List of rulers of Volga Bulgaria

Volga Bulgaria (east) and Kievan Rus' (west) on the eve of the Mongol invasions

Volga Bulgaria was a state in modern-day southwestern Russia, formed by the descendants of a group of Bulgars distinct from those who under Asparuh crossed the Danube river and formed the First Bulgarian Empire (c. 680–1018). The Volga Bulgarians were for much of their early history, until the tenth century, under the suzerainty of the Khazar Khaganate.[1]

No medieval records from Volga Bulgaria itself have survived; its history is instead a reconstruction largely based on information drawn from contemporary Russian, Arabic and Persian sources.[1] According to later legend, the founder of Volga Bulgaria was the 7th-century ruler Kotrag, a son of Kubrat,[2] though modern historians consider his historicity doubtful.[3] The process of unification and state formation in Volga Bulgaria appears to have begun at some point in the late 9th century;[1] Volga Bulgaria emerges from obscurity in the sources in the early 10th century, already a state of some size.[4]

In the early tenth century, the Volga Bulgarian ruler Almış converted to Islam and worked to achieve independence from the Khazars;[1] by 950, Volga Bulgaria was a fully independent state.[5] The conversion to Islam helped the Volga Bulgarian rulers to distance themselves both from the Khazars (which followed Judaism) and the Byzantine Empire (which followed Christianity and was allied with the Khazars).[2] Volga Bulgaria endured until it was conquered by the Mongol Empire in 1236.[2][5][6]

List of rulers

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Dirhams minted by Mikaʾil ibn Jaʿfar (early/late 940s)
Dirhams minted by Muʾmin ibn al-Hasan (c. 970s)

The former territories of Volga Bulgaria were integrated into the Mongol Empire in 1236 and later became part of the lands of the Golden Horde.[2] After the collapse of Mongol rule in the region, much of the old Volga Bulgarian state became part of the new Khanate of Kazan (1438–1552), which in many ways was a continuation of Volga Bulgaria.[1] The rulers of the Khanate of Kazan are listed in the separate list of Kazan khans. After Kazan was conquered by Russia in 1552, Russian rulers sometimes adopted the title "Prince of Bulgharia", in reference to Volga Bulgaria.[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Shpakovsky, Viacheslav; Nicolle, David (2013). Armies of the Volga Bulgars & Khanate of Kazan: 9th–16th centuries. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 3–5, 10, 12. ISBN 978-1-78200-080-8.
  2. ^ a b c d Baumer, Christoph (2018). History of Central Asia, The: 4-volume set. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 210–211. ISBN 978-1-83860-868-2.
  3. ^ Zimonyi, Istvan (2015). Muslim Sources on the Magyars in the Second Half of the 9th Century: The Magyar Chapter of the Jayhānī Tradition. BRILL. p. 256. ISBN 978-90-04-30611-0.
  4. ^ Reuter, Timothy; McKitterick, Rosamond; Fouracre, Paul; Abulafia, David; Allmand, C. T.; Luscombe, David; Jones, Michael; Riley-Smith, Jonathan (1995). The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 3, C.900-c.1024. Cambridge University Press. p. 504. ISBN 978-0-521-36447-8.
  5. ^ a b c d Brook, Kevin Alan (2018). The Jews of Khazaria. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 126–127. ISBN 978-1-5381-0343-2.
  6. ^ a b c d Westerlund, David (2004). Sufism in Europe and North America. Routledge. p. 69. ISBN 978-1-134-34206-8.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Kuleshov, Viacheslav S. (2020). "Coin circulation in early Rus and the dynamics of the druzhinas". Viking-Age Trade: Silver, Slaves and Gotland. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-86615-6.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Bukharaev, Ravil (2014). Islam in Russia: The Four Seasons. Routledge. pp. 88, 109–110. ISBN 978-1-136-80793-0.
  9. ^ a b c d Golzio, Karl-Heinz (1984). Kings, Khans, and Other Rulers of Early Central Asia: Chronological Tables. In Kommission bei E.J. Brill. p. 81. ISBN 978-3-923956-11-1.
  10. ^ a b Jansson, Ingmar; Fransson, Ulf (2007). Cultural Interaction Between East and West: Archaeology, Artefacts and Human Contacts in Northern Europe. Stockholms Universitet. pp. 171, 173. ISBN 978-91-7155-474-1.
  11. ^ a b Мифтахов, Зуфар Зайниевич (1998). Курс лекций по истории татарского народа (in Russian). Izd-vo "Dom pechati". pp. 341, 378. ISBN 978-5-89120-050-0.
  12. ^ Daulet, Shafiga (1988). The Rise and Fall of the Khanate of Kazan, 1438 to 1552: Internal and External Factors that Led to Its Conquest by Ivan the Terrible. New York University. p. 172.