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The Bulgars (also ''Bolgars'' or ''proto-Bulgarians'') were a seminomadic people, originally from Central Asia , who from the AD 2nd Century inhabited the Steppe north of Caucasus and the banks of river Itil (now Volga ). ETHNIC ORIGIN AND LINGUISTIC AFFILIATIONS The oldest and most widely accepted theory is that the or Cyrillic characters, most commonly in Greek , thus allowing the scholars to identify some of the Bulgar glosses. Accordingly, the name Bulgar is derived from the Turkic verb ''bulģa'' "to mix, shake, stir" and its derivative ''bulgak'' "revolt, disorder".Lebedynsky, Iaroslav. ''Les Nomades : Les peuples nomades de la steppe des origines aux invasions mongoles''. Paris: Errance, 2003: p.178. A newer theory, the ''Iranian theory'', is that the Bulgar language was originally an " was not used either exclusively, or particularly, for a certain, well-defined group of peoples, until much later. Petar Dobrev also dismisses the general view of all the above-mentioned titles, names of animals etc. as Turkic (except for the ordinal numbers for which he gives his own Pamirian etymologies). He maintains that these words, far from being evidence for the Bulgars being Turkic, were actually borrowed by Turkic and Mongol tribes from the Bulgars, as the Bulgars possessed, in his view, a more ancient and sophisticated civilization with roots in Sumerian and Akkad ian culture. Contemporary sources like , called them " Scythians " or " Sarmatians ". But this latter identification is clearly due to the Byzantine tradition of naming peoples geographically; for example, centuries later the obviously Turkic Petchenegs and Cumans , were still addressed with the respective terms. Archaeological remains show that the Bulgars had the typical culture of the called Bactria and locals call Bukhara , Bokhara or Balhara. It has been argued that the latter was the land of origin of the Bulgars. History of Dzhagfar The Bulgars had scytho-cimmerian origins according to Dzhagfar Tarihi (History of Dzhagfar - a medieval history of the Bulgarians. Volga Bulgaria.) , Bulgarian revolutionary and many ancient and modern historians. An early Armenian historian Moses Khorenatsi mentions the Bulgars as the "people Bulh" , who settled in a region in Armenia(with the permission of king Arshak I 127-114 BC ), later called Vanand(after the Bulgarian king Vanand /Vund ,who lead the Bulgars to Caucasus).He uses the information provided by an earlier author - The Syrian Mar Abas Katina.In the geographical book Ashharacujc, Based on earlier researches by Claudius Ptolemaeus, the land of origin of the Bulgars is poinnted to be the mountain Imeon(Pamir and Hindu Kush). http://www.kroraina.com/armen_ca/map_casia_b.jpg (map from Ashharacujc.See north of India - the Bulhi Tribe) According to the history of Dzhagfar the Bulgars were skythians from Pre-Turkic Turan/Pamir who later mixed with Cimmerians. They traveled a lot and established different countries with towns made out of stone. A Bulgarian revolutionary, nationalist and ethnologist/historian Georgi Rakovski refers to the Proto-Bulgarians as Aryans and Gimmerians/Cimmerians (He called the Bulgarians Bolg-Arians/Bolg-Aryans). A Muslim medieval scientist, Ibn Fadlan, who traveled to Volga Bulgaria calls the Bulgars "Sakalibi" and mentions the differences between the Turkic people he met and the Bulgars. He says that the Turkic tribes live primitively and savagely, they eat mainly meat, unlike them the Bulgarians have towns, laws, greeted him with bread (this tradition is trill preserved in Both Danube and Volga Bulgaria) and grow different crops as well as breeding cattle. The names of towns, regions, peoples and mountains in the regions Bulgars inhabited also point to Imeon: Shuman(Bactria-Pamir) = Shumen(Danube Bulgaria) = Shumanai(east side of the Caspian sea) Ispara(Bactria) = Ispor(Bulgarian ruler) Balgar(Bactria) = Bolgar(Volga Bulgaria) = Bulgar Balkh(Bactria) = Balkhar(Balkaria-Caucas) = Bulkar-Balkh(Balkaria-Caucas) Varnu(Bactria) = Varna(Bulgaria) Madar(Bactria) = Madara(Dunabe Bulgaria) Boil(Bactria) = Boil(Bulgarian title) Balkhani (Mountains on the eastern side of the Caspian) = Balk (h)an(Mountain range on the Balkan Peninsula) Suvar(Bactria) = Suvar(Voga Bulgaria) = Suvar/Sevar(Bulgarian Ruler) Osh(Bactria) = Oshed(Volga Bulgaria) etc. The names of the Bulgarian rulers were also Indo-European in origin and some were identical with the names of sarmatian kings - Asparukh(Ispor), Kuber, Kubrat(Kurt), Suvar(Sevar), Gostun, Baian, Avitohol, Omurtag, Krum etc. Their language was also Indo European - from the Indo -Iranian group. Words such as Shar, Kushta, Kuche, Hubost, Zhena, Brat, Kaka, Kurpa, Chembas, Na, Nana, Khazna etc. have survived in the Bulgarian language to this day. http://www.kroraina.com/b_lang/bl_oldwords.html (Words from archeological findings from Dunabe,Great and Volga Bulgaria and their analogues in Ramir,Persia,Caucas,Western Europe and Shumer) http://www.kroraina.com/b_lang/bl_double.html (Features of the old Bulgar language, preserved in the modern Bulgarian language) http://www.kroraina.com/b_lang/bl_phonet.html (A phonetic model of the language of the Asparukh and Kuber Bulgars) The anthropological type of 60% of the modern Bulgarians is Mediterranean - Caucasian (as well as of the Volga Bulgarians, although there were quite a few uralids there) and there were quite a few Pamirids - the same racial types are the skulls found in ancient Bulgarian burials. The ancient Bulgarians also practiced artificial skull deformation which was typical for the Sarmatians. The Bulgarian Gods,Myths,Temples and Culture have mostly Iranian and Finno-Ugric elements(Either the Bulgarians got some things from the Ugric peoples or it was the other way around). CULTURE AND SOCIETY The Bulgars were governed by hereditary rulers. For three of these, the native form of their title, ''kanasubigi'', is attested. This is generally assumed to include the word '' and later in Slavonic refer to the Bulgarian ruler respectively with the Greek title ''archon'' or the Slavic title '' Knyaz ''.Manassias Chronicle, Vatican transcription, p. 145, see Battle Of Pliska Other similar but non-kingly titles attested among the Bulgarian noble class include ''kavkan'' (vicekan), ''tarkan'', and ''boritarkan''. The aristocratic families, whose members were called ''boila'' ( Boyars ), bore military titles and formed the tribal and state governing class. The religion of the Bulgars is also obscure but it is supposed that it was Monotheistic , worshipping the Turkic Sky god Tangra . HISTORY Migration to Europe In the early 2nd Century , some groups of Bulgars migrated from Central Asia to the European continent and settled on the plains between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea . Between 351 and 389 , some of these crossed the Caucasus and settled in Armenia . Toponymic data testify to the fact that they remained there and were eventually assimilated by the Armenians . Swept by the Hunnish wave at the beginning of the 4th Century , other Bulgar tribes broke loose from their settlements in Central Asia to migrate to the fertile lands along the lower valleys of the Donets and the Don rivers and the Azov seashore, assimilating what was left of the Sarmatians . Some of these remained for centuries in their new settlements, whereas others moved on with the Huns towards Central Europe , settling in Pannonia . Those Bulgars took part in the Hun raids on Central and Western Europe between 377 and 453 . After the death of Attila in 453 , and the subsequent disintegration of the Hunnish Empire , the Bulgar tribes dispersed mostly to the eastern and southeastern parts of Europe. At the end of the 5th Century (probably in the years 480 , 486 , and 488 ) they fought against the Ostrogoths as allies of the Byzantine Emperor Zeno . From 493 they carried out frequent attacks on the western territories of the Byzantine Empire . Later raids were carried out at the end of the 5th Century and the beginning of the 6th Century . In the middle of the 6th Century , war broke out between the two main Bulgar tribes, the Kutrigur and Utigur. At the end of the 6th Century , the Kutrigur allied with the Avars to conquer the Utigur. The Bulgars fell under the domination of the Göktürk Khanate in 568 . Establishment of Great Bulgaria ''Main article: Old Great Bulgaria '' United under Kubrat or Kurt of the Dulo Clan (supposed to be identical to the ruler mentioned by Arabic chronist At-Tabari under the name of Shahriar ), the joined forces of the Onogur and Kutrigur Bulgars broke loose from the Turkic khanate in the 630s . They formed an independent state, often called by Byzantine sources Patriarch Nikephoros I Of Constantinople , "Historia syntomos, breviarium" ‘the Old Great Bulgaria ’, between the lower course of the Danube to the west, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea to the south, the Kuban River to the east, and the Donets River to the north. It is assumed that the state capital was Phanagoria , an ancient city on the Taman peninsula (''see'' Tmutarakan ). However, the archaeological evidence shows that the city became predominantly Bulgarian only after Kubrat's death and the consequent disintegration of his state. Subsequent migrations The legend tells that on his death-bed, Khan Kubrat had his sons gather sticks and bring them to him, which he then bundled together and told his eldest son Bayan to break the bundle. Bayan failed under the strength of the combined sticks, and, after the rest of the sons failed this test as well, Kubrat took the sticks back, separated each one, and broke them all one-by-one even in his weakened state. Then he told his sons the words "Unity makes strength", which have become a very popular Bulgarian slogan and now appears on the modern Bulgarian Coat Of Arms . The Byzantine Patriarch Nicephorus I Patriarch Nikephoros I Of Constantinople , ''Historia syntomos, breviarium'' tells that Kubrat's sons, however, did not heed these very specific words, and thus soon after the death of Kubrat around 665 , the Khazar expansion eventually led to the dissolution of Great Bulgaria . The khan’s eldest son, Batbayan (also Bayan or Boyan), remained the ruler of the land north of the Black and the Azov Sea s, which was, however, soon subdued by the Khazars . Those Bulgars converted to Judaism in the 9th Century , along with the Khazars, and were eventually assimilated. A different theory claims that the Balkars in Kabardino-Balkaria may be the descendants of this Bulgar branch. Another Bulgar Tribe , led by Kubrat’s second son Kotrag , migrated to the confluence of the Volga and Kama River s in what is now Russia (see Volga Bulgaria ). The present-day republics of Tatarstan and Chuvashia are considered to be the descendants of Volga Bulgaria in terms of territory and people, though only Chuvash is thought to be similar to old Bulgar Language . A third Bulgar tribe, led by the youngest son Asparukh , moved westward, occupying today’s southern Bessarabia . After a successful war with Byzantium in 680 , Asparukh 's khanate conquered Moesia and Dobrudja and was recognized as an independent state under the subsequent treaty signed with the Byzantine Empire and emperor Constantine IV Pogonatus in 681 . The same year is usually regarded as the year of the establishment of modern Bulgaria (see History Of Bulgaria ). A fourth group of Bulgars, under Kouber , initially moved to Pannonia and subsequently settled in western Macedonia and eastern Albania where it formed a khanate, which joined Slavs to attack the Byzantine Empire. The fifth and smallest group, of Alcek (also transliterated as 'Altsek' and 'Altzek'), after many peripeties, ended up led by Emnetzur and settled in Italy , northeast of Naples . (''c.'' 710), a famous example of Bulgar art]] LIST OF BULGAR TRIBES Tribes thought to have been Bulgar in origin include:
After the dissolution of Great Bulgaria these tribes formed:
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