History of the Proto-Bulgarians north and west of the Black Sea
- Documentary evidence about the Proto-Bulgarians and other akin to them tribes: Archaeological evidence about the Proto-Bulgarians from:
- North-Eastern Fore-Caucasus and Northern Dagestan: - East of the Sea of Azov (VI-VII century AD): - North of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov (VI-VII century AD): "Old Great Bulgaria":
The Pereschepina treasure of Khan Kubrat, VIIth c. (Hermitage Museum Collection)
The Saltovo-Majack culture The Proto-Bulgarians in the VIII-IX cc. AD: The migration of the Unogundur-Bulgars of Asparukh to the Lower Danube
Fortresses
Necropolises
Bulgars, Unogundurs, Onogurs, Utigurs, Kutrigurs
It is commonly accepted that the documentary evidence contain only data about the European period of the history of Proto-Bulgarians. Recently, although, B.Simeonov advanced the hypothesis that their ethnicon had been known much earlier to the Chinese, but in a rather altered form because of the peculiarities of the transcription of foreign names in Chinese. In modern Chinese the Bulgarians are known as 'ba-go' or 'bao- guo', and B. Simeonov concludes that the ancient word 'bulgar' should occur as 'pu-ku' or 'bu-gu'. Exactly the same name of a tribe or a group of tribes is repeatedly mentioned in different Chinese sources from 103 BC up to the 8-th century AD. They speak about a people or tribe pu-ku/bu-gu inhabiting the western as well as the eastern parts of Central Asia, the lands to the north and north-west of Tien-Shan, the Semirech'e and west of the rivers Sur Darya and Amu Darya [1]. Interestingly enough, one of the tribal lords of the people pu-ku - Sofu sulifa Kenan Bain, bears the title sulifa, attested later among the Dagestan Proto-Bulgarians. While the evidence of the Asiatic period of the Proto-Bulgarian history is still hypothetical, there are, still short, but reliable sources about their live in Europe. Most numerous are the records in Latin and Greek. Few, but very important, are the data from some historical, geographical and other works by eastern authors - Armenians, Arabs, Syrians, Persians, etc. Their use, however, is accompanied by serious difficulties because of the rather free way they convey the events and facts and because of the peculiarities of the phonetic systems of their literature, in which the foreign names are sometimes changed beyond recognition.The earliest European record about the Proto-Bulgarians is the so called Anonymous chronograph, a list of tribes and peoples written in Latin in 354 AD by an unknown chronicler. He mentiones among the offspring of Shem a certain 'Ziezi ex quo Vulgares'[2].
The Proto-Bulgarians as inhabitants of the lands north of the Caucasus are mentioned by the Armenian writer Moses Horenaci. In his History of Armenia, written in the 80's of the 5-th century AD, [3] he speaks about two migrations of Proto-Bulgarians from Caucasus to Armenia. The first of them is mentioned in connection with the campaign of the Armenian ruler Vaharshak to the lands, 'named Basen by the ancients... and which were afterwards populated by immigrants of the vh' ndur Bulgar Vund, after whose name they (the lands) were named Vanand.' The second migration, according to Moses Horenaci took place during the time of the Armenian 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.' The migrations are dated to the second half of the 4-th century AD. It appears that the 'disturbances' which caused the Proto-Bulgarians to migrate to the south are linked to the expansion of the Huns in the East-European steppes. The authenticity of the settlement of groups of Proto-Bulgarians in Armenia is confirmed by some toponymic data: a river flowing though the Mungan steppe in South Azerbaijan and emptying in the lake Mahmud-chala, is called Bolgaru-chaj (Bulgarian river), one of the tributaries of the river Arax near the town of Kars (the land Vanand) is even now called Vanand- chaj (river of Vanand).
(After D.Dimitrov, The Proto-Bulgarians north and west of the Black Sea, Varna, 1987; The map was produced using XEROX Map Viewer)
With the Hunnish invasions, the documentary evidence about Proto-Bulgarians cease for a while. They appear again in the beginning of the 5-th, this time from the north-western slopes of the Carpathians. According to the 8-th century Langobardian chronicler Paulus Diaconus [4] the Bulgars dwelling in those places attacked their neighbours the Langobards, killed their king Algemund and captured his daughter. After that they had two more battles, first of which they won and the second lost. Apparently, the Proto-Bulgarians reached Central Europe together with the Huns. It is well known that in their drive to the West the Huns carried away many of the subdued by them peoples. After the defeat of the Hunnish tribal union, the Proto-Bulgarians, as well as the remains of the Huns, returned back and settled near the borders of Byzantium, entering in active, both friendly and hostile, contacts with it. The first record of Proto-Bulgarians from the Balkans mentions the help they have rendered to the Byzantine emperor Zeno against the Goths of Theodoric, the son of Triarius [5].
In 486 and 488 they fought again against the Goths, first as allies of Byzantium [6], and later - as allies of the Gepids [7]. At those times the Proto-Bulgarians had been regarded as a brave and invincible in war people [8].
Later, since the 90's of the 5-th century, they, independently or accompanied by the Slavs, repeatedly invaded the territories of the Byzantine empire and were among its greatest enemies till the middle of the 6-th century.
Some indications about the territory, occupied by them during these centuries, are found in 'Getica' of the Gothic historian Jordanes[9]. According to Jordanes 'beyond the Akacires ... above the Pontus (Black Sea) coast are the dwellings of the Bulgars, who became famous because of the bad consequences of our sins.' Their neighbours were the Huns Alcnagiri and Saviri, and further the Hunugurs (Onogurs), who trade with sable pelts. Thus, the Proto-Bulgarians occupied the steppes to the north and north-west of the Black Sea.
In the time when north of the Black Sea, next to the Balkan territories of Byzantium, lived a significant and strong Proto-Bulgarian group (5-6 century AD), another group of the same people lived in the steppes to the east, in the north-eastern Caucasus. The 'Church history' of Zachariah the Rhetor, compiled in Syrian language soon after the middle of the 6-th century AD [10] contains reliable data about the Proto- Bulgarians. Utilising first-hand accounts the compiler produced a list of the peoples, who had inhabited the lands north of the Derbend pass (the Caspian gates) during the first half of the 6-th century: "The land Bazgun ... extends up to the 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) are people, who live in tents. Avgar, sabir, burgar, alan, kurtargar, avar, hasar, dirmar, sirurgur, bagrasir, kulas, abdel and hephtalit are thirteen peoples, who live in tents, earn their living on the meat of livestock and fish, of wild animals and by their weapons (plunder)."
The Bulgars and the Alans are mentioned twice - once as a settled populations with towns, and once more as nomads. Zachariah the Rhetor points out that the Proto- Bulgarians who have towns inhabited the lands immediately next to the Caspian gates, while the others - the steppes north of the Caucasus.
Besides the Proto-Bulgarians the sources speak about other ethnic groups who were more or less connected with the Proto-Bulgarians, and some of them later joined the Proto-Bulgarian people. Important among them are the Onogurs (Unogurs). They appear in the European chronicles in the middle of the 5-th century. According to Priscus in 463 Byzantium was visited by an embassy of Saragurs, Urogs and Onogurs, who, dislodged by the Avar's drive to the west, conquered the lands of the Akacirs and asked for a union with Byzantium [11].
Most probably the Onogurs lived in the lands east of the Proto-Bulgarians, along the northern coast of the Black Sea. According to the Syrian compilation of Zachariah the Rhetor, Avnagur-Aunagur inhabited the steppes north of Caucasus, living as nomads. However, Theophilactus Simocatta [12] informs us that they had towns - in earlier times they had built the town of Bakat. More precise about their dwellings is the 'Cosmographia' of Ravennatis Anonymi [13] who locates 'Patria Onogoria' above the Pontus near the lake of Meotida (the Sea of Azov).
Judging from some eparchial lists from the end of the 7-th or the beginning of the 8-th century, in the 7-th century there was an Onogurian episcopate in the Gothic eparchy. This attests the early spread of the Christianity among the Onogurs [14].
The Onogurs are also known to some eastern authors, but there their name is so altered that their identification is very difficult and sometimes even impossible. Most numerous are the records about the Onogurs in the Armenian sources. The earliest are in the work of Egishe, written between 458 and 464 [15]. Egishe mentions that to the north of the land Chora (the Derbend pass) lived the Huns Hajlandur (hajlandur'k). They already had a 'royal clan', that is, tribal aristocracy, and Christianity was beginning to spread among them. They maintained connections with the Kushans - in 454 a young Hajlandur at the service of the Persian ruler Yazdgird II (438-457) ran away to the Kushans, warned them about the forthcoming Persian attack and thus contributed to the victory of the Kushans. According to A.D. Gadlo the identification of the Hajlandurs with the Onogurs is confirmed by a fragment of the history of Egishe, preserved in the 10-th century Armenian author Moses Kagankatvaci, where the country of the Hajlandurs is called Aguandria (Aluandria), that is, country of the tribe Aguandur. This name resembles the ethicon auangur-avnagur by which the Syrian texts call the Onogurs.
The texts also locate north of the Caucasus the Unogundurs, a name that is very similar to that of the Onogurs. Almost all chroniclers connect the Unogundurs with the Proto-Bulgarians. For example the Byzantine patriarch Nicephorus calls the ruler of Great Bulgaria khan Kubrat "the ruler of the Unogundurs", [16] and both Theophanes the Confessor and Constantinus Porphyrogeneus explicitly state that the Bulgarians, settled in the Balkans, had been called earlier Unogundurs [17], [18].
The Armenian geography, written at the end of the 7-th century and attributed to Ananij Shirakaci, also attests the Bulgarian affiliation of the Unogundurs. It says that north of the Caucasus "live the peoples Turk and Bulgar (Bulgark), who are named after the local rivers: Kupi-bulgar, Duchi-bulkar, Oghondor(Olhontor)-blkar - the immigrants and Chdar-bolkar." [19]
The name Onghondor-blkar in the Armenian geography is a variant of the older Vh'ndur-bulgar in the History of Moses Horenaci and the both works give the Armenian form of the ethnicon transcribed in Greek as Unogundur or Unogur. Because of the similarity of the two names as well as the location of the two tribes, it is generally accepted that Unogundurs and Unogurs are two written forms of one tribe. This is confirmed by the deacon Agathius - hartophilacs of the Constantinople patriarchy and compiler of the acts of the VI-th ecumenical council in 680-681 AD, who in a rider to the council's acts from 713 AD names the Bulgars of khan Tervel "Unogurs-bulgars".
The localisation of the other three tribes in the Armenian geography is not so clear. Using the remark in the Geography that the Bulgarian tribes were named after names of rivers, the historians try to find these rivers. They are almost unanimous that Kupi-bulgar are the Proto-Bulgarians of the river Kuban, the old Kuphis. Many of them accept that Duchi-bulkar should be read as Kuchi-bulkar, pointning to the ancient name of Dniepr (Kocho) also attested in the Armenian geography. Most unclear is the location of the Chdar-bolkars - they are put in the basins of Big Rombit (Eja) or Don, in the eastern part of the Crimea or in Northern Dagestan. It is remarkable, that in all four cases the tribal name of the Bulgars is slightly different. This is an indisputable evidence of dialect differenciation in the language in the various Proto-Bulgarian tribes which had affected even their common ethnicon.
Thus, sources speak that not later than the 4-th century AD in the steppes north of Caucasus there was a considerable Proto-Bulgarian mass, in which the tribe of Unogundurs (vh'ndur) played the leading role. During the Hunnish invasions ('the great disturbances') part of the Unogundurs-bulgars were forced to cross the Caucasus and take refuge in Armenia; another group moved westwards to the shores of the Sea of Azov. After the departure of the Huns for Central Europe, a group of Unogundurs occupied the plains of maritime Dagestan and became known to Egishe under the name Hajlandurs. At the beginning of the second half of the 5-th century part of the Onogurs from the Eastern Fore-Caucasus was pushed out by the Sabirs to the west and settled at the plain at the north-eastern corner of the Black Sea. Agathius (second half of the 6-th century) informs that these Onogurs long time ago had attacked the Colkhis at the Black Sea coast, but were defeated. On this occasion the place of the battle and a fortress nearby were named Onoguris [20].
Another tribe, akin to the Proto-Bulgarians, were the Utigurs. They are mentioned only by the Byzantine historian Procopius Caesariensis and his continuators Agathias and Menander in connection with events that took place during the middle and the second half of the 6-th century. Most detailed is the record of Procopius: "Beyond the Sagins dwell many Hunnish tribes. The land is called Evlisia and barbarians populate the sea-coast and the inland up to the so called lake of Meotida and the river Tanais (Don). The people living there were called Cimmerians, and now they are called Utigurs. North of them are the populous tribes of the Antes." [21]
Thus the Utigurs have occupied the lowlands of the river Kuban. Probably it is their lord (prince) who is mentioned in the story narrated by Ioanis Malalae, Theophanes and John of Ephesus. In 528 AD (534 according to John of Ephesus) this lord, called Gord (Grod), with a large suite arrived in Constantinople. In the Byzantine capital he was baptised by emperor Justinian himself, who endowed Gord with rich presents and sent him back home with the task to protect the city of Bosporus from the neighbouring barbarians. After his return Gord, as a zealous Christian, ordered the venerated by his people golden and silver idols to be melted down. Outraged by this action, the priests together with his brother and the army revolted and killed him [22].
Later the Byzantines at the expense of many gifts were able again to win the friendship of the Utigurs. In 551 Justinian turned the Utigurs against their relatives the Kutrigurs, whose army of 12,000 in that moment devastated the Balkan provinces of the empire. Using the absence of the main enemy's forces, the Utigur khan Sandilkh crossed the river Don and invaded the lands of the Kutrigurs, who were badly defeated and many of their women and children - enslaved. In this war thousands of captured by the Kutrigurs Byzantines were able to return to their homes. In 558-559 again the Utigurs and Kutrigurs were at war. As a result the two tribes were weakened so much that they lost even their tribal names, according to Agathius. Still, the Utigurs continued to play some role. For example, their army, subjected to the Turcuts, took part in the taking of the Byzantine city of Bosporus.
The Kutrigurs were an akin to the Utrigurs tribe. This is evident from the genealogical legend, preserved by Procopius: "In the old days many Huns, called then Cimmerians, inhabited the lands I mentioned already. They all had a single king. Once one of their kings had two sons: one called Utigur and another called Kutrigur. After their father's death they shared the power and gave their names to the subjected peoples, so that even nowadays some of them are called Utigurs and the others - Kutrigurs." This is also confirmed by the words of the Utigur khan Sandilh [23] when he was asked by Justinian to attack the Kutrigurs: "It is neither fair nor decent to exterminate our tribesmen (the Kutrigurs), who not only speak a language, identical to ours, who are our neighbours and have the same dressing and manners of life, but who are also our relatives, even though subjected to other lords." The Kutrigurs occupied the lands west of the Sea of Azov and the river Don. In the middle of the 6-th century they had the leading role in a powerful tribal union which was able undertake massive attacks against the Balkan provinces of Byzantium, returning home with great spoils and tens of thousands of enslaved Byzantines.
The bloody internecine war between the Utigurs and Kutrigurs during the whole fifth decade of the 6-th century sapped their strength. They were relatively easy subjugated by the Avars who crossed Volga in 558. After a short stay in the East-European steppes the Avars, carrying away with them a considerable number of Kutrigurs, were forced by the Turcuts (tu-cu) to leave for Central Europe and to settle in Pannonia. An evidence for the Kutrigur's presence in Central Europe is the information of Menander that in 568 a 10,000 strong army of Kutrigurs, following orders of the Avar khan Bajan, attacked and sacked Dalmatia.
There is a great variety of opinions among the historians regarding the origin of the Utigurs and the Kutrigurs. Some of them (V. Zlatarski, V. Gjuzelev, Iv. Bozhilov) think the Utigurs and Kutrigurs represented correspondingly the eastern and the western branches of the Proto-Bulgarians, another (D. Angelov) think the Utigurs and Kutrigurs were akin but different from the Proto-Bulgarian tribes. Particularly close were the contacts between the Proto-Bulgarians and the Kutrigurs, who inhabited adjacent territories. During their combined attacks on Byzantium and their joining, first in a Prot-Bulgarian, and later - in a Kutrigurian military-tribal union, the Kutrigurs were gradually incorporated in the Proto-Bulgarian group. Since the 7-th century the tribal name of the Kutrigurs was generally substituted by the name of the Proto-Bulgarians, although they are still mentioned in few cases as 'Kotrags'. In fact, Kutrigurs and Utigurs are mentioned by very few authors and only during three decades (50s to70s) of the 6-th century. And since the end of the 6-th century the name of the Kutrigurs in Central Europe was replaced by that of the Proto-Bulgarians. For example, Theophilactus Simocatta [24] when speaking about the campaign of the Byzantine general Peter against the Slavs in 596, informs us that in the environs of the town Asimunt near the mouth of the river Osum, there was a 1,000 strong detachment of Proto-Bulgarians, subjects of the khan of the Avars. The replacement of the name of the Kutrigurs is shown even clearer in Fredegarius [25] who narrates about the contest for power over the Avar khaganate, kindled between the candidates of the Avars and the Proto-Bulgarians in 631-632. This also evidences about the great number of the Proto-Bulgarians. The victory of the Avar pretender forced 9,000 Proto-Bulgarians to leave Pannonia and to find refuge in Bavaria of king Dagobert.
References: [1] B.Simeonov, Iztochni izvori za istorijata i nazvanieto na Asparuhovite b'lgari, Vekove, VIII, 1979, v. 1, pp.49-54
[2] Th. Momsen. Ueber den Chronographen von Jahre 354. - Abhandlungen der phil. - hist. Classe der kais. saechsischen Geselshaft der Wissenschaften. I, Leipzig, 1850, S. 547 flg.
[3] Istorija Armenii Mojseja Horenskogo, II izd. Per. N. O. Emina, M., 1893, s.55-56.
[4] Paulus Diaconus. Historia Langobardoum. - Monumenta Germaniae historica. Scriptores rerum Langobardicum et Italicarum, saec. VI-IX, p.55-56
[5] Ioanes Antiochenus. Excerpta de insidiis. Ed. Carl de Boor. Berolini, 1905, frgm.96, p.136
[6] Magnus Felicius Ennodius. Opera. - Monumenta Germaniae historica. Auctores antiquissimi, VII, Berolini, 1885, p.205
[7] Paulus Diaconous. Historia Romana. - Monumenta Germaniae historica. Auctores antiquissimi, II, Berolini, 1879, p. 213-214
[8] M.F.Enodius. Opera, p.205-206
[9] Jordanes, Getica. - Monumenta Germaniae historica. Auctores antiquissimi, V, 1. Berolini, 1882, p.63
[10] N.V. Pigulevskaja, Sirijskie istochniki po istorii narodov SSSR, Moscow-Leningrad, 1941, pp.3-9
[11] Priscus. Excerpta de legationibus. Ed. S. de Boor. Berolini, 1903, p. 586
[12] Theophilactus Simocatta. Historae. Ed. C. de Boor. Lipsiae, 1887, p.259
[13] Ravennatis Anonymi, Cosmographia. Ed. M. Pinder et G. Parthey. Berolini, 1890, p.170-171
[14] G. Moravcsik. Zur Geschichte der Onoguren. - Ungarusche Jahrbuecher, X, 1930, S. 64
[15] Egishe. O Vardane i vojne armjanskoj. Per. s armjanskogo akad. I.A. Orbeli. Erevan, 1971, s. 31.
[16] Nisephorus Patriarcha. Breviarium. Ed. C. de Boor, p. 24
[17] Theophanes Confessor. Chronographia. Ed. C. de Boor, I-II, Lispiae, 1883, p.357; Constantinus Porphyrogenitus. De thematibus et de administrando imperii. Bonnae, 1840, p.46
[18] Istorija agvan Mojseja Kagankatvaci, pisatelja X veka. Per. s armjanskogo K. Patkanjan. Sankt-Peterburg, 1861, s. 11. Compare A.V. Gadlo, Etnicheskaja istorija Severnogo Kavkaza, s.55-56
[19] K. Patkanov. Iz novogo spiska "Geografii", pripisajvaemoj Mojseju Horenskomu. - Zhurnal Ministerstva Narodnogo Prosveshtenija, 1883, ch. CCXXVI, s.21-32
[20] Agathiae Historiarum libri V. - Ed. L. Dindorf. HGM, 1871, p.217. 243
[21] Procopii Caesariensis. Libri de bellis VIII. - Opera omnia. Ed. J. Haury, I-III, Lispiae, 1905-1913, p.501-502
[22] Ioannis Malalae Chronographia. - Rec. L. Dindorf. Bonnae, 1831, p. 431; Theophanes. Op. cit., p. 176
[23] Menandri Fragmenta. Excerpta de legationibus. - Ed. C. de Boor. Berolini, 1903, p. 170
[24] Theophilactus Simocatta, Historiae, - Ed. C. de Boor. Lipsiae, 1887, p.251-251
[25] Fredegarius Scholasticus, Chronica. Ed. B. Krusch, Hannoverae, 1886, p.157
Sabirs, Barsils, Belendzheris, Khazars
Another associated with the Proto-Bulgarian ethnic group were the Sabirs. Initially they had lived in Western Siberia, which was named after them. According to Priscus, in the mid-fifth century the Sabirs conquered the lands of the Onogurs, Saragurs and Urogs in the steppes around the north-western Caspian coast. Especially active they became in 6-th century when they created a powerful federation of akin tribes, usually know as the "Kingdom of the Huns". They were quite populous and could organise an army of 20,000 well equipped cavalrymen. They were masters of the art of the war and could build siege machines unknown even to the Persians and the Byzantines. Very early on the Sabirs were in close contact with the Khazars, and some eastern authors confuse them. After the defeat of their main forces by the Avars, the Khazars took the lead in the Sabir-Khazar federation. It is unknown when and what forced part of the Sabirs to move to the north, in the region of Middle Volga, among the settled there Proto-Bulgarians tribes. Their main city Suvar was later among the greatest centres of Volga Bulgaria.Another tribe in close contacts with the Proto-Bulgarians were the Barsils. They are mentioned in the documents only in the second half of the 6-th century in connection with the crossing of the East-European steppes by the Avars (pseudo-Avars). According to Theophilactus Simocatta, [26] when the Avars appeared in their lands "the barsilt (the Barsilians), the unogurs and the sabirs were struck with horror ... and honoured the new-comers with brilliant gifts." The ethicon bagrasik, included in the list of the steppe peoples north of Derbend in the Syrian compilation of Zachariah the Rhetor, most probably represents their ethnic name. More accurate data about the Barsils contains the so called New List of the Armenian geography from the 7-th century. It narrates that in the Volga delta "there is an island, where the people of basli (the Barsils) take shelter from the bushki (bulhi - the Bulgars) and from the khazars... The island is called Black because of many basli living there together with their numerous livestock." The 'island' in question is probably the land between the river Eastern Manuch and the present Volga mouth. The region is called 'Black lands' since a long time and it is even nowadays an excellent winter grazing ground for the population of Northern Caucasus. Very important is the note of the Armenian geographer that the Barsils possessed numerous livestock, that is, they were a typical nomadic people.
M.I. Artamonov [27] locates the country Bersilia in present Northern Dagestan, but his view is not supported by the available data. The archaeological material from that region points to the presence of a settled population that lived in permanent settlements and created impressive fortresses. At the same time the Armenian geography portraits the Barsils as a nomadic people even in the 7-th century. It was their remoteness from any cultural centres that they appeared so late in the documentary sources. Also, Theophanes tell us that the 'populous people of the Khazars came out from the innermost parts of Bersilia in Sarmatia Prima.' It is well known that the lower course of Volga was the eastern frontier of Asiatic Sarmatia. That is why the country Bersilia was probably located near the mouth of Volga. To the same region points the other informer about the coming of the Khazars - patriarch Nicephorus. According to him "the tribe of Khazars lived near the Sarmatians." When the Barsils left these lands they settled in the Middle Volga region and merged with the Volga Bulgars. Ibn Ruste (the beginning of the 10-th century) [28] says that they represented one of the three branches of the Volga Bulgars: "the first branch was called Bersula, the second - Esegel, and the third - Bulgar." What drove the Barsils to run away to the Volga Bulgars is implicitly mentioned by the Khazar khagan Joseph in the description of his domain (main territory) in a letter to the Jewish dignitary Hasdaj Ibn Shaprut. The domain included also the territory which most probably was the land of the Barsils. This shows that in their expansion the Khazars drove out their intermediate neighbours.
(After D.Dimitrov, The Proto-Bulgarians north and west of the Black Sea, Varna, 1987; The map was produced using XEROX Map Viewer)
Another very important for the early medieval history of Northern Dagestan problem concerns the people, the country and the town whose name is given in the Arab sources as Belendzher or Balandzhar. The ethicon is mentioned for first time by the Arab historian at-Tabari in connection with events from the 60s of the 6-th century [29]. First, he informs that the vassal to Iran Armenia was invaded by four peoples - abkhaz, b-ndzh-r (bandzhar), b-l-ndzh-r (balandzhar) and alan. Later, between 566 and 571, the khagan of the Turks (Turcuts) Sindzhibu (Istemi) defeated the peoples b-ndzh-r, b-l-n-dzh-r and khazar, who agreed to serve him. A.V.Gadlo [30] concludes that the name "bandzhar" refers to the Ogurs, and 'balandzhar' is a Perso-Arabic form of the ethnicon of the Onogurs=Utigurs.
Besides the information about the people balandzhar-belendzher at-Tabari informs also that "beyond Derbend there is an entire kingdom with many towns, which are called Belendzher" [31]. According to the same author the Arab general Abdurahmen ibn Rabi'a "penetrated 200 miles into the country (Belendzher), converted many towns to the law of Mohamed and returned to Derbend". Obviously, that country extended over a large territory.
Most disputed, however, is the location of the town of the same name. Later documentary sources [32] tell us that during his campaign of 652-653 the Arab general Abdu-ar-Rahman ibn Rabi'a reached the town Belendzher which had a considerable garrison and a watch-tower. The other great Arab campaign of 721-722 under Dhzarrah also "reached the Khazar town of Belendzher. The inhabitants had tied together and positioned around the town more that 3,000 wagons." Belendzher was taken after several brave Arabs cut the ropes holding the wagons, thus eliminating the defence line. The invaders found great spoils which they shared among them. After its taking by the Arabs Belehdzher is not mentioned anymore.
The story of at-Tabari shows that Belendzher was rather a military camp, not a real town. The Arabs of Dzharrah captured many Belendzheris, among them the family of the ruler of the town, called sahib (mihtar). He had been subordinate to the Khazars but still independent enough: Dzharrah bribed him and he switched his allegiance to the Arabs. Other documentary sources contain indications about the ethnicity of the ruler and the population of Belendzher. For example in the Turkic copy of the history of at-Tabari, used by Kasem Beg, the name of the town is given as Bulkhar- Balkh, which could be also read as Bulkar-Balk [33]. That makes Kasem Beg to believe that there was not any town with the name Belendzher and that because of transcribers' negligence and misunderstanding that name was transferred to another town, called Bulkar-Balk [34]. The same name for the town is preserved in a local history of Derbend, compiled from older documents and local traditions [35].
The description of the campaign of the Arab general Salman in 652-653 (based on a manuscript of Ahmed-bin-Azami) mentions: "After leaving Derbend, Salman reached the Khazar town of Burgur... He continued and finally reached Bilkhar, which was not a Khazar's possetion, and camped with his army near that town, on rich meadows intersected by a large river." [36]
That is why several historians connect that town with the Proto-Bulgarians. The Arab missionary Ahmed ibn-Fadlan also confirms that connection, as he mentions that during his trip to the Volga Bulgars in 922 he saw a group of 5,000 Barandzhars (balandzhars) who had migrated long time ago to Volga Bulgaria [37].
According to Ibn al-Nasira, after capturing Belendzher-Bulker, Salman reached another big town, called Vabandar, which had with 40,000 houses (families?). M.I. Artamonov links the name of that town with the ethnicon of the Bulgars Unogundurs, which is given as v-n-nt-r by the Khazars (in the letter of their Khagan Joseph), as venender or nender by the Arabs, and as Unogundur-Onogur by the Byzantines. Interpreting the documentary evidence Artamonov concludes that the early medieval population of Northern Dagestan consisted of Proto-Bulgarian tribes, so that the mentioned by several authors Kingdom of the Huns and their country should have been rather called Kingdom of the Bulgars [38]. He regards as Proto-Bulgarian also "the magnificent town of Varachan", the main centre of the Huns, located by Moses Kagantvaci north of Derbend [39].
We know details about Varachan thanks to a member of the embassy of the Albanian missionary bishop Israel, who visited the Kingdom of the Huns in a proselytising mission in 682. According to the description, preserved in the work of Moses Kagantvaci (10-th century), Varachan was different from the typical nomadic strongholds in its architectural setting. There was a central square which accommodated important assemblies, streets at whose crossings were executed some of the pagan priests. There was also a 'Royal court'. Especially interesting is the information about the religion of the inhabitants of Varachan. Next to the town there were wooden barracks and rich presents were offered to the magicians serving in these heathen shrines. Especially venerated were the sacred trees, notably a giant oak tree. Horses were sacrificed to that oak, their blood poured on its roots, while their heads and skins were hanged on its branches. Horse races and wrestling contests, fought under the beating of drums and timbales, accompanied the sacrifices. The people wore golden and silver amulets, depicting dragons. Besides the priests there were plenty of shamans - soothsayers and medicine-men healing wounds and making charms. The thunder god Kuara was especially held in reverence. Tangrikhan, called Aspandiat by the Persians, was the main deity, who helped in need and cured the ill. Animals, mainly horses were sacrificed to him. There are both Persian and Turkic characteristics in this cult of Tangrikhan-Aspandiat.
Besides towns like Varachan, the story about the bishop Israel's mission speaks of "numerous royal camps", that is - typical nomad settlements. On the order of the ruler of the "Huns" Alp-Ilitver churches were built both in the towns and in the villages.
A direct relation to the history of the Eastern Fore-Caucasus in those centuries has the late (12-th century) chronicle of the Jacobite patriarch of Antioch Michael of Syria, based on earlier sources. [40] Particularly important is the excerpt narrating about the three brothers 'Scythians', set out on a journey from the mountain Imaon (Tien-Shan) in Asia and reached the river Tanais (Don). Here one of the brothers, called Bulgarios, took 10,000 people with him, parted from his brothers and with the permission of emperor Maurice (582-602) settled in Upper and Lower Moesia and Dacia. "The other two brothers came to the country of the Alans, which is called Barsalia (Bersilia) and whose towns were build by the Romeans, as Caspij, called Torajan Gates (Derbend). The Bulgars and the Pugurs (puguraje), who had inhabited those places, were Christians in the old days. And when a foreign people started to reign over that country, they were named Khazars after the name of the older brother, who was called Khazarig (Kazarig). And that people became strong and expanded." The story comprises facts pertaining to several events of different age, all of them united around the story of the expansion of the Khazarian political power in the second half of the 7-th century. The earliest event, described in the chronicle, is the coming of the three brothers to the lowlands between the Caspian Sea and the river Tanais (Don). Here Bulgarios occupied the lands next to Tanais, and Khazarig and the unknown brother - the Alan country of Barzalia. Also, there were pre-Khazarian towns in the outlying southern parts of Barzilia. Only one of them is mentioned in the chronicle - Caspij and it is identified by most historians as Derbend, which other name is Caspian Gates. This town, built by Persia with a Byzantine assistance as a stronghold against the pressing from north steppe peoples, was well known to the Byzantines. That is why its name appeared in the chronicle. The author had only vague ideas about other towns, but still he informs us that their inhabitants were Bulgars and Pugurs. It is difficult to decipher which etnical group is lurking under the ethnicon Pugurs. Perhaps the key to the problem is the above mentioned hypothesis of B.Simeonov, according to which the Chinese documentary sources have written down the ethnicon of the Bulgars in the form pu-ku/bu-gu [41].
A ruler of a big group of the tribe pu-gu was called Sofu sulifa Kenan Bain [42]. The same title - salifan (sulifan) - bore also the king of the town Semender, which according to Al-Masoudi in the 10-th century was the main town of the vassal to the Khazars Kingdom Dzhidzhan (the Kingdom of the Huns) [43].
The second historical event in that Syrian chronicle is the 'parting' of Bulgarios from his 'brothers'. Important here is the clear indication that on his way to the Balkans Bulgarios had to cross the river Tanais. The third event is the increasing power of the Khazars, leading to the 'departure' of Bulgarios and to the imposing of a foreign rule over the older inhabitants of the country. Only then "they (the Bulgars and the Pugurs) were named Khazars after the name of the older brother". The text unambiguously States that not the Khazars, but the Bulgars and the Pugurs were the main population of the East Fore-Caucasus, especially of the towns. The became Khazarian only when the Khazars established their political power over that region.
As the history of the Khazars closely interweaves with that of the Bulgars, it is worth to provide more info about the Khazars' past.
In Northern Caucasus they appear no earlier than the 6-th century [44]. The first unequivocal information about them is found in At-Tabari, who wrote that between 566 and 571 the Turcut ruler Sindzhibu (Istemi) subjugated the peoples bandzhar, balandzhar (belendzher) and khazar. To that time refers also the Church history of Zachariah Rhetor, where the Khazars are mentioned as a nomadic people north of Derbend. Their influence apparently increased after the Turcs (Turcuts) conquered Northern Caucasus, as the Khazars became their closest allies and assistants. The close ties between the Turcs and the Khazars are confirmed by the fact that after the collapse of the Turcic khaganate the ancient Turcic clan of the Ashinas headed the newly formed Khazarian state.
-----------
Thus the available documentary sources provides evidence about the social and economical structure and about some peculiarities of the spiritual life of the various Proto-Bulgarian groups and tribes. They clearly show that up to the 7-th century AD, when the Unogundurs-Bulgars led by Asparuh, were forced by the Khazar expansion to leave Eastern Europe and to settle in the Lower Danube, most of the Proto-Bulgarian tribes were nomads with mobile husbandry who "dwell in tents and live on the meat of domestic animals, fish and game, and on their weapons" [45].
The social differentiation was in progress - above the average stock-breeders there was a tribal aristocracy, appropriating the costly goods, slaves, and other spoils of the numerous military campaigns. The social and political developments of the Proto-Bulgarian society as well as some external factors contributed to the creation of military-tribal alliances, the most important of which was the military-tribal union Great Bulgaria of khan Kubrat.
The social and economical development of the various Proto-Bulgarian groups went on different pace. The Proto-Bulgarians who migrated to the near- Caspian low-lands of Dagestan started to settle down since early times. They had a permanent settlements, some of them called "towns", even in the first half of the 6-th century. The notes of mission of bishop Israel (682 AD) give us an idea about "the magnificent town of Varachan" - it had streets and squares, there worked "skilful carpenters" who made a huge cross and decorated it with images of animals; goldsmiths manufactured golden and silver idols.
As the bishop Israel's mission showed, not later than the second half of the 7-th century the Christianity was intensely preached among the Dagestan Bulgars. After Israel's insistence "Christian churches were built in the Kingdom of the Huns". Referring to the data about the missions of the clergymen Kardost and Makar among the "Huns", Pigulevskaja thinks that the activity of Christian missionaries in Northern Dagestan started as early as in the first half of the 6-th century [46].
Besides the new religion, the missionaries taught to the local population the techniques of massive brick building and how to grow cultivated plants. Artanomov is rather inclined to think that the activity of Kardost and Makar took place in the Western Fore-Caucasus - the lands of Gord. No matter who is right, the Proto-Bulgarian tribal societies in both Eastern and Western Fore-Caucasus were developed high enough to adopt not only the Christianity but also a number of characteristics of the cultures of the neighbouring Byzantium, Persia and Armenia.
References [26] Theophilactus. Op. cit., p.258
[27] M.I. Artamonov, Istorija khazar, Leningrad, 1962, s. 229
[28]D.A.Hvol'son. Izvestija o sarmatah, burtasah, bolgarah, mad'jarah, slavjanah I russkih Abu-Ali-Ahmeda ben Omara ibn Dasta. Cpb, 1869, s.22
[29] At-Tabari, Istorija prorokov i carej. - Cit. po A.E.Schmidt. Materialy po istorii Srednej Azii I Irana. - Uchen. zap. Instituta vostokovedenija. XIV, 1958
[30] A.V. Gadlo, Etnicheskaja istorija Severnogo Kavkaza, s.124
[31] Dorn. Izvestija o khazarah vostochnogo istorika Tabari, s otryvkami iz Gafis-Abru, Ibn-Aazem El'-Kufi I dr. Per. P. Tjazhelova. - Zhurnal Ministerstva Narodnogo Prosveshtenija, 1884, Chast' XLIII, otd. II, No 7 i 8, s.13
[32] B.N. Zahoder, Kaspijskij svod svedenij, I, s.176
[33] M. I. Artamonov, Op.cit., p.120.
[34] Mirza A. Kasem-Beg. Derbend-Nameh. Translated from a select turkish versions with the Texts and with the Notes. - Memoires de l'Academie imperiale des Sciences. t. VI. St. Petersbourg, 1861, p.161-162.
[35] Tarihi Derbend-Name (s 9-ju prilozhenijami). Perevod s jazykov tjurskogo, arabskogo, persidskogo i francuzkogo. Pod red. M. Alihanova-Avarskogo. Tiglis, 1898, s. 7-22.
[36] Tarihi Derbend-Name, s. 131-132.
[37] A. P. Kovalevskij, Kniga Ahmeda ibn-Fadlana o ego puteshestvii na Volgu v 921-922
gg. Har'kov, 1956, s. 138.
[38] M. I. Artamonov, Op.cit., p.184
[39] Istorija agvan ..., s. 190-191. The Armenian geography from the 7-th century also puts Varachan/Varadzhan north of Derbend. However, its exact location is unknown at present. According to S.T.Eremjan. Moisej Kalantukijskij o posol'stve albanskogo knjaza Varaz-Trdata k hazarskomu hakanu Alp-Ilitveru. - Zap. I-ta vostokovedenija SSSR, VII, M., 1939, s.134, Varachan corresponds to the modern town of Bujnaks.
[40] V. Zlatarski, Izvestieto na Mihail Sirijski za preselenieto na bylgarite. - V: Izbrani proizvedenija, I., S., 1972, s.52
[41] B. Simeonov, Proizhod, struktura i znachenie na imeto bylgari, s.71-73; Istochni izvori za istorijata i imeto na Asparuhovite bylgari, s.54
[42] B. Simeonov, Iztochni izvori..., s.55
[43] M.I. Artomonov. Istorija Khazar, s.229 and 339 and the references therein.
[44] M.I Artamonov, op.cit. s.116. s.128
[45] N.V. Pigulevskaja. Sirijskie istochniki..., s.83-85, 165.
[46] M.N. Pigulevskaja, Sirijskia istochniki..., s.85-86
Pit graves, artificial skull deformation, Sarmatians, Northern Bactria
The main difficulty in utilising archaeology in the study of the Proto-Bulgarian history arises from the fact that till the beginning of the 8-th century most of them lived nomadic life, with no permanent settlements or necropolises and they had left scarce archaeological material. Furthermore, very often they had borrowed or even appropriated elements of the material culture of their more advanced settled neighbours, which impedes even more the recognition of their material remains. Nevertheless, even at that early stage there are some faetures characteristic for the Proto-Bulgarians. First, the burial practices distinguish them from the neighbouring peoples and, as the results show, they was established long before their settling down. Typical to some extend are also their dwellings and pottery. And finally, despite of the very active mixing at times with other peoples, Proto-Bulgarians had preserved a certain physical characteristics, and this also helps in their archaeological recognition.Inhumation was the most common way of burial. However, a part of the Proto-Bulgarians or most probably, some of the accompanying them to the Balkans tribes, practised cremation. The Proto-Bulgarian necropolises, investigated up to now on the territory of the former USSR, contain almost exclusively inhumations. The (usually) stretched bodies of the dead rest in rectangular, not too deep pits, most often on their backs. In the Soviet literature this type of burial is called ‘yamnij’ (pit graves) [1]. Very characteristic is the scarcity of the accompanying objects - one, rarely two, earthenware pots and a spot of meat. Sacrificed animals - dogs and horses, are exceptions. The first researches of the pit burials had explained their scaricity with the low social status of the buried people. But the subsequent archaeological excavations revealed that such are all of the burials in some necropolises, and that these necropolises outline clear-cut territories. Thus the pit burials represent an ethnographic characteristic of that population and reflect the religious ideas about ‘the other world’, where the souls of the dead have everything they need. Sometimes there is a primitive sarcophagus built of rock or thick wooden slabs, or a cover of boards or stones. Rarely there is a niche dug along one of the faces of the burial pit, and the dead is laid inside it. It is Important that the pit burials followed strictly a given orientation. In some of them it is western (the dead’s head points to the west), and in others - northern. A classical example of the burial rituals of the Proto-Bulgarians in Eastern Europe is the Zlivka necropolis near the village of Ilichevki, the district of Doneck [2].
All of the buried pertain to a single anthropological type - brachiocranic europoids with small Mongoloid admixtures. Specific to the Danube Proto-Bulgarians is also the artificial deformation of the skulls, in some necropolises found in 80% of the material.
While still nomads, the Proto-Bulgarians lived in portable leather tents - ‘jurts’. When they started to settle down and to built permanent dwellings of clay and wood, these still followed the old forms and internal design, and are again called jurts. Later, under foreign influence, the oval jurts were abandoned at the expense of more comfortable quadrangular dwellings, usually semi-dugouts, while the characteristic open fire-place at the centre was preserved for much longer. Strong foreign influence is also seen in the produced ceramic articles. Specific to the Proto-Bulgarians were the earthen cauldrons with inner lugs, which are not found among the neighbouring peoples and could be used for determination of the etnical origin of archaeological finds where such cauldrons occur [3].
Using the above specific features of the material culture of the Proto-Bulgarians, which were established in archaeological remainsfrom the in VIII-IX c., but doubtless representing earlier beliefs and practices (especially the funeral rites), it is worth trying to trace out their (eventual) earlier occurences. We must focus our attention on the regions of the Eastern Fore-Caucasus and the Lower Volga region. First, it is there where the documentary evidence locates the Proto-Bulgarians for first time. Almost all researches consider the influence of the Sarmatians, who had inhabited the lands of the Northern Caspian and the Lower Volga region, as the main factor shaped the Proto-Bulgarian material culture [4]. Some historians (A.P. Smirnov, V.T. Sirotenko, Al. Burmov) even claim Proto-Bulgarians to be of Sarmatian origin [5]. Also, it must be taken into account that in their later history in Eastern Europe the close cohabitation of the Proto-Bulgarians with the Alans - another Iranian-speaking group, led to the formation in the VIII-IX c. of their common Saltovo-Majack culture.
There are three stages in the development of the Sarmatian culture according to the Soviet archaeological literature - a) Early Sarmatian (IV-II c. BC); b) Middle Sarmatian (I c. BC - I c. AD); c) Late Sarmatian (II-IV c. AD). The Proto-Bulgarians appeared in these places during the Late Sarmatian period. Exactly at that time profound changes in the material culture of the Lower Volga Sarmatians occurred. Most affected were the structure of the graves and burial rites. The type of the graves was unified, and then it represented predominantly narrow pit graves with a niche dug along one of the long faces of the burial pit, and seldom - by catacombs. The orientation of the graves also changed to northern. Wide spread became the practice of artificial deformation of the skulls, in more than the half of the skulls in some places. In several necropolises, as that at Kalinovka, sprinkling of chalk on the grave’s bottom - one of the most characteristic features of the Sarmatian burials of the earlier period, ceased [6]. Simultaneously, the Sarmatian contacts with Central Asia intensified. Archaeologically detected is the introduction of Central Asian objects - weapons, luxury goods and pottery, especially red-clay polished pottery, similar to that of the Kushans. It is important that the newly adopted burial practices are characteristic for Central Asia since the end of the first millennium BC. Graves with niches and examples of artificial skull deformation are attested in a number of necropolises in Central Asia - near Tien-Shan and Pamir-Altaj [7], in the Talas valley and in Khoresm. Thus the changes in the Sarmatian culture point to a penetration and settling of Central Asian peoples.
Despite these abrupt changes, K.F. Smirnov considers the group of Alano-Aoric tribes in Lower Volga to have preserved its ethnical purity, but the work of L.G. Nechaeva [8] on the catacombs and the pit graves with niches, advanced well-grounded arguments that there are principal differences between these two types of grave structures. Only the catacombs could be considered as belonging to Alans, the burials in niches must be connected with the penetration of new ethnical groups. Examining several similar to that from Lower Volga graves with northern orientation from the lower course of the river Kuban (stanitsa Novo-Labinskja), she comments that these burials confirm the early penetration of a tribe of the Hunnish tribal union, which after the collapse of the Huns settled in Kuban and led to the formation of the Kuban Proto-Bulgarians. V.P. Shilov joins the opinion that in a Late Sarmatian time (II-IV c. AD) groups of Central Asian tribes penetrated the Lower Volga region, bringing with them the peculiarities of their burial practices [9]. It is confirmed by the anthropological studies of V.V. Ginsburg from Lower Volga - in the Late Sarmatian there was a considerable change in the racial type, evidencing a penetration of people of anthropological type characteristic for the region between the rivers Amu Darya and Sur Darya - brachiocrany, wide-spread artificial skull deformation, in some cases - weakly expressed Mongoloid features [10].
All this is found at the classical Proto-Bulgarian necropolis at Zlivka. Very important are also the archaeological excavations of several necropolises in the Bishkek valley in Southern Tajikistan, in the basin of the river Kafir-nigan, a right tributary of Amu-Darya. Most of the graves show striking similarities with that from Lower Volga [11]. A niche had been dug along one of the longer faces of the graves and the entrance to the nichehad been carefully blocked by rock slabs. Sometimes the grave pit, which itself serves as an entrance to the niche, is completely filled with stones. In all cases there are stones above the grave pit, forming a peculiar lid, closing the grave. That double ‘shutting’ of the dead reveals the religious ideas trying to prevent dead man’s soul from escaping the grave and harming the live, i.e. it was a kind of ‘making harmless’ the soul of the dead, especially widely practised among the Turkic peoples. Seldom another type of graves is found - quadrangular pits with no niches, but with a lid of stones at the top, sometimes with a primitive sarcophagus. Sometimes along the long sides of the pit there are widenings, steps, which are also very characteristic for the Volga Bulgars [12].
(After D.Dimitrov, The Proto-Bulgarians north and west of the Black Sea, Varna, 1987, p. 63)
Another important site is the Babashov necropolis, located on the right bank of Amu Darya, not far from the Bishkek valley. All graves are oriented to the north and usually they are individual. The objects accompanying the dead are few - one or two earthenware pots, and little meat (almost exclusively mutton). About 50% of the skulls are artificially deformed. The buried are mesobrachiocranic europeids with slight Mongoloid features [13]. Thus the necropolises in Central Asia (Northern Bactria) have much in common with those from Lower Volga. Another very important moment is that the excavations of the Old Bulgarian necropolis No 1 near Devnja, Bulgaria found a grave (No 91), strikingly similar to these from the Amu Darya basin.
(After D.Dimitrov, The Proto-Bulgarians north and west of the Black Sea, Varna, 1987, p. 64)
The grave is covered by stone lid, there is a niche with the dead on the western side of the northerly oriented grave. The skull is artificially deformed, the niche - tightly closed by big stones with sheep bones laying nearby [14].
The necropolises in Northern Bactria are well dated. Those in the Bishkek valley had existed from the end of II c. BC till the beginning of I c. AD, the Babashnov necropolis - from I c. BC till III c. AD [15].
(The map was produced using XEROX Map Viewer)
They are attributed to unidentified nomads who at the end of the II c. BC attacked the Greko-Bactrian kingdom and put an end to its existence. According to Mandel’shtam they had come from the northern or north-eastern parts of Central Asia. These necropolises ceased to function during the II-III c. AD, exactly during the time when profound transformations of the material culture and burial rites of the late Sarmatians in Lower Volga took place. This makes us conclude that during the general unrest among the nomadic peoples, which followed the rout of the empire Hu-Nu (the eastern Huns), the population maintaining these necropolises moved westwards and settled in the lands north of the Caspian Sea. There they entered in very active relations with the local Sarmatian population. If we accept the authenticity of the identification of the people bu-gu/pu-ku, who according to Chinese documents inhabited the basin of Amu Darya during the first centuries AD [16], then we could attribute at least part of the Late Sarmatian material remains in Lower Volga to penetrated from south-east ancestors of the Proto-Bulgarians. Subjected to an intensive process of Sarmatization, in result they became bearers of an essentially Sarmatian culture with some elements of Central Asian, especially Kushan, culture [17].
The anthropological data can be interpreted as pointing to assimilation processes between the local population and the newcomers. It seems that in the first half of the IV c. AD a heavily Sarmatized Turkic people moved to the steppes of eastern Fore-Caucasus, where they became known as Unogundurs/Unogurs-bulgars or only Bulgars. It is quite possible that the Hajlandurs (hajlandurkh), who according to Egishe occupied the lands of Northern Dagestan, are part of the same Unogundurs. The information of the Armenian historian about the active contacts of the Hajlandurs with the Kushans is also indicative.
References: [1]. S.A. Pletnjova, Ot kochevij k gorodam, Saltovo-Majackaja kul’tura. - Materialy i issledovanija po arheologii SSSR, 142, 1967, s. 91-100.
[2] S.A. Pletnjova, Op.cit., s.92.
[3] I.I. Ljapushkin, Pamjatniki saltovo-majackoj kul’tury v bassejne r.Dona, - Materialy i issledovanija po arheologii SSSR, 62, 1958, s. 146-147.
[4] Pamjatniki Nizhnego Povolzh’ja. Tom I. - Materialy i issledovanija po arheologii SSSR, 60, 1959; K.Smirnov. Sarmatskie plemena Severnogo Prikaspija. - Kratkie soobshtenija Instituta istorii material’noj kul’tury, XXXIV, 1950, s.97, 114.
[5] A.P. Smirnov, Volzhkie bulgary - Trudy GIM, vyp. XIX, M., 1951;
V.T. Sirotenko,. Osnovnye teorii proishozhdenija drevnih bulgar i pis’mennye istochniki IV-VII vv. - Uchjenye zapiski PGU im. Gor’kogo, XX, vyp.4 - istoricheskie nauki. Perm’, 1961, s 41;
Al.Burmov. K’m v’prosa za proizhoda na prab’lgarite, s.42-44. - V: Izbrani s’chinenija, I. S., 1968.
[6] V.P. Shilov, Kalinovskij kurgannyj mogil’nik. - Materialy i issledovanija po arheologii SSSR, 60, 1959, s.494. For more information on that feature of the Sarmatian burials, preserved later in the Alanian catacombs, please refer to K.F.Smirnov, Sarmatskie plemena ..., s. 102.
[7] K.F.Smirnov, Op.cit., s.113; V.P.Shilov, Op.cit., s.494.
[8] L.G. Nechaeva. Ob etnicheskoj prinadlezhnosti podbojnyh i katakombnyh pogrebenij sarmatskogo vremeni v Nizhnem Povilzh’e i na Severnom Kavkaze. - V: Issledovanija po arheologii SSSR. Sbornik v chest’ M.I. Artamonova. L., 1961, s.152-156.
[9] V.P. Shilov, Op. cit., s.494.
[10] V.V. Ginsburg. Etnogeneticheskie svjazi drevnego naselenija Stalinagradskogo Zavolzh’ja (Po antropologicheskim materialam Kalinovskogo mogil’nika.) - Materialy i issledovanija po arheologii SSSR, 60. 1959, s.572.
[11] A.M. Mandel’shtam. Kochevniki na puti v Indiju. - Materialy i issledovanija po arheologii SSSR, 136, 1966; Pamjatniki kochevnikov kushanskogo vremeni v Severnoj baktrii. - Trudy Tadzhikskoj arheologicheskoj ekspedicii IA AN SSSR I Instituta arheologii AN Tadzh.SSR, t. VII, L., 1975;
B.A. Litvinskoj, A.V. Sedov. Kul’ty i ritualy kushanskoj Baktrii (Pogrebal’nij obrjad). M., 1984.
[12] F. Gening and A.H. Halikov. Rannie bolgary na Volge (Bol’shetarhanskij mogil’nik), M., 1964
[13] T.P. Kijatkina, Kraniologicheskie materialy iz kurgannyh mogil’nikov Severnoj Baktrii. - Trudy Tadzh. arheol. eksp., VII, s.211.
[14] D. Il. Dimitrov. Novootkrit rannobylgarski nekropol pri Devnja. - Izvestija na narodnija muzej- Varna, VII (XXII), 1971, s.61, obr.5.
[15] A.M. Mandel’shtam, Pamjatniki kushanskogo vremeni v Severnoj Baktrii, s.130.
[16] B. Simeonov, Iztochni izvori za istorijata i imeto na Asparuhovite b’lgari, s.54.
[17] K.F. Smirnov, Op. cit., s.110, 113.
Huns, Alans, Proto-Bulgarians, Dagestan, Belendzer
The invasion of the Huns in Eastern Europe in the IV c. AD (the so called ‘great disturbances’ of Moses Horenaci) had profound consequences upon the population north and north-east of the Caspian. The archaeological studies reveal that most of the monuments of the Late Sarmatian culture were destroyed and they were replaced by another culture [18]. Especially heavily affected were the Iranian-speaking Alans - one of the greatest Sarmatian tribes, characteristic by its catacomb burials. According to the documentary evidence, a large part of them offered resistance and were slain, other were scattered in various parts of the steppes and in the foothills of Northern Caucasus [19]. Since V c. AD they started to settle down and there appeared numerous material monuments - settlements, ruins of strongholds, and necropolises. The Hunnish invasion affected also the situated in the Fore-Caucasus ‘Land of the Bulgars’ of the Unogundurs-bulgars. Some of them were forced to move south to Armenia, other moved to the west or to the south-east. Perhaps the few graves near stanitsa Novo-Labinskaja are their earliest material remains in the lands east of the Sea of Azov. The chronicle of Zachariah Ritor points us the earliest places where the Proto-Bulgarians started to settled down - the plains of northern Dagestan, north of the Derbend pass. Indeed, exactly in that part of maritime Dagestan, in the valley of the river Sulak near the village of Verhnij Chirjurt, was found a necropolis bearing the characteristic features of Proto-Bulgarian burial monuments. The necropolis of Chirjurt (necropolis No 1) was excavated by the Dagestani archaeologists as early as in 1957-69 but nothing was published yet except one preliminary report [20].70 of the totally investigated 101 graves are catacombs, 30 are pit burials and 3 - burials in niches. The catacombs are isolated in the northern part of the necropolis and, generally, they exhibit the characteristics of Alanian catacombs from foothills of Northern Caucasus and in the upper courses of Don and Severski Donec. Sometimes they contain more that one person (in one catacomb - up to 7). However, there are some deviations from the typical Alanian style - the dominant northern orientation; the isolation of the burial chambers from the burial corridor (dromos) by rock slabs (in some cases the entire dromos is filled with stones); the scarcity of the material remains, especially of pottery [21].
The pit and niche graves group in the southern part of the Chirjurt necropolis and according to the excavators most of them had been destroyed before the start of the excavations. Single stretched skeletons, in some cases with crossed legs (obviously tied together) are placed in shallow and narrow quadrangular pits with very few, if any, material remains.
Next to the village of Verhnij Chirjurt there are 3 more necropolises, contemporary to n. No 1. Necropolises No 2 and No 3 are generally similar to n. No 1, although show a somewhat higher portion of niche burials. Necropolis No 4 is notable for its larger and richer in material remains catacombs, covered by mounds.
Only n. No 1 was anthropologically studied up to now. Unfortunately, the skeletons were not identified and now there are no data which skeletons come from the catacombs and which from the pit graves. Generally, most of the skull are brachiocranic, with slightly Mongoloid features, some artificially deformed. There are also dolihocranes.
Necropolis No 1 is dated reliably to the VII-VIII centuries AD by 3 golden coins of emperor Iraklius (610-641 AD), the are more 5 golden coins of Maurice (582-602) and of Iraklius in n. No 4. Most researches assign the catacombs to Alanian, and the pit graves - the Bulgar-Sabir groups, settled in Dagestan after the Hunnish invasions [22].
M.G. Magomedov [23], however, questions the Alan identity of the catacomb burials. First, neither the stable northern orientation, nor the filling of the dromos, nor the placing of only a single person in each catacomb is characteristic for the Alans. Secondly, the material remains, especially the weapons (slightly curved sabres, chain armours, composite bows) are very similar to that of the nomadic population of Central Asia, Siberia and Lower Volga. Furthermore, the anthropological type of necropolis No 1 is also not Alanian. Utilising the documentary evidence from VII-VIII c. AD speking about the presence in Northern Dagestan of (later arrived) Khazars, and Bulgars-Barsils and Sabirs, Magomedov attributes to the later the pit and most of the catacomb burials, and to the Khazarian aristocracy - the rich tumuli catacombs of necropolis No 4. Still, the presence of family catacombs, the sprinkling of coal on the floor and especially the dolicochrany of some skulls, speaks about the Alanian character of at least some of the catacombs of the Chirjurt necropolis.
Pit burials are predominant also in the large necropolis of the Bavtugaj ruins of stronghold, on the left bank of river Sulak. These data confirm the documentary evidence about the presence of a significant Proto-Bulgarian population in Northern Dagestan in VI-VII c. AD. But the newcomers did not settle down in empty lands. The burial grounds of the older local population, for example the rock tombs, continued to function, although objects of the new nomadic culture as well as artificially deformed skulls, began to appear in them as well. The active relations between the old and new population can be traced even clearer by the archaeological investigations of the permanent settlements in Dagestan, especially the settlements and the ruins of strongholds between the rivers Terek and Sulak.
The Andrejaul gorodishte ('ruins of stronghold, of town') is located 2 km to the north of the village of Andrejaul, the district of Hasavjurt, on the 50 m high steep bank of the river Ak Tash (White Stone) in the transitional zone between the Caspian coast and the foothills of NE Caucasus [24]. It is 700 m long and 450 m wide, fortified by massive 8-10 ms high earth ramparts, and 30 m wide, 6-7 m deep ditches. The soil beneath the ramparts had been removed and replaced by pure clay in order to prevent ramparts erosion. The highest, inaccessible inner part is isolated by additional fortifications and forms a citadel (150x60m), allocated most probably for the upper stratum of the society. On the other bank of the river there is an extensive (1km x 0.5 km) unfortified settlement. Only a small part of the gorodishte was investigated up to now, but the results reveal much of its history. The cultural layer in the central part is more than 3 m thick, with 3 main horizons separated by signs of fires - an evidence of repeated destructions. The life in the settlement started in II-II c. AD and came to an end as a result of the Khazaro-Arab wars in VIII c. AD.
Both the gorodishte and the unfortified village were inhabited by a settled population, whose main occupation was agriculture and stock-breeding. Along the river Ak Tash there were discovered VII-VIII c. irrigation channels, speaking about the intensive agriculture practised even at those early times. The investigator L.B. Gmirja [25] describes three main periods of development: 1) early - “Sarmatian” (I-III c. AD); 2) middle - “Hunno-Sabirian” (IV-VI c. AD); and 3) late - “Khazarian” (VII-VIII c. AD).
Numerous wheel-turned pottery as well as 20 two-storied pottery single-type ovens, grouped in three workshops, are found. The temperature achieved within them was high enough in order to glaze the walls and the vaults of the ovens. The pottery of Andrejaul and other centres between the rivers Terek and Sulak is described as the earliest example of the Saltovo-Majack pottery type. There were also forge shops judging by the great quantities of iron slag. Thus the Andrejaul gorodishte was not a mere military stronghold but an important centre of production, but despite its imposing proportions and strong fortifications, not even a single massive building was discovered within it. Both in the citadel and in the town itself the dwellings are single-room, oval, with walls of thick clay putty laid on a light wooden frame, and with an open fire-place in the middle of the room. Such dwelling are also called jurts by the archaeologists. The inadequate knowledge of the building techniques reveals the steppe origin of the inhabiting people. This type of dwellings is also characteristic for the steppe (Proto-Bulgarian) variant of the Saltovo-Majack culture. According to the Dagestani archaeologists D.M. Ataev and M.G. Magomedov [26] the Andrejaul gorodishte may be identified as the town Vabandar, which according to the Arab writer Ibn as-Asir numbered 40,000 houses (families?) and was taken by the Arabs of general Dzharrah in 722 AD.
25 km to the east of Andrejaul are situated the ruins of the largest stronghold in the Terek-Sulak region - the Chirjurt gorodishte, which necropolises were described already. It was also inhabited for a long period of time and has a 3 m thick cultural layer. The fortifications are built of stone and are up to 6 m thick and 10 m high. Together with the nearby Sigitmin gorodishte, and the Bavtugaj gorodishte and the fortress Isti-Su on the left bank of Sulak, they formed a strong line of defence, blocking completely the way from the Caspian plain to the Sulak valley. The building techniques applied in Chirjurt gorodishte are far more advanced when compared to these at Andrejaul. Most of the walls are built of stones joined by clayey solution, using the specific Caucasian tilling (panzer) technique. The 6 m thick walls consist of two walls, the space between which is filled by coarse stones, clay and earth. Along the walls and perpendicular to them are built special anti-seismic belts. Here, on the territory of necropolis No 4 were found two small stone churches without roofs, similar in type to the early-Christian buildings south of Caucasus and in the Near East [27].
The most common type of dwellings are small jurts, similar to those at Andrejaul. Dwellings of two and more rooms on stone foundations also appear, but again in middle there is the typical for the nomads open fire-place. The stone foundations of the more elaborately constructed buildings at Chirjurt, Sigitmin and Miatlin are built in the specific Caucasian ‘imbrication’ (‘pine’) technique - the rock slabs are laid slantwise and resemble fishbone (‘pine tree’). Thus the influence of that traditional, survived even nowadays, Caucasian building technique is quite evident. A few skilfully made stone crosses from two stone churches point to the existence of masters stone-cutters. The Chiryurt gorodishte may be identifiied with the mentioned in the chronicle of at-Tabari town Belendzher, also known as Bulkhar-Balkh in the Turkic copy of the work of at-Tabari.
The Chiryurt gorodishte may be identifiied with the mentioned in the chronicle of at-Tabari town Belendzher, also known as Bulkhar-Balkh in the Turkic copy of the work of at-Tabari.
2 km to the south of Chirjurt is the Sigitmin gorodishte in whose northern end there is a 10-15 high rock escarpment. On its smooth surface, 4 m above the ground are scratched several graffiti of horses and a horseman, nearly identical to the graffiti on rock slabs, pottery and metal objects from many Proto-Bulgarian sites from the steppes of South Russia and from Danube Bulgaria [28].
The Sigitmin graffiti are drawn on a vertical rock surface, as is the Madara rock bas-relief in north-eastern Bulgaria. Similar graffiti were also found on rock slabs from the Derbend fortress. Especially these from the lower slabs of the eastern barrier wall are absolutely identical to those found on rock slabs from the Majack gorodishte, from Pliska and Preslav, and on bricks and tiles from Sarkel and Pliska [29].
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The archaeological finds point out that during the V-VIII c. an original culture developed in northern Dagestan. It was greatly influenced by the Late Sarmatian cultures and differed significantly from that of the mountainous southern Dagestan. The bearers of that culture came from the northern steppes and entered in active relations with the local population. As a result of the intensified political and cultural contacts with the countries south of Caucasus as well as with Byzantium and Persia, the primitive earthen military structures were replaced by solid stone fortresses. The development of the crafts transformed the strongholds into centres of production, that is - ‘towns’. The inner fortresses - the citadels, speak about the social stratification of the society. In many aspects that original, Sarmatian in essence culture resembled the urban culture of the peoples south of Caucasus, and is regarded by most researches as the earliest manifestation of the Saltovo-Majack culture. During the Arab military campaigns of the first half of VIII c. many of the settlements were destroyed and many people perished or were enslaved. The survived Proto-Bulgarian and Alanian population had to move westward to their still nomadic brethren occupying the steppes near Don and the Sea of Azov, bringing with them part of their cultural traditions. The data are still too scarce to conclude that the Saltovo-Majack culture was created here, in Northern Dagestan, and only here, but it cannot be denied that the steppe population developed a comparatively advanced culture in this part of Dagestan, later known in the Arab sources as ‘the Country Belendzher’.
References: [18] K.F. Smirnov, Op. cit., s.114; V.P. Shilov, Op. cit., s.509.
[19] V.A. Kuznecov. Alany Severnogo Kavkaza, s.14.
[20] N.D. Putinceva, Verhnechirjyrtskij migil’nik. - Materialy po istorii Dagestana, II, Makhachkala, 1961, s.248-264.
[21] V.B. Kovalevskja, Arheologicheskie sledy prebyvanija drevnih bilgar na Severnom Kavkaze. - V: Pliska-Preslav, 2, s.43-50.
[22] V.A. Kuznecov. Alany i rannesrednevekovyj Dagestan (K postanovke voprosa). - Materialy po istorii Dagestana. Makhachkala, 1965, s.88.
[23] M.G. Magomedov. Obrazovanie Khazarskogo khaganata, M., 1983, s.87.
[24] D.M. Ataev, M.G. Magomedov. Andrejaul’skoe gorodishte. - V: Drevnosti Dagestana (Materialy po istorii Dagestana, V). Mahachkala, 1974, s.121-139.
[25] L.B. Gmyrja. Stolovaja keramika Andrejaul’skogo gorodishta (tipologija i stratigrafija) . - V: Srednevekovye drevnosti evrazijskih stepej, M., 1980, s.105, 131.
[26] D.M. Ataev, M.G. Magomedov. Op. cit., s. 138-139.
[27] M.G. Magomedov. Rannesrednovekovye cerkvi Verhnego Chirjurta. - Sovetskaja arheologija, 1979, No 3, s.186, 197.
[28] D. Ovcharov. Srednovekovni bylgarski risunki-grafiti. S., 1982.
[29] D. Ovcharov. Za haraktera i prinadlezhnostta na srednovekovnite risunki ot Basarab (Murfatlar). - Arheologia, XVII, 1975, kn.3, s.3; A.M. Shterbak. Znako na keramike i kirpichah iz Sarkela - Beloj Vezhi. Materialy i issledovanija po istorii SSSR, 75, 1959, s.363;
S.A. Pletnjova. Risunki na stenah Majackogo gorodishta. - V: Majackoe gorodishte. Trudy sovetsko-bolgaro-vengerskoj ekspedicii. M., 1984, s.57-84
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