Editing Bulgars (section)

=== Turkic migration ===
{{History of Bulgaria}}
{{Further|Turkic migration|Huns}}[[File:Giudjenov Kubrat and his sons.jpg|thumb|261x261px|A 1926 painting depicting Kubrat (in center), ruler of [[Great Bulgaria]].]] The original homeland of the early Bulgars is still unclear. Their homeland is believed to be situated in [[Kazakhstan]] and the [[North Caucasus|North Caucasian]] steppes. Interaction with the Hunnic tribes, causing the migration, may have occurred there, but the [[Pontic–Caspian steppe]] seems a more likely location.{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=103}} 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.{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p=168}} [[Hyun Jin Kim]] however, argues that the [[Huns]] continued under Ernak, becoming the [[Kutrigurs|Kutrigur]] and [[Utigurs|Utigur]] [[Huns|Hunno]]-Bulgars.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kim |first=Hyun Jin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jCpncXFzoFgC |title=The Huns, Rome and the Birth of Europe |date=2013-04-18 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-00906-6 |location=2013 |pages=123 |language=en}}</ref> These conclusions remain 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 (emperor)|Zeno]] (474–491) against the [[Ostrogoths]].{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=104}} Anachronistic references about them can also be found in the 7th-century geography work ''[[Ashkharatsuyts]]'' by [[Anania Shirakatsi]], where the ''Kup'i Bulgar'', ''Duch'i Bulkar'', ''Olkhontor Błkar'' and immigrant ''Ch'dar Bulkar'' tribes are mentioned as being in the North Caucasian-Kuban steppes.{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=103}} An obscure reference to ''Ziezi ex quo Vulgares'', with [[Ziezi]] being an offspring of Biblical [[Shem]], is in the ''[[Chronography of 354]]''.{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=103}}{{sfn|Bowersock, Brown, Grabar|1999|p=354}}

The Armenian history of [[Movses Khorenatsi]] (5th century or later) speaks about two migrations of the Bulgars from the [[Caucasus]] to [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Armenia]]. The first migration is mentioned in association with the campaign of Armenian ruler Valarshak to the lands "named [[Phasiane (historical region)|Basen]] by the ancients... and which were afterwards populated by immigrants of the Vlendur Bulgar Vund, after whose name they (the lands) were named [[Vanand]]".<ref name="Origin" /> In fact, the name Vanand is attested prior to the appearance of the Bulgars.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hewsen |first=Robert H. |author-link=Robert H. Hewsen |url=https://archive.org/details/TheGeographyOfAnaniasOfSirak |title=The Geography of Ananias of Širak (Ašxarhac῾oyc῾): The Long and the Short Recensions |publisher=Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag |year=1992 |isbn=3-88226-485-3 |location=Wiesbaden |pages=110}}</ref> Grigor Khalatians and [[Josef Markwart]] connected the name ''Vlendur'' with the ''Olkhontor'' mentioned in the ''Ashkharatsuyts'', while Stepan Malkhasiants considered it a form of the Mongolian word ''baghatur'' 'hero'.<ref>{{cite book |author=Moses Khorenatsʻi |author1-link=Movses Khorenatsi |title=History of the Armenians |publisher=Caravan Books |others=Translation and commentary by [[Robert W. Thomson]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-88206-111-5 |edition=Revised |location=Ann Arbor |page=133, note 39 |orig-date=Orig. published 1978}}</ref>

The second migration took place during the time of the ruler Arshak, 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". While Khorenatsi discusses these migrations in the context of the 2nd century BC, it has been suggested that Khorenatsi confused events from the second half of the 4th century AD with earlier occurrences; thus, the migration may have occurred during the reign of King [[Arshak III]] of Armenia.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dimitrov |first=Dimitar |title=Prabŭlgarite po Severnoto i Zapadnoto Chernomorie |publisher=Georgi Bakalov |year=1987 |location=Varna |pages=31 |language=bg |script-title=bg:Прабългарите по Северното и Западното Черноморие |trans-title=''Proto-Bulgarians north and west of the Black Sea'' |oclc=17878149}}</ref> 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 (river)|Vorotan]] rivers, tributaries of the [[Aras (river)|Aras]] river, are known as ''Bolgaru-chaj'' and ''Vanand-chaj'', and could confirm the Bulgar settlement of Armenia.<ref name="Origin">{{cite book |author=D. Dimitrov |title=Prabylgarite po severnoto i zapadnoto Chernomorie |date=1987 |place=Varna |chapter=Bulgars, Unogundurs, Onogurs, Utigurs, Kutrigurs |chapter-url=http://www.kroraina.com/p_bulgar/p_bulg1a.htm}}</ref>

Around 463 AD, the [[Akatziroi]] and other tribes that had been part of the Hunnic union were attacked by the Šarağurs, one of the first Oğuric Turkic tribes that entered the [[Pontic–Caspian steppe|Ponto-Caspian steppes]] as the result of migrations set off in Inner Asia.{{sfn|Golden|1992|pp=92–93, 103}} According to [[Priscus]], in 463 the representatives of Šarağur, Oğur and Onoğur came to the Emperor in [[Constantinople]],{{sfn|Golden|1992|pp=92–93}} and explained they had been driven out of their homeland by the [[Sabir people|Sabirs]], who had been attacked by the [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]].{{sfn|Golden|1992|pp=92–93, 97}} This tangle of events indicates that the Oğuric tribes are related to the [[Dingling|Ting-ling]] and [[Tiele people]].{{sfn|Golden|1992|pp=93–95}} It seems that Kutrigurs and Unigurs arrived with the initial waves of Oğuric peoples entering the Pontic steppes.{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=99}} The Bulgars were not mentioned in 463.{{sfn|Bowersock, Brown, Grabar|1999|p=354}}

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]] the ''Vulgares'' killed the [[Lombards|Lombard]] king Agelmund.<ref name="Origin"/> Scholars attribute this account to the Huns,<ref>{{cite book |last=Menghin |first=Wilfred |date=1985 |title=Die Langobarden. Archäologie und Geschichte |language=de |publisher=Theiss |place=Stuttgart |page=14 |isbn=9783806203646}}</ref>{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|pp=127–129}} Avars{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|pp=127–129}} or some Bulgar groups who were probably carried away by the Huns to the Central Europe.<ref name="Origin"/>{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|pp=127–129}} The Lombards, led by their new king Laimicho, rose up and defeated the Bulgars with great slaughter,<ref>Hist. gentis Lang., Ch. XVII.</ref> gaining great booty and confidence as they "became bolder in undertaking the toils of war."<ref>PD, XVII.</ref>

The defeated Bulgars then became subjects of the Lombards and later migrated in Italy with their king [[Alboin]].<ref>{{cite book|title=History of the Lombards: Translated by William Dudley Foulke |first=Edward |last=Peters |year=2003 |place=University of Pennsylvania Press}}</ref> When the army of Ostrogoth chieftain [[Theodoric Strabo]] grew to 30,000-men strong, it was felt as a menace to Byzantine [[Zeno (emperor)|Emperor Zeno]], who somehow managed to convince the Bulgars to attack the Thracian Goths.<ref name="Wolfram">{{cite book |first1=Herwig |last1=Wolfram |author-link=Herwig Wolfram |first2=Thomas J. |last2=Dunlap |date=1990 |title=History of the Goths |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xsQxcJvaLjAC |publisher=University of California Press |page=276 |isbn=9780520069831}}</ref> The Bulgars were eventually defeated by Strabo in 480/481.<ref name="Wolfram" /> In 486 and 488 they fought against the Goths again, first as allies of Byzantium, according to [[Magnus Felix Ennodius]],<ref name="Origin" /> and later as allies of the [[Gepids]], according to Paul the Deacon.<ref name="Origin" /> However, when [[Theoderic the Great]] with his Ostrogoths departed for Italy in 489, the [[Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum|Illyricum]] and [[Thracia|Thrace]] were open for Bulgar raids.{{sfn|Croke|2001|p=69}}

In 493, according to [[Marcellinus Comes]], they defeated and killed [[magister militum]] Julian.{{sfn|Croke|2001|p=69}} In 499, they crossed the Danube and reached Thrace where on the banks of the river Tzurta (considered a tributary of [[Maritsa]]{{sfn|Croke|2001|p=53}}) defeated a 15,000-strong Roman army led by magister militum Aristus.{{sfn|Croke|2001|pp=23, 68}}{{sfn|Curta|2015|p=75}} In 502, Bulgars again devastated Thrace as reportedly there were no Roman soldiers to oppose them.{{sfn|Croke|2001|p=69}}{{sfn|Curta|2015|p=75}} In 528–529 they again invaded the region and defeated Roman generals [[Justin (Moesia)|Justin]] and [[Baduarius (Scythia)|Baduarius]].{{sfn|Croke|2001|p=70}} However, the Gothic general [[Mundus (general)|Mundus]] offered allegiance to Emperor [[Justinian I]] (527–565) in 530, and managed to kill 5,000 Bulgars plundering Thrace.{{sfn|Croke|2001|p=69}} [[John Malalas]] recorded that in the battle a Bulgar warlord was captured.{{sfn|Curta|2015|p=75}} In 535, magister militum [[Sittas]] defeated the Bulgar army at the river [[Yantra (river)|Yantra]].{{sfn|Curta|2015|p=75}}

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''".{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|pp=164, 220}} In 505, the alleged 10,000 Hun horsemen in the [[Sabinianus (consul 505)|Sabinian]] army, which was defeated by the Ostrogoths, are believed to be the Bulgars.{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p=164}} In 515, Bulgar mercenaries were listed along with others from the Goths, Scythians and Hunnic tribes as part of the [[Vitalian (general)|Vitalian]] army.{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p=421}} In 539, two Hunnic "kinglets" defeated two Roman generals during the raid into [[Scythia Minor (Roman province)|Scythia Minor]] and [[Moesia]].{{sfn|Curta|2015|pp=75–76}}

A Roman army led by magister militum [[Ascum]] and [[Constantiolus]] intercepted and defeated them in Thrace; however, another raiding party ambushed and captured the two Roman generals.{{sfn|Curta|2015|p=76}} In 539 and 540, Procopius reported a powerful Hunnic army crossed the Danube, devastated Illyricum and reached up to the [[Anastasian Wall]].{{sfn|Curta|2015|p=76}} Such large distances covered in a short time indicate they were horsemen.{{sfn|Curta|2015|p=76}}

[[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, the ''Hunni'' divided into two tribes: the ''Altziagiri'' (who trade and live next to [[Chersonesus|Cherson]]) and ''Saviri'', while the ''Hunuguri'' (believed to be the Onoğurs) were notable for the [[marten]] skin trade.<ref name="Origin"/>{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p=431}}{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=98}} In the Middle Ages, marten skin was used as a substitute for minted money.{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=254}}

The Syriac translation of [[Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor]]'s ''Ecclesiastical History'' (c. 555) in Western Eurasia records:

<blockquote>The land Bazgun... extends up to the [[Derbent|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</blockquote>

Then he records 13 tribes, the ''wngwr'' ([[Onogurs|Onogur]]), ''wgr'' (Oğur), ''sbr'' ([[Sabirs|Sabir]]), ''bwrgr'' (Burğa, i.e. Bulgar), ''kwrtrgr'' (Kutriğurs), ''br'' (probably [[pannonian Avars|Vars]], also known as the Avars), ''ksr'' (''Kasr''; possibly [[Akatziri]]), ''srwrgwr'' ([[Saragurs]]), ''dyrmr'' (unknown<!-- If it's unknown this is meaningless: Dirmar=Ιτίγαροι -->), ''b'grsyq'' (''Bagrasir'', i.e. [[Barsils|Barsil]]), ''kwls'' (unknown<!-- If it's unknown this is meaningless: Xwâlis -->), ''bdl'' (probably [[Durrani|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)".<ref name="Origin"/>{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=97}}

[[Agathias]] (c. 579–582) wrote:

<blockquote>...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... the Oultizurs and Bourougounds were known up to the time of the Emperor [[Leo I (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.{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=98}}</blockquote>

According to D. Dimitrov, scholars partially managed to identify and locate the Bulgar groups mentioned in 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,{{sfn|Golden|2011|p=144}} such as the ''Kup'i Bulgar'' and the [[Kuban river|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 the ''Bulgar'' ethnonym could be due to the dialect differentiations in their language.<ref name="Origin"/>

By the middle of the 6th century, the Bulgars momentarily fade from the sources and the Kutrigurs and Utigurs come to the front.{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=104}} 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 the end, the Kutrigurs were overwhelmed by the Avars, while the Utigurs came under the rule of the Western Turks.{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=100}}

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.{{sfn|Golden|1992|pp=100–102}} From the 8th century, the Byzantine sources often mention the Onoğurs in close connection with the Bulgars. Agathon (early 8th century) wrote about the nation of Onoğurs Bulğars. [[Nikephoros I of Constantinople|Nikephoros I]] (early 9th century) noted that [[Kubrat]] was the lord of the ''Onoğundurs''; his contemporary [[Theophanes the Confessor|Theophanes]] referred to them as ''Onoğundur–Bulğars''.

[[Constantine VII]] (mid-10th century) remarked that the Bulğars formerly called themselves ''[[Onogurs|Onoğundurs]]''. This association was previously mirrored in Armenian sources, such as the ''Ashkharatsuyts'', which refers to 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 [[Hisham Ibn Al-Kalbi|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'', the ''nndr'' (*Nandur) of [[Abu Saʿīd Gardēzī|Gardīzī]] (11th century) and ''*Wununtur'' in the [[Khazar Correspondence|letter]] by the Khazar King [[Joseph (Khazar)|Joseph]]. All the forms show the phonetic changes typical of later Oğuric (prothetic v-).{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=102}}

Scholars consider it unclear how this union came about, viewing it as a long process in which a number of different groups were merged.{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=244}}{{sfn|Golden|2011|p=143}} During that time, the Bulgars may have represented a large confederation including the remnants of Onoğurs, Utigurs and Kutrigurs among others.{{sfn|Golden|1992|pp=100, 103}}