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Volga Bulgaria
Volga Bulgaria (Tatar: Идел Болгар, Chuvash: Атӑлçи
Пӑлхар) or Volga–Kama Bulghar, was a historic Volga Bulgaria
Bulgar[1][2][3] state that existed between the 7th and 13th 7th century–1240s
centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama
River, in what is now European Russia. Volga Bulgaria was a
multi-ethnic state with large numbers of Turkic Bulgars, a
variety of Finnic and Ugric peoples, and many East Slavs.[4]
The very strategic position of Volga Bulgaria allowed it to
create a monopoly between the trade of Arabs, Norse and
Avars.[5]

Contents
History
Origin and creation of the state
Conversion to Islam and further statehood
Capital Bolghar

Decline Bilär
Demographics Common languages Bulgar
Gallery
Religion Tengrism, later
See also Sunni Islam
(after Almish
References Iltäbär)
External links
Government Monarchy
Ruler, Khan, Emir  
History • 9th century Irhan, Tuqyi,
Aidar, Şilki,
Batyr-Mumin
• 10th-12th centuries Almish
Origin and creation of the state Yiltawar, Mikail
ibn Jafar,
The Bulgars were Turkic tribes of Oghur origin,[6][7] who Ahmad ibn
settled north of the Black Sea. During their westward Jafar,
migration across the Eurasian steppe, they came under the Ghabdula ibn
Mikail, Talib ibn
overlordship of the Khazars, leading other ethnic groups,
Ahmad, Mumin
including Finnic and Iranic peoples.[6] About 630 they ibn al-Hassan,
founded Old Great Bulgaria which was destroyed by the Mumin ibn
Khazars in 668. Kubrat's son and appointed heir Batbayan Ahmad, Abd
Bezmer moved from the Azov region in about AD 660, ar-Rahman ibn
commanded by the Kazarig Khagan Kotrag to whom he had Mumin, Abu
surrendered. They reached Idel-Ural in the eighth century, Ishak Ibrahim
ibn
where they became the dominant population at the end of the
Mohammad,
9th century, uniting other tribes of different origin which Nazir ad-Din
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lived in the area.[8] Some Bulgar tribes, however, continued • 13th century Ghabdula
westward and eventually settled along the Danube River, in Chelbir
what is now known as Bulgaria proper, where they created a Historical era Middle Ages
confederation with the Slavs, adopting a South Slavic • Established 7th century
language and the Eastern Orthodox faith. • Conversion to 922
Islam
Most scholars agree that the Volga Bulgars were initially • Conquered by the 1240s
subject to the Khazarian Khaganate. This fragmented Volga Mongols
Bulgaria grew in size and power and gradually freed from the
influence of the Khazars. Sometime in the late 9th century Preceded by Succeeded
unification processes started, and the capital was established by
at Bolghar (also spelled Bulgar) city, 160  km south from Old Great Mongol
modern Kazan. However complete independence was reached Bulgaria Empire
after Khazaria's destruction and conquest by Sviatoslav in the
late 10th century, thus Bulgars no longer paid tribute to Today part of Russia
it.[9][10]

Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur named the Volga Bulgar people as Ulak.[11]

Conversion to Islam and further statehood

Volga Bulgaria adopted Islam in 922 – 66 years before the Christianization of Kievan Rus'. In 921
Almış sent an ambassador to the Caliph requesting religious instruction. Next year an embassy
returned with Ibn Fadlan as secretary. A significant number of Muslims already lived in the
country.[12]

The Volga Bulgars attempted to convert Vladimir I of Kiev to Islam; however Vladimir rejected the
notion of Rus' giving up wine, which he declared was the "very joy of their lives".[13]

Commanding the Volga River in its middle course, the state controlled much of trade between Europe
and Asia prior to the Crusades (which made other trade routes practicable). The capital, Bolghar, was
a thriving city, rivalling in size and wealth with the greatest centres of the Islamic world. Trade
partners of Bolghar included from Vikings, Bjarmland, Yugra and Nenets in the north to Baghdad and
Constantinople in the south, from Western Europe to China in the East. Other major cities included
Bilär, Suar (Suwar), Qaşan (Kashan) and Cükätaw (Juketau). Modern cities Kazan and Yelabuga were
founded as Volga Bulgaria's border fortresses. Some of the Volga Bulgarian cities still have not been
found, but they are mentioned in old East Slavic sources. They are: Ashli (Oshel), Tuxçin (Tukhchin),
İbrahim (Bryakhimov), Taw İle. Some of them were ruined during and after the Golden Horde
invasion.

The Rus' principalities to the west posed the only tangible military threat. In the 11th century, the
country was devastated by several raids by other Rus'. Then, at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries,
the rulers of Vladimir (notably Andrew the Pious and Vsevolod III), anxious to defend their eastern
border, systematically pillaged Volga Bulgarian cities. Under Rus' pressure from the west, the Volga
Bulgars had to move their capital from Bolghar to Bilär.

Decline

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In September 1223 near Samara an advance guard of Genghis Khan's army under command of Uran,
son of Subutai Bahadur, entered Volga Bulgaria but was defeated in the Battle of Samara Bend. In
1236, the Mongols returned and in five years had subjugated the whole country, which at that time
was suffering from internal war. Henceforth Volga Bulgaria became a part of the Ulus Jochi, later
known as the Golden Horde. It was divided into several principalities; each of them became a vassal of
the Golden Horde and received some autonomy. By the 1430s, the Khanate of Kazan was established
as the most important of these principalities.

Demographics
A large part of the region's population included Turkic groups such as Sabirs, Barsil, Bilars, Baranjars,
and part of the obscure[14] Burtas (by ibn Rustah). Modern Chuvashes claim to descend from Sabirs
and Kazan Tatars from the Volga Bulgars.[15]

Another part comprised Volga Finnic and Magyar (Asagel and Pascatir) tribes, from which Bisermäns
probably descend.[16] Ibn Fadlan refers to Volga Bulgaria as Saqaliba, a general Arabic term for Slavic
people. Other researches tie the term to the ethnic name Scythian (or Saka in Persian).[17]

According to some historians, over 80% of the country's population was killed during the invasion.
The remaining population mostly relocated to the northern areas (territories of modern Chuvashia
and Tatarstan). Some autonomous duchies appeared in those areas.

Over time, the cities of Volga Bulgaria were rebuilt and became trade and craft centers of the Golden
Horde. Some Volga Bulgars, primarily masters and craftsmen, were forcibly moved to Sarai and other
southern cities of the Golden Horde. Volga Bulgaria remained a center of agriculture and handicraft.

Gallery

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Volga Bulgaria in the Devil's Tower in Adzes, Volga Pottery of Volga

Eurasian world of Yelabuga, 12th Bulgaria, 13-14 Bulgaria, 10-14
AD 1200 century century century

Necklaces, Volga
Bulgaria, 10-14
century

See also
Timeline of Turks (500-1300)
Atil
Balymer
Khanate of Kazan
Qol Ghali
Battle of Samara Bend
Tatars
Old Great Bulgaria
Huns

References
1. Nicolle, David (2013). Armies of the Volga Bulgars & Khanate of Kazan. p. 14.
2. Champion, Timothy (2014). Nationalism and Archaeology in Europe. p. 227.
3. Koesel, Karrie J. (2014). Religion and Authoritarianism: Cooperation, Conflict, and the
Consequences. p. 103.

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4. The New Cambridge medieval history. McKitterick, Rosamond. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge
University Press. 1995–2005. ISBN 9781139055727. OCLC 697957877 (https://www.worldcat.or
g/oclc/697957877).
5. Popovski, Ivan (2017-05-10). A Short History of South East Europe (https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=kEIkDwAAQBAJ&q=Kuban+river+byzantine+empire&pg=PT76). Lulu Press, Inc.
ISBN 9781365953941.
6. Golden 1992, p. 253, 256: "With their Avar and Türk political heritage, they assumed political
leadership over an array of Turkic groups, Iranians and Finnic peoples, under the overlordship of
the Khazars, whose vassals they remained." ... "The Bulgars, whose Oguric ancestors ..."
7. Hyun Jin Kim (2013). The Huns, Rome and the Birth of Europe (https://books.google.com/books?i
d=jCpncXFzoFgC). Cambridge University Press. pp. 58–59, 150–155, 168, 204, 243.
ISBN 9781107009066.
8. "Болгарлар". Tatar Encyclopaedia (in Tatar). Kazan: The Republic of Tatarstan Academy of
Sciences. Institution of the Tatar Encyclopaedia. 2002.
9. A History of Russia: Since 1855, Walter Moss, pg 29
10. Shpakovsky, Viacheslav; Nicolle, David (2013). Armies of the Volga Bulgars & Khanate of Kazan:
9th–16th centuries (https://books.google.com/books?id=tKajCwAAQBAJ). Bloomsbury Publishing.
p. 10. ISBN 978-1-78200-080-8.
11. Makkay, János (2008), "Siculica Hungarica De la Géza Nagy până la Gyula László" (http://www.sz
nm.ro/acta2008/209_240_makkay.pdf) [Siculica Hungarica From Géza Nagy to Gyula László]
(PDF), Acta Siculica: 209–240
12. Azade-Ayse Rolich, The Volga Tatars, 1986, page 11. Richard Frye, Ibn Fadlan's Journey to
Russia, 2005, page 44 gives 16 May 922 for the first meeting with the ruler. This seems to be the
official date of the conversion.
13. The preaching of Islam: a history of the propagation of the Muslim faith By Sir Thomas Walker
Arnold, p. 201-202
14. RUSSIAN: "По этнокультурному определению буртас в результате двухсотлетнего изучения
сложилось множество точек зрения, которые можно объединить в 3 основные: тюркская,
аланская и мордовская (наименее распространённая)." Буртасы//Ислам в центрально-
европейской части России: энциклопедический словарь / Коллект. автор; сост. и отв.
редактор Д. З. Хайретдинов. — М.: Издательский дом «Медина», 2009, С.55. ENGLISH:
"According to the ethnocultural definition of Burtas, as a result of two hundred years of study,
many points of view have developed that can be combined into 3 main ones: Turkic, Alanian and
Mordovian (the least common)." Burtases//Islam in the Central European part of Russia: an
encyclopedic dictionary / Collect. author; comp. and otv. editor D.Z. Khairetdinov. - M .: Publishing
house "Medina", 2009, p. 55.
15. "Volga Bulgaria" (http://enc.cap.ru/?t=publ&hry=&lnk=556). Chuvash Encyclopedia. Chuvash
Institute of Humanities. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
16. К вопросу о происхождении самоназвания бесермян (http://www.udmurt.info/library/belykh/bes
erm.htm) УДМУРТОЛОГИЯ
17. R. Frye, 2005. "Ibn Fadlan's journey to Russia"

External links
(in Russian) Bariev, R(iza) X. 2005. Волжские Булгары : история и культура (http://www.bulga
rizdat.ru/articles.shtml#bi02) (Volga Bulgars: History and Culture). Saint Petersburg: Agat.

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