LESSON #2

Ancient Turks and early states

Great Bulgaria

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

KUBRAT-KHAN SIGNET RING

KUBRAT KHAN

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. Kubrat's sons violated his covenant not to separate from each other and to live in friendship and harmony. After the death of their father, they began to struggle for power and divided the land among themselves. The state collapsed.

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

BULGARIAN SILVER VASE GOLD RINGS ORGANS

WITH AN 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 become properly stronger and therefore did not have a significant impact on the course of history.

Great Bulgaria.

Preliminary remarks.

Based on the works of G.V. Vernadsky and other historians of the 19th-21st centuries.

Great Bulgaria founded by Kurt (Kubrat), in last years his

BULGARIANS

reign was independent as from the Avars and from the Turks. After the failure of the Avar raid on Constantinople (626), the threat of danger from the west was definitely over. The situation in the east was not so favorable for the Bulgars. During the first attack on the North Caucasus lands

oud to the Turks after which they penetrated into Taurida,

oud to the Turkswanted to establish control over the Utigurs, after which they penetrated into Taurida,

After Thaspar's death, a crisis arose due to the lack of a clear succession mechanism. Before his death, Taspar bequeathed to leave the throne to Toremen. But Toremen, the son of Mukan Kagan and his younger wife, was considered low-born and the nobility decided not to install him as Kagan. Under pressure from Shetu (the future Baga-Ishbara Khan), the nobility bowed in favor of Amrak, the son of Taspar. Toremen plotted to displace the newly-minted kagan and take the throne; he and his servants publicly insulted the kagan, remaining unpunished. Deciding not to take risks, the council of the Turkic nobility proclaimed the brave, enterprising Shetu kagan. Toremen received the title of Abo Khan and left for the north. Shetu became Baga Yshbara Khan. Subsequently, these disputes led to civil war in Turkic

participation there in civil war. For for almost twenty years the Turkic state was weakened oh because

599-603 – SPLIT AND DISCOVERY OF THE TURKIC KHAGANATE

Western kagan Kara-Churin and eastern kagan Zhangar. In 597, the Turkic kagan Yun-Ulug asked for help from Kara-Churin, since the Chinese decided to make Khan Zhangar kagan and had already lured many Turks to his side. This year, Kara-Churin defeated the Volga tribes and began to move troops to the east. In 599, Chinese generals were able to defeat the army of Kara-Churin. The death of Yun-Ulug removed the last obstacle to Kara-Churin on the path to the Kagan throne and at the end of 599, without convening a congress of the Turkic nobility, he proclaimed himself Kagan. Zhangar was proclaimed kagan with the support of Chinese troops. Zhangar was entirely dependent on the Chinese emperor and lived under the protection of Chinese troops, who protected him from Kara-Churin. In 599, the elderly Kara-Churin headed the collapsing Khaganate. The Chinese immediately went on the offensive and sent Shi Wansui to attack the Kagan. Kara-Churin avoided battle and sent his son to attack the Eastern Turks, but arriving Chinese reinforcements forced the Turks to retreat. In 601, Kara-Churin seized the initiative and defeated the Chinese general at Khinan. Zhangar and the Chinese generals opposed Kara-Churin; they set up camp on the northern bank of the Yellow River, north of Ordos. A Turkic detachment under the command of Sygin crossed the river and, with a deft maneuver, captured cattle and people from Zhangar. Chinese generals Yang So and Liang Mo caught up with the Turkic detachment and recaptured their prey, other Chinese detachments set off along other roads, across the line. Despite the defeat, another Turkic detachment attacked Zhangar's headquarters a second time. In 603, in the rear of Kara-Churin, an uprising of the Tele tribes broke out, which defeated the military leaders of Kara-Churin. The Eastern Turks, seeing the defeat of Kara-Churin, began to leave him for Zhangar, and the Tatabs joined them. ABOUT future fate Little is known about Kara-Churina. According to Chinese information, he, abandoned by the majority of his subjects, fled to Togon, where he died or was killed.

THE AGE OF THE KHAGANATES

603-630 GG. – EASTERN TURKIC KHANATE

The power of the Turkic state soon began to crumble. There is a weakening of the Turkic Kaganate, the main manifestations of which are the intensification of internecine wars, the aggravation of social contradictions, the advance of China on the borders of the Kaganate, and wars with neighboring countries. In 603, the Turkic Khaganate collapsed into the Western Turkic Khaganate and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. Initially, the rulers of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate were subordinate to the Chinese emperors (Zhangar Khagan). Zhangar Kagan was a loyal vassal of the Chinese Sui Empire until his death. In 608, Zhangar visited Luoyang and returned to headquarters, where he soon died. His son Shibir Kagan became the heir. Unlike previous kagans, Shibir Kagan was not elected at a congress of princes, but was appointed by the Chinese Emperor Sui Yan-di. In 615, Zhangar Kagan's son Shibir Kagan regained independence from the Chinese Empire. Since 615, a series of wars took place between the Eastern Turkic Khaganate and the Chinese Empire. In 617, the Sui Empire virtually ceased to exist. Unexpectedly, the Turks again became the most powerful force in East Asia, and in 619 Shibir Kagan died. The heir was his brother Chulo Kagan, who died in 620. After Chulo Kagan, Kat Il Khan was elected ruler. In 621-624 he waged war against the Chinese Tang Dynasty. After the truce of 624-625, the war between the Turks and China resumed until 626, when a new truce was concluded. In 627, the Seyanto, Uighurs, and Bayyrku rebelled against Kat il-khan. As a result, Kat il-khan was captured by the Chinese, and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate ceased to exist.

603-704 GG. – WESTERN TURKIC KHANATE

In 603, the Turkic Khaganate collapsed into Western and Eastern. The borders of the Western Turkic Kaganate were located from the Sea of ​​Azov and the Don to the eastern spurs of the Tien Shan and northeastern India. The core of the state was the region of Dzungaria, inhabited by the Dulu tribes, and the Western Tien Shan with the Nushibi tribes. Ruled by kagans from the Ashina dynasty. The capital became the city of Suyab (near the city of Tokmak in Kyrgyzstan), and the summer residence was Ming-Bulag (near the city of Turkestan). The center of the state was in Semirechye. In the first period of the existence of the Western Turkic Khaganate, there was a certain anarchy within the Khaganate. It is also worth noting that at this stage the rulers of the Western Turkic Khaganate were dependent on the Chinese emperor. In the second period (610-630), the Western Turkic Kaganate became an independent state and an active player in the global geopolitical field. In the third period (630-704), civil strife took place in the Western Turkic Kaganate, where two tribal groups, Dulu and Nushibi, fought, who supported certain representatives of the Ashina clan. The last real independent ruler of the Western Turkic Kaganate was Hallyg Yshbara-Jagbu Khan (653-657), who achieved the reunification of the Kaganate for a short time. He got involved in an unequal war with the Chinese Tang Empire, which led to the loss of independence of the Khaganate. From 657 to 704, the Western Turkic Khaganate existed within the framework of the fourth period, when it was actually part of the Tang Empire.

610-618 GG. – RULE OF THE WESTERN TURKIC KHAGAN SHEGUY

Shegui, son of Yang-Soukh-tegin, grandson of Kara-Churin Turk - Kagan of the Western Turkic Kaganate from 611/612 to 618. In 598, Kara-Churin Turk installed his grandson Sheguy to rule in Shasha, in the area where present-day Tashkent is located. After the flight of Taman Kagan, he was elected khan by the Nushibi tribes. During the reign of Sheguy, there were periodic clashes with Shibir Khan Turk-shad - the Eastern Kagan. These clashes did not bring any benefit to the Western Khaganate. Shegui made Altai the eastern border of the Kaganate and extended his power to the entire Tarim basin and the eastern Pamir region. The short-lived heyday of the Western Turkic Kaganate became a time of maximum territorial expansion of the new state, rapid enrichment and growing influence of the military-tribal nobility, which united the forces of the tribes under the auspices of the Kagan power for almost continuous and always successful campaigns. Under him, the state strengthened and stabilized.

618-630 – REIGN OF THE WESTERN TURKIC KHAGAN TON-JABGU

Ton-dzhabgu is the son of Yang-Souh-tegin, the son of Kara-Churin Turk. His reign is considered to be the heyday of the Western Turkic Kaganate. In 619, he subjugated the Kibi and Seyanto tribes. After that, he conquered East Turkestan, Samarkand and the borders of his state reached the territory of modern Pakistan. Ton-jabgu tried to conclude an alliance with China against the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, wooing the Chinese princess. In 626, Ton-Jabgu's troops captured Tbilisi. From 626 to 630, Turkic troops were able to capture many Caucasian possessions, which were allies of Iran. Ton-jabgu carried out administrative reform and appointed his representatives - tuduns in the region to monitor and control the collection of tribute. It is believed that he issued his coins with the Sogdian inscription - Tun Yabgu Kagan. He was killed by the rebel tribes of Dulu, led by his uncle Kyulyug-Sibir Khan.

632-671 GG. – BULGARIAN KHANATE

A short-term unification of Turkic-speaking Bulgar tribes (632-c.671), which arose in the steppes of Eastern Europe shortly after the unrest in the Western Turkic Khaganate and the weakening of the Avar Khaganate. The main territory was located in the Black Sea and Azov steppes. The basis of the association was the Bulgar tribe Kutrigurs. Khan Kubrat (632-665) managed to unite his horde with other Bulgar tribes of the Utigurs (who were previously dependent on the Turks) and Onogurs. The unification of the Bulgar tribes was started by Khan Organ, Kubrat’s uncle. Nicephorus, describing the events of 635, noted: “At the same time, Kuvrat, a relative of Organa, the sovereign of the Hun-Gundurs, rebelled again against the Avar Kagan and all the people who were around him, subjecting him to insults, drove them out of their native land. (Kuvrat) sent envoys to Heraclius and made peace with him, which they maintained until the end of their lives. And Heraclius sent him gifts and awarded him the rank of patrician.” After the death of Kubrat, the territory of the Bulgar Kaganate was divided by his five sons: Batbayan, Kotrag, Asparukh, Kuber, Altsek. Each of Kubrat's sons led his own horde, and none of them individually had enough strength to compete with the Khazars. During the clash with the Khazars that followed in the 660s, the Bulgar Kaganate ceased to exist.

internal strife between the khans. The Utigurs took advantage of this situation and managed to free themselves from Turkic control. However, the Turks retained their possessions in the eastern part of the North Caucasus, as well as and in the lower Volga region. IN result internal discord in Turkestan the western group of Turks broke away from the main khanate in Turkestan. The Western horde of the Turks could not be very numerous, and local tribes conquered by her, to a large extent maintained their self-government. Ethnic the composition of the tribes of the North Caucasus was very mixed. TO original various racial traits were added to the Japhetic basis, introduced by new tribes who came to this territory, such as Sarmatians, Hunno-Bulgars and Ugrians. During the fifth and sixth centuries one of these mixed tribes became known as the Khazars. Along with other local tribes The Khazars recognized Turkic rule over themselves around 570. Soon they became loyal supporters of the Turkic state and gradually mixed with the Turks. By the time the Western Turkic horde in the North Caucasus separated from the main horde in Turkestan, the Khazars already constituted main basis North Caucasian state, which soon became known as Khazar Khaganate. Thanks to geographical location, the Khazars, like the Alans before them, were destined to play

650-969 – KHAZAR KAGANATE

Founded by the Khazars, led by a prince from the house of Ashina. He controlled the territory of the Ciscaucasia, the Lower and Middle Volga regions, modern North-West Kazakhstan, the Azov region, the eastern part of Crimea, as well as the steppes and forest-steppes of Eastern Europe up to the Dnieper. The center of the state was initially located in the coastal part of modern Dagestan, and later moved to the lower reaches of the Volga. Part of the ruling elite converted to Judaism. A number of East Slavic tribal unions were politically dependent on the Khazars. Initially, the Khazars were one of the many nomadic tribes that moved from Asia during the Great Migration. They spoke one of the early Turkic languages ​​and belonged to the tribes of the Oghur group, the first of which appeared in Europe in 463. The earliest reliable news about the Khazars is considered to be a mention in the list of tribes listed by Pseudo-Zachary in 555. The rise of the Khazars is associated with the history of the Turkic Khaganate. As a significant military force, the Khazars were first mentioned in connection with the Iranian-Byzantine war of 602-628, in which the Khazar ruler Dzhebukagan became the main conductor of the Turkic-Byzantine alliance directed against Iran. In 627, the Khazar army plundered Caucasian Albania and, uniting with the Byzantines, took Tbilisi by storm. Beginning in 630, numerous internecine clashes led to the collapse of the Western Turkic Khaganate. The result of this was the emergence of two new political entities on its periphery in the steppes of Eastern Europe. Great Bulgaria arose in the Black Sea region, founded by Khan Kubrat in 632, and in the Caspian region - Khazaria. The Khazars did not show themselves at first. By the end of the 7th century, the Khazars controlled most of the steppe Crimea, the Azov region and the North Caucasus. In 737, the Arab commander Marwan ibn Muhammad (the future caliph), at the head of an army of 150 thousand, suddenly invaded Khazaria simultaneously through Derbent and Daryal. The troops stormed the Khazar capital of Semender and reached the city of Al-Bayda, where the Kagan's headquarters was located. The Kagan fled deep into his possessions. In pursuit of him, the Arabs went further north than ever before: all the way to the Don and Volga. The Khazar army was defeated, and the Kagan sued for peace. In exchange for retaining the throne, he promised to convert to Islam. The geopolitical consequence of the Arab onslaught was the movement of the population of Khazaria from the dangerous Caucasian borderland to the interior regions - the Don region, where the Alan tribes settled, and the Volga region. A new Khazar capital, Itil, arose in the lower reaches of the Volga, which soon turned into a large trading center. Dagestan with its old capital Semender turned from a central region into the southern outskirts of Khazaria. Around 740, one of the Khazar military leaders, Bulan, converted to Judaism. At the beginning of the 9th century, a descendant of Bulan, Obadiah, took the second post in the state after the Kagan and concentrated real power in his hands. From that moment on, a system of dual rule was established in Khazaria, in which the country continued to be nominally headed by the Khagans from the old royal family of Ashina, but real governance was carried out on their behalf by beks (kings) from the Bulanid clan. It is very likely that the establishment of a new order was accompanied by internecine clashes. Part of the Khazars, known as Kavars, rebelled against the ruling dynasty and, after the suppression of the rebellion, went over to the Hungarians. At the end of the 9th - first half of the 10th centuries, the Khazar Kaganate weakened, but still continued to remain an influential state. In 965-969, the Khazar Kaganate was defeated by the Russians and Oguzes

important role in international politics in Asia Minor. As we have seen, the Byzantine Empire in 626 was subjected to

simultaneous attack by Avars and Persians. Emperor Heraclius needed allies and quickly realized the opportunity use of the Khazars against the Persians. As a result a Byzantine envoy was sent to the Khazar Khagan with a proposal for alliance against Persia. Interests of Byzantium in this matter coincided with the interests of the Khazars, And kagan with readiness agreed to the alliance. In 627 he he himself led his army to Iveria

1 Do you know what the locals call their country? Sakartvelo - this is the beautiful word Georgians call their “baby”. And all because the Kartvelian people previously lived here. The name “Georgia” came to our lips much later, from the 17th century.

2 It is interesting that the inhabitants of the country became Christians much earlier than the Ukrainians, back in 319.

3 Did you know that in distant history with Spain, Georgia had the same name - Iberia?

Sakartvelo was the first country where ancient human remains were discovered. They were found in 1991, but they date back to almost 2 million years ago. They were even “called” by names - Mzia and Zezva.

and besieged the city of Tiflis(Tbilisi)Irakli, from my side, headed to Tiflis (Tbilisi)from Lazika, famous

subsequently as the western part of Georgia. The allies met in the vicinity of Tiflis, and Irakli treated the kagan to a luxurious feast, after which he gave the kagan his golden dinner service. Siege of Tiflis, however, continued two months without results. Tired of inaction the kagan returned home, leaving Irakli military corps - forty thousand people, according to sources. Probably, this corps consisted mainly White Ugrians (Saragurs), who were vassals of the Khazars. Anyway, in the Slavic translation of the chronicle of George Amartol

Georgy Amartol
Georgy Amartol. Miniature from the Tver copy of the “Chronicles of George Amartol”, 1st half. XIV century
Date of Birth:	9th century
A country:	Byzantium
Occupation:	historian

it was stated that White Ugrians helped Heraclius in his war against Persia. Other Ugric horde, Onogurs, was part of Great Bulgaria under the rule of Khan Kurt, as already noted. Thus, Ugric tribes of the North Caucasus in this period divided in his commitments between the Khazars and the Bulgars. Bye Kurt was alive, He had enough strength to withstand the onslaught of the Turko-Khazars. After his death, however, Great Bulgaria was divided by his sons, Also just as the Hunnic Empire was divided after the death of Attila. Every of Kurt's sons found himself now at the head of his own horde, and none of them there was not enough strength, to cope with the Khazars. Under the onslaught of the Khazars, the Bulgar hordes were forced to leave their former inhabited places and look for safer regions. One of the hordes consisting mainly from the Kutrigur clans, moved to the north and finally settled in the area of ​​the middle Volga and Kama.

reflects the Turkic origin of the former ruling clan; but the new nation is generally Slavic in language and civilization.

The formation of a Slavic-Turkic state began here - Danube Bulgaria.

In 626, the Bulgar Khan Kubrat, who converted to Christianity from the Patriarch of Constantinople, freed himself from the power of the Kagan and created the so-called Great Bulgaria in the Black Sea and Azov steppes. However, the Bulgars did not have enough forces to control such a vast territory, and in the second half of the 7th century they were forced to cede the southern steppes to the Khazars, an ethnically related North Caucasian people. One of the Bulgar hordes retreated to the north and settled on the middle Volga and lower Kama, where later, having subjugated the surrounding Finnish tribes, they formed a vast state - Volga Bulgaria. Another horde went to the Eastern Azov region (our chronicles know it under the name of the Black Bulgars). The third temporarily isolated itself in the so-called Angle, between the Dniester and the Danube, under the protection of swamps and rivers.

Around 670, in search of new lands for settlement, this last horde, led by Khan Asparuh, crossed the Danube, defeated the Romans and invaded Moesia on their shoulders. The local population, already basically Slavic (representatives of the so-called Union of Seven Slavic Tribes), recognized his power over them without resistance; the dissatisfied simply moved to neighboring lands. Apparently the tribute demanded by the Bulgars was preferable to the Slavs over the infamous Byzantine tax system. In 716, Byzantium, after a series of unsuccessful military conflicts, finally recognized the independence of the Bulgarian state (the First Bulgarian Kingdom with its capital in Pliska) and undertook to pay an annual tribute to the Bulgarian khans. From that time on, the Northern Balkan lands were finally separated from the empire, and Byzantine writers of the 8th - 9th centuries. They completely lose even the correct geographical understanding of them.

Under Tsar Krum (803 - 814), the borders of Bulgaria expanded significantly due to Byzantine possessions: Sofia was captured in 809, Adrianople was taken in 813. His successor Omurtag (814 - 831) conquered the Slavic tribes of the Timochans and Branichevtsy, captured the cities of Sirmium and Singidunum, which led to the formation of the Bulgarian-Frankish borderland.

In 865, the Bulgarian Tsar Boris I (852-889), successfully playing on the contradictions between Western and Eastern churches, adopted Christianity according to the Greek rite, and five years later achieved the ecclesiastical independence of Bulgaria from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The resettlement of Clement and Naum (disciples of the Slavic educators Cyril and Methodius) to Bulgaria led to a vibrant flourishing of Slavic culture within the framework of Christian society. The translation they carried out into Church Slavonic language the main biblical books, as well as the works of the holy fathers, laid the foundations of Slavic literature.

Boris's son, Simeon (893 - 927), educated in Constantinople, ruled in true imperial style. He subjugated almost all of Serbia, Macedonia, part of Thrace and significant areas along the Danube, expanding the territory of the Bulgarian kingdom from the Adriatic Sea in the west to the Black Sea in the east. Although his repeated attempts to take Constantinople failed, in 927 Simeon nevertheless declared himself “king of the Bulgarians and Greeks.” Under him, the capital of the Bulgarian state moved from Pliska to Preslav, which was built on the model of Byzantine cities. The reign of Simeon culminated in the compilation of the first Slavic code of law.

First Bulgarian Kingdom (VII-X centuries)

New at first public education- Bulgaria - consisted mainly of two ethnic groups: the nomadic Bulgars, who assumed the functions of political domination and organizing the military security of the country, and sedentary Slavic tribes, who voluntarily agreed to support the newcomers in order to free themselves from subordination to the emperor. Perhaps memories of the period of relatively mild Hunnic rule played some role in the peaceful subjugation of the Slavs to the Bulgars, for the Bulgars were one of the main tribes in the motley Hunnic horde.

The assimilation of the Bulgar Turks into the Slavic environment occurred very quickly. Already in the decrees of Tsar Krum, no distinctions were made on ethnic grounds. Among his associates were persons with Slavic names. Thus, Krum’s ambassador to Constantinople was the Slav Dragomir. Subsequently, the role of the Slavs in the elite of the Bulgarian kingdom only increased, and by the end of the 10th century. Bulgaria turned into a predominantly Slavic state.
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How the Turks and Slavs founded Danube Bulgaria. Part 1

Yaroslav Pilipchuk continues the series of articles telling about the key periods of Turkic history. Today, a Ukrainian historian, columnist for Realnoe Vremya, talks about the history of Danube Bulgaria.

How the Slavs became subjects of the Bulgarian Khan

One of the most interesting aspects of the history of the Balkans is the history of the First Bulgarian Kingdom. We are specifically interested in the process of transforming Danube Bulgaria from a Turkic Khanate into a Slavic kingdom. The history of this state has been studied by many scientists, such as V. Zlatarski, P. Pavlov, D. Dimitrov, R. Rashev, V. Gyuzelev, U. Fiedler, E. Tryarski. The question of the relationship between the Danube Bulgarians and the Romans interested many Byzantines and Slavists. The objective of this study is to analyze written sources about the relations of the Bulgarians with the Slavs and Romans, as well as to study internal political processes in the middle of Danube Bulgaria.

According to the information of Nikephoros and Theophanes the Confessor, it is said that the Bulgarian tribe Onogurs roamed in the area known as Ongl, between the Danube and the Dniester (the migration is dated by Theophanes in 671). They were besieged by Emperor Constantine Pogonatus, but the fact that he left for treatment was perceived as fear of the Bulgarians, and the Roman troops fled. The Bulgarians pursued them.

According to Constantine of Apamea, in 681 a peace treaty was signed under which the formation of Bulgaria was recognized. Asparukh's headquarters was moved to the cities of Odessos and Marcianople. The Bulgarian border reached the Gemus Mountains (Old Planina). A confederation of seven Slavic tribes led by the Severans accepted the power of the Bulgarians. The Bulgarians lived in Scythia Minor (Dobrudja) and Moesia. George Kedrin and John Skylitzes reported that during the time of Emperor Constant the Romans fought against the Slavini. In 679 it was indicated that the Bulgarians had invaded and crossed the Danube. They stood at Varna and won the battle with the Romans. According to information from the Khazar-European correspondence, the Khazars drove the Onogurs (Onogurs) from the Caucasus to the Runa (Danube) River. The Bulgarian apocryphal chronicle noted that on the Danube Ispor, the king (Asparukh) died in battle with the Ishmaelites. R. Rashev considers the Khazars to be these Ishmaelites. George Amartol reported that in 680 the Bulgarians from the areas near Meotida came to Thrace, the Romans came out against them and besieged them in a fortress on the Danube. The emperor was ill and temporarily left his troops, but this led to the flight and defeat of the Romans. Many Romans were killed by the Bulgarians. Gifts were sent to the Kagan of the Scythians (Bulgars) and a peace treaty was concluded with him. Leo the Grammar reported that the Kagan, the ruler of the Scythians, made peace with the Romans. Before this it is said that the Bulgarians crossed the Danube and camped in a marshy area near Varna. Roman troops approached there, but the emperor was forced to leave for treatment in Mesemvria, which stimulated rumors in the army. The Romans began to run away in panic, and the Bulgarians began to pursue them. The Bulgarians occupied Moesia and received an annual tribute from the Romans. In 681, the chronicler Agathon reported that the Onogur-Bulgarians defeated the Christians.

Tervel's seal. Photo ChernorizetsHrabar / wikipedia.org

How the Bulgarians returned the emperor to the throne, and he went to war against his friends

Around 680 (690) Theophanes reported about a campaign against the Bulgars and Slavs. Justinian II defeated the Bulgars and marched to Thessaloniki, capturing many Slavs, whom he later resettled in Asia Minor. On the way back he was defeated by the Bulgars. In 700 Asparukh died, and Tervel became khan of the Bulgars. In 696 (706) it was reported that Justinian, who had previously been dethroned, lived in exile in Chersonesos. Emperor Tiberius III Apsimar asked the Kagan to kill Justinian, but he was warned and he killed Papatz and Valgitza, whom the Kagan had instructed to kill Justinian. After this, Justinian fled and ended up on the ship to Tervel. With the help of the Bulgars and Slavs, fighting on the side of Tervel, Justinian regained his throne in 697 (707) and entered Constantinople. In 698, he generously endowed Tervel and launched a reign of terror against his political opponents. In 700, Justinian violated the peace with the Bulgars, but his army was defeated near Anchial, and the emperor fled shamefully. Bardanes and Philippicus rebelled against Justinian. In 711 it is said that Nikita Xylonite wrote to Artemy so that he would come to Tervel and, with the help of the Bulgars, attack the reigning Lev the Isaurian. Tervel gave them troops and money, but Constantinople did not accept them, and then the Bulgars handed over Xylonite and Artemy. Leo the Isaurian executed them, and the Bulgars beheaded the patrician Sisinius Rednaka. In 718, the Arabs besieged Constantinople, but Tervel was not mentioned.

In 754 it was reported that the Bulgars revolted against their masters and that Teletzin (Taurus) became khan. Many Slavs moved to the Romans, and they sent troops and a fleet against the new Bulgarian ruler. Teletzin sent 20 thousand of his subjects to protect the passes in the mountains, and he himself fought with the troops of Constantine Copronymus on the Anchial field. Many Bulgars were killed, many were taken captive. The emperor led the prisoners in chains through Constantinople during the triumph, and after it they were all killed by the Romans. Among the Bulgars, Sabin, the son-in-law of Kormisos, who had long been the ruler of the Bulgars, became the ruler. The Bulgars themselves killed Teletzin. In 756 it was reported that Khan Pagan reigned among the Bulgars. Pagan arrived in Constantinople with his boilies, and the emperor met them with Sabin (who fled to the Romans during the uprising against his power). Basileus, in the presence of Sabinus, reproached Pagan for hating Sabinus. He assured the Bulgars of peacefulness, but organized a campaign against the Bulgars and reached Tunza, setting the settlements of the Bulgars and Slavs to fire. He executed Sever (the prince of the Slavic tribe of the Sever). Under 766 it was reported that the Bulgar ruler Cherig learned that his relatives were betraying his plans to the Romans. Then he conceived an intrigue, as a result of which the Roman emperor cut down Cherig’s relatives.

Omurtag sends envoys to the Byzantines. Miniature from the Madrid Skylitze. Photo wikipedia.org

Byzantine Emperor of the Khazars

In 767 it is said that Constantine set out on a campaign against the Bulgars, but hemorrhoidal colic prevented this, and in the end Copronymus died, and his throne was inherited by Lev the Khazar, who received his nickname because he was the son of a Khazar khatun, who was his wife Konstantin Kopronymus. In 769, Cherig became related to the new Roman ruler, who gave him the title of patrician and married him to the sister of his wife Irina. In 801 (811) it is said that the Bulgar military leader Krummos stood near Serdika and captured it by cunning. He also threatened the emperor. Nikifor in 803 gathered a large army and invaded Bulgaria, devastated the Bulgar settlements and took the khan's palace. Krum asked for peace, but after the emperor’s refusal he went on a counter-offensive and executed Christians, and then defeated Nikephoros. Many noble Romans died along with the emperor. After this, Michael became emperor and gathered a new army. Meanwhile, Krummos took Develtos, and the Christians of Anchial and Verroi abandoned their settlements. The Bulgars devastated Thrace and Macedonia. In 805 it was reported that Krummos sent Dargamir as ambassador to the Romans. The ruler of the Bulgars threatened to besiege Mesemvria, but Emperor Michael did not accept peace with the Bulgars because of bad advisers, and the Bulgars took Mesemvria, and then Develtos. Krummos, first at Versinicia, and then at Adrianople, expected the Romans to give him battle, but the Romans were afraid, and he did not give the order to pursue them only because he believed that this was some kind of military trick.

Theophanes' successor pointed out that in the Scythian campaign of Nikephoros (811), Stavrakios died, and the future emperor Leo V gave money to the Bulgars in order to calm the Bulgars at least for some time. Krum got the Romans to pay tribute and after that made peace. Leo, meanwhile, overthrew Michael and became emperor. Then Krum sent his army against the Romans, but Leo built long walls and near Mesemvria, luring the Bulgars into an ambush, defeated them. In 822-823 The Bulgar Khan Mortagon (Omurtag) sent his envoys to Emperor Michael II Travl from the Amorian dynasty. He made an alliance with him. He tried to maintain peace with the Romans since the time of Emperor Leo, with whom the khan tried to maintain peace. Thomas the Slav rebelled against Michael. The Bulgar troops defeated the Roman troops in a battle near the settlement of Kidukt, and Thomas himself fled to Adrianople.

Bulgar siege of Adrianople. Miniature from the Madrid Skylitze. Photo wikipedia.org

How the Bulgars fought with the Arabs in the name of Byzantium

Nicephorus reported that in 704 Justinian again took possession of the kingdom, fleeing from Cherson to the Bulgars. There he found help from Tervel. He attracted him with the promise of money and marriage with his daughter. The Bulgars came to Constantinople. In 707 it was reported that Justinian went with a large army to Thrace, but was defeated by the Bulgars near Anchial. In 710-711 Justinian sent a fleet to Chersonese, but part of the troops rebelled, and Philippicus overthrew the tyrant. Campaigns against the Bulgars resumed after a long time. Constantine Copronymus in 756 fought against the Bulgars, who started the war because the Romans did not pay tribute. The Bulgars reached the long walls and invaded Thrace. The Romans defeated them at the Battle of Marcellus. It was reported that Telesius was the ruler of the Bulgars, and his allies were the Sklavins. This ruler was defeated by the Romans and killed. Sabin became the new khan, who, as soon as he ascended the throne, began negotiations and entered into an alliance with the Romans. The Bulgars did not like this, and they rebelled. Sabinus fled to Constantinople. Constantine Copronymus moved to Danube Bulgaria in 765 because the Bulgars excommunicated Umar, who had been appointed by Sabinus. They proclaimed Tokta, Bayan's brother, as their ruler. In the battle with the Romans, Toktu and others died, and Kavkhan fled to Varna. Danube Bulgaria was devastated by the Romans, who burned Bulgar and Slavic settlements.

George Amartol pointed out that Justinian regained power with the help of the Bulgar ruler. In 708 he broke the peace with the Bulgars and attacked them, but was defeated and retreated to Constantinople in disgrace. During the reign of Emperor Philippicus, the Bulgars devastated Thrace and reached the Golden Gate. The Arabs, under the leadership of Maslama, besieged Constantinople in 717, but they were prevented from taking the city by cold, plague, and assistance to the Romans from the Bulgars, who killed 22 thousand Saracens. Nikita Xilinit provided many gifts and money to Tervel, and he supported him. However, Leo the Isaurian destroyed this Roman. In 765, Constantine Copronymus made a campaign against the Bulgars and fought with them near Anchial. In this battle, the Byzantine emperor was defeated.

In 774 Telerig destroyed the Byzantine agents at his court, and his troops invaded Berzitia. In 775, Constantine Copronymus again sent his troops against the Bulgars, but was unable to do anything due to illness and soon died. The Patriarch of Constantinople considered the emperor to be to blame for the fact that the inhabitants of the empire became victims of the Scythian (Bulgar) sword. In 784, Emperor Constantine attacked the Bulgars and defeated them. In 796, Khan Kardam demanded that the Romans give him tribute. He threatened to approach the Golden Gate. The emperor did not give tribute and ridiculed Kardam for his old age. The Bulgars were defeated and were forced to return to their lands. In 811, Emperor Nicephorus set out on a campaign against the Scythians (Bulgars). He invaded the Bulgar possessions, while Khan Krum, meanwhile, strengthened wooden fortifications in the mountains. In the battle, which took place in the mountains, Nikephoros was completely defeated and died. Krum made a bowl from the emperor's skull. When Stavraki reigned, Krum demanded a large tribute and this was a condition for peace. Without waiting for tribute, Krum moved deep into the Roman territories, besieged Adrianople, and the Bulgars also stood at the Golden Gate. When Krum came very close to the walls of the Byzantine capital, one Roman inflicted a wound on Krum with a spear, which later turned out to be fatal. The Bulgars moved away from Constantinople, and the new khan helped Leo in pacifying the rebellious commander Thomas the Slav.

Krum gathers an army to defeat the Byzantines. Miniature from the Madrid Skylitze. Photo wikipedia.org

At the gates of Constantinople

Leo Grammaticus pointed out that Justinian II fled from exile in Cherson to the Bulgars, who helped him become emperor again. For this he gave the Bulgars the province of Zagoria beyond Stara Planina. Soon he broke the peace with the Bulgars and made a campaign against them. However, Justinian was defeated and fled to Anchial, and then to Constantinople. During the reign of Philippicus, the Bulgars devastated the lands of the Romans. When describing the siege of Constantinople by Suleiman and Maslama, the main credit for the victory is attributed to the Romans, but it is indicated that Suleiman himself attacked the possessions of the Bulgars, which caused retaliatory actions of the Bulgars, which led to the death of many Arab warriors. Patricius Nikita Xilinit offered Tervel to join the conspiracy against Leo the Isaurian for many gifts, but he betrayed the plans of the conspirators. In 763, Constantine Copronymus organized a successful campaign against the Bulgars. In Constantinople, he celebrated his triumph and led the captive Bulgars through the streets. In 766, Constantine made a new campaign, but was defeated at Aheloy and fled shamefully. At the court of Telerig in 774 there were those who informed the Romans about the intentions of the Bulgars, in particular about the campaign to Berzitia. Constantine Kopronymus pretended to be preparing for a war against the Arabs, while he himself was preparing for a war against the Bulgars. While he was negotiating with the ambassadors, the Romans invaded Danube Bulgaria and won a great victory. The emperor himself planned a big campaign, but hemorrhoidal colic led to the fact that the campaign had to be canceled, and then to the death of the emperor. Before the death of Constantine, taking advantage of the deception, Telerig identified Byzantine agents at his court and killed them. During the regency of Empress Irene, the Romans conquered the Slavs of Hellas. The fortifications of Verroia and Anchial were rebuilt. Emperor Constantine VI defeated the Bulgars. When the Bulgarian ambassador arrived to him demanding tribute, he replied that he would not pay tribute, since Kardam had become too old. In 796, the Romans defeated the troops of Kardam. Nikephoros invaded the Bulgarian lands, and Krum had to build wooden fortifications, but in a battle in the mountains he defeated the Romans. The Roman Emperor died, and his son Stavraki was wounded. Kuropalat Mikhail took advantage of the situation and carried out a coup. Krum demanded a large tribute for peace. Michael sent troops against the Bulgars, which were defeated at Versinicia. Krum besieged Adrianople and reached the Golden Gate in Constantinople. However, his overconfidence let him down. One of the city's defenders wounded him with a spear. The wound turned out to be fatal, and the Bulgar troops rolled back from the capital. True, 12 thousand Romans were captured and were resettled in Danube Bulgaria. Malamira was named Vladimir in the chronicle. During the regency of Empress Theodora in Byzantium, garrisons were fortified in the fortresses, and Bulgar troops devastated the countryside in Thrace and Macedonia. Bulgarin Boris took the Christian name Mikhail and was baptized.

To be continued

Yaroslav Pilipchuk

The founder of Great Bulgaria is considered to be Khan Kubrat, who in the Black Sea steppes, through a combination of peaceful - diplomatic and military operations, avoiding serious clashes, attempted to “gather the people” (his name from Turkic is interpreted this way: you must gather the people).

Territory of Great Bulgaria

The main territory of Great Bulgaria was the lands stretching from the Kuban to the Dnieper, inhabited by the Bulgarian tribes of Onogurs, partly Kutrigurs and, apparently, ancient Hungarian tribes.

The capital of Great Bulgaria was the ancient ancient city of Phanagoria, restored after the Hunnic defeat, located on the Taman Peninsula.

Khan Kubrat, who grew up at the court of the Byzantine emperor, received an excellent education, knew many languages ​​of the peoples of the Black Sea region, was an adherent of the unification policy.

Diplomacy of Great Bulgaria

In order to consolidate the Turks, Khan Kubrat maintained allied relations with Byzantium, which, in turn, sought to use the Bulgarians as a military and political counterweight to the Avars. Therefore, the support of Byzantium in the struggle of the Bulgarians with the Avar Kaganate for their independence was fragile. This probably largely explains the fragility of Great Bulgaria. After the death of Khan Kubrat in the early 640s. Great Bulgaria was divided among his sons.

Unfortunately, the Great Bulgarian stage in national historiography often described only as a short-term episode, as an insignificant historical phenomenon. In fact, the culture of Great Bulgaria was not an episode or one of the bright flashes of the transition from ancient to medieval historical times, but a connecting link that ensured the continuity of the evolution of Turkic civilization, a factor in the preservation and dissemination of its essential features under the ethnonym “Bulgarians” () in wide geopolitical coordinates.

Collapse of Great Bulgaria

This period is characterized by the strengthening of a new state unification - the Khazar Kaganate, the core of which became the Turkic-speaking tribe of the Khazars, close to the Bulgarians, which lived after the departure of the Huns and Avars in the western part of the Caspian region from the Lower Volga to the Sulak River.

The Khazars tried to subjugate all the Bulgarian tribes to their influence. Kubrat's eldest son, Khan Batbay, who led the Azov group of Bulgarians, suffered in the middle of the 7th century. defeated by the Khazars, became their tributary and was forced to move south to the foothills of the Caucasus. Modern Balkars are considered the Turkic descendants of the ancient Bulgarians.

The Western Group of Bulgarians, led by Kubrat's youngest son Khan Asparukh, went to the lower Danube, where they defeated the troops of the Byzantine emperor Constantine IV Pogonat, who made peace with Asparukh and pledged to pay tribute to the Bulgarians.

So in 681 Khan Asparukh founded the Bulgarian state. His successor, Khan Tervel, received the title of Caesar from the Byzantine Emperor Justinian II, and subsequent Bulgarian rulers significantly expanded the borders of the kingdom by annexing the former Avar lands on the left bank of the Danube.

Over time, this group of Bulgarians was assimilated by the Slavic population, but retained the ethnonym in the name of the state - Bulgaria and left a noticeable mark on the history of Bulgarian statehood, significantly influencing the ethnogenesis of the Bulgarian people.

Creation of Volga Bulgaria

Another significant group of Bulgarian tribes moved north over the next century and, having passed the steppes of the lower Volga, at the turn of the 9th - 10th centuries. created her own state - Volga Bulgaria. A previously widespread version in the literature is that these were Bulgarian tribes led by Kubrat’s son Kotrag, in Lately is subject to serious doubt.

In all likelihood, the conglomerate of Bulgarian tribes, consisting of the Bulgarians themselves, Savirs, Barsils, Belengers, etc., before settling in the Volga-Kama region, scattered across the vast territory of the Khazar Kaganate.

There, these tribes, together with the Turkic-speaking Khazars, Iranian-speaking Alans and other local ethnic groups, created a unique agricultural-nomadic civilizational community, called the Saltovo-Mayak archaeological culture.

This culture owns several hundred different archaeological monuments - the remains of nomads, settlements, castles, cities and burial grounds dating back to the 8th - 9th centuries. They are located over a vast territory from the Volga to the Danube, although the main part is concentrated along the banks of the Don and in the Azov region.

Having developed in a zone of intense civilizational interaction between many Turkic-Ugric and Indo-European peoples, this culture was a combination of nomadic, agricultural and urban traditions of various regions of Eurasia. The famous archaeologist S.A. Pletneva considers the Saltovo-Mayak culture, located on the Slavic-Khazar borderland, to be “one of the most vibrant and high cultures of the Middle Ages.”

The decline of the Saltovo-Mayak culture, obviously, can be associated with the departure of part of its constituent tribes to the west (in the Black Sea region and on the Danube) and to the north (in the Volga region), as well as with the weakening of the Khazar Kaganate as a result of military attacks by the Arabs, Eastern Slavs and especially the Pechenegs.

The Volga-Bulgarian cross-section of culture, which enriched the world community with lessons of both a peaceful-creative, trade-economic, and military-conquest nature, has not sunk into oblivion. He continued to exert his influence on many aspects of common Turkic civilization.

And even after many centuries, it gave “cultural signals”, manifested itself in the form of moral and ethical norms, traditions and customs that became part of mythology, everyday practice and the spiritual life of many peoples - the historical heirs and successors of the Bulgarians, including the Tatar people .