Old Great Bulgaria 3068932 221307703 2008-06-23T23:21:30Z DOI bot 6652755 Citation maintenance. Initiated by [[User:Fconaway|Fconaway]]. You can [[WP:DOI|use this bot]] yourself! Please [[User:DOI_bot/bugs|report any bugs]]. {{History of Bulgaria}} '''Old Great Bulgaria''' or '''Great Bulgaria''' ({{lang-bg|Стара Велика България}}; Παλαιά Μεγάλη Βουλγαρία in [[Byzantium|Byzantine]] chronicles; alternative name: '''Onoguria'''/'''Onoghuria''') was а term used by Byzantine historians to refer to the territories controlled by the [[Bulgars|Bulgar]] ruler [[Kubrat]] in the [[7th century]] north of the [[Caucasus mountains]] in the [[steppe]] between the [[Dniester]] and Lower [[Volga]]<ref>[[Theophanes the Confessor|Theophanes]],[http://www.kroraina.com/p_bulgar/p_bulg5.htm Op. cit., p. 356-357]</ref>. ==Kubrat== {{History of Ukraine}} Kubrat (also Kurt or Houvrat) was of the kingly [[Dulo clan]]<ref>[[Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans]]</ref> and the rightful heir of the Bulgar throne. He spent his adolescence in the [[Byzantine Empire]], where he was educated and baptised<ref>[[John of Nikiû]], [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/nikiu2_chronicle.htm ''Chronicle'']</ref>, while his maternal uncle [[Organa]] was a regent over his tribe. Around [[628]] Kubrat returned to his fatherland, took the leadership over his people most probably with the approval of the Avar [[khagan]]. He soon managed to overthrow Avar domination and also to secede from the [[Western Turkic Khaganate]] (which was entangled in dynastic wars). ==Establishment== Between [[630]] and [[635]] [[Khan (title)|Khan]] [[Kubrat]] managed to unite the two main Bulgar tribes of [[Kutrigur]] and [[Utigur]] under a single rule, creating a powerful confederation which is referred to by the [[medieval]] authors as ''The Old Great Bulgaria''<ref> [[Patriarch Nikephoros I of Constantinople]], ''Historia syntomos, breviarium''</ref> and also known as [[Onogurs|Onogundur]]-Bulgar Empire (or in western version: ''Onoghuria'').<ref>[http://www.lingfil.uu.se/afro/turkiskasprak/IP2007/ZimonyiIP.pdf Zimonyi Istvan: "History of the Turkic speaking peoples in Europe before the Ottomans".] (Uppsala University: Institute of Linguistics and Philology)</ref> Some scholars assume that it also included among its subjects the defeated [[Avars]] and stretched as far west as the [[Pannonian plain]]. It is presumed that his capital was the ancient city of [[Phanagoria]] on the [[Taman peninsula]]. Kubrat's grave was discovered in [[1912]] at [[Pereshchepina]], [[Ukraine]]<ref>Rasho Rashev, ''Die Protobulgaren im 5.-7. Jahrhundert'', Orbel, Sofia, 2005 (in Bulgarian, German summary)</ref>. ==Disintegration and successor states== The events that unfolded following Kubrat's death are described by the Byzantine Patriarch [[Nicephorus I]] <ref>[[Patriarch Nikephoros I of Constantinople]], ''Historia syntomos, breviarium''</ref>. In the times of Emperor [[Constantine IV]], he narrates, Kubrat died and [[Batbayan]], the eldest of his five sons, was left in charge of the state. Under strong [[Khazar]] pressure, Kubrat's other sons disregarded their father's advice to stay together in order to resist the enemies and soon departed, taking their own tribes. ===Volga Bulgars=== [[Kotrag]], the leader of the Kutrigurs (or Kotrags), left for Middle Volga, where he later established [[Volga Bulgaria]] at the Volga-[[Kama River|Kama]] confluence, a state which was to become very prosperous. The [[Volga Bulgars]] or the Silver Bulgars as they were called at the time, converted voluntarily to [[Islam]] in the [[9th century]] and managed to preserve their national identity well into the [[13th century]], by repelling the first [[Mongol]] attacks in [[1223]], thus becoming the only people to ever defeat [[Genghis Khan]].{{Fact|date=October 2007}} However, they were eventually subdued, their main city [[Bolghar]] became a capital of the [[Golden Horde]] Khanate and the Bulgars mixed with the [[Tatars]]. The citizens of the modern [[Russian Federation|Russian]] republics of [[Tatarstan]] and [[Chuvashia]] are considered to be descendants of those Bulgars. ===Bulgars in Macedonia=== [[Kuber]] ruled in [[Sirmium]] over a mixed group of peoples (Bulgars, 'Romans', Slavs, Germanics) as a vassal of the [[Avar]] khagan. After a revolt he led his people to [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]]. There he had settled in the region of Keremisia and made an unsuccessful attempt to capture the city of [[Thessaloniki]]. After this, he disappears from history and his people merged with the Slavic tribes of Macedonia. ===Bulgars in Southern Italy=== Other Bulgars, circa 662, led by their "Duke Alzeco" ([[Altsek]]) sought refuge from the Avars with the [[Lombards]] and requested land from the Lombard King [[Grimoald I of Benevento]] in exchange for military service "for an uncertain reason", initially staying near [[Ravenna]] and later moving further south. Grimoald sent Altzek and his followers to his son [[Romuald I of Benevento|Romuald]] in Benevento and they were then granted by Romuald land northeast of [[Naples]] in the "spacious but up till that time deserted" towns of [[Sepino]], Bovianum ([[Boiano]]), and [[Isernia]], in the present-day region of [[Molise]] in the [[Apennines]]. Instead of the title "Duke" Altzek was granted the Lombard title of "Gastald". [[Paul the Deacon]] in his [[Historia gentis Langobardorum|History of the Lombard People]] writing after the year 787 says that in his time Bulgars still inhabited the area, and that even though they speak "Latin", "they have not forsaken the use of their own tongue".<ref>{{cite book | last = Diaconis | first = Paulus | authorlink = Paul the Deacon | title = [[Historia gentis Langobardorum]] | date = 787 | location = Monte Cassino, Italy | pages = Book V chapter 29 | url = http://www.northvegr.org/lore/langobard/033.php }}</ref> Excavations in the necropolis of Vicenne-[[Campochiaro]] near Boiano which dates from the 7th century, found among 130 burials that there were 13 human burials alongside horses along with artifacts of Germanic and [[Avar]] origin.<ref> {{cite journal|title=Sepolture Con Cavallo Da Vicenne (Cb):|journal= I° Congresso Nazionale di Archeologia Medievale.|date=2001|first=Bruno|last=Genito|coauthors=|volume=|issue=|pages=|id= |url=http://192.167.112.135/NewPages/COLLANE/TESTISAMI/SAMI1/48.PDF|format=PDF|accessdate=2007-09-27 }}</ref><ref> {{cite journal|title=Anthropological and cultural features of a skeletal sample of horsemen from the medieval necropolis of Vicenne-Campochiaro (Molise, Italy)|journal=Collegium antropologicum (Coll. antropol.) ISSN 0350-6134 |date=2001|first=M. G. |last=Belcastro|coauthors=Faccini F.|volume=25 |issue=2|pages=387–401|id= |url=http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=13391417|format=|accessdate=2007-09-27 }}</ref><ref> {{cite web|url=http://www.italia.it/it/guide/5,en,SCH1/objectId,SIG56921Pit,curr,EUR,parentId,RGN21it,season,at1,selectedEntry,artculture/intern.html |title=Longobard necropolis of Campochiaro |accessdate=2007-09-27 }}</ref> Horse burials are characteristic of Central Asian horse-nomads, and therefore these burials are clearly those of the Bulgar settlers of Molise. ===Caucasian Bulgars / Balkars=== BatBayan's people, the so-called Black Bulgars, remained in their homeland and were soon subdued by the [[Khazars]]. Some believe that the present-day [[Balkars]] are the descendants of the BatBayan horde even though they call themselves Malkars (after the river [[Malka (river)|Malka]]) and speak a Turkic language of the [[Kipchak]] type. But in most Turkic languages the sound "b" became "m". ===First Bulgarian Empire=== [[Asparuh]], the successor to [[Kubrat]], subsequently conquered [[Moesia]] and [[Dobrudja]] from the [[Byzantine Empire]] in [[680]] and formed the [[First Bulgarian Empire]]. ==Etymology of Onoghuria== {{see also|Onogurs}} Variations of the name include: ''Onoghuria, Onoguri, Onoghuri, Onghur, Ongur, Onghuri, Onguri, Onghuria, Onguria, Onogundur, Unogundur, Unokundur, etc.'' There are numerous speculations about the origin of the Onogur name: * In modern language of the [[Caucasian Avars]] Onoghuria could mean "Everlasting", from ''uno'' - ever and ''guro'' - lasting. * Some derive it from the [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] words ''On'' (ten) and ''Ghur'' (arrow) which in combination may mean "Ten Arrows", i.e. "A federation of ten tribes". * Another explanation states that because in [[Turkic languages]] the sound "z" turns to "r" when you go westwards and therefore the ethnonym of the [[Oghuz Turks|Oguz/Oghuz]] Turks would sound as Ogur/Oghur in the west. Then ''Onogur'' would mean "ten clans of Oguz/Oghuz (Turks)". In support to this view is fact that the Bulgars are listed among the ten sons of [[Togarmah]] (the mythic ancestor of the Turks) in the [[Khazar Correspondence]]. * Others relate Onoghur to Unok-vndur, a Bulgar people mentioned in the early [[Armenia]]n sources. ==Other uses== According to some sources{{Fact|date=February 2007}}, seven [[Finno-Ugric]] speaking tribes, including the [[Magyars]], joined three [[Khazar language|Khazar-Turkic speaking]] [[Kabar]] clans to form a confederation also known as "Ten Arrows" or Onoghur. The word "[[Hungary]]" probably derives from this name. <ref name="OSZK">[http://www.oszk.hu/kiadvany/hsr/2000/notes.htm OSZK].</ref><ref name="EB">[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-34784/Hungary Hungary], Encyclopædia Britannica</ref>. The [[Romanian language|Romanian]] name for Magyar sounds even more similar to Onoghur - Ungur as is the Bulgarian name - Ungar(tzi) ==See also== *[[Bulgars]] *[[Mount Imeon]] *[[Kingdom of Balhara]] *[[First Bulgarian Empire]] ==References== <references/> == External links == *[http://www.kroraina.com/p_bulgar/p_bulg5.htm Old Great Bulgaria - facts and sources] *[http://www.ucc.ie/staff/jprodr/macedonia/byzbulgars.html BULGARS, Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (1991), vol.1, p.338] *[http://kroraina.com/macedon/mikul.html Ivan Mikulčić, ''Towns and castles in medieval Macedonia'', Makedonska civilizacija, Skopje, 1996] (in Macedonian) *[http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/oldworld/europe/bulgaria.html The Bulgarians, Minnesota State University] {{Bulgarian Empire}} [[Category:630s establishments]] [[Category:Late Antiquity]] [[Category:Former countries in Europe]] [[Category:History of Bulgaria]] [[Category:History of Russia]] [[Category:History of Ukraine]] [[Category:Bulgars]] [[Category:Hungary before the Magyars]] [[bg:Велика България]] [[cv:Аслă Пăлхар]] [[cs:Velké Bulharsko]] [[de:Großbulgarisches Reich]] [[fr:Onoghour]] [[ko:고대 불가리아]] [[hr:Stara velika Bugarska]] [[it:Grande Bulgaria]] [[he:בולגריה הישנה]] [[ka:დიდი ბულგარეთი]] [[hu:Nagy-Bulgária]] [[nl:Groot-Bulgaarse Rijk]] [[ja:大ブルガリア (中世)]] [[no:Det storbulgarske rike]] [[ru:Великая Болгария]] [[sk:Veľké Bulharsko]] [[uk:Велика Булгарія]]