, hoping to weaken Bulgaria, raised against it Novgorod and their
Kipchak allies, the Don horde of Khan Aiub (Aepa of Rus chronicles). In 1,111 Bulgars defeated
an army of Novgorod Prince Mstislav under Uchel (Oshel). However, the Aepa horde was not
stopped at the border. He penetrated deep into central regions of Bulgaria.A son of Ahad,
Bek Kolyn Selim, switched from Rus service to Bulgar, in 1,117 he lured the
Aepa army into a trap near Bulyar, and completely crushed it. The surviving Kipchaks fled to
the Don river, a part of them with their families went to Georgia, and the other part
submitted to Bulgar (In the Rus chronicles the events are recorded quite differently).
After Adam, Bulgaria was ruled by his son Shamgun (1,118-1,135). The costs associated with a
war on two fronts, against the Rus and the neighboring nomads, laid increasingly heavy
burden on the shoulders of the population. The Martyuba igencheis with a center in Uchel
(Oshel) could not sustain the oppression of the king's tax collectors and revolted. To
suppress the uprising was sent kursybaiai. But the Sirdar (Commander) of the alpars (warriors)
refused to participate in a fratricidal war, because both were Muslims and igencheis.
Then Shamgun ordered to disband kursybai and instead hired Kipchaks led by their Khan
Sarychin. Using a tumultuous internal and external milieu where Shamgun's power turned
fragile, Kolyn decided to depose the king and instead install his son Anbal Hisam, and to
rule the country in his name (Anbal = Turk. “son
of a royal concubine”; V.I.Abaev shamelessly stated that that is an Ossetian word, and it is a
proof that the Alans spoke Ossetian). Kolyn secretly hired to his service the
soldiers of the kursybai disbanded by Shamgun. The Bek also involved in the plot a Suzdal prince Yuri Dolgoruky, whose fleet came to Bulgar city. No one gave Shamgun any support, with 50 soldiers he locked
himself up in the citadel of the Bolgar city. Kolyn urged Shamgun to voluntarily cede power
to Anbal, and move to Bulyar. The king had no choice but to accept that demand.
The kazanchis gladly supported Anbal, expecting concessions. Kolyn adopted a title
Ilchebek (ruler of the country) (From Il = country, -chi
= čy = noun-derivational affix to form profession or occupation, Bek = Prince) and
conducted a prudent policy in internal and external affairs of
the state. In foreign policy, he maintained friendly relations with the Seljuks, intended
to bring together the two states as close as possible. In 1,135 Kolyn married his son Anbal to
the daughterTaj bika of the Seljuk Sultan Sanjar.
Formally, Shamgun still was remaining a king. After his death in a battle with Eastern Kypchaks
(Oimeks) Anbal took the throne (1,135-1,164), his father Kolyn became Vizier and Ilchebek, i.e.
a all-powerful ruler of the country. Bulyar was assigned to be a capital of the state. Vizier led a balanced internal policy: cancel the high taxes levied on Muslim
igencheis, increased salaries to the alpars (soldiers) of the kursybai, gave a series of
breaks to the
Bulgar merchants. In 1,137 Kolyn Selim sent a part of kursybai to help the allied Karakhanids in
Middle Asia, they were attacked by a Mongol horde of Kara-Khitans. However, the Karakhanid
army was crushed, and Kara-Khitans turned to kursybai. Alpars with Oimeks, in a series of
battles, completely wore out the enemy. The Seljuk Sultan Sanjar waged a war with another
Kara-Khitan army, and suffered a defeat. However, the Kara-Khitans not dare for a continued war against
Bulgaria, and concluded a peace treaty with her, according to which Kara-Khitans
recognised Anbal as a king of Bulgaria and Dasht-i-Kipchak, and pledged in the future not to
violate the borders of Bulgaria and Seljuk Sultanate.
Peace in the East allowe Kolyn to transfer troops to the western borders.
The Suzdal Prince Yury Dolgoruky attempted to extend his authority to the Ryazan-Murom
principality, which was a vassal state of Bulgaria. In 1,154 Yuri Dolgoruky took
under his arm Ryazan and Murom, and installed there his son Andrey Bogolyubsky to reign. The
Bulgar army immediately set out agaist Suzdalians, retook Ryazan and Murom, sending
Andrey Bogolyubski
into a stampede, and handed over the power in the principality to the loyal to Bulgar Prince Rostislav.
In 1,154 Kolyn died, his son King Anbal, who used to live happily behind the back of his father,
muffed up the state affairs, indulging in entertainment. That situation was used by his
kazanchies courtiers. The kazanchies surrounding the king succeded, for the umpteenth time,
to
dissolve the kursybai they hated, the most battle-ready troops of Bulgaria.
Kazanchies began seizeing with impunity the land of the igencheis, plunder the treasury, potential
contenders for the throne were brutally persecuted.
One of the Shamgun sons Arbat Oc-Laj enlisted in the Anbal service, who appointed him
a Martuba governor with a center in Uchel (Kazan). But another Shamgun son called
Ulug Mohammed Otyak Jangi decided to fight with Anbal for the throne, and first fled to his
Kuman father-in-laaw Bashkort, and then to Kyiv. After a while Otyak went to the Suzdal
prince Andrey Bogolyubsky to Vladimir, who offered him help in his fight against Anbal for the
Bulgar throne. In 1,164 Andrey and Otyak invaded Bulgaria and took Ibrahim Balik
(Bryahimov of the Rus chronicles, future Nijny Novgorod), and came to Uchel (Kazan) city, which
Arbat surrendered to his brother without a fight. Nobody
except the Kypchak cavalry supported king Anbal, but it was defeated. In that battle
perished Izyaslav, a
son of Andrey. Otyak became a king (1,164-1,178). He turned over Anbal,
his entourage, including his brother Arbat, to Andrey as prisoners.
To ingratiate Andrey, the former king Anbal gave him in marriage his daughter
Baigyulbi. A son Mstislav of Andrey was killed in a raid on Bulgaria, that cooled relationship between Andrey and Otyak.
Bogolyubsky decided to use the former king in
a fight against Otyak. But when Suzdal boyars (nobles) conspired against Andrey, Anbal and his
daughter, who hated her husband for his cruelty and anti-Bulgarian policy, joined the
conspirators. In 1,174 the conspirators killed Andrey. Andrey's brother Vsevolod quelled
the boyar revolt, and put conspirators to death. Only a son Lachin Hisami (Yuri) of
Andrey and Baigyulbi survived, he fled to Bulgaria.
Soon Otyak died in the war against the Don Kipchaks. The Otyak eldest son Gabdulla
Chelbir became a new Bulgarian king (1,178-1,225). Arbat remained in the Rus, for many years
he was a commander (governor) of
Moscow. The street where stood his palace is now called Arbat. All that testifies that
the two people, Bulgars and Ruses, had very close relations: they fought, reconciled,
were in kinship, and in general were creating their future common homeland, Russia.
Chelbir continued cruel domestic policy of his father. The residents of the capital,
alpars of the kursybai and igencheis, driven to despair by the royal
exactions, rebelled in 1,182. The rebels elected as their king Anbal's son Chelmati, a brave commander and a skilled
politician. The insurgents expelled Chelbir from Bulyar. Chelbir tried to quell
the rebellion with the help of the Kipchak Khan Turgen's detachment. Bulyarians repelled
a Kipchak attack, and killed Khan Turgen.
| Posting Note
The events in the post-Hunnic Europe can't be understood without understanding of the
family connections between the ruling houses. By the Middle Ages the practice of dynastic
alliances lost some of it ethnic flavor, but gained supra-ethnic potency. In the
post-Hunnic space, the traditional Türkic notion of familial seniority held its sway, the
father-in-law/son-in-law seniority was an accepted norm in the dynastic alliances, and
was a powerful tool of the daily politics. History preserved many more prominent
alliances, but many less prominent alliances escaped its attention, and may be
reconstructed only as educated speculations from the context of events. The
father-in-law/son-in-law status was a tactical fix, it was establishing an immediate
seniority that lasted only during the lifetime of the father-in-law, and as happened to
be the atypical case with Vladimir, even less. Having a reigning grandfather, and be a
part of his extended family, was a powerful factor in the upbringing of the young
princes, and a replacement of the grandfather by his youner uncles and cousins, though
develueing the initial seniority relationship, served to reinforce the familiar links. In
the Hunnic tradition, Bulgaria used the marital alliances to the fullest, maintaining a
continuous web of dynastic marriages for about 800 years. A sudden appearance on the
pages of history of theretofore unknown forces and personalities assisting a reigning,
formerly reigning, or inspiring to reign monarch is a good indicator that in the prior
couple of generations, a new, initially lowly, dynastic union has been formed, and came
to fruition at the time of the later events. Personal genealogies, a la
Nominalia, a la
Secret History, a la
Shajare-i Türk were
powerful driving forces of spheres of control, war and peace. |
The Suzdal Prince Vsevolod the Big Nest decided to take advantage of the turmoil in Bulgaria in
order to enthrone there Arbat's son Azan, who was in his service. Assembling a large army
and having urged for a campaign the other Rus princes, Vsevolod broke inside Bulgaria.
Caught in a desperate situation, Chelbir increased the salary to the kursybai alpars, attracting
them to his side. Vsevolod besieged the Bulgarian capital Bulyar. Bulyarians repelled
the assault, the Ruses during a storm lost Pereslav's Prince Izyaslav, and Bulgars lost a
commander Chelmati. Under a general command of Chelbir, to the Bulyar came kursybai.
The Bulgar
militia under a command of Lachin Hisami (Yuri) and mercenary Kipchaks surrounded the army of Vsevolod and
crushed it. Azan was taken prisoner and agreed to serve Chelbir
(1,183).
Relying on the military power of the country, Chelbir conducted large-scale operations in
the Bulgaria's south - in the North Caucasus and around Black Sea. In the winter of 1,183-1,184
Bulgar troops recovered Azak (Azov) from the Byzantium (At that
time the Northen Causasus belt was controlled by the Alanian Kingdom, which was under a
strong Greek cultural and religious influence, not supported by any significant Greek
military force. In the mountains, Alania dominated east of Abkhasia, its dominance
extended to the plain and foothills. It is likely that under the Byzantium in this case
are meant the Alanian Kingdom, which after the fall of Khazaria became practically
independent and included a significant mass of Bulgars, Huns, and other Türkic
principalities). In the spring of that year, Chelbir
with the Kipchak Khan Konchak (Hondjak) entered the Kyivan Rus with an army
(In the name Konchak, the part Chak stands for Saka, and its
Bulgarian form Djak points to a possible
Bulgarian phonetics for Saka; The part Kon/Hon, without a
Bulgarian form, is likely a Türkic kün = kin, creating a compound "Related Saka", but its
Bulgarian form points to an alternate semantics, with Hon being the
Bulgarian for Hun, for a compound Saka-Hun, like in many other Türkic ethnonyms)). However,
this attack did not succeed. With a help of his Ossetian relatives (one of his wives was an
Ossetian), the Bulgar king raised Lachyn Hisami (George) to the Georgian throne, who reigned
there under a name of George, and married a Georgian princess, Tamar (Ossetians did not exist at that time, reference to
Ossetians is anachronistic; in the Alanian Kingdom lived a number of disparate tribes
called in Georgian with an umbrella term Ovs/Ovses, which ascends to the ethnic name of
Ases/Yases; these mountain tribes included the Türkic Tokhars/Digors/Dügers, their
dynastic tribe of Türkic Ases/Yases, and the fractions of the Nakh tribes who spoke the
Nakh language that eventually became a lingua franca of the mountain tribes in the north
of Georgia, and in the 19th c. formed the dialects of the modern Ossetian family of
languages; the dialects within the Ossetian family remain mutually unintelligible to
this day; most likely the term Osset appeared during translation of the original "Djagfar
Tarihi" to Russian, and originally was a form of Ases/Yases). In the Bulgar cities
appeared Armenian, Georgian and Ossetian districts, populated by merchants and
craftsmen. However, Lachin Hisami did not occupy the Georgian throne for long. In 1,189's
he was accused by his wife
and Georgian nobility in an attempt to Islamize Georgia, and removed from the
throne.
In 1,185 a Bulgar Bek Tatra with his troops and a Kipchak Khan Konchak detachment moved north
to capture Ryazan, but were forced to turn to the west. They learned that a prince Igor
of southern Rus Principality Novgorod-Sever went on a campaign in the
Azak area, to recapture it from the Bulgars for the Byzantines. The two armies met
on the river Suurly (Dry Torets). Igor was captured with his army without even joining a battle. The
upshot was that Chernigov (Karajar) Bulgars called Kovbuyes, who
constituted Igor's cavalry, switched to the side of their tribesmen, i.e. to the side of the
Bek Tatra. However, because of the
betrayal by Konchak, who secretly let Igor out from the Bulgar captivity and himself with
his men went to the steppe, Tatra was unable to develop his success. The reason was
that Konchak did not want to empower Bulgaria in the Black Sea area. Yet the military action
of the Bulgars against the North-Eastern Rus were successful. In 1,186 Chelbir subdued to
his will Ryazan, which resumed paying tribute to Bulgaria, and in 1,193 Bulgar
troops defeated the Novgorod troops. Novgorod also obligated to pay tribute
(Tribute was a carry-over from the Hunnic times, in the middle
of Middle Age the tribute system practically disappeared from Europe, though in Asia it
was to last until modernity. By the middle of Middle Age taxation, introduced a millennia
before, was a paramount method of assessment).
Chelbir was also interested in southern countries - Afghanistan and India, where he
was sending his
troops to participate in the campaigns of the Central Asian rulers. However, Bulgaria
failed to gain a foothold in these countries. When the Mongols were crushing the state of
the Khorezmshakh, he was passively accepting the news, apparently out of resentment that
the Central Asian rulers did not allow Bulgarians to establish colonies in those
countries. At a request of the Seljuk Sultan, Chelbir also sent a 1,000-strong unit to the Middle East. In the
1,204-1,216 he fought for the Seljuks against their enemies. On the way home this
unit took from the Byzantians cities in Djalda (Crimea). One of them, Sagdak (Sudak) Chelbir
presented to the Seljuk Sultan, to have a common border with friendly and kindred power.
The military endeavors undertaken by Chelbir demanded supply of money. Vazier Gubaidulla again began
collecting additional taxes from the Muslim igencheis and artisans, to meet the
ever increasing costs. Generally, within the country's population grew discontentment
about the king. In
1,193 a Bulgarian poet Mohammed Gali (Kul Gali) organized a plot. But the conspirators,
who were called “rooks”, and their conspiracy called “Rooks' conspiracy”, were betrayed
by a traitor and they were punished.
However, it made Chelbir to ponder. He dismissed his faithful vizier Gubaidulla, and in
the Bulgaria central regions canceled the tax increase. However, on the frinfes of the
state arose one after another uprisings of the igencheis, which were brutally suppressed
by the
royal troops.
Chelbir restored peace with Kyiv and Smolensk, which concerned the Bulgarian merchants
who traded with the West through these cities. Bulgaria sought to strengthen its western
borders. In 1,204 Azan restored Uchel (Kazan) fortifications on Mount
Bogyltau. In 1,216 Chelbir sent Azan against Rus, in a Lipetsk battle he defeated the Suzdal
prince Yuri. A Chelbir protege Constantine became a Suzdal prince. But in 1,218 the
situation changed. Yuri again became a Suzdal prince, he was an outspoken enemy of the Bulgar,
striving to get rid by all means of the ruinous for the Rus Bulgar power. On order of
Yuri, the Suzdalians slaughtered Bulgarian merchants returning from the Artan (Baltic).
Chelbir was not slow with response. In the 1,218-1,219, the Bulgar army led by the
king himself seized Ustug and Radjil (Radilov), capturing untold wealth. The Rus attack on Uchel in 1,220 was repulsed by
a kursybaiai sardar (commander) Gazan n. For his feats on behaf of the country, Chelbir ordered
to rename Uchel to Gazan (Kazan). The river Arsu, where Kazan stood, became
known as Kazan-su (Kazanka).
In the winter of 1,220-1,221 Chelbir sent Bulgar army under command of Gasan to conquer
the Suzdal. Bulgars took and burned the fort (Nijny Novgorod) that the Ruses
built in 1,220 on the ruins of the Bulgar fortress Ibrahim Balik (Djunne-Kala). Then
Gazan led his army to the capital of the principality, Vladimir (Bulymer). On the way, commander took a couple of other Rus fortresses. Yuri fled to the northern forests,
and asked Chelbir for peace. The king stopped the offensive and concluded a peace with
Yuri on humiliating conditions for the Rus prince. In particular, besides territorial and trade concessions, paying
off the tribute by the Ruses, the treaty provided for
a division of the Suzdal principality into two parts: Vladimir headed by Prince
Yuri, and Rostov led by Prince Vasilek, a son of Constantine, a loyal vassal of Bulgar.
A Yuri's son Vladimir went to Chelbir as a hostage.
From east to Bulgaria was coming an impending danger. The army of Chengis Khan,
under a command of undefeated commander Subede, after defeating the Central Asian states,
crossed Iran, Georgia and
Azerbaijan, and was approaching the Caucasian border of Bulgaria. Under these conditions,
Chelbir preferred to have in Ruses allies in the West, instead of enemies. Bulgaria
was preparing to repel a Mongol invasion, they have already destroyed a number of Asian
countries, and now were approaching the Eastern Europe.
To meet the Mongols, who came from the Southern Caucasus to the plains of the Northern
Caucasus, was marching with his troops a governor of the Saksin Il (Lower Itil) Bachman. Along with
him against the Mongols were going Turks-Alans and the Don Kipchaks. However, the combined army
of Bachman was defeated. Bachman retreated to Georgia, because the escape route to Bulgaria
was cut off
by the Mongols. Subede sent ambassadors to the Rus princes, offering to join him in alliance against Bulgaria. But the Rus princes refused the offer and ordered
a murder of the Mongolian ambassadors. A combined Rus-Kipchak army marched against Mongols. On the river Kalka in 1,223
happened a decisive battle, where the Ruses and
Kipchaks suffered a crushing defeat.
After the battle at Kalka, Subede led his troops to Bulgaria. Bulgars were well
prepared for the Mongol invasion. In the Jiguli area on the Volga they lured enemy
into a prepared ambush, and destroyed most of the Subede troops, and took prisoner the survivors. The Mongolian warlord, who fled with a handful of
his soldiers, was surrounded
and captured. Chelbir did not execute Subede, he exchanged captured Mongols for rams at a
rate of
one by one for each, and allowed them to return to their countrymen. On that occasion, people
named it a “Ram battle”.
After a death of Chelbir to the throne was raised his younger brother Mir-Gazi
(or Ghazi, 1,225-1,229), who tried to acomplish the plans of his friend Kul-Gali for the
betterment of the status of igencheis, artisans and kursybai alpars (warriors)
(Lateral succession). But they did
not get time to realize these plans. Having learned about the death of Chelbir, the
eastern Rus princes, headed by Yuri, attacked western regions of Bulgaria. The situation
was aggravated the defection of the Tubdjak (Southern Siberia and Northern Kazakhstan) governor Mergen to the
Mongols and attacked central regions of Bulgaria from the east. In these conditions, the
Mir-Gazi had to deal with just a repulsion of the external attacks on the country.
When in January 1,229 Mir-Gazi died, to the throne was raised Djelaletdin Altynbek, a youngest son
of Otyak and
Ryazan Princess Vyshelyuba Glebovna (1,229, 1,230-1,236)
(Lateral succession). The new
king had to immediately march with an army to Djaik (Yaik, Ural River), where came Subede with a
new army, intending to attack Bulgars. By that time he already succeded in crushing the
Bulgarian Saksin province. The battle took place near a Bulgarian fortress Kargaly (in the place of
the modern Orenburg). A tough situation in which Altynbek found himself was saved by the
militia that came from the Bashkort Il to the rescue. The Bulgar army retreated to the north. Subede
took his
blood-let army back to Mongolia.
The Mir-Gazi opponents in Bulyar spread a rumor of his supposed death. The kazanchies immediately enthroned
an Azan's son Emir Gazi Baradj (1,229-1,230, 1,236-1,242)
(Lateral succession). But
Altynbek managed to topple Gazi Baradj and to regain the throne. The Bulyarians lent
Altynbek their support. But the Bulgarian and Suvar ils (provinces) rejected that and
submitted to the Bulgar city Ulugbek, a Chelbir son Ilyas Yaldau. Thus, the country sundered into two parts.
However, even with the forces of a truncated country, Altynbek was able to crush at Bugulma
the Mongolian troops that invaded inside Bulgaria, headed by the Khan Batu son Jochi.
Gazi Baradj did not accept a loss of the throne, and in 1,232 went to Mongolia to the Great
Khan Ogedei, and persuaded him to help regain from Altynbek the Bulgar throne, for which
he agreed to give the Mongols the southern Bulgarian lands. The Bashkort Ulugbek Ishtyak
also switched to the side of the pretender. In August 1,236 Gazi Baradj led the Mongol troops against
Bulyar. The Bulyarians stood defending for 45 days. In the November of the same year the city with 200 thousand
population fell. Only a small part of the Bulyar defenders with Bachman and Altynbek's daughter Altynchach
were able to sneak to the center of the Mardan territory city Banja (Jiguli area). The
king Altynbek died with all the defenders and citizens of the city. The
Mongols, who during the storm of Bulyar lost a Chengis Khan's son Kulkan, wiped the city off
the face of the earth.
F. Khalikov. Reconstruction of Bulyar. 1999
This concludes the history of the pre-Mongol state of the Itil Bulgars. But no less
dramatic events were waiting for the Bulgars in the future, the history of the Itil Bulgaria
continued and is going on today.
Kipchak Khanate (Ulus Juchi) ca. 1300
One of the Bulgarian states, the Danube Bulgaria, was destined for a longto life . At times, it
lost its independence, and sometimes for long, but it revived each time. The history of the
Danube Bulgaria is interesting and full of historical events. The Danube Bulgars is a
result of merging two tribes, the Türkic Bulgars and Slavs into one nation.
Illumination of its history wobbled from one side to
another. But one aspect must not be forgotten, historically the descending into the Slavic
melting pot Bulgars were the organizers of the state, they gave it their name. At the same time,
the Slavic population and their adoption of Orthodox Christianity were the fertile
culture that allowed Danube Bulgaria to survive in difficult conditions of the
Middle Ages and Modern times. It is welcomed in our time that the Itil Bulgars and Danube Bulgaria
are reviving their kinship ties at a new level of contemporary historical,
cultural, economical, and political life. And that is right, because, first of all, they
originated from the same root, the sons of Kubrat, and secondly, in this complex world fraternal support
is always need.
