GREAT BULGARIA
VELIKA BULGARIA

Great Bulgaria. Bulgaria. The union of tribes of various origins, mainly Turkic and Finno-Ugric, briefly (632-c. 671) existed in the Black Sea and Azov steppes.

The basis of the association was the Proto-Bulgarian tribe of the Kutrigurs, who, with the involvement of the Slavs and the remnants of the Ants, managed to free themselves from the power of the Avars, whose power was undermined by another unsuccessful attempt to capture Constantinople (626).

The Khan of the Kutrigurs, Kubrat (632-665), managed to unite his horde with another Bulgarian tribe of the Utigurs (formerly dependent on the Turks), as well as with the Ugric tribe of the Onogurs (possibly the Hunnogurs, Khungurs, from where Hungary is Ugria, Hungary). This is how Great Bulgaria arose. Among the Bulgarian tribes, the Dulo clan strengthened. In 619, Organa, the leader of the Bulgarians, converted to Christianity in Byzantium. Organa left his throne to his sister's son Kubrat. Kubrat was born c. 605 and was brought up at the court of the Byzantine emperor. In 632 Kubrat ascended the throne. Kubrat married in 635 the daughter of a rich Greek Evdokia. From the emperor of Byzantium Heraclius Kubrat received the rank of patrician.

Great Bulgaria under Khan Kubrat was independent from both the Avars and the Khazars. But if from the west the danger passed completely due to the weakening of the Avar Khaganate, then from the east a threat constantly loomed. While Kubrat was alive, he had enough strength to keep the Bulgarian tribes in unity and resist the danger. But after his death, Great Bulgaria was divided by his five sons, Batbayan, Kotrag, Asparukh, Kuber, Alcek. Each of the sons of Kubrat led his own horde, and none of them individually had the strength to compete with the Khazars. As a result of the onslaught of the Khazars, the Bulgarian hordes were divided, and Great Bulgaria ceased to exist. The Bulgars took part in the Great Migration of Peoples, influencing the formation of peoples that have survived to this day. Around 665 Kubrat died. Presumably, his burial was found near the village of Malaya Pereshchepina, Poltava region of Ukraine. A lot of gold and silver items and a seal with a monogram (in which it is possible to read the name of Kubrat) were recovered, which are now kept in the Hermitage.

The eldest son Batbai remained in place, the second son Kotrag with his horde crossed the Don and settled opposite Batbai. The third son Asparukh with his horde went to the Danube and founded Danubian Bulgaria there. Asparukh was buried on the territory modern city Zaporozhye. The fourth son with his horde moved to Pannonia to the Avars, the fifth son went with his horde to Italy.

One of the hordes, consisting mainly of the Kutrigur tribes, under the command of Kotrag moved north and settled (7th - 8th centuries) on the middle Volga and on the Kama, where Volga Bulgaria. The Volga Bulgars are the ancestors of the Kazan Tatars and Chuvashs.

Another horde, which included mainly Utigur clans, under the command of Khan Asparuh, went west and approx. 650 stopped in the area of ​​the lower Danube. The Slavic tribes that invaded the Balkans around the same time (VI-VII centuries) from the Danube, having no experience in creating states, fell into the sphere of influence of the Bulgarians. Recognizing Asparuh as their overlord, they joined the new state. Over time, the Bulgars merged with the Slavs, and from the mixture of the Asparukhov Bulgars and the various Slavic and remnants of the Thracian tribes included in it, the Bulgarian nation was formed, which managed to create one of the first Slavic states, the Bulgarian kingdom.

Thus, the ancient union of tribes called the Bulgars took part in the formation of several peoples - Slavic, Turkic, Finno-Ugric, and also, to some extent, Romanesque and Germanic.

Great Bulgaria

origins

Back in the 6th century, the Turkic Khaganate, once the strongest state in Asia and one of the largest states in terms of area created by mankind, pursued an aggressive policy.

As a result of these military campaigns, the lands of the Bulgarian and Suvar tribes became part of the Kaganate. Later, in the 30s of the 7th century, such a huge state as the Turkic Khaganate inevitably collapsed and two states were formed on its territory - the Khazar Khaganate in the east and Great Bulgaria in the west, which will be discussed now.

The emergence of the state and the fleeting heyday

The term "Great Bulgaria" is understood simply as an association of tribes that arose in Eastern Europe in 632, as a result of the collapse of the Turkic state. The unification of the tribes is attributed to Khan Kubrat, who, being the Khan of the Kutrigur tribe, united his army with the Utigur tribe, freeing it from the Turkic yoke and the Otigurs.

The uprising against the Avar nomads marked the emergence of a new state association, which was called Great Bulgaria. However, there is evidence that the unification was started by Kubrat's uncle, Khan Organ. Kubrat himself was born in 605, grew up and was brought up surrounded by the Byzantine emperor. At the age of 12 he converted to Christianity. He was married to the daughter of a wealthy Greek aristocrat.

army of Great Bulgaria photo

As a khan, Kubrat was a strong personality and a strong politician, and despite the constant threats from Khazar Khaganate, he managed not only to repulse them, but also to keep the tribes in unity, while maintaining independence. Despite the fact that there is very little data about Kubrat's policy, it is obvious that under him Great Bulgaria reached its peak.

The unspoken capital of the new state was located in the city of Fanaguris, or Phanagoria, on Taman. It was a craft center, around which there were many smaller settlements. They were engaged in agriculture and fishing. Pottery predominated among crafts. However, despite this, the tribes that were part of the state led a largely nomadic lifestyle. In winter, the inhabitants settled in villages and huts, and in summer they returned to the steppe. This way of life was very similar to that which was in the Khazar Khaganate.

Decay

However, in 665 Kubrat dies, and the flourishing of Great Bulgaria ends. The rich grave of the Bulgarian leader was found near the village of Malaya Prishchepina, in Ukraine. After the death of Kubrat, the title of Khan of Great Bulgaria passed to his son Batbayan.

Kubrat photo

Batbayan was a khan for only three years, he could not hold power and Great Bulgaria was divided into five parts between him and the rest of the sons of Kubrat - Asparuh, Kuver, Kotrag and Alcek. Each fiefdom declared its autonomy, started its own army. However, one by one they could not withstand the onslaught of the Khazar Khaganate and in 668 Great Bulgaria ceased to exist.

Further fate

The patrimony of Batbayan, which was located in the Kuban region, quickly recognized the citizenship of the Khazar Khaganate and undertook to pay tribute to them. The tribes that lived in that area were called "black Bulgars". Another son of Kubrat Asparuh, after an unsuccessful war with the Khazars, under their pressure, together with the army, left the Great Bulgaria and moved towards the Danube.

Beyond the Danube, in 679, he founded the state of Danube Bulgaria, subjugating the Byzantine region of Dobruja with the support of the Slavic tribes of Thrace and Wallachia, concluding an agreement with them. Subsequently, it was from these tribes and the Bulgars of Asparuh that the Bulgarian nation was formed. Kuver went to the region of Pannonia, joined the Avars, and even tried to become an Avar Khagan, but this attempt was unsuccessful.

In the 680s, he organizes an uprising, which again unsuccessfully and with an army flees to Macedonia, where his people united with local tribes, and about future fate Coover has no evidence. Kotrag was the leader of the Kutrigurs. Due to the constant attacks of the Khazars that ravaged the Bulgarian lands, Kotrag with the Kutrigurs was forced to leave the Great Bulgaria and move to the Volga region, where the Volga Bulgaria was founded, a strong and large state that influenced the political picture of that region for many centuries.

The last son of Kubrat Alcek, together with the tribes moved towards Italy. Having reached the Lombard kingdom, which was in the north of the Apennine Peninsula, Alcek asked the local king Grimoald for the opportunity to live on the territory of their state, promising his service in return. He sent them to his son Romuald, who received them cordially and gave them land in the area of ​​the city of Benevent, and Alzek personally changed the title of duke to gastalda.

According to historical evidence, they remained to live in that region, although they speak Latin, without giving up their mother tongue. Also, excavations indicate that another part of the Bulgarians of Alcek settled in the region of Tuscany. Despite the fact that Great Bulgaria lasted only a few decades, its collapse had a big influence on the future map of Europe and history in general. It was from the ost that she gave rise to two rather large states - Danube Bulgaria and Volga Bulgaria, about which it is worth telling a little more.

Danube Bulgaria

As already mentioned, after the collapse of Great Bulgaria, Asparuh, together with her horde, settled in the Danube Delta, occupying rather vast territories. Having concluded an agreement with the locals, the Bulgarians merged with them, and Asparuh began to make campaigns to the south and in particular to Byzantium. The campaigns were successful, part of the Byzantine lands was conquered, after which an agreement was concluded between Bulgaria and Byzantium, which essentially recognized the existence of Danube Bulgaria.

The life of the Bulgarians has changed since the time of the resettlement. Mixing with the Slavs provoked a rejection of the nomadic lifestyle and he became more sedentary. Agriculture, hunting and handicrafts have replaced the races across the steppes, but still great attention devoted to the military. The Bulgarian armies were constantly tempered in training and battles, and developed agriculture and cattle breeding replenished the material resources of the army. Many military campaigns were carried out on religious grounds, as Byzantium tried to convert the pagan Bulgarians to Christianity.

Volga Bulgaria

Despite the fact that Kotrag settled on the Volga in the 7th century, the first mention of the Volga Bulgaria as a state dates back to the 10th century. The little that is known about the times between the resettlement and the first mention tells us that during the time the Bulgarian tribes dispersed over a rather vast territory among the Finno-Ugric tribes. were engaged nomadic pastoralism and worshiped pagan gods. Later, it became known as the largest Islamic state in Eastern Europe. It was there that Prince Vladimir went when he was looking for a suitable religion for Russia.

The state was located on extremely fertile lands, therefore, developed Agriculture contributed to a rich economy and an extensive flow of trade with other states. Volga Bulgaria had a strong influence on the development of political relations in Eastern Europe, including Ancient Russia. In 1240, it was conquered by the Tatar-Mongolian nomads.

As we can see, in its short century, Great Bulgaria had a great influence on future history. The scale and territory, a short but glorious history, the strength of the first and only leader made this state really great, and justify such a sonorous name.

The Azov Bulgarians and other tribes related to them in the 80s of the VI century subjugated the Turkic Khaganate. However, in the struggle against these Eastern Turks, the Bulgarians, having united together, managed to create a large and strong union of tribes, known in history as Great Bulgaria. The first to unite the Bulgarians was Prince Organa from the Dulo clan (by the way, the formidable Attila, the leader of the Huns, belonged to the same clan at one time). In 632, Kubrat, Organa's nephew, became the head of the state of Great Bulgaria, its khan. In separate sources, for example, in the chronicle of the Byzantine historian John of Nikuis, Kubrat is called baptized and brought up in Byzantium at the court of Emperor Heraclius.

However, some researchers question this message and say that it was not Kubrat who was baptized and lived in Constantinople, but his uncle Organa. Kubrat, obviously, remained in paganism, like all the Turks of that time believed in “Tengri” (“Tengrianism” is initial form monotheism), because it was not without reason that he received the Turkic title “Khan” and his name was Turkic. Being a skillful politician and a talented military leader, Kubrat managed to create a centralized state, which was named “Great” in the sources of that time for good reason.

Great Bulgaria occupied the territory in the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, the lower reaches of the Don and on the Taman Peninsula. The capital was Fanagouris (Fanagoria), a former Greek port city on Taman. One of the big cities was also Tamatarkha - later, already in the Russian period, it became known as Tmutarakan.

The population of the state led a semi-nomadic lifestyle. Along the banks of the Don were summer camps; some of them reached rather large sizes up to one or one and a half kilometers long along the river. But people lived mainly in settlements, both open and fortified. earth ramparts. Among the fortified settlements there were real fortresses with stone walls sometimes up to 7 m thick. They lived both in yurts and in real houses, and yurts were characteristic not only for nomads, but also for other settlements, even cities - this was the case in all semi-nomadic medieval the world.

These settlements and dwellings, with all other remnants material culture make up the Saltov-Mayatskaya archaeological culture. The name of this culture was given by two famous monuments: the Saltovsky burial ground in the Kharkov region of Ukraine and the Mayatsky settlement in the Voronezh region. Although the Saltov-Mayak (or simply Saltov) culture is state culture Khazar Khaganate, it is believed that it was created mainly by the early Bulgarians and Alans, so it is equally considered the culture of Great Bulgaria. This culture, in addition to settlements and dwellings, is also represented by a considerable number of burial grounds and a wide variety of tools and weapons, household items, bronze, silver and gold jewelry, clay and glass vessels, children's toys, etc. All of them testify to a fairly rich agricultural and steppe culture, developed economy, high level of weapons and military affairs. Inherent was the ancient Bulgarians and runic writing, which penetrated there through Khazaria from the Turkic Khaganate. Although rare, coins are also found - these are mainly Arabic dirhems and partly Byzantine coins of the 8th - early 10th centuries. The Saltovo-Mayak culture dates back to the 8th-9th centuries.

This culture is the largest archaeological culture of the Turkic early medieval Eurasia. Later it became one of the foundations of the culture of the Volga Bulgars.

Kubrat died in the 50s-early 60s of the 7th century (some note an earlier and more accurate date - 642). His death was the actual end of the existence of the association he created. In general, such fleeting states, albeit with loud names, rested only on the power of a powerful monarch and, as a rule, disintegrated after his death. So it happened with Great Bulgaria.

In the annals of the Byzantine monk Theophanes the Confessor, compiled in 810-815, an ancient Bulgarian legend is cited, according to which Kubrat left behind five sons. He bequeathed to them never to be separated from each other and to live together so that they ruled over everyone and did not fall into slavery to others. This legend was later widely spread orally in the West. There is such an episode: the dying khan called his sons, ordered them to bring a bunch of flexible rods and ordered everyone to try to break it. None of them could do it. Then Kubrat took one of the rods from the bundle and easily broke it. Here, he said, a young, strong warrior could not overcome a bunch, while a weak, dying old man could easily break a single rod. And in life it is like this: the Bulgarians gathered together will be invincible, and each horde that stands out will be easily defeated and subdued by enemies ...

In the legend, the names of three sons of Kubrat are named: the eldest was called Batbay, the second - Kotrag, the third - Asparuh (the names of the last two are not indicated). However, major researchers of the history of the Khazars and Proto-Bulgarians M.I. Artamonov and S.A. Pletneva argue that, according to historical sources, Kubrat had only two sons: Batbay and Asparuh. They associate the name Kotrag with one of the Bulgarian tribes - with the Kotrags. On the whole, the information about the five sons reflects the inclusion of five ethnic groups, i.e. large tribes, into Great Bulgaria.

By this time, the territory of Great Bulgaria had been significantly cut down by the Khazars attacking from the east.

The sons of Kubrat remained the masters of only the southern regions along the Caucasian foothills: Batbay got the lands along the Kuban, Asparuh - the upper reaches of this river and the upland of modern Stavropol.

The Khazars pressed the Bulgarians more and more. Asparuh with the Onagur tribe went west: first he reached the mouth of the Danube River, here he was joined by other Bulgarian tribes who arrived there earlier - the Kutrigurs, as well as the Slavs, who appeared in those parts relatively recently. The strong paramilitary organization of the Bulgarians included the Slavs, and they, having made up a strong alliance together, soon defeated the 50,000-strong Byzantine army - the largest regular army of that time. This happened in 679, and two years later, in 681, they created a new Bulgarian state in the west - Danube Bulgaria with its capital in the city of Pliska.

The dominant position in the country for almost 200 years was occupied by the dynasty of Bulgarian khans: first - Asparuh (until 816), then - Omutarha. However, the Slavicization of the Bulgarians gradually intensified, already under the Slavic Tsar Boris (852–889), Christianity was adopted in 865, and in 894 - Slavic writing,

created there by the brothers Cyril and Methodius. Slavic language became official language churches and states. The ethnic difference between the Turkic-speaking Bulgarians and the southern Slavs gradually disappeared. In essence, the Bulgarians were absorbed by the more numerous Slavs, but left behind them their ethnonym, i.e. self-name.

The eldest son of Kubrat Batbai remained on his lands in the North Caucasus and submitted to the Khazars. Gradually, his Bulgarians, i.e. Kuban, began to be called "black". Modern Karachays (Karachaly) and Balkars are associated with them - pay attention to the proximity of the words “Bulgars” and “Balkars”. And the word “kara” generally formed part of the ethnonyms of a number of Turkic-speaking peoples, thereby emphasizing that they were swarthy, dark-haired. In addition to the Karachala, there were, for example, the Kara-Nogai, the Kara-Khazars already known to us, the Kara-Kitai (the Kara-Kitai are not Chinese, but Turkic tribes that lived in Northeast China in the 6th-8th centuries). It should also be noted that the well-known in science Pereshchepkinsky treasure of gold and silver dishes, precious weapons, jewelry, including the gold rings of his father Kubrat and cousin Organa, is associated with the name of Batbai. The treasure was found near the village. Malaya Pereshchepina, Poltava region.

Previously, they wrote that the third group of Bulgarians, led by the legendary Kotrag, after the death of Kubrat, headed for. Middle Volga. The fact that there was no such khanzade (prince), but there was a tribe of kotrags, has already been scientifically proven. In addition, archaeological research has shown that the Bulgarians did not appear in our area immediately after the described events of the middle of the 7th century. All the Bulgarians who remained in the Sea of ​​Azov and adjacent areas entered the Khazar union of tribes and created together with them and especially the Alans the above-named Saltovskaya archaeological culture and existed there almost until the end of the 8th century.

The Bulgarians appeared in the Middle Volga region, on the territory of our Tatarstan and adjacent lands to the south and south-west, exactly somewhere at the end of the VIII-beginning of the IX centuries.

In the middle of the 7th century, the state of Great Bulgaria flourished between the Kuban and the Dnieper. But his age was short. After the death of its founder, the state fell apart, and its population scattered across the continent.

The birthplace of the Bulgarians (in ancient historiography - Proto-Bulgarians or Bulgars) is considered to be Central Asia, or rather the mountainous region of the Pamirs and the Hindu Kush. In Indian sources this place is called Balkhara, in Greek - Bactria. For the first time, the chronicles mention the Bulgars from the 4th century. The Armenian historian of the 5th century, Movses Khorenatsi, describes the resettlement of the Bulgars in Transcaucasia: “In the days of Arshak I (Armenian king), great unrest arose in the chain of the great Caucasus Mountain, in the Land of the Bulgars; many of them separated and came to our country.” During this period, in the Caspian steppes, along with other nomads, the Bulgars were involved in a large-scale process of the Great Migration of Peoples, in which they “dissolved” for a while. Until the collapse of the Hun Empire, evidence of the activity of the Bulgars disappears from the sources. This gives historians reason to assume that the Bulgars were part of a huge tribal union, which contemporaries called the Huns. After the fall of the Turkic Khaganate at the beginning of the 7th century, the formation of new states began on its ruins. The largest of them was the Khazar Khaganate. In parallel, the disengagement of the Bulgar tribes of the Sea of ​​Azov and the Black Sea, which were part of two tribal unions, - Kutrigur and Utigur, takes place. The first connected his fate with the Avars and went to the West, and the second fell under the rule of the Turks. In the 7th century, another tribe appeared on the historical scene - Gunnugundur, which Byzantine authors, in particular, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, call the Bulgarians. According to researchers, this tribe used to be known as Onogur and lived east of the Sea of ​​Azov, between the Don and Kuban. Soviet historian and archaeologist Mikhail Artamonov writes that the Azov Bulgarians at that time were under the rule of the Turkuts, and they were headed by the specific Turkut khan. However, the internecine war greatly shattered the power of the Turkic Khaganate and made it possible for some tribes to free themselves from its rule. By 635, the leader Gunnogundur Khan Kubrat expelled the Turkuts (according to another version, Avars) from the Northern Black Sea region and managed to unite the Azov and Black Sea Bulgarians under his rule.

transient greatness

Historians have limited information about Kurbat, the founder of the state association, called Great Bulgaria. The Egyptian bishop John of Nikius in his chronicle pointed out that Kubrat was brought up in Byzantium. Closely associated with Constantinople, as a Bulgarian sovereign, he carried out a pro-Byzantine policy. Medieval writer Nikifor Grigora notes that Kubrat and the Byzantine emperor Heraclius I kept peace with each other until the death of the latter. As for the state of Great Bulgaria itself, little is known about it either. As an exception, the mention in the chronicle of the Byzantine monk Theophan the Confessor. Let us quote this fragment in full: “On the other side, on the northern shores of the Euxine Pontus, behind the lake called Meotian, from the ocean side, the greatest river Atel (Volga) flows through the Sarmatian land; the river Tanais (Don) approaches this river, coming from the gates of Iberia in Caucasus mountains(Daryal); from the convergence of Tanais and Atel, which, above the Meotian Lake, diverge in different sides, the river Kufis (Kuban) leaves, and flows into the Pontic Sea near the Dead Gates, against the Cape of the Ram's Forehead. From the aforementioned lake, the sea, like a river, connects with the Euxine Pontus at the Cimmerian Bosporus, where murzulia and other fish are caught. On the eastern shores of the Meotian Lake beyond Phanagoria, in addition to the Jews, many peoples live. Behind that lake, above Kufis, in which the Bulgarian fish koist is caught, there is ancient Great Bulgaria and the kotrags, tribesmen of the Bulgarians, live. Historians find many geographical errors in this passage. In particular, Feofan here confuses the Don and Kuban rivers. It is the Kuban, and not the Don, that originates in the Caucasus Mountains. One way or another, it can be assumed that Great Bulgaria covered vast areas, stretching from the foothills of the Caucasus to the middle Dnieper region. In other words, this state was located in the territories of modern Russia and Ukraine. By the middle of the 7th century, the state of the Bulgarians, headed by Khan Kubrat, had turned into a mighty force. No wonder the Byzantine compilers of the historical chronicle called it "Ancient Great Bulgaria". The chronicle notes that as a token of honor, the Roman emperor Irakli I honored Kubrat with the title of “patrician” and rewarded him with rich gifts. Phanagoria, mentioned by Feofan, located on the coast of the Kerch Strait, was the capital of Ancient Bulgaria (today these are ruins near the village of Sennoy in the Krasnodar Territory). The former Greek colony, almost completely destroyed by the Huns, Phanagoria was rebuilt by the Bulgarians and turned into a center of crafts and trade. Other settled settlements quickly grew up near the capital, the inhabitants of which were engaged in crafts, mostly pottery and agriculture. However, the main part of the population continued to lead a predominantly semi-nomadic lifestyle, livestock breeding. Japanese history professor Shigeoshi Matsumae wrote that "Bulgarian culture of the Middle Ages is among the seven civilizations in the history of mankind that have played a responsible mediating role because of their mission as a link between East and West."

Scattering

After the death of Kubrat, presumably in the 50s - early 60s of the 7th century, Great Bulgaria did not last long. According to legend, the five sons of the khan - Batbayan, Kotrag, Asparukh, Kuber and Alzek - divided the lands of the state among themselves. However, the small destinies deprived of unity were not able to cope with the increased power of the Khazar Khaganate. During clashes with the Khazars in the 660s, Great Bulgaria ceased to exist as a state. The eldest son Batbay (Bezmer) with his horde, which is known as the "black Bulgarians" remained in place, turning into a tributary of the Khazars. In particular, the "black Bulgarians" are mentioned in Prince Igor's treaty with Byzantium, according to which Igor undertakes to protect the Byzantine possessions in the Crimea from the attacks of these tribes. Nevertheless, the "black Bulgarians" quickly occupied the Crimean peninsula, the steppes and forest-steppes of the Dnieper region. In 1912, near the village of Pereshchepino in the vicinity of the Ukrainian city of Poltava, a treasure trove of gold and silver dishes, precious weapons and jewelry was discovered. "Treasures of Kubratkhan" - this is how the archaeologists called this treasure, linking it with the name of the founder of Great Bulgaria. And not by accident. Here was found the grave of a wealthy ruler, presumably Kubrat himself. It is important to note that the spread of influence of both Great Bulgaria and the Khazar Khaganate in the Dnieper region gives historians reason to assume that Kyiv, several centuries before it became the capital Ancient Russia, was a predominantly non-Slavic city. Another significant migration of the Bulgars is connected with the name of the second son of Kubrat - Kotrag. He crossed the Don and moved north, founding new cities on the Kama and the Volga. This is how the Volga Bulgaria arose, the population of which became the ancestors of the modern Chuvash and Tatars. The remaining three sons of the founder of Great Bulgaria went to the West. Asparuh went beyond the Danube, creating the Bulgarian kingdom there. It was the Danube Bulgars, having merged with the Slavs and the remnants of the Thracian tribes, that laid the foundations of the modern Bulgarian ethnos. Kuber, according to legend, with his horde went to Pannonia and joined the Avars. There he made an unsuccessful attempt to become an Avar kagan, then started the capture of the city of Thessaloniki - again a failure. Eventually his tribe allied with the Slavic tribes of Macedonia. Younger son Kubrat Alcek reached Italy itself, where he asked for land from the Lombard king Grimoald. The Benedictine monk of the 8th century Paul Deacon wrote about the Bulgars of Alcek: “And they live in these places, about which we spoke, until now, and although they also speak Latin also, but still have not completely abandoned the use of their language.

LESSON #2

Ancient Turks and early states

Great Bulgaria

During the advancement of the Huns to the west, the Bulgarians came to the Black Sea and Azov steppes along with other Turkic-speaking tribes. Here were the possessions of the Turkic Khaganate. The Bulgarians found themselves in its composition in the position of vassals. Under the leadership of the ruler Kubrat in 632 they achieved independence. An independent state arose - Great Bulgaria. (see map )

KUBRAT KHAN RING WITH A PRINT

KUBRAT KHANA

The capital of Great Bulgaria was Phanagoria - an ancient city on the Taman Peninsula.

Crafts and trade were concentrated here. The main occupation of the Bulgarians was nomadic cattle breeding.

The history of Great Bulgaria turned out to be short. The sons of Kubrat violated his covenant not to separate from each other and live in friendship and harmony. After the death of their father, they began a struggle for power and divided the land among themselves. The state collapsed.

Kubrat's son Asparuh was forced to take his subjects to the banks of the Danube. Here the Bulgarians, having conquered the Slavs, in 681 created a new state - Danube Bulgaria.

Most of the Bulgarians, together with Batbay, another son of Kubrat, remained on their indigenous lands. Soon they occupied the Crimean peninsula, the steppes and forest-steppes of the Dnieper region. It was in these steppes, near the village of Pereshchepino in the vicinity of the city of Poltava, that a treasure trove of gold and silver dishes, precious weapons and jewelry was discovered. "Treasures of Kubratkhan" - this is how this treasure is usually called, on which the name of the founder of Great Bulgaria has been preserved.

BULGARIAN SILVER VASE GOLD RINGS ORGAN

WITH THE IMAGE OF KUBRAT KHAN AND KUBRAT KHAN.

Great Bulgaria - the first own state of the Bulgarians, who became one of the ancestors of modern Tatars. It existed for a short time, did not even have time to get stronger and therefore did not have a significant impact on the course of history.