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88-719: The Dulo clan was a ruling dynasty of the Bulgars , who were of Turkic origin. It is generally considered that their elite was related to the Huns and the Western Turkic Khaganate . Particularly, it is said that the Dulo descended from the rulers of Old Great Bulgaria . This state was a centralized monarchy from its inception, unlike previous Hunno-Turkic political entities, which were tribal confederations. The royal family and rulers of Old Great Bulgaria (632–668) and

176-751: A Turkic language , the Bulgar language of the Oghuric branch. They preserved the military titles, organization, and customs of Eurasian steppes as well as pagan shamanism and belief in the sky deity Tangra . The Bulgars became semi-sedentary during the 7th century in the Pontic-Caspian steppe, establishing the polity of Old Great Bulgaria c. 630–635, which was defeated by the Khazar Empire in 668 AD. In 681, Khan Asparukh conquered Scythia Minor , opening access to Moesia , and established

264-747: A "mixed race" and "troublemakers". Peter A. Boodberg noted that the Buluoji in the Chinese sources were recorded as remnants of the Xiongnu confederation, and had strong Caucasian elements. Another theory linking the Bulgars to a Turkic people of Inner Asia has been put forward by Boris Simeonov , who identified them with the Pugu (僕骨; buk/buok kwət ; Buqut ), a Tiele and/or Toquz Oguz tribe. The Pugu were mentioned in Chinese sources from 103 BC up to

352-496: A 15,000-strong Roman army led by magister militum Aristus. In 502, Bulgars again devastated Thrace as reportedly there were no Roman soldiers to oppose them. In 528–529 they again invaded the region and defeated Roman generals Justin and Baduarius . However, the Gothic general Mundus offered allegiance to Emperor Justinian I (527–565) in 530, and managed to kill 5,000 Bulgars plundering Thrace. John Malalas recorded that in

440-699: A member of the clan, revolted against the Pannonian Avars and founded the Old Great Bulgaria on the territory of modern Ukraine . During the second half of the 7th century his sons split up the Bulgar royal family and spread over Europe, from the Volga river to the shadow of Matese mountains: Bezmer ( Ukraine ), Kotrag ( Volga Bulgaria ), Kuber ( Balkan Macedonia ), Asparukh ( Danube Bulgaria ) and Alcek ( Sepino , Bojano , Isernia ). In

528-737: A state of disorder", i.e. the "disturbers", was a more likely etymology for migrating nomads. According to Osman Karatay , if the "mixed" etymology relied on the westward migration of the Oğurs , meeting and merging with the Huns, north of the Black Sea, it was a faulty theory, since the Oghurs were documented in Europe as early as 463, while the Bulgars were not mentioned until 482 – an overly short time period for any such ethnogenesis to occur. However,

616-696: A stay in Avar territory left and settled in Italy, in Sepino , Bojano and Isernia . These Bulgars preserved their speech and identity until the late 8th century. The First Bulgarian Empire (681–1018) had a significant political influence in the Balkans. In the time of Tervel (700–721) the Bulgars helped Byzantines two times, in 705 the Emperor Justinian II to regain his throne, and 717–718 defeating

704-656: A topic of ongoing debate and controversy among scholars. The first clear mention and evidence of the Bulgars was in 480, when they served as the allies of the Byzantine Emperor Zeno (474–491) against the Ostrogoths . Anachronistic references about them can also be found in the 7th-century geography work Ashkharatsuyts by Anania Shirakatsi , where the Kup'i Bulgar , Duč'i Bulkar , Olxontor Błkar and immigrant Č'dar Bulkar tribes are mentioned as being in

792-590: Is attested. According to G. Clauson , Old Turkic tul denotes "widow, widower". Golden, citing Lajos Ligeti (1986), wondered if Dulo resulted from Slavicism of Turkic title Yula . Even so, all hypotheses P. B. Golden considers for now as speculative. Dulo Hill on Livingston Island , near Antarctica , is named after the Bulgarian ruling dynasty Dulo. Bulgars The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians ) were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in

880-559: Is considered as the indication of the confines of the Bulgar settlement. In the Balkans they merged with the Slavs and other autochthonous Romance and Greek speaking population, like the Thracians and Vlachs , becoming a political and military elite. However, the influence of the pre-Slavic population had relatively little influence on the Slavs and Bulgars, indicating their population was reduced in previous centuries. The hinterlands of

968-498: Is correct, Kuber was named for his father, because Kuber and Kubrat are most probably two Greek versions of the same Bulgar name. However, others suggest Kuber is but a reference to Asparukh's own Kubiar branch of Kubrat's Dulo clan where "Kubi-ar" may mean "fair haired". Finally, Croatian researchers have proposed that Kubrat of Onoguria's five sons correspond to the five brothers from White Croatia who took Avaria in 677 , whereby Kuber would be Chrobatos (Χρωβάτος) . Kuber

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1056-569: Is now under the sway of the Avars, having made an alliance with the local peoples". Kuber later led a revolt against the Avars and with his people moved as far as the region of Thessaloniki in Greek Macedonia . The fifth brother, reported by Nikephoros I and Theophanes, "settling in the five Ravennate cities became a subject of the Romans". This brother is believed to be Alcek , who after

1144-469: Is placed between 650 and 663 AD. According to Nikephoros I, Kubrat instructed his five sons to "never separate their place of dwelling from one another, so that by being in concordance with one another, their power might thrive". Subsequent events proved Old Great Bulgaria to be only a loose tribal union, as there emerged a rivalry between the Khazars and the Bulgars over Turk patrimony and dominance in

1232-698: Is recorded "in the country in which I live, there formerly lived the Vununtur (< Vunundur < Onoğundur). Our ancestors, the Khazars warred with them. The Vununtur were more numerous, as numerous as the sand by the sea, but they could not withstand the Khazars. They left their country and fled... until they reached the river called Duna ( Danube )". This migration and the foundation of the Danube Bulgaria (the First Bulgarian Empire )

1320-857: Is usually dated c. 681. The composition of the horde is unknown, and sources only mention tribal names Čakarar, Kubiar, Küriger, and clan names Dulo , Ukil/Vokil , Ermiyar, Ugain and Duar. The Onglos where Bulgars settled is considered northern Dobruja , secured to the West and North by Danube and its Delta , and bounded to the East by the Black Sea . They re-settled in North-Eastern Bulgaria, between Shumen and Varna , including Ludogorie plateau and southern Dobruja. The distribution of pre-Christian burial assemblages in Bulgaria and Romania

1408-783: The Avars in Avar Pannonia and remained there with his army". According to a scholarly theory, first proposed by the Bulgarian historian Vasil Zlatarski , Kuber was the fourth son of Kubrat , the Christian ruler of the Onogur Bulgars in the steppes north of the Black Sea . Kuber's story is continued in the second book of the Miracles of Saint Demetrius . The book is a hagiographic work, written in Thessaloniki in

1496-460: The Bulgar ethnonym could be due to the dialect differentiations in their language. By the middle of the 6th century, the Bulgars momentarily fade from the sources and the Kutrigurs and Utigurs come to the front. Between 548 and 576, mostly due to Justinian I (527–565), through diplomatic persuasion and bribery the Kutrigurs and Utigurs were drawn into mutual warfare, decimating one another. In

1584-695: The Caspian Gates and to the sea, which are in the Hunnish lands. Beyond the gates live the Burgars (Bulgars), who have their language, and are people pagan and barbarian. They have towns. And the Alans – they have five towns... Avnagur (Aunagur, considered Onoğurs) are people, who live in tents Then he records 13 tribes, the wngwr ( Onogur ), wgr (Oğur), sbr ( Sabir ), bwrgr (Burğa, i.e. Bulgar), kwrtrgr (Kutriğurs), br (probably Vars , also known as

1672-686: The Gepids , according to Paul the Deacon. However, when Theoderic the Great with his Ostrogoths departed for Italy in 489, the Illyricum and Thrace were open for Bulgar raids. In 493, according to Marcellinus Comes , they defeated and killed magister militum Julian. In 499, they crossed the Danube and reached Thrace where on the banks of the river Tzurta (considered a tributary of Maritsa ) defeated

1760-769: The Hunni divided into two tribes: the Altziagiri (who trade and live next to Cherson ) and Saviri , while the Hunuguri (believed to be the Onoğurs) were notable for the marten skin trade. In the Middle Ages, marten skin was used as a substitute for minted money. The Syriac translation of Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor 's Ecclesiastical History (c. 555) in Western Eurasia records: The land Bazgun... extends up to

1848-748: The Nominalia the Bezmer (c. 665–668) was the last Dulo ruler on the northern side of Danube river (of the Old Great Bulgaria), while the Asparukh (c. 681–701) was the first from the southern side of the river (First Bulgarian Empire). He was followed by Tervel (c. 700–721), and the last ruler of Bulgaria from the Dulo clan, Sevar (c. 721–737). According to Theophanes , in 761 or 762 the Bulgars "rose up, killed their hereditary lords and set up as their king an evil-minded man called Teletzes , who

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1936-695: The Olxontor Błkar , and the 5th century History by Movses Khorenatsi, which includes an additional comment from a 9th-century writer about the colony of the Vłĕndur Bułkar. Marquart and Golden connected these forms with the Iġndr (*Uluġundur) of Ibn al-Kalbi (c. 820), the Vnndur (*Wunundur) of Hudud al-'Alam (982), the Wlndr (*Wulundur) of Al-Masudi (10th century) and Hungarian name for Belgrad Nándor Fejérvár ,

2024-647: The Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region between the 5th and 7th centuries. They became known as nomadic equestrians in the Volga-Ural region , but some researchers trace Bulgar ethnic roots to Central Asia . During their westward migration across the Eurasian Steppe , the Bulgar tribes absorbed other tribal groups and cultural influences in a process of ethnogenesis, including Iranic , Finno-Ugric , and Hunnic tribes. The Bulgars spoke

2112-610: The Vulgares killed the Lombard king Agelmund. Scholars attribute this account to the Huns, Avars or some Bulgar groups who were probably carried away by the Huns to the Central Europe. The Lombards, led by their new king Laimicho, rose up and defeated the Bulgars with great slaughter, gaining great booty and confidence as they "became bolder in undertaking the toils of war." The defeated Bulgars then became subjects of

2200-482: The nndr (*Nandur) of Gardīzī (11th century) and *Wununtur in the letter by the Khazar King Joseph . All the forms show the phonetic changes typical of later Oğuric (prothetic v-). Scholars consider it unclear how this union came about, viewing it as a long process in which a number of different groups were merged. During that time, the Bulgars may have represented a large confederation including

2288-590: The "mixing" in question may have occurred before the Bulgars migrated from further east, and scholars such as Sanping Chen have noted analogous groups in Inner Asia , with phonologically similar names, who were frequently described in similar terms: during the 4th century, the Buluoji ( Middle Chinese b'uo-lak-kiei ), a component of the " Five Barbarian " groups in Ancient China, were portrayed as both

2376-492: The 13th century. The modern Volga Tatars , Bashkirs and Chuvash people claim to have originated from the Volga Bulgars. The etymology of the ethnonym Bulgar is not completely understood and difficult to trace back earlier than the 4th century AD. Since the work of Tomaschek (1873), it is generally said to be derived from Proto-Turkic root * bulga- ("to stir", "to mix"; "to become mixed"), which with

2464-645: The 680s or 690s. Denis Sinor wrote "The Avar Kaghan entrusted Kuber and his suite with the governing of the descendants of the Christian Byzantine prisoners of war, carried off sixty years ago, who were living mixed with Avars and Bulgars north of the Danube, not far from the former province of Pannonia Sirmiensis." Nevertheless, Kuber's people soon liberated the POWs and led them south to the region of modern North Macedonia . The American historian John Van Antwerp Fine, Jr. writes that, if Zlatarski's theory

2552-427: The 7th and 9th centuries, where they founded Volga Bulgaria , with Bolghar as its capital. According to Ahmad ibn Rustah (10th century), the Volga Bulgars were divided into three branches: "the first branch was called Bersula (Barsils), the second Esegel , and the third Bulgar". In 922 they accepted Islam as the official religion. They preserved their national identity well into the 13th century by repelling

2640-672: The 8th century AD, and later were situated among the eastern Tiele tribes, as one of the highest-ranking tribes after the Uyghurs . According to the Chronicle by Michael the Syrian , which comprises several historical events of different age into one story, three mythical Scythian brothers set out on a journey from the mountain Imaon ( Tian Shan ) in Asia and reached the river Tanais ( Don ),

2728-596: The Arabs during the siege of Constantinople. Sevar (738–753) was the last ruler from the Dulo clan, and the period until c. 768–772 was characterized by the Byzantino-Bulgar conflict and internal crisis. In the short period followed seven rulers from the Uokil and Ugain clan. Telerig (768–777) managed to establish a pacific policy with Byzantium, and restore imperial power. During the reign of Krum (803–814),

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2816-642: The Armenian Ashkharatsuyts . The Olxontor Błkar is one of the variations used for the Onoğurs Bulgars, while others could be related to the ancient river names, such as the Kup'i Bulgar and the Kuban (Kuphis). The Duč'i could read Kuchi Bulkar and as such could be related to the Dnieper (Kocho). However, the Č'dar Bulkar location is unclear. Dimitrov theorized that the differences in

2904-663: The Avars), ksr ( Kasr ; possibly Akatziri ), srwrgwr ( Saragur ), dyrmr (unknown), b'grsyq ( Bagrasir , i.e. Barsil ), kwls (unknown), bdl (probably Abdali ), and ftlyt (Hephthalite) ... They are described in typical phrases reserved for nomads in the ethnographic literature of the period, as people who "live in tents, earn their living on the meat of livestock and fish, of wild animals and by their weapons (plunder)". Agathias (c. 579–582) wrote: ...all of them are called in general Scythians and Huns in particular according to their nation. Thus, some are Koutrigours or Outigours and yet others are Oultizurs and Bourougounds...

2992-460: The Bulgars, as well the cosmological understanding of the history, as the Avitohol and Irnik were mentioned in the category of the creator and founder , the mythological divine ancestor-creator represented in the reincarnation of the cultural hero within time cycles. Jean W. Sedlar considered the Attila connection justly doubtful, and argued the possibility of a steppe dynasty which produced Hunnic rulers like Attila may have also produced rulers for

3080-434: The Bulgars. The second listed ruler is Irnik, who lived 150 years and also descended from the Dulo clan. It is generally considered that in the Nominalia under Irnik was considered the third son of Attila, Ernak . Vasil Zlatarski thought the identification between Irnik and Ernak pointless, and they were two different persons and families. Zlatarski pointed out, which points Runciman considered to be indisputable; if Irnik

3168-439: The Byzantine territory were for years occupied by many groups of Slavs. According to Theophanes, the Bulgars subjugated the so-called Seven Slavic tribes , of which the Severians were re-settled from the pass of Beregaba or Veregava, most likely the Rish Pass of the Balkan Mountains , to the East, while the other six tribes to the Southern and Western regions as far the boundary with the Pannonian Avars. Scholars consider that

3256-484: The Danubian Bulgaria – the First Bulgarian Empire , where the Bulgars became a political and military elite. They merged subsequently with established Byzantine populations , as well as with previously settled Slavic tribes , and were eventually Slavicized , thus becoming one of the ancestors of modern Bulgarians . The remaining Pontic Bulgars migrated in the 7th century to the Volga River , where they founded Volga Bulgaria ; they preserved their identity well into

3344-418: The Dulo clan with the five Duolu (or To-lu) tribes of the Western Turks . The First Turkic Khaganate (552–581) was during the Göktürk civil war (581–593) divided into Western and Eastern Khaganate. The Western was led by Onoq (ten arrows), the five Duolu and five Nushibi tribes. Many modern historians consider that the first historical Bulgar ruler Kubrat belonged to the Dulo clan of the Western Turks -

3432-402: The Empire and prosperity during the time of Simeon I (893–927) is considered as the Bulgarian Golden Age . However, from the time of Peter I (927–969) their power declined. The Hungarians, Kievan Rus' Slavs, as well Pechenegs and Cumans held many raids into their territory, and so weakened were eventually conquered in 1018 by the Byzantine Empire. Bulgars had the typical culture of

3520-399: The Empire doubled its size, including new lands in Macedonia and Serbia . He also successfully repelled the invading force of the Byzantines, as well defeated the Pannonian Avars where additionally extended the Empire size. In 865, during the reign of Khan Boris I (852–889), the Bulgars accepted Christianity as the official religion, and Eastern Orthodoxy in 879. The greatest expansion of

3608-430: The Hun. Steven Runciman considered the connection possible, but suspicious and unimportant if the link between Irnik -Ernak is confirmed. Runciman considered the name Avitohol meaningless and its biblical origin more convincing. He considered that the missionaries were spreading Old Testament stories around the Eurasian Steppes , as well the story of Japheth , the ancestor of Eurasian people, which easily modifies into

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3696-459: The Hunnic tribes, causing the migration, may have occurred there, but the Pontic–Caspian steppe seems a more likely location. Some scholars propose that the Bulgars may have been a branch or offshoot of the Huns or at least Huns seem to have been absorbed by the Onogur-Bulgars after Dengizich 's death. Hyun Jin Kim however, argues that the Huns continued under Ernak, becoming the Kutrigur and Utigur Hunno -Bulgars. These conclusions remain

3784-449: The Hunnic union were attacked by the Šarağurs, one of the first Oğuric Turkic tribes that entered the Ponto-Caspian steppes as the result of migrations set off in Inner Asia. According to Priscus , in 463 the representatives of Šarağur, Oğur and Onoğur came to the Emperor in Constantinople , and explained they had been driven out of their homeland by the Sabirs , who had been attacked by the Avars . This tangle of events indicates that

3872-406: The Imperial powers, for whom it was easier to deal with one ruler than several tribal chieftains. In nomadic society the tribes were political organizations based on kinship, with diffused power. Tribes developed according to the relation with sedentary states, and only managed to conquer them when had social cohesion. If the raiding by the nomads had negative effect on the economic development of

3960-417: The Khagan "in our times", according to the Miracles of Saint Demetrius . Modern historians say that Kuber's rebellion occurred in the 670s or early 680s. Around 70,000 Sermesianoi joined him and departed for the Byzantine Empire . The khagan attempted to hinder their migration, but they routed the Avars in five or six battles and crossed the river Danube . Kuber and his people moved as far as

4048-526: The Khagan wanted to separate him from his Bulgar subjects who had followed him from the Pontic steppes. Kuber's subjects called themselves Sermesianoi , but the Byzantines regarded them as "Bulgars". They preserved their Christian traditions, although their ancestors had been taken to the Avar Khaganate about 60 years before Kuber's appointment. The Sermesianoi did not cease to dream of their return to their ancestors' homes. Taking advantage of his subjects' feelings, Kuber rose up in open rebellion against

4136-413: The Kutrigurs and Utigurs to be two related, ancestral people, and prominent tribes in the later Bulgar union, but different from the Bulgars. Among many other theories regarding the etymology of Bulgar, the following have also had limited support. The origin of the early Bulgars is still unclear. Their homeland is believed to be situated in Kazakhstan and the North Caucasian steppes. Interaction with

4224-414: The Latin name Avitus (ancestral; grandfather) and Turkish Awit (ancestor) it derives from. Runciman considered Avitohol to be a distant mythological ancestor. Ivan Biliarsky considers that both Avitohol and Irnik were only mythic figures of the historical personalities. According to him the Nominalia shows that the clan memory and genealogy important to Central Asian peoples was likewise significant to

4312-482: The Lombards and later migrated in Italy with their king Alboin . When the army of Ostrogoth chieftain Theodoric Strabo grew to 30,000-men strong, it was felt as a menace to Byzantine Emperor Zeno , who somehow managed to convince the Bulgars to attack the Thracian Goths. The Bulgars were eventually defeated by Strabo in 480/481. In 486 and 488 they fought against the Goths again, first as allies of Byzantium, according to Magnus Felix Ennodius , and later as allies of

4400-462: The North Caucasian-Kuban steppes. An obscure reference to Ziezi ex quo Vulgares , with Ziezi being an offspring of Biblical Shem , is in the Chronography of 354 . According to D. Dimitrov, the 5th-century History of Armenia by Movses Khorenatsi speaks about two migrations of the Bulgars, from Caucasus to Armenia . The first migration is mentioned in the association with the campaign of Armenian ruler Valarshak (probably Varazdat ) to

4488-453: The Ostrogoths, are believed to be the Bulgars. In 515, Bulgar mercenaries were listed along with others from the Goths, Scythians and Hunnic tribes as part of the Vitalian army. In 539, two Hunnic "kinglets" defeated two Roman generals during the raid into Scythia Minor and Moesia . A Roman army led by magister militum Ascum and Constantiolus intercepted and defeated them in Thrace; however, another raiding party ambushed and captured

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4576-404: The Oultizurs and Bourougounds were known up to the time of the Emperor Leo (457–474) and the Romans of that time and appeared to have been strong. We, however, in this day, neither know them, nor, I think, will we. Perhaps, they have perished or perhaps they have moved off to very far place. According to D. Dimitrov, scholars partially managed to identify and locate the Bulgar groups mentioned in

4664-402: The Oğuric tribes are related to the Ting-ling and Tiele people . It seems that Kutrigurs and Unigurs arrived with the initial waves of Oğuric peoples entering the Pontic steppes. The Bulgars were not mentioned in 463. The account by Paul the Deacon in his History of the Lombards (8th century) says that at the beginning of the 5th century in the North-Western slopes of the Carpathians

4752-416: The Pontic–Caspian steppe. Some historians consider the war an extension of the Western Turks struggle, between the Nushibi tribes and Ashina clan , who led the Khazars, and the Duolu/Tu-lu tribes, which some scholars associated with the Dulo clan , from which Kubrat and many Bulgar rulers originated. The Khazars were ultimately victorious and parts of the Bulgar union broke up. It is unclear whether

4840-433: The Sasanian–Avar alliance. With his uncle Organa in 619, Kubrat had been baptized in Constantinople. He founded the Old Great Bulgaria ( Magna Bulgaria ), also known as Onoğundur–Bulğars state, or Patria Onoguria in the Ravenna Cosmography . Little is known about Kubrat's activities. It is considered that Onogur Bulgars remained the only steppe tribes in good relations with the Byzantines. His date of death

4928-404: The Turkic association as speculative. Mercia MacDermott claimed that the Dulo clan had the dog as its sacred animal. MacDermott considered that the Bulgarian expression preserved to this day "he kills the dog", in the meaning "he gives the orders", is a relic of the time when the Dulo Khan sacrificed a dog to the deity Tangra in the name of the whole community. Some modern Bulgarian scholars,

5016-424: The absence of any source recording the Slavic resistance to the invasion was because it was in their interest to be liberated from the Byzantine taxation. It is considered that the Slavic tribal organization was left intact, and paid tribute to the ruling Bulgars. According to Nikephoros I and Theophanes, an unnamed fourth brother, believed to be Kuber , "having crossed the river Ister, resides in Pannonia, which

5104-400: The battle a Bulgar warlord was captured. In 535, magister militum Sittas defeated the Bulgar army at the river Yantra . Ennodius, Jordanes and Procopius identified the Bulgars with the Huns in a 6th-century literary topos , in which Ennodius referred to a captured Bulgar horse as " equum Huniscum ". In 505, the alleged 10,000 Hun horsemen in the Sabinian army, which was defeated by

5192-405: The brothers' parting ways was caused by the internal conflicts or strong Khazar pressure. The latter is considered more likely. The Bulgars led by the first two brothers Batbayan and Kotrag remained in the Pontic steppe zone, where they were known as Black Bulgars by Byzantine and Rus sources, and became Khazar vassals. The Bulgars led by Kotrag migrated to the middle Volga region during

5280-424: The city, according to the saint's hagiography. There is no more information of Kuber's life. Some modern historians – including Zlatarski and Cankova-Petkova – say that he established a state in Macedonia which existed in parallel with Khan Asparukh 's Bulgarian Empire . They also write that the Byzantine Emperor Justinian II who had subjugated the Slavic tribes around Thessaloniki

5368-416: The clan was the Khan , who reigned as the head of state, military leader, and probably high priest of the Bulgar god, Tangra . Most of what is known about the clan is written in the Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans . The Nominalia lists as the first ruler mythical Avitohol , who lived 300 years and descended from the Dulo clan. Josef Marquart and many other historians identified Avitohol with Attila

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5456-435: The consonant suffix -r implies a noun meaning "mixed". Other scholars have added that bulğa might also imply "stir", "disturb", "confuse" and Talat Tekin interpreted Bulgar as the verb form "mixing" (i.e. rather than the adjective "mixed"). Both Gyula Németh and Peter Benjamin Golden initially advocated the "mixed race" theory, but later, like Paul Pelliot , considered that "to incite", "rebel", or "to produce

5544-496: The country of the Alans called Barsalia , which would be later inhabited by the Bulgars and the Pugurs ( Puguraje ). The names Onoğur and Bulgar were linked by later Byzantine sources for reasons that are unclear. Tekin derived -gur from the Altaic suffix -gir . Generally, modern scholars consider the terms oğuz or oğur , as generic terms for Turkic tribal confederations , to be derived from Turkic *og/uq , meaning "kinship or being akin to". The terms initially were not

5632-405: The decline of his power base, Kuber asked the emperor to forbid the Sermesianoi to leave the plain and to confirm Kuber's position as their ruler. His request seems to have been rejected, because he attempted to seize Thessaloniki, taking advantage of a civil war in the city. However, Saint Demetrius unmasked Kuber's agents who tried to open the gates of Thessaloniki, hindering him from entering

5720-413: The end, the Kutrigurs were overwhelmed by the Avars, while the Utigurs came under the rule of the Western Turks. The Oğurs and Onoğurs, in the 6th- and 7th-century sources, were mentioned mostly in connection with the Avar and Turk conquest of Western Eurasia. From the 8th century, the Byzantine sources often mention the Onoğurs in close connection with the Bulgars. Agathon (early 8th century) wrote about

5808-500: The ethnonym Bulgar as a "spreading" adjective . Golden considered the origin of the Kutrigurs and Utigurs to be obscure and their relationship to the Onogurs and Bulgars – who lived in similar areas at the same time – as unclear. He noted, however, an implication that the Kutrigurs and Utigurs were related to the Šarağur ( šara oğur , shara oghur ; "white oğhurs"), and that according to Procopius these were Hunnish tribal unions, of partly Cimmerian descent. Karatay considered

5896-546: The first Mongol attacks in 1223. They were eventually subdued by the Mongols in 1237. They gradually lost their identity after 1431 when their towns and region were captured by the Russians. The third and most famous son, Asparukh , according to Nikephoros I: crossed the river Danapros and Danastros, lived in the locale around the Ister, having occupied a place suitable for settlement, called in their language ογγλον (ogglon; Slav. o(n)gl , "angle", "corner"; Turk. agyl , "yard" )... The people having been divided and scattered,

5984-409: The first half of the First Bulgarian Empire (681–1018), in their prince lists ( Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans ) claimed through descent from Attila through Irnik, possibly Attila 's attested son Ernak . During the pagan period, the succession of clan leadership was based on traditions brought over to the Balkans from the Eurasian Steppe , which include the rulers' divine ancestry. At the head of

6072-462: The group which established the state of Bulgaria), was claimed to be of Iranian language although it is generally accepted it was Turkic of Oghuric branch and related to modern Chuvash . Aleksandar Burmov noted that the medieval writers under various names mentioned Huns and Bulgars, and some authors mentioned them as separate ethnic categories. The cases of mixing information for Bulgars and Huns in some authors, as well as possible rapprochement of

6160-462: The lands "named Basen by the ancients... and which were afterwards populated by immigrants of the vh' ndur Bulgar Vund, after whose name they (the lands) were named Vanand ". The second migration took place during the time of the ruler Arshak III , when "great disturbances occurred in the range of the great Caucasus mountain, in the land of the Bulgars, many of whom migrated and came to our lands and settled south of Kokh". Both migrations are dated to

6248-426: The most prominent of them, namely Peter Dobrev, argued that the Turkic names of the animals in the Bulgar calendar (also found in the Nominalia ) show that the Turkic peoples had borrowed these words from the Iranian language (Bulgars). However, according to Raymond Detrez , this theory is rooted in the periods of anti-Turkish sentiment in Bulgaria, and is ideologically motivated. As such the proto-Bulgar language (of

6336-516: The name of the old Xiongnu ruling house 屠各 Tuge (in Old Chinese d'o-klâk ). This association could further prove the link between Xiongnu and Huns (as well Huns and Bulgars). Peter B. Golden surmises that the Xiongnu tribal surname 獨孤 Dugu (< d'uk-kuo ) or 屠各 Tuge (< d'o-klâk ) possibly reflects underlying Turkic * Tuğqu or * Tuğlağ "tribe of the tuğ ?" yet still considers

6424-427: The names Avitohol – Attila and Irnik – Ernak, do not give reason to draw a line of equality between the two ethnic groups. According to Burmov there is no historical evidence that the Bulgars and Huns lived in the same territory. Burmov, Peter B. Golden, Gyula Németh and Panos Sophoulis concluded that claiming of Attilid descent shows the intermingling of European Huns elements with newly arrived Oğuric Turkic groups, as

6512-627: The nation of Onoğurs Bulğars. Nikephoros I (early 9th century) noted that Kubrat was the lord of the Onoğundurs ; his contemporary Theophanes referred to them as Onoğundur–Bulğars . Constantine VII (mid-10th century) remarked that the Bulğars formerly called themselves Onoğundurs . This association was previously mirrored in Armenian sources, such as the Ashkharatsuyts , which refers to

6600-435: The nomadic equestrians of Central Asia, who migrated seasonally in pursuit of good pastures, as well attraction to economic and cultural interaction with sedentary societies. Being in contact with sedentary cultures, they began mastering the crafts of blacksmithing , pottery , and carpentry . The politically dominant tribe or clan usually gave its name to the tribal confederation. Such confederations were often encouraged by

6688-497: The number of evidence of linguistic, ethnographic and socio-political nature show that Bulgars belonged to the group of Turkic peoples. B. Zhivkov emphasized that Duolu and Nushibi were tribal confederations, and not ruling dynasties. B. Simeonov derived Dulu from Turkic dul/tul (big, powerful, giant; war horse), and saw Dulo as partly Slavicized form. Simeonov derived *Dullu from Old Hunnic dul + lu (mounted, horseman), yet according to Peter B. Golden , no such Hunnic word

6776-590: The region it could significantly slow down their own social and cultural development. In a nomadic state the nomad and sedentary integration was limited, and usually had vassal tribute system. Kuber According to the Byzantine scholar, Theophanes the Confessor , Kubrat's (unnamed) fourth son, who left the Pontic steppes after his father's death around 642, became "the subject of the [ Khagan ] of

6864-698: The region of Thessaloniki. He decided to settle together with the Sermesianoi in a plain and sent his envoy to the Byzantine Emperor, whom the Miracles of Saint Demetrios did not name, to request his permission. The emperor gave his consent and ordered the nearby Slavic tribe of the Dragovites to supply Kuber and his people with food. However, Kuber's people still wanted to go back to their ancestral homes and started to disperse. Fearing of

6952-476: The remnants of Onoğurs, Utigurs and Kutrigurs among others. The Turk rule weakened sometime after 600, allowing the Avars to reestablish the control over the region. As the Western Turkic Khaganate declined, finally collapsing in the middle of the 7th century, it was against Avar rule that the Bulgars, recorded as Onoğundur–Bulğars , reappeared. They revolted under their leader Kubrat (c. 635), who seems to have been prepared by Heraclius (610–641) against

7040-655: The same, as oq/ogsiz meant "arrow", while oğul meant "offspring, child, son", oğuš/uğuš was "tribe, clan", and the verb oğša-/oqša meant "to be like, resemble". There also appears to be an etymological association between the Bulgars and the preceding Kutrigur ( Kuturgur > Quturğur > *Toqur(o)ğur < toqur ; "nine" in Proto-Bulgar; toquz in Common Turkic) and Utigur ( Uturgur > Uturğur < utur/otur ; "thirty" in Proto-Bulgar; otuz in Common Turkic) – as 'Oğur (Oghur) tribes, with

7128-647: The second half of the 4th century AD. The "disturbances" which caused them are believed to be the expansion of the Huns in the East-European steppes. Dimitrov recorded that the toponyms of the Bolha and Vorotan rivers, tributaries of the Aras river, are known as Bolgaru-chaj and Vanand-chaj , and could confirm the Bulgar settlement of Armenia. Around 463 AD, the Akatziroi and other tribes that had been part of

7216-520: The so-called alliance of Onogurs and Bulgars. Some historians have even identified the Western qaghan Moheduo ( Külüg Sibir ) with Organa , the maternal uncle of Kubrat. Accurately or not, it still points to the rivalry between the Bulgars, led by Kubrat from the Dulo clan, and the Khazars , led by the Ashina clan. Omeljan Pritsak further considered the connection of the name of Dulo clan with

7304-654: The tribe of the Khazars, from within Berulia ( Bessarabia ), which neighbors with Sarmatia, attacked them with impunity. They overran all the lands lying behind the Pontos Euxeinos and penetrated to the sea. After this, having made Bayan a subject, they forced him to pay tribute. Asparukh, according to the Pseudo –Zacharias Rhetor, "fled from the Khazars out of the Bulgarian mountains". In the Khazar ruler Joseph's letter

7392-737: The two Roman generals. In 539 and 540, Procopius reported a powerful Hunnic army crossed the Danube, devastated Illyricum and reached up to the Anastasian Wall . Such large distances covered in a short time indicate they were horsemen. Jordanes described, in his work Getica (551), the Pontic steppe beyond the Akatziri, above the Pontic Sea, as the habitat of the Bulgari , "whom the evils of our sins have made famous". In this region,

7480-455: Was 30 years old". Historians usually interpreted the testimony as evidence of a massacre of the previous dynasty (the Dulo clan), and the rise of a new leader with no connection to the previous regime. The exact origin is obscure. Some researchers consider that the origin of the clan most probably was Turkic. This proposition was suggested by Mikhail Artamonov , and was prompted by Lev Gumilev (1967), implying there may be made an association of

7568-478: Was Ernak, then both Ernak and Attila belonged to the Dulo clan, whereas, actually, no source mentions Dulo clan in connection with them; according to the Nominalia Irnik ruled from 437, i.e. several years before the death of Attila in 453, which is impossible. Due to be assigned a reign of 150 years, Runciman considered the inaccuracy of the date of accession as venial mistake. Kurt ( Kubrat ; c. 632–665),

7656-851: Was ambushed and defeated by the Bulgars from Kuber's state on his return to Constantinople in 689. Asparukh's son, Tervel , cooperated with his "uncles in the region of Thessaloniki" against the Byzantine Emperor Justinian II , according to the inscription on the Madara Rider . The Macedonian archaeologist Ivan Mikulčić , who attributes the treasures found at Vrap and Ersekë to Kuber's people, says that archaeological findings confirm their presence in North Macedonia and eastern Albania . Kuber Peak in Tangra Mountains on Livingston Island in

7744-584: Was the ruler of a mixed population in the Avar Khaganate , including the descendants of the prisoners of war whom the Avars had captured in the Balkan Peninsula and settled around Sirmium . He was made governor by the khagan. Historian Samuel Szádeczky-Kardoss – who accepts Kuber's identification as Kubrat's son and thus a scion of the royal Dulo clan – writes that Kuber became governor of that region, because

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